A dance of mirrors, p.13
A Dance of Mirrors, page 13
On the other side, Zusa fell from above the entrance, landing hard on one side.
“Zusa?” he asked as she lay there, very still. “Zusa!”
“Was spotted,” she said, her back still to him. “Careless…”
He heard shouts from far away, and his pulse doubled.
“Hurry,” he said. “We need to get out of here, now!”
Zusa looked too weak to stand, though, let alone lift the heavy bar blocking the door. She closed her eyes, and then he saw the first guard come running up the hill toward the inlet of the dungeon’s entrance.
“Zusa! Get up, Zusa. Focus on the pain, use it, and stand!”
She forced herself onto her knees, and for the first time Haern saw the thick crossbow bolt embedded in her side. The first edges of panic bloomed in the back of his mind. Turning away from the door, he grabbed one of the crossbows and a handful of bolts. Before the first guard could reach her, Haern shot him down through the gaps in the bars. Another guard appeared, and though his first shot missed, the second plunged into his throat.
Zusa grabbed the bar across the door and dragged herself to her feet. Haern reloaded the crossbow, then reached through the bars to cup her face in his hand.
“You can do it,” he said. “Don’t worry about them. Don’t worry about anything. Lift it. Set me free, and I swear I’ll protect you.”
She tore the wraps free from across her mouth, then leaned her forehead against the bars.
“Too hot,” she said, breathing heavily, her eyes still closed.
Haern saw the group of guards approaching, coming up a side path from the mansion.
“Now, damn you,” he said to her. “Now, or we’re both corpses.”
He shot a bolt over her head, then dropped it to draw his sabers. Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Zusa grabbed one end of the bar and forced it upward. As it cleared the latch, she dropped it, and Haern burst through. The pain in his shoulder a distant memory, he launched himself at the six guards, all the while howling like a madman. His sabers danced, and the guards could not hope to match his fury. The first two dropped, their initial attacks clumsy compared to his. Twirling between them, he slashed the back leg of one guard, then lunged at another. Their bodies collided, and the guard went down, Haern’s knees slamming his chest. The collision with the dirt jarred them both, but Haern’s sabers were there, punching through flesh to keep him still. The final two turned to flee, but he would have none of it. He stabbed one in the back. The other he tripped, cutting out his throat on the way down.
Walking back, blood dripping from his sabers, he passed the guard he’d hamstrung, who pleaded for his life.
“Don’t, please!” the man cried as Haern pressed a saber against his throat. Haern felt the cloud of his rage passing, and with it the ache in his shoulder returned with full force. Lowering his weapon, Haern slapped the guard across the face with the flat of his blade.
“Do something useful with your life,” he said, sheathing his sabers. He ran back to Zusa, who leaned against the door, clutching the bolt in her side with both hands. As Haern neared, she rammed it through her flesh, punching the barb out her back. In near disbelief, Haern caught her as she fell into his arms.
“Pull it out,” she said to him as he held her. Haern grabbed the bloodied shaft, gritted his teeth, and pulled. Only a slight gasp of pain marked its exit. He staunched the blood flow using her cloak, tying it tight about her.
“Leave me,” she said. “You won’t escape otherwise. Tell Alyssa I’m sorry…”
“You’ll tell her yourself.”
Bracing her weight on his shoulder, he took a pained step forward, then another. She leaned her head against him, and he was shocked by its warmth. As they gained momentum, Zusa began to recover her balance, and she supported herself more and more. Limping and bleeding, they walked down the hill. The entire complex was walled in, their path leading to a gated side entrance. A squad of soldiers stood before it, manning their post. When they saw Haern and Zusa coming, they readied their weapons.
“Too many,” Zusa said, seeing them. “Just drop me and go.”
Haern shook his head. “We die together.”
Hardly ten paces away they stopped, and Haern released her from his grasp. They stood, weapons drawn. Haern laughed, knowing they must look like the most pathetic pair of killers. Meanwhile, nearly twenty men moved to surround them.
