“No need to concern yourself,” the man replied. “I’ve about had it with this slave tonight. In fact, I may have to look into replacing her soon. I’m afraid the novelty has begun to wear off.”
The general shook his head sadly as he looked at the woman lying still on the bed.
“But, enough of that,” he continued. “I’ll be more than happy to take you back to you rooms.”
The general stepped into the hall and closed the chamber door behind him. As the door shut, Lan got one last glimpse of the girl on the bed. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
Chapter Fifty-Five: Settling Old Grudges
The next several days in the mine were very much the same as that first one. The guards came early and linked the slaves together with the large chain. They were lined up and fed a morning meal of gruel and then led out of the large chamber and into one of the smaller mine shafts. What followed was a long day of digging with pick-axes and carrying stone to the ore baskets. Anyone who moved too slowly found themselves on the receiving end of a guard’s whip.
Sometime, in what Logan guessed was the afternoon the slaves were given a ladle of water and a short rest break. Then, it was back to the seemingly endless digging.
A short time after the afternoon rest break, Logan nudged Jarod and indicated a smaller tunnel that broke off from the one they were working in. He whispered quietly to Jarod, while they carried rock away for some of the other diggers.
“Where does that go?”
Jarod looked toward the smaller shaft.
“That’s part of the original mine,” he whispered in reply. “A few years ago, the mine keeper wanted to expand his profits and that was the result. He brought a mage down and the mage told him where to dig. Unfortunately, nothing of value was ever found and the mage met a rather unfortunate end at the hands of a rather perturbed mine keeper. It’s been closed off ever since and from what I’ve been told it’s not safe anymore. The roof is unstable in places.”
“So it finishes in a dead end?” Logan persisted.
“Actually no, it ends at an old air shaft that runs to the surface.”
“Really?” asked Logan, looking at the tunnel with greater interest.
“Forget it, Logan,” Jarod replied with a shake of his head. “We’re more than a hundred and fifty feet down and the shaft runs straight up. Not to mention that this isn’t even the bottom of the mine. The shaft drops another two hundred feet straight down. People have tried to escape that way before only to find themselves dead at the bottom of the shaft. I know. The guards brought me down there to help remove the bodies from the last group that tried to escape,” Jarod shuddered at the thought before continuing. “Besides, even if you did manage to climb all the way out, you’d just find yourself back where you started. The shaft opens into the main compound of the fortress.”
This must be the shaft that Raeth had told me about, thought Logan. He smiled to himself.
“Back to work!” came the shouted command of one of the guards, his whip lashing against Logan’s shoulder.
That evening, after the slaves had been fed, a very strange event took place. Two guards came down from the surface. Being dragged along between them was a young woman in a simple cotton robe and hood. The guards unlocked the gates to the chamber and moved to thrust the girl through. She fought when the gate opened, but the guards tightened their grip and forced her through the entrance. Logan watched with interest.
“She’s being punished,” Jarod said quietly beside him.
“What do you mean?” asked Logan, never taking his eyes off the scene.
“She’s a slave and she’s done something to upset her master,” Jarod explained. “As punishment, she is being ‘given’ to the miners for the night.”
Logan pulled his eyes from the scene before him to stare at his friend in horror.
“But they’ll …” he stammered slightly in his shock.
“Yes, they will,” Jarod agreed sadly. “She must have really upset her master. It doesn’t happen very often because they usually end up maimed or killed, but every once in a while.”
Jarod nodded in the direction of the outer gate. Already, men were rising to their feet. Even in the dim light, Logan could see the predatory glint in many of their eyes.
“We have to stop them,” he said desperately.
Logan rose to his feet and Jarod’s hand restrained him.
“This won’t be like the last time, my friend,” Jarod warned. “It won’t be just one you’ll be fighting. I doubt you can win.”
The guards locked the gate with a loud clang and retreated back up the stairs. The girl slowly turned from the gate to face the room, her hood still hiding her features. As she saw the men gathering before her, her fear was obvious, she cringed back as far as the gate would allow.
“That’s not the point,” Logan answered bitterly. “Succeed or fail, we have to do something. I will not let this happen.”
The first of the men was reaching for the girl as Logan arrived. Logan grabbed the man’s arm at the wrist and wrenched it back and up behind his back. He whirled around with the man and pushed him back into the gathered crowd.
“STOP!” Logan bellowed. “You will not do this!”
The general sound of grumbling and complaining rose as the gathered men considered and reacted to his words.
“And who’s going to stop us, you? I don’t think so.”
The voice was familiar and Logan searched the group for the speaker. A man pushed through to the fore of the crowd. Like all of the slaves, the man was caked in dirt and grime. His body had the lean wiry musculature of one who had survived for years in the mine and the tension in his stance spoke volumes. The man was looking for a fight, and it was clear he wasn’t going to back down. As the lamplight flickered around the chamber, Logan finally recognized him.
“I wondered what had become of you Jonah,” he said coldly. “I was hoping you’d died in the raid.”
