Traitor's Blade (The Greatcoats)

by de Castell, Sebastien

  ‘I should go,’ I said. ‘It’s late and I’d like to spend as few hours conscious in this city as possible.’

  ‘The Princess has told me to leave her alone tonight. I’ve never walked the hallways of this palace, and I would not dare to do so alone, though I am told it is very beautiful. Perhaps you and I could find some reason not to sleep?’

  She was lovely and intriguing, and I do not get many offers as sweet as that one, not since Aline, my wife, first sought me out at a market dance and—

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, but I have to go.’

  I felt sorry for her, being alone and afraid in a nest of snakes. She was right to want to find some beauty in the world, some companionship, wherever it might be. ‘Perhaps Brasti would—’ I instantly, yet far too late, realised my mistake.

  Trin’s face went as cold and dead as a gravestone in winter. ‘I thank you, First Cantor, for your thoughtful recommendation. I have taken up too much of your time.’

  She walked right past me down the corridor.

  ‘Trin, wait …’

  But she was already gone.

  I stood there for a few minutes, torn between trying to find her to apologise and leaving. She had come to me with kind words and generous intent and I had had turned her away. There were a hundred things I could have said to refuse her while still showing her compassion. Instead, I’d made her feel like a whore. Saints, I thought, heading to the shabby little room they’d given me to share with Kest and Brasti, get me out of this Gods-damned city before I fail at something else.

  A COWARD’S VOW

  Staring at the burned wreckage of the mansion that morning was one of the worst moments of my foolish failure of a life. A few bits of wall still stood, but the rest was a husk, slowly breaking into smouldering pieces, supported by the tall stone blocks that had been used to prevent anyone from leaving the house even as the attackers shattered cask after cask of oil onto the building before setting it on fire.

  Valiana had been as good as her word. She had asked the Duke, her father, to promise freedom for the Tiarren woman and her children when she surrendered, and he had agreed all too willingly: a welcome gift to his child. But the attackers had picked up the falling crest that signalled surrender and doused it in oil before putting it to the torch with the rest, and then they had watched as everyone inside suffocated and burned.

  Kest was with me. Feltock tried to keep the Lady Valiana inside her carriage with Shiballe, but she pushed him aside and joined us at the wreckage, Trin at her side silently shedding tears. Feltock wasn’t stupid. He had a pistol with him, ready for the moment when I would try to kill Valiana.

  ‘Leave it,’ Feltock said. I could hear the fear in the old man’s voice. ‘The Princess has been commanded by her father to take her Patents of Lineage to Hervor. We have a job, you and I. That’s all we got, that’s all we can do. This isn’t a matter for men like you and me.’

  Valiana said my name, softly, tentatively. ‘Falcio …’

  ‘I am somewhat occupied at this precise moment, your Highness,’ I said. My voice was calm, natural. I wasn’t a fool. I wasn’t going to get myself killed just to assuage my guilt over the death of the Tiarren family. It was too late for them now, and all that was left was a proper burial and useless vengeance.

  ‘Say it, Trattari. I know you want to,’ she said to me.

  If this woman thought she knew what I wanted at that precise moment, then she was surely out of her mind.

  Feltock called out, ‘My Lady, please, there are three of them. I can’t be sure—’

  ‘You blame me for this, don’t you? You think I’m evil – go ahead and say it,’ she demanded.

  Kest had his hand on his sword. He was ready for me to lose my temper and for Feltock to shoot me and, when he did, Kest was going to draw that sword like a bolt of lighting and cut Valiana’s throat. And then what? Wait for the next stupid offspring of Dukes to come and become the next tyrant – what would that solve? When would it ever end?

  ‘No,’ I said softly.

  I don’t think they knew who I was talking to because they all hesitated at once. ‘No, Valiana, Duchess, Princess, Empress, whatever you like to be called. I don’t blame you.’

  She looked at me and her eyes widened and her mouth opened a little, but she said nothing. She was waiting, cautiously, for absolution.