“Let us through,” Haern said, pointing a bloody saber toward the man who appeared to be their leader. “Otherwise, you die first.”
“Drop your weapons now,” the man said, ignoring his demand.
“Only when we’re dead, soldier.”
The soldiers tensed, and Haern knew they prepared to attack. Zusa slid into a low stance, her arms poised almost as if she were a spider, but he saw the delirium in her eyes. Even in the best of conditions the two would have trouble with so many armored men, but in their current state… Haern pulled his hood lower and grinned. He’d die fighting, regardless of the lack of hope. The Wraith was right. Amid such madness, what else could he do?
Before the soldiers’ leader could give the order, a voice cried out from above the gate. Haern looked up to see the Wraith poised upon the wall, his sword drawn.
“Let them go,” he said.
“These are prisoners of Lord Ingram,” said the squad leader. “Go on your way, unless you want to join them in the dungeon.”
“Let them go. I command you.”
Whispers grew as several of the soldiers realized who stood above them, garbed in black clothes and a long cloak.
“Who are you to give us commands?”
The Wraith grinned. “This is my city now. Let them go, or all of you will die.”
Haern could see the fear spreading through the squad. The Wraith spoke with authority, and even before their greater numbers, he showed no fear. It didn’t matter whether they could defeat him, for they knew the massive losses they would suffer. Again Haern witnessed a mirror of himself, of the fear he’d painstakingly created in Veldaren. Seeing it on the outside, it felt so deceptively false.
“Step aside,” Haern said, keeping his voice calm. “No one else needs to suffer.”
The squad leader took a step back, as if he were going to give way, then suddenly slashed for Haern’s throat while crying out for his men to attack. Haern parried it aside as all around him erupted into chaos. Zusa avoided the first two strikes her way, and then Haern was there, guarding her flank. Neither went on the offensive, instead blocking and retaliating against those who struck against them. After killing a single soldier who had pressed too close, Zusa collapsed to her knees, pushing Haern to his very limits to protect her. But after those initial moments, the number of his attackers shrank, for the Wraith had fallen among them, his sword a whirling steel blade of death. The soldiers fell at his feet, no match for his speed or skill. Cutting a bloody swathe through their numbers, the Wraith appeared before Haern, a smile still on his face.
“Sometimes I wonder how much use you might actually be to me,” he said before directing his attention to the remaining handful who had fallen back. “Come! Face me! Or are you cowards and fools who can strike only the poor and destitute?”
Haern didn’t care either way. Zusa lay at his feet, and he pulled her into his arms. He used his foot to lift the heavy key ring from the squad leader’s belt, flicking it up so he could catch it. Sounds of combat came from behind him as he unlocked the gate and shoved it open a little.
“Stay with me,” he whispered to Zusa. “We need to get out of sight for a while. I need you to run. Can you run?”
“Don’t… have much choice…” she said, and she gave him a weak grin.
Overcome by impulse, he kissed her lips, then shifted more of her weight onto him. “Some honeymoon,” he said. “Stay strong. Stay with me.”
They ran, leaving the occasional trickle of blood behind them. Given their outfits and wounds, they garnered many stares, but none interfered with their passage. Guards shouted in the distance, but they faded in time. Whether through their speed, the crowd, or the Wraith’s interference, they put Ingram’s dungeon far behind them. With each minute, Zusa grew weaker, until Haern at last lifted her into his arms and carried her. No more running then, just step after painful step. He felt his own delirium starting to grow, the city strange and unfamiliar about him. Forcing the streets to make sense, forcing his mind to push through the pain, he continued along. The farther they got from the prison, the more people lingered, and several even asked if he needed help. He ignored them, having no spare thought beyond putting one foot in front of the other.
At last Haern collapsed to his knees, Zusa lying unconscious in his arms. Before him was a large gate. Never would Haern have guessed the incredible relief he’d feel seeing Torgar yank it open to greet him.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” the giant man asked.
Haern wanted to say that indeed he was. Instead he laughed even as the tears ran down his face, and at least fifteen passing men and women saw them brought into Laurie Keenan’s mansion.
