The Executioner's Right (The Executioner's Song Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “A mixture of buttleworm and filst can help. A compound of spilen ash and leven leaf. Or a—”

  “That suffices,” the woman said. “Describe how you would concoct a sedative.”

  Finn had seen Meyer using something like that—and providing it to someone who’d come to him for it.

  When he answered, he found another question. Then another. He answered them all as well as he could, though he started to feel as if they exceeded what he knew.

  None of that mattered. All that mattered was that he find the answers that he could. That he pass the test.

  Some of the questions he didn’t know the answer to. When he told them that, they continued with another question.

  After a while, these three moved off to the side. Another three joined. They looked harder than the others. Two of them were older, of a similar age to Meyer, though one reminded him of the Lion. All were dressed in similar gray leathers. The older men both had beards, while the younger of the three kept his face clean-shaven.

  “Describe the questioning technique known as the ungar.”

  The first three had been to find out what he knew about healing. It surprised him that they would care whether he was able to heal, though he’d seen there was a concern about ensuring the prisoners weren’t defiled in any way. They had to be pretty for the gods, after all.

  This was different.

  Now came the real test, he suspected.

  Ungar?

  Where had he read about that?

  The questioners started to stir.

  “The ungar involves narrow rods slid under the fingernails,” Finn began, describing what he’d read. “The rods are slender and separate the—”

  “Describe the use of water in enhanced interrogations,” the younger of the three asked.

  Finn had to gather himself. The change was disconcerting, though he suspected that was part of the intention. They didn’t want him comfortable with the questioning. At least he had first-hand experience with this. “Water is poured into the person’s mouth until they cannot breathe. They are given a chance to answer—”

  “Share the use of the lagur.”

  Finn closed his eyes, thinking back. Had he seen or heard of anything called a lagur?

  A flicker of a memory came to him.

  “The lagur is a device strapped to a person’s head—"

  “How would you apply the berinth?” the first man asked.

  It was another device or technique that Finn didn’t know.

  He hadn’t been around Meyer enough during torture to know all of these techniques.

  “Where would you use fire when questioning?”

  Finn licked his lips. “I don’t know. Under the arms?” That had been where Gabe had been burned, though Finn didn’t know if that was the proper location.

  They asked a few more questions about devices and techniques, but with each one, Finn realized that he didn’t know enough.

  How could he? Meyer hadn’t taught him about this. There hadn’t been time.

  The three moved off to the side. The first man, the one who had greeted them when they came to the court, stepped forward.

  He watched Finn. “Describe the types of knots involved in creating a noose, along with their uses.”

  “There are several I know. The traditional knot is known as the hangman’s knot. It’s often used for the gallows tree, and the force to close is easier to adjust than the gallows knot, which is a simpler knot and less likely to break the neck, resulting in a suffocation. There are a few other simpler—”

  “How do you clean the sword of justice?”

  That was his next question? After everything that he’d been through, Finn thought the simple question almost too easy, but he was thankful for it. He wanted an easier question to answer. “Justice must be oiled weekly, and the scabbard monthly. The blade must be maintained at a sharpened edge to cleave the neck cleanly. There are—”

  “How would you apply the wheel?”

  Finn frowned. This time, he did look to Meyer. The master executioner watched him but didn’t say anything. “Tying him to it?” Finn started, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t have that experience,” Finn said.

  “How would you bind a man sentenced to be quartered?”

  He resisted the urge to shudder and started shaking his head. “I don’t… I suppose one of the traditional nooses wouldn’t suffice. A different knot”—as he searched his memory, he didn’t know what kind—“to tie to a man’s arms and legs. I’d want to give him mercy beforehand so that he didn’t die screaming and suffer.”

  The lead executioner watched Finn, saying nothing.

  Finally, he stepped away and returned with a long-bladed sword.

  “Demonstrate your skill.”

  He held out the blade and motioned to one side of the wagon Finn hadn’t seen before.

  A large pig lay motionless.

  He looked to Meyer but didn’t get any response from him.

  Finn carried the sword over to stand in front of the pig. The legs were bound, and he could see that it had bled out already. This was a test of technique only.

  “Do I do this here, or do I have it elevated?”

  As an answer, two of his testers hoisted the pig, holding it in the middle.

  Finn swallowed.

  He’d practiced on pumpkins, but this was something different.

  He could feel Meyer’s eyes on him as he took his position next to the pig. The others of the court stood silent as they watched.

  Finn took a deep breath, raised the sword, and swung.

  The blade came down faster than Justice did. Justice was heavier and more substantial. As the blade whistled down, he had a moment where he thought it would miss.

  The blade cleaved cleanly, but it only cleaved through half of the pig’s neck.

  Finn lowered the blade, breathing out slowly.

  He’d failed.

  He couldn’t even look at Meyer.

  The others lowered the pig and gathered together, speaking softly for a long while. Every so often, Finn heard a more animated voice and worried that he wasn’t going to pass the test. Which meant that Meyer wouldn’t survive the testing.

