5 tainted blood

by ich du

  'The companies!' He leapt up and cracked his head on the midden's low ceiling. 'Ow! Curse it! We've... Ow! We've slept! They've gone!' He crouched again, rubbing the top of his head. 'Let's have a light, someone.'

  'Aye, captain.' said Pavel. 'Hang on.'

  There followed a stretch of grunting and cursing and scrabbling, then a flare of tinder and finally the orange, brightening glow of a torch. The Blackhearts were sitting up and yawning and rubbing their eyes.

  Franka shrieked. She was covered with roaches. They all were. They brushed at them furiously.

  'Out! Out!' said Reiner.

  The Blackhearts scrambled out of the hole, cursing and choking, then recovered themselves in the passage. Reiner looked down it in both directions. There was no sound or light.

  'How long have we slept?' asked Franka.

  'I'll tell you next time I see the sun,' growled Augustus.

  'I think a good while, curse it,' said Reiner. 'The companies must have removed the waystone long ago.'

  'Y'don't think the ratties got it back?' asked Hals.

  Reiner shook his head. 'I doubt it. Too scattered. Which means that the cursed stone is... is in the countess's manor house.'

  As the enormity of that truth hit him, Reiner groaned and slumped against the wall, then slid down to squat on the ground. The waystone was in the manor, guarded by thick walls and iron gates and a hundred guards. How could they get it out? They couldn't. It was impossible. 'Curse it,' he muttered. 'Curse everything. I'm too tired. I don't care anymore.' He looked down at his chest and pulled open his shirt, revealing the dark elf's raw red cuts. 'Valaris, you corpse-skinned sneak, do you hear me? I'm finished. Let Manfred say his prayers and put us out of our misery. I'm done with this poxy life. There's not a thing in the world worth living...'

  He stopped as he saw Franka gaping at him. They locked eyes. His heart thudded. She was furious. He knew her expressions well enough to see that - angry that he was giving up, angry that he was selfishly killing them all because he felt he couldn't go on. But suddenly her angry face was the most beautiful thing in the world. He would gladly take a scolding from her. Happy or sad, mischievous or sullen or sulky, he loved her, and realising this - that he did have something worth living for - he knew he had to go on. He had no idea how he was going to do it, but as long as Franka lived and cared enough about him to be angry with him, he would keep trying to find his way to the end of this nightmare.

  'Er.' he said, then forced a light-hearted laugh which sounded, to his ears, like somebody strangling a cat. 'A joke, Lord Valaris. A joke, born of weariness. But I do not give up. I do not wish to die, and we will recover the stone if every knight in the Empire stands in our way, never fear.'

  The Blackhearts stood motionless, eyes darting around as if expecting Manfred's doom to come winging out of the darkness. When nothing happened they relaxed.

  'Captain.' said Hals, exhaling. 'Captain-'

  Reiner held up a hand. 'I know, and I apologise. I'd no right to include you in my little... joke. I'll... we'll have a vote next time, eh?'

  Hals stared at him for a long moment, then guffawed and turned away, shaking his head. 'Mad. He's mad.'

  Pavel snorted. 'And what does that make us?'

  The others chuckled nervously - all but Jergen, and Franka who looked at Reiner with big, baffled eyes.

  'Well.' said Reiner, tearing his eyes from her with difficulty. 'We better go back and see what they've done with it. Then we'll see what we can do about getting it back.'

  'Er, captain.' said Augustus as the others began to gather themselves together. 'Being a good Talabheim man, I'm wondering...' He paused, uncomfortable. 'If it might not be the right thing to do... to do what you meant to just now.'

  'Eh?' said Reiner, confused. 'What do you say, pikeman?'

  'Well, everything's as we'd want it, ain't it?' said Augustus, slowly. 'Er, if it weren't for the count and the poison and all. The countess has the stone and Teclis will fix it. All we must do is nothing and all will be put right, aye?'

  Reiner's stomach turned. 'Are you suggesting that we should sacrifice our lives for the good of the Empire? That we should betray Lord Valaris and die so that others might live?'

  Augustus nodded. 'Aye, I suppose that's what I mean. Aye.'