  But I had none to give. ‘I believe in evil, my Lady. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in my home, and I’ve seen it in the furthest reaches of this country. And yes, I’ve seen it here in Rijou. I saw it in Shiballe with his false smiles and secret plans, and I saw it in the Duke when you asked him to forbear for the sake of the Tiarren family and his eyes lit up, enjoying his private joke. I’ve brought justice to men like that. I’ve even killed them, when I’ve had to. And one day Shiballe and Duke Jillard will find a Greatcoat’s sword in their bellies.’

  I picked up a small piece of still-smouldering wood and let it burn my hand for a moment before letting it fall.

  ‘But most of the terrible things that happen in this land don’t happen because of evil men, not really. They happen because of people who just don’t know any better. A tax collector who never wonders if this season’s crops might be too small to warrant the silver he has just collected: a family’s entire income. A soldier who never questions why he’s been told to take casks of oil and condemn a mother and her children to a fiery death. And a woman, barely more than a girl, who thinks only about how fine it will be to have a big castle and a pretty throne, and never wonders why so many great intrigues have been set in play to put her there. So no, Valiana, Lady, Duchess, Princess. I don’t think you’re evil. I think you’re much, much worse.’

  She looked at me, and then stumbled back and Kest, his reflexes outpacing his intention, caught her before she fell to the ground. Feltock was wise enough to keep his cool and allow Kest to lift her into the carriage.

  Shiballe stepped out, a smile on his lips. But then the smile disappeared as he looked past me. Trin, looking in the same direction, went white.

  I turned and saw something coming out of the wreckage of the mansion: a girl, young, no more than twelve or thirteen years old. She was covered in soot and she looked disoriented. She stumbled and, as Kest ran to the saddlebags, I ran to the girl. I lifted her out of the carnage that had been her home and laid her down on a bench on the other side of the street near the carriage. Kest passed me water and bandages. I thought her skin might be charred, but cleaning her arms with water revealed that she wasn’t badly burned at all.

  ‘How did she survive?’ Kest asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said.

  Shiballe called to his guards and began whispering to them.

  The girl opened her eyes and coughed. I gave her a little water and she drank it down, but when she tried to speak, wracking coughs overtook her.

  I waited until they had passed before giving her a little more water. ‘Don’t try to speak if it hurts,’ I said.

  She shook her head. ‘I can – I can talk,’ she said.

  ‘The girl will come with me,’ Shiballe said, coming towards us.

  ‘Take another step forward,’ Brasti said, ‘just one more step forward, you fat little monster—’

  ‘She is a citizen of Rijou and under the Duke’s—’

  ‘The Duke hasn’t done a very fucking good job then, has he?’

  ‘How did you survive the fire?’ I asked the girl.

  She coughed again. ‘The crawl space,’ she croaked. ‘When Mother dropped the crest and the men lit it on fire instead of letting us out, she told us to go down to the crawlspace. But there wasn’t enough room – it’s so small – and my brothers wanted to fight, which was stupid because you can’t fight fire with swords. And then the little ones ran back up and I couldn’t reach them because something fell on top of the hatch. It’s all stone down there, so the fire couldn’t reach and I had water and towels to put on my face.’

  She took another sip o
f water. ‘I kept trying, but couldn’t get out of the crawlspace – and then I guess the stuff that fell on the hatch must have burned off …’

  ‘Falcio,’ Kest said.

  I looked at him.

  ‘She’s the last of the Tiarrens. If someone sees her, she’s dead.’

  ‘Shiballe’s seen her,’ Brasti said. ‘I say we kill him now.’

  ‘Then we’ll be dead too,’ Feltock said. ‘I’m afraid we have to move on now, men.’

  I stared at him. ‘How can you serve Valiana now, when you’ve seen the cost?’

  The old man’s eyes looked sad. ‘I’m a soldier, boy. I serve one master at a time and I go where I’m told. You’ll do the same if you’re smart.’

  ‘The girl can come,’ Valiana said to me as she stepped off the carriage. ‘It is the least we can do.’

  I said nothing.

  ‘And I am the least of women, aren’t I?’ she finished. Her tone was bitter, but I couldn’t tell if it was aimed at me or at herself.

  Kest packed up the bandages. ‘We need to move out now. It will be dark soon, and the violence will begin again.’

  ‘I’m afraid not,’ Shiballe said, his guards standing behind him.

