The Verse of Sibilant Shadows: A set of tales from the Irrational Worlds

by JM Guillen

  I glared at him and reached for the ring. Only Svester held it now. I looked about for Scoundrel.

  “Scoundrel is a perfectly acceptable name and a queen among ravens.” As I spoke, I spotted her. I closed my eyes. The queen in question appeared to be eating street trash.

  Perfect.

  Wil took the ring from Svester and threw it again. This time he put his arm into it, and the ring soared. The birds were after it like small black darts.

  “Use Goodman if you want.” I shrugged. “I don’t have any say over your sources.”

  “I know you’re worried about me, Darla. Don’t be afraid. The big judicar knows how to take care of himself.”

  He never seemed to think that joke got old.

  Of course, Wil was right. I was coming to him for a favor. How he dealt with it was not my issue.

  Wil changed the subject. “How did you find things with Santiago?”

  “He was good enough to me. Things were a little tense for a few moments. Nothing that couldn’t be handled.”

  “I dealt with the man last week on one of his concerns. It was a potive shop, some little place over summerward of the river.”

  “Doc Thane’s place. You had mentioned.” I paused, considering what Grith had told me. “You said the place burned.”

  He nodded. “It was positively nauseating. The smoke from all his reagents was damn near toxic. People were passing out in the street.”

  “How many died?” I knew at least one had, but I wanted Wil’s take.

  “Well, Thane did, of course. The man’s corpse was horrific. All black and sticky. I could see bits of skeleton.”

  “Any innocents? Anyone get caught in it?”

  “The smoke made about two dozen people sick. We had docieren from the Physikan’s College on site. Even brought in someone from the Library of Ægedas, a man who knew about dangerous forms of alchemy.”

  Alchemy again. I thought about Booker’s words, and corpses that burned into black sand.

  “A scholar from the Library?” I was impressed.

  “He may have been one of the Scriveners for all I know. He and the docieren did more work in the building then I could have. They had to wear special masks just so they could breathe.”

  “How did Santiago take all this?”

  Wil shrugged. “He was angry but not with us. Thane’s shop was bleeding money. Seems as if Santiago had quite the investment in it. He was absolutely livid that Thane was dead.”

  A sudden thought occurred to me. “If the body was as burned as you say, are you certain it was Thane’s?”

  Wil nodded. “That was what Santiago hoped as well. He thought maybe we had the wrong man.” Wil shook his head. “We didn’t. The man had an alchemical guildmark on his hand. It wasn’t completely burned away. Neither was his hair, and we had half his face.” The ravens had returned again, and Wil took the ring and threw it. He shrugged. “Doc Thane’s dead as dead.”

  It was too bad. I didn’t know Thane well but had chatted him up on the street. He was a decent fellow, and it sounded like he died hard.

  “So…” Wil looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Have you caught the person who dosed and left you in an alley? Or is this something I need to look out for as I make myself available for your business?”

  “I have not caught her yet,” I winced, realizing I had said too much.

  “Her?” Wil laughed. “So it was some Warren’s doxie who was trying to take your purity?”

  “No.” I frowned at him. “It’s…”

  Lost gods, how to even begin?

  “It was an assassin. One that I am pretty certain was hired by Santiago.”

  “Wait.” Wil waved a hand in confusion. “You’re working for Santiago. Why would he hire an assassin to come after you?”

  “I don’t think she was actually after me.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “I think she was after Killian Gould, and I just happened to get in the way.”

  “You aren’t telling me something.” He leaned closer to me, a wide leering grin on his face. “Oh yeah, you’re keeping something good.”

  “She…” I grit my teeth, knowing that this was high foolishness. “She seems to think that she’s the Warren’s Spider.”

  “I see.” There was a long moment of silence as Wil valiantly fought the wide smirk off his face. He cleared his throat and took a breath.

  “Come on, you can say it.”

  “No. I mean, I don’t have anything to say.”

  “Wil.”

