Oathbound: The Emperor's Conscience, Book 2

by Michael Combs

  I knelt down and reached over the three young women sleeping fitfully on Shani’s lap. I touched Shani’s chin and raised her face to mine. Her green eyes were wet and her cheeks splotched from crying.

  “I will help them,” I said. “I swear it.”

  It wasn’t an oath like the one that had brought me here and threatened to undo me for not seeing it through—it was an oath to myself, for my friend and my love. I knew I couldn’t break it if I wanted to.

  “How are they?” I asked Shani as she made her way into the sanctuary. I had been sitting on a bench before the altar, chin in my hands, thinking, while Shani tried to get the disconsolate women settled. They were no longer bound. Shani wouldn’t allow them to be tied any longer.

  “They are sleeping,” she said. “Trauma nap. Anytime something bad would happen when they were little, they would fall asleep. Back then, a nap could fix anything.” Shani smiled at the memory.

  “I think I know what happened,” I said, breaking her reverie. “Remember Nan talking about the attack on the Temple in Corinthia?”

  “The one you burned down?” she asked.

  “The same. I saw something like this there. From what you told me, it sounds like a bloodcurse.”

  “They’re cursed?” Shani asked, suddenly fearful. “Can you break it?”

  “I think I already did, unintentionally,” I said. I told her of the conversation with the Goddess Queen.

  “Essentially,” I said, “when she extended her protection to the temple and those contained within, she blocked the bond between the Sisters and the Prince.”

  “And that is why they are suffering?” she asked.

  “Yes. It is as though their bonded partner has died,” I said. “They are in mourning.” Shani scrunched her face in confusion.

  “Think of it like living with someone and being so close to them you can feel them inside your thoughts and emotions for years. They become family to you, they become comfortable, you come to expect them there and they always are. Then they die suddenly, and you are stricken with the most profound loss and loneliness imaginable. It is just as though a part of you is torn away. That is what it is like to lose someone you are bloodbonded to. Now add in what seems to be magically induced affection. Their lover, mentor, friend, parent, everything, is just gone.” I shook my head in pity for them. “That is what they are experiencing.”

  “So all they have to do is leave the temple and they are better?” Shani asked.

  “If they leave before the Prince is dead, I believe their bond will reform,” I said. “Then, when I kill him, they may experience this again, and it might be even more severe. I honestly don’t know what would happen to them.”

  “Then don’t kill the Prince,” Shani said.

  “I have to,” I said. “Now more than ever. They will never be free as long as he lives.”

  “This is too much to take in,” Shani said as she slumped down on the bench next to me and put her head in her hands. She rubbed at her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. When she spoke, her voice was hard as granite.

  “I wish I could be there when you tear his head off.”

  “You need to make sure the girls are safe,” I put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently. My timeline had moved up yet again. I had to get to the Prince as soon as possible. I had to go now. “Once he‘s dead, and the bond can’t reform, I will return for you.”

  Shani leaned against me and nodded.

  The sun was just setting as I entered The Velvet Pearl. The doors were unlocked, and we were open for business, but no patrons were likely to arrive for another hour.

  Mongo sat at the bar drinking some miracle of intoxication that Elsbeth had created.

  “Hey there, Evan,” he said. “Didn’t think we’d see you tonight.”

  “Just need a few things,” I said. He grunted. “You might want to close up early tonight.”

  “Why?” Mongo asked, “What’s goin’ on?”

  “Just do it, and if soldiers come looking for me, you tell them I was here and that I left to go to the Mata’s. Got it?”

  “Sure, Evan,” he said, concern in his voice. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing, my friend,” I said. “But the night is young.” I gave him a mischievous smile and made my way to Nan’s office.

  “Ever heard of knocking?” Nan said as I barged into her office and shut the door behind me. “I could lock the door, but the last time I did, you kicked it down anyway.”

  “You’re welcome, by the way,” I said.

  I made my way to the sidebar and poured two glasses of the most expensive brandy we had. I brought one to Nan.