“No such luck, runt,” the bitterness was clear in Jonah’s tone as he answered.
“What you’re planning here is wrong and you know it,” Logan tried to reason.
“Awww, poor baby,” Jonah mocked. “Always protecting the ladies. Even when they don’t want you to.”
An evil glint reflected in Jonah’s eyes.
“You know it won’t make them like you,” he continued. “You’re still a freak and you always will be.”
Logan shook his head in sadness. His life had taken him places he’d never expected, brought him friends he could have never imagined and yet here he was, full circle. He surveyed the angry eyes around him.
Nothing’s changed, he thought.
He thought of his friends, both new and old, he thought of his sister, he thought of El. He thought of the young woman standing behind him. That’s when he realized that he was wrong. Things had definitely changed.
“You never did get it, did you Jonah?” Logan asked with renewed determination. “Well, I won’t let you do this. If you want her, you’ll have to come through me.”
Jonah’s smile seemed eerily demonic in the flickering light.
“Are you sure?” Jonah teased. “It’s not like before. You won’t catch me off guard this time.”
Logan’s voice was cold and flat as he answered.
“Whenever you’re ready Jonah?”
The crowd opened up around the two men as they began to circle one another. Out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw Jarod take up a position in front of the girl.
Maybe there’s hope for him yet, he thought and then he was to busy to consider it further.
Jonah lunged forward with a feint for Logan’s head. After all his practice with Lan’thor the move was obvious to Logan, and when the real kick came for his ribs he met the blow with a harsh strike from his elbow. Jonah quickly pulled his foot back, favouring it slightly as he moved away.
“We don’t have to do this you know,” Logan argued one last time.
Jonah stepp
ed in with a jab to Logan’s face.
“Yes …”
His left foot came down on the outside of Logan’s knee causing it to buckle. Logan went down to his knees.
“We …”
A powerful right hand drove down towards Logan’s face.
“Do!”
The right didn’t land, Logan caught the punch in his meaty left hand and squeezed. Years at the forge had made his hands incredibly strong and Jonah’s fist was slowly crushed under the pressure. Jonah cried out in pain.
Logan regained his feet and looked into Jonah’s face. The man was slowly collapsing to his knees from the pain. Tears streamed down his cheeks and Logan released his hand.
“Stop Jonah, it’s done.”
Movement from the corner of his eye caused Logan to turn. One of the humans had apparently been preparing to strike at him with a large rock. He never got the chance. The man was now dangling by his arm from the outstretched hand of a troll. Logan was mildly surprised to see that it was the same troll he fought the previous night. Logan nodded his thanks to the big man.
“Behind you!” came Jarod’s warning.
Logan reacted instantly, dropping low and rolling away rather than turning into whatever was coming at him. It was a good thing he did. The pickaxe caused his hair to move as it swept past him.
Where in Hades did he get that, thought Logan? The tools are supposed to be secured at night.
As he came to his feet facing Jonah he was forced to dodge another wild pickaxe strike. Again, it narrowly missed him. Logan could see the madness in Jonah’s eyes and with sadness Logan realized this would never be over for Jonah until one of them lay dead.
A great sorrow filled Logan’s heart as he waited for the next strike to pass. When it did, he quickly stepped into Jonah’s guard. Forming a spear hand with his calloused right hand, Logan drove it into Jonah’s stomach with all his strength. His fingers tore through the soft flesh just under Jonah’s ribs. The thrust took his hand up into Jonah’s chest. Jonah’s face went wide with horror and pain.
Logan pulled Jonah close to him with his other hand to give himself better leverage.
“I’m sorry,” Logan whispered as blood bubbled from Jonah’s lips.
Logan’s hand closed on Jonah’s heart and he tore it from his body. Jonah crumpled in a heap on the floor. A gasp rose from those around him and the crowd hastily dispersed. Logan found himself alone standing over Jonah’s body, blood running in funnels down his arm from the heart taking its last beat in his hand.
“Are you okay?” came a soft voice from behind him.
He nodded absently as he dropped the now still heart on the corpse before him. A tear rolled down his cheek. The soft voice came again.
“Thank you for helping me.”
Something pulled at Logan and he turned toward the voice. His jaw dropped.
“Tanel?”
Chapter Fifty-Six: Yes Sir, No Sir, Three Bags Full Sir
It was two days after her initial meeting with Talon and Raeth was meeting up with the assassin late this evening for her introduction to the guild master. Talon had told her that the guild master of Tael was very particular and insisted that every new assassin in the city was to be presented to him before being granted entry into the guild. As she left the palace, she was at least at ease knowing that Lan would not be following her. El was watching the elf at this very moment with very strict instructions to turn him into a toad if he tried anything.
She made good time through the city and met up with Talon at the tavern they had first met in.
“Sister, are you ready for your meeting?” he asked.
“Of course brother,” she replied.
The black clad assassin rose from his chair and headed for the door of the tavern.
“Excellent, then we should not keep the master waiting,” he continued. “This way, sister.”
