Erosan's Tears

by Jason Scott Gleason

  Raelyn threw his shield into the face of the second archer, slashing his belly open as he raised his arms to block the table. He turned his blade to the flat on the back swing, slapping the other archer’s blade to the side while protecting the edge of his own sword. With a turn of the wrist and a shift of his weight he turned the swing into a stab, and slid the point of his blade up under the man’s chin, driving it in just far enough to kill him but not so deep to get it stuck.

  The final man had recovered from his spill, and stood in a high crouch, poised on the balls of his feet. Raelyn saw that the man knew how to fight, and thought it unlikely that he’d take him as quickly as the others. He pressed the initiative, making a couple of short jabbing motions as he advanced. His opponent parried his advances easily, backing off with short, shuffling steps. He was careful not to let himself be backed into the stairs continuing down from the landing, instead moving into the hallway, stepping up instinctively so he didn’t trip on the rug running down the hall.

  He’s fighting defensively, buying time, Raelyn realized. On top of that, he’s good. I can’t afford to let him draw this out until more men show up, but I can’t turn my back to him either. His opponent was using the hallway to limit the fight to point work, which Raelyn knew would make it harder to kill him quickly. But Raelyn had been finding advantages in terrain for years. A brothel was simply terrain of a different sort.

  Raelyn charged, increasing his tempo, batting away the swordsman’s single counter. The swordsman jumped back, creating distance as fast as he could, and Raelyn feinted a low stab. As the man leapt back to avoid it, Raelyn dropped his sword and scooped up the rug in both hands, heaving it up between his legs. The sudden movement caught the swordsman off guard, and he went down. Raelyn was on him immediately, his left hand pinning the man’s sword arm as he pulled the dagger from his sword belt. The man struggled as Raelyn slammed the blade into his gut, angling the point up and through his diaphragm, digging over and over. Raelyn had to bear down on the man’s sword arm to keep him from working it free, and the man reached up with his free hand and grabbed Raelyn’s hair, then his face, searching for his eye. As Raelyn bit down on the man’s wrist he felt a sudden flush of blood against his hand. The tip of his dagger had found the big artery, and Raelyn pushed it in hard, twisting to cut as much as he could. The man coughed, blood bubbling up into his breath, and the tension slowly drained out of his arms. After a moment, Raelyn knocked the sword from his slack fingers and stood.

  He walked back down the hall, his knees shaking a little from the fight. He stopped for a moment and tried to tie his hair back up, but he only managed to get blood in it. I must look like a madman, he thought with a chuckle. Everything was silent in the house. He picked Tempest back up and walked back into the stairwell.

  Genevar was still in the corner, and a look of relief swept over her face when Raelyn emerged. It was replaced by concern almost immediately. “By the gods,” she exclaimed, “are you alright?”

  Raelyn was getting his second wind. “None of it’s mine,” he replied, then he smiled. “You should see the other guy.”

  Genevar laughed, struck by the absurdity of the situation. “How odd it is to be laughing at a time like this?” she said, in the phrasing of an Orevanthar native. Raelyn just shrugged.

  “Are you ready, milady?” he asked, offering his arm as if they were about to go for a stroll through the Garden District. Genevar curtsied, then gingerly picked her way down the stairs, careful to avoid the bodies. She got down to the landing and then stopped and looked up at Raelyn. “Stay behind me,” he said, and they continued down the stairs.

  They went down to the parlor and found it empty. Raelyn went to the front door and opened it a crack. The street seemed deserted, so he opened it wider and stepped out, leading Genevar out with him. They stuck to the shadows as they cut into the first alleyway off the main boulevard. Raelyn turned to her. “Do you have somewhere safe to go?” he asked. Genevar shook her head.

  “That’s my home,” she said, her voice tinged with anxiety. “I have an apartment above the song house, but I can’t think of anywhere I could go that Ourette doesn’t know about. I’ve trusted her with so much, I cannot believe that she would betray me.” There was so much pain in her voice.

  Raelyn thought for a moment. “We’ll go to the Temple of Erosan. Sister Teldra will give you sanctuary, and nobody in the city would be so bold as to storm the temple and take you by force. Once I figure out if they’re after you, me, or Astal—and once I know it’s safe—I’ll know where to find you.”

