The Rot

by Siri Pettersen

  The boat stopped again and they stepped out onto the pier. They followed a smaller canal past a row of white and orange houses. They were freshly painted with tidy balconies and light shining from all the lamps. A sure sign of wealth.

  Stefan stopped outside one of the houses and pressed a brass button. “Just do as I say,” he said. “Don’t start chattering, okay? And …” He looked at Naiell. “Don’t rile him up. No nonsense. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  The door opened. A small, dark-haired lady let them in and said something Hirka didn’t understand. Stefan took off his shoes, so she and Naiell did the same. Her yellow boots looked out of place next to the other shoes. The lady gestured for them to follow, still speaking an incomprehensible language. The words rolled off her tongue as she pointed up a staircase.

  Stefan nodded, and they went up. The staircase had a burgundy runner down the middle and an ornate banister. A chandelier that was probably taller than Hirka hung from the high ceiling.

  She found herself wishing she had other clothes. Maybe a dress. Father had bought her a dress once.

  Stupid girl. You made it through the Rite in this tunic.

  She followed Stefan into a room with tall windows along one wall. At the end, a blonde woman sat at a polished wooden desk. Behind her on the wall hung something that looked like a carved horn or animal tooth. But it couldn’t be. Its curve was longer than a man was tall. Bigger than any animal Hirka had ever seen.

  “Wait here,” Stefan whispered.

  Hirka stopped, but Naiell kept walking. “My brother? Where is he?”

  His rough voice made the woman look up from what she was doing. Hirka went up to them. “Naiell, he’ll ask. You need to wait.” She quickly realized that was the wrong choice of words. Naiell was not one for waiting. He snarled like a wild animal and took off his dark glasses. Removed his gloves. He stood in front of the desk and glowered at the woman.

  She got up unsteadily. Said something to Stefan. They started talking in that same rolling tongue. Hirka closed her eyes for a moment. It was hopeless. There was nothing Stefan could say that would explain what was standing before the strange woman. But it didn’t stop him from trying. He always spoke quickly, but now he was stumbling over his words.

  The woman raised a hand to silence Stefan. He obeyed. The woman came around the desk and stopped in front of Naiell. Curious. Fearless. Hirka felt a flash of admiration. It had taken her much longer to work up the courage to approach him, and she’d seen the blind before. This woman hadn’t.

  She was tall and slim. Approaching fifty, maybe, even though she’d initially seemed younger. The lines on her neck and around her eyes gave her away. Her fair hair was pulled back and held in place with a decorative pin. She was wearing gray trousers and a silk blouse that shone in the light. Her earrings provided the only splash of color. Heavy stones. Blue, like her eyes.

  She raised a hand to her chin and stroked her fingers along her lower lip. Sized Naiell up with unabashed awe. Naiell didn’t move. Hirka smiled at Stefan, hoping to set him at ease. It didn’t help. His hand was dangerously close to the sheath on his belt where he kept his gun. He was ready for everything to go wrong.

  The tooth fairy circled Naiell, scrutinizing him as if he were a statue. A work of art. She stepped back to take him all in. Naiell’s lips curled up into a crooked smile. He was arrogant, and he was enjoying this.

  “You’re exceptional,” the woman said. “But obviously you know that already.”

  Hirka sucked in some air. She’d forgotten to breathe for a moment.

  “He doesn’t understand English,” Stefan said. “He doesn’t speak any language I’ve heard before. She’s the only one who understands.” He nodded at Hirka, and the woman looked at her.

  “You speak his language?”

  “He speaks mine,” Hirka said, crossing her arms.

  “He’s exceptional. Tell him that. Tell him he’s exceptional.” The woman rested her hand on Naiell’s cheek. Ran her thumb over his skin. An enormous stone glittered on her finger.

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Hirka said dryly.

  “Tell him,” the woman said, with a voice that left no room for objection.

  Hirka sighed. “She says you’re … good,” she translated into ymish.

  Naiell turned his head in her direction. A black tempest raged in his eyes.

  “Exceptional,” she corrected herself. “She says you’re exceptional. Don’t let it go to your head.”