Raeth fell into step behind him and allowed herself to be led down the winding streets of Tael to the assassin’s guild house. They entered through the main gates that were unlocked and up the stone steps to the front door, which was also unlocked. Talon held the door and gestured for Raeth to enter. She did so and as she stepped into the grand foyer of the house, she was greeted by a valet. The young man offered to take their cloaks and as Raeth removed hers she was once again the dark haired woman El had seen at the dwarven bath and not the servant girl with the ruined face. She gave her cloak to the valet and he promptly hung them in a nearby room, while Talon escorted her through the house.
It occurred to Raeth that there had been no guard at the main gate of the house, though the more she thought about it the less surprising it seemed. Anyone who knew who occupied the house would never go near it, and anyone who didn’t would soon learn an extremely painful and most likely fatal lesson.
No one bothered to check them for weapons either, and again the more she thought about it the more sense it made. An assassin was never unarmed and attempting to find all his concealed weapons would involve a full cavity strip search.
Not really the treatment you inflict on guests, she thought with a laugh.
Besides, for an assassin potential danger was everywhere, even here, so it was just safer to be prepared.
Where the rest of the city was just settling down for the night, the guild house was just getting up. Apprentices and instructors moved quickly through the house on their various errands while full level assassins made use of the guild house’s library. The library even caught Raeth’s interest has she passed, when she noticed the wall of maps and drawings. She’d have to remember to spend some time in there when she had the chance.
Talon led her down the hall until finally coming to a large door. A young apprentice was stationed outside the door and looked up as they approached.
“Is the master in?” Talon asked the boy.
The young man nodded before rapping gently on the door.
“Come!” came the shouted response.
The apprentice opened the door and ushered them into the chamber. Candles lit the dark wood of a room that was finished in a stately, if slightly overdone, manner. The man behind the large desk finished writing something on a piece of parchment, then looked up as the two figures entered the office. As he did, Raeth nearly stumbled in shock and surprise. She gathered her composure quickly and moved to face the general.
“Talon,” greeted the general. “Who have you brought us now?”
The general’s manner was direct and his level gaze staring through her made Raeth more than a little uncomfortable.
So, this is what El had been talking about, she thought. That feeling, like you’re an object being weighed and measured to determine an approximate value.
“Master,” Talon answered. “May I present Blade. She is a visitor to our fair city.”
The general had listed to Talon’s answer, but his eyes never left Raeth. He rose to greet her and she moved closer to clasp arms with him. His grip was firm and sure and still his eyes never left hers. His smile was more than a little predatory and Raeth made sure hers matched when she returned it. She had the satisfaction of seeing the man glance ever so briefly away, though he recovered quickly.
“Please sit,” he said indicating the empty chairs.
As Raeth seated herself he moved over to a bar by the wall.
“A drink perhaps?” he proposed.
Raeth raised a brow at the suggestion and the general chuckled in response.
“Cautious,” he smiled. “I like that.”
He poured himself a drink and returned to his chair.
“So, Blade, what brings you to Tael?”
His manner irritated her and she came very close to answering with the sarcastic ‘a horse’ answer, but thought better of it.
“Just passing through,” she answered smoothly.
The general looked quizzical at this.
“Really? Not much call for our line of work in the plains and even less in the mountains,” he said speculatively. �
��That leaves the western isles, rough country.”
Raeth gave the man her most arrogant look.
“Though,” he continued. “I suppose you knew that already.”
The general laughed to himself again.
“Of course you did. So how long do we have the pleasure of your company in our humble little city?”
“That depends on what kind of business opportunities present themselves,” she answered flatly.
“So now we come down to it. I assume that you have yet to take a contract?”
“No worries, I know the code. Always, always check in with the local guild before working in a new city,” she quoted. “I have yet to take a contract.”
“Good. I want you to understand something Blade, Tael is a well ordered city and I have every intention of keeping it that way. That means that all contracts made have to be approved by me personally.”
This statement earned a look of genuine surprise from Raeth. Guild master’s usually gave general guidelines and even on occasion outlawed the assassination of certain individuals, but approving each and every contract was unheard of.
“Really?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes, really, and for your own knowledge this is something that I take very, very seriously,” he replied coldly. “I accept no deviation from this policy, as I’m sure Talon can attest to.”
Raeth looked to the other man who simply nodded quietly.
“I see,” she replied. “Anything else?”
“Just the usual, the guild house takes fifty percent of all contracts…”
“FIFTY PERCENT?!?” Raeth nearly exploded. “That’s ridiculous!”
The general merely smiled that feral smile again.
“Even so, that’s the cost of working in Tael. Accept it or leave, it’s really that simple.”
Raeth’s eyes glinted in annoyance as she swallowed her outrage. Holding her emotions in check she forced her voice to be flat and controlled when she finally spoke.
“I see! I guess I have no choice then.”
“True,” the general agreed. “Well, it’s good to have you. Welcome to Tael.”
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