Fate of the Free Lands

by Jack Campbell

  Usually she’d feel resentful when thinking about that daughter who’d upended her life and dominated how just about everyone else thought of her. But thinking of how that daughter might humble the rulers of the world cheered up Jules, and made her happier that someone descended from her would accomplish such a thing.

  Or, rather, would accomplish such a thing if Jules herself lived long enough to have any children.

  A group of legionaries marched past, heading in the other direction. None of them looked at her, but Jules didn’t need Mage skills to see the tension in them as they avoided even glancing her way. More than one of the legionaries had a death grip on the hilt of their sword. Word must have gotten around about Mages attacking the crowd at the checkpoint, and that Mages were sometimes attacking Imperial soldiers. But the legionaries at least weren’t going to start a fight.

  Had anyone yet figured out that each of the attacks had involved Mages trying to get at Jules? Imperial officials must be scrambling to come up with a proper response to the unprecedented attacks by Mages on Imperial forces. Certainly, in the past, Mages had occasionally struck out at individual soldiers or officials who had the misfortune to attract their attention. But there hadn’t been anything like these repeated group attacks.

  At least, none she’d ever heard of.

  Jules again had to resist the urge to look around in a way no Mage would normally do. How much of what she knew of her world was true? The charts and accompanying legends claiming that the western half of the Sea of Bakre was a death trap had been lies. And she’d overheard Mechanics saying the Empire had been “set up” that way. Set up by who? The official history of the Empire claimed that the first Emperor, Maran, had risen out of a period of barbaric anarchy to establish order, had founded the first cities of the Empire, and then constructed Marandur as a new capital. Had it happened that way? Where had the Mechanics been during that supposed period of anarchy? And the Mages?

  She had no way of discovering the answers to questions she’d never imagined while growing up or in training as an Imperial officer. But her enforced association with Mechanics and encounters with Mages had rattled everything she’d once thought she’d known.

  Another checkpoint loomed ahead.

  Jules put her head down to further hide her face, slowing her pace slightly to give the citizens waiting in the queue at the checkpoint time to shove themselves to either side, leaving a narrow but clear aisle for her to walk down, the fear of the men and women closest to her so strong as to almost feel like a physical pressure.

  It made her feel ill. She wanted to be respected. She wanted people to treat her right. But not this kind of dread at the sight of her. She’d met people who seemed to enjoy creating such feelings in others, and never understood why they found happiness in it. As she walked that narrow lane between terrified people the miasma of fear almost choked her.

  How could Mages live, feeling such reactions from others? Maybe their lack of emotion meant they really didn’t care.

  She was almost to the opening in the portable barricades, the legionaries giving their officer frantic looks for guidance, the officer waving at them to move back. Jules walked through as if unaware of their actions or their presence, her back itching in anticipation of a sudden attack that didn’t come as she left the checkpoint behind her.

  Jules kept walking, common people clearing her way as quickly as possible, legionaries waiting with obvious fear as she went by them, occasional other Mages coming into sight but continuing on their way without any attempt to interact with her. She’d begun recognizing some of the streets, a welcome sign that she’d reached the eastern parts of Landfall. But she was still a distance from the eastern gates of the city, and the afternoon was well along. Her legs and feet ached from the steady trudging on the cobblestone streets, but stopping to rest seemed too dangerous to try.

  Could she reach the gates before they closed late tonight? The Mage she’d knocked out and stolen these robes from had probably awakened by now, perhaps had already gotten free of her bindings. That Mage would tell other Mages, and the hunt would be on. If she was still in Landfall when the gates closed, she’d have to shed these robes and take her chances with some other form of disguise.

  Her plans dissolved into nothingness as Jules spotted four Mages striding down the street. All four had the cowls of their robes lowered so that their heads and faces were exposed

  And they were bending their paths to meet hers.

  Jules turned to face the building she was passing, as if about to enter the door there. A glance in the other direction revealed another Mage, cowl also down, walking toward Jules.

  Without another moment’s hesitation, Jules pulled open the door and walked through the room beyond. It was a bank. Commons who’d been withdrawing or depositing cash, tellers who’d been working with them, all froze into immobility as Jules walked past.

  There had to be a back door. Every place had a back door. Jules slammed open door after door, heading in what she hoped was the right direction, finally reaching a door reinforced with metal strips that had a large bar holding it closed on the inside. Pulling the bar loose, Jules dropped it, yanking the door open and finding herself in an alley running behind the block of buildings the bank belonged to.

  Pushing the door closed, she pulled off the Mage robes as fast as she could, balled them up and shoved them into a nearby trash receptacle. She headed down the alley at a run, slowing when she reached a cross alley leading back to the street she’d been on. Pausing to catch her breath, Jules darted a glance back at the door she’d left the bank through, seeing that it hadn’t opened yet. Straightening her torn cloak and raising the hood, she walked at a steady pace back toward the street she’d left.

  Coming out onto the street, Jules noticed two things. Commons gathering to look inside the bank from a safe distance outside the door, and a column of legionaries that looked to be at least forty strong coming down the street at a fast pace, pedestrians, horses, and wagons scattering out of their way. Had someone figured out that sudden outbursts on the part of Mages were related to Jules being somewhere nearby?

