by C S Vass
Uneasily she took her seat and the wine. It was very sweet. She still didn’t know what to make of Brandon, but nothing he had done had left her feeling particularly optimistic about the prospect of working with him.
“You’ll have to forgive my rudeness earlier,” Brandon said as he relaxed his hands gently into each other. “I’ve grown overly accustomed to working with a certain type of scoundrel.”
The words rang hollow to Fiona. She knew better than to trust this man. But that didn’t mean he might not be of use.
“I’ve traveled a long way and I’m a bit cranky,” Fiona said. “So forgive me, but I’d like to be blunt.”
This time Brandon’s eyes did smile with his lips. “By all means.”
“I’m looking for somebody and I’d like to recruit the help of the Forgotten in finding him.”
Brandon sipped his wine. When he placed it down Fiona noticed there was not a speck of dirt to be found on his long spider-like fingers. “Who might you be looking for? A lost lover? Or someone who betrayed you, and now you seek revenge? Perhaps both of those answers are correct.”
“I’m looking for Rodrick Sacrosin, previous Commander of the Brightbows under Duke Redfire until the Vaentysh rebellion two years ago. I will pay well to have him brought to me alive.”
“Alive, is it?” Brandon’s tongue traced his upper lip after he spoke. “Very well. Now tell me, can you afford us?”
Fiona thought of Smiley. Officially he had offered her a passport, but surely a Tellosian agent would pay well for Rodrick Sacrosin’s head? She would cross that bridge when she came to it. “I assure you, Brandon, I can afford it.”
He laughed at that and took a long gulp of wine, finishing his glass before pouring himself another. “Well, one might think that the little sister of Rodrick Sacrosin would have inherited enough money to pay for such a thing. It’s unfortunate for you, however, that I’m quite aware that after Rodrick’s…shifting of loyalties, shall we say, his younger sister, one Fiona Sacrosin, disappeared without so much as visiting their own home.”
She gave him her coldest, hardest stare. He laughed again.
“Come now, surely you didn’t think to come here and find a brain-dead den of thugs? The Forgotten are not run of the mill crooks, Fiona. I’ve been expecting you ever since you returned to Haygarden and your little experiment with that false sorceress went sour. Yes, I know about that too. Don’t worry, I couldn’t care less. All that has shown me is how desperate you are to find your brother.”
“You’ve been following me!”
“Obviously. I follow a great many matters of importance in Haygarden. Oh, don’t give me that look just because I’ve caught you off-guard. You owe me something, after all. Why do you think the Vaentysh Boys didn’t come back in droves after Duke Redfire’s death? Do you not realize how their supporters have swelled here after the presence of the Empire became felt by the everyday people?”
“Are you trying to tell me you’ve been keeping the Vaentysh Boys at bay?”
“Why would you doubt it? It’s true that they are a group of fanatics and low-lifes, but even so before they foolishly tried to take the city the Vaentysh Boys controlled much of the underground markets now run by the Forgotten. It would not do to have them come back and try to make their coin in the shadows where we now operate.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to stalk me in my own city.”
“Fiona, the only thing that gives anyone the right to do anything is force. Especially now. You needn’t worry. It seems I’ve agitated you by revealing what I know. I simply wanted to say that you needn’t try to trick or scam me—surely you had some half-baked plan to acquire the proper coin to pay us for Rodrick. But you don’t have it and you won’t get it, so let me save you the trouble.”
“Why see me then?” Fiona demanded. “Why not just tell me to get lost the second I showed my face if you’re so all-knowing?”
Brandon clapped his hands together and laughed. “I said you were penniless, not useless. I know you have friends in this city Fiona, though you may be hesitant to go and see them. The Fiona Sacrosin I’ve heard rumors about has access.”
“Access? Access to what?”
“Sun Circle,” Brandon said. “Let’s put all pretense behind us for the moment, Fiona. I don’t want your money, the Forgotten has ways of acquiring that on our own. What I want is information. Particularly, I want information on a fat sod named Donyo Brownwater.”
