Demonkin

by Richard S. Tuttle

* * * *

  Queen Romani and Sidney Mercado were enjoying a late evening meal in his suite when he heard a noise from the other room. Sidney rose silently and motioned for the queen to stay behind. The merchant padded softly across the floor and eased open the door to his office. He saw nothing suspicious, but his caravan sense was screaming at him. He pulled a knife from his belt and eased into the dark room.

  “Don’t poke around with that knife,” a soft voice said from a dark corner of the room.

  “Garth?” Sidney asked in a whispering voice. “What are you doing here?”

  “It is a short visit. Is anyone else here?”

  “Just Queen Romani.”

  Garth sighed and nodded. “I should pay my respects, but I must be quick.”

  Garth stepped out of the shadows and Sidney backed out of the room to allow the Knight of Alcea passage. Queen Romani’s hand rose to her lips in astonishment, but she said nothing.

  “I apologize for my clandestine entrance,” smiled Garth, “but my time is too short to pay respects to everyone in this castle.”

  “Why are you sneaking about?” asked the queen.

  “I have something to leave with Sidney. It must be kept secret for now, so I don’t want to announce my arrival.”

  “What is it?” asked Sidney Mercado.

  “A Door,” answered Garth. “It is a magical portal to Tarashin, but I am not ready to share it with the Koroccans. It is too long a tale to tell this night, but I will explain it later. I know that your office has a closet. Can you change the door without any help?”

  “Child’s play.” Sidney nodded. “What do I do with the old door?”

  “Leave it in the closet. No one will ever go there again once the Door is installed. You must assure me that no one will ever open the Door by accident.”

  “I will tell the maids that my office is off limits,” stated the merchant. “No one will go in there. Where is the Door?”

  “The fairies are levitating it up right now. We should go help them.”

  Chapter 34

  Setup

  The door to the reeducation center in Giza opened and three soldiers walked in. Their carefree chattering died the moment they saw Captain Beck standing just inside the door.

  “Were you planning to spend all day at the Tap and Mug?” scowled the captain.

  “Sorry,” one of the soldiers meekly replied, but he wasn’t truly sorry at all. None of the soldiers under the captain’s command could stand the officer, and they would all laugh at delaying his midday meal once he was out of the building.

  “You will be sorry the next time,” snarled Captain Beck. “Count on it.”

  The captain stormed out of the center, his mood foul and his stomach complaining. The Tap and Mug tavern was within a block of the reeducation center. It didn’t take long for the officer to reach his destination, but his tardy subordinates were already forgotten by the time he arrived. He entered the dimly lit tavern and paused to let his eyes adjust. There was a fairly large crowd in the tavern, but his usual table was empty. He hurried across the room and secured it before someone else grabbed it. Almost immediately, a woman entered the room and moved to his table. She sat opposite the captain without a word. The captain examined the pretty woman while she was looking around the room. When her eyes met his, he smiled broadly.

  “Meeting someone?” asked the captain.

  “No,” she replied. “My name is Natia. I hope you don’t mind the company, but I have found that sitting with officers usually keeps the wolves at bay.”

  “Except for the officers,” smirked the captain. “I am Captain Beck, but I think you already know that.”

  Natia blinked at the man’s words. The only person who knew of her plan was Headman, and she didn’t think he would betray her. “Excuse me?”

  “I am devastated that you don’t remember me,” the captain stated with a false pout. “You toured the reeducation center a while back.”

  “Oh,” brightened Natia. “So I did. Do you work there?”

  “I run the center,” boasted the captain. “You were with a colonel if I am not mistaken. Tours of the center are generally unheard of. That means that you are probably an important person.”

  “Hardly,” chuckled Natia. “Some officers try to impress me. I suppose that was the case with the colonel.”

  “And did he succeed?”

  “I was impressed,” frowned Natia, “but with the center, not the colonel.”

  A woman arrived to take the meal order, and the conversation was halted until she left.

  “Not impressed with a colonel?” questioned the captain. “Are you aiming for a general?”

  “It is not his rank that disappointed me,” smiled Natia. “I prefer the company of a fun-loving man. I need excitement to keep me from getting bored. I like to party.”

  “Do you now?” chuckled the captain. “And what kind of parties do you like?”

  “Parties where the alcohol runs freely,” answered Natia. “Throw in some excitement like brawls or gambling, and I usually have a great time.”

  “Brawls and gambling?” laughed the captain. “Are you good at either?”

  “Oh, no.” Natia shook her head. “I prefer to watch. Sitting in a common room is so boring, yet that is what most men like to do. I like to see a man put everything on the line, whether it is fighting an opponent or trying to break the bank. It gives a certain thrill to the air when someone is on the brink. Do you know what I mean?”

  “I am not sure that I do,” frowned Captain Beck. “I can understand wanting to see a fight, or even betting on the outcome of a fight, but what thrill is there is watching someone gamble?”

  “The thrill of winning,” Natia replied excitedly. “You must not be a gambler if you don’t understand the thrill of winning.”

  “Oh, I understand the thrill of winning quite well,” retorted the captain, “but I only get it when I am gambling, not while I am watching someone else. What thrill is there in watching?”

