For Want of a Fiend

by Barbara Ann Wright

“What are you looking for?” Freddie said. “You can’t use a mind pyramid on a dead person.”

  “When we first ambushed her at the stable, she said that I’d missed one. I have to assume she meant one pyramid since I disabled the active pyramids she and her maids were carrying.” She picked up a pair of scissors and cut Lady Hilda’s dress up the middle. “Roland couldn’t have just taught her how to bring her Fiend out and control it. Crowe trained me in how to sense an active pyramid, but maybe Roland used something very subtle, very small.”

  When Lady Hilda’s naked body was exposed, Starbride had to breathe deep as Timat’s memories tried to resurface.

  Freddie looked over her shoulder, his expression flat. “I don’t see anything, and there’s all there is.”

  “He hid something inside of me once. We need to look for scars.” As they examined the body, Starbride tried to tell herself it was anything but a dead person. Maybe a dead animal, or a bundle of wood, or a painting, something she could just look at without having to think about.

  They found only old scars and the wound in her neck. Freddie peered at that. “Can you bring a light pyramid over here?”

  Starbride knelt beside him and brought the light closer. Her bile rose at the sight of the bloody hole, but Freddie bent closer and tugged at the skin. Starbride clamped her teeth together harder.

  “Do you see it?” Freddie asked.

  She couldn’t come closer, she couldn’t. But Crowe would have done it immediately. Starbride forced herself to have tunnel vision and edged closer. All at once, she saw it, tiny sparkles within the wound. Disgust blew away before curiosity. “Glass?”

  Freddie stuck one of his slender knives into the wound and pulled out a shiny fragment. “Crystal. Here’s your pyramid.”

  “Roland killed her right where he’d put the pyramid that controlled her Fiend. He knew we’d be looking.” She grinned at Freddie. “But he underestimated you.”

  “Leaves us nothing to study, though,” Freddie said.

  “But now we know where to look. If I get a hold of someone else who can control their Fiend, I need to aim for the back of their neck.”

  “I’ll clean all the crystal out and then hand her over to the knowledge chapterhouse. There’s nothing for them to find anymore, but it might make them happy.”

  “If that’s what Katya and her father want, sure. What are you going to do with her pyradisté?”

  He gave her a wry look. “Do you really want to know? My father used to tell me that Prince Roland advocated a firmer hand with prisoners. My father disagreed, and King Einrich felt as he did, so they didn’t use torture. Now, though, I think Roland had a better idea.”

  Starbride shuddered. “You think the man that’s trying to kill us all had the better idea?”

  “Well, then, not now. Now he’s a monster. But he might never have ‘died’ if he’d been let off the chain a little.”

  “Are you saying this is my decision?”

  He shrugged.

  Starbride bit her lip and turned away. “Do as you will.” She hurried out of the room, not ready to face the consequences of what’d she just done.

  After all, she had a page to take from Roland’s book as well.

  Starbride dug through Crowe’s notes and books, stayed up half the night, and figured out how to devise a pyramid that would bend the eye of the viewer, ensuring a disguise. Crowe had never attempted it, mind magic not being his forte, but Starbride wrestled with the problem.

  Through a good deal of trial and error, she projected her thoughts into a pyramid and then focused them outward, so that anyone not a pyradisté would see what she wanted them to see. The trick was to make the false features in her head match Katya’s and hers. So a woman of Katya’s height and build, but slightly different features, different hair and eyes, a broader nose, fuller lips. Starbride added a scar for good measure.

  She made herself Farradain, blond like so many of them, with thinner, sharper features, remembering Katya’s rodent reference. By the time Katya had worked out a plan with Captain Ursula and Castelle, Starbride was ready to try her pyramids out.

  Katya had darkened her hair, completely concealing the new gray at her temples, and instead of wearing it in her customary bun, she had a long braid that went down her back. She wore the simple clothes of a laborer, as well as the heavy leather smock that let her conceal a chainmail shirt under her clothes. When Starbride arrived, Katya was practicing drawing her rapier and scowling at the smock as she did so.