Fiona kept her face a mask. “I don’t have access to Sun Circle any more than the common peasant,” she said. “But I assure you, I will pay you well if you help me find Rodrick. I can give—”
“Enough!” Brandon raised his hands, and for the first time since she entered the room he did not look amused. Incense from a scented stick on his desk wafted around his head giving him a frightening aura. “Let me be clear. You cannot pay. Not any amount would do because I don’t want your money. I want to know what Donyo Brownwater has been working on.”
“What?” Fiona was unsure what was being asked of her. How was she supposed to know what Donyo had been up to besides drowning his liver for the last two years?
“I don’t have a clue what Donyo’s been up to,” Fiona said.
“You better find out. I know you were close with him once. There are rumors coming from my people that he is working on something powerful and important. Something that could disrupt the power dynamics here in Haygarden and beyond. I must know about such things! I would not accept a mountain of gold from you in exchange for Rodrick, Fiona, because you may be my sole connection to discovering what that man is doing.”
Fiona leaned back in the chair. Brandon’s temper had gotten away from him and he was huffing in his seat. “You know you’d get the information only after you bring Rodrick to me,” Fiona said.
“I assure you, we can arrange a proper trade that will be mutually beneficial and secure. After all, we have more men. We can restrain Rodrick, but if you fail to deliver on your part of the bargain we can just as easily let him go, maybe with a large shipment of gold of his own to ensure that he holds no grudges against us.”
Fiona snorted. “I have no reason to believe it could ever come to that. Rodrick has evaded capture from multiple forces for years, including the Tellosian Empire. Why would I expect that the Forgotten could deliver when the most powerful dynasty in the world could not?”
Brandon had revealed several different personalities and faces that night, but it was the look he then gave her that truly frightened Fiona.
Eyes narrowed into a malicious gaze he simply rose from his chair and said, “Follow me.” With little other choice Fiona did just that.
They walked down a long dark hallway, lit every twenty paces or so by small white candles in the blackness. Eventually they came across a large wooden door with heavy wrought-iron engraved into its surface and several massive locks sealing it tight.
“If you think that you can scare me into submission I suggest you reexamine your tactics,” Fiona grunted.
Brandon laughed as he started to undo the locks. “In my line of work there is a time to intimidate and a time to impress. Despite your suspicions I aim to make an arrangement that will leave both of us satisfied. But we are missing a key element to make that happen.”
“Oh?”
“Trust,” Brandon said as the last lock fell and the large door swung open with a creak that echoed down the hallway. “It is only natural that you should demand results. So see for yourself. I’m sure you’ll be pleased.”
Fiona stepped into the room and gasped.
* * *
“No need to thank me,” Brandon said icily. “He brought this on himself, the arrogant fool.”
Chained to the wall in front of her was Kevin Lovewood. He was beaten so badly that she could hardly recognize his face. His eyes were two black boulders and the rags he wore had deteriorated to the point that they looked as if they might drip off of his body like candle wax at any moment.<
br />
“Should I let you two talk?” Brandon asked with laugher in his voice. “Perhaps discuss old times?”
“What….how?” Fiona didn’t even know what to ask. Of all the things she suspected Brandon might have hidden down here, Kevin Lovewood was the last she would have guessed.
“Hopefully this shows you that the Forgotten can be resourceful when there’s reason for us to be.”
“Why do you have him?” Fiona asked. “What did he do?”
“What did he do?” Brandon snorted. “He stepped on the wrong toes.” He leaned down to eye level with Kevin Lovewood, positioning his own curved nose just inches from Kevin’s broken one. “Didn’t you, Lord Kevin? Have you learned your lesson?”
Fiona felt sick. It was true that there were few people she hated more than the old Master of Horse, but to see him so pathetically down…
“Are you torturing him for information?” Fiona asked.
