Shadow Hunted (The Collector Chronicles Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Alayna crossed her arms over her chest. “You better be careful, because the next time you end up floating in the middle of the ocean, we might not come for you.”

  “You’ll always come for me,” Carth said.

  Alayna sighed. “Probably. What are you going to do now?”

  “I need to understand the constables better.”

  “By that, you mean that you need to know whether you should work with them or against them.”

  “I think you’re getting to know me far too well,” Carth said.

  “Do you need company for this?”

  Carth looked around the ship. It was secured in port and she suspected Boiyn would be on board and could keep it secured. Beyond that, it would give her a chance to spend some time with Alayna, something they had not had an opportunity to do as often of late.

  “I think I would like it,” Carth said.

  Alayna smiled. “Do you need to rest first?”

  Carth pulled on her connection to the shadows. With the sun rising in the distance, scattering the shadows around her ship, there weren’t nearly as many as there had been, but there were still enough for her to draw strength from. She could draw upon her connection to the S’al as well, but that strength was a little less reliable. It was harder to maintain.

  “I can rest later. I think… I think we should have Linsay come with us and see if she sees anything that might make any sense.”

  Alayna nodded. “I’ll get her, but Carth? You shouldn’t push yourself so hard that you’re exhausted. If Jenna needs you—”

  “if Jenna needs me, I will do everything in my power to get her free. You know that I will.”

  “I know that you will, just as I know that you would be better equipped to do so with a little rest.”

  “Jenna doesn’t get to rest.”

  “Fair enough.”

  After Alayna went below deck and found Linsay, they made their way along the dock. Men were coming down from the city above and getting into fishing vessels, pushing off for the day, heading out into the water with nets and massive poles, all of them with the grizzled appearance of men who were accustomed to spending long stretches on the water. A few merchants had come down from the city and were readying their ships, though those were less common. For that matter, Carth realized that she hadn’t seen all that many merchants in her time here. Had the Collector managed to take such control over the merchant fleet that no others had an opportunity to take part?

  “What is it?” Alayna asked.

  “How many merchants have you seen coming through here?” she asked.

  “I haven’t been keeping track.”

  “There aren’t many. Usually in a port like this, there would be dozens.”

  “Dozens upon dozens,” Alayna said.

  “Maybe Keyall is too difficult for merchants to easily reach,” Linsay suggested.

  “We only struggled reaching it because of the attacks. Sailing her wasn’t any more difficult than reaching anywhere else,” Alayna said.

  Carth frowned, studying the docks. Especially in a place like this, she decided. Keyall was one of the most southerly points along the continent, and there should be significant trade taking place here. More than that, there should be ships heading into the distant west, to places beyond her maps. There were outer islands that could be reached from Keyall that couldn’t be reached from other places, and trade there would be incredibly valuable, as would the return trade. It surprised her that she had seen no sign of those ships.

  What was this, then? The fishermen were likely locals and would provide supplies for the city and the market that she had observed when wandering, but where were the other ships? Where was the other activity that she was accustomed to seeing in cities just like Keyall?

  These were more questions to ask the constable, if she could find him.

  They made their way up along the road leading into the city, heading steadily, watching the shopkeepers as they went. Many of the shops were already beginning to ramp up for the day, with some shopkeepers opening doors. They passed a few bakeries with the aromatic smells of fresh breads rising.

  Alayna glanced over, shaking her head. “I’ve got some coins. You don’t have to go hungry.”

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad if we grabbed something to eat.” She glanced to Linsay, who shrugged.

  “I think Jenna would understand,” Alayna said.

  Carth hoped that she would. She hoped that Jenna was given the opportunity to eat and that the constables would treat her with some semblance of respect. She’d been around other places where the jailers were cruel and refused to feed or provide water for their prisoners. The constable hadn’t struck her as cruel, but rigid in his beliefs. It was a strange combination, which made it all the more difficult to understand how he was willing to treat Jenna the way that he had.

  They stopped in a bakery on the road and bought some bread. They chewed it quietly as they made their way up into the city. Daylight made the city different. There was some activity in the streets, but it was all at a determined pace. People moved quickly from place to place. There were no merchants pushing carts, not as she would’ve expected. Occasionally, she would pass constables on their patrol, and she and the other two made a point of pausing when they did, moving to the side of the street so that she could observe them and see how they might interact with the people. She saw nothing that would be unusual. The people didn’t seem to mind the constables’ presence.

  “None of this makes much sense,” Carth said.

  “What is it that you’re looking for?” Alayna asked.

  “This. This city. There is something almost somber to it.”

  “There wasn’t anything somber the night before,” Alayna said.

  “But that was because of Jenna. There was gaming, but…”

  Alayna crossed her arms as she looked around. “It’s the city. It’s scared.”

  As Carth studied the city around her, she realized that Alayna had put a finger on what had troubled Carth the most: there was almost a scared sensation permeating everything. The people moved around as if afraid that something awful might happen. Unless something awful had already happened and they were afraid that something more might take place.