  Genevar smiled in relief. “Just promise me that you will come to fetch me,” she said. “I’ll need someone to rescue me from the Ladies of Erosan—they might try to anoint me as one of their own!”

  Raelyn chuckled at the thought of Genevar as one of the chaste and pious Ladies. “For some reason, I can’t see it. But if it gets too bad, just have them send word to me and I’ll have Borin come get you. He’s done more drinking and whoring than the entire First; I’m sure you’ll feel right at home with him!”

  Genevar laughed. It’s good to see your spirits returning, Raelyn thought. When the fighting broke out, I was scared for you.

  “Okay, time to move again,” he said. “I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to. If more of Trevan’s men come looking for us, we’ll be sitting ducks so close. The sooner we get you to the temple, the better.”

  Genevar agreed, and they started off through the streets. With the civil unrest, the streets of the Arena District were more subdued than usual. The curfew had been imposed on the Coscan District and the people were nervous. The Watch was pulling double or triple shifts in the Arena District, making sure they were out in force, and it had a chilling effect.

  Raelyn and Genevar stuck to the back streets, avoiding the Promenade and keeping to the shadows. They moved from doorway to doorway, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible and moving away every time they heard the sound of boots on the cobblestones. Raelyn could feel Genevar pressing into him, clutching at his sleeve, and he was reminded how fragile she was. It’s amazing, Raelyn thought; I’ve always seen you so confident, so sure of yourself. I’ve seen you court Lords, turn the most powerful men into stammering fools—but as soon as things get dangerous, you turn into a little girl.

  They managed to make their way to King’s Gate without drawing any attention, although Raelyn knew getting into the Garden District would be a different matter altogether. At the gate were six members of the Watch standing guard, dozens of lanterns set out to illuminate the night. The wall separating the two districts loomed high into the darkness.

  Raelyn turned to Genevar, still in the shadows of a side street. “If we go up there, I’m going to attract attention. I have more blood on me than a stuck cow, and the Watch is going to want to know why. Unless I see any members of the Watch that I know personally, no answer I give will satisfy them, and they’ll want to take me in to Corlwyn for questioning.”

  Genevar looked nervous. “So what do we do?” she asked.

  “You go ahead,” he replied. “Walk through the gate. I’m sure they’ll want to know your business, but you can tell them whatever you want. Just act confident, and they should let you through. You’re good at bluffing, so you shouldn’t have any problem. And make sure not to use your real name. If Trevan is behind this, he may have the Watch keeping an eye out for you. He paid off Ourette, so he may have gotten to the Watch as well.

  “I’ll be back here. If anything seems off, I’ll approach the gate. I’m sure that as soon as they see me, they’ll forget all about you. From the gate it’s just down the road to King’s Square, so you shouldn’t have any problem getting to the temple.”

  “Regardless of what you might think, I do know where the temples are,” Genevar said with mock indignace.

  “Right,” Raelyn said with a chuckle. Then he grew serious. “Think you can handle it?”

  Genevar harrumphed. “I’ve been sweet t
alking men of the Watch since you were at the teat! As long as nobody’s trying to kill me and all I have to do is talk, I’m sure I won’t have any problem.” She turned and strode confidently into the street, walking toward the men guarding the gate.

  Raelyn crouched in the shadows, watching Genevar as well as the men. He heard them tell her to stop and state her name and business, and heard her give a name he didn’t recognize. Good, he thought, keep them going. Just don’t lose that confidence, and you’ll be fine.

  She had just walked through when someone stepped into the ring of light cast by the lanterns, on the other side of the gate. The figure gestured to one of the guards and said, “That’s her.” Raelyn recognized Trevan’s voice.

  Raelyn jumped up and raced towards the guards, drawing his sword as he ran. “Run!” he screamed as he charged. He searched the group wildly, looking for faces he’d recognize. He saw Bendro, who had two children, and Vettal, who he sometimes drank with, and a couple other faces he could place but not name. And from the rear, just past the gate, Trevan was running to join them. Please, Lady Aletharin, don’t make me have to kill any of them.

