A Bitter Brew

by Greg Curtis

  “Make peace with the whoreson who had us brought here and tried to kill us?!” She stared at Hendrick as if he'd said something completely facile.

  “Oh sweet Vitanna! How much of my Lord's mist have you breathed in?! Again; the King couldn't have brought you here. This is Styrion Might. There are no afflicted allowed in the city – remember?! And yet you were brought here by magic, so you claim.”

  “We were!”

  “Then the King obviously didn't do it!” Despite it being foolish Hendrick raised his voice some more in frustration.

  “Try to think woman! Stop making the incoherent noises of a drunkard! There are only three possibilities. Either the King had you brought here – something he can't have done. Or you brought yourselves here – something you claim you didn't. Or someone else did it and both sides are being toyed with. I don't know what happened. But I'd suggest that you start talking to the people on the other side of the barrier to find out the truth – and fast. Because whichever possibility is true, you need to end this mess. Try and spare everyone any more pain!”

  The dark-haired woman greeted his words with silence. But that was fine by him. She spoke too much anyway. And at least she seemed to be thinking about what he'd said instead of simply getting angrier.

  “We can't speak through the barrier.”

  “Well you can see through it can't you, woman? Is quill and parchment beyond you?”

  Once more he drew a silence from her as she seemed to consider his suggestion. This time it lasted much longer than before. But as always she had to break it eventually.

  “You Hendrick, are a very annoying man and one day that is going to get you into a lot of trouble.”

  “And you are a sot! You and the others. Starting a war. Emptying out the city. Trying to claim it as your own. You should have sued for peace right from the start. Instead you've just made a bad situation worse. If you don't like the truth, that's your problem!”

  “You can't speak to me like that!” She raised her voice.

  “Actually I can. And so can the millions of others in the realm. Now, thanks to your feckless actions, the afflicted will be looked at with suspicion in every town and city across all of Styrion,. The villagers and townsfolk will all be wondering when they're going to attack. Many won't wait to find out. They'll strike first. The afflicted will no doubt strike back however they can. And soon every village, town and city in the whole realm will become like this.” He gestured at the ruined city. “It'll be a blood bath.”

  “So go away and stop bothering me. Go back to your friends. Get some parchment and ink, and start trying to fix this godforsaken catastrophe you've created. And do it as if the Goat Footed God was on your tail. Because he will be soon!”

  Had he gone too far? Hendrick wondered about that as he saw the fury in her eyes. And yet he found he didn't care. He was too angry with her to be scared. He didn't know how this had begun. But he knew that she and her friends had made things a thousand times worse through their own dim witted actions. They needed to be told that. Even if one of them wanted to kill him for telling them the truth.

  But she wasn't going to kill him. Not this day Hendrick realised as he watched her turn around and stomp off angrily. Perhaps something he'd said had got through. Not that she was happy about it. He could almost see the angry scowl on her face from behind her.

  It was probably for the best that he was leaving the city in the morning. Maybe he should actually leave now? Maybe, he thought, he should just get on Allomeader's back and ride out?

  He didn't though. Because even as he thought about it, the woman disappeared into the distance, and he felt some of the heat of his anger and fear fade. Maybe whatever affliction she had wasn't actually a warspell? Or maybe she had somewhat more self control than her words suggested. Either way he decided, he had a little time. The morning would be a good time to leave.

  For the moment he was happy to remain sitting where he was and watch another group of escapees emerge from the ruined estate and hurry off down the path. The sight made him happy. If nothing else at least he could tell himself he had done something good. Something the priests would be pleased with. Unless of course he'd made things worse like the clumsy oaf he often was.

  Chapter Ten

  The distant sound of cannon fire woke Hendrick from his sleep, even though it was quiet. Probably because it was a sound that he tended to associate with trouble. Meanwhile the other sounds he had been hearing all day, mostly the noises of people coming up through the trap door into the basement and then hurrying up the stairs and out of the building, had scarcely even bothered him. Probably because he'd been listening to them all day and had given up worrying. But also because he was exhausted.

  The escapees never bothered him. They never even thought to look upstairs. Which he was grateful for since they might have woken him with their screaming. He'd summoned a spectral panther and left it at the top of the stairs on guard duty. If anyone did try to come upstairs they'd turn around in a hurry.

  But in reality they weren't interested. They only wanted to get away from the city. And since he’d got back from grazing his horse, there had been an almost steady stream of them. Clusters of anywhere from a couple of people to a score of them at a time, spurting out of the rag and bone yard like water from a broken hose.

  Hendrick didn't know how many people had come through. But he was sure that several thousand had to have escaped the inner city through his basement already. Equally he assumed that many had exited through each of the other six exits from the sewer that he'd marked on the map. Seven lots of say three thousand people in less than a day – that had to be twenty thousand people that had escaped the inner city. And the inner city was home to between fifty and seventy thousand people. If things continued at this rate the inner city would be emptied out of people in another day or two. It seemed his plan was working.

