The Assassin's Blade

by H J Peterson

  There’s a reckoning coming, Aki’s words from the other night repeated in her head. There’s a reckoning coming.

  Just what did he mean by a reckoning? Was it an empty threat, or something more?

  “You know what you need right now, Ikeda?” Brooks walked up to her desk, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of her. He was holding a coffee pot: it looked like the time had come for his bi-hourly caffeination.

  Hiro looked over at him. “How did you know

  Brooks poured Hiro a cup. “Take a guess.”

  Hiro sat up and took a small sip of it. It was nice and warm, but not too hot: just the right temperature, if you asked her.

  Brooks frowned. “Wait: since when do you take it black?”

  “Since now,” Hiro said.

  “That bad of a day, huh?” Brooks asked.

  Hiro looked at him, raising an eyebrow. That bad of a day? They’d spent the day trying to figure out how in the world someone had managed to get into the station, kill Florian and the guard watching him, and get out unseen. She’d interviewed countless station staff, trying to piece together what might have happened, only for nothing to come out of it. Yes: it had been a bad day.

  “Don’t you think we should’ve caught the Archangel by now?” Hiro asked. “I mean, this guy’s practically everywhere with his letters, these days: surely, we should have something!”

  Brooks nodded in understanding as he set the coffee pot down on her desk. “Speaking of him being everywhere, you hear his last little letter? Verse from the Holy Book: Yeah, and the wicked were smitten by my hand. Thunder rained down from the heavens, and the task masters fell one by one. Bond became free, and free became bond.”

  Hiro was familiar with the verses, despite the fact that she didn’t believe in the Holy Book. They were from the story of one of the Servants of Heaven, who freed the righteous from their taskmasters. The Gerechtists and the Viasanctists who lived in places like Vergesse and the Kicks used to say that last phrase over and over again. Bond became free, and free became bond. It gave people hope.

  In that moment, though, it just made Hiro think harder. What did the Archangel have in mind when he sent that out?

  Brooks stood up as she took a few swigs of coffee, just about finishing the cup. “I would hurry and finish that cup, by the way: we’ve got places to go.”

  She raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “What are you talking about? We’ve only got an hour left of our shift.”

  “Berkowitz is sending us off to talk to Lord Dubois,” Brooks said. “He’s hoping that the time under house arrest will have jogged his memory a little more.”

  Hiro took another swig of coffee. “Do we think this will take very long?”

  “It better not,” Brooks said as Hiro stood up and put an overcoat over her uniform and her cap on. “I, for one, would really like to go to bed at some point.”

  “Me, too,” Hiro said as she made sure she had everything she would need for the evening: her badge, her gun with ammo (just in case, of course), a small notebook with a pen.

  Once that was done, the two of them went down the stairs and left the building.

  It was dark outside at that point, and rain was coming down in what felt like sheets. The two of them ended up running through the downpour over to Brooks’ car, which was parked in a spot without a fee across the street from the police headquarters. They both looked like they’d gone for a swim in their uniforms by the time they got to the car.

  “You’re good at driving in the rain, right?” Hiro asked as she took off her soaked coat and her cap, letting her ponytail fall from its spot underneath the cap and brush against her neck.

  “Sure,” Brooks said as he started the car. The engine rumbled to life and steam began to come out of the exhaust pipe from behind them. “Granted, I’ve never driven in a downpour like this, before. I swear, I’ll try to not kill us all.”

  Brooks pulled out from his spot as Hiro looked out the window at the soaked streets of Königstadt. Well, that wasn’t comforting.

  After about a minute with only one close call that just about made her wet herself, Hiro turned to Brooks. “What do you plan on asking Dubois?”

  “That’s simple,” Brooks said with a shrug. “I’m going to ask if he forgot anything when he talked to us last. Like hiring someone to kill Florian in the event he try to squeal.”

  “Please, tell me that you’re going to have a little more tact than that,” Hiro asked, grabbing the hand hold in the door as Brooks rounded a corner as carefully as he could, a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. Thank heaven, the car stayed on the road. “He’ll just shut down if you confront him like that.”

  “Don’t worry, mom: I won’t forget to use all of my courtesies,” Brooks said.

  Hiro might have slugged him if she’d been confident he wouldn’t lose control of the car and crash if she did.

  It took about ten minutes, but eventually, they reached the estates of Lord Dubois. The entire estate was dark. Well, the entire estate minus one window. His study, if Hiro had to guess.

  “That wasn’t so hard,” Brooks said as he turned off the car, releasing his white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

  Hiro gave him a look. Was that sweat beading on his forehead, or was it just rainwater dripping from his hair?

  Neither of them said anything. They just got on their coats and their hats, still damp from their sprint to the car from the police station, and left the car.

  The rain had let up a little bit, but not by much. It no longer pounded down on them, but it wasn’t exactly “just a drizzle”, either. It was coming down hard enough that they didn’t bother waiting for the valet to get the car. They ran towards the front door through the rain, hoping that they would be able to get to the front door before they were thoroughly soaked.

  “What are the odds that it won’t be raining when we leave?” Hiro asked as they neared the front door.