  “What’s the occasion?” she asked warily.

  “Pack up,” I said. “We’re leaving.” Her brows rose.

  “Now?” she asked.

  “First thing in the morning,” I said. “I have a lot to get done tonight if I am to kill the Prince, save the Sisters, and stop a civil war. Once I am finished, though, we will need to leave. Quickly.”

  “What ship are we taking?” Nan asked. “Where do I send our clothes? Are you sure the ship’s captain has his men back from shore? Sailors love their drink.”

  I blinked, and Nan rolled her eyes.

  “Tell me you have arranged our escape before committing yourself to murder and mayhem.”

  She stared at me, waiting for me to answer. I didn’t have one. She made it sound like I had been just lying about idle before suddenly turning the entire city, if not the kingdom, against us. I hadn’t been idle. Hessa’s tits, I had hardly rested a minute. But I hadn’t planned the egress. I refused to think of all the colorful words that Master Brenn would have had for this cock-up.

  “I didn’t, Nan,” I said, sinking down into a chair and rubbing my eyes. “I was so intent on figuring the ‘right now,’ I neglected the ‘what then.’”

  “It’s a good thing you have me, then” she said. “This next lesson is minor, but important: Always have an escape. I doubt you will neglect it again. I sent baggage for us all, you, me, and three young ladies, to a ship two days ago. I didn’t know their sizes, so I sent an assortment. They will have to make do until we get to Corinthia. The ship is called The Fairer Sex, and no, I did not pick it because of how much I knew you would like the name. The captain is an old Privateer, Captain Torunil. He will deliver almost anything, almost anywhere, for enough coin. His ship stands ready and we can leave at a moment’s notice.” Nan smiled at me. “I told him you had enough coin.”

  “You trust him?” I asked. “This Captain Torunil?”

  “Not until he’s paid.”

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  “You saved us, Nan,” I said. “I tried my best to screw everything up and you wouldn’t let me, would you?”

  “Last lesson, son, for now at least: You can’t do everything yourself. You need help from time to time, because something is bound to slip through the cracks. You are still new at this, and your cracks are larger than most.” She smiled warmly to soften the sting.

  I told Nan what I’d learned and my next steps.

  “Are you certain this is what you want?” Nan asked, when I told her my plan.

  “At first I was willing to hear him out,” I said. “But now...” I shook my head. “Nan, he has profaned the bloodbond used to join Finders and Guardians, corrupted it to include a compulsion to force them to do things, feel things. From what I understand, it is impossible for them to distinguish the difference between their will and his.”

  “You are set on this course,” she said, “and I can’t say that it is wrong, but do you at least have a way to get to him?”

  “I do, but much of it will rely on luck.”

  “And if you run out of luck?”

  “Then I will fall back on violence.” Nan took up her drink and sipped.

  “At least that is something you are good at,” she said and sighed. “It is time I said goodbye to the girls here and mad
e my way to the ship. I will make sure we are ready to depart when you arrive.”

  I finished my brandy and made to leave. I stopped in the doorway and turned back to Nan, who looked at me affectionately. There was pride in her eyes and something more, something I had no experience with. I suspected that I had just been adopted. I was more than pleased at that notion, and I smiled warmly at the older woman.

  “What would I do without you, Nanna?”

  “Go on, boy, “ she said. “Do your work.”

  Upon entering my room, it surprised me to find that Nan hadn’t carried off all my belongings to the ship. My trunk was missing, but she wasn’t thoughtless. Hanging beside the dressing mirror was a suit of clothes and my baldric, which held my curved longknives. I smiled at her foresight and dressed for my next appointment.

  Family Matters

  I lowered the guard gently to the ground, and felt more than heard the scrape against his chain shirt as I pulled my longknife out of his chest. His armor was light and would have offered a small amount of protection against a slash but was useless against the point of my heavy blade when I put my weight into it. I gathered him up before he could make too much mess and deposited him in a nearby cleaning closet.