  Was this the effect of the Collector?

  “Maybe we should return to the ship. There are enhancements I can work with Boiyn on…” Linsay suggested.

  Carth shook her head. “We need to find the constable.”

  “To see what it’ll take to get Jenna free?”

  “He claims that she will be freed when she can calm down and answer for what she did.” Carth wasn’t certain whether that was true or not but believed that he had been telling her the truth and that he might release Jenna when she did finally settle down.

  “Why, then?”

  “Just a feeling.” They headed toward the central plaza, where they had found Jenna the night before. As they did, Carth kept her eyes open, looking around her carefully, curious what other activity might be taking place. What might the constables be doing? She found no evidence for anything other than the occasional patrol.

  “Where were they when Talia was breaking into the shop?” Carth asked, mostly to herself.

  “If Keyall is anything like any other city, the constables can’t be everywhere,” Linsay said.

  “But would that have raised any alarms this morning?” Carth asked.

  Alayna shrugged.

  Carth changed the direction that they had been heading and now veered toward the shop where she had first encountered Talia. When they reached it, she saw the door open and some activity inside. She remained on the street, listening. She wasn’t surprised to learn that there were constables inside and that they were taking information from someone—likely the storeowner—about something that had taken place the night before.

  Carth glanced over at the other two. “What do you think about a visit?”

  “This was the shop?”

  Car
th nodded. “This was it. I don’t know what she was after, but whatever it was, the Collector wanted it.”

  “You didn’t get a sense for what else the shop sold?” Linsay asked.

  “Not so much. I was busier trying to avoid the knives coming at me.”

  Alayna smiled. “I think I would’ve enjoyed watching that.”

  “None of them hit me,” Carth said.

  “Even still. The fact that someone was throwing knives at you is a little entertaining.”

  She snorted. “Thanks.”

  Carth headed into the building. When she got inside, she quickly surveyed the shop, noting the rows of shelves and the strange artifacts that were inside. The shop owner—at least, the person Carth presumed was a shop owner—glanced over. She was an older woman wearing thin spectacles, her gray hair tied back with a black sash of lace. She wore a drab-colored dress that hung nearly to the floor. Her eyes were sunken and her cheeks were sallow, but she moved her hands in an animated way when she spoke to the two constables.

  One of the constables was a younger man, with broad shoulders and dark skin and hair that reminded Carth of the man she had followed during the night. Carth stared at him, wondering if perhaps it might be the same man before deciding that was unlikely. She hadn’t passed by any ships traveling out of the cavern while making her way back to Keyall. Then again, Carth had swum quickly, using her connection to the shadows to propel her through the water. It was possible that with her focus on swimming, she hadn’t paid any attention to boats that might be passing by. That was just as well. Had any boats come past her, she would’ve had to sink below the surface and swim so that she wasn’t seen by anyone else.

  “Are you certain there was a break-in?” the other constable was asking. He was slightly older. He had an average build but the same dark complexion and dark hair that the first man had. Both of the constables reminded her of the men who had attacked her on the sea when she had thought them working for the Collector.

  “Certain? The talisman is missing.”

  “And what is this talisman?” the older constable asked.

  “It is made entirely of gold. There is some value to it, but only for the right person.”

  “I think anything made of gold has value to most people.”

  “No. This talisman is not quite like that. It is valuable, but the gold is not so valuable. It would be difficult for most to do anything with it. The gold has been hardened through some process lost long ago. It’s not as if someone would be able to melt it down and use the gold,” the shop owner said.

  “Is there anything else that someone would want the talisman for?” the constable asked.

  “The talisman has more historical value than anything else. It would take someone interested in artifacts to be interested in it.”

  The shop owner glanced over, noticing that Carth was watching. “I can be with you in a moment. As soon as I finish giving these gentlemen my report, you and I can talk.”

  Carth smiled and nodded, turning to Alayna and raising her brow. “When she’s finished with them, we can talk,” she whispered.

  “Yes. I heard.”

  The constables glanced over at them, and the older of the two frowned as he saw Carth. “Are you someone who has an interest in artifacts?” the constable asked Carth.

  “Perhaps,” Carth said. She glanced at Linsay. She was the archaist, so she would be the one to recognize the significance of items in this shop. So far, Linsay remained silent, though she stared at the wall where the knives had barely missed Carth.

  The younger constable looked over at her, studying her with a new interest. “Where were you last evening?”

  Carth flicked her gaze past him, looking in the same direction as Linsay and noting the knives that had been thrown at her the night before sticking into the wall, then met his gaze. “I was at one of the taverns near the coast.”

  “Were you?”

  “For the most part.”

  The man glanced at the older constable, who whispered something. The younger man jerked around to look at her. “You’re with her.”

