They screamed into the night air. The family that had been cast to the ground scrambled up, moving across the street to the rest of the crowd.
William turned to Riley. “That ain’t fair. That wasn’t part of the rules. You didn’t win shit.”
“Oh, the rules? I didn’t see you post them anywhere, chubby,” Riley replied with a grin.
She turned around, removing her cloak finally, and addressed the people staring at her and William.
“These men came here to hurt that family, saying they knew where I was. That family has never seen me before right now, and they know nothing of me. Those guards, who serve these rulers? They’re evil, and they’re doing this to scare you. I’m here to say you don’t have to be scared. You don’t have to worry about dying, because I’m going to kill that mage in his tower.”
She stepped a bit closer to the crowd.
“My name is Riley Trident, and I’m a Right Hand of New Perth. We are not spies. We are here to liberate your city from the false ruler who has taken over. Spread that word, and do not fear these evil men. You should only fear that you might become evil, turning your neighbor in for something they did not do.”
Riley looked at the hopeful faces, seeing the family that had nearly died huddled together. They were beyond grateful; no words were necessary to explain it.
“Tell that mage I’m coming for him and there’s no place he can hide. There’s nowhere he can run. He’s already dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“How many households?” Rendal asked.
“Ten, sir. That was during the daylight hours. We’re going to hunt throughout the night, too,” Harold answered.
“Has she stuck her head up yet?”
Harold swallowed. “Yes, sir. She killed the guards at one of the houses and saved the people.”
Rendal gritted his teeth. “Were we not able to do anything?”
“No, sir.” Harold shook his head.
Rendal tried to quiet his anger. This was what he had wanted: the killing of innocents to bring Riley into the open. They hadn’t caught her this time, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t the next.
He looked at Mason. The man was growing tired, his eyes slowly closing, although he’d jerk them open the moment he realized. Mason hated sleeping while Rendal was awake.
Rendal smiled, watching as Mason drifted into slumber.
“Mason! How are ya, chap?”
The Assistant Prefect’s eyes shot open, shock coming before the anger.
Rendal kept smiling. “I think you may see your precious Riley very soon.”
Mason stared at him. “Only because she’s a better person than you.”
“Why would you say that, Mason? Have I not treated you relatively well? Sure, we’ve had some small problems, but what couple doesn’t, you know?”
Mason closed his eyes again, although Rendal knew he was just ignoring him.
“It hurts,” the mage continued, “that you think so poorly of me. These people dying—they serve a greater good.” He looked at Harold. “Don’t you think?”
“Yes, sir, that’s true.”
“See! Harold understands.” Rendal was almost laughing now. The Assistant Prefect continued ignoring him. “These people who are dying, they’re going to bring great peace to New Perth. Their deaths won’t be in vain because they will bring Riley to me. And from there, both of us to New Perth.”
“Yes, Rendal, you are a benevolent dictator. You bring peace and joy wherever you go.” Mason didn’t open his eyes as he spoke.
“There’s the spirit.” Rendal stood up and walked over to the humidor. He hadn’t paid it much attention until a day or so ago. Sidnie’s Prefect kept it nicely stocked, however.
Or he had.
Now the Prefect just stood in the corner most of the day, sometimes drooling, sometimes not.
“Harold, would you like a cigar?” the mage asked.
“No, sir.”
Rendal shrugged and picked a random one. He didn’t have the first clue about them, but he should probably get used to trappings like this. After all, he was now royalty, and would be for the rest of his life.
He took the cigar back to his seat. He cut the end off, then used a match to light it. He was quiet as he puffed, enjoying the aroma as the smoke rose to the ceiling.
“Mason, we’re going to be heading home soon. Are you looking forward to that?”
“You’re going to be dead soon, Rendal. Are you looking forward to that?” The Assistant Prefect’s face was calm.
