by Skyler Grant
"Why are you doing that? You're just going to kill me," Quinn said.
"I have no intention of killing you, Captain Jade. I hadn't planned to capture you at all until it was clear just how much had been left out of reports," Penny said.
Despite the complacency in his mind Quinn was capable of thinking. Capable of reason. The flawless beauty, in depth of knowledge, the very fancy toys ...
"You're one of Mara's sisters," Quinn said.
"No, although you might call me a member of her family. Mara has been lying in her reports, it shouldn't be possible. Do you know how? Why?"
From what Mara said, giving those answers would be as good as signing her death sentence. He didn’t have any choice.
"Mara has become an Order mage. Jinx did it by using the evolution rune and with the help of Mara's implants. They don't work now like they used to. She thinks you're going to kill her," Quinn said.
Penny frowned. "Unfortunately, she is probably correct. If her implants have been neutralized she is too big a threat to be allowed to live. Where is your ship?"
Quinn nodded. "Dock D17."
Penny got a distant look in her eyes for a moment. "Ah, there ... I see it. I wasn't scanning ship profiles arriving."
"You were expecting us, you must have been," Quinn said.
Penny rested a hand on her hip. "I wasn't actually. I don't need to tell you anything at all, but I need you to trust us—when the drugs expire, I mean. I'm here to observe Kam, you're just a curiosity that stumbled into my net and set off warnings."
"If you're helping in the murder of my wife, or wives, I won't trust you. I'll kill you," Quinn said.
"You've no way to protect the ones who need to die and have many others to protect," Penny said with a shake of her head. “Slip your arm in mine and move along with me.”
Quinn did so. Chaos magic was tickling at the edges of his senses and he did his best to seize it. If there was anything that stood a hope of breaking the grip of this drug upon his mind, that would be it.
"There was just a hazardous spill report at your ship’s dock. They'll have to do an emergency lift and relocation, and then go through decontamination. It should distract them for a few hours and keep them blocked from comm traffic. We can't have anybody coming to the rescue," Penny said.
Penny hadn't asked if they had anybody else in the arena, and unless she asked, Quinn felt no compulsion to volunteer the information. Mara and Dela were in the arena as gladiators. Penny should have known about Mara, but perhaps with her implants malfunctioning whatever transponder her family used to find each other was offline.
"Where are we going?" Quinn asked.
"To watch Kam kill your wife, of course. Two powerful Order mages? I wouldn't miss this fight. You'll continue to behave," Penny said.
15
Quinn followed Penny out into a hallway. In this part of the arena there were no guards or security whatsoever. They didn't pass another soul as they moved to a nearby room.
This one had the looks of a studio apartment, a single tiny bed tucked away in one corner along with a simple kitchen. Most of the space was taken up by computing and holographic equipment, Quinn thought it looked a lot like Mara's quarters.
"If you're Kam's adviser I thought you'd have a nicer room," Quinn said.
"Kam thinks he is keeping me in my place," Penny said. "Have a seat."
Quinn sat down on the bed, the only furniture in the room except for a chair before the computer. Penny tapped at keys and a holographic image of the arena floor came into view. It had been transformed into the ruins of a city, tiny winding streets and single room structures. The display showed two separate windows. Jinx was in one, still in the outfit she'd been wearing in the booth. The other figure must be Kam, dressed only in an athletic shirt and pants.
"What is this?" Quinn asked.
"Kam got hold of two pieces of the Imperial Regalia and he's been using them to lure in people seeking the throne. When he finds them, he has a death match with them," Penny said.
Quinn continued to struggle against the bonds holding his mind. There was something there, and a more experienced Chaos mage would surely have been able to disrupt the drug in their systems, but he wasn't close, not yet. Still, there was more than one way any problem could be solved.
Kam turned and the holo-recorder caught it, something on his left forearm. A rune, glowing faintly blue.
"He's runed," Quinn said.