  “I can’t move my arm properly,” Katya said. “I think the smock will have to go. But laborers don’t often go around in chainmail.”

  “I have the answer. With my help, the only people who’ll be able to see the chainmail are pyradistés. And we’ll never fool Roland into thinking you’re not you.” She activated her disguise pyramid and left it on.

  Katya took a step away. “Star? What did you do?”

  Starbride turned the pyramid off. “I learn fast.”

  “And how do I know that’s really you now and not a disguise for that other woman?”

  “You’re welcome to search me.”

  Katya grinned. “And my disguise?”

  “It won’t fit me as well as it’ll fit you, but…” She activated Katya’s disguise pyramid.

  “You’re right. It’s…hazy, as if it’s a bit too tall, but still, it’s brilliant, Star.”

  The others would have to rely on traditional disguise. Starbride had only had time to make two, and she knew they weren’t perfect. She and Katya would both have to wear cloaks. Brutal traded his red robe for homespun. All of them dressed down, including Hugo and Castelle. Pennynail would insist upon his mask, but he would stay hidden for the journey.

  They lurked outside the designated warehouse and watched people go in and out. The Watch had it surrounded, and they’d take care of the crowd within. Starbride and Katya were only there to catch any large prey that might fly out.

  They split the Order into two groups to watch the front and back of the warehouse at the same time. Starbride, Hugo, Dawnmother, and Pennynail watched the front, behind Ursula’s main pack of Watch officers. As the only non-fighter, Dawnmother was there to run to Ursula if Starbride’s group needed help.

  Katya snuck around the back with Castelle, Brutal, and Averie. They’d split according to specialty, though Katya had frowned at not being in Starbride’s group. It was just easier that way.

  The Watch stormed the building and called for everyone to stand where they were. Shouts and cries of pain erupted from the warehouse. Starbride’s eyes darted over the building as she watched for any escaping figures. Pennynail grasped her arm and pointed. On the sloping roof of the warehouse, a skylight banged open, and five figures crawled out. Katya wouldn’t see it from the other side.

  “Let’s move,” Starbride said. Her group dashed for the adjacent building. Unless the escaping group sprouted wings, they’d have to use the other building to get to the ground.

  If Roland was among this group…Starbride pursed her lips. They’d hit him with everything they had and send Dawnmother for reinforcements. Of course, everything they had might not be enough. Starbride cast a glance at Hugo. If Roland was among them, maybe she could rip the necklace from his throat and let his Fiend out. It might keep Roland occupied long enough for Starbride to drain his Fiendish essence. She didn’t know if he was also vulnerable on the back of his neck, but it was worth a shot.

  If she could get close enough without being killed.

  The group of five climbed down a long ladder and had nearly reached the street. Pennynail yanked the first man from the ladder before he’d set foot on the cobblestones and slammed him against the ground.

  The next in line shouted, “Go back up!” and tried to scramble over his fellows.

  “Temperance!” Starbride lobbed a flash bomb at the ladder, near the topmost climber. She shut her eyes and waited for the flash to fade, so she only heard the cry as the climber fell to the pavem
ent. He rolled there, clutched his knee, and wailed.

  “Search him.” Starbride pointed to the downed man. Dawnmother hurried to obey.

  The last three had frozen on the ladder, having been shielded from the flash and terrified into remaining still. Pennynail tied his opponent on the ground and left him.

  “Come down slowly,” Starbride said. “One at a time.”

  They inched down. Pennynail and Hugo grabbed them as they left the ladder. Dawnmother searched them, and Pennynail tied their wrists with leather cord. Three men and two women, no Roland, Darren, or Maia. No pyramids and hardly a weapon to speak of. They didn’t look rich nor very poor, somewhere in between, and they watched Starbride with a mix of fright and anger.

  “You’re not in the Watch,” one man sneered, the one that Pennynail had yanked off the ladder. Blood trickled from his nose.

  She didn’t answer him. “Dawn, go fetch one of Captain Ursula’s men to take these five.”

  Dawnmother hurried away. The man with the nosebleed called out again. “I’m talking to you! On whose authority are you arresting us?”