  The lead executioner turned back to him. “There is one more test, Master Meyer.”

  Meyer came to stand next to Finn.

  Even though Finn suspected what was coming, it didn’t make it any easier.

  “He must carry out a sentencing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Neither of them spoke on the walk back to the city. Finn wondered what Meyer must be thinking, though suspected it had something to do with putting his fate in Finn’s hands. He hadn’t done well with the testing and worried that he would be the reason Meyer died.

  The court wanted to observe Finn carrying out the sentencing. He knew what it meant. It was something he’d suspected as a part of the testing but hadn’t been sure.

  Now he would be the one responsible for Rock.

  And it was something Finn didn’t know if he had the stomach for.

  That made it an effective test. He understood that all too well.

  He would fail. Given his performance so far, he might already have failed.

  Finn would hang.

  Meyer would hang.

  Then his sister and mother…

  Would be no worse off than they had been before.

  That was what Finn had to keep in mind. They had already been miserable. Lena had worked at the butcher, her job terrible and taking her away for long hours, but hopefully she could return to it. Their mother hadn’t improved that much from the time with Meyer, so even she wouldn’t have a vastly different fate.

  When the gate came into view, Finn looked over to the Raven Stone. “When would they need to observe an execution?” he asked, finally breaking the silence between them.

  Meyer looked over. “The court only convenes for a few days. The timing is unusual this year.”

  “Which means y
ou will have me execute Rock.”

  Meyer turned to him. “Luca Grobbe. You must refer to the condemned by their gods-given name. Only in doing so will you be able to do what you must.”

  “I don’t know that I can. You made a mistake. You shouldn’t have taken me in. I don’t know why you did, but it was a mistake.”

  Meyer watched him. “Would you rather have ended up there?” He motioned to the gallows. “Would you prefer the crows have picked the flesh from your bones? The hegen harvesting your hands and feet? Your body dumped beneath the gallows to rot like so much refuse?”

  Finn shook his head. “I could have run.”

  “You could have. You didn’t.”

  “I didn’t know you would suffer for my mistake.”

  “If you ran, then it would be my mistake. I should be the one to suffer.”

  “Why?”

  Meyer didn’t answer.

  They reached the gate, and Meyer glanced over to him.

  “Find me this evening, and we will make your preparations.”

  He started to head off when Finn hurried after him. “What would have happened if there wasn’t a prisoner for me to carry out the sentencing?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How don’t you know? You’re the master executioner!”

  Meyer regarded him a long moment. “There hasn’t been an executioner who has exerted their right in many years. Which means that I don’t know.”

  “What about the testing?”

  “What about it?”

  “I didn’t know… well, a lot of what they asked me.”

  Meyer regarded him for a long moment. “You did not. Take the rest of the day to prepare. There is no failing the next test.”

  Meyer left him.

  Finn sighed. What would I do now?

  There was still quite a bit of the day remaining, enough that he didn’t know what he should do. He found himself walking, wandering through the streets, his path heading along familiar streets in the outer sections. At one point, when passing through the Brinder section, he thought he saw Helda. He wanted to tell her that his sister had returned and that she was unharmed and chased after her before deciding it had to be someone else. He’d have to send word to her to let her know about Lena.

  Finn neared Meyer’s home…

  And nearly ran into Wolf.

  “Shuffles. What are you doing out here so early in the day?” he asked.

  “I’m on an errand for Master Meyer,” he said, looking over to Meyer’s home. Had Wolf followed him?

  More likely, he knew where to find him. There wouldn’t be the need to follow him.

  He didn’t want to deal with Wolf. There would be enough to deal with when they learned he had to be the one to place the noose around Rock’s neck and carry out the sentencing. There wouldn’t be any way he’d be able to return to the crew.

  How could he protect the crew and pass the court’s test?

  “What’s the hangman have you doing?”

  Finn tried to come up with a good answer, but nothing came to mind. “He has me running to the prisons to see if there are new prisoners he needs to question.”

  That would be believable, though Finn could tell from the hint of the smile on Wolf’s face that he wasn’t completely convinced. “Is that right?”

  “There’s something at the debtor’s prison I needed to check on. He wanted me to—”

  Wolf slipped his arm around Finn’s shoulders and guided him along the street. He squeezed with a bit more force than was necessary. “Since you’re out on your errands, maybe you’d like to come by the Wenderwolf. We don’t have much time left. When we pull this job, we’re going to need your help.”

  “I don’t know that I can be of much help.” He looked back toward Meyer’s home, but Wolf had already started to guide him around the corner and away. Olin section wasn’t that far from here. “I told the King that.”

  Wolf snorted. “You told the King you’d be happy to help. For the crew, I think you said. Scruff is coming along, but he’s going to need help with keeping watch. Figured you have enough experience with that you could help.”

  “If I do that, then you risk losing me if something were to happen,” Finn said.