  Reiner sighed. From the moment Manfred had made his bargain with Valaris, Reiner had been trying to discover a way to defeat it - to deliver the stone to the dark elf, free Manfred, then bring the might of Teclis and the Empire down on the dark elf before he destroyed it. But with Valaris eavesdropping on every word anyone said in Reiner's presence, he couldn't tell the others his plans. He hoped his old comrades knew him well enough to guess what he had in mind, but there was no way for Reiner to reassure Augustus of his intentions. Instead he had to reassure Valaris that Augustus's wishes were not his own.

  'Pikeman,' Reiner said, 'there is a reason that Count Manfred has named us his Blackhearts. It is because we have no honour. We are criminals over whose heads he holds a noose. We do his bidding because we value our lives more than we value any friendships or loyalties to country, race or family. I don't like what happens to Talabheim, but if I must choose between Talabheim and my own skin, I will choose my skin, and drink to Talabheim's memory when once again we return to Altdorf. Do you understand me?'

  Augustus blinked at him for a moment, blank faced, then lowered his head, his jaw clenching. 'Aye, I begin to. I guess I thought ye might have more honour than that backstabbing jagger.'

  'More honour than a count of the Empire? Don't be ridiculous,' laughed Reiner. 'We're gallows birds. Now,' he said, turning to the others, 'enough of this. Let's be off.'

  The others were looking at him with the same sullen stares Augustus had turned on him.

  He snarled. 'What? Does it pain you to hear it put so baldly? We are villains! Now, onward.'

  THE BLACKHEARTS SKIRTED the mine chamber, taking side tunnels and hiding from the ratmen patrols, until they found their way back to the top of the plateau where the army of men had formed their line. They stayed low and well back from the slope, for below them, in the fan-shaped valley, the ratmen were regrouping and returning to work. Soldiers of the green army were shackling their brown rivals into long coffles, then turning them over to whip-wielding overseers, who put them to work digging at the warpstone workface and carrying the stuff to the waiting carts.

  The army of men must have retreated with the waystone in a hurry, for they had left their dead where they had fallen and the plateau was thick with them - men of every company, staring through sightless eyes, blood staining their colourful uniforms.

  The Blackhearts robbed the corpses of their gear and their gold, happy to strap on human weapons and armour again, as well as stuffing themselves with the scraps of food they found in the dead men's belt pouches and taking tinderboxes and torches. Reiner wolfed down a half-eaten chicken leg and some mouldy bread. He was so hungry he didn't care.

  Hals ground the butt of a tall oak-shafted spear and pushed against it. It hardly flexed. 'That's more like it,' he said. 'That'll take a knight's charge.'

  Franka found a bow and Gert a crossbow and they filled their quivers with arrows and bolts plucked from the bodies of dead ratmen.

  Once they were all kitted out, Reiner signalled them again, and they began the long walk up through the sandy tunnels.

  IT WAS MID-MORNING when they at last returned to the surface and began making their way again through the Tallows. Again, the denizens of the corrupted ward seemed more interested in fighting each other than preying on the Blackhearts, and they passed through it, unmolested, the roiling clouds and strange glowing aurora churning unceasingly above them.

  As they made their wary way, Reiner motioned for Franka to fall back a bit.

  'Yes, captain?' she said, stiff.

  'Aye,' said Reiner quietly 'I know you're none too pleased with me at the moment. My little tantrum was uncalled for, and I apologise. But I want to tell you what it was
that called me back from the brink. For I think I might have gone through with it - killed us all out of peevish misery, but when I saw your face...' He blushed. It sounded mawkish and juvenile to him now, but it was the truth. 'Well, I no longer cared to die.'

  Franka looked at the ground. She held the pommel of her sword very tightly. 'I see.'

  'I've been an idiot,' Reiner continued. 'Not trusting you, I mean. I've let my suspicious nature rule me. I know one of us is Manfred's spy. But I also know - I've always known, really - that it isn't you. I just haven't let my head trust my heart. They... they are now of one accord.'

  'And so you expect me to forgive you?' she asked.

  Reiner's heart sank. 'No, I suppose not. I should never have mistrusted you in the first place. The original crime cannot be undone, and I would not blame you if you never forgave me, no matter how much that would grieve me.'

  'Ask me again,' she said coolly, 'when once again we return to Altdorf and drink a toast to Talabheim's memory.'

  Reiner stared at her. 'You, er... When...? Do you mean that...?'

  She turned and poked him in the chest, directly on top of one of Valaris's cuts. Reiner hissed in pain.

  'You'll have no further answer from me until then, captain,' she said, and turned away.

  Reiner rubbed his chest, wincing. His heart pounded in excitement and confusion. What had she said? Did she mean that she forgave him? Or did she mean she believed him the villain he had told Augustus he was? She couldn't believe that, could she? Surely she knew him better than that? Surely... He caught himself. The little witch! She had turned the tables on him and no mistake. She was showing him how she had felt when he hadn't trusted her. Unless she truly didn't trust him. Could she be so blind?

  All the long way back to the Tallows barricade his mind turned in tight circles of worry, and at the end he was no more reassured than when he started.

  FIFTEEN

  We Have Tonight

  REINER TURNED A sausage over the small fire Jergen had made in the cellar of an abandoned cooperage in the merchant district. Bloody light filtered down through the caved-in floor above. Reiner, Franka, Jergen, Augustus and Darius sat in the fires red glow, making a meal of sausages, black bread and beer, for which they had paid ten times the normal fare. Reiner didn't mind the price. He'd paid for it with dead men's gold. At least they had found food to buy. That was getting harder as the farmers outside the city were staying away out of fear of the madness, and the looting and robbery in the neighbourhoods got worse.

  Reiner looked around at his companions and chuckled mirthlessly. This was the band of brave adventurers who were going to storm the countess's manor and steal the waystone out from under the noses of a hundred guards? Franka stared into the fire with glazed eyes. The fingers of Jergen's cut left hand were so swollen he could barely make a fist. Dieter rotated his head around like he had a kink in his neck. Augustus was as silent as Jergen. Darius muttered under his breath. No one seemed inclined to conversation.

  Unsteady boot steps clunked on the floorboards above. They looked up. Hals's voice reached them.

  'Izzis the one?' he slurred. 'All look alike t'me.'

  'Think so,' came Pavel's voice. 'I 'member the barrels.'

  The boots moved to the stairs.

  'Don't matter if it ain't.' said Gert loudly. 'We can lick any beasties might be hiding in th' shadows. We're 'ard men, we are.'

  The three pikemen stumbled down the stairs and cheered loudly as they saw the others.

  'Here we are, lads!' cried Gert.

  'Told ye it were the place,' said Pavel.

  'Long live the Blackhearts!' crowed Hals.

  'Quiet you pie-eyed fools!' whispered Reiner. 'Have you drunk the city dry?'

  Hals put his finger to his lips and the other two giggled. They found places around the fire.

  'Shorry, captain,' said Hals. 'Took a bit of drinking to get mouths moving. These Talabheimers can put it away a bit.'

  'Hope they told ye nothing,' muttered Augustus.

  'No no, they tol' us,' said Pavel. 'But izz bad news.'

  'Aye, very bad,' said Gert. Very bad.'

  'How bad?' asked Reiner, grimly.

  'Well,' said Hals, sticking a sausage on a stick and holding it over the fire. 'Met a few of von Pfaltzen's lads at the Oak and Acorn. Just come from eight hours in the deeps under the countess's manor, guarding they didn't know what in her treasury vault.'

  'Secret ain't out to the common soldiers,' said Pavel. 'But they knew something was up. All the jaggers been grinning ear to ear and patting themselves on the back about some great victory.'

  'An' we know what that is, don't we?' said Gert, winking.

  'So it's locked in a treasure vault?' asked Reiner.

  'Aye,' said Hals. 'Vault's three floors down under the old barrel keep, below the kitchens and the store rooms, by the dungeons. Guard's been doubled at the vault, and at the gate up the head of the dungeon stairs.'

  'That ain't th' bad part,' said Pavel. 'Th' bad part is that the vault has three locks. And the three keys for the three locks are held by three different captains on three different watches.'

  Reiner held up four fingers. 'So, we've the Manor district gate, the gate to the countess's manor, the gate to the dungeon, and the door of the vault to get through, and out of, carrying a half tonne block of stone. Lovely.'

  'And ye can't just waltz through the house, neither,' said Pavel. 'There are guards and servants everywhere. Someone would be sure to notice.'

  'Do you know the names of the captains who hold the keys?' asked Reiner.

  Hals, Pavel and Gert looked at each other, frowning.

  'Wasn't one of them Lossberg or Lassenhoff or...?' asked Gert.

  'Bromelhoff?' asked Hals. 'Bramenhalt?'

  'It was Lundhauer,' said Pavel definitively. 'Or... Loefler? Lannenger?'

  'So we don't know their names,' said Reiner, sighing. 'We'll have to speak to more guards.'

  'Captain,' said Hals, looking queasy. 'Ye'd have to carry us back if we was to drink answers out of more guards tonight.'

  'And I doubt we'd remember the names even if we got 'em,' mumbled Pavel.

  'I'll go,' said Reiner. 'You lads haven't learned the gambler's trick of only seeming to drink.'

  'Bad news,' said Dieter's voice behind them.

  The Blackhearts jumped. The thief stood at the bottom of the stair. No one had heard him approach.

  'How unexpected,' said Reiner dryly.

  Dieter crossed to the fire and dipped a cup into the open cask of beer. He took a swallow, then sat. 'I looked in on Scharnholt like you asked,' he said. 'Found a place outside his library window where I could listen to his comings and goings without being seen.' He grinned, showing sharp teeth. 'Not a happy jagger, Scharnholt. Someone he called his "master" ain't very pleased with him. Had a few messengers come by to tell him that.'

  'That's bad news?' asked Gert. 'Trouble for Scharnholt ain't bad news to us.'

  'I ain't got to the bad news,' said Dieter, annoyed. 'The bad news is that Teclis is recovered, or so says Scharnholt. And he means to work his magic on the stone tomorrow. It's to be locked somewhere deep down in the earth with wards and curses and spells so thick no one'll ever find it, let alone steal it.'

  'So,' said Reiner, his heart sinking. 'We have tonight.'

  'Tonight?' said Hals, dismayed. 'Captain, is that possible?' 'There's worse yet.' said Dieter.

  Everybody turned to look at him.

  'If we try for the stone tonight.' he said, 'we'll have company. This "master" has ordered Scharnholt to get it. He's called a meeting an hour past sundown to make their plans.'

  There were groans from the Blackhearts, but Reiner smiled. 'Ha!' he said. 'That's better news than we've had.'

  'Eh?' said Pavel. 'Why so?'

  'Another gambler's maxim.' said Reiner. 'Out of confusion comes opportunity.' He looked at Dieter. 'We must attend this meeting. Do you know where it is?'

  Dieter shook his
head. 'No, but it won't be any trouble following Scharnholt to it.'

  'Even with me along?'

  Dieter gave him a contemptuous once over. 'We'll manage.'

  REINER HAD EXPECTED Scharnholt to sneak out of his house by the back way, cloaked and masked and furtive, and consequently, they watched the back gate and almost missed Scharnholt when he left openly, in his coach, and made his way through the Manor district by the main streets.

  Dieter and Reiner followed him to an old stone building built at the edge of a large green park called the Darkrook Downs. There were many such buildings around the edge of the park that bordered the Manor district, all with a banner hanging above their door. These were the chapter halls of Talabheim's knightly orders. Some were local chapters of orders that had knights all over the Empire. Some were orders founded by noble Talabec families or by bands of knights who had come together here for some great purpose in times past.

  Reiner and Dieter watched from the shadow of a high yew hedge as Scharnholt entered the hall of the Knights of the Willing Heart, whose device was a crowned heart held in two red hands. More coaches arrived, as well as men on horseback and some on foot.

  'Can it be here?' asked Reiner. 'Perhaps he just stops here on his way.'

  'This is the hour.' said Dieter.

  'A corrupted order?' wondered Reiner aloud. 'Or do they not know what is done under their roof?'

  Dieter shrugged. 'Better have a look.'

  Reiner looked sceptically at the hall. It had the proportions of a townhouse, but was built like a castle, with a courtyard behind a fortified gate and little more than arrow slots for windows. 'Are you certain you can get us in?'

  'Always a way in.' said Dieter as he started down the street, away from the chapter hall. 'Although sometimes it's murder.'

  He led Reiner half a block before crossing the street and slipping between two tall houses. Like all the chapter halls, they had large stable yards behind them, the gates of which opened onto the park. This was divided into common-held riding rings, tilting yards, racing ovals and archery lanes, all deserted at this hour. Reiner and Dieter crept along hedges back to the Order of the Willing Heart.