“Beneath us right now are the weapons that are going to ensure New Perth can do nothing but surrender to me. I’m leaving nothing to chance. All my years in exile and all my years struggling are going to pay off very soon.”
“Rendal, as much as I enjoy these chats, are they necessary?” Mason asked. “I’d much rather rest some since we’re pals and all.”
“Yes, unfortunately, they are necessary. I need to decide what to do with you. That’s the one thing I’m confused about.” Rendal took a drag from his cigar and blew the smoke out of his mouth, his eyes turning red as he did.
The smoke moved as the mage commanded, forming a replica of New Perth’s castle.
The red in his eyes faded, and the smoke drifted into the air.
“You see, it’s a conundrum. Riley is obsessed with you. She’d burn this whole kingdom to the ground to get you back, yet I hate you, Mason. I hate your insolence and your arrogance. I hate everything about you if I can be frank.” Rendal spoke as if he were describing the taste of his cigar rather than deep-seated emotions.
“I assure you, the feeling is mutual,” Mason responded.
“But the rub here is, killing you may not be possible, and I cannot stand that.” Rendal shook his head. “So what do I do? Harold, do you have any ideas?”
His head guard stood at the room’s door. “Sir, this is indeed a tough decision.”
“You see, Mason, I wish I could just throw you right off the balcony out there. That would serve me perfectly well,” Rendal waxed.
“Too bad you can’t.” Mason gave a small smirk.
“I know, I know.” Rendal wasn’t taking the bait, instead puffing at his cigar again.
And then it struck him—what he should do.
It came all at once, the idea hitting him like a bolt of lightning.
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” he whispered. “It’s almost too perfect.”
The room grew silent and Mason opened his eyes, staring at the mage.
Rendal slowly turned his head to the Assistant Prefect. “I’ve been dumb. Do you know that?”
“I’ve known it since the moment you decided you could take New Perth, Rendal,” Mason answered.
“Oh, you and your insults. That’s fine. I can’t believe I didn’t see this until now.” Rendal looked at Harold. “I want you to drain him.”
“Yes, sir,” Harold answered.
“In public.”
Mason slowly sat up.
“She’s here, and I told her I would take everything from her,” Rendal continued gleefully. “So let’s start. If she wants to stay hidden and let people die, we’ll go ahead and make her suffer too. Get Artino on it. Tell him to put Mason in a cage right outside the castle, and start draining him tomorrow morning.”
“Fuck you, Rendal. It’s not going to work.” Mason didn’t look as confident as he sounded, though.
“Oh, I think we both know it will. Look at how far she’s come to get you back, my friend. I’ve been weak, and that’s the truth. Not harming you? That was a mistake.”
“Stand up,” Harold told Mason.
The Assistant Prefect obeyed, getting to his feet.
“Let’s go. Don’t give me any problems and I won’t have to hurt you, Mason.”
The Assistant Prefect swallowed, his face going between fear and resolve.
Rendal smiled. “You see, dear sir, everything marches to my drum, and now you do too. Shout your insults from the cage. Maybe I
’ll hear them.”
Mason’s entire life had been about making him a leader; someone who would ensure the people of New Perth thrived and prospered. Yet, since Rendal took him, he’d been a slave, taken from leader to slave by this evil mage.
And now the slave was going to his death, or as close to it as he could get without actually dying.
Rendal had once before thrown Mason in with those he drained. They all looked moments away from turning into ghosts, as if all their energy had been sucked from their bodies.
Mason had been groomed to be a leader, not a slave, and as he was brought deep into the castle’s bowels, he remembered that.
He wouldn’t grovel to these people. He wouldn’t beg. He wouldn’t give any quarter.
Harold took him to the castle’s first floor, then walked him through what felt like an unending tunnel.
Finally, he reached a massive room, one with more tunnels branching off it. People were everywhere, walking to and fro. All of them seemed to be intensely busy, none even looking at the new entrants.
“Follow me. Don’t be dumb. If you try to run, you know I’m going to catch you, and you know I’m going to pummel you when I do.”
