Blade of the Ghosts

by Jonathan Moeller

  “Wait.” Aetius blinked a few times and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Not that I’m ungrateful for the assistance…but who the hell are you and why are you helping me?”

  ***

  Chapter 4: Protection Money

  “That’s a very good question,” said Caina.

  Aetius snorted. “Are you going to answer it?”

  “You can call me Sebastian,” said Caina, using her father’s name. She definitely did not want Aetius to know that she was a woman. If he tried to track her down, he could waste his time looking for a man, and Sebastian was a common enough name. “Suffice it to say that I have an interest in your present difficulties.”

  “And what,” said Aetius, scowling, “do you know about my present difficulties?”

  “I know that House Valdarion is impoverished, despite the prestige of its name,” said Caina. “I know that you are betrothed to Doriana of House Koramus, and that her father is undecided about the match.” Aetius’s scowl deepened. “I know that you were a military tribune, and then when you returned, you, your father Count Armus, the noyan Jurchan, and Master Taldrane of the Magisterium went on an expedition to a ruin of the First Empire. You found an object you believed to be the Sword of the First Emperor Nicokator. Your father intended to present the blade to the Emperor in hopes of reviving your House’s prestige and fortunes. Instead, your father was murdered and the Sword taken. Have I overlooked anything?”

  Aetius took a step back, watching her warily. “You’ve been spying upon me.”

  “I prefer to think of it as remaining observant,” said Caina.

  “You’ve been spying on me?” said Aetius. “You’ve been following me?”

  “Yes,” said Caina. “Also, yes. Oh, do calm down. You have no right to be surprised. Didn’t you realize what a dangerous thing you had found?”

  “What are you talking about?” said Aetius. “It was valuable, yes, and Taldrane said it had spells upon it…”

  Caina kept the frown from her face. That wasn’t good.

  “But how could it be dangerous?” said Aetius.

  “You found the Sword of the First Emperor,” said Caina. “The blade of the man who founded the Empire. Suppose some backwater warlord claims the Sword and gets ideas of grandeur popping into his head. We could have civil war within a year.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Aetius.

  “Is it?” said Caina. “Well, maybe. Just as ridiculous as someone breaking into Eastwarden and murdering an old man over a harmless relic?”

  Aetius’s expression darkened further, and for a moment he glared at Caina. Then he looked away, his jaw working, and paced back and forth.

  “Perhaps,” he said at last, “you have a point.”

  “Did you murder your father?” said Caina.

  “What?” said Aetius, growing angrier. “For the gods’ sake! I did not murder my father! You sound just like the urban praetor’s officers. I respected my father. I…” For a moment his voice choked with rage and pain. “I did not murder my father, and if I discover who did, I swear I will have the murderer’s heart upon the point of my sword.”

  “I see,” said Caina. His vehemence was convincing. In her experience, a man accused of a crime he had committed would immediately demand to see proof or claim that proof did not exist, while an innocent man would become angry. That said, a skilled liar would know all of that, but Caina did not think Aetius was that clever.

  Especially since he had walked into the dingy back room of a seedy wine shop with four armed Kagari warriors and had not suspected anything until Hulagon had almost stabbed him to death.

  “Did you do it?” said Armus. “Did you murder my father?”

  “No,” said Caina. “I sought to determine whether the Sword was dangerous to the Empire or not. I broke into your father’s apartment to examine the Sword.”

  “What?” said Aetius. “Why would you tell me this?”

  “Because when I got there, the Sword was gone and your father was dead,” said Caina. “It looked as if he had killed himself.”

  Aetius shook his head, bewilderment overriding his anger. “He didn’t kill himself. He was stabbed through the heart…”

  “From below,” said Caina. “He was stabbed from below. Did you not see the wound?”

  Aetius frowned. “Aye…”

  “Was it not exactly the kind of wound,” said Caina, “that would be produced if a man threw himself upon his sword?”

  “But my father was…he would not have killed himself,” said Aetius. “He hoped to present the Sword to the Emperor. He hoped to find…”

  He fell silent, as if afraid he would say too much. He had mentioned a tomb to Hulagon. Had the Sword been a stepping-stone to something else? Some greater discovery that Armus Valdarion had hoped to use to win glory and wealth for his House?

  “Perhaps he killed himself,” said Caina. “Or perhaps he was forced upon the Sword, as I suspect Hulagon’s men thought to do to you. Or maybe he was mind-controlled by a powerful magus and forced to throw himself upon the blade.”

  Aetius said nothing, his jaw working again.