  “I’m serious. Why, I had an assignment just the other day that dealt with Knackermen. Seems they had rooked a Gnarl out of a wish. Also, I have a continuing interest in the comings and goings of the Harridan as she slips out of the Er’meander River and steals children.”

  “I didn’t say that she was—”

  “It’s gonna be pretty tough.” He took a deep breath. “Fighting off the Warren’s Spider, when she comes to assassinate me. I’m glad you told me. You are a true friend.”

  “I hate you.” I stood.

  “I’m serious!” He raised his hands, palms forward. “Why, most judicars would never even consider that the fabled Warren’s Spider might be stalking them through the alleyways. But you, you, Thom, are unique. You think around all the corners, and that’s why I like you so much.”

  “I haven’t thought around even half of these.” I gave him a gloomy smile. “The missing women, semi-fabled assassins, those are the easier parts of this assignment.” I reached for the training ring, but Scoundrel coyly pulled it away. I grinned ruefully. “As far as I can tell, I have a couple of days left to return a young woman to her brother. I have no real idea who my Jack might be, but if I fail, the Red Marquis is going to start a guild war.”

  “Guild war?” Wil’s ears perked up. “Who with?”

  “Twilight Blades.” I paused. “I think. The Blades sent people to kill me last night and—”

  “Last night?” Wil’s eyes grew icy. “I thought you were at Ely’s last night?”

  “I was.” I gave him a weary smile. “It’s been a rough few days.”

  “Sounds like it.” Wil nodded. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.” He leaned back against the ironwood tree and threw the birds’ ring again.

  Once I started talking, the weight lifted from my shoulders.

  For the first time, a few things began to make sense.

  The Watchers in the Darkness

  Riddling, Third Bell, Dusking

  Talking things out with Wil always helped more than one might think.

  For one thing, once he quieted down for longer than a nonce, he was actually a good listener. In between referring to me by women’s names and insulting the girth of my manhood, we actually came up with a reasonable plan.

  The first bit involved a certain ragman by the name of Coryn Koas. Took us a bit to find him, but Wil knew the man’s route. Once he saw us, he smiled.

  “Twice in a day?” The man grinned, showing yellowed teeth. “You honor me, sir Judicar!”

  “That’s odd,” Wil muttered beneath his breath, “I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone respect you, Lilly.”

  “I wondered if I could beg a favor, Mister Koas,” I gave the man my most endearing smile. “I can promise to make it worth your time.”

  “Whatever I can do, Thom.” He smiled again and set his cart aside. “How can a humble ragman assist a judicar, hmm?”

  It took Wil and me almost a half-bell of pawing through the man’s cart for everything we needed. It was a mess. He had everything from cast-off clothing to mildew-laden scraps to bits of leather. He even had a three-cocked hat that hadn’t seen much use.

  “No.” Wil’s tone was flat. “Absolutely not.”

  “Yes.” I grinned at him. “It’s perfect.”

  “It’s ridiculous.” He shook his head. “I’m certain there’s something in the Codex… something about a professional appearance?”

  I paid him
no heed. Once we had a few more items, I paid Mister Koas, and we were on our way.

  “Trust you to have ragmen cohorts.” Wil gave me a sideward smile. “This is why you can’t keep a lady-friend, you know.”

  “I have more lady-friends in a week than you do in a month!” I laughed at him, sneering a touch. “I don’t think you can speak on the matter.”

  “Doxies and dollymops.” He gave me a sarcastic grin. “And they all leave. Interesting to note.”

  “Intereeesting.” Svester drew the word out as he mimicked, and Wil laughed.

  The second part of our master plan was Wil’s hand to play. We stopped by three different guildhouses before we found what he was looking for, and I was actually quite surprised at his final choice.

  “The Warrenlights?” I gave my friend an odd look. “That seems unlikely.”

  “Faithless cur.” Wil scoffed, but gave me a smile. “Watch. Be educated as to the work of a man.”

