Flame's Shadow

by Anna Eluvae

  Dravus nodded. There was no use in denying that.

  His father shook his head. "Well, if you're telling the truth we'll get a surge in business at least. But we won't lie for you."

  "Lie for me?" Dravus asked. He could already feel tightness in his throat.

  "I won't make you out to be a hero," his father said. "I won't pretend you're someone to look up to. Now if that's all, I have a cake to bake." His father turned back towards the kitchen.

  Dravus balled up his fists. "Dad, I'm leaving the city. I'm going to be Lexari's protege. Don't you understand how important this is? How big of a thing it is? I'll be gone for years!"

  "So go then," his father replied. He folded his arms across his chest. "We wish you the best." Dravus spun on his heel and opened the door to the bakery. He had hoped that his mother at least would offer up an objection, but there was no sound from her. He wished that he could have said goodbye to his brothers, or his sister Anna, but standing in the same room with his father for much longer would have hurt too much. He would have to hope that Anna understood.

  He turned the corner to get to his apartment, and came face to face with one of Korata's enormous sons.

  * * *

  Nemm sat in a dimly lit room with two bards on either side of her. Their names were Leon and Marco, and both had thick beards and curly black hair. They sometimes claimed to be brothers, though that was just a bit of flourish you had to expect from men who crafted stories for a living. They had already talked about Lexari's injuries, and the stories that would have to be told to downplay them while he recovered. It was almost universally accepted that showing weakness wasn't worth whatever you gained in short-term sympathy, and besides that, the fight with Zerstor was a capstone on their time in Genthric, and there was no point in an extended denouement.

  "His name is Dravus de Luca," said Nemm. "He's going to be a new addition to our crew, Lexari's protege. His domain is shadow, which should help matters. There's a duality there. Light saved by shadow, we can use that."

  "I swear I've heard that name before," said Leon.

  Nemm shook her head. "I'd doubt that. He's a complete unknown."

  "The rooftop races," said Marco. "I lost twenty capi betting on him."

  "He's one of Korata's whelps?" asked Leon with a raised eyebrow.

  "Korata?" asked Nemm. They'd spent the last nine days in Genthric, and while Nemm had memorized a flurry of names, that hadn't been one of the ones that stuck. "Who is that?"

  "She's a criminal, the kind that the senatori don't have too much of a problem with," said Leon. "There are the rooftop races of course, gambling, smuggling, bribery, aggressive loans which the banks wouldn't take, and a few other matters like that. As far as the underworld goes, she's one of the top three in Genthric." He frowned. "I left her out of my brief, I didn't think she was quite important enough."

  "What does this say about Dravus?" asked Nemm. She had a glass of wine in front of her, which she hadn't touched. She was too on-edge for alcohol, and had a suspicion that she would have to keep her wits about her until they set sail. Lexari had looked downright sickly when she left. It would be the perfect time for someone to make an attempt on his life.

  "Oh, likely your new boy is a criminal himself," said Leon. "Most of the racers are. Being fleet of foot makes you valuable among the criminal element, in case someone needs a lookout that can outpace the guards. That was the genesis for Korata's races, I believe."

  "This presents a problem from a narrative standpoint," said Marco. He turned to look at his partner, then back to Nemm. "We've been trying to weave two narratives of redemption, one for Wenaru and one for you. Gael is going to be making up for his sins if he lives to be a hundred, and you're waiting for the proper moment for that part of your story to conclude. To add on a third redemption arc concurrent with those two is going to strain credulity, and by the rule of three, something has to be different about this one."

  Nemm let out a long, low sigh. "Point taken. Lexari as serial reformer is questionable, but to say he's working on all three of us just doesn't work."

  "Especially not after what Gael did in Grantholm," said Leon.

  An uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

  "We can try to scrub Dravus's past clean," said Nemm. "But we'd have to interrogate him first, and if he is a criminal he's already lied to me once. I could kick him off the ship, but that doesn't serve a narrative, and Lexari would likely object. So we pivot. It's not a story of redemption at all, it's a story of betrayal. We spread some rumors about a shadowy conversation down by the docks, or whispers from cloaked figures, and there's an implication that Lexari is going to find a dagger in his back, that he was too trusting or too good."

  "Setting the boy up to take a fall?" asked Leon.

  "No," said Nemm. "It's like I said, the narrative can't show Dravus valiantly saving the day and then immediately cast him as a villain, even if that's what his domain naturally suggests. We make the rumors vague. It's not necessarily Dravus plotting, maybe it's Gael. Maybe it's me."

  Leon and Marco looked at each other.

  "We need to shape this story," said Nemm. "Make it into something that people will want to share, to talk over. Betrayal works for that. There's an element of the unknown that will appeal to people. Will Lexari be betrayed by the monster, the whore, or the thief? Will he manage to survive? And if we need to bring a resolution, it can simply be that one of the crew was the betrayer, a poisoner or some-such thing. A viper snuck into his bed perhaps - some ridiculous bit of showmanship no real assassin would ever use. We have months to figure that out."

