Sister of the Dead

by Barb Hendee

  Leesil crept along the river's edge the other way, passing by the castle and farther down to reenter the city. He cut inward to a main road and back toward the castle gates as if he'd come from the heart of Keonsk. Four Varanj soldiers out front were deep in conversation as he strolled up. The two walking the ramparts to either side of the gatehouse did not even pause.

  "Hallo, " he said. "Long night?"

  One soldier smoking a short-stemmed clay pipe offered it to Leesil. "We been here since nightfall. You heard word about relief squads?"

  Leesil took a pull on the pipe. The leaf the man smoked burned too hot. It tasted old and stale.

  "No, I was sent with a message for Captain Marjus. My sergeant hasn't been able to find him, so he told me to head for the barracks. "

  Another solider frowned. "Marjus? That snooty straight-back who talks like he's a lord?" He suddenly cleared his throat as he eyed Leesil. "Pardon if you count him a friend, but he's no such among us. "

  "Yeah, that's him, " the first soldier said, taking his pipe back from Leesil. "Haven't seen him tonight, but that don't mean nothing. " He tilted his head to look up to the wall walkways. "Positions! Messenger coming through!"

  A creaking sound came from within the gatehouse. As the large gate slid upward and opened, the soldier's companions on the ground fanned out, spears ready. Though they'd appeared relaxed upon Leesil's arrival, he could see these men were veterans.

  Another group of soldiers met him inside.

  "Message for Captain Marjus, " Leesil said.

  'Try the officers' quarters in the barracks... east side. "

  "Thank you. "

  After this exchange, Leesil was just another Varanj patrolling the courtyard. He walked casually toward the inner keep's east corner, in case anyone was watching. Once he passed out of sight, he hurried around the barracks to the back.

  There were no guards patrolling the back courtyard for the moment. All he need worry about were those upon the ramparts, but the night shadows near the wall made it easy to slide along the courtyard's outer edge. He stopped when he'd reached the correct place.

  Testing stone and mortar with fingertips, Leesil found no sign of an opening or its catch.

  For a moment, he feared he'd misjudged the bolt-hole's location. He had felt it on the outside, but his bearings were disoriented. He forced himself to grow calm. He knew it was here. He just had to find it.

  The best escape routes were often exits from tunnels beneath a keep, but the lay wouldn't work for that. The grounds were too close to the river, and tunneling toward the water's edge would create a problem with seepage over the years. Not impossible to deal with, but this place was not large or complex in construction. So the obvious choice would be a simple hidden portal through the wall itself.

  Of course, standing there flattened against cold stone in the shadows wasn't exactly the best moment to consider all this.

  And he heard footsteps up on the rampart moving toward his position.

  Leesil looked both ways, along the wall to his left and to the tower's base on his right. There was a ground-level door into the tower. He slid along the wall, stopping to listen at the door and then slowly cracking it open.

  Inside, a ladder led up to a wooden half-platform above. To either side were archways leading out onto the walls. He could hear the soldiers strolling above, but what he sought wouldn't be there. Leesil felt along the tower's inner surface nearest the wall that he knew held the bolt-hole, and low to the ground he found a small cubby in the stone, and within it was a wooden lever. He stuck the toe of his boot into the hole and stepped down on it.

  A section of stone around his foot shifted, and he went down on all fours to shove it inward.

  The hatch was barely large enough to crawl through on hands and knees, but once through it, he slowly stood up in a hollow space inside the wall itself. He pulled out a cold lamp crystal Wynn had given him and rubbed it once with his thumb. It gave off a dim glow, enough for his elven eyes to make out his surroundings.

  There was no need here for the engineers to hide the mechanism for opening the bolt-hole. Counterweights hung from chains that passed through steel wheels mounted in the narrow chamber's ceiling. Short steel rails in the floor led up to where the bolt-hole was. All he need do was trip the lever and tug on the counterweights, and he did so. A small section of the outer stone of the wall rolled inward along the rails, and the bolt-hole was open.

  Leesil closed his fist around the crystal and peered around the opening's edge with one eye, first one way then the other. There was no one in sight on the street. He leaned out and raised his hand, loosening his grip on the crystal to let its glow leak between his fingers. He waved it back and forth.

  At first, no one came, and he worried that something had happened to the others. Then he saw Magiere creep out of the shadows across the way, leaning down with her eyes toward the city. Wynn and Chap followed behind her.

  He put his finger to his lips and helped them into the wall. Then he put his shoulder to the section on the rails, waving for Magiere to do the same. They pushed it back in place, and Leesil set the lever to lock it in position.

  "Now what?" Magiere whispered.

  "We get out of this wall space and find a rear entrance to the keep. "

  "What if there isn't one?"

  "Then we'll have to find a disguise of some sort for you and Wynn... and hope for the best. "

  Magiere stared at him as if he'd sprouted horns. "You're insane. "

  She was right, but in the past he'd had only himself to get inside a place such as this.

  "Just follow me, " he said.

  Leesil was first to crawl through the low hatch into the tower's bottom. When he was certain the soldiers atop the walls were far enough off, he signaled the others to follow.

  He spotted no entrance along the keep's back. The only other possibilities were the closer side facing the bolt-hole wall or the far side by the barracks. He kept to the bolt-hole wall as they scurried in its shadow. When they were nearer to the keep's comer, he ran across the courtyard to it, and the others followed to crouch beside him.

  It was a horrible position. Any soldier upon the rear wall might spot them. Leesil looked around the comer to the keep's near side, but he saw no entrance.

  "Well?" Magiere whispered from behind.

  He shook his head and led them along the keep's back. Around the comer on the barracks side, he spotted what they sought.

  "Good and bad, " he whispered. "There's an entrance with two soldiers in front of it. "

  "Can we take them by surprise?"

  Leesil scowled at her. That prospect wasn't appealing, but it was only thing he could think of himself. As long as no one else came along in the middle of it, they might not get killed on the spot.

  "Wynn and Chap, wait here, " he said, pulling a dagger from his boot and handing it to Magiere, blade first. "When I move, ram this handle into the other guard, dead-center between belly and ribs. It'll take his breath so he can't call out before you put him down. "

  Leesil sauntered out of the shadows as if he had all night, and Magiere followed his lead.

  He smiled lazily as they approached the soldiers, but both men tensed at the sight of Magiere. She wasn't armed, as Leesil still wore her falchion, but the castle grounds were sealed. Anyone not wearing a Varanj surcoat called immediate attention.

  "Captain Marjus requested a delivery of stores for the prince's return, " Leesil said with an edge of boredom in his voice. "She's to see about space in the cold room and larder. Got the orders right here. "

  He gestured with his thumb at Magiere, and he stepped across to the Varanj on the far side. Magiere stepped up to the nearer soldier. Leesil's target glanced toward Magiere.

  Leesil grabbed the man's arm and neck, simultaneously turning him about and closing off his windpipe.

  Magiere instantly rammed the dagger's hilt into the other guard's stomach. Her target buckled over, and she grabbed the back of
his helmet, pulling forward and down. She flipped the dagger in her grip, and smashed the hilt against the base of his skull. The soldier toppled to the ground, still and silent with his face in the dirt.

  Leesil's soldier struggled for a moment before going slack. He let the man slide to the ground beside his companion.

  "Behind the barracks with them, " Magiere whispered, and Leesil followed her lead as they dragged the soldiers away to where Wynn and Chap crouched in hiding.

  "Wynn, get the rope out of my pack, " Leesil said.

  "Why?" the sage asked, already doing as instructed.

  He cut two sections of rope, and he and Magiere bound the soldiers's arms and legs.

  "Where's that ridiculous scarf of yours?" Magiere asked him.

  Before he answered that he'd left it behind, Wynn pulled it from the pack.

  "I thought you might need it, " she said. "In case you had to abandon your disguise. "

  Magiere took the scarf and split it in half with her dagger.

  "What are you doing?" Leesil asked.

  "Gag that Varanj, " she answered, handing him half the scarf. "Better he swallow it than you wear it again. "

  There was no time for a nasty retort. With the soldiers hidden among the barrels and crates behind the barracks, Leesil was about to lead them back to the door. He turned back to dig inside the surcoats of their unconscious prisoners, and pulled out an iron key.

  "Much quicker than picking the lock, " he said, and led the others back to the door.

  Once it was open, Leesil slipped in first to make sure there were no servants about. The room was wide and empty, little more than an entryway with another solid door in the right wall. He checked it, found it wasn't locked, and cracked it to peer through at a large kitchen on the other side. He returned to his companions and motioned them into the entry room.

  Leesil put a finger to his lips, signaling the others to be silent. He warmed up his crystal and closed it tightly in his fist to hide most of its light, indicating for Wynn to do the same with the one she carried. Leading them into the kitchen, he checked the far end entrance and the one to its left side to be sure no one lingered in the passageways. Then he returned once more to the others.

  "There isn't any food here, " Wynn whispered.

  It was a large kitchen like the few Leesil had seen in keeps and manors of his homeland. Iron pots and pans hung on the wall above a wide and deep cooking hearth. The butcher block looked as if it hadn't been used in a while.

  "Over here, " Magiere said.

  Leesil and Wynn went to her and found a small open pantry with a few supplies, mainly dried foods, but also onions and turnips.

  "Someone has been eating, " Magiere pointed out, "but I don't see signs that servants have been here in a while. "

  While this was baffling, Leesil thought they should move on. "Wynn, you said you'd know where to look?"

  "Yes, " the sage answered, "if this is similar to places I have helped my domin search in the past. Records are usually kept in a large study or office on one of the upper floors or in the cellars or lower storage—or both. Any place requiring effort to reach and with limited direct access. "

  Magiere nodded. "All right, let's get upstairs. "

  She seemed tense to Leesil, now that the answers they sought might be so near. Again, he led the way, checking each room and its next exit before bringing the others forward. When they reached the main hall, he wasn't surprised to find it deserted but took a deep breath in relief.

  "Is it possible Buscan was the only one living here?" Magiere asked. "There should at least be guards inside near the main entry points. "

  Wynn looked down the side corridors. Chap nosed along the edge of a stairway leading up.

  "Perhaps the soldiers cleared the castle, " Wynn suggested, "after the baron was assassinated. Perhaps there is no one left here to protect. "

  Leesil turned up the stairs with Chap at his side. When he was satisfied that the upper corridor was clear, they began searching the rooms. Most were sleeping chambers that were either kept in fastidious cleanliness or had not been used in a long while. Wardrobes and chests were empty, and almost none of the rooms had chamber pots or water pitchers and basins. One room appeared to serve as a central parlor, but other than a few hand-tooled books and the usual fixtures, it held nothing of interest. When they'd reached the keep's opposite end, Leesil opened a door across from a narrow stairway leading down.

  He stood upon a thick carpet in a wood-paneled room, a surprising sight after the stone walls throughout the keep. The place had a warm feel, though the fire was dead. A small desk sat to the right of the hearth, and on the right wall hung a large painting of armored cavalry in the wilderness. The feature that attracted Leesil's attention the most was a spot below the painting where wooden panels had been broken loose. A dark recess showed behind the wall.

  "Wynn, " he called softly.

  His companions came to join him. Wynn hurried to the small desk and was about to open a drawer when she froze.

  "What is it?" Leesil asked.

  She pointed at a large dark stain covering the back of one chair and backed away from it.

  "I think... this is where the baron was killed, " she said.

  Chap circled the chair, sniffing, and he growled. Leesil hadn't given much thought to the murder of Buscan during their illicit entry into the castle. The baron obviously wasn't liked among some factions of his own house, let alone the other noble families. There were plenty of possibilities for responsible parties in this land, but the stain gave Leesil a moment's reflection.

  A trained assassin didn't leave evidence in plain view if it could be helped—unless there was something to be gained by early discovery of the target's death. By the size of the stain, the killer's method had been direct and crude. And there was still the strange opening in the wall to be considered.

  Leesil wondered exactly what had happened in this room.

  "Start searching, " Magiere said.

  Wynn helped her, and the two nearly took the desk and bookshelves apart. They found nothing of interest beyond a draft of a very old letter that Prince Rodek had written to his mother. All the while, Leesil studied the opening in the wall.

  He reached in and held up his crystal so its light filled the space beyond. A passage of stairs led downward from the small landing.

  "There's nothing in here, " Magiere said angrily.

  "We're done with the upper floor, " Leesil said. "We need to head down anyway, and I want to know where this leads. "

  "I do not understand this, " Wynn said, looking about as if to spot something she had missed. "There should be some immediate papers about.... For the day-to-day matters, at least. Yet we have nothing. It makes no sense. "

  Magiere took a deep breath. She tossed aside the books in her hand and nodded to Leesil.

  Leesil stepped through the wall first. Chap stayed close behind him, then Wynn, and Magiere followed last. Leesil took his time, studying the walls and steps along the way in the crystal's light. There was little chance of surprises, as this was only a simple hidden passage and not a concealed main avenue to be protected. They reached the bottom without incident, and Leesil judged they'd gone deeper than the main floor. They were underneath the keep itself.

  The stairs ended at a plain door, and they emerged into a prison. A row of iron cell doors lined both sides of the passage, and its end connected to another corridor running left and right.

  "I don't think we'll find any records here, " Leesil whispered.

  Wynn hurried ahead before Leesil could stop her, and he had to follow more quickly than he liked in unfamiliar territory. When she reached the cross-passage, looking both ways, she paused to glance back before disappearing to the left.

  "Come on, " she called. "I think there is a main room ahead. Perhaps guard quarters or an officer's room... or a way out of here. "

  "Wynn, slow down!" Magiere called.

  "Wait and let me check first, " Leesil added
.

  He was about to go after Wynn when Chap's growl made him freeze.

  A woman's voice drifted from down the row of cells to their right, away from Wynn's discovered door.

  "Dhampir?"

  Magiere stepped close behind Leesil, and he felt her hand settle on the falchion's hilt still strapped around his waist.

  "Who's there?" she called back.

  From the shadows beyond the crystal's light, Leesil saw movement. Magiere tilted the falchion back and drew it from the sheath.

  "Who's there?" she repeated.

  A young woman emerged into the light's reach, one hand braced against an iron door, as if so frightened or exhausted, she needed the support. A brown silk gown cut like a robe clung to her figure, tied at the waist with a scarlet cord, and its top two brass clasps were undone. A mass of red curls hung down her back. A bloodstone pendant rested below her creamy throat.

  She looked at the crystal in Leesil's hand, and its presence made her wary enough to pause. She appraised him carefully, and then she turned her attention upon Magiere.

  "Dhampir, " she said again, her tone a note of music this time.

  Magiere stepped around Leesil with her falchion up.

  "Stay where you are and keep your hands still, or I'll slice off anything that moves. "

  "I wish to help you, " the woman said.

  Wynn's footsteps approached behind Leesil. "Are you coming? I need help with a locked... Oh, " she said as she saw the new arrival.

  Leesil stepped away from Magiere to the passage's other side. It wasn't much separation, but it was as far as he could stretch this stranger's field of view. He'd learned enough hard lessons in recent days, and didn't care to have this woman able to hold all of them in her sight line at the same time. With Wynn present, her crystal in hand, there was enough light that he tucked his own crystal into his surcoat.

  "Who are you?" he asked, sliding farther down the side of the passage.

  "You want to help me?" Magiere asked with a bitter challenge in her voice. "How do you plan to do that?"

  The woman tentatively lifted her hand from the iron door and then froze with apprehension in her eyes. Magiere nodded, and the woman lowered her hand to her side.