Chasers of the Wind

by Alexey Pehov

  “Bravo, my dears. Bravo.” She stood up from the table. “You almost managed to dupe them all.”

  “Almost doesn’t count, Mols,” I said.

  She was calm, smiling, and everything about her indicated that she was happy to see us. A kind aunt, meeting with her niece and nephew after a long separation.

  “So you say. But you managed to fool even me with that fire, for a time.”

  “But not the Walkers.”

  “Oh, yes. They were born suspicious, but after a year or two they calmed down. In any case, so it seemed to me. Sit down, don’t stand around like strangers. We’ll have supper now. Stump, see to it. I’m glad we’re all back together again. I always said that Gray and Weasel were a lovely couple. And the work you did—a thing of beauty! Do you remember those times? Not the times, but the gold!”

  We caught her meaning well enough. Layen took a prepared purse from her pack and put it on the table—fifteen coins worth one hundred sorens apiece. It was Mols’s share from our last job. We could have dispensed with the guild and refused to pay them a tenth of our fee, but there was no sense in being greedy. It was simpler to pay out what was due and maintain good relations. One and a half thousand sorens—some people couldn’t even earn such a sum in five lifetimes. And what’s funniest of all, I didn’t begrudge them at all.

  Mols took the purse, loosened the strings, and looked inside.

  “So that’s how much the life of a Walker is worth. When I heard about what happened I thought you stupid. But, as I see, it was worth it. By the way, you did good work. And it was pulled off beautifully. The Embers smashed the neighboring houses, but after four days they found the bow and it turned out that you shot from quite the awkward position. Someone tried to repeat your trick for fun, but it didn’t work.”

  She put the money on the edge of the table and, it seemed, forgot about it, absorbed in the conversation. While the table was being set and supper served, Mols chatted incessantly on various topics, starting with the weather and ending with the price of flour. Occasionally we were able to put in a remark. Stump frowned often and drank more than he ate. Only after the dirty dishes were taken from the table did we get down to business.

  “Are you in the city long?” asked Mols.

  “That depends,” I replied evasively. “Aren’t you planning to leave?”

  “Where would I go? I’ve spent my whole life in Al’sgara; now it’s too late to leave my home. I’m too old.”

  “A siege doesn’t worry you?”

  “Are you talking about hunger? I have enough supplies to feed both myself and my boys. Anyway, a siege is long off. The Nabatorians have to get through our army.”

  “For some reason, I have no doubt that they will get through. And if there’s famine, they loot a bakery first thing.”

  “Just let them try,” growled Stump, pouring another glass of wine down his throat. As always, he wasn’t getting drunk.

  “I’m sure you’ll strangle all the looters,” crooned Layen. “But what if the soldiers come? Or the Viceroy’s Guards? Against them, and I say this with all due respect to your lads, you won’t hold out for long.”

  “If they come on the orders of the Viceroy and the City Council, I’ll open my cellar,” declared Mols calmly. “I wouldn’t begrudge it for my hometown.”

  “Especially when there is a secret cache twice the size of the one everyone knows about,” Stump said, chuckling. “I’m at ease about my stomach.”

  The head of the guild cast her assistant a disgruntled look. I recognized her usual initiative. As his detractors, now dead, said, if normal people have one secret passage in their homes, damned Mols has more than ten.

  “I didn’t expect you to return.”

  “You sent for us yourself.”

  “And all the same, given the circumstances, I wasn’t expecting it. I’m glad that my warning reached you. I was truly worried.”

  I made a wry face, showing how I felt about her words.

  “Let’s be honest with each other. You didn’t start all of this to help us. You’re just tired of Joch and we are among the few who would undertake such a task. We simply have no other choice.”

  “You’ve turned into a terrible cynic these past few years, my boy.” She was not at all put off by my words. “Do you really mean to tell me that you aren’t grateful for the timely news?”

  “I’m grateful.”

  “Then I don’t see any reason for your dissatisfaction.”

  “How did you find out that we were alive, and how did you find us?” asked Layen.

  “Well, I guessed that you were alive. You’re not such fools as to do in a Walker without preparing a means of retreat. Take a pastry, treat yourselves.”

  “Thank you, but I’ve eaten enough of them today. I’ll get even fatter.”

  “Nonsense. You’ve got a great figure. So”—she returned to the topic at hand—“I suspected it, but searching for you like the Walkers was too long and difficult. If they couldn’t do it, what could a simple bakery owner do? The Empire is vast, and you had clearly hid yourselves so well the light of day couldn’t find you. You could have been lying low in the Golden Mark, Urs, Grogan, Sino, or anywhere else. The world of Hara is large. You owed me money for your last job of course, but I preferred to wait. Gray has always been honest in such matters. As you see, the waiting, though it was long, justified itself.” She glanced at the purse lying on the table. “And when, for no apparent reason, Joch put a price on your heads, I no longer had any doubt. Threefingers is not such a fool as to throw money into the wind. I had to put my best foot forward to pinch the nephew of our mutual acquaintance. Stump was so kind as to have a word with the young man, and was able to pull something out of him after a few days. Before he died, the boy named a village. A certain Dog Green.”