  The guards were caught completely unaware, and Raelyn reached Bendro first, taking him off his feet with a clothesline. Another guard raised his sword, but Raelyn parried it to the side and lowered his shoulder, leveling the smaller man. A third tried to close with him, but Raelyn disarmed him with a quick twist of his blade and kicked the man’s sword away.

  The guards began to rally then, realizing that Raelyn hadn’t stabbed any of them. Trevan was enraged, screaming orders, and the guards started pressing Raelyn—aside from Vettal, who was holding back with a look of shock in his eyes. Raelyn started backing off, fighting on the defensive against multiple swords, and managed to slap a man across the face with the flat of his blade hard enough to send him reeling.

  I can’t win like this, he thought. He spared a glance in the direction of Genevar, who had run off as fast as her legs could carry her. His distraction had worked, although it was not the kind of distraction he had planned. Nobody had made a move to follow her. Now that she’s safe, how in all the hells do I get away?

  The first two guards he had hit were still down, and Vettal had not committed to the fight, but the man he had slapped was back in. The three guards were slashing wildly at Raelyn, and Trevan had moved in to join the fight. Unlike the guards, Trevan was skilled with a blade, and his cuts and thrusts were dangerous. A mask of rage distorted his face.

  “Call your men off, Trevan!” Raelyn shouted, still trying to withdraw. He was parrying wildly, trying to push the guards together so that they would get in one another’s way.

  “It won’t work, Raelyn!” Trevan shouted back. “We know you’re working with him! You’re a wanted man now!” Trevan lunged, and Raelyn had to let one of the other swordsmen get a cut in on his arm in order to parry Trevan’s lethal stab.

  “I haven’t been working with anyone!” he yelled, countering wildly. He’s in the grip of Tarus, Raelyn realized. Another guard got a cut in. Raelyn managed to block the worst of the blow, but the blade nicked his shoulder.

  “Liar!” Trevan spat, his face red with anger. “You’ve betrayed everyone who had faith in you! You’ll hang for this, and Aletharin won’t spare you in the hereafter!”

  Raelyn realized he couldn’t keep taking it easy on the guards. His cuts weren’t bad, but they would take their toll. He was already fatigued from what had happened earlier, and he couldn’t hold out forever. Worst of all, Vettal and the guard he had shoulder checked were joining the fight, stacking the odds perilously against him. If I don’t start wounding them now, they’ll overpower me eventually. I’m going to have to take a few out of the fight to make Trevan see that he’s overmatched.

  The next guard that lunged got a nasty cut on his arm, just above the elbow. Raelyn knew how sharp his sword was, and gave the man a light draw cut instead of a slash, but he still opened his arm deep. The man cried out and dropped his sword. He turned to the next swordsman and stabbed him in the meat of the shoulder as he danced back, away from the swinging blades of the others. The other guards seemed to be losing heart.

  But Trevan pressed the attack. “Don’t back down, damn it! He’s overmatched!” Trevan’s sword danced in, and Raelyn had to turn his attention to keeping back from his blade. That’s no practice blade, he thought to himself, remembering all the times he had sparred with Trevan in his courtyard. This fight is in deadly earnest.

  Raelyn managed to score a hit on Vettal, this a cut to the outside of the man’s thigh. Vettal fell down, clutching his leg in pain, and Raelyn silently prayed that the wound would not be too bad and would heal cleanly. He was trying not to maim or kill anyone, but it was battle, and anything could happen.

  Trevan screamed in rage and grabbed his sword in two hands, raining down wild blows on Raelyn. “Kill him, or by Charnost I’ll have you all hung on a hook!” Raelyn was struggling to block his cuts, and the ferocity of his attack seemed to give the other two guards spirit.

  “Damn it, Trevan!” I have to hit him, he thought desperately. Maybe if I take him out of the fight, the guards will lose the stomach for it. He’s in the grip of Tarus right now.

  Raelyn batted aside another cut from Trevan, and blocked another. Trevan came around with a vicious backswing, and Raelyn angled his blade to intercept it, letting the cut glance up and harmlessly away, turning his blade in to catch Trevan in the biceps. But Trevan was unbalanced and staggered to the right, and the point of Raelyn’s blade caught him in the side. Raelyn recoiled, pulling back in horror as Trevan went down.