  Except that if he was now hearing cannon fire he had to guess that something had gone wrong. Maybe seriously wrong.

  Hendrick let out a small sigh. He’d thought he'd got through to the dark-haired woman earlier. But he guessed not. Maybe she wasn't the one in charge? Maybe the others hadn't listened? Or maybe he'd simply misread her. But whatever had happened he guessed he'd better find out how bad things were.

  Hendrick got up from the divan he’d found in the reception area upstairs and hurried to the window to see what was happening outside. But what he saw didn't make a lot of sense to him. Because it appeared that the barrier itself was thundering.

  “Dung!”

  What he could see of the barrier from where he was, was limited. There were several city blocks between him and it. But there were gaps between houses and buildings through which he could see small sections of it in the distance. And every time he heard the roar, he watched the shimmering barrier in front of the wall suddenly flash bright red. So bright that it lit up the sky. What in all the hells could cause that?!

  Closer to where he was he could see people hurrying down the street outside the rag and bone yard, running away from the barrier and whatever was happening. He couldn't tell if they were running away from anything in particular or just from the fear that another battle was starting behind them. But he could see the fear in their faces even in the darkness.

  Whatever was happening couldn’t be the result of a battle he slowly realised. If it had been there would have been people screaming and the sounds of other weapons firing. The cannon fire would have been irregular. But it wasn't. It was almost as though only one side was firing and the other side was simply standing there doing nothing as they allowed themselves to be fired upon. That didn't seem likely.

  The other thing he realised was that the city was going to be emptied out very quickly. When he'd arrived the exodus from the city had been steady but not hurried. The battle had been over and people were packing up and leaving. They were driven less by fear and threats than a feeling of hopelessness as they understood their lives in the city were ended. B
ut this? Whatever this was, it was going to create a panicked stampede. Already he could see people running down the street. And it was the middle of the night! They thought the battle had started all over again, and they weren't going to remain for another round. How many others across the city were thinking the same thing?

  He wasn't planning on staying either. But should he wait till morning as he'd initially planned or should he ride out now? After all he had done what he had set out to do. With a little luck his family were long gone by now. Why stay even another second in the city?

  Hendrick kept asking himself that question as he stood there and the strange one-sided battle continued. But the longer he stood there and nothing else happened, the more he began to think that maybe he could wait till dawn before he left. Still, it was an uneasy decision. In fact it was barely a decision at all. More an easing of tension to the point where he wasn't panicking and preparing to bolt like a frightened horse.

  Maybe others had the same thought. Because after a while he saw less people running down the street. There were still people leaving but they were no longer running. Still, it was a sizeable number. The gods alone knew what it must be like at the city gate. Complete chaos was his thought.

  Hendrick remained standing by the window facing the barrier for the next few hours, watching as the non-battle continued and the continued on past the yard on their way to freedom.

  He was still standing there when dawn finally arrived and the sky took on its blue tint. And though he was tired, he had no intention of leaving his post. Not until he was ready to leave, though that would not be too much longer. Even though he was almost bored by then as one cannon seemed to fire after another and the sky flashed red in time with the blasts, he intended to leave.

  First though, he decided to get some breakfast for the ride. However, upon reaching the small upstairs kitchen, a glance out the window stopped him dead. Because when he looked down over the front yard of the rag and bone yard and out towards the street he could see that the numbers of people leaving the yard had grown enormously.

  “Oh shite!” Suddenly it was no longer small clusters of people here and there, it was a torrent. They were pouring out of the front door, running across the yard, and then turning and joining the crowds of people in the street marching past the yard. That had to be thousands of people that had so far streamed out of just this one exit he'd found. At this rate the inner city would be empty by midday! Maybe even before then.

  Obviously whatever was happening with the barrier had panicked those trapped behind it as well as those on this side. Maybe that was the intention? Had the afflicted commenced a direct assault on the barrier? But why would they keep up the battle going all night long? Surely they would have stopped once they realised that the barrier wasn't coming down?

  Unless of course it was beginning to fail! That would explain why the people from the inner city were suddenly fleeing in such large numbers. They saw the barrier failing and feared what would follow.

  So much for his skills of persuasion with the dark-haired woman! Instead of listening to him and persuading her friends to negotiate with the King, they'd decided instead to end the siege as quickly as possible. He could only pray that they didn't intend for it to be a bloody end.

  Meanwhile he had to fear something else. That the dark haired woman and her friends would spot the flood of escapees streaming out of the rag and bone yard and guess that it was his doing. He couldn't imagine how badly they would take it.