  “Clearly the idea is not a surprise,” said Caina. “Perhaps it already occurred to you. Kagari warriors could force a man to throw himself upon a sword, or a master magus could mind-control a man and compel him to do so.”

  “Yes,” said Aetius. “I…wait. Stop.” He stepped back and dropped his hand to his sword hilt. “No. No more.”

  Caina lifted her eyebrows. “I should point out, my lord, that I did just save your life.”

  “Aye, I contest that not,” said Aetius. “But, ‘Master Sebastian’, if that is your real name…”

  “It’s not,” said Caina.

  “You said yourself you have been spying upon me,” said Aetius. “You said you planned to steal the Sword from my House if you deemed it a threat to the Empire. Why should I trust a word you say?”

  “You shouldn’t,” said Caina.

  Aetius blinked. Clearly he hadn’t expected that.

  “In your position, I would not trust my words either,” said Caina. “You may, however, trust this. It is my task to ensure the stability of the Empire and the throne of the Emperor. It is my task to protect the common people of the Empire, to do what must be done in their defense. And I think the best way to defend the Empire is to find your father’s murderer, bring him to justice, and determine whether or not the Sword is a threat to the Empire.”

  “Gods and devils,” said Aetius, his hand dropping from his sword hilt. “You’re a Ghost. You’re one of the Emperor’s Ghosts.”

  Caina smiled. “A myth. A legend. There are no Ghosts lurking in the shadows to protect the Empire, my lord Aetius. I fear you have been misinformed.”

  Aetius snorted. “As if you would say anything else.”

  “You may believe what you wish,” said Caina. “But as for me, I wish to see your father’s killers brought to justice and the Sword found again. I will help you, if you let me. I have resources and friends that you do not.”

  “And the cost for this help?” said Aetius, his voice heavy. “You want the Sword, I assume?”

  “Not necessarily,” said Caina. “Only if it is too dangerous to keep in your possession. And if it is such a weapon, my lord Aetius, it would not be safe to keep. Sooner or later the Magisterium or some ambitious lord would murder you to claim it…or kidnap Doriana as leverage to use against you.”

  Aetius’s anger returned. “Do not bring her into this, Ghost.”

  “I will not,” said Caina. “Those who would kill you to take the Sword would not be so scrupulous.”

  Aetius closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. “I was a failure as a military tribune, you know. I could not exercise the necessary harshness with the men, and decisions of life and death…they weighed upon my conscience like stones.”

  “I understand,” said Caina. People had died because of some of her decisions. Innocent people had died because of her decisi
ons. She hadn’t intended it, but it had happened anyway.

  “Do you?” said Aetius. “Well, Ghost, it seems you have left me no choice. Very well. I…would be glad of your help.”

  “Good,” said Caina. “There is one thing you can do first.”

  “And just what is that?” said Aetius.

  “Don’t call me a Ghost,” said Caina.

  Aetius barked out a harsh little laugh. “I suppose that would defeat the purpose of such skullduggery.”

  “There is no such thing as the Ghosts,” said Caina.

  “Very well, Master Sebastian,” said Aetius, his voice heavy with irony. “How then shall we begin?”

  “Tell me everything,” said Caina.

  “I thought you knew everything already,” said Aetius.

  “No man knows all things,” said Caina.

  “I suppose not,” said Aetius. “Had I known what that accursed map would bring upon my House, I would have thrown the damned thing into the fire.”

  A map?

  “Perhaps you should start from the beginning,” said Caina.

  “As you wish, my nonexistent Ghost,” said Aetius. “As you likely know, House Valdarion has been in decline for centuries. During the Third Empire our House won great prominence in the war against the necromancers of the Red Circle and the armies of Old Kyrace, but during the Fourth and Fifth Empires, our fortunes declined. Now we are left with the title of Count of Eastwarden and very little else. I thought my term as a military tribune of the Legion might win renown for my house…but I fear I failed.”

  “Not every man is suited for the military life,” said Caina.

  “Then I failed, for it is the duty of a Nighmarian noble to defend the Empire,” said Aetius. “I returned to Eastwarden to find my father in a state of great excitement. I never had any interest in his books and papers and old relics, but he had discovered an ancient map.”

  “What did this map show?” said Caina.

  “The way to the Sword of Nicokator,” said Aetius, “and the path to his tomb.”

  “I do not understand,” said Caina. “Did the map show the Sword or the tomb?”

  “The Sword,” said Aetius. “I am not a scholar…but as my father explained it, Nicokator was buried in a secret tomb in the Valley of the Emperors north of Malarae. The tomb was sealed with powerful spells, potent beyond anything the Magisterium could work today. The only way to open Nicokator’s tomb was to find Nicokator’s sword. The Sword of the First Emperor would act as a key upon the lock of the warding spells, and permit entry to the tomb.”