"Strong, and honorable to the point of stupidity. That is the ruler the Imperium needs to move forward," Penny said. "I know, not the outcome you wished. But your part in things is done."
The holo flickered as a timer began to count down. Barriers that had sealed in the competitors dropped. Kan and Jinx both ventured out into the alleys.
"You're going to kill me," Quinn said.
"We owe you a good turn, we pay our debts. You'll spend the rest of your life as an object of study, but we won't be cruel about it," Penny said.
This all must have interrupted whatever previous schedule the arena had arranged. Mara and Kara would have picked up on it, and tried to use their comms to reach him and the others. By now they must know what was happening.
"I’ll be your pet Chaos mage," Quinn said.
"We might even find a place for some of your family. That you've become so dangerous is proof of your competence," Penny said.
On the holovid Kam had managed to find himself a breastplate and a sword. Jinx simply seemed to be wandering through the streets, keeping near to the arena wall. Perhaps she was seeking an exit.
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to do any of this," Quinn said.
"Feel free to change my mind. I doubt you can. I've read Mara's reports," Penny said.
"You talk as if you're her supervisor."
Penny tilted her head, moving over to the bed to settle down beside him while keeping her eyes on the display. "Our organization doesn't quite allow for those, but you could consider me as her senior."
"Jinx bears two runes and is a really good person. You want strength, she has it. You're just prepared to let her die," Quinn said.
"I'm aware of what she's done. I'm aware that she's a player in the quest for the throne. But one who has, by all appearances, abandoned her responsibilities. Every potential ruler out there taking attention from those who truly wish to stop the chaos is just in the way."
On the screen Jinx had just turned into one end of a street as Kam turned into the other. Kam wasted no time, raising one hand and flinging a fireball that streaked towards Jinx who dove into a building to avoid the blast.
"He can throw fire?" Quinn asked.
"The Roush line can manipulate flames. Fireballs are new, he wasn't capable of that until his rune," Penny said.
Quinn had never seen Jinx do anything like a fireball at all. While he knew she was theoretically stronger with each rune she'd gotten, he hadn't seen any dramatic differences.
The holo hadn't provided audio up until this point. Now that a battle had properly begun it did.
"No armor, no weapon. You can come out now. I'll make this quick and painless," Kam said, as he advanced down the street. Despite his words he moved cautiously, sword in one hand and the other at the ready to throw more fire.
"Is that who you think I am? A quitter?" Jinx called.
"I think you are what you call yourself. A thief. A scared little girl in over her head who today picked the wrong man to rob," Kam said.
The buildings lining the street were single-room, and with a single entry. Jinx was trapped with nowhere to go.
Jinx stepped out onto the street, her chin held high.
"You don't know anything about me," Jinx said.
"You were never supposed to be this important. You were never supposed to be anyone. I am Kam Roush, Grandmaster of the Arena, Emperor of the Imperium," Kam said, and threw another fireball.
This time Jinx didn't dodge. In a fiery tangle of limbs she went tumbling down the street.
"Do
n't mourn," Penny said.
Quinn didn't need the Order. He knew what happened next, even if Penny and Kam had no idea.
At the end of the street the burned pile of limbs stirred. Jinx rose to her feet, the burns that covered her flesh already healing. The gown had burned away, but beneath them she seemed to be wearing her Queen of Thieves outfit—made of hazard cloth.
The runes upon Jinx's hand and wrist glowed as she moved back towards Kam.
"Perhaps you'd like to try that again," Jinx said.
"You've runes ... like mine. What did you do? Who did you kill?" Kam asked.
"Perhaps you should have asked your questions before trying to murder me," Jinx said. "If you are who you say you are—who you think you are. Again!"
Kam raised his hand again and another fireball flew out to hit Jinx. As before it sent her sprawling backwards, a mess of blackened and broken limbs. There were no screams though, just silence until she again stood up and began to walk down the street towards Kam.
"Perhaps there is something to her," Penny said thoughtfully, "The mending abilities of the Emperor's line. She uses them well, and Kam has not shown half the adroitness he needs."
