Although his life depended on the knife dancing over his knuckles, Luca locked eyes with the other bieta. He kept his gaze indifferent, daring the man to match it instead of looking down to his agile hand at work. Luca knew little of the Cousins’ lockblade techniques and their spinning patterns and gambled this fellow Wanderer was equally ignorant. With a flourish, he popped the unopened knife into the air, letting it land in him palm.
And as he did, the bieta looked directly at Luca’s hand, a flicker of fear appearing on his face. It lasted only a moment, but the bieta was not minding his thoughts, and all three Listeners felt his fear clear as day.
Luca dropped his arms to his side. Only a snap of his wrist was required now to release the blade and induce the duel.
“So, shall it come to blood?”
The bieta glanced to Ostelinda’s unreadable face, the woman concentrating on Luca as if trying to force the fingers of her Blessed Listener Breath directly through his temple. Luca kept his Mind closed and smile bright despite the trickle of sweat running down his spine.
“I ask your forgiveness and that your man will assist my own in retrieving the gift.” Ostelinda then strode away into the darkness, her bieta retracting his blade. Returning his unopened lockblade to his pocket, Luca followed the man, hoping no one noticed his knees nearly giving out on his first step.
He expected the gift to be bound to the back of the carriage as cargo, but it instead resided inside the vehicle like a human passenger. Taking up an entire cushioned bench, a crate nearly an arm’s length long awaited him, the bieta straining as he gingerly handed it over. Luca almost folded under its weight, but willed himself to remain upright as he stepped backwards to allow Ostelinda access to the carriage.
She looked back at him and then the speechless Simza before slamming the door. Leaping up to the driver’s seat, her bieta snapped the reins and turned carriage back the way they came.
Luca carefully deposited the crate on the ground, his strength nearly spent. More than his relief that now ran unbound upon surviving his bluff, Luca was glad to no longer touch the crate. Though he could not put his finger on the why of it, something felt wrong, Luca swearing he heard some strange sound from within, an odd utterance akin to birds cooing from the depths of some deep crevasse.
Simza reached for the box, her hands flaring and hovering as if afraid of making contact. Finally, her fingertips gently traced the wood as if it were made of delicate spider’s silk. A sigh escaped her, Luca recognizing it as one of deep contentedness that bordered on bliss. She then looked at him as if for the very first time and smiled.
“If you’re going to challenge other bietas, we should at least teach you how to handle a knife. Let’s get you some real steel to back up that silver tongue of yours, Luca.”
Chapter 7
Blotmonad 8, 567
Only Caddie and Creature did not wear the pain of the ley plainly. Worms of fire burrowed through Marta’s brain, and the lack of sleep did not help either. Even with the ley keeping the glassman at bay, the few hours of sleep Marta snatched were troubled by the dream of something chasing her, offering her no relief. Even Luca’s unflagging grin deserted him, his face drawn and with a red mark from where he nicked himself shaving the previous day.
The city high on an imposing hill, Sinton loomed even from a distance. Near the Vandiver Line that ran all the way into Gatlin and fueled the city’s industry, Sinton’s only means of access consisted of the four gates at the cardinal directions. When last Marta saw it, the gates were closed during the unending siege, and though they yawned open now, she felt the city no more inviting. Unlike the other major Eastern cities, Sinton was spared the airship devastation that ended the war, in no small part due to Marta ensuring it fell to Western forces long before the war’s end. Despite saving thousands of lives with her trickery, she held no illusion anyone within would thank her for that unintentional mercy. Although the glory of its fall fell to Bumgarden, who parlayed his fame into the Newfield presidency, it was well known that his Traitors Brigade served during its undignified defeat, and Marta suspected if anyone spotted her brand, her life would be forfeit.
Still almost a mile away, she noticed the tri-cornered caps and capes of the Home Guardsmen at the teeming south gate, the crowds shuttling back and forth to the nearby train station. Even with her ability to hide her thoughts from the Listeners with their bear-headed silver pins, after the debacle back in Point Place, she was sure they would be on the lookout for any members of the Traitors Brigade. Luca must have come to the same conclusion.