  “He didn’t say how Joch found out about it?”

  “He didn’t know who told Joch. Even after you crossed him and deprived him of a couple of fingers, he waited quite a long time to try and take his revenge on you. The fact that he bothered at all means there’s profit in it for him. That or he had no choice.”

  “Who could force Threefingers to dance to their tune?” asked Layen, frowning, and she cast a quick glance in my direction.

  I knew of whom she was thinking. The Walkers.

  “If you think about it, there are many who could, Layen. Joch is influential and powerful, but there are those who are more influential than him. They could very well exert pressure on him.” Mols ignored the glances we exchanged. “In any case, he’s already done it. Your heads are in the balance against ten thousand sorens.”

  “Decent money.” Stump took an empty bottle of wine from the table and replaced it with a full one. “Many would be overjoyed to earn that much.”

  “But not us.” Mols stressed the last word. “The amount is large, but I won’t play dirty with you.”

  “It’s more profitable for you to get rid of Joch than to fill your treasure chest a bit more.” I grinned enigmatically.

  “As always, you are right.” She did not look aside. “Joch has always been a bone in my throat, and he’s flown very high recently. The Viceroy’s good friend, he arranges all sorts of stylish diversions for him and his nobles. You should have seen the master of fireworks displays he got sent here from Grogan. All of Al’sgara was harping on about it for a month. New friends, new opportunities, new power and influence. He’s got a large part of the city under his thumb. Joch has tried to meddle in the business of the guild and my people. There were a few skirmishes, but thank Melot it hasn’t devolved into a war. But I’m not sure we’ll be able to hold out if he really turns his attention to crushing us. Threefingers can now set the Viceroy’s Guards on us and then enlist the help of the Tower. For now he’s being cautious, but how long will that continue? And I can’t strike at him; the old beetle cares too much for his health. In recent years, he’s become almost untouchable.”

  “Not even for a good price? A thousand so
rens and a pair of desperate men could deal with this easily.” Layen gestured to Stump to pour her some wine.

  “I don’t have an extra thousand, Weasel.” It was unclear if Mols was joking or speaking seriously. “And desperate men have long since gone extinct. No one will risk their necks on such a hopeless job. I wasn’t joking when I said that Joch is not easy to get to. He sits in his house, which is more like a fortress, and if he travels around the city, it is with such a guard that even a small army couldn’t break through. They’d be devoured.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “You’ll believe it when you see it for yourself. Tomorrow is the fourth day of the week. Joch is in the habit of going to the Fights, which now take place in the Cucumber Quarter. If you’re curious, you can take a look. Why are you grinning, Gray?” She raised her thin eyebrows.

  “You said that you don’t have money or desperate men. Isn’t that why Whip and his comrades come to us? We’ll do everything for free. Did you decide to use our hands?”

  “Of course,” she said with dignity. “It’s in your interests because of the price on your heads. And at the same time, you’ll be helping me. I’ll support you in any way I can, but relieving Threefingers of his soul is not my concern.”

  I nodded. “A fairly honest answer.”

  “Did my people really misbehave?” she asked suddenly.

  “Just Midge and Bamut. The money turned their heads.”

  “Bamut was a fool. I’ve no doubt he was obeying the runt. Well, it serves him right. But it’s too bad about Whip. He’s been with me since the very beginning. I hope his soul is in the Blessed Gardens. And what about the boy?”

  “That’s what I wanted to ask you about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “About Shen, who you added to the threesome. Who is he and where did you dig him up?”

  “I felt that a walkabout would be good for the boy’s soul. Let him gain some experience.” She didn’t flinch under my gaze. I could only envy Mols’s cold-bloodedness.

  “Experience in what? In assassination or in healing practice? You know that he did not belong to the guild. The lad is a healer, and you should let those who know how do the killing. Why did he go with Whip?”

  I was not about to say that Shen had the Gift or that he was a Healer. It’s unlikely Mols knew about it, and it should remain a secret for now.

  “It was asked of me.” She did not move her gaze.

  “Who asked, if it’s not a secret?”

  “It is a secret.”

  “Allow me to insist.”

  “I won’t allow it.” Steel was rattling in her voice. “It’s not connected to you in any way. I had a choice of where I could place the healer, and I chose Whip. Perhaps Shen could shed some light on all this. Where is he now?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “Is he dead?”

  “I told you, we don’t know. He fell behind on the road.”

  Mols was a clever woman. She deftly moved from defense to attack. She began to ask questions and I had to answer, taking the heat off her. She was clearly not planning to tell me where she had found the Healer.

  “When do you intend to start?”

  “As soon as we get a look around.”

  “Just don’t draw it out. You’ll be recognized. If you need anything, Stump is at your disposal. At any convenient time.”

  “We’ll take that into account. Thank you for supper.” I stood up from the table and nodded a good-bye to the grim Stump. “We’ll talk when I’ve got a feel for the situation.”

  “Do you have a place to spend the night?”

  “Yes.”

  We weren’t about to tell her about our hideout.

  “Stump, see our guests out.” Mols was clearly pleased with the conversation. “I will pray for your success.”

  And again, I did not know if she was mocking us or not.

