by Jon Sprunk
He squinted against the bright light and made out a lantern hanging on a rusty hook. An odor of mildew pervaded the room, which was cramped and unfamiliar. Water marks stained the plaster walls, decorated by mosaics, their tiny tiles encrusted with mud and filth. A vault of ochre bricks arched overhead. The stone floor was cold beneath his back.
He turned his head as the girl sat up. She had stayed with him, which surprised him more than a little. She should have been long gone by now. She still wore her ruined nightgown. For a moment he felt bad about her clothing, until he took a breath and a lance of pain through his side reminded him he had bigger concerns. Like dying.
He looked down and almost wished he hadn't. Twelve inches of wooden shaft jutted between his first and second ribs on the right side, not far enough back to hit a kidney, thank the gods of his forefathers. And he wasn't spitting up blood, so it hadn't punctured a lung. He let out a slow breath. The wound wasn't fatal in and of itself. He might even survive, if he could get the bolt out, if infection didn't set in, if a physician appeared out of thin air. If, if, if…
He knew it would be useless, but he reached back with his right hand anyway and grasped the shaft. He tugged, just a little, to see how deep the head was buried and clamped his jaws together to stifle the cry that raced up his throat.
The girl grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch that!" She sounded angry, as if he was her responsibility. Strange. Maybe he was still dreaming.
He dropped his hand away, too weak to resist her. He took a better look around. They must be underneath the city. The Othir of modern day was constructed over the ruins of the ancient Nimean capital. Invading peoples from a variety of nations had sacked the old city several times before the empire reasserted itself on the world stage, emerging from its own ashes like the legendary phoenix. Now, centuries later, those ruins festered beneath the city, only seen from above whenever somebody's cellar caved in. This chamber may have once been part of a villa, or a food merchant's shop. Somehow the girl had carried him here, or dragged him more likely. Still, it was no small feat for such a tiny waif. The lantern looked like an antique, probably leftover from the days of the empire, but it still had some oil in the reservoir. Another miracle. It would be nice to die with some light.
As he looked around, Caim almost missed Kit sitting in the far corner, arms around her knees. She watched him with sad, tearful eyes. He offered what he hoped was a cheery smile, but the pain transformed it into a grimace. The frown she tossed back at him didn't hold much hope. Good old Kit. She never pulled any punches.
"Thank you," he mouthed.
Josephine frowned as she glanced into the corner where Kit sat, and then turned back to regard him with a pensive expression. "What are you looking at?"
"Why did you help me?"
She shrugged, a simple raising and lowering of her shoulders, but he could see the pain behind her eyes. It raged like a beast within her, a feeling he knew all too well.
"What else could I do? You're hurt."
"You could have left me."
"Maybe I wanted to look into your eyes as you died."
He took a deeper breath and let it out. "You don't seem the type, Miss Frenig. But I'll do my best to make it quick."
"Caim!" Kit chided through a veil of tears.
"Call me Josey."
"All right, Josey. You'll get your wish soon enough. Just keep that lamp burning a little while longer."
"You can't die. I need you alive."
Caim couldn't stop the racking laugh that erupted from his belly. When he had recovered from the agony that almost sent him reeling back into the darkness, he ventured to speak again.
"I'd sooner believe the first answer," he said. "You're harder than you look, Josey. So, now you get your revenge. After I'm gone, go find somewhere safe. Get out of Othir if you can."
"Where can I go? I can't go to the authorities. I don't know who will try to kill me next. Whom should I trust?"
"Trust no one."
"What about you?"
"Especially not me. I don't know what to tell you. Go back to your lord father's estate until things settle down. Or find a nice farm boy and start a family."
"I don't want to run." She glanced down at her hands resting in her lap. "I want to find out who killed my father. For that, I need your help."
Caim tested his strength by pulling himself up into a sitting position. The wound didn't pain him much when he moved slow and took small breaths.
"I'm no use to anyone anymore, girl."
She gazed back at him. Wetness gathered in the corners of her eyes. He hadn't realized how green they were, like glittering jewels. Even bedraggled and mud-stained, she was beautiful.
"Those men meant to kill me, and Markus is part of it," she said, softly as if she couldn't believe the words coming from her own mouth. "But you risked your life to save me. You're all I have."
Caim closed his eyes. Deep inside his chest, the old anger smoldered. He wasn't ready to relinquish this life. He had things to do yet, debts that needed settling. The dream loitered in the back of his mind, and the vow he'd made on that night with his father's blood on his hands. Somehow, other things had gotten in the way of fulfilling that oath, but he saw it clearly now. His life up to this point had been a path toward that goal, if he lived to see the end.
"You'll have to get the bolt out."
"What?" She shook her head, sending her straggly ebon locks flying in all directions. "No. We'll find a physician. There's got to be a way out of these sewers."
"I'll never make it. I'm losing too much blood."
"But I don't know how to do that. I've never-"
He reached under his back and drew a knife. He held the blade up to the light. "This is a good time to learn."
She recoiled from the weapon. "No, I can't. We need help."
Caim hissed. The pain was spreading up his arm and through his chest. He flipped the knife and offered it to her, handle first.