  Naiell pulled off his shirt and let it fall to the floor. He held out his arms demonstratively and grinned. Curled his clawed fingers. The woman let out what sounded like a gasp and brought a hand to her chest. Then she leaned closer. Pulled back his upper lip to reveal one of his canines. Hirka was ashamed to remember that she’d done the same.

  Naiell grabbed her wrist. The woman showed no sign of fear or pain. She half-closed her eyes, like a contented cat. Hirka had had about as much as she could take. “Naiell!”

  He let go of the woman. It seemed to surprise her. She tore her eyes away from the impossible creature standing before her and turned her attention to Hirka.

  “So what are you, my dear? A monster tamer?”

  “You’ll have to excuse him,” Hirka replied. “It’s been a while since he was a god. He’s clearly making up for lost time.”

  “So it is him. It truly is him?”

  Stefan broke in. “No, it’s not him. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Ms. Sanuto.”

  The woman put her hand on Stefan’s arm. “Call me Allegra, Stefan. We’ve known each other long enough.” Stefan blinked, as though he’d misheard.

  “So who is he?” Allegra asked, shamelessly admiring Naiell’s physique.

  “He says he’s his brother,” Stefan laughed. An almost hysterical attempt to make light of the bizarre situation. “Hirka says they came here together. They’re not from here.”

  “Clearly,” Allegra smiled, leaning against the desk. She flicked her thumbnail against her other nails as she thought. Then she straightened up again. Her gaze hardened until her eyes were like the stones dangling from her ears.

  “And yet you’ve brought them here, Stefan. Into my home? Without stopping to consider the consequences?”

  “Who else was I sup—”

  “You find yourself in a sticky situation, on the run from the English police. You ring Nils in the middle of the night and ask for an unsanctioned five-hour flight across Europe. Then you come here with what you claim is the brother of a creature no one can prove exists. Not even those who have dedicated their lives to finding him. And now I have a new creator … a new source. Here. In my home. What do you think the consequences of that will be? Did you at any point consider that this makes both of us targets? Do you think you’re the only hunter on the planet?”

  Stefan walked in circles, running his hand over his face. Nervous. Tired. Taken aback.

  “And the stones?” Allegra asked.

  Stefan stopped. He nodded at Hirka. “They belong to her.”

  “Goodness me …” Allegra seemed to be enjoying herself all of a sudden. “Are you becoming a better man, Stefan?”

  Stefan tensed his jaw.

  Hirka felt bad for him. Allegra clearly knew how to make him feel small, but enough was enough. Hirka picked the shirt up from the floor and chucked it at Naiell. “Leave Stefan alone. It’s not his fault, it’s ours,” she said to Allegra. “Our story goes back a long way, as does the story of the one you’re hunting. That’s why we’re here. So do you know who he is or not?” She tried to remember the word. “Do you know where we can find the devil?”

  Allegra Sanuto studied her. Long enough to make her feel uncomfortable. Then she put her arm around Hirka’s shoulders and led her toward the door. “Stefan, I expect you to be gone by the time I return,” she said over her shoulder. “Go back to the apartment. Don’t let this creature parade around. And don’t talk to anyone. You can leave the goods on my desk.”


  “Where are you going?” Stefan asked tamely.

  Allegra squeezed Hirka’s shoulder like they were old friends.

  “I think it’s about time someone took this young lady out to lunch.”

  PREDATORS

  Hirka couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so self-conscious. She was sitting at a window table with a view of the canal, in a suffocating room decorated in shades of gold and cinnamon. The curtains were heavy and lifeless. Huge paintings were displayed in frames that had to weigh more than the wall.

  Other diners sat around an open fireplace near the kitchen, conversing in both English and Italian. Words she knew interweaving with words she’d never heard. She’d moved her chair so her back wasn’t to them. Not that it mattered. Everyone was tailless here, but old habits died hard.

  Hirka reached for the breadbasket before changing her mind and taking her hand back. As soon as she dropped a crumb, the man with the beaklike nose would come back to brush off the tablecloth again.