Brandon chuckled. “This one’s not a fighter. He told us everything worth knowing long ago. This is purely the payment of a debt. Lord Kevin here tried to raid a caravan full of treasures meant for the Forgotten that was coming in from Laquath. Weren’t you, my little lordling?”
Kevin Lovewood tried to say something through the cloth that was tied tightly between his teeth. It was only then that Fiona realized with horror that his eyes were actually open, she just couldn’t tell because of how badly he had been beaten.
“We can’t hear you, my lord,” Brandon sneered. He untied the cloth from Kevin’s mouth. “Speak up!”
“I…I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know. Please, I wouldn’t have…I won’t ever take from the Forgotten again.” His voice was so dry and cracked that Fiona wondered if it had been days since the man was given water.
Brandon tied the cloth back in place. “Always so full of lies. Pathetic.”
“How long are you going to keep him?” Fiona asked.
“Until somebody gives enough of a shit about him to pay his ransom,” Brandon said. He turned and kicked Lovewood hard in the chest. “Don’t get your hopes up. Nobody has come for you yet and I don’t expect that will change.”
Fiona wrinkled her nose in disgust. Kevin Lovewood was a monster, but all the same…keeping him here like an animal in the dark served no purpose.
Yet there was something else, a nagging voice in the back of her head. Secretly buried deep within the many layers of her heart, underneath the remaining fragments of what had been shattered by Rodrick two years ago, there was something that disturbed her more than Kevin Lovewood’s broken form. He deserves this, the voice told her. When it said that she felt a sense of joy that she had not felt in a very long time, and it terrified her.
Who am I becoming?
“So, Fiona,” Brandon said. “Do we have a deal? Will you provide information on Donyo Brownwater’s secret project in exchange for our assistance in capturing your brother?”
Fiona took a deep breath. When she raised her eyes to Brandon’s she saw no sympathy, no love, nothing that could bring the two together as true allies. Just circumstance, and a greedy man trying to take advantage of it.
“We’re agreed.” Fiona said. She grabbed Brandon’s hand and they shook in the darkness of the tunnels beneath the Spotted Weasel.
An explosion above rocked the walls.
“What was that?” Fiona asked as she drew her demon-pommel blade.
“Nothing good,” Brandon said. “Come on.”
Fiona had expected Brandon, like most leaders when danger came, to flee down some secret path. But he quickly ran back to the room he had met her in, pulled a longsword off of the wall, and the two ran up towards the tavern’s main room. While they ran Fiona thought of the rune-bomb that had killed Aureno.
The two burst into the main chamber and found fighting all around them. City guards had rushed the tavern and were rounding people up as quickly as they could grab them. Growling snarls alerted Fiona to the fact that dogs had been released on the tavern as well. She looked around the room uncertainly. The last thing she wanted to do was start attacking guards, but at the same time she wasn’t about to be arrested for being mixed up with the Forgotten.
Deciding to take the middle ground Fiona sheathed her weapon and ran. A guard in an open-faced leather helm grabbed her arm, but let go instantly as she landed a savage blow with pointed knuckles into the bridge of his nose.
Two more guards approached her as soon as the first one fell.
“Stand down!” a thick-bearded man with greasy hair shouted at her. They stared at each other for half a heartbeat, and he lunged. Fiona ducked and swept her legs around in an arc, taking the thick-bearded guard down with a crash. The second one tried to dive on her, but her false motion made him think she was going to move. When he shifted accordingly she flattened her right hand and shoved her fingers into his throat as hard as she could.
Quickly, she shot past him as he gasped for air on the ground. The door was in front of her opening the way into the snowy streets. There wasn’t a single obstacle in her path. Quick as she was able Fiona leapt like a rabbit towards the door. Refreshing cold air hit her face and she sucked it in, tasting freedom.