  ‘By what right do you contradict me, Shiballe?’ Valiana asked, a mixture of anxiety and anger in her voice.

  ‘Your Highness, this is still your father the Duke’s domain. His orders on this are very clear.’

  ‘His orders were for her to be protected.’

  ‘No, your Highness, his orders are for her to stay here, in Rijou. He will care for her as he sees fit.’

  ‘I will not go,’ the girl said.

  ‘See, the child knows her place is here, with her people.’

  ‘You’ve slaughtered her people,’ Brasti said.

  ‘And you have some proof of this, do you, tatter-cloak?’

  ‘The girl comes with me,’ Valiana said firmly.

  ‘Then, your Highness, you will not reach the outer gates alive. You will be slain for conspiring to impede a citizen of Rijou in the performance of her duty to the Duke.’

  ‘My father would never—’

  ‘It is treason, your Highness. Your father will be saddened by your loss. But that is all.’

  Valiana looked at me. I looked back, and whatever was in my eyes was too much for her. ‘My father swore in front of his nobles that he would protect her family!’

  ‘No, your Highness, he did not. He swore to look into the matter personally, and ensure that his will was followed in the matter, and he did precisely that.’

  ‘There must be a way,’ she said to Shiballe, pleading.

  ‘The girl stays here. She stays until the end of Ganath Kalila. If she is still alive then, on the Morning of Mercy she can go to the Rock of Rijou where her name will be spoken by the City Sage and her presence recorded.’

  ‘How much fucking chance does she have to stay alive with no family?’ Brasti demanded.

  ‘It was not I who forced her mother to make such unwise decisions about whom to take to her bed, nor I who advised her husband, Lord Tiarren, to tolerate it.’

  The girl tried to run at Shiballe, but Kest gently held her back and sat her on the bench again.

  ‘Duke Jillard would kill a woman and her family because adultery so distresses him?’ I asked, my voice tight and my hand sliding to the hilt of my rapier.

  Shiballe smiled. ‘No, not that. It was the choice of lover the Duke found distressing.’

  ‘Come, girl, come with me. We’ll find a way out of this for you,’ Kest said to her.

  ‘No,’ she said, very firmly.

  He stared at her. ‘What do you mean, “no”?’

  The girl put her hands on the back of the bench and pushed herself up. ‘It is true: it is the Blood Week. If I do not attend the Duke’s ceremony at the end of the week, my family’s name, everything we have, becomes the property of the men who did this. My name – my rights of blood – will be gone for ever.’

  She looked up at me, desperate. ‘I won’t do that,’ she said. ‘I won’t run away.’

  ‘Then you’ll be killed,’ Kest said, as kindly as he could.

  ‘I’m smart,’ she said, ‘and I’m pretty small. I’ll hide in the city – I’ll move around a lot. I just need to last the week and then be there to place my name on the Duke’s list.’

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This child, no more than twelve or thirteen, had just lost everything, her entire family, and now, as if that wasn’t enough, she was going to be killed by the Duke’s men or Shiballe’s men or someone else for an offence she’d had no hand in at all. And yet her answer was that she would stay and fight.

  ‘What’s your name, girl?’ I asked.

  ‘Aline,’ she said. ‘Aline Tiarren.’

  My heart stopped and I felt my eyes darken. Kest put a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. It was a name, that’s all – a very uncommon name, true, but a name nonetheless. A stupid name, given to a little girl who knew no better.

  I knelt down in front of her. ‘Do you know what I am?’ I asked.

  ‘You’re a Greatcoat,’ she said. ‘You’re one of the King’s Magisters.’

  ‘And do you know what we do?’

  ‘Falcio …’ Kest warned.

  I raised a hand and ignored him. ‘Do you know what we do?’ I asked again.

  ‘You hear cases,’ she said. ‘You give verdicts. You fight.’

  ‘We hear cases, we give verdicts and we fight. A crime has been committed, Aline. Do you want me to hear your case? Do you want me to give a verdict?’ I paused. ‘Aline, do you want me to fight?’

  The girl looked into my eyes as if measuring my sincerity. Then she said, ‘I want you to fight.’