  "Possibly we complete the redemption arc for Dravus then?" asked Leon. "Just to get it out of the way. Dravus heroically saves his mentor for a second time, removing any doubts about his trustworthiness. Depending on what his actual crimes have been, or at least what comes to light in the next few weeks that can be treated as credible, perhaps it'll be easy to say he's turned over a new leaf."

  "There's a problem," said Marco. He gulped down his wine. "We can't sell this. Not the bit about betrayal. It's too transparent. Leon and I are known to be in your employ."

  "Use intermediaries," said Nemm. "You're going to have to anyway, to spread the rumors we need. Write under a pen name. Figure out a way to make it work. And in the meantime, write the songs and stories about the battle that Dravus brought to an end. I know this is extra work, but it's necessary. We'll be in touch." She stood up without waiting to listen to their complaints. "I need to go find Dravus."

  * * *

  Dravus's first instinct was to run, but Korata's son reached forward and grabbed him by the tunic.

  "Mother would like a chat," said the large man. He was six and a half feet tall, with the musculature of a pit fighter. One of the sons had actually taken to that line of work, but Dravus could never keep them straight, and all of them were of similar build.

  "Tell her I'll pay her," said Dravus. He struggled, and received a hard blow to the side of the head in return. Dravus wasn't completely useless in a fight, but Korata's son had too many pounds on him, as well as years of experience being his mother's enforcer. He also had a truncheon hanging conspicuously at his side. "It hasn't even been a day."

  "We got word that things have been exciting for you," said Korata's son. Tito? Tino? All their names began with the same letter, which made them even harder to keep track of. "Mother wants you to not do anything foolish."

  Dravus was marched forward with one hand pinned behind his back. A few people took note of them as they made their way to the restaurant where Korata made her headquarters, but no one said anything. Dravus was anonymous again, just another young man in poor clothing, not a would-be illustrati.

  Korata was sitting in a booth near the back, her customary spot. The restaurant was empty. Dravus was pushed down into a seat in front of Korata. She grinned at him. She was a full-figured woman, with a blouse that was more unbuttoned than was proper, which showed off her breasts and th
e brassiere that struggled to hold them. Her wine-stained teeth were large and flat. She had thick rings of gold on most of her fingers, and these clinked against her goblet when she drank from it, which was often.

  "You said I could take the day off," said Dravus.

  "That was before I got word that you killed an illustrati," said Korata. She tapped her painted nails against the wooden table. "And here I had thought you were nothing exceptional."

  "I'll have the money to you tomorrow," said Dravus. "Like we agreed."

  "Well, I hardly believe that, now do I?" asked Korata. She sipped at her wine. "I had wondered, after I heard, why a man would so readily risk his life. Even one so foolish as you, even one who had lost an enormous bet. It was a puzzle. So I took a look at the proof of credit you gave me, and I'm sure that you know what I found there. A four turned into an eight. I was going to kill you, but after having some time to reflect, now I think perhaps we can help each other. You're about to be famous."

  "Alright," said Dravus quickly. "Partners. And I'll get you the money I owe you."

  "Ah," said Korata. "But you were a little too fast to acquiesce, and of course we have the problem that I can't trust you in the slightest. What plans are going through that thick skull of yours? How do you intend a second betrayal? Do you think that killing Zerstor and saving Lexari gives you so much power that you can stand against me? Do you think that you can find an ally willing to tangle with me?"

  The door to the restaurant opened, and light spilled in. The earlier clouds had passed, and the sun lit Nemm up from behind, highlighting the red in her blond hair. Where the light hit her glass armor it reflected into the restaurant, momentarily lighting up the place until she stepped inside and let the door close behind her. A pair of glass daggers hung at her hips.

  "Ah, Dravus, I had wondered whether I would find you here," said Nemm. "It seems that you weren't entirely honest with me when you said that there was nothing that I should know about."

  "Lady Nemm," said Korata. She didn't seem the least bit surprised to see the Queen of Glass come into her empty restaurant. "Come, have a seat."

  "No thank you," said Nemm. "I'm only here to grab my charge." She stood some ten feet away from the booth where Korata and Dravus sat, with Korata's son looming close by. Nemm was halfway turned toward the door with an expectant look on her face.

  "Yes, I'll just be going," said Dravus. He stood up, and Korata's son stepped forward to put a hand on his shoulder and roughly force him back down.

  "Hush," said Korata. "The women are talking." She turned her eyes to Nemm and licked her lips. "You see, the problem is that dear Dravus owes me a sum of eight thousand capi, tried to cheat me, and furthermore is my employee -"

  "I'll pay it," said Nemm with a shrug. "Anything else?"

  "You can't simply pay -"

  "Of course I can," said Nemm. "You have to know that eight thousand capi is nothing to me."

  Korata glowered at Nemm. "And what is he to you?"

  "I don't have time for this right now," said Nemm. "Dravus, let's go. Korata, I'll authorize you to take money from our vault, go to the Banco Albero at your leisure."

  Dravus again began to stand up, and again Korata's son moved forward, but this time there was a sound of footsteps and a rush of air. When Dravus looked over, Nemm had one of her daggers pressing against the stomach of Korata's son, with the other dagger pointed lazily in Korata's direction.