  * * *

  The wine in the glass was the color of pigeon blood. Mols took the glass in hand and sipped. She tasted the tart yet at the same time heady aroma of ripe grapes. She didn’t like this drink, but today she felt the need for something stronger. The woman didn’t even dilute the wine with water. The incomparable taste of ripe berries flowed over her tongue, but Mols grimaced as if she were drinking vinegar.

  It was dry. She couldn’t stand dry wine. And furthermore, it was red. How could Stump drink such shit, and how could it cost five sorens a bottle? Still grimacing, the head of the guild of Giiyans placed the glass back on the table; then she thought better of it and drained it in one gulp. Now she wasn’t grimacing anymore. As she had assumed, it didn’t get any better. A glimmer of dismay had settled somewhere in the depths of her soul.

  The door opened and Stump entered the room quietly. He was sullen and agitated. He sat opposite her, took some beef tongue onto his plate, salted it generously, stuffed it into his mouth, and began to chew grimly. Mols remained silent, ignoring her assistant and the man with whom she had lived for twenty years.

  “This is unprecedented.” Stump broke the silence. “You decided to reverse yourself and drink wine?”

  “Right now’s not a good time for taunts, Olna.”

  “For me, it’s the best time. Soon we won’t have any time for them. They left, if you care.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Did you really expect something different?”

  Mols looked at the man angrily; then she sighed. “Yes. They might not have been so agreeable and compliant.”

  “Gray had no cause. Plus, I would not allow—”

  “And Weasel as well?” she interrupted him. “How would you have stopped her, if she had decided to boil your brains?”

  “But she didn’t do that.”

  “She simply didn’t want to. Like all intelligent people, they prefer to fight only when there is no other recourse. I didn’t thwart them and I didn’t drive them into a corner. She had no reason.”

  “And yet you’re uneasy.”

  “They know about the boy.”

  “Oh,” said Stump emphatically, and then he reached for the bottle.

  “Knowing Gray’s stubbornness, I’m surprised he didn’t insist on a direct answer.”

  “Ness could have grown wiser over the years. Or it’s just not that important to him, Katrin.”

  “With all his suspicion and caution?” Mols spat. “Don’t be stupid. It’s very important to him. He wants to understand why Shen went with Whip. Why a man outside of the guild was needed.”

  “I thought you gave an adequate explanation.”

  “Everyone makes mistakes.” She sighed and stood up from the table. “I wasn’t counting on them knowing that the lad is not part of the guild.”

  “Do you think you acted correctly, giving in to that request?”

  “I wasn’t fool enough to risk it. I was told directly that stubbornness on that matter would be fatal to me. And for you as well, by the way. I had to agree.”

  “Why did they need to send the boy, and an untrained one at that? Did they not trust us?”

  “Go and ask them.”

  “No thank you, Katrin. I’ll somehow manage to live without the answer. I’m worried about what will happen if Gray comes and asks again. More aggressively. Will you tell him the truth?”

  “The truth is dangerous. In this instance, for us. They paid us well and left the guild alone. I won’t give anything away.”

  “And if Ness insists?”

  Mols gazed coldly at her lover.

  “For the time being everything is going according to plan. But if Gray starts kicking up a fuss, I myself will bring Joch his head and collect the ten thousand. Believe me, that would be much safer than crossing these people.”

  “We can now honor the contract. When Gray and Weasel come again, we’ll be ready.”

  “No. I’m in no hurry to finish what was started so long ago. Joch is in our way, and Ness and Layen can get rid of him. Then we can consider the contract.”

&
nbsp; For some time he was silent, but then he said softly, “So be it.”

  17

  It was dark, but I was not about to light the candle Layen had in her pack. The light would disturb the pigeons sleeping in the rafters, and then things would get really crazy in here. A commotion among the birds at such a late hour might draw unnecessary attention.

  We did not need that.

  It smelled strongly of bird droppings, and somewhere over our heads the birds, not quite woken by our cautious steps, rustled and cooed discontentedly. Fortunately, the dumb creatures did not realize that uninvited guests had come to their attic. I held Layen’s hand and slowly moved toward the open attic window, through which I could see the half moon.

  Something fell onto my left shoulder with a disgustingly savory plop and Layen, unable to restrain herself, giggled quietly. I swore through my teeth, cursing the bird who so cleverly managed to shit on my jacket.

  “I’m sorry,” whispered my sun. “But don’t you recall the same thing happened to you once before? On the day we met?”

  I snorted good-naturedly and almost tripped over a wooden circle of Melot that was resting on the floor by the window. Swearing again, I glanced out the window, saw that all was quiet, and jumped out onto the roof. The tiles under my feet were secure, so I had no fear of falling. However, I had no desire to look down. We were very high up. After all, it was the second tallest temple to Melot in the city, built by the Sculptor himself.

  I extended my hand to Layen, helping her out onto the roof. The light wind blowing in from the sea smelled of salt and iodine. The half moon was swimming through the sky like a sleepy fish. Now hiding behind low clouds, now appearing again, it flooded the flat roof of the temple, its domes and seven spires with silver light. We needed the third spire from the central cupola.