  “You misunderstand me,” stated Natia. “I like to gamble, but I am no good at it. I would rather give my purse to someone who knows how to win and then split the winnings. Believe me; the thrill is quite alive while watching your gold being put on the line.”

  “You bank players?” the captain asked in surprise. “I have never heard of that before.”

  “Then you don’t get around much,” Natia replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice. “That is how most of the elite in Despair gamble. They dare not make the wagers themselves, so they have people do it for them.”

  Captain Beck stared at the woman while their meal was served. The thought of gambling with someone else’s money intrigued him, and the woman was good looking to boot, but he did not like the idea of sharing the winnings. If he was going to win a hundred gold, he would like to keep it all to himself. He did not really need her to lend him a couple of coins, but he would not mind her sharing his bed.

  “Have you been to any games in Giza?” he asked.

  “I haven’t been able to find one,” sighed Natia. “I asked the colonel and he looked at me as if I were a criminal.”

  “Figures,” chuckled the captain. “I know where the games are held, and I wouldn’t mind taking you, but I am not sure about this partnership thing. I usually do fairly well on my own.”

  “How much do you win on a typical night?” asked Natia. “You are a winner, aren’t you?”

  “Most of the time,” conceded the captain. “I might lose a couple of gold here and there, but I more than make up for it when I win. Many a night I leave the game with fifty or a hundred extra.”

  “Oh,” Natia replied as she broke eye contact with the captain and started eating. “I thought you were a gambler.”

  Captain Beck stared at the woman and frown creased his brow. “I am a gambler,” he scowled, “and a pretty good one. What is wrong with you?”

  “I am sorry,” Natia apologized. “I find little excitement in winning
a hundred gold. It takes being on the edge to excite me.”

  “What kind of money were you talking about?” asked the captain.

  “Twenty or thirty thousand,” Natia replied as she raised her mug to take a drink. Her eyes watched the captain’s face while she took a drink, and it was hard for her to keep a straight face. The captain’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened as if he had just discovered a goldmine.

  “You have that kind of gold?” the captain asked in awe.

  “Sure,” smiled Natia. “I am usually pretty good about finding good gamblers to partner with. At least I have been in other cities. I haven’t been too successful in Giza yet.”

  “Why would you even think of leaving the other cities with such a partner?”

  Natia smiled broadly. “When you keep breaking the bank, the people running the games have a tendency to get angry. You have to give them a few months to build up their reserves again, so I travel around from city to city.”

  “Clever,” smiled the captain. “I see that you understand a great deal more about the games than you let on. Would you like to go to a game tonight?”

  “I would love to,” replied the gypsy princess. “Are you sure that you can win?”

  “You just watch me,” grinned the captain. “Meet me here just after sundown. And bring your gold.”

  “I will be waiting,” smiled Natia. “Does this mean you are leaving? You haven’t finished your meal.”

  “I will have to rearrange the schedule for the center,” stated the captain as he rose to his feet. “We will be up late, and I don’t want to have to be at work too early in the morning.”

  “Certainly,” Natia said cheerily. “See you tonight.”

  Natia watched the captain leave and then she dallied over her meal. When she was finished, she returned to the Palace Keep and took a nap. When she woke, the sun was heading for the horizon. She quickly dressed and filled her sheaths with knives. Almost as an afterthought, she pulled a shawl out of her pack and put it on. She moved across the city at a leisurely pace and arrived at the Tap and Mug precisely at sundown. When she went inside, she saw that the captain had not yet arrived. She sat down at a table and ordered a meal. She was finished with the meal when Captain Beck arrived.

  “I thought you had forgotten me,” teased Natia.

  “Not a chance,” grinned the captain. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”

  Natia rose and started towards the door with the captain when she suddenly halted.

  “My lucky shawl,” she cried as she turned and raced back to the table. She picked the shawl up from the seat next to where she was sitting and put it on as she returned to the door. “We don’t want to gamble without my shawl.”

  “Lucky shawl?” balked the captain. “I find skill is more important than luck.”

  “Perhaps,” shrugged Natia, “but I always wear it to games, and it hasn’t failed me yet.”

  As they hurried across the city to an area of fine mansions, Natia noticed a caravan moving through the streets of Giza. She smiled inwardly when she saw a familiar face on the seat of one of the wagons. She almost chuckled out loud when she read the name on the side of one of the wagons. It read Spino Mercantile.

  Captain Beck halted in front of a large mansion. He eased the gate open and they walked along the path to the front door. Two burly men stood outside the door. Captain Beck greeted the men, and they promptly opened the door for him and his guest.

  Natia marveled at the lavish interior of the mansion. In a city where the poor were starving to death, the mansion stood out as an extravagant waste of gold. Each door was trimmed in gold, and huge crystal candelabras lined the corridors. Huge paintings covered the walls, and the carpets were thick and plush. The mansion was filled with hundreds of people. Some were military men, but others were the elite of society. Servants flitted around serving drinks to anyone who wanted one.