  "I don't like to judge a book by its cover," said Nemm. "But when I walked in here, I thought to myself, 'My, that looks like a very dumb man.' And lo and behold, it turned out that my first instincts were correct. I hate that - when a man is all surface, no hidden depths, no subversions of my expectations of him. It's so dull. Now, I suppose the only question that remains here is whether I'm going to have to paint the walls of this shithole of a restaurant with your blood."

  Korata clinked her rings against her goblet with narrowed eyes. "Dravus broke contract with me," said Korata. "He tried to steal from me, after I provided for him for years. This is about more than money."

  "Then the money is off the table," said Nemm. "I'm taking Dravus, no payment on offer."

  "I will not allow it," said Korata. Her breathing had become very controlled. She had both her hands on the table.

  "Her domain is sound," Dravus said quickly.

  "Look," said Nemm. "I think you might have some misunderstanding of who I am. You have your own little realm of influence here. You're one of maybe fifty people in the city with any real power, enough that you can get some use out of it instead of just having a parlor trick. Perhaps you can even hurt someone with it. That's you." Nemm smiled. "I'm one of the most famous women on the planet. There's a small temple in Luchistan that you can only reach by riding a mule for twenty miles up treacherous mountain paths, and they tell stories of me there. My name is muttered in small jungle villages, in huts on the frozen tundra, in every corner of this earth. I've killed hundreds of men with twice your power, and they were all trained soldiers. I'm stronger than you. I'm faster than you. I can bend steel with my bare hands and catch a cannonball in mid-flight. Do you want to make this about raw might?"

  Korata wavered. She looked at her son, and then at Dravus, then back to Nemm. "Sound shatters glass," was her feeble reply. Her voice had been sapped of its confidence.

  "And then what?" asked Nemm. "My armor shatters, and I'm left with a million shards of glass to kill you with. It wouldn't be a new experience. It wouldn't hurt me. I haven't been cut by glass since I was ten years old. The domain of sound has never scared me before, and it's not going to start now." She spun her daggers around in her hands. "I'm going to leave with Dravus. Do I need to kill you?"

  "No," replied Korata. She sank down and drank what was left of her wine. Her eyes didn't meet Nemm's.

  "Good," said Nemm. "And while everything I know about you could fit a pair of sentences, let me assure you that if you do anything to Dravus's family or his loved ones, or if you attempt retribution because of this unfortunate embarrassment, I will take a great deal of pleasure in slicing the skin off your face. That's the sort of thing they write songs about." She nodded to Korata's son. "That goes double for you. And get some education, find a hobby, something. if you're going to be a thug, at least be less boring about it. It's offensive."

  She put her daggers back onto her belt and walked to the door without looking behind her.

  Dravus followed, though he wasn't nearly so nonchalant.

  Chapter 3

  There were people waiting outside. Some of them had small glass trinkets with them, on chains around their necks, or held in their hands. It wasn't one of the enormous crowds, not one like at the fight or down by the docks, but there were enough people that it was hard to see the gaps between them. Nemm's followers tended to be younger girls and older men, the former because of some combination of envy and adoration, and the latter for more lecherous reasons.

  "Thank you for your patience," Nemm said to them. "I have retrieved the fledgling hero Dravus Lightscour from the clutches of that criminal woman, and all is right with the world, save for one thing." She turned to Dravus. "You lied to me."

  "I'm sorry," said Dravus. Everyone was looking at him. "I'm not sure what else I can say, how I can explain myself, but … perhaps it would be better as a private conversation."

  "It's easier to bend the truth when only one person is listening," said Nemm. "Anything you have to say can be said in front of these people. They kindly waited here while I went in to deal with your mess. Explain for them how you came into this predicament. And don't lie - I can see the truth in a man's eyes." She nodded for him to continue, and there was something in her countenance that made him consider his words carefully.

  "I was a runner," said Dravus. Nemm couldn't actually tell when a person was lying just by looking into their eyes, he was almost entirely sure of that. It was just poetic language, even if she probably preferred people thinking she was being literal. He saw her
raise an eyebrow just a fraction, and knew he had to continue. The thought of losing this opportunity was like a stab to the heart, and he needed to say whatever it was that Nemm wanted to hear, if he could figure out what that was. He went with a confession, and pitched his voice to the crowd. "But before I was a runner, I was a thief." There was some murmuring from the crowd. They were all watching him, unabashedly. "I stole from shops because I didn't have any money, and then I began to steal from shops because I was good at it, and I didn't realize the harm I was causing." Dravus had seen enough of his friends go before a judge to know how these things went. There were rules to it. Don't admit to anything specific, show contrition, promise reform, talk about your crimes like they're all in the past, and maybe you get a few days in the stocks instead of a year of back-breaking galley slavery. "After a while, all of my friends were thieves, and we started trying to show each other up. We would steal fancier things from more difficult targets, making a game out of it. The older boys taught us how to pickpocket. I started taking orders, so I could get my cut from the larger schemes, and then one day I realized that I had begun working for Korata without even knowing it."