  “We didn’t do anything wrong,” one of the women said.

  “I told you we shouldn’t have come.” The other woman crowded against those next to her and sobbed. On the end, the man with the broken knee wailed as they jostled him.

  Starbride fidgeted. She didn’t have permission to do anything with these people. She’d been looking for Roland, and she’d only gotten those smart enough to be near the skylight when the raid began. She could pyramid them and hope to catch a glimpse of her true quarry, but that would take too long and leave her exposed. She didn’t have time to search their memories and then cover her tracks. The last thing the Umbriels needed was a group of revolutionaries crying that they’d been pyramided without a magistrate’s approval.

  “Dawnmother can catch up with us. Let’s see how Katya is faring around the back.”

  Chapter Thirty-seven: Katya

  Katya eyed the warehouse and wished Roland was a little stupider. The Watch seemed to have netted everyone; Katya and her team would look them over, but she doubted her prey would be among them. And now the raid drew crowds of gawkers from nearby, people on their way home or starting the night shift in the warehouse district.

  Starbride approached, still looking like a blond Farradain girl. Katya had to smile at the disguise but frowned when Starbride told her they’d only caught a few people, none of whom seemed important.

  “Don’t worry,” Starbride said. “We’ll go through them at the Watch house. Maybe we’ll find Magistrate Anthony.”

  Katya nodded, but inside she seethed. What good was the puppet without the master? Roland would only find someone else. Ah well, she supposed that would buy them some time.

  After they collected Dawnmother, they headed away and left the bulk of the crowd behind. With their pyramid disguises, no one spared them much of a glance, especially with Brutal walking several steps away from them, and Pennynail doing his usual hide and watch from the rooftops. They crossed a courtyard, mostly deserted except for one man in the simple brown mantle of a law student who sat under a street lamp with a book and shivered.

  “I wonder why he doesn’t study inside,” Starbride muttered. “It’s pretty chilly, especially now that it’s getting dark.”

  “You’re right.”

  The student shivered too violently, even for the chill. He looked up, and his eyes were red and swollen, his face scared.

  “What’s going on?” Hugo asked.

  Castelle stepped between Katya and Starbride and the young student. “Everyone stay close.”

  Starbride took a pyramid from her satchel and stared into it. Dawnmother stayed at her elbow. Everyone readied their weapons. The student stretched toward them as if pleading. One hand was concealed beneath his mantle.

  “He has a pyramid,” Starbride said.

  “Everyone back up,” Katya said. “Can you tell what kind?”

  “It’s like…a coil of flame wrapped around his arm, almost dancing in his palm.”

  Katya lifted a finger over her head.

  A knife punched into the student’s chest, and he staggered. Averie fired at nearly the same time and hit the student in the gut. He kept up his shamble and made it into the light. His pained, fearful expression stayed the same.

  “He should be bleeding,” Katya said.

  “Scatter,” Brutal said. “He can’t hit all of us.”

  Starbride shook her head “The fire pyramid is big…and it’s not his only one.”

  “Run!” Brutal charged the student.

  Katya gripped Starbride’s arm. “Damn it, Brutal!” But she ran all the same and took Starbride along with her. Katya cast a look over her shoulder just as the student lurched into a run, away from Brutal. He threw the pyramid, not at any of them, but off to the side, where a gaggle of townspeople stood, backs turned and watching the warehouse.

  “Look out!” Katya cried.

  The flames engulfed them, and the courtyard erupted in screams. Katya and Starbride pulled up short. The group of townspeople flailed, screaming.

  Starbride turned to the side and vomited over the ground. Katya clutched her stomach, trying to control it, but the scent of burning flesh flooded her nostrils and her mouth every time she tried to take a breath. Dawnmother bent to help Starbride, and Averie ran to them at full speed.

  “What in the spirits’ names?” Castelle said. Hugo stood with her, one hand plastered over his mouth.

  Someone tugged Katya to the side. Pennynail gestured wildly that they should get the hell away from whatever was happening. Brutal had caught the student, but before Katya could speak, she glanced at Starbride’s face, her real face, the disguise broken.