"I'm running out of time. You can't make it any worse than it already is. Don't worry. I'll talk you through it."
She took the suete with both hands. "You've done this before?"
He peeled off his tunic, careful not to jar the shaft of the bolt, and rolled onto his left side to give her better access to the wound.
"Not exactly." As the apprehension returned to her eyes, he added, "But I've cut open enough people to know where the important parts are."
She looked at the knife in her hands, and for a moment he thought she would balk, but her brow came together in a determined frown.
"All right," she said. "I'll try."
Caim let out a long breath. "First thing, get that lantern down here. You'll need to be able to see what you're doing."
She did as he instructed and set the lantern on the floor beside him.
"Now open the shutter and hold the edge of the blade over the flame for a few seconds." When she looked askance at him, he said, "It cleanses the blade. The wound is probably going to get infected in any case, but no use in stacking the odds."
"Should we wash your side first?"
"Not with any water you'd find down here. And we'll need something to pack the wound afterward."
Josey set down the knife and reached under her skirt. Caim watched with amusement as she rocked and shimmied. A petticoat of delicate lace appeared, only slightly damp and shielded from the worst of the effluent by her nightgown.
"That will have to do," he said. "Now, it's time to start cutting."
"It's so deep." She peered into the hole in his side. A dewy sheen of perspiration beaded on her cheeks and upper lip.
"Don't think of it as flesh you're cutting. Think of it as a piece of meat."
She put a hand to her mouth. "I'm going to be sick."
He grabbed her wrist hard. The bones under her skin were thin and sharp. He forced his voice to remain calm.
"You can do this. Just start cutting until you can see the steel head."
She nodded and h
e released her. He clenched his jaws together. The first cut, when it came, didn't hurt as bad as he feared. The wound was already throbbing so terribly he hardly noticed. He tried to distract his mind while she worked. He thought about where they might be in the undercity, how they could find their way out, and where they should go if they did.
As he was considering how to get them both out of Othir, a wave of coolness fluttered over his injured foot. He glanced down to see Kit kneeling beside him, her brow furrowed as she ran her hands over his foot. He opened his mouth to ask what she was doing when a sharp pain stabbed his side. His hands curled into fists as he struggled to hold himself still. Josey gnawed her bottom lip as she worked with the knife point. Rivulets of blood ran down his stomach and formed tiny pools on the floor beneath him.
"I see it!" she said. "I see the head."
Caim let out a slow breath. "Do you see any barbs curving back to you?"
"No."
"That's good. All right. You'll need to make small cuts on either side, just enough to pull it free. Now grip the shaft near the head and…"
Calm's vision dimmed as Josey tugged on the bolt. He pressed his forehead against the floor and focused on staying conscious, but his exhaustion and the blood loss conspired against him. He was fading. As he tried to describe how to dress the wound, the rising darkness swept over his head and carried him away on its inexorable tide.
Ral turned away from the window's roseate glass panes. The morning light, usually so soothing, gave him a headache.
"Tell me again." He pressed a hand to his temple. "How did they escape from you and a dozen of your best men?"
Occupying the entire upper floor of the Golden Wheel, Ral's suite was decorated in a style more fitting to a fine manor house than a gambling hall. He had chosen the furnishings himself, everything from the brass fixtures and window treatments to the expensive carpets. The walls of the main living area were painted in terra-cotta murals. His favorite faced him across the room, a vivid rendition of the hero Dantos descending into the underworld to rescue his dead bride. It was an image Ral found inspiring. Sometimes he thought of himself as a tragic figure like Dantos, doomed to fight impossible forces to get what he justly deserved.
Markus stood at attention before him. A white bandage peeked over the collar of his uniform. Ral was beginning to wish Calm's blade had cut a little deeper. The prefect was incompetent. Worse than that, Ral still needed the man for his connections in the Sacred Brotherhood. But that need would evaporate as soon as Caim and the earl's daughter were found. Then, Second Prefect Arriston would meet with an unfortunate accident. Ral smiled at the prospect.
"He came out of the night like a demon from hell," Markus said in a raspy voice. One of his hands stole up to touch the bandage and dropped back to his side. "I swear the man is a wizard. Half my men were down before we even knew he was there."
"So much for the prowess of our city's vaunted defenders." But the words lacked fire. Ral knew he had been sending lambs to the slaughter when he instructed Markus to organize a citywide manhunt. Still, Ral had expected better than this debacle.
"Find your backbone, Markus. Caim is just one man. Don't tell me the Brotherhood can't deal with a single lowborn thug. What will I tell the archpriest?"
"One of the Brothers got off a shot as they went into the water," Markus said. "I think it hit him."
"You think?"
"It was damned dark out there."
Ral clasped his hands together to help resist the urge to bury a stiletto in the prefect's eye socket.
"And what are you doing now to find the fugitives?"
Markus shrugged and grimaced as the gesture jostled his throat wound. "I've got men dredging the bay, but its slow work. I need more manpower."
"Then get more men!"
"I'll need more money for that."
"I've already paid you more than your life is worth. Find the girl, Markus, or your men will be dredging the bay for you next."