  Four large rooms were set up as gambling parlors, and Captain Beck toured each of them before deciding where to play. He led Natia to a table and promptly sat down. He looked over his shoulder at Natia and requested some gold. Natia smiled at him as she reached under her tunic and brought out a large pouch. She stealthily handed the pouch to the captain, and he opened it and emptied the contents onto the table. Twenty one-thousand-gold pieces slid from the pouch. A few of the elite nearby raised eyebrows, but their attention was fleeting and they soon turned away from the captain with the pile of gold in front of him. A waiter arrived almost immediately and offered drinks to the captain and Natia. The captain grinned widely as he grabbed two drinks from the tray. Natia took a single glass of red wine.

  As the seats around the table filled up, Natia turned slowly and gazed at the other people in the room. The game staff all wore red uniforms and the servants were dressed in white. The players ran the gamut from elegance to casual, and no one seemed to mind the different extremes. As her eyes took everything in, she saw one of the servants standing in a corner. She smiled inwardly when she recognized Headman and she headed towards him. The elf saw her coming and nodded towards the doorway leading to another room. Natia altered her course to comply with Headman’s instructions, and the two of them met in a small room off the kitchen.

  “A servant?” questioned Natia.

  “Not many people know what I look like,” smiled the elf. “I have found that such a lowly position allows me to observe everything without restricting my movements. Your wine is untainted by the way.”

  “And the captain’s drinks?”

  Headman merely smiled. “I see that you managed to get him here. You can leave the rest to me. For now, his drinks are normal. The man is so greedy that we may not even need to spike them, but we will see if he is still sober when your gold runs out.”

  “Don’t bleed him too soon,” cautioned Natia. “I want him to pass out as soon as he arrives home.”

  “He will play normally for a couple of hours or so and then we will change dealers. That is when the fun will begin. I have enough people standing by so that if he changes tables, we will have him covered. We are going through a lot of trouble just to get a copy of his keys.”

  “This is not about the keys,” grinned Natia. “It is much more devious than that. In fact, I am going to need you to host another game the night of the new moon. Can you do that?”

  Headman frowned in silence for a while before answering. “Hosting a game in Giza is not an easy task. This mansion, for example, is owned by a family who just departed for a trip to Valdo. They are not even aware that we are using it. I don’t know if we can find another suitable place in time to honor your request.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a mansion,” Natia countered. “Can’t you get access to an abandoned warehouse? There must be dozens of them in the city.”

  “We could do that easily,” replied Headman, “but the elite would never stoop so low.”

  “I don’t care if the elite show up,” retorted the gypsy princess. “It only matters that Beck shows up, and he will. He will have ten-thousand in gold, and you will get to keep it this time.”

  The offer had the desired effect. Headman’s eyes brightened and he nodded in agreement. “We will have a game the night of the new moon,” he promised.

  “Good,” smiled Natia. “Keep Captain Beck at that game until I arrive to take him. There is one other favor I need from you. Do you have a way into the chambers of Judge Julius?”

  “The hanging judge?” balked the thief. “I thought he was some kind of a friend of yours?”

  “He is. I still need a way to sneak into his office at night. Can you help me?”

  “We can get into most places in this city,” frowned Headman, “but that will be a tough one. The building is well guarded day and night. I am not sure that we can do it, but I will ask some of my men who have a better knowledge of that building.”

  “Let me know as soon as possible,” replied Natia. “If you can’t help, I will need to change my plans.”

  �
��I will try to find out tonight,” promised the thief. “You should get back to the captain before he misses you.”

  Natia laughed. “I actually don’t want people to associate me with him, but I want him to think that people are noticing us together. It is a fine line to walk. We will talk later.”

  Headman nodded and left the room. Natia gave him a head start and then returned to the room where Captain Beck was gambling. For a while, she stood across the table from him and smiled at him often. She noted that he was a very emotional man, showing both his pleasure and displeasure far too much to make a good gambler. For some reason, he seemed to be winning more than losing, but the Knight of Alcea knew that was all about to change. When she noticed the dealer signaling to another dealer, she moved around the table to stand behind the captain. She lifted a fresh glass of red wine off the tray of a passing waiter and deliberately spilled it on her shawl.

  “My lucky shawl,” cried Natia as the wine dripped onto the floor.

  Everyone turned to glance at her, but their attention spans were shortened as the new dealer arrived. Natia fumed silently with her lips pressed tightly together. Captain Beck shrugged and returned his attention to the table.

  “My lucky shawl is ruined,” she whispered in his ear. “I am going to try to clean it before the stain sets.”

  The captain nodded distractedly, and Natia returned to the kitchen. She dallied as she cleaned and dried the shawl. When she was done with that, she made herself a meal and visited once more with Headman.

  “He is just about out of gold,” the thief reported, “and he can barely speak clearly enough to be understood. I think it is time to take him home. I just ordered his last drink to be spiked.”

  “Excellent,” smiled the gypsy princess. “Give me an hour and then send your man.”

  Headman nodded silently, and the Knight of Alcea returned to the gaming room. She moved silently through the crowd until she was standing behind the captain. She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

  “It is time to go, Captain. We will have to return another night to seek our revenge. Let me take you home.”