Before she knew what had happened she was on her belly, coughing and sputtering. With shock she realized that she couldn’t move a muscle. She was completely paralyzed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a guardsman with his face-mask down and a blue feather in his helm approach her.
“Good work with the rune,” he said to somebody she couldn’t see. His words turned to vapor in the chilly night air. Inside dogs were barking.
“Come on!” he shouted. “Let’s get them all in for questioning. Something foul is afoot here, and I aim to find out exactly what our friends are up to!”
Chapter Six
By midnight Fiona’s hands were tightly bound together by iron chains which were firmly linked to the table in front of her. She was in a room beneath one of many barracks scattered throughout the Stone District. She hadn’t seen what happened to Brandon. From what the guards had said she gathered that they used some sort of magical runes to paralyze her, and they hadn’t removed it until she was safely tied.
With nothing else to do she watched the single candle in the room slowly drip into nothingness in front of her. How long would they make her wait? It would be hell to be left there all night, positioned so that she couldn’t even lie down properly.
Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps creeping from down the hall. There was the sound of a key turning in a lock, and then a figure walked in the room. When Fiona saw those piggish eyes her heart skipped a beat.
“Ha! I can hardly believe it.” He had the same cruel chuckle that she had known since their days together at Clearwater.
“Jared.” Jared chortled to himself as he sat down behind her.
“Isn’t this interesting?” he said to her. “How is it that I’ve always known we would meet again on opposite sides of the law?”
“Why have I been arrested?” Fiona asked. She prepared for what she knew would be a very unpleasant conversation.
“Why indeed?” Jared mocked. “Perhaps for right now we could call it a matter of security. Where have you been for two years?”
“Who are you to question me?”
“I’m the one they put in the room,” Jared said. He leaned his face in close to hers. He had grown a lot in two years, but his tiny mean eyes and squat round head were instantly recognizable. “Now why don’t you tell me why after being gone for two years you go and show up in a criminal enterprise. When you’re done explaining that…” he moved away and turned his back to her. “Perhaps you can tell me why a member of Sun Circle’s court was chained and beaten in that same establishment?”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Fiona said. “I was just passing through and looking for a place to sleep.”
Jared reached into his overcoat and pulled out a long thin knife. He placed it carefully on the table, just out of the reach of Fiona’s tied h
ands.
“I’m going to ask you another question,” Jared said. “This time, when I do, you better tell me something along the lines of what I want to hear. Otherwise, it will not end well for you. Now, who is leading the Forgotten?”
It took every ounce of willpower that Fiona had to not berate him with insults. “What part of I don’t know anything don’t you understand? I can’t give you what I don’t have. What are you going to do about it, torture me? Sandra Redfire will roll your pudgy little head right off the mountain.”
Inside she was fuming. It was one thing dealing with opponents who actually meant something, but to be locked in a room with Jared…she couldn’t see him as anything more than the mean-spirited teen he had been. Two years wasn’t nearly enough time to wash that from him. A lifetime probably wouldn’t be.
Jared did not respond, but instead slowly walked around the room in a circle with his arms behind his back, as if deep in thought. “It’s always the same with you people,” he said. “A bully then, and a bully now. The only difference is now I’m the one with the power.”
“Bully!” The word burst from her mouth. The accusation was so hypocritical she wanted to scream.
“Always making fun of my weight at Clearwater. Always making fun of how I pared up against the other boys in class. Always saying that nobody would ever have a reason to see a shred of value in me. I haven’t forgotten Fiona, all the little ways you used to mock me. I haven’t forgotten how even when I talked about being proud of my city and wanting to keep it safe you tried to make me out to be a heartless degenerate.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but I promise you, Jared, if I ever called you an asshole back when we were in school, it was because you were being an asshole.”
“A fat little shit with more chins than brains?” Jared said. “You said something like that, on that last day of school we had together. The day your traitor brother pretended to be kidnapped before attempting to take over the city. How’s he doing? Still out there roaming the world, or have the crows picked out his eyes yet?”