  Having made it past three guard positions before being challenged, I was in the servant’s quarters. I kept my head down and moved as though I was late for something. The guards furthest from my goal let me pass, assuming I had business wherever I was rushing. This last had challenged my presence and paid dearly for his diligence. The roving guard would discover him when they made their rounds, so I had to finish my business here and be away. I didn’t know how much time I would have, as I hadn’t the luxury of a proper reconnaissance.

  Shani was able to provide me with accurate intelligence, however. The path she’d described to me, while indirect, was less populated by guards than it could have been. It would have been problematic to fight my way through an army to get to the Prince, even if I could have made it without getting cut down. Around the next corner would be three last guards, then I would be in the Prince’s outer rooms. I glided around the corner, knives out, eyes silvered from my deep draw, and straight into a guard rotation.

  Hessa’s tits.

  The six guards were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. My weapons clattered to the floor as I dropped into the shadows and emerged, fully Aspected, atop the closest guard, who I rode to the ground. I pulled his soul to me and rolled to avoid a powerful strike from his partner’s sword.

  Shouts and the song of steel sounded in the anteroom. The noise paled in comparison to the screams that came when I swiped a silver talon through the chain armor of another who was a fraction too slow to react. I kicked him into the next and lashed out with two spears of shadow, skewering two more guards. When I withdrew them, their souls followed.

  I felt a sharp pain in my side as a sword tip bit deep. Another capitalized on the attack and jabbed his sword nearly through my thigh. My choral howl echoed within the confines of the anteroom, and I lashed out with all the ferocity of a wounded animal. I tore and bit and clawed one of my attackers until he was unrecognizable.

  The last, seeing me turn toward him in a feral rage, tried to flee. I lunged and grasped his entire head in my three-taloned hand and bore him to the ground. I smashed his face into the floor, then again, and again until his skull was a pulpy mass in my hand. Their spirits began healing my wounds.

  I rose and prepared to lunge through the door when it opened to reveal a familiar face.

  The young woman who stood in the open doorway seemed to be a version of herself rather than the person I knew her to be. Her curly, blonde hair was a mess, and her wet face was red from crying. Her trembling hands dripped blood as she beckoned me to enter.

  “Prince Papa says you should bear witness before your death,” she said. Her eyes seemed to tell me something that her body could not.

  I reigned in my Aspect and made a motion with my hand. The shadows came to me and wrapped about me like robes.

  “Tessa?” I said cautiously. “You’re supposed to be at the temple. What are you doing here?”

  “C-come in,” she said and stood aside. Cautiously, I entered the richly appointed salon. There were four closed doors along the left-hand wall with plush carpets on the floor and several chairs and sofas with end tables, oil lamps, and a few books. Prince Kaeden Rais sat in one of the chairs sipping wine while he watched the Sisters torture Shani.

  Litha and Marjory seemed to be in no better shape than Tessa—their hair askew and tears dripping down their faces. Each of them held one of Shani’s arms pinned to a wall. Shani was bloody and exhausted but, sadly, conscious. They had cut away much of her clothing, leaving her stripped to the waist. Long, thin strips of skin were absent from her torso, the wet, bloody meat beneath inflamed and puffy in the glow of the lanterns that lined the walls from hooked sconces.

  “Litha, dear, slit Shani’s throat if our guest tries to interfere.” Litha instantly obeyed and held a blade to Shani’s neck. “You may continue, Tessa,” the Prince said with a wave of his glass.

  Tessa hesitated, her face contorted with pain, but she walked to the tableau of gore and took up her knife. In an expert motion, she traced a shallow cut beside a previous wound, and Shani screamed her pain.

  I pulled shadows from every corner of the room. They pooled in my hands and dripped from my fingers as I prepared to lash out. Tessa trembled. Her hands shook, and her sobs drowned out Shani’s pitiful whimpering. It was as though Tessa knew she shouldn’t do this, knew she wouldn’t do this, but could not stop. She was fighting the Prince’s command, and it cost her dearly to do so.

  “Tessa,” I pleaded. “Stop this.”