  Raelyn stepped back, keeping the point of his sword between him and the guards. It didn’t matter, though. The two uninjured guards were standing, slack jawed, unsure of what to do. Without Trevan they knew they had no hope of overpowering Raelyn; the fight had gone out of them.

  “Pick him up, damn you!” Raelyn shouted, panic in his voice. “Get him to the Temple of Erosan before he bleeds out!” No, not like this, you damn self righteous fool! First your brother; not you too! The guards seemed to be moving in slow motion. In one quick motion, Raelyn batted the swords out of the hands of the guards, then stepped in and started laying Trevan down. He was cold and clammy, and he had started to shake.

  The guards realized what he was doing, and started to try to help Trevan up. “No, keep him down, laying down. You’re going to have to carry him. Bendro! Come here, damn it! Grab his arm, make sure his head is supported. You’re going to have to help too,” he said, looking at the two wounded guards. “You each have a good arm, damn it!”

  The guards all worked together to lift Trevan up, all but Vettal who was having trouble standing. “Stay down, Vettal,” Raelyn ordered. “Bendro, as soon as you get to the temple, come back for Vettal. He needs that leg tended to.”

  “They’re gonna come for you, Raelyn,” Vettal said. There wasn’t anger in his eyes, only sadness. “But I’ll tell ‘em what you done. You could’ve killed all of us, but you didn’t.”

  Raelyn wasn’t sure of what to do. He knew he had to get away, but he wanted to make sure Trevan got to the temple, make sure that he recovered. He wished he could take back that one thrust, wished Trevan hadn’t overreached in his swing and stumbled into his blade. Don’t die on me, you damned fool, he thought to himself again. The guards started walking down the road, carrying Trevan as if in a litter. It looked too much like a funeral processional to Raelyn, and he felt sick.

  “Run, Rae,” Vettal said quietly. “Don’t let ‘em get you. We weren’t here to arrest you—Trevan told us to kill you if we saw you.” Raelyn looked down at Vettal, who was still grabbing his leg in pain. “They’ll kill you if they catch you.”

  Raelyn looked down the road at the processional and gave a silent prayer to Erosan. Then he turned and ran into the shadows of the Arena District.

  Chapter Twelve

  Raelyn had barely slept the past two nights, hiding out on the streets and staying
clear of any of his old haunts. He had even found a Oervan churigeon at the Fisherman’s Wharf to sew him up, for fear that he would have been captured had he tried going to the Temple of Erosan. He had run from the Watch twice, and had finally gotten word from Astal that he could hide out in one of Astal’s warehouses in the Wharf District. They were there now.

  “I had an interesting conversation with Jander Westford,” Astal said, as if they were sitting comfortably in a tavern instead of hiding from the law in a warehouse in one of the most conflict-torn districts in the city. “He had a number of interesting things to say.”

  Raelyn didn’t respond. He was beyond caring about Jander Westford, even if he had testified to seeing his friend at the scene of a crime. For the past two days, Trevan had consumed his thoughts.

  Astal continued. “He just came into some money, and has taken some time off of work. After a few drinks, he loosened up quite a bit. He hinted around that he would soon be a member of Lord Rennard’s household. I guess that answers the question of who set me up, although I was pretty sure it was him to begin with.”

  Raelyn shrugged. “I figured as much.”

  Astal sighed. “Well, that’s about all the good news I have from the outside world. There’s plenty of bad news, though. There have been two more killings. One two nights ago, one last night. They’re calling for both of our heads, and they’ve offered a reward of a thousand tares to anyone who brings them in.”

  “Who was killed?” Raelyn asked, but he was only half listening. He didn’t care about the reward, beyond hoping that nobody would have the chance to collect it.

  “Joad Morgost, the Coscan leather smith, and Lord Corbin. Both the same way, like the others. But Lord Corbin apparently managed to get a cut in. He had defensive wounds, and they found his dagger next to him with blood on the blade.”

  Raelyn mulled this over for a moment. “A Coscan leader and a lord,” he said. “The killer’s becoming more aggressive, but he made a big mistake and got cut. Now that he’s killed a lord of the city, I’m sure the Council is up in arms.”