“How do we get you in?”
She wanted to laugh, but the pain from the ley made her think better of it. “Getting in isn’t difficult. Just tell me where to meet.”
“I don’t know the city. But there’s bound to be a tavern near, say the southwest corner of city hall? Find us at the closest one to there.”
“Make it the east corner,” Marta responded. “Seems more fitting.”
“Once inside, I’ll make sure to pay a very trustworthy man to warn the Guardsmen there’s been a lady glassman seen in this area. Let’s see how well she likes being hunted.” Luca grinned despite himself, reaching out to take Caddie’s hand. Unconsciously tracing the woven ring that once belonged to her, Marta was unaware she held the girl’s hand until then. The pain of her wounded finger should have been a constant reminder, but disappeared when touching the child. Looking down to behold Caddie’s bright blue eyes, she did not want to let go, but extricated her fingers nonetheless.
“You go with Luca, Caddie. I’ll see you sometime tonight.”
The girl gazed back, her face impassive, but Marta thought she saw reproach there. It was surely her imagination, she mentally insisted as she turned away from her charge. Their plan decided, she waited for Luca and Isabelle to lead Caddie away. Luca instead took her hand, his voice more earnest than she expected.
“Thank you for your trust, Marta. I know how hard this is for you. Know that it’s hard for me too.”
He certainly seemed sincere, making Marta suspect he was toying with her. Isabelle struck off first, Luca and Caddie not far behind. As she walked, Isabelle untied the folds to her pants, letting them fall down to appear as one of the skirts the Mynian women favored. Marta’s eyes flicking from her departing comrades to her splinted finger that Isabelle set as soon as they safely made it to the ley, Marta wondered if she could have made it this far in her mission without them.
***
Luca ensured Isabelle was far enough ahead in the line of travelers trudging up to Sinton’s west gate that no one would think they were together, but close enough that he could see her handling by the Home Guard. Between her clothing, her dark hair, and inability to answer in Acwealt, she might pass as a Mynian traveler, hence going first. If turned away or hassled by the Home Guard, he would know not to make the attempt moments later with Caddie.
The girl kept staring at him, Luca again wondering at what thoughts swam deep within her mind. Caddie accepted his presence, but she never cottoned to him as she had with Marta, and he questioned again if she could be relied upon. Certainly at the moment, but the situation could change in an instant, and he feared the girl’s compliance might shortly shift with it.
Isabelle did not draw the guardsmen’s attention as she passed through the gate with barely a nod. When their eyes fell upon Luca, he felt a twinge of fear that they would ask him to open his Mind to their Listener talents. To do so would be a dead giveaway, but Luca refused to allow himself to feel the dread, instead striding ahead fearlessly and gambling as to his future. Such wagers always ended up successful in the past, and Luca held no doubt that this time would be any different. He was so close to his goal that he could taste it, and he was sure that these two bored guards were too insignificant to be an impediment to true love.
They ushered Luca and Caddie inside with the same indifference they showed Isabelle, Luca entering Sinton with the confidence of a conqueror. The city was new to him
, but he pushed farther in without hesitation. Within a block, Isabelle fell into step beside him and sent him her thoughts.
“The south gate,” he told her. “Straight shot in and out.”
Isabelle considered, cutting Luca off to her thoughts. Relying only on reading her hazel eyes, Luca could not ascertain how she would act either. It was another gamble, another roll of the dice that again fell to his favor as Isabelle turned southward. He took a step after her, but came to an abrupt stop. The girl remained rooted, Caddie’s hand still trapped in his.
“It should just be a moment,” he soothed. “Then we’ll be reunited with Marta.”
The girl’s blue orbs boring into his brown, he thought he saw a flicker of condemnation, and he suddenly wondered if the impression he received was from his own guilt rather than her gaze. If she would not comply, he would require the contents of the vial in his pocket, and he did not wish to employ them until after they were out of the city.
“Caddie, we have to go.”
