by L J Andrews
Lilian scrubbed her face and there was a new fire in her gaze. “Never mind now. What do you plan to do, Isa?”
“Take the money and buy the finest ale and have it delivered to Kawal and his guards. You won’t even need to give your name. They can’t resist making merry and once the wall protection is dizzy with drink, I shall do the rest.”
“This is dangerous,” Jakai snapped. “How can you trust her, Lilian? She’s obviously lying about being a tutor.”
“Yes,” Lilian said softly. “She is no tutor.”
“Nothing will fall back on you, either of you,” Isa said.
Jakai scoffed and walked away, but Lilian clutched her stomach, her cheeks pale. “This could end badly, Isabelle.”
Isa grabbed her sister’s hands between her own. “I’m good at what I do, Lil. Please do this for me. I shall never ask another thing.” Tearing the key from around her neck, Isa dug into her satchel of clothing and mapped out directions to her underground empire. “You shall find what you need here. I shall meet you when the blood moon rises.”
Lilian glanced at Jakai whose kindly demeanor had hardened into bitter mistrust. Clasping the key tight in her hand, Lilian nodded after a pause. “This is dangerous, Isabelle, and I assume after it is done there shall be years between our meeting again.”
Tears stung Isa’s eyes when Lilian’s voice cracked. “My life belongs to the guild, Lilian. Perhaps, you both would be welcomed—”
“I will never run with thieves,” Jakai snapped and spat at her feet.
Isa winced as she rolled her hair into a tight knot behind her head. With her black cloak covering her brow, she wrapped her arms around Lilian’s neck and closed her eyes. “No matter how much time passes between us, you shall always be my sister.”
Lilian embraced Isa as if she believed it would be the final time and said nothing before gripping the key and finding her place at Jakai’s side. Isa wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and with a backward step she faded into the shadows of the trees.
***
The prickle danced down Isa’s spine as ominous, crimson light cascaded like a river of blood across the white stone in Kawal’s great hall. From the eaves hovering in the dome of the massive room she could see through the upper shutters the blood moon had come.
With a tug to the fabric, Isa urged her heavy cloak tighter around her shoulders. Chants and hollers echoed in the night. Smoke rose in the distance, along the borders of Jershon and near Tjuvar Port. The fiends of the night broke free to wreak havoc across the city and empire. The blood moon seemed to ignite the primal natures of every living soul. Even now, a stirring boiled through her blood as if the crimson orb sparked to life an ego within, she didn’t recognize throughout the year.
A blood moon had marked a night her world had shaken when the crowds and executioners found her father guilty of conspiracy and treason. The blood moon had ripped her from her home, her family, her life. Yet, as much as she tried to hate the moon, something about the power of the darkness strengthened her too.
Isa checked the dagger on her hip and the knife strapped to her arm. Her heart stilled when the great doors opened and Kawal returned. The general hummed under his breath. In one hand he held a bottle he lifted to his lips several times, in the other his sword dragged along the stone floor. Tipping the bottle back, Kawal finished the last drop and slumped in his iron throne. Isa grinned as she drifted across the eaves to gain a better perspective. The general was alone and drunk. Well, done Lilian.
Isa recalled her training in the forest, the night Joshua had paid her a genuine compliment. If she’d stayed put longer, she would have remained undetected. Though her haunches burned and ached from crouching, Isa wouldn’t budge until Kawal slipped into a drunken slumber and she could take the amulet. Angelet would be simple since Isa knew where her chambers were, and the girl trusted her. Thieves Waste would be hers by dawn, and the idea never sounded so sweet.
The red glow from the moon deepened as she waited. Kawal found a second bottle in the stores at the back of the room, and soon his head bobbed against the back of his seat. Isa held her breath once the general slumped forward and soft easy breaths came from his nose. She waited. Then waited longer.