CHAPTER
10
Madelyn kissed Tori’s smooth forehead and then wrapped her swaddling blanket tighter as the commotion grew. Her husband had been in his study when the first shouts came from outside the front door, and while he no doubt rushed to investigate, she retreated farther within her walls, clutching the baby to her chest. Her home was her sanctuary, her place of locked doors and safe walls. Already the Wraith had violated that sanctity. Would someone else be vile enough to do the same?
“Go see what is causing that ruckus,” she told her nursemaid, Lily.
“Of course,” said Lily, hurrying away. Two other servants were with her, and they stood patiently in the corners of the parlor, one tending the fireplace, the other waiting for orders. She tried to put them out of her mind, instead softly singing a lullaby to the already sleeping baby. After three lines, she stopped, for the commotion had grown louder. Lily returned looking confused, yet trying to hide it.
“Well?” Madelyn asked.
“It’s Alyssa’s guests,” Lily said, the name immediately putting a rock in her stomach. “The newly married couple. They’re both bleeding.”
Madelyn stood, angry she had not been summoned. To have guests in her house injured, yet not brought to her attention? Still, something was off with how Lily was acting. It reminded her of when Lily had been sleeping with one of the guards, that slight hesitance, her unwillingness to look her in the eye for long.
“What happened to them?” she asked. “Did they tell you?”
“No, but… they are wearing strange clothes. I cannot explain.”
Strange clothes? What nonsense was this?
“Lily,” she said, adopting a pleasant tone that she knew chilled all of her servants. “What are you not telling me?”
The nursemaid bit the top of her lip and held her arms against her waist. She was still a fairly young girl, though the last of her girlishness would be gone within another year or two. But she was young enough to have lingering instincts to obey a motherly figure, and Madelyn shifted her tone.
“Lily. You aren’t in trouble. Now tell me what you’re hiding.”
“We were instructed not to speak of it to you.”
“By who?”
“Your husband, milady.”
Madelyn breathed in deep to hold back a retort. If Laurie was hiding something from her…
“His anger will fall on me, not you, now speak.”
Lily glanced to one of the other servant girls, and Madelyn’s ire grew. Their single look showed they both knew. How many kept this secret from her?
“The two have been sneaking out at night,” the third and eldest servant said, standing by the fire. Her face was lined with wrinkles, for she was their midwife, staying in the mansion to ensure all went well with baby Tori. “We’ve seen them using our door. They dress strange, and they got weapons with them when they do.”
“Strange?” Madelyn asked. “What do you mean? Dressed like what?”
Lily looked to the others for support, and she lowered her voice, as if whispering a curse. “Like thieves.”
Madelyn was out of her seat fast enough to stir Tori, who softly groaned upon waking. Her servants trailed after her as she hurried through the mansion, heading toward the room they’d given Haern and Zusa for their stay. The room was crowded upon her arrival, Torgar standing before the door, several armed men milling about.
“Is my husband inside?” Madelyn asked, nodding toward the shut door.
“He is.”
“Open it.”
“It’s locked, miss.”
“I said open it.”
Torgar shrugged. Drawing his enormous sword, he used it as a wedge to break the flimsy lock, jarring the door open a crack. Through it, she saw her husband glance at her in the dim lamplight, Alyssa standing beside him. He had a hard look to his face, and she knew he’d been preparing for her discovery. That fact only infuriated her more.
“Will they live?” she asked as he stepped out to join her.
“I believe so,” he said.
“A shame.”
Laurie glared. “They are guests in our house, Madelyn. Such callous attitude is unwarranted.”
“Is it? Where’d they come from, Laurie? What is it that nearly killed them?”
Her husband looked to the gathered house guards, then shook his head. “Somewhere quiet,” he said.
She followed him back into his study. Only Lily remained when he shut the door, accepting Tori into her arms. Sitting down in one of the several padded chairs, she exposed a breast and began feeding. Even in feeding, Madelyn refused to ever let the baby out of her sight. Laurie glared at her but was wise enough not to fight that battle given the larger problem with Haern and Zusa… assuming those were even their real names. Already she doubted their relationship to the Gemcrofts.