  Her clothes wouldn’t sit properly either. A gray skirt and a light-colored blouse that Allegra said wouldn’t clash with her hair. Hirka glanced longingly at the paper bag from the store. Her old clothes were in there. The ones she could wear without thinking about it. She hadn’t wanted new clothes. Didn’t need them. But Allegra Sanuto clearly wasn’t the kind of woman people said no to. She was a bit like Svarteld. She expected things to be done her way. And she’d made it very clear that she couldn’t take Hirka out to eat in the clothes she had on.

  Hirka didn’t like owing her anything, but she’d been assured she was the one doing Allegra a favor, not the other way around. Judging by how painful the boots were, she was inclined to agree. But it was a small price to pay for looking like she owned Venice—at least according to the much-older woman sitting across from her going on about how much they had in common.

  Like what? Are we both being hunted by the devil?

  “The tartare is to die for. Won’t you try it? It’s raw veal. Oh, I suppose you young people don’t eat that sort of thing. Perhaps something simpler?”

  Hirka looked at the stiff menu in her hand. The words meant nothing to her, so she wasn’t sure how to respond. She felt ashamed, without being sure why. It was really irritating. She felt like standing up and shouting that she wasn’t actually from here. That she hadn’t learned all the languages and wasn’t familiar with all the customs yet. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to defend herself. After all, it meant little in the grand scheme of things. They were only there to eat. There were far more important things to think about than what she was wearing and whether she was doing anything wrong or not.

  I had the Council wrapped around my little finger. Why should I be afraid of anyone?

  All the same, she stiffened when the man with the beak suddenly reappeared. Allegra intervened, letting loose a stream of Italian that sent him on his way. Hirka put her menu down.

  “Don’t worry, darling. They know only the best will do. That’s just how it is when you have a name like mine.”

  “Allegra?”

  “No, sweetie,” she said, laughing. “Sanuto. As in Beauty by Sanuto.”

  Hirka nodded, wishing she was back with Stefan and Naiell. She had more in common with a man-hunter and a deadborn than this woman. Allegra raised a sculpted eyebrow. “Really? You haven’t heard of it? The creams? The make-up?”

  Hirka couldn’t take any more. No one acted this nonchalant unless they were desperate. “Why are we here?” she asked.

  Allegra leaned back in her chair. She tilted her wrist, touching her thumb and ring finger together in a particularly feminine gesture. She surveyed her nails for a moment before meeting Hirka’s gaze again.

  “Is it because of the stones?” Hirka asked.

  “Spare me the judgemental tone, sweetie. I’ve more than enough precious stones in my life. I need neither them nor the money. I’d have thought that was fairly obvious.” She leaned over the table again. “But I’d love to see them, if you don’t mind. Stefan sent me a picture, and I’d like to know whether I was right. Call it a hobby.”

  Hirka fished around in the bag until she found the leather pouch. She put it on the table. It was one of the few things she had from home. Every time she saw it somewhere new, it was like two worlds colliding. The old world she loved and the new world she hated. What she understood and what she would probably never understand. A brown leather pouch tied with a cord, on a white tablecloth unsullied by crumbs.

  “How charming,” Allegra said. “Is that Sámi work? Something like that could really take off here at the moment.”

  Hirka opened the pouch and put the three blood stones on the table. Allegra lifted one of them up so that it caught the light, though not high enough for anyone to notice. She had a talent for discretion. Allegra turned it over in her hand and put it back with the others.

  “You don’t know what they are, do you?”

  “I know exactly what they are. They’re blood stones.”

  “And they’re common where you’re from?”

  Hirka’s blood ran cold. The question threatened to lift the lid on the dangerous box in her mind. The one containing the unknown poison. For the first time, she was glad it was impossible for her to get back to Ym. Because if she could, others could too.

  “No. They’re rare. They were a gift,” she replied.

  “In that case, I’d like right of first refusal.”

  “Right of first what?”

  Allegra reached out and tucked Hirka’s hair behind her ear. Hirka wasn’t sure how to respond. There was something affectionate about the gesture, but no one had ever done it before. She didn’t usually tuck her hair behind her ears. Much to her relief, it fell back into its usual place straight away.