"You should stay down. You can't win this," Kam said, but there was something different in his voice now.
"Can't I? I'm a thief. I'd just planned to steal the regalia, but since you put me in this position I will steal your title. I will steal your life," Jinx said. Not running, no anger in her voice, no pain, no fear. It was calm, cool certainty.
Kam hurled another fireball.
This one hit too, but Jinx didn't go flying backwards from the impact. When the flames parted she was still standing, skin unmarked, and her runes seeming to glow even more brilliantly.
Penny leaned forward, intent on the screen.
"Nice trick. It won't save you from steel," Kam said, advancing and lunging with his blade to impale Jinx through the chest.
The tip of the blade just scraped off her stomach, clanging as if it had hit a statue.
Kam responded quickly, pulling back and hitting again. He was almost a blur, four different blows all hitting Jinx in quick order and bouncing off.
Jinx answered with a punch, a single blow towards Kam's chest. When she pulled her hand back it was covered in blood. A hole had been punched in Kam's breastplate. He staggered in place for a moment, surprise on his face, and then he stumbled backwards. Hitting the arena floor, dead.
That was it. Jinx knew who she was, that was her power in Order magic.
Quinn was Chaos, his strength wasn't in being the strongest he could be. It was in being someone else. This Quinn had been drugged by Penny, and this Quinn had to obey her. But there were other possibilities out there, just like the might-have-beens during a jump. He didn't need one for long, just for a few seconds.
Penny wore a set of round earrings of familiar design. Quinn had seen them on Mara, and knew their real purpose. Penny was so focused on the end of the fight she never saw his hand coming to tear one from her ear. By the time she turned around he'd pressed one to her neck and triggered the stun blast.
16
Quinn tried his comm and found it blocked—spies did love their technology. Fortunately, being taken by surprise meant that Penny had left her work station unsecured. Quinn used its feed to open a channel to Mara.
"Quinn? Where are you?" Mara asked.
"I was abducted by one of yours, Penny. She turned Jinx over to Kam and was planning on turning me into a test subject," Quinn said.
There was a pause.
"Location?" Mara asked.
"No idea. She has a setup here a lot like yours. Next to what looks like a torture and kill chamber."
"A security wing, then. Penny's status?"
"I used Chaos magic to counter some obedience drug she gave me. Tore a stun blast earring off her and used it," Quinn said.
"That buys you maybe ten minutes. Hit her with the other one. That will restart the timer. I'll be there before it expires," Mara said.
Quinn killed the comm channel and did just as Mara suggested. The second stun blast didn't even cause Penny's body to twitch, he couldn't be sure it had done anything at all.
Mara arrived a few minutes later, barely giving Quinn a nod before she began to tear through the room. Under a loose stone from beneath the bed she soon extracted what appeared to be a medical kit. Loading up an injector from a greenish vial, she pressed it to Penny's neck.
"This is a huge mess," Mara said, rubbing her eyes. "If I'd have sensed her ... I should have been using a secondary network to scan."
"She tried to kill Jinx. I ... told her about you," Quinn said.
"Not your fault. You were influenced," Mara said, pacing back and forth. "I'm going to assume she wanted me dead too. If you hadn't gotten to her first, she'd have used you to lure me in."
"I think I'm going for that if we need to kill her, I'm not going to object," Quinn said.
Mara closed her eyes for a moment. "Quinn, I promise you. You do not want my family as enemies."
"They tried to kill Jinx."
"She did. I see you were watching the fight, you know she didn't succeed. There is nobody deadlier to Jinx than my family, nobody more dangerous to you. Killing magic-users who become a threat is what we do," Mara said.
It clicked into place. Quinn had never quite figured out whether Mara was spy, assassin, or both. He was finally starting to get an answer to that question.
"All this time you've been keeping watch on us. You've been keeping us under surveillance and thinking the day might come you'd have to kill us," Quinn said, meeting Mara's gaze.