  “What happened to our disguises?” Katya asked.

  Someone shouted, “She killed them!”

  Katya spun around. In Brutal’s arms, the student had plucked the dagger and arrow from his body and shouted at the top of his voice. “She killed them!”

  Running footfalls clattered around them. Some people hung out of nearby windows. Others ran into the courtyard from all directions, and the student’s voice seemed louder as he called again, “The princess and her consort killed them all!”

  For a moment, silence reigned. Then the crowd focused on Katya and her party, standing alone, in a huddle. With a cry, the crowd moved as one, a living, breathing mob.

  Katya ran, her friends beside her. The faces of the mob were twisted, bestial, unblinking. They wouldn’t listen to any arguments, probably couldn’t listen. Even if they were being helped to rage by a pyradisté, it didn’t matter. Katya’s heart was in her ears, her brain screaming with the knowledge that if they stayed, they would be torn apart.

  Brutal caught up with them swiftly. They headed for the only clear street.

  “Can’t let them herd us!” Brutal cried.

  Katya would have agreed, but what else could they do? Starbride dipped into her satchel again. A group of people gathered at the end of the alley, blocking their path.

  “Temperance!” Starbride lobbed the pyramid ahead of them.

  The glow lit up the insides of Katya’s eyelids, and she opened them as soon as it faded. The people at the end of the alley were down on the ground or sagged against the walls. They rubbed their eyes and clutched their heads.

  Katya’s party raced past the fallen mob and out into a connecting street. People glanced at them now, but confused and curious, no longer angry. “Slow down,” Katya commanded.

  Little purple spots had begun to dance in front of her eyes, and she tried to take deep breaths instead of gasps. They fanned out. Pennynail hid between Katya and Brutal, a surprise weapon for anyone who got too close.

  “A setup, a spirits’ bedamned setup!” Katya said through gritted teeth. “Did he know we’d come or was he always just prepared?”

  No one had any answers.

  Behind them, angry voices echoed up the street. The mob had reac
hed their exit route. Starbride tensed. Katya gripped her arm.

  “Don’t run.”

  It was so hard not to. Everything primal in Katya’s brain wanted to take off again, to not risk getting caught by the mob. She waited and tried to breathe quietly so she could hear any cries over the bustle of the city streets. They steered deeper into the crowd, toward the market.

  Starbride tensed again. “Shouldn’t we stay away from people?”

  Katya shook her head. She understood that fear. It was hard to see large groups as anything but a vicious pack that could turn murderous in an instant. “More people will help us hide.”

  Starbride drew her cloak around her. Katya tried to walk just in front of her and help to hide her heritage. Roland had to have broken their disguises, but how? When? They were lucky it was already dark, though the market still bustled.

  “They’re on our left,” Brutal’s voice rumbled above her head.

  The mob hunted them like dogs. Katya frowned. That wasn’t like any mob she’d ever heard of. If they couldn’t get their quarry, they turned their violence on anything handy.

  “They should have stayed back in the square.” She kept her rapier drawn but hidden in the folds of her cloak. She squeezed Starbride’s arm and nodded toward the men Brutal had seen. They wore leather, some of it studded. “Those aren’t townspeople. They’re hired thugs.”

  “To attack the Umbriels on the streets of their own city? Without the mob to back them up? Has it gotten that bad?”

  “Ah, but you don’t look much like royalty right now, do you?” Castelle said over her shoulder.

  Katya had to nod. They were sweaty, disheveled, and disguised. If they declared who they were, would anyone believe them? Would it hurt or help? So much of Katya’s royal life was spent hiding her identity. Maybe she’d done too good a job. Maybe those who didn’t know her personally wouldn’t recognize her at all, despite how many portraits they’d seen.

  “They won’t see a princess,” Starbride mumbled, “because they don’t expect to see one.”

  “Don’t despair. We’re far from helpless.”

  They reached the edge of the market. A few twists and turns would bring them to the palace, but they’d have to leave the safety of the crowd to get there. Of course, if someone was using pyramid magic, safety could become danger in an instant.