  “That depends on how much tact I can muster up,” Brooks said as they arrived at the front door, taking shelter from the rain underneath the lit, covered porch. “Knowing me, though, we’ll be here for a total of five minutes.”

  Brooks knocked on the door.

  The door opened almost immediately. Unlike the last time they were there, though, there wasn’t an attendant standing on the other side. Instead, there was a young man in the deep crimson of the Königstadt Guard, the unit of the army meant to guard the nobility.

  “Inspectors: he’s in his study,” he said as he moved out of their way, allowing them to get out of the rain. “Can I take your coats?”

  “Don’t worry: we probably won’t be here long enough to get comfortable,” Brooks said. “Where’s the study?”

  “Up the stairs. Go straight, then turn right at the end of the hall. Second door on your left.”

  “Thanks.”

  The two of them headed up the stairs.

  The guard was right about him being in his study. When Hiro first walked in, though, she could hardly believe it was him. When they’d first met, he’d been an arrogant bastard, one that looked down on them like they were little better than cockroaches. Now, though, he just looked scared. His face was pale, his eyes holding none of the animosity and annoyance that they had, before. She might have felt sorry for him, even, if it weren’t for the fact that he hadn’t seemed all that interested in their help until after it was too late.

  “Inspectors,” he said quietly, nodding his head at them as they entered. “What can I do for you?”

  “We need you to answer more questions,” Brooks said as he closed the door behind him.

  “I’ve told you everything I know, already,” Lord Dubois said. “What else do you want from me?”

  He sounded angry, but Hiro got the impression that he more just wanted the conversation over than anything else.

  “How did you first come into contact with the New Dawn?” Hiro asked. “Was Florian your only contact?”

  “H-he was,” Lord Dubois
said. “Everything I know about them came through him, first.”

  Another reason for why Florian was in the morgue instead of a holding cell.

  “Do you know of anybody else who made a deal with them?” Brooks asked. “Did you tell anyone about how they’re willing to… fix problems?”

  “Not a word,” Lord Dubois said. “I couldn’t risk incriminating myself before Lord Saaltz was murdered. I… didn’t want anyone else to fall for the same thing I did after I saw what they were capable of.”

  Lord Dubois pulled out a piece of paper. Hiro recognized it almost immediately: it was one of the pamphlets the Archangel’s men were spreading about. One of the many infamous letters.

  “One of my attendants brought this in to me earlier today,” Lord Dubois said. “This so-called letter from the Archangel. Bond became free and free became bond. I guess he was trying to tell the city just what he has in mind for people like me, wasn’t he?”

  Hiro glanced at Brooks, unsure.

  “It makes me wonder,” Lord Dubois said, looking down at his desk. “It makes me wonder if Florian had the right idea. Trying to take his life before somebody else could do it in a more painful way.”

  Hiro grew tense. She looked for a gun anywhere near Lord Dubois, but she couldn’t see one. His hands stayed on top of his desk.

  “Don’t say that,” Brooks said. “You’re safe, here: The police, the Königstadt guard - we can protect you.”

  Lord Dubois chuckled. Sadly.

  “Like how you protected Florian-“

  Thunder boomed outside.

  The window shattered and Lord Dubois fell across his desk with a splatter of blood.

  For a few seconds, Hiro just stared in disbelief. That hadn’t been thunder outside.

  Someone had just shot Lord Dubois right in front of her.

  Brooks cursed, rushing forward to Lord Dubois.

  That shook her out of her stupor. She ran to the window and looked out.

  She saw a glint of metal in the night, on the rooftop across from them. A glint that was held by a man dressed all in black.

  The assassin!

  “I see him,” Hiro said quickly. “I see the assassin.”

  Brooks turned to look at her. “Hiro, wait-“

  She didn’t hear him: she jumped out of the window, grabbing the trellis on the wall in front of her.

  Her hands managed to find purchase on the slick vines and wood, thank heaven. The rain pelted her from the second she got out there and started climbing to the ledge of the roof.

  Once she was there, she pulled herself up and over it.

  The man in black was still there, gun slung over his shoulder.

  She scrambled to her feet and yanked out her pistol, taking aim. “Police!”

  The man in black looked at her. She saw his eyes get wide, and then, they narrowed.

  He threw some powder at her and began to run.

  She didn’t need to know who this guy was to know what was about to happen. Hiro dropped to her stomach and covered her head with her arms just as the powder exploded, right where her head had been moments before.

  Well, just my luck, Hiro thought as she got back to her feet. The alchemist was at the ledge of the building, now, climbing down what looked like some sort of safety ladder. This bastard’s an Alchemist!

  Hiro began sprinting, again, following him to the ladder. She slid down it when she got to it, the shock of her feet hitting pavement sending a painful jolt up her legs.

  He was running down the narrow alley towards the street.

  Hiro started running after him, again, taking aim-

  Suddenly, her gun started to get really, really hot in her hand.

  She cursed, tossing her pistol as she continued running. The gun exploded after it hit the ground, looking a whole lot like the safety footage she’d seen at the academy with a gun loaded with a bad charge.