Kawal hadn’t budged, and if she couldn’t hear his snoring, Isa might think the general was dead. Slinking along the eaves like an ape in the trees, Isa wrapped her arm around a lower rafter and swung her body to gain momentum. Without a sound, she flung toward one of the thick pillars. Her arms didn’t quite wrap around the pillar, but she was able to grip tight enough to scale down. Dagger in hand, Isa crept toward the throne. Kawal seemed peaceful where he slept. The amulet was there for the taking with his head lolled back. It was simple. Her skin rippled—almost too simple.
Biting the inside of her cheek, Isa reached for the stone. Dark comfort surrounded her from the inside out, the closer she came. She could feel the breath of power; unusual yet familiar. Her fingers prepared to curl around the stone when Kawal’s eyes flashed open and his strong grip wrapped around her wrists.
Isa shrieked from surprise as the general tossed her to the ground. Her dagger skidded along the stone, but she found it quickly. Kawal’s blade collided with her smaller weapon. Isa dodged when he reeled back again. Rolling to her shoulder, she pounced to her feet holding both her knife and dagger as Kawal rolled his sword in one palm.
“Lady Aba,” he chuckled. “Though I do not think that is your name. I hear you are a master of disguise, here to take what does not belong to you. If I had to guess, I would say you are the woman a recent acquaintance was looking for.”
“You wish to cross blades with a trained thief of Tyv, Kawal?” Isa matched his prowling steps.
Kawal laughed through his teeth. “Only if you dare cross blades with a general of two armies.”
“I’m neither impressed nor intimidated.”
He scoffed. “She said you were arrogant. Pride leads to defeat, girl.”
“She?” Isa had been struck across the face many times in Tyv through training, but no strike compared to the moment two side doors opened and Lilian and Jakai entered the room.
Her older sister met her eye without the slightest shift in her flat expression. Kawal laughed and slapped Isa in her stupor. Lilian still didn’t flinch. “You, stupid woman,” Kawal growled. “You thought you could come in here,” slap “deceive me, steal from me, and there would be no consequences.”
Isa spat blood on the stones, and slipped her hood off so her sister could see her entirely. “Lilian, what have you done?”
“It is time for you to stand in judgment for your crimes, Isabelle.”
Kawal grinned viciously. “For your sister’s loyalty and payment, she is free to live the life she wishes without repercussions for her family relations.”
Soldiers filtered in through the back doors and gripped Isa around the arms before she could strike or parry. One bulky solider, who seemed more like a brute by his thickness, gripped the back of her neck and forced her down on her knees. Two more snatched her blades as Kawal laughed wickedly.
“It is rather exciting to have a thief’s entire purse added to my vaults.”
Isa cursed her own stupidity. Trust no one. Hadn’t Hadeon drilled that very lesson into her mind for years? No one outside the guild was to ever be trusted, not even a beloved sister. Lilian had paid Kawal, but offered Isa up as well. She was the fool for believing blood ran thicker than gold, but still, Isa never imagined the slash through her heart would ache so desperately.
Clomping boots joined the soldiers and the scent of dried, greasy skin burned her nostrils.
“Is this the one?” Kawal asked.
Grimy fingers curled under Isa’s chin and tilted her face up. Bale grinned in the bloody light. His skin was patchier and uglier than she remembered. When he laughed against her face, his hot breath churned her stomach. “Oh, this is the one.”
Isa sneered and winked. “Bale, how is your finger?”
Bale’s smiled faded and he raised his hand to strike her as Kawal had done. Isa allowed a cold numbness to soak her soul as she determined this was not the night she would die. Dropping her shoulder, she broke free of one soldier’s grip. The others lunged and she kicked, striking another soldier in the knee.
She freed the serrated knife inside her boot and stabbed the point through the top of Bale’s scuffed shoe before he could dodge. The man roared in agony. Kawal rushed at Isa as Bale tumbled to the ground. Lilian covered her mouth. Jakai joined his general. Chaos and shouting echoed along the great hall. Soldiers huddled at the rear, and Isa frantically scanned the room for escape.
She was trapped. From the chaos a man in a dark cloak shoved through, a slick blade with deadly spikes on the tip in his hand. The banesman slipped back his hood and Isa felt the soldiers retreat when his pallid expression brightened in the crimson light.