  Jules walked across the street and into the alley on the opposite side, moving as fast as she dared. Just before entering the alley, she spotted more Mages converging on the street from the opposite direction that the legionaries were coming, as well as coming out of the alley that she’d just left behind.

  Inside the next alley, Jules broke into a run, bolting for the next cross alley and taking it so fast that she bounced off the wall on the turn. This alley ended in piles of trash against a wall about a lance high. Without pausing, Jules ran up the trash piles, launching herself over the wall. Despite trying to roll when she landed, she hit hard. Getting to her feet despite the protests of the places on her body where she was accumulating bruises, Jules ran to the end of the next alley and out onto the street.

  She knew she looked frantic, but fortunately everybody else on the street did as well. People were dashing off in all directions, mothers picking up their children to run faster, shouts of warning and alarm rising on all sides. Should she run with them? Or would the Imperials already be setting up blockades on connecting streets to sweep in everyone fleeing this area?

  Spotting a sewer drain, Jules made up her mind. Kneeling, she pulled the metal grating out as people rushed past her. Turning to slide feet first through the drain, a tight fit but one she could manage, Jules pulled the grating back into place behind her, hanging in space for a moment as she used one hand to shove the grating back into the right spot. Looking down, she saw her feet were about half a lance from the bottom of the drain tunnel. Letting go of the grating, she landed in the muck and moisture, letting her knees bend to absorb the impact, tottering for a moment but staying on her feet.

  Grateful that she hadn’t fallen full length into the stuff on the bottom of the drain, Jules took a look around in the light filtering in through the grating. The sewer walls were covered with unpleasant look
ing slime and molds. The angle of the sunlight falling on the brick gave her a rough idea of which direction to go, and she began trudging through the drain, grateful that her boots were able to keep out water and whatever else was in the city sewers. The noise of the tumult above gradually grew less.

  At least if the Mages came after her down here she’d be able to hear them coming.

  The farther she got from the drain, the murkier the light got, and the worse the smell. Jules had started to feel herself getting light-headed when she spotted the light growing again as she neared another drain. Stopping to breathe deeply in the relatively fresher air near the drain, she went onward, her boots squelching through the muck.

  Reaching a spot where another tunnel joined this one, Jules paused to orient herself, then turned into the new route.

  She found it hard to judge how far she’d come without any above-ground landmarks to guide her. The noise filtering in through the drains as she passed them had subsided to normal city levels, but between the foul air, her worries, and her growing fatigue, Jules found no comfort in that.

  Finally the tunnel she was in dead-ended in a wall of brick. Jules stood for a moment, trying to clear her head, wondering why she hadn’t seen the wall until she was almost touching it. Looking up, she spotted a drain opening, but the light coming in through it was dim.

  Outside, the sun was setting. If she didn’t leave these sewers now, she’d be stumbling around them in total darkness.

  Jules felt the wall beneath the drain, finding handholds left in the bricks to form a permanent ladder. Dizzy from the foul air, she had to pause twice in her climb even though it was only about a lance and a half up to the drain. Hating the feel of the slime on the bricks under her fingers, Jules finally made it up to the grating. She hung there for a long moment, gasping for cleaner air and listening for any clues as to where this drain was in the city. From the rapidly dimming light outside, the sun had almost set.

  The grate wouldn’t budge the first time Jules tried to move it. Bracing herself, she shoved hard, and the grating finally jolted open. Pulling herself out of the drain, her breaths still coming fast as she gratefully pulled in air without poison in it, Jules lay still as she took in her surroundings.

  She was on a street ending at a strip of parkland, beyond which she could hear a low rushing sound. Jules saw only a few figures far down the street, none coming this way. Getting to her feet, she realized that the sound came from the waters of what must be the mighty Ospren River where it rolled past the town.

  Heading into the parkland, Jules reached a platform where boats could tie up. Sitting down, she lowered her feet into the water so the river could wash the sewer muck off of her boots. Once satisfied that was done, Jules lay on her stomach to reach down and wash the residual slime off of her hands.

  At least now she wouldn’t smell like someone who’d been walking through the city sewers. But why was a city street almost deserted so soon after sunset? This was Landfall. The evening should just be getting started.

  Walking those almost empty streets would make her stand out. But she couldn’t stay here. Imperial police loved to snag people trying to sleep in parks or other public places, so they’d be sure to come by at some point. She had to find a better place to hide.

  A short distance up the street light glowed beneath a door. Jules checked the sign, advertising an eatery. Wobbly on her feet from tiredness and lack of food and water, Jules still hesitated before pushing open the door, worried about being trapped again.

  Inside was one of the hole in the wall type eateries the city boasted, dimly lit by a few candles. A counter ran lengthwise down the middle, on one side of it chairs for customers whose backs would be to the wall, and on the other side the small oven, grill, and supplies for the elderly cook and owner who was sitting glumly in the otherwise empty place. She perked up when Jules entered, waving her to one of the seats.

  Jules sat down gratefully as the owner started throwing together a meal. These sorts of places didn’t have menus, only serving one kind of meal each day based on whatever the owner had on hand.