  “I think you can manage. Besides, I saw you talking with the Archers one night. Didn’t have any trouble then, did you? That’s the kind of help we’re going to need.”

  Wolf had seen him when he’d followed.

  “I was able to get them to bring me back to Meyer’s home. Not much more than that.”

  “How long you been his apprentice? A few weeks? Long enough that you got some connections, Shuffles. Long enough they start to recognize you. That’s all we’re going to need. You use those connections so that if anything happens, we have a way to get past it.”

  It might work.

  Maybe he could protect the crew that way.

  They neared the Wenderwolf.

  “You can get back to your master’s errands when all of this is done. Job isn’t happening now, anyway. Just a few more questions for the planning.”

  They stepped into the tavern. In the daytime, there wasn’t the same energy as was present at night. Finn had been there in the daytime before, but it had been in preparation for jobs they were taking when he had.

  Wolf shoved him toward the booth and slid in next to him. “You told us about the layout before, at least what you said you remembered of it. Now I need to know what more you might be able to remember. There has to be more that you can recall.”

  Finn shook his head. “When I went there, I worried about what would happen to me. I wasn’t thinking clearly, Wolf.”

  “Sometimes, things stick in our heads that we don’t remember at first. I’d like for you to hold on to what you can and see if there’s anything that sparks a memory.” He leaned toward Finn. “You know it could mean the difference between success and failure with the job. You don’t want anything to happen to the crew.”

  The door to the tavern opened, and Oscar came in. He glanced at Finn briefly before turning his attention to Wolf. “What’s going on?”

  “Just found Shuffles in the street and thought he might be able to provide a bit more detail about what he saw when he went to the palace.”

  “He’s not going to be involved with this.”

  “That’s not your call to make.”

  “It is this time. I let the two of you drag him in the last time, and it nearly ended up with him dead. I’m not going to let you do it to him again.”

  “Why would he end up dead?” Wolf asked.

  “You know the penalty as well as I do. If he gets pinched with us or goes off with someone he’s not supposed to be with, he’s going to end up hanging like he would have the other time. None of us want that for him.” Oscar leveled his hard-eyed gaze on Wolf. “Get up, Finn.”

  “You’re going to push it like that?” Wolf asked, not moving from his seat.

  “I’m going to push it the way it needs to be pushed.” There was a look in Oscar’s eyes that Finn hadn’t seen before.

  “Better talk to him,” Wolf said. He nodded toward the back of the tavern.

  Finn noticed the King sitting alone in the darkness of a corner. He hadn’t paid attention to the rest of the tavern when he’d first been dragged in.

  The King got to his feet and came toward him, moving slowly. “Have a seat, Hand.”

  “I’m not having Finn a part of this.”

  “I’m afraid we’re past that. Wolf is right. He can be useful. With him being able to wave off the Archers, we could use him.” The King looked to Wolf. “He’s coming. The crew needs him. After this job is done, things settle back down. Then he can return to his new master.”

  “You’re going to make it like that, are you?” Oscar asked.

  The King approached. “I don’t think you understand what we’ve got going on here.” Oscar twisted his hands the way he did when irritated, and Finn didn’t think he did understand. “He
don’t do this, and you’re done, Hand. And don’t forget about what else I promised.” The words lingered in the air a moment, and the King grinned at Oscar. “I see I have your attention. You don’t want that now, do you? Don’t want to be unprotected in a city like this. A man needs a crew.”

  Oscar glanced at Finn. “We don’t need the kid. You saw what happened the last time he got involved in a job.”

  “I seem to remember that the last time he got involved in a job, you were nearly pinched. The kid saved your ass.”

  This was one of the few times when Finn didn’t want to argue about what he’d done. He didn’t need the recognition, and he thought it might even be better if he didn’t get noticed for his contributions.

  The King took a seat at the table, looking across it to Finn. “Wolf is right. You’re going to be with us. And it’s happening soon.”

  “We aren’t prepared for it to happen soon,” Oscar said.

  “Maybe you aren’t, but we are,” the King said. “Wolf got the last of the supplies we need. Since the Client gave us a deadline, I’ll be damned if we aren’t going to meet it.”

  “We’ll be damned if we try to do it without proper preparation,” Oscar said, taking a seat next to the King. Finn recognized the look of defeat in his eyes. It was an expression he never thought he’d see from Oscar. “I’ve been telling you we can’t do this without the right kind of preparation. We know what happened to Dalton—”

  “You’ve got to stop bringing Pegg into this,” Wolf said. “The man fucked up. We won’t. We’ve got it planned. With Shuffles here, we’ve got the right person to lead us.” Wolf glanced to Finn. “Don’t we?”

  How could Finn refuse?

  There had to be a way to do this and not get caught.

  He could keep from disappointing Meyer while helping the crew.

  The solution was obvious: He had to tell Meyer.

  It would be hard. The crew might suffer, but they’d suffer less than were they caught pulling an impossible job. This was how he could protect them best.

  “Is it worth risking your access to the executioner?” Oscar asked.