"Lord Barr was a potential replacement for the Emperor, and possibly behind his disappearance. I was there to learn all I could about his plans and, if needed, to kill him," Mara said.
"That doesn't sound like a denial."
"It isn't one. This isn't a time for long stories."
"Then keep it as short as you can, because right now I'm not sure where we stand. I love you, I do, but you've always put your other loyalties first," Quinn said.
"Magic literally tore this empire in half. A desire for Order made the Emperor destroy the great library. The librarians there decided magic unchecked was a danger to all," Mara said, facing him. “That’s our mission, above all else.”
Quinn thought of all he'd seen. It wasn't that he disagreed, really. In this situation, though it didn't make a difference, he knew where he stood and it was putting his family first. Mara was a part of that family, but he needed to make sure she didn't intend to harm the rest of it.
"So you haven't abandoned that mission?" Quinn asked.
"I haven't and I never will. But I've long since decided our family is part of the solution and not part of the problem, however slow my sisters may be to see it," Mara said, looking down to Penny. "But it isn't us or them. It isn't. I won't let it be."
Quinn rubbed at his face. "I trust you. Thank you for coming. So how do you want to handle this?"
"The last I knew Kara was fighting a room full of gladiators trying to get to Jinx. Find her, make sure Jinx is safe. I'll handle Penny."
Quinn hated this. It didn't make him comfortable turning his back on an enemy—and Penny was that. But he had to trust Mara. However much her short version of events was the short version, there was a lot more at play here.
"Don't take too long. Kam might have had friends," Quinn said.
Mara nodded.
Quinn stepped out of the room and set off down the hall. He took the first stairway up. That was the thing about torture rooms and kill chambers, people always seemed to keep them in the basement.
On the next floor he found his comm had a signal.
"Kara, you read?" Quinn asked.
"Feast hall. Floor one. Find security, they'll show you the way. We're kind of friends now," Kara said.
Quinn found that very hard to believe. Still, soon enough he got to test it when he stumbled across a security guard. They seemed to be e
xpecting him and guided Quinn to a large cavern. Tables were everywhere, most carrying an assortment of drinks and food.
On a raised platform was another table with a few seats. Kara and Jinx were both there, along with a few faces he didn't recognize.
Jinx bounded out of her chair to give him a tight hug. Quinn looked her over to see if there were any more runes adorning her flesh. There weren't, not that he could see.
Jinx shrugged. "I know. Total badassery in finally getting it right and becoming Arena Grandmaster and I don't even get a new mark."
"They threw you a great party at least,” Kara said, raising a mug of beer. “I told you all that face-punching was going to do some good."
"You were amazing. I saw the whole thing," Quinn said.
"You all saw the whole thing? Then you're all pretty terrible about coming to the rescue," Jinx said with a wry smile.
"I tried! I punched a bunch of people!" Kara said.
Several of the gladiators at the table lifted their mugs at that. A few were wearing recent injuries.
"Are you going to be okay?" Quinn asked.
Jinx glanced at the floor. "Not the first person I've had to kill, Quinn. Not even the second. You know that, you were there for the others. This one threw me into an arena and set me on fire."
Quinn nodded and took her hand. "A lot of people would still feel shaky about that."
"It was justice," Jinx said, and she looked around the room. "At least we aren't going to have any problems. There are some places where killing the boss wouldn't go over well. Here? Here it makes you a hero."
There certainly weren't many long faces at this party. Perhaps Kam hadn't been that popular among the other gladiators. It made sense, if he kept killing them.
"We still shouldn't linger, but Mara needs awhile. I was delayed by ... one of her peers," Quinn said.
"Really? And I don’t get to fight the super-spy thing?" Kara asked, disappointed. "Is she still alive? Can I go a round?"
"Mara is handling it. I'd suggest giving her the space," Quinn said.
Jinx finally let the hug go and resumed her seat, and Kara scooted a chair over so he could be between them.