The girl’s feet remained planted, but Luca gave her arm a slight tug, and Caddie finally broke free of her anchor to follow alongside him.
The streets they took made no matter, only their direction as they traversed the major thoroughfares. Already Luca beheld the high walls cutting off the horizon ahead and breathed a sigh of relief. Only a short train ride awaited them before he would be reunited with his love. The southern section of the city seemed a bit rougher, but he did not mind, not until he noticed the Dobra lettering adorning the nearby shops. He hoped they would only pass nearby the Cousin enclave, but the Dobra lettering became more frequent. Worst yet, he noticed several Cousins and realized the only route to the southern gate lay through their quarter.
“Isabelle,” he hissed, but it was too late. Hurrying to come up alongside her, he spied the three Cousins approaching from the opposite direction.
The smallest wore a Listeners pin and must now have been returning from work on the ley as he joked with his two Cousin companions. Keeping his gaze down, Luca shot off into an alley, Caddie yanked along with him in the shadows. From his new vantage, he watched the three Cousins pass, their scarves stating they were of the Charmor tribe. The Listener peered into the alley after him, but his friends seemed indifferent to Luca’s sudden disappearance, tugging at the Listener lad and finally leading him on.
Luca waited a moment more, sure they would not chance this route again. If they were lucky, they might still make the east gate in time. Then Isabelle appeared at the mouth of the alley and shattered his hopes. Stepping back onto the street, Luca looked to see his fears realized: The Listener must have spotted her when she turned back to find Luca, the boy scurrying off with his friends soon as he saw Luca emerging.
“It’s the two of us together,” Luca said, shaking his head. “Tsor and igaj make for an obvious pairing.”
Quietly quitting the city was no longer an option, not with the Dobra messages traveling faster than any train, so Luca thrust Caddie’s hand into Isabelle’s.
“You meet up with Marta,” he told her. “Then bring her to me.”
Isabelle again peered at him with her disquieting eyes.
“To where no self-respecting Cousin would dare to tread,” he answered with a grin.
***
Marta watched the Newfield flag atop Sinton’s tallest tower until the deepening darkness stole it from sight. She knew it highly unlike that this was the same flag she had hoisted there years before, but it still left her disquieted. Or perhaps it was the headache still gnawing at her. The pain meant safety though, Marta finally departing the ley once the darkness hid her from view. She knew it would matter not one iota to the glassman, but she was too tired to care if the woman attacked now. At least then she would have a straight fight.
She did not expect to battle the glassman who called herself Bernice though. Despite her attention towards Marta, the woman seemed far more interested in Caddie, and Marta was glad the girl was already safely hidden behind Sinton’s high walls. It was quite possible the glassman could scale them like Marta, but at least within the city, she would be hunted as well. Although she hated the Home Guard, Marta hoped they would make the woman suffer before she died.
Skirting the city to the west, Marta finally found the sludge spilling out of the city. Pulled by the great magnet of memory, she made her way to the base of the steep hill to begin her climb. For a moment, she felt she was just retreading the ground she had walked before, these same handholds remembering and welcoming her touch. The last climb, her closest friends were beside her. She had not considered them friends at the time, rather fellow soldiers and survivors, but now looking back, she found herself missing Reid, Rupert, and Gonzalo. The sharpest pang was for Abner, the man’s slow Aiouan twang something she would spend any amount to hear again. But they were all dead and gone, the only survivors from her circle being Tollie and Leon. The two men could not have been more different, Tollie only living through the war due to the kindness of his fellow soldiers, and Leon without any scrap of kindness within him. It seemed to her only the two extremes could survive, the Grand War hollowing out Newfield’s middle.
As she scaled upward, her gauntlets and rabbit legs providing the purchase, Marta repeated the names of her fallen companions. The Grand War stole their lives, and if Caddie’s father, Orthoel Hendrix, had his way, a second civil war would ensue to again bathe Newfield in blood. Not above spilling blood herself, Marta idly wondered if that was why her father chose her for this task. Why then tell her “families belong together,” and order her to spare the destroyer of the East’s life?