“What is it you know?” she asked. “Tell me all of it, and no lies. The gods help you if you’ve put Tori in danger.”
“We’re in no danger!” Laurie shouted, the uncharacteristic display startling Madelyn back a step. Feeling naked without Tori in her arms, she crossed them and glared right back at her husband. Laurie looked away, and she could see the anger fuming behind his eyes. Good. Only seemed right he be as angry as she was.
“At least, I don’t think so,” he said when he’d calmed. “But things are changing fast, and never did I think the Watcher would be so stupid.”
Madelyn’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “You brought him here?” she asked. It felt as if her husband were playing a sick joke on her. “But he… I heard Ingram’s announcement. The Watcher was supposed to hang tonight.”
And suddenly his wounds made perfect sense. Overwhelmed with rage, she dug her nails into the flesh of her arm hard enough to draw blood. Her precious mansion, her only place of safety, housed one of the most notorious killers alive?
“He broke out,” she said, and her husband never contradicted her. “And after he broke out he came here. Damn it, Laurie, did anyone see us taking in a wanted fugitive?”
Laurie sighed. “Torgar says they were most likely seen.”
The words hit her like a blow to the chest.
“He’ll find out,” she said, meaning Ingram. “Half the city guard will surround our home before nightfall. We can’t be caught housing them, Laurie. We have to turn them over!”
“Alyssa won’t allow that and you know it.”
“Then turn over Alyssa!”
He slapped her, hard. She leaned back in her chair, holding trembling fingers against her bleeding lip.
“Alyssa Gemcroft is a leader of the Trifect,” Laurie said. “And the Trifect does not hand over its own, not even to kings. I don’t care how many soldiers Ingram sends—they won’t cross our walls.”
Panic crept up Madelyn’s spine, and she was helpless to stop it.
“We don’t have enough men,” she said.
“Torgar’s already sent runners to hire every available sellsword in the city, regardless of the cost.”
“But the mercenaries are all in league with the merchants. We can’t invite them into our home! They’ll outnumber our house guards!”
“Damn it, woman, enough! Do you think I’m a fool? I have enough problems trying to keep the damn Merchant Lords from ruining us. I need no grief from you. If Violet gains popularity, and it will, what do you think will happen then? If they ever have the coin to challenge us, to spread out beyond Angelport, nothing stays certain. Nothing stays safe.”
He said the last word with a cruel edge, for he knew her paranoia and phobias. The open sky was a torment. Unlocked doors were a danger. His shouting upset Tori, who released Lily’s nipple and began to wail. Lily shushed her, rocking her back and forth while shifting her to the other breast. Madelyn watched her rub the nipple across Tori’s upper lip, and she thought of all that might happen because Alyssa had brought the Watcher and his whore with her from Veldaren. She thought of what the city guards might do to such a helpless thing if they came crashing through the doors. It sent her to tears.
“Why?” she asked. “Why are they even here?”
“Who? The two? Alyssa brought them to hunt down the Wraith. It was her gift, to bring Taras’s killer to vengeance.”
“She gives us poison and calls it a gift, and yet she stands equal to you in the Trifect? This is madness, Laurie. Utter madness.”
He went to her and wrapped his arms about her waist. When he kissed her lips, she kissed back out of reflex, and nothing else. They both tasted blood.
“I promise nothing will happen,” he said. “Ingram can only do so much. He needs us, no matter how much he wants to admit it. Without us, our guards, our trade, and our influence, Angelport will suffer greatly. Without us, he cannot stop Ulrich and his madness from starting a war he can’t hope to win. He’ll bluff and bluster, but the man is a superstitious coward. Do not fear him. When he knows we will not relent, Ingram will turn away.”
“I pray you are right,” she said, pulling away from him so she could join Lily’s side. After Tori was burped, and her bit of spit-up cleaned, Madelyn accepted her back into her arms. Lily covered herself and excused herself from the room. Now fully alone, the two looked at each other, as if neither had anything to say.