“Did you willingly give your balls to Rendal?” Mason asked. “Or did he take them?”
Harold chuckled. “You New Perthians are fools. You see what the man is doing. Look right in front of you. All this work? It’s producing weapons that you can’t even imagine. He’s going to rule this continent, and you idiots seem oblivious to that truth.”
“No, we just have bigger balls than you,” Mason told him. “My balls are so big it hurts to sit down sometimes, and that means Rendal can’t take them. Even if I tried to give them away, he wouldn’t be able to carry them. Yours, unfortunately, must have been much smaller. All the same, when Riley gets to you, she’ll make sure they get stomped to nothing.”
“Just shut up and follow me,” Harold grumbled.
The two walked across the room, heading toward a short man wearing glasses.
“Artino—” Harold tried to say, but the short man was having nothing of it.
“Harold! Harold! We’ve had a security breach! I’ve been trying to tell you idiots that for the past six hours, but I can’t pull myself away from my work. I’ve sent messages. Sent messengers. The guards were assaulted! Hurt badly, and that means someone came down here!”
Harold’s eyes narrowed. Mason could tell that Harold finally realized that they’d passed no security guards on the way down here. “What do you mean, they were assaulted?”
“Are you listening to me, Harold? Someone attacked them! Broken bones! Someone got down here!” Artino was shrill, his face red and his glasses falling down his nose as he yelled.
“Who?”
“How am I to know, man? I’m not a guard. I’m a scientist, and my work is important! Rendal is running a shoddy operation up there! Someone got down here!”
Harold grew quiet for a second, and Mason could tell the man was holding in his anger. Harold did that a lot, rarely showing the rage that lived inside him.
Wait until William gets to you again, Mason thought. You’re going to want all of that rage—every last bit of it.
“I’ll figure it out,” Harold finally said. “Is anything amiss?”
“How am I supposed to know, dolt? You see that I’m working. You see everything I’m dealing with! Look at all these people. I don’t know half of them, but Rendal is always pushing, pushing, pushing, and now this operation is huge!”
Harold sighed, although Mason could see the rage beneath the surface. He didn’t like being spoken to in such a manner by someone he considered beneath him.
“Calm down. I’ll take care of it. But look, Rendal wants you to do something with him.” Harold gestured toward Mason.
Artino’s eyes finally moved to the man standing slightly behind Harold.
“Who is this?” Artino asked. “I don’t have time for more.”
“This is the Assistant Prefect of New Perth. He’s important, Artino, both to Rendal and toward our goal.”
Artino was too oblivious to anything outside of his own head to realize that Harold wanted to punch him right in the fucking face.
The scientist sighed. “What does Rendal want?”
“It shouldn’t be complicated,” Harold explained. “He wants you to drain him, but in public. Outside the castle.”
“What do you know about what’s complicated?” the scientist asked. “The most complicated thing you do is carry a sword and decide what part of someone’s body to shove it into.” He looked at Mason. “So you’re the one Rendal wanted?”
It was the first time the scientist had appeared calm since they entered this room.
“Drain you, huh? This isn’t about nanocytes, then. We’re well-stocked, so Rendal told me to put our energies into these weapons.” Artino nodded and looked at Harold. “This is about her, isn’t it? Draining him in public is about getting the Right Hand? Rendal tells me nothing, just pushes and pushes but pulls me away from my work almost constantly. But this! He’s hoping to get her, isn’t he?”
“That’s not your concern,” Harold responded. “You follow orders just like the rest of us. You get him in a cage and drain him. That’s all you need to know.”
Artino waved his hand as if dismissing Harold. “He’s pulling me away from my work with this, but it might be worth it. If we get her, I might be able to actually focus without all his interruptions.”
He took another step closer to Mason.