  “You’ve quite the head of hair, Hirka. It’s a bit unruly, but that’s easily fixed.” Hirka didn’t reply. “Listen, sweetie, I get it. You don’t want anyone cheating you. But I’m sure you could use the money. That’s why I’m happy to give you some, so long as you promise you’ll sell to me, if you ever do decide to sell. Of course, you don’t have to sell them. You can keep them for the rest of your life, if that’s what you want. But I’m willing to pay to make sure you don’t sell them to anyone else. Understand?”

  Allegra didn’t wait for a reply. “You need money to survive. And if I understand you and Stefan correctly, you have no passport, no papers, no bank account. You don’t exist. And believe me, my dear, the world is a cruel place for those who don’t exist. That means you can’t buy or sell anything in the normal way. I’m offering to make it easier for you, and you don’t have to give me anything in return. And you needn’t worry about the price. I’ll pay you well. I can give you a life without care.”

  “I’ll have to ask Stefan,” Hirka said, taking a sip of water. She hoped it would put an end to the discussion.

  Allegra laughed. “You want to ask a hunter for advice? A man who’s little more than a primitive weapon?” She folded her arms across her chest. “I realize it’s difficult to know who to trust, so let me help you. It can be our little secret. It’s all about give and take, right? Watch your step around Stefan. You realize he was probably planning to put an end to you? It’s just as well he tends to make a mess of things.”

  Hirka fumbled with her glass. She caught it before it tipped over completely and wiped the tablecloth with her sleeve. No sooner had she done so than Allegra lifted her arm and laid a napkin underneath.

  She’s lying!

  But Hirka remembered Stefan threatening her in the alleyway all too well. Holding the weapon to her head. Why? He hadn’t known about the stones back then. Why had he been planning to kill her … and why hadn’t he gone through with it?

  “Don’t look so shocked, sweetie. You’ve fallen into a viper’s nest, so just be careful who you trust. I might be wrong, but I doubt it. It’s not an uneducated guess.”

  Hirka didn’t bother asking about the words she didn’t unders
tand. “How do you know he was planning to kill me?”

  Allegra pursed her lips. Kill clearly wasn’t a word you were supposed to say, even if that was undoubtedly what you were talking about. “Because he is what he is. He hunts them. The forgotten. And Stefan knows they’re hunting you. What no one knows is why. But I can promise you that once the wounded king has noticed you, you’re not safe anywhere.”

  Hirka studied Allegra Sanuto. She exhibited none of the sympathy that ought to have accompanied such words. She might as well have been talking about the weather.

  “Wounded king?”

  Allegra glanced at the other diners before replying in a low voice.

  “They say he was marked by a war. That he ruled long before countries had names, if we’re to believe a somewhat doubtful theory once posited at a lecture I attended. A lecture given by an academic who’s been studying the lore of this creature for many years. Academics are harmless because they seek only knowledge, not gain. You won’t have to deal with the likes of them. You’ll have to deal with predators.”

  Hirka felt less sure of herself with every word this woman said. She was like a fist wrapped in silk.

  “You need protection. And, quite simply, someone to care for you,” Allegra continued. “I’ll take some cash out for you. That’s what you need most. Your companions have no concept of what a young woman needs, but I’m here now. I’ll introduce you to people who can help. You needn’t thank me, just promise you’ll listen to me. And keep a low profile, okay? I’ll contact Stefan and we can go out to eat again tomorrow. Maybe do something about your hair.”

  Hirka was flabbergasted. She had no words. What was she supposed to do now? Go back to Stefan and Naiell and pretend that nothing had happened? Run away again? To yet another strange town? With those strange people, the forgotten, still after her?

  “But don’t worry about that now, sweetie. That’s not why we’re here,” Allegra said airily.

  “Then why are we here?”

  The man with the beak was suddenly back. He set a patty of raw meat down in front of Allegra, and a salad down in front of Hirka. Allegra waited until he’d gone again before replying. “Because of your beautiful friend.”