  Then he spotted a worse problem. They already knew!

  “Balls!” Hendrick spotted the dark haired woman standing on the far side of the street and staring at the stream of people escaping from the rag and bone yard and realised she already knew. When she looked up and saw him at the window she started shouting furiously at him and waving her fist. He couldn't hear what she was saying over the noise from the cannon, which he decided was probably a good thing.

  Hendrick smiled at her and gave her an insolent wave, and then ducked out of sight behind a wall. It was probably a foolish thing to do, for she was sure to be enraged by the gesture. But then she was angry at him anyway. He also knew she would probably annoy him again. Just as soon as she'd reported back to her fellow afflicted and the crowds of escaped prisoners had stopped pouring on to the streets so she could push past them. But that was later. For the moment he decided, it was time for breakfast after all. He wanted something hot to drink and some oatmeal. Then he'd set off on his ride home.

  Twenty minutes later, just as he was sitting down to eat, his plans came undone as he heard a woman's voice calling up to him. But it wasn't the dark-haired woman as he'd expected. It was his mother!

  “Hendrick, will you kindly move your pet!” She seemed upset, but far more in control of herself than anyone else would be at seeing a spectral panther in front of them.

  “It won't hurt you Mother.” He sighed, wondering how his life could keep going so wrong of late. “It's just on guard duty.”

  But even as he commanded the spectral cat to remain still and let her pass, he thought for a moment about letting it scare her a little. Of course, the cats weren't that bright and they didn't understand complex ideas like “scaring people”. It might well kill her by mistake. And while he had a difficult relationship with her, he didn't want to see his mother torn apart.

  A moment later he heard her feet on the stairs and then she stepped into view in the doorway.

  “Your pets have grown larger I see.”

  They had he realised. When he'd first discovered the spell and looked at the spectral world for animals to bring across, he'd been a child. He'd wanted animals to play with. Small creatures like rabbits and puppies. So that was what he'd brought across. He'd still been bitten though. Small and cute did not necessarily mean friendly! It hadn't been until many years later that he'd started bringing larger and more dangerous creatures across.

  “Mother.” He greeted her politely, but didn't get up from the table. “I'm surprised to see you here.”

  And he was. But he was more surprised to see that she was wearing her finery. A white fur cloak that fell down to her ankles, a long dress embroidered with gold lace that buttoned at her neck and wrists, and polished calf skin boots. She was dressed as though she was out for a stroll through the royal gardens. Not escaping a city full of enemies. Was this false pride he wondered? Or Vitanna's mist? Had she taken up drinking?

  “It was a matter of duty.”

  “Would you like some tea? It's only harvest green I'm afraid. Old Peti didn't have a large variety in his larder. Or some oatmeal? I made plenty.” He didn't know why she had come looking for him. And given the way she was dressed he could only think that she had gone mad. But there was no point in being rude.

  “Thank you.” She pulled out one of the chairs at the small table, stared unhappily at it before swatting at it with a handkerchief she pulled out from her sleeve, and finally sat down.

  Hendrick busied himself making the tea and oatmeal, pulling the cleanest crockery he could find out of the cupboards, knowing though that it wouldn't be up to her standards. What else would you expect in a rag and bone yard? Fine porcelain and servants to wash it? But at least she didn't complain when he served her. Though she did stare suspiciously at it.

  “There's no milk I'm afraid.

  “That's fine.” Carefully she wiped her spoon down with her handkerchief before eating.

  “So you came looking for me?” Hendrick took his seat opposite her, and sipped at his tea.

  “Not that it was easy but yes. I had to hunt through every exit on the map you provided before I found this one. But when I saw your pet I knew. You could have marked the right one you know.”

  He could also have been long gone Hendrick thought. Certainly it would have been less awkward than sharing breakfast with his mother.

  “You mentioned duty?” He decided to get to the reason for her visit. She should be long gone he thought. On her way to Styrion Hold where the f
amily had some property.

  “Yes. I showed the warrant to your father, and he swore he didn't authorise it. He sent for the Chief Magistrate, but he's missing. I presume he’s run away. Perhaps he’s dead. But his Prime was available and he swears the signature is a forgery. He knows the Chief Magistrate's hand writing. And when we checked some other documents we could see that the writing was different.”

  “So, someone else tried to murder me, and managed to forge a document to do so.” Hendrick thought about that for a while, wondering who could possibly want to kill him. He was nobody after all. He didn't have enemies. Certainly not important ones who had access to the Grand Court and the Chief Magistrate. But now apparently he did.

  “So it seems.” His mother didn't even look at Hendrick as she said it, choosing instead to concentrate on her tea. But then feelings were never a subject for conversation at the dinner table. “I'll assume it was that venom spitting old crone Marda, taking the opportunity this war presented to strike at me.”