  The Warrenlights were one of the oddest guilds in the entire borough. Almost uniformly, they were comprised of children and youths, the oldest being a few years past their ‘prenticing. Of course they had guildmen that were considerably older; one at least had to have reached their majority to sit in the Guild Senate. Still, for every one person older than twenty, there were probably five underage street rooks or orphans, specifically ones who could not find a place for themselves at the Havens. Teredon was a dangerous city, it simply made sense for them to band together for their own safety and security.

  Their name came from the fact that they tended to remain close to the Mantle, which was the Lightmen’s guildhouse in the Warrens. It just made sense, for ones so young, to remain in the best lit portion of the Warrens.

  “You’re kidding.” I shot Wil an incredulous glance as I realized who he was looking for. “How can they help?”

  “You need to learn a thing or two, sweetheart. Just watch.”

  Wil found Culpepper, the headman of the Warrenlights, playing tiles in Khalliç Square. The dark-haired young man had his opponent dead to rights and looked to be about to win a whole silver slip.

  Culpepper might have been all of twenty and four years old.

  “Public gambling, Culpepper?” Wil’s voice had a note of teasing to it. “What will the city fathers think?”

  “Well, Judicar…” Culpepper looked over his shoulder, a small smile pulling at the edge of his lips. “They’ll probably be outraged, don’t you think?” He stood, stretching his back as he did. “Why, I bet there will be rioting in the streets.”

  I chuckled, scratching the Warrens’ best bird on her head.

  “I might have some honest work for you, if you think you’re up for it.” Wil stretched nonchalantly. “Of course, it would be straight, above the board work. One might even say you’d be doing the city a favor.”

  Culpepper placed his last tile, although his winning was a moot point. His opponent growled something that sounded decidedly unsavory, glaring at the young man.

  I realized that if we hadn’t been standing here, this might have gotten ugly.

  “Good game, Cyrik.” Culpepper was positively cheery. “I’d say let’s have another, but I have business just now.”

  Cyrik was not pleased. As Culpepper scooped up the silver coin, Cyrik tipped his ratty hat at us and walked away, spitting as he did.

  “He hates losing.” The young man gave us a sunny smile. “I don’t know why he doesn’t find another game.”

  “I have another game for you.” Wil paused. “It doesn’t involve rooking drunks on street corners, however.”

  “I don’t know…” Culpepper eyed me before looking back at Wil. “Honest work? Sounds like trouble.”

  “There might be a little bit of trouble to it.” Wil reached into his pocket and pulled out a black Judicar token. “My assumption was that it wasn’t anything that the Warrenlights couldn’t handle. That’s why I came to you first.”

  “Is he always this full of wind and onions?” Culpepper looked at me, a smile dancing his eyes. “Or is it only on Wending?”

  “It’s pretty much every day.” A quick twitch of my fingers, and Scoundrel seconded the notion.

  “Every day. Every every day.”

  Culpepper laughed, apparently unafraid of my sweet girl.

  “Well,” he looked shrewdly from Wil to me. “I gotta hear all the particulars, don’t I? It wouldn’t do to make choices without thinking about the ramifications for my guild folk.”

  I smiled at the thought. Culpepper might occasionally skirt the rules, but in the end, he really did some good, looking after his people.

  I liked that about him.

  Yes, it was true that occasionally one of his youths might practice a little fine-fingering in someone’s pockets or make off with a careless shopkeeper’s wares. But for the most part, Culpepper kept these things in check. He wasn’t interested in getting rich as much as being certain that his own got fed and stayed warm.

  Wil and I tried our best to look the other way.

  For a moment, I thought of Ilsei, the young blonde girl who had been trying to sell herself in the alleyway. If she didn’t have a family, she could do far worse than Culpepper.

  Maybe I needed to make an introduction.

  “Okay, perhaps you weren’t the first choice.” Wil gave the young man a winning smile and nodded to a small pub on the far side of the square. “However, if you let me buy you a short beer at Allison’s, I’ll tell you why you and yours might be the best choice.”

  “Free short beer and the opportunity to earn a judicar token?” Culpepper gave a small shrug. “Seems like I’d be a fool not to listen.”