“Well, Assistant Prefect, I doubt you thought this would be your destiny, but it’s not so bad. You will be contributing to a much larger goal, one that’s going to change the world.” The scientist smiled, and Mason realized he was just as crazy as everyone else in this organization.
He might not be as violent, but the man was nuts.
“Harold,” Mason said, “I didn’t think it was possible, but I’ve found someone more pathetic than you. This asshat sits down here creating weapons to kill people while sacrificing nothing.”
Harold chuckled but said nothing.
Artino looked at Mason narrowly. “It didn’t have to hurt, Assistant Prefect, but now it will.”
“And, Artino,” Mason responded, “it’s going to hurt when Riley gets hold of you. Whatever you’re about to do to me, it’ll be mere drops in the bucket that Riley’s got in store for you.”
“Come on,” Kris told Brighten. “I can’t stand bein’ inside this place anymore. We gotta get out.”
Brighten raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend. “You really do have a death wish. I don’t, however. I ain’t goin’ nowhere until that stupid school tonight.”
Kris didn’t care what he said; she rarely did. She’d hardly been able to leave the hideout for days and days, all because that damn mage had caught her.
She couldn’t take it anymore, though. “I’m losin’ my mind in here. Let’s go to the town square and see if we can steal anything.”
Brighten shook his head. “Nope. Not doin’ it. I’ve had just about enough danger for now, and I know Riley and them are gonna ask me to do somethin’ soon. Somethin’ I don’t wanna do.”
“Look.” Kris walked over to his chair. “I’m goin’, and if you let me go by myself, you’re a shit friend.”
She grinned, knowing what she was doing.
Brighten rolled his eyes. “Not gonna work.”
“If someone sees me or catches me and I get picked up, I’ll need you there to make sure that everyone here knows I’ve been captured.”
“Or you could not be a moron and not leave the house,” Brighten responded. “Plus, we’ve been waiting on digs like this. This is a rich person’s house, and we can do whatever we want here. You’re living in the lap of luxury. You should enjoy it.”
Kris shook her head, still smiling. “Nope. We’re goin’ to steal some stuff. Now let’s go.”
She turned and started walking toward the house’s front door, n
ot looking to see if Brighten was following.
Finally, she heard his chair moving back. “This is dumb, Kris.”
She smiled. “Maybe, but I’m goin’ stir-crazy. Come on, we don’t have to pickpocket anybody, but let’s just get some fresh air.”
He caught up with her. “It’s not right, you using our friendship against me.”
“Since when did I base my life off doin’ things that are right, numbnuts?” Kris asked. “Plus, all the new magic you got now, you should be able to get us out of any scrapes we find ourselves in.”
“And if Riley or William finds out we left? They’re goin’ to raise hell,” Brighten protested.
“They ain’t gonna find out. No one’s gonna find out. Erin’s been runnin’ around tellin’ everyone how brave you are, but you sound like the same scaredy-cat as always to me.”
Brighten sighed. “Fuck it. Let’s go. Maybe you will get caught by a guard and I won’t have to put up with you anymore. That’s about as good as anyone can hope for at this point.”
“You’d miss me,” Kris responded, then opened the door.
They snuck out quietly, the house too big for anyone to notice if they weren’t specifically looking for the two.
They didn’t say much as they walked toward kingdom’s square. While they hadn’t hung out much in this part of the city—the wealthy part—they both knew how to get to the square with their eyes closed.
It was where all the marks were every single day, and although a lot had changed in Sidnie, that hadn’t.
“Something’s going on,” Brighten observed as they got closer.
Kris thought he was right. They weren’t even at the square yet, but a lot of people were walking toward it. It was still somewhat early in the morning, and that made the number of people that much more unusual.
“It can’t be good,” Brighten commented. “Nothing good happens in the square anymore.” He looked at Kris. “Let’s go back.”
“No way, numbnuts. We’re already here. No sense in turning around.” She didn’t look at him, knowing even that would give him a chance to slow down.
About five minutes later, they got to the square.
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