  “You keep silent!” the Prince snapped. “I thought you had robbed me of my toys, but it seems you have merely damaged them.” He waved a hand dismissively. “No matter. Once repaired, they will be better than ever.” He sipped at his wine and leaned back in his chair. “It is much like tempering steel, as I understand the process. Heat it in fire and quench it in cold, and it becomes stronger than before.” His eyes lost focus, and he smiled maliciously as he no doubt envisioned even more ways to temper these women he had been forging into weapons since they were children.

  “Tessa,” I said, “fight him. You can do anything you set your will to.” The Prince laughed at that.

  “No, she can’t,” he said. “My will is supreme here. They can no more resist me than they can prevent the sun from rising.” He watched the girl shake as she dragged her knife reluctantly through Shani’s skin. “Cabal saw to that.”

  Cabal again, I thought. Cabal of what? Who was this mysterious cabal that I kept hearing about? Since I left the Temple, I had been running into dark magic, the provenance of some cabal. I would dearly like to know who comprised this mysterious group. My thoughts shattered when I heard a scream.

  “Shani!” I cried.

  Tessa had peeled away another narrow strip of skin and tossed it to the floor. Her own cries of horror at what she was doing were as loud as Shani’s cries of agony. I formed shadows into a thick column, intent on knocking Tessa aside to prevent her from hurting Shani further, but I dared not risk it. Even if Litha didn’t kill her, I could just as easily drive Tessa’s blade into Shani.

  So instead, I formed my shadows into a thin blade. If I can’t stop Tessa from executing his orders, I’ll stop him from issuing them.

  I thrust the sliver of shadow toward the Prince’s throat, then halted the strike in a panic when Tessa jumped between us. My shadowy weapon stopped, but not before piercing her chest. It was a shallow cut and as I withdrew the barb, a thin trickle of blood oozed from the puncture and stained the neckline of her shirt.

  “Tessa, stand aside,” I said. “This is the only way you will be free.”

  “That is the reason I cannot allow it,” the Prince said, rising and drawing two longknives similar to my own. “They are mine. I will not allow you to have them. They
will help me become the King of Trular, and when I am done, I will head for your precious Arul. The pieces are nearly in place, and under my guidance, we will build the largest empire the world has ever known.”

  “Your pieces are fewer,” I said, nodding to Tessa. “I saw to Merey’s father personally.”

  “Atroscine was a pawn. A useful pawn, but a pawn still. He was to build a fleet to carry our northern army into the heart of the Empire, but they can still march. It will take longer, and it will be a much bloodier affair than we had planned, but all is not lost.”

  Northern army? Atroscine had mentioned something about allies in the north, but an army?

  “Kill him quickly so we can get back to dear Shani. She and I aren’t finished yet.” Shani collapsed to the ground as the Sisters sprang into motion.

  I dropped into the shadows, and Marjory’s throwing knife passed through my vaporous form. Tessa’s chain, the trebled hook replaced with a weighted leaf blade, passed where my chest would have been, had I been corporeal. They moved so fast I wondered for a moment if they were not Guardians themselves. Had I not acted when I did, their blows would have landed simultaneously. I emerged Aspected and batted aside Litha’s sword strike with my talons.

  Litha wielded two swords, however, and I was not so fortunate with the second. The narrow blade bit into my shoulder, and I hissed in pain and dove backward to avoid another thrown knife from Marjory. I rolled to my feet, and Tessa’s leaf stabbed into my thigh. I grabbed the chain and pulled, but instead of pulling her off balance as I had before, she simply let go and I stumbled instead of her.

  Tessa dove to her right and extended her hand as she came out of a roll. The chain, limp on the floor, shot to her outstretched fingers and she yanked. The blade embedded in my thigh spun me off balance. Two searing points of pain blinded me—as the Prince stabbed his longknives into my back. I howled in agony. I could feel my lungs filling with blood, and one of Marjory’s knives hit my chest. I spun and backhanded the Prince with all my strength, and he tumbled across the room.