And, more importantly, what would Norwood Childress’ reaction be when she disobeyed? Would he willingly sacrifice her again after reaffirming the importance of family?
Glancing away from her climb, she thought she saw an amethyst Breath, but it might have been her imagination. It was possible that Graff had given up their pursuit and simply traveled to the nearest city in hopes of ambushing them there, and Marta found herself wondering if his hope would trump her own that the city of Sinton was large enough to hide them.
***
Luca welcomed the room’s warmth, but it increased by the moment as the unwelcome woman undulated on the bed. Her clothing barely kept her ample flesh contained, and she moved ever so slightly so as to entice Luca to join her. He remained at the window, as he had since she arrived.
He had not picked the bawdy house by random as he hurried out of the Cousin quarter until he recognized the tell-tale signs of sin. The handbills advertising their wares did not state it outright, but their intent was obvious, and Luca entered the second one he saw. He chose it for its closeness to the Cousins, hoping that any men from the community availing themselves to this sort of trade would do so far away from the prying eyes of their own kin. Looking back to make sure Isabelle saw his choice, he disappeared within to discover the lavish waiting room full of lounging men and working women. If the chandelier and ornate Whisperer pin worn by the madam were any indication, the place was pricy, but Luca flashed the madam a winning grin before stating he wanted a bottle of wine sent up to the room he required for the full night. His casualness at such an extravagant expense kept her attention, Luca giving the pretense of appraising all the women before slyly asking if a dusky-haired girl would deliver his wine. The madam looked him over again, and as he Listened to her thoughts, he noted a calculating consideration as to his means. Pretending not to notice, Luca pulled the gold-embossed pocket watch from his vest and examined the time. Afraid its ticking might give them away on the trail, he had not wound it in weeks, but at its appearance, the madam ushered Luca upstairs.
The girl breathily introduced herself as Claire after sashaying into the room with the open bottle. She expected Luca to pay more attention to her diminished wardrobe than the wine and was shocked when Luca asked her to pour two glasses rather than removing her few remaining garments himself. She pressed her chest up against him when delivering his glass, Luca r
eturning to the window with it and not her. Claire soon flounced to the bed, where she lolled, but Luca ignored her until she could not stand it any longer.
“What’s a matter?” she finally called peevishly. “The boors cut off your pecker?”
Luca examined her again. In the dim light, he realized her hair was the same shade as Isabelle’s, Luca fighting off the impulse to wince. Listening to her open Mind, he realized she truly believed her insane claim. “I hear the boors do that sometimes instead of killing the men to make sure only their kind can take the white women.”
“I assure you, I remain untouched by Ingio hand.”
“Then why don’t you prove it?” she cooed. Luca remained unmoved as he smirked back.
“So, you generally assume any man who doesn’t instantly fall upon you must be less than a man?”
She wiggled a bit. “It certainly stands to reason, especially from a man who paid for me for the entire night.”
The idea that his bill accrued by the moment galled him, but Luca kept his face from showing it. He eyed her as if examining a taunting treasure instead. “Oh, if only my heart were not already stung by the love for another.”
“I do not see anyone but the two of us,” Claire replied. But underneath her bravado, Luca felt her real reaction to the invocation of love. She too had been stung in her youth, and though she still ached from it, she wished more than anything true love could still be real. So Luca unleashed every poetic description of the lovely Jaelle he could, and with each word, he reeled her in until he knew poor Claire would give her eye teeth if it would only help reunite him with his beloved.
***
Marta found the city square, the place unchanged since she last stood within the former mayor’s abode with Bumgarden after the surrender of Sinton. Never one for reminiscing, Marta still remained longer than necessary before retreating east. As she approached the nearest tavern, she heard a caw, turning in time to spot Isabelle materialize from an alley. Both her skirts and hair were both bound back up, and Marta sensed worry from the woman as she followed her back into the alley to find Caddie and Creature.
The Imbued Lockblade (Sol's Harvest Book 2) Page 8