  “Wine or beer?” the owner asked.

  “Watered wine,” Jules said.

  “Got it.”

  “Not very busy tonight,” Jules said, hoping for information on why the streets were so empty.

  “People are scared,” the owner said as she stir-fried meat and vegetables along with some kind of noodle. “Checkpoints and blockades all over, the legion is out and all over the city, police are everywhere, and the Mages have been starting fights. Heralds came down the streets warning everyone to stay home unless they had urgent business, and for once people listened.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t stay home,” Jules said before taking a big drink of the watered wine.

  “I did,” she answered with a wink, pointing up. “I live on the second floor. Why are you out?”

  “There’s somewhere I need to go,” Jules said.

  “Ah.” The elderly woman turned from the grill for a moment to look at her. “And that’s not to Marandur, eh?”

  Jules’ hand went to her dagger. “Excuse me?”

  The owner piled food on a plate, setting it in front of Jules. “Marandur. Don’t want to go there, do you? I don’t blame you.”

  “I don’t know who you think I am—”

  “Someone wearing a hood at this hour, who’s still letting enough face show to tell she’s a match for all them posters.” The owner sighed, leaning back against a shelf, her eyes on Jules. “As for me, I’m someone whose family got ruined by a princess some years ago. I couldn’t leave the Empire, not back then, but I stopped loving it after that. It looks like you’ve had a hard day of it.”

  “Yes,” Jules said, cautiously digging into her food, almost dizzy again from the scent of it after not eating since early this morning.

  “You shouldn’t stay here. Late shift police usually stop by about midnight for their break.” The old woman eyed Jules. “So it’s true about the prophecy? The Emperor wouldn’t be trying so hard to get you unless it was.”

  Jules swallowed and took another drink before answering. “It’s true.”

  “Why’d you come back here?”

  “No choice. I was chained in an Imperial ship.”

  “And you got away?”

  “While Mages were destroying the ship,” Jules said.

  “Ah.” The woman watched while Jules wolfed down her food. “Don’t try the river. I heard they’ve got boats out, with torches on ‘em. And guards along the bank as you near the harbor. Not even a mouse could get through that way.”

  “Thanks,” Jules mumbled around another mouthful.

  “Here.” The woman offered a travel flask. “It’s full.”

  Pulling out her coins, Jules offered the woman a silver galley, but she shook her head. “You keep that. Might need it later.”

  “Thank you,” Jules said, reluctantly getting up from her chair and feeling her entire body protest. “You could come out west. There are good places there.”

  “I’m too old, and the rest of the family is passed on,” the elderly woman said. “No sense in me moving now. Good luck, girl.”

  “Thank you,” Jules said again, not knowing what else she could say. She slipped out of the doorway, opening the door just enough to get through, finding the street still almost empty as far as could be seen.

  She stuck to alleys as much as possible, trying to head east with a vague idea of finding one of the eastern gates and spotting a way to get through. The fact that the east gates, as difficult as they’d be, were her best option was almost too depressing to consider.

  Twice, Jules stopped, breathing as quietly as possible and hiding in the shadows of the night, as Imperial patrols went by. Luckily for her, the Imperial police had been worked hard for the last day and a half, and were as tired as she was.

  After the second near-encounter, Jules had to go out on a street, hastening down it in search of the next side street o
r alley to duck into. She spotted three people standing on the street corner up ahead, two women and a man. They weren’t police, so she kept going. As she drew close, Jules could tell by their clothing and the way they were loitering that the three were street walkers in search of customers.

  Someone like that would know as much as anyone about what the Imperial police were doing in this part of the city. It’d be worth the risk to see what she could find out.

  Jules walked up to them, keeping the hood of her cloak up and her face mostly hidden. “Good evening. How’s work going?”

  “Awful,” one of the women said. Middle-aged, her make-up, hair, and clothing tried to make her look more sophisticated than the other woman, who was at least a decade younger. “The legionaries are all on duty, the police are everywhere, and the citizens are afraid to leave their homes.”

  “Police?” Jules said. “Where-?”

  “Everywhere,” the man said, flashing a winning smile. “Are you interested in a good time?”

  “No,” Jules said. “I’m broke.”

  The interest of the three in her vanished as quickly as the light from a blown out candle. The first woman sighed, staring down the nearly-empty street. “This night’s a bust. Even if someone shows up, they’ll go for the youngest of us.”

  “You’d think they’d value experience,” the man said. “But, no, it’s always the younger ones.”

  “That’s not my fault,” the second woman said.

  “No,” the first woman agreed. “And you should take advantage of it while you can. Me, I need to get out this line of work.”

  “What else have you got?” the man asked.

  “Sewing. I’m good at it. Embroidery.” The woman grimaced. “But the clothing shops and tailors aren’t hiring. I can’t even get a license for a street cart because they’re sold out. I’ve been thinking of maybe heading up to Centin and trying my luck there.”

  The man shook his head. “Centin’s worse than here. Too many people and not enough jobs. I’ve got a cousin there who’s a teacher. She finally found a job as a part-time tutor and is grateful for it.”