Markus left the suite. Ral listened to the click of his boots descend the stairs to the hall below. If Markus didn't find Caim soon, he would have to take steps to improve the situation. He didn't like his options. Vassili wasn't a forgiving man, and Ral had burned too many bridges over these past few months to remain in Othir if their scheme failed. As much as it galled him, he might have to leave the city. Ral hummed a mournful ballad as he contemplated the mural of Dantos.
The tickle of a cool breeze on the back of his neck was his only warning. He stood perfectly still, every nerve quivering. The window had been shut a minute ago. He flexed the muscles of his right forearm to loosen the throwing blade strapped under his sleeve. He shifted his weight to his right foot in preparation for a quick spin-and-throw, but stood very still as a sharp point pressed against his spine, right between his kidneys.
"Sit," a voice whispered in his ear.
Ral took two slow steps and lowered himself into an antique, slatback chair. His unexpected visitor stepped to the center of the living area in plain view. The hood of a night-black robe concealed his features. For a moment Ral thought Caim had come for him, and an icy caress slid down his back. But the stranger was too tall and rather thin, though broad through the shoulders. His hands were tucked into the sleeves of the robe, lending him the semblance of a cloistered monk.
Ral palmed the throwing blade. It would be an easy toss from this close, and his sword leaned against the armoire if he missed. He started the motion when his gaze rose to the shadowed depths of the stranger's cowl. A weird sensation rolled over him as he tried to penetrate the darkness inside the hood, like looking up at the night sky, into a darkness that went on forever and forever. The icy feeling returned. He lowered the weapon. He had seen this man before, in the shadowed chambers of the palace. Vassili's pet sorcerer. A cold dread washed over him.
"You work for the archpriest."
"I am Levictus."
Ral shifted in the chair and forced his lips to form a small smile. Many men had trembled to see that smile just moments before their deaths.
"Tell your master I am doing everything I can. We'll find Caim and the girl. Don't wor-"
"I come on my own behalf. With an offer."
What was this? Ral sat up.
"For many years," the sorcerer continued, "I have worked tirelessly in the archpriest's service, but in recent days I have come to discover that his aims no longer reflect my own."
That was interesting. Yes, very interesting indeed. "You mentioned an offer."
"I seek a new partner, one whose goals are more closely aligned with my own."
"So what brings you to me?"
The cowl dipped slightly. "You are ambitious. You chafe under the yoke of servitude, just as I do. Separate we are formidable, but together… there would be nothing to stop us."
"There's Vassili and the Church. And the Sacred Brotherhood. Even without a grand master, they aren't going to sit idle and let us take over."
Levictus drew up straighter and the room suddenly felt too small for the both of them. Ral squeezed himself farther into the chair.
"The Church is not as unified as it appears," the sorcerer said. "The prelate's gaze is turned across the sea. The electors are divided by their lusts. As for the Brotherhood, you already possess the leverage you need."
"Markus."
Ral worked his tongue around his mouth to drum up some moisture. He didn't like feeling small. He hated it, in fact, worse than anything else he could think of. Yet there was something to this figure standing before him, an awful power he could not deny, and one he dared not ignore. "And His Sublime Radiance?"
"All men die, the small and the great alike."
Ral tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. Despite the theatrics, this man meant business. The deadly serious sort. The kind of business he enjoyed best.
"Sounds like you have it all figured out. What do you need me for?"
The sorcerer loomed closer. "The archpriest's plan was too timid. We will elimin
ate the Elector Council, down to the last priest. Then, as the only powers left in the city, we collect all the spoils."
"Is that all? Do you want me to knife the Holy Father himself while I'm at it?"
The intruder said nothing.
"God's balls, you're serious! Listen. I didn't mind working for Vassili. He made me certain assurances, but what's my end of this grand scheme?"
The other leaned forward. Despite his best efforts, Ral pressed back against the chair to keep the distance between them as a sibilant whisper issued from the dark cowl.
"I will deal with the prelate, but it is time for Nimea to regain her soul. For that, the realm needs a strong hand on the reins. You were content to accept the scraps from Vassili's table. Would you pass up the chance to hold this entire city in the palm of your hands? Unfettered. Answerable to no man. For once, your own master."
Ral sucked in a deep breath. "How-?"
Levictus extended a scroll sealed with a dollop of black wax. Ral reached for it as though it were a serpent. The parchment was stiff and strangely textured as he unrolled it, like cowhide but much smoother. With a start he realized it must be human skin. He held it aside so he could watch the man while he read.
"These are your new targets. Complete this task and all that you desire will come to pass."
Ral read through the list and appreciated the straightforwardness of the plan. Yes, it could work. With these individuals out of the way, there would be no one left to defy them. If this man could be trusted to do his part. Ral wished he could see the sorcerer's eyes. This was a risky gambit, but the rewards were beyond anything he had previously dreamed. Governorship of the greatest city in the world. He would have everything he had ever wanted: respectability, money, prestige.
"What about funding? An operation such as this-"
The sorcerer opened his other pale hand, and a stream of coins spewed forth like a fountain. "Do we have an accord, Lord Governor Pendarich?"