  “I don’t know.” I gave Wil a sideward grin. “I feel like a fool every time I do listen to this jack-wagon.”

  My best friend made a half-assed swipe at me, and I laughed. Scoundrel took two quick hops and landed on my shoulder.

  “He’s an ingrate, this one.” Wil glanced from Culpepper to me. “It’s his business that we’re on tonight. We need to discuss keeping peace in the Warrens because I’m going to be tied up helping this idiot get his work done.”

  “I don’t need the whole story on where you two shared your first kiss.” Culpepper chuckled at his own cleverness. “Let’s just talk more about you buying me a beer and less about whatever judicar romance you two find yourselves tied up in.”

  Of course, not even Culpepper’s wit could shut us up. He followed us to the small pub, shaking his head as Wil launched into a diatribe about the values of friendship, and about how he needed to find one someday.

  Once at Allison’s, we made our arrangements. They were quite clever arrangements, if I did think so myself.

  2

  “You’ve worked with him before.” I scratched Scoundrel’s head as we walked. Wil and I were strolling along Moor’d Avenue, and the mist was starting to wash over the city.

  “Culpepper is good people.” Wll cleared his throat. “He really looks out for his guildmen, and I realized a while back that I can help him out.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Most Warrenlights leave their guild, usually before twenty. Where do they go from there?”

  “Um…” I realized that I didn’t know. “They find a good and proper place in Teredi society?”

  Wil scoffed. “They don’t often have a formal education.” Wil spat. “Unless you count scavenging and busking. I’ve been working with Culpepper to help ease his guildmen into proper society.”

  “Is that so?” I had no idea that Wil had taken a personal interest in the guild. “How is that?”

  “He had a young man who was ‘growing out’ of his Guild position this last summer. I pulled on the right ears and got him a ‘prentiship with the smits.” Wil glanced at me, his blue eyes smiling. “I figure that, with just a little help, I can keep the Warrenlights off of the payroll of men like Santiago Il Ladren.”

  “That…” I raised my eyebrows. “That is a particularly brilliant idea.” I never wou
ld have considered placing youngsters with the smits, but I could see their need for small, dexterous hands that might grow into larger ones used to handling cogs and gears and hot glowing iron. Just look at all Ely could do. And she was bitty.

  “Well, Sara, big Mister Judicar has to take care of his borough doesn’t he?” He chuckled and then went on. “I’ve been talking with several official guilds and trying to rouse up an interest in our little Warrenlighters. I got the Dockworkers, the Cobblemen, even the Runners’ Guild expressing an interest.”

  “The Runners’ Guild. That’s brilliant.” I knew they often employed younger citizens, mostly for their speed and agility.

  “That’s why Culpepper was so keen on helping us. I’ve been a big help for his folk. He knows what side to salt his fish on.”

  Because of Wil, we knew that the streets would be looked after—at least for a time. It had taken one of Wil’s judicar tokens, but Culpepper had assured us that small packs of his older guildsmen would keep watch for us this evening.

  They might be young, but having a few roving gangs of officially sanctioned eyes would be helpful—particularly if Wil and I both were otherwise engaged. Even if they couldn’t stop a mugging or some other unsavoriness, they could follow a target or identify a Jack.

  Just that would be enough, for a time.

  “We still need to get a permit.” Wil drew an arm back and threw the raven’s ring as far as he could, and both birds took off after it, squawking.

  I canted my head at him. “Permit?” For the moment, he had completely lost me.

  “Permit.” He gave me a grim smile. “I’m certain the city requires one for this level of idiocy. Honestly, Thom, I think we need another plan.”

  “There isn’t another plan.” I scowled as I spoke. “If there is, then pipe up. I’d love to hear your suggestions.”

  Wil had nothing for that.

  The key issue was secrecy. I had sworn to Santiago that I would keep his business quiet, and so far I had—except for Wil. However, this assignment had proven quite… fluid, and it seemed things were about to get tight. No matter how we sussed things out, the particulars were always the same: