The Raike Box Set

by Jackson Lear

  The sandals held a palm-wide strap over the top of the foot with inch-thick bands running up the shin that was also wrapped tightly around the calf. Fine for marching across miles of road but not ideal for a fight against a mercenary, even if that mercenary was wearing the finest of awful sandals himself. Each of them carried a short sword by their waist. None of them bore any insignia of being a mage, which was a relief.

  I’d seen one of them before. I cycled through all the faces of the army I recognized. One of the trio of talkers along the road to Torne? No. Someone in front of the inn carrying Artavian away? No. Then I placed him. He had been fawning over Lieutenant Gustali. Probably not a lieutenant himself but certainly higher in the rank than a simple grunt.

  We knew each other. We knew from where. I had walked past him and five hundred others as a trouble maker who was just keeping his head down. With a roll of his jaw and a puckering of his lips he no doubt wished that he had taken care of me on the road to Torne, long before I became a problem for his boss.

  Alysia whispered to me. “Do you know them?”

  “They’re part of your husband’s cohort, I think.”

  Alysia stopped. Turned. Waited for them to approach, which they did with a heavy dose of uncertainty. Four against four. The senior-most among them probably a sergeant. The senior-most amongst us was a cavalry sergeant with the ear of General Kasera. Then you have Kasera’s daughter, Kasera’s personal assassin, and yours truly.

  Alysia lifted her chin towards them. “Are you members of Commander Lavarta’s cohort?”

  The more talkative one did his best not to jump with unease and pointed my way. “We’re here to bring this one in.”

  “Bring him in where?”

  He didn’t know how to respond to that.

  “Bring him in to see the commander? Bring him in to be beaten up?”

  None of them seemed smart enough to know what to say other than: “Just to bring him in. This doesn’t concern you.”

  Alysia stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her. “You gentlemen are a long way from training. Maybe you should return before you’re court-martialed for harassing my friend and me in public.”

  The grunt sneered at us, leading me to roll my eyes at the ineptitude of Lieutenant Gustali. After last night’s dinner he had sent his best people to handle his problem, probably without Caton’s knowledge.

  Delen stepped forward. Full cavalry outfit. Hard to miss. “Did you four not hear Miss Kasera Lavarta? Or are we going to have a lengthy word with army command?”

  “My apologies, sir, but we were asked to bring this criminal in for questioning.”

  “By who?”

  “I can’t say, sir.”

  “Then perhaps a congratulations is in order for your recent promotions to the military police. What unit are you now in and who is your commanding officer?”

  The chatty one wasn’t all that chatty anymore.

  “Answer the fucking question, private.”

  The chatty one held his hands up. “My apologies, sir. We must have the wrong man.” He backed away, his friends moving with him.

  Alysia started to walk away.

  I did not.

  The foursome were far from gone. They simply moved away just enough to encourage Delen to return to Alysia’s side.

  We shared a look. They had the numbers. They had training. They might’ve even been able to punch someone in a brawl.

  Alysia Kasera Lavarta strolled back in, took me by the arm, and led me away. “We’re going.”

  “I was in the middle of something,” I said.

  “Yes, you’re in the middle of resolving Artavian’s murder, staving off my husband’s death, and planning how to best break Beriss out of jail without getting yourself killed.”

  “Those four belong to your husband’s cohort.”

  “I know.”

  “They’re disobeying orders.”

  “Welcome to the Fourth Cohort, where a lieutenant leads with impunity over a commander.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. Smirked at the foursome still following us. I even gave them a ‘come hither’ gesture to keep them close by.

  Alysia caught me. “You really are an asshole at times.”

  “Yeah. I need you to do me a favor.”

  “Oh, two in one day? Because aren’t we in the middle of one right now? The one that gets you into Beriss’ jail cell?”

  “Thank you for that.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “What’s this favor?”

  “When we reach this next street I need you to keep walking with Zara and Delen.”

  “No.”

  “It’s either that or you’ll have to climb onto the roof of that building.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll give you a boost.”

  “No!”

  “It’ll be for your own protection.”

  “Brayen? No!”

  “Fine, then how about going in through that open door?”

  She glanced over. Squinted. “While you do what, exactly?”

  “Four kicks, a couple of upper-cuts, and something involving my elbow.”

  “Do you not realize how insane you sound?”

  “This is largely what I do for a living. Zara? Keep yourselves out of sight for a moment.”

  Alysia shot out a quick breath of annoyance, gathered up her dress, and hurried around the corner.

  Two minutes later she returned, unimpressed.

  The four soldiers were lying on their backs, groaning, covering their bloodied faces as I stashed my silk pole away and walked off with their swords.

  “Happy?” asked Alysia.

  “Disappointed, I’d say. I mean, if you’re going to throw a punch you don’t try to land it directly on someone’s nose, you keep going until you’ve barreled your fist into the back of their skull.” I shook my head, handed her and Zara each a pair of sheathed swords, finally unsheathed my blade, and sliced a nice long knick up the front of the soldiers’ tunics, exposing their undergarments for the world to see.

  “Because they haven’t been humiliated enough?”

  “No.”

  “You know that they’re going to face a court martial for this? And severe discipline for losing their weapons?”

  “Finally, justice in Torne. Never thought I’d see the day.”

  Alysia peered at the swords in her arms. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

  “Give them to your husband so he can give them to some new recruits.”

  We ascended the stairs to the Torne University, a stone’s throw from the Hall of Courts. I had been expecting to see a monument to Torne’s excess and a pillar of finery, yet the main building was the size of a large barn and clad in dull slabs of rock, weathered from a century of rain and streaked with grime. I’m sure it had been a pristine white at one stage, yet none of that remained.

  “This is a university?”

  “It used to be the grand ante-chamber to a temple complex which collapsed two hundred and something years ago. Now it’s a university. You were expecting something bigger?”

  “I was, actually.”

  “There are only a couple of hundred students. If you want grandeur you’re going to need to visit Ispar.”

  “I’ll pass. So this is one of the oldest standing buildings in Torne?”

  “Yep.”

  “To which deity?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “I thought that would be day one of learning, finding out the name of the building you’re in.”

  “It was and it’s been a pain ever since.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I can’t say the deity’s name. Not unless you want something really bad to happen to you.”

  Zara came to the rescue. “Arras.”

  “And what’s so bad about him?”

  “The god of trickery? Nothing at all.”

  We moved inside. In a word, it was dark. Only a giant circular window above us illuminated th
e inside of the building. The rest was walled off with private offices to the left and right, no doubt with grand windows or the like. Great hooks and bolts protruded from the ceiling and walls, once home to chandeliers or religious artefacts, now they showed off nothing but the naked roof. A pattern among the tiles on the ground was broken by the office walls built on top, giving the whole place a defeatist attitude.

  Alysia tapped on one door.

  “Come.”

  We headed inside. An old man with a thin white beard and a bald, splotched head looked up from a steaming goblet of mulled wine. Beside him lay an assortment of paper on top of a desk that bore the brunt of tome upon tome of ancient laws and legal nonsense.

  “Ah! Miss Alysia.” He spoke with a slight rasp, unsurprising considering the waft of incense that flickered about in the cramped, unaired room.

  “Professor Lucien. This is Mr Raike, one of my dearest friends. We have a problem that neither of us are quite qualified for and I was hoping for your assistance.”

  Lucien looked over me in but a second before his eyes fell upon Alysia’s hands. “You’ve brought bodyguards. And swords.”

  “Can I put them down somewhere?”

  “I … suppose. Is everything okay?”

  “Just a precaution.”

  Lucien looked my way. “And this would be your first time in a lawyer’s office, Mr Raike?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, come in and let’s see what the problem is.”

  Alysia gave me a quick nod.

  “You might be better at this,” I said.

  “I know the second-hand story. You know the details.”

  Lucien waved me to the front of his desk. “No need to be shy, Mr Raike. I’ve heard all manner of ridiculous and foolish stories in my day and every excuse ever uttered from clients and students alike. So, please.”

  “Very well. I’m a bounty hunter by trade. A few days ago I was in Verseii tracking down a man by the name of Beriss who was wanted for seduction in Erast. I apprehended him and brought him to the magistrate’s office where I was paid for my efforts and I thought nothing more of it. At the same time, Commander Lavarta’s aide-de-camp was murdered in an inn in Verseii. I believe I saw the aide while he was still alive, as did Beriss. Briefly, of course. Nothing more than a passing glance. I only remember it because it was unusual seeing five memebers of the army in a city that didn’t have a single barracks. Beriss did not leave my side for the whole night and I remained awake to ensure that he didn’t slip away.

  “Early this morning I discovered that the man in charge of investigating the commander’s aide’s death has apprehended Beriss and has brought him to Torne. I have not had a chance to speak to Beriss but I believe that he is either supposed to take the fall for the aide’s death or he is being coerced into pointing the finger at me and will say that I was responsible.”

  Lucien sat quietly, shifting his attention from me to Alysia a few times, before lowering his chin and nodding to himself. “Are you looking for me to represent you? Or Beriss? Or something else?”

  Alysia said, “We want to question Beriss and find out what’s going on.”

  Lucien lifted his eyebrows up high, the length of his bushy brow now resembling mutton chops glued to the top of his face. “I expect you don’t just want Beriss questioned but you want to do the actual questioning?”

  “Yes, Professor.”

  “Hmm. A bounty hunter who is presumably armed getting into a cell with a man he only just apprehended because at least one of you is a target for a murder investigation, and a junior councilor assisting to make this happen despite the deceased being a member of her husband’s cohort who died while on deployment. I’m sure you can see a few issues there.”

  “We do, Professor, but both Beriss and Raike have no connection to the murder and yet they are being targeted by an investigator who is more than likely corrupt. They have already threatened me and my husband, and they have planted evidence in my own home.”

  “Evidence that your husband may have wanted his aide-de-camp dead?”

  “I’m not exactly sure what the evidence is at the moment, but I believe you are correct.”

  Lucien clasped his fingers together and leaned back in his chair.

  Alysia tried once again. “At the very least, Beriss deserves fair representation.”

  Lucien sighed to himself. “This Beriss fellow, he can exonerate Mr Raike?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Mr Raike can exonerate Beriss?”

  “Yes.”

  “And there are other witnesses who can testify that Messers Raike and Beriss had nothing to do with Artavian’s death in Verseii?”

  Alysia looked my way, hopeful.

  “There was a doorman at an inn who was supremely pissed off to see me and Beriss. Beriss ran upstairs, trying to get away. The doorman chased after us with a club. Inside the room were a couple of bounty hunters who Beriss tried to bribe into helping him get away. They’ll certainly remember us. Where they are now, though, I have no idea. But the doorman would still be there. And the main point in Artavian’s death is that the military still haven’t determined that he was murdered after all. He simply died in his bed of asphyxiation.”

  “If he wasn’t murdered then it’s hardly a murder investigation.”

  Alysia said, “And yet Lieutenant Kace traveled through the night without rest to bring Beriss back with him, bound in manacles.”

  Lucien fell quiet for another moment, though his previous wide-eyed look of despair had shifted into a careful squint. “Bear in mind, I’m not usually one for military matters.”

  “Beriss is a civilian,” said Alysia. “Even if I go in as a lawyer they won’t let me see him. But if you’re there they can’t stonewall us or else it’ll prove that the investigation is a farce. They want a quick resolution. I want the truth.”

  “No matter how much it hurts?”

  Alysia nodded. “No matter how much it hurts.”

  Lucien shifted to me. “And you? If this points the blame at someone you don’t want it to?”

  “I’m not bound to this in anyway. If I don’t like it I’ll just walk away.”

  Lucien peered between us. “I’m sure you two have an interesting story. A councilor and a mercenary on good terms with each other.”

  “A lawyer and a bounty hunter on good terms with each other.”

  Lucien chuckled to himself. “All right, that I understand.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  You could’ve heard Orin’s shriek the moment the clerk told him of our arrival. You definitely could’ve heard it when he realized that we were already half way into the dungeons to see his prisoner.

  “Stop! Stop this! This is a military compound and you have no authority here!”

  Lucien clapped his hands together and beamed with a smile. “You must be the young man in charge of the investigation into Artavian’s death. Good to finally meet you.”

  Orin scrambled to a halt. “You’ll have to leave.”

  “Nonsense, as one of the governor’s senior-most legal representatives I have a standing right to see any prisoner within the city of Torne. You have someone in captivity by the name of Beriss, brought in from Verseii this morning. I am here to speak with him.”

  Orin squinted back at us, glancing at myself and Alysia before landing on the old man he was unfamiliar with. “Who are you?”

  The professor smiled politely at the young lieutenant. “I am Lucien, son of Lucius, Defender from the Hall of Courts and Professor of Law at Torne University.”

  “The senior investigator is away today ...”

  “Would that be Lieutenant Kace?”

  “Yes.”

  “I do not require his assistance in showing me the way to Beriss’ cell.”

  “He’s the only one authorized to grant access to prisoners on a military base.”

  “Ah, but your prisoner is a civilian, is he not?”

  Orin held his tongue.

&n
bsp; “And I believe that civilians are not permitted to be held prisoner on a military base, unless the crime occurred on military grounds, which it did not.”

  “We are permitted to hold him if a crime was commited against a member of the military,” said Orin.

  “In which case he would be processed by the city watch first, which he was not.”

  “The paperwork has been lodged.”

  “And their cells are completely full, I take it?”

  “They are still looking for something suitable,” snapped Orin.

  “Ah, of course. So the base has to be temporarily inconvenienced by holding a civilian until the city watch are able to process Beriss and find the necessary cell for his incarceration.” Lucien nodded happily at each of us, like he was enjoying himself. “I am under the assumption that Lieutenant Kace is in bed after traveling through the night.”

  “I can’t say what he’s up to right now.”

  “Which leads me to ask if you are a part of the investigation regarding Artavian’s death?”

  Orin glared back at Lucien. “I am.”

  “Splendid. You can take us to see Beriss.”

  Orin looked to myself, Alysia, Zara, and Delen. “I can’t let anyone see the prisoner. Not until he’s been questioned.”

  Lucien shook his head. “Even you know that is unlawful and not the slightest bit true, so let’s start again, shall we? What has Beriss been charged with?”

  Orin’s whole mouth puckered. “Conspiracy to commit murder.”

  “Really? And you have witnesses already who can attest to the fact?”

  “I am not the lead investigator, you will have to speak to him tomorrow.”

  “By then Mr Beriss will be a free man because of your misuse of the law and general incompetence. I’m sure your lead investigator will be thrilled to learn that all of his efforts to capture a man have gone to waste because his junior investigator was left in charge of Beriss’ safety. Has Beriss spoken to a lawyer, yet?”

  “One is being appointed to him by the court.”

  “I am a defender from the court. I am here to represent him. You are aware of what will happen to any of his testimony if he has been denied access to a lawyer?”

  Orin’s mouth puckered even more. “Yes. But the rest of you aren’t lawyers.”