  ‘Falcio,’ said Kest, ‘you can’t do this. The Covenant—’

  ‘Fuck the Covenant,’ I said, rising and pushing him back. ‘And fuck you if you don’t know any better, Kest. What’s your solution? What’s your answer? Look,’ I whispered fiercely into his ear, ‘we don’t even know what’s going on. What if the Tiarrens were killed so that they couldn’t tell us where the King’s jewels were? What if this girl knows something about it? Keeping her alive is the only way we can figure out how to stop the Dukes. She’s part of it, I’m sure of it.

  ‘My Lady,’ I said to Valiana in a clear voice, ‘I feel a cramp in my leg. I am afraid I would delay your journey if I came with you. I beg your pardon to rest my leg and then I will join you all presently.’

  ‘When?’ she asked.

  ‘In about nine days,’ I said. ‘I’m confident my cramp will disappear by then.’

  She looked at Feltock, at Kest, at Shiballe. Whatever answer she sought from them, she didn’t find it.

  ‘You are inconvenient, Trattari. My Lord father has made it clear I am to take my Patents of Lineage and make all speed north to begin preparations for my coronation. I cannot afford any more delays on your account.’

  ‘Your Highness—’ Shiballe began.

  ‘Silence. I’ve heard your instructions clearly enough: I cannot stay; I cannot take the girl. Very well then. Falcio val Mond, I order you to stay here until you are fit to travel.’

  ‘Yes, my Lady.’

  ‘Your Highness,’ Trin said, her expression full of concern, ‘it is too dangerous. They will have the entire city trying to kill them. Go instead to your father, the Duke; beg him to let you take the girl away. You can save her, give her a home, as your beloved mother the Duchess did for me.’

  ‘You forget yourself, Trin,’ Valiana said without looking at her.

  ‘Ah, yes,’ Shiballe said. ‘Consulting with your father would be the wisest course.’

  I wondered if Trin was really so naïve as to believe that the Duke would ever be persuaded by Valiana after he had twisted her request already. More likely he would rub her nose in it.

  ‘Furthermore,’ Valiana said, ‘I have developed a special fondness for this girl. I would like to know her better. Should Ganath
Kalila be completed by the time your leg is healed, then I instruct you to bring the girl to me.’

  ‘Yes, my Lady.’

  ‘You still work for me, tatter-cloak. If any of my special friends here in Rijou are inconvenienced by the poor manners of others, you will censure them on my behalf.’

  We locked eyes. ‘Of that you can be assured, my Lady.’

  She looked back at me. ‘Very well then. Feltock, get the men ready and let us be away. I am growing restless to complete my journey.’

  ‘Aye, your Highness,’ Feltock said.

  He turned to me briefly. ‘It was nice knowing you, Trattari. But you’re a damned fool.’

  Kest, Brasti, the girl and I were out of earshot of Shiballe and his men, who were standing a few feet away.

  As the fat man gave instructions to his men, Brasti said quietly, ‘You can’t win at this. There’re too many of them – this whole town is a nest of snakes, and each and every one of them will be biting at you for the Duke’s favour.’

  ‘I’ll fear no blade,’ I said, my voice tight.

  ‘Falcio, they’ll kill you, and they’ll kill the girl!’

  ‘I’m not running, Brasti. You said it yourself – all we’ve done is run, and it’s got us nowhere.’

  ‘How then? Tell me how: even if you do somehow manage to survive the Blood Week, they’re never, never going to let you get away with it. What are you going to do then?’

  ‘I’ll reach the Rock,’ I said. I looked at Kest. ‘You’re quiet.’

  He started pulling something from his pack. ‘Here,’ he said, passing me a small package. ‘It’s what I’ve got left of the hard candy. Maybe it will keep you awake.’

  ‘Oh, for the Saints’ sake – you think he can do this? Could you do it?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so,’ Kest said, ‘but I’ll wait the full Blood Week and five days more to find out. Falcio, if you haven’t returned by then, I’ll kill the woman. She won’t sit on the throne of Castle Aramor; that I promise you.’

  He turned and walked towards the carriage. I picked up a small rock and threw it at him, striking him in the back of the head. He spun back around, ready to fight.