  Hiro began to run a little faster, covering the nape of her neck with her hands and her face with her arms, protecting herself from any shrapnel that might be flying from her gun exploding. So, that’s how they were going to do this? He could’ve just let water soak into her powder, make her gun useless, but he’d tried to kill her, instead.

  Hiro finally caught up with him as they reached a small park across the street. She tackled him, sending both of them tumbling down a small hill and through a few bushes.

  The Alchemist didn’t let that faze him. He swung his elbow towards her face.

  Hiro grabbed the elbow before it could break her nose, but in the process, she loosened her grip on the Alchemist. He took advantage of that, and managed to throw her off of him.

  Hiro couldn’t exactly say she was prepared for the maneuver (she did, after all, get thrown) but she could say that she reacted pretty quickly. As the Alchemist turned his head to look at her, she lasted out with her foot, kicking him square in the face.

  She felt something give, and there was a very audible crack. The Alchemist grunted, and for a few precious seconds, was stunned.

  Hiro took that opportunity to find out who her attacker was. She grabbed the mask that covered the lower part of his face, yanked it down-

  She felt like she’d been punched in the gut.

  This man wasn’t just some nameless thug: it was Aki.

  Hiro scrambled to her feet, her hands balled up into fists, as Aki did the same. He glared at her, a look to kill in his eyes. “You stupid bastard-“

  Suddenly, Hiro was seized by a terrible, almost unbearable pain: it felt like someone was trying to rip apart every muscle in her body. She tried to scream for help, but her voice wasn’t working: it was paralyzed, just like the rest of her body. She fell to the ground at her brother’s feet, unable to so much as wiggle her toes.

  It didn’t take very long for her to figure out what was going on: her brother had brought a Doc with him, the bastard.

  Aki rolled her over onto her back with one foot. “I told you, Hiro. I told you that there was a reckoning coming, and you didn’t listen.”

  Hiro’s body shook as she strained against the force holding her down.

  Aki looked past her at someone she could see. “She’s all yours.”

  Someone else dressed all in black walked up from behind Hiro’s line of sight and knelt down next to her. Whoever it was, they were holding a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

  They stabbed it into her thigh and injected her with it.

  What the hell is going on? There were a lot easier ways of killing someone than by an injection… especially if you had… a Doc on… your… side…

  Her vision was getting blurry. The world… was slanting……

  The last thing Hiro remembered before she was knocked unconscious was someone grabbing her by the forearms and dragging her through the mud.

  XXV. FRIEDRICH

  Why were weddings so complicated?

  It was a question Friedrich had asked himself quite a bit as he sat with his mother, Katalin’s mother Lady Terézia Jankovics, and his new fiancée at the table in the drawing room, all sorts of fabric, design, and color samples spread out in front of them. It was completely overwhelming: why the hell was it necessary to have so many colors? There had to have been at least twenty variations of the color blue in front of him, among others. And then, all those colors were in different fabrics. And then, all those different colors and fabrics had different patterns. And then those different patterns were in different colors. What ever happened to just green? Where did grass green, tea green, forest green, emerald green, and jade green come from?

  Well, he supposed it was better than having dinner with his father, which is what he would normally be doing with his evening had it not been for the proposal earlier that afternoon. Sitting next to a warm fireplace on this rainy evening with two of the most important women in his life sounded much more enjoyable than that.

  Viktoria held up a deep blue color sample called “cobalt” next to Katalin’s bare arm, as if trying to see if the color
would look good on her. Which didn’t make sense to Friedrich: colors were colors; how could one look better on someone than another?

  “What about this one, Katalin?” she asked, offering Katalin the sample. “I think this would complement your complexion.”

  Katalin took the sample and seemed interested in it, but the second Terézia saw it, she began to shake her head, making a disapproving tutting sound.

  “No, no, no; that won’t do,” Terézia said in a very thick, Magyaran accent. She quickly took the sample away from her daughter, like someone taking a dangerous object away from an infant. “No blue: blue in wedding is bad luck.”

  “It’s an omen for a sad, tearful marriage,” Katalin sighed. She looked a little disappointed: apparently, Terézia was much more traditional than her daughter and her husband. “Nothing can be blue: not even gemstones.”

  Viktoria frowned and put a hand to her heart. “Oh, heavens, I’m so sorry: I had no idea.”

  “This is not problem,” Terézia said with a flip of her hand as she began to put all the blue samples into the newly-formed veto pile. “These are not your traditions; I do not expect you to know them.”

  Viktoria nodded, apparently thankful that her apology was accepted, and looked back down at the samples, a thoughtful look on her face.

  “It’s been such a long time since I’ve planned a wedding: I didn’t have nearly this many choices when Dieter and I were planning our wedding,” Viktoria said to nobody in particular. She looked over at Friedrich. “What do you think, Friedrich? You’ve been awful quiet about all this.”

  All this was a great way of describing how Friedrich felt. He was still in a bit of a daze from the proposal, a little shocked that Katalin actually said yes: he’d been kind of hoping that he’d be able to swim around in his euphoria for a day before they actually got started on wedding planning.