“Wait,” Lilian cried. “Isa…”
Jakai gripped Lilian’s shoulders and Kawal stepped to the back of the banesman.
“You offered your sister up for your freedom, what did you think would happen?” Kawal snapped over his shoulder.
Isa didn’t care if Lilian felt guilty, her eyes were too focused on the banesman who stalked her deliberately.
“I’ve seen much about you. Extraordinary, thief,” said the assassin.
Isa swallowed the grit in her throat and kept watch from the corners of her eye for any side attacks. Bale scrambled to his feet, though he limped where his leather boot was soaked in his blood.
“What are you waiting for?” Isa whispered.
“Fate,” he said.
Adrenaline surged through her blood when the spiked blade plunged toward her neck. Isa checked the strike, but the banesman’s weapon skinned her knuckles when his larger blade locked with her knife. She spun on her heel, ducking a second strike. With even blows, the banesman plunged, stabbed, and attacked with more skill that she could hope for.
Bale roared for her death when the banesman struck the back of his hand across Isa’s face and she toppled to the hard floor. On her rise from the deadly position, Isa glared at Lilian whose face was pale and distraught.
“Blood is on your hands, sister,” she hissed as she rolled away from a fatal blow.
Jakai urged Lilian toward the door when tears fell onto her sister’s cheeks, but Lilian never left. The banesman let his blade fall like an executioner’s ax. Her blood ran cold as her focus turned to the cutting edge. Only her small knife halted the sword and her muscles trembled as she kept the fatal blade from slitting her throat. The banesman leaned forward, stressing his blade harder. Isa’s body seemed to calm. Her heart was stiller and her breaths deeper. Inside the hall the crimson light from the blood moon darkened and the banesman’s jaw dropped when he met Isa’s eye.
To her astonishment the man released his blade and backed away. “It’s not…possible.”
Isa sat straight and reached for the sword of the stunned banesman, but it was kicked away by a soldier. Bale roared his frustration and gripped the cloak of his assassin. “Kill her you fool. You have her.”
The banesman shook his head, fear written in his expression. “The wrath of the dark gods will fall upon our heads. Take her if you will, but I will be nowhere near.”
As the banesman rushed from the hall there was a pause for half a breath where no one knew what to make of the abrupt departure from a hired killer. Banesman were meant to be fearless, and impossible to defeat. A chill trailed down Isa’s spine as she gripped her knife.
Bale growled and wrenched the banesman’s sword from beneath the soldier’s foot. “Then I shall do it myself.”
Bale closed in; Kawal inched closer, yet with more caution. Isa readied for the second round of battle, but in an instant the room filled with suffocating heat. Lilian screamed, and soldiers fell to the ground, shielding their heads. Isa tossed her cloak over her head as the flames erupted across the great hall. Thick smoke, coupled with the dark moon, cast the hall in near blackness when Isa lifted her gaze in the commotion. Kawal was shouting orders for his soldiers. Bale shrieked in more anguish as flames ate across his arm and devoured his silk vest. The swindler was being swallowed by flames, and Isa knew his life would be over in a few painful moments.
Lilian was running for the door with Jakai, coughing and gagging on harsh smoke, when a firm grip wrapped around her arm.
“Isa, come with me.”
Isa coughed in the smoke that came close, but never touched her. She startled when Angelet again wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled her back to her feet. Angelet gathered her gown and urged Isa toward a side doorway. “Angelet…wait the amulet…”
“Leave it. Come, I cannot hold the flames for long.”
Isa swallowed the scorching air. After sensing the power from the amulet, she was certain it was the second piece. But at least the true prize, the Fireshaper, had walked right into her arms. She would face Kawal again and take the stone. And if Isa had her way, he wouldn’t take another breath when she was finished, but tonight was a night of survival.
Live today. Revenge tomorrow.
Chapter 23
Blood Knights
Angelet dragged Isa through the manse as the heat of her flames burned at their backs. Shouts from Kawal’s guards echoed down the long corridors.