  “With Jenna? The woman you now have chained in your plaza? I suppose I would say that I am with her.”

  “And you just happened to come here this morning?” the constable asked.

  “I just happened to hear activity on the street this morning. There aren’t many places where there is any activity, so I was curious and came this way.”

  The constable studied her for a while, frowning, and then turned away. “We will see what we might be able to find. If you find anything that might explain what happened here—”

  “Like the knives sticking out of the wall behind you?” Carth asked.

  The constable looked behind him and his eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on the knives. He approached them slowly and ran his finger along the surface of a knife before pulling it from the wall. He rested it in his palm and glanced over to Carth. “How is it that you saw this from there?”

  “I have good eyesight.”

  “Hmm.”

  “There’s another one,” Carth said, motioning to the other knife that was sticking out of the wall. It surprised her somewhat that Talia hadn’t reclaimed her knives. Would she be well-known enough that someone would recognize them? Or would the knives be unique enough that anyone would realize they were hers? It said something about Talia, regardless of the answer.

  “Those weren’t here yesterday,” the shop owner said.

  “Undoubtedly,” the constable said. “It seems your thief wasn’t alone.” He looked around the shop before his gaze settled on Carth again. He was more astute than she realized. “Was anything else taken from your shop?”

  The shop owner shook her head. “Only the talisman. As I said, it’s—”

  “Yes. It’s only valuable to particular people. You have made that quite clear.” He made a steady survey of the shop, working his way around it until he finally stopped, standing next to Carth. He took a deep breath, leaning close to her. “You should depart from Keyall,” he whispered.

  Carth glanced over with a smile. “Is that right?”

  “That is right. Do the rest of us a favor and disappear before more people are harmed.”

  “I wasn’t aware that anyone was harmed because of me.”

  The constable eyed her for a long moment before he shook his head. “We will report back if we learn anything,” he said to the shop owner. “And we would appreciate it if you reported to us if you discovered anything.”

  The woman nodded quickly. “Of course. All I want is the talisman returned.”

  “I thought you said it was only valuable to a certain person,” Carth said.

  “Yes, and there is one such person who has recently inquired about it. I was hopeful that they would make a purchase so that it could be part of a larger collection.”

  “Who in Keyall would be interested in it?” Carth asked.

  “Only one of the tribunal. And they—”

  The constable stepped forward and whispered something into the shop owner’s ear. Her eyes widened and she looked at Carth with sudden distrust. Carth suppressed an annoyed groan. The constable had soured the shop owner on her with little more than a few words. What had he said? What would have upset her so quickly?

  After the constable left, with a lingering gaze that held on to Carth far longer than it needed to, the shop owner began to busy herself by making her way around the store. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything that might interest you.”

  “Nothing?” Carth asked. She paused in front of a bookshelf holding rows of powders. They reminded her of an herbalist shop, but the markings on the sides appeared to reflect more exotic sources of the powders. “What is this talisman that you’re missing?”

  “I’ve told the constable all that I need to about the talisman. I’m afraid that now that it’s missing, I can’t provide you with any more information than that.”

  Carth glanced over at Alayna, but her friend only s
hrugged. Linsay paused at one of the shelves, studying it for a moment. “Regardless, I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you do manage to find out who was responsible for taking it.”

  The woman glared at her. “The constable tells me that you are more than aware of who is responsible for taking it.”

  “And who is that?” Carth attempted to sound as innocent as possible.

  “The same person who’s responsible for trade failing in Keyall. Same person who’s responsible for my shop struggling. The Collector, that’s who.”

  “I’m not with the Collector, but if the constable returns, you can make certain he knows it’s my intent to better understand him.”

  Carth met the woman’s gaze for a long moment before turning away. She guided Alayna out and when they were back on the street, Alayna stared into the shop, as if trying to figure out what had just taken place.

  “Well, you didn’t make any friends,” she said.

  Carth grunted out a quick laugh. “Imagine what she would have said had I told her that I was here last night. Imagine what she would have said had I told her I tried to prevent the talisman from being taken.”

  “What do you think the Collector wanted with it?” Alayna asked Linsay.

  “I can’t tell. There were valuables there, but nothing that would be of much historical importance. Most were religious artifacts, which makes me wonder if the talisman that she’s missing is similar.” She turned her attention back to the shop. “If you want, I can look around the city and see what else I might be able to find out?”

  Carth sighed. “Perhaps, but maybe it’s time we start asking different kind of questions than we have been.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as how many of the people in the village know about the Collector? How many have suffered because of him? And why hasn’t the constabulary done anything to stop his influence?”

  Alayna looked over at the shop, her eyes taking on a distant expression. Did she See something when she looked? Oftentimes when she had something that she Saw, she kept to herself. Most of what she Saw was not necessarily useful, though it did provide a certain level of guidance. Yet, that wasn’t the face that Alayna made. This was a troubled expression, and one that Carth wasn’t entirely certain the reason for.