“This way,” Angelet said and ripped open a concealed door built into the wall. Without thinking Isa dipped into the dark hidden space. Angelet slammed the door behind them and leaned against the wall, gasping for air. The clang of metal and rushing boots swept past in the outer corridor and Angelet released a long breath with a grin. “That was close.”
“Angelet, you must come with me to Thieves Waste,” Isa said flatly. If she thought too long on the truth that Angelet was being traded like an object, she risked betraying Master Hadeon.
“Thieves Waste?” Angelet stepped closer so Isa could see the whites of her eyes. “Isa, tell me why you returned?”
“I told you I was here to take something from Kawal, but I failed. My sister was the one who betrayed me,” Isa said through her teeth.
Angelet wrapped a strand of her hair tight around a finger and rested her ear against the door leading to the hallway. “Thieves Waste is dangerous for outsiders; I have heard stories.”
“There will be a place for you there,” Isa muttered, though she didn’t know what was in the woman’s fate. If Kish and the Ladroa were involved what would become of the Fireshaper? Would she be one of Kish’s many women? Hadeon’s? Perhaps, the guilds would use her for her power, leaving her no freedom much like living as Kawal’s bride.
“I trust you, Isa,” Angelet said after a long pause. “If you tell me I will find refuge, then I shall trust you. But I warn you, Kawal will not take this betrayal lightly. Expect the Wastes to come under attack to retrieve me, and to find you.”
Isa forced a grin, hoping to keep her guilt from boiling to the surface. “We know how to protect our people. Is there a way to get to your bedchamber?”
Angelet furrowed her brow. “Yes, but I don’t understand.”
“You will be recognized. We must disguise you. Now hurry before they go to search for you.”
Angelet turned down the dark corridor ahead of Isa, using the walls to guide her way. The inner tunnels of the manor interconnected like a hive, curling around nearly every room. Angelet held up one hand after several long minutes, and stopped Isa in the dark. There was the slightest glimmer of light through a slit in the wall. Angelet peered through the hole for what seemed like hours, before she gently opened the painting blocking the tunnel.
“The room is empty. We must hurry.”
Isa rushed into the fine space. Clothing was toppled along the floor, and one of Angelet’s armoires was turned on its side. “Someone has already come looking for you.”
“And they will return, I’m sure. What do you need of my things?”
Isa was already gathering an emerald cloak with the s
eal of Kawal’s lineage. She found a white underdress and a gray linen robe. Isa shredded the hems with a knife from her boot and handed the two pieces to Angelet. “Tie your hair low on your neck. Wash off your face powders and lip color.”
Angelet didn’t question and set to work as Isa found a thin gown and slipped off her dingy black clothing. Tossing her trousers and tunic into the open-hearth Isa gathered her dark hair and toppled it loosely over her head. There wasn’t time to paint her skin the pale color of Angelet’s, so the cloak would need to suit until they fled the borders of Sortis.
“Like this?” Angelet asked after they’d dressed.
Isa smiled and nodded, fraying the hem of her dresses more. “At first glance you look just like a chamber maid and that is who you must be. You are the chamber maid to Lady Angelet, understand?”
Angelet furrowed her brow, but nodded.
“Good,” Isa continued and inched toward the balcony. “Let me do the talking should we meet anyone. Do not reveal who you are, not on the night of the blood moon. Come on we must scale down.”
Angelet had glassy eyes normally, but Isa predicted she was holding back tears. Slinging one leg over the balcony, Isa dug her toes between the clay bricks and studied the side of the manse for the best route.
“Come slowly, and carefully.”
“I can manage,” Angelet said.
Isa didn’t counter with her doubts, there wasn’t time, the streets were already wild as though the creatures of the jungle paraded in the center of Sortis. As a child her parents had done all but chain her to the wall during the blood moons. Lilian hid beneath her pillows, but Isa had always shared a fascination for the strange darkness of the sky as if it reached an inner shadow she kept locked inside. Tonight, she felt nothing but apprehension. Something prickled along her skin as she traipsed the wall, keeping a close watch on Kawal’s young bride. As though her senses warned her that this blood moon was not the same as others. The odd banesman added to her nerves. Isa couldn’t understand what had frightened him in such a way.