  “And what was supposed to be within the tomb?” said Caina. “I assume your father did not go to all this trouble just to find Nicokator’s bones?”

  “He would have,” said Aetius. “The tomb of Nicokator has been lost for millennia. My father loved the Empire, and he loved its history. Find the tomb and presenting it and the Sword to the Emperor would have been reward enough…though I would have ensured that our House received additional reward and prestige.”

  “No woman wants to marry an impoverished nobleman,” said Caina.

  “More to the point, no father wants his daughter to marry an impoverished nobleman,” said Aetius. “Lord Koramus has made that point to me several times.”

  “But there was more, wasn’t there?” said Caina. “Not just bones. Something valuable. A treasure, perhaps…or weapons. Or books, maybe.” Perhaps Nicokator had recorded his arcane secrets in a volume of spells and buried it with him.

  Caina had seen firsthand the damage that such a lost spell could cause when it fell in the wrong hands. Her body bore the scar of such damage.

  “I’m…not sure,” said Aetius. “My father thought that Nicokator had been interred with relics of sorcerous power, relics that he had created with his own hand. Certainly Taldrane said the spells upon the Sword were powerful. He warned us never to draw the weapon, since he was uncertain of what the spells might do.”

  “I see,” said Caina. “How did Taldrane get involved in this?”

  “My father invited him,” said Aetius. “He knew the location of the ruin containing the Sword, but we had no money to hire guards. Jurchan and his warriors were willing to follow us for a reduced rate of pay…I thought it was because of our time together in the Legion. Clearly I was a fool.” He shook his head. “Even then, we did not have enough money. My father knew Taldrane from their shared interest in ancient history. The research intrigued Taldrane, so he agreed to fund the expedition.”

  “Where was the ruin?” said Caina.

  “In the Great Mountains, about ten days north of here,” said Aetius. “We were attacked twice by bandits on the way, barbarian warbands that came down from the wild lands outside of the Imperial Pale. In the ruin itself, we fought…monsters.”

  “Monsters?” said Caina.

  “Dead things,” said Aetius. “Withered corpses that rose and killed, with green fire burning in their eyes. If not for Taldrane’s spells, we might have been overcome.”

  “Necromancy,” said Caina, not bother to hide her disgust. The necromantic sciences were currently banned in the Empire…but there was a reason they had been banned, and the abuses of necromancers in the days before the Fifth Empire had been one of them.

  “Aye,” said Aetius. “I suppose such spells were permitted in ancient days. But my father was right, and we found the Sword of Nicokator. Taldrane wanted to press on to the tomb at once. My father insisted that the discovery belonged to the Emperor, that we first present the Sword to him and then decide how to proceed…”

  “But before Count Armus could bring the Sword to the attention of the Emperor and the Imperial Curia,” said Caina, “he was murdered.”

  “I fear so,” said Aetius.

  “Possibly to claim whatever treasure or weapons are within the tomb?” said Caina.

  “Again, that rings true,” said Aetius.

  Caina took a deep breath. “And since Jurchan and his warriors and Taldrane and his Magisterial Guards were the only ones who knew about the tomb…it seems safe to assume that one of them murdered your father or plotted his death together. Especially since Hulagon and his men just tried to kill you.”

  Aetius closed his eyes for a moment. “I fear you are correct. I can see no other alternative. Gods of the Empire!” He struck his fist against the pommel of his sword in frustration. “I trusted Jurchan, and my father trusted Taldrane. For them to turn on us…”

  “Sometimes the chance of wealth shows the true colors of a man’s heart,” said Caina.

  Aetius snorted. “Are you going to quote proverbs at me, or do you have useful suggestions?”

  “One more question,” said Caina. “You asked Hulagon about a map. Was it that map your father found?”

  “Yes,” said Aetius. “He’d discovered it in some old noble’s library. I wasn’t sure how to read it. Ancient Nighmarian looks a great deal stranger than modern High Nighmarian. But it was a map of Malarae and the boundaries of the First Empire. It showed the location of the Sword, and the location of Nicokator’s tomb in the Valley of the Emperors.”

  Caina frowned. “Do you remember where the tomb was located?”

  “No,” said Aetius. “I couldn’t read the map. My father and Taldrane were the ones who could read it.”

  “Where is the map now?” said Caina. “Do you still have it? Is it in Eastwarden?”

  “No,” said Aetius. “My father gave it to Jurchan.”

  Caina blinked. “Why did he do that?”

  “Because Jurchan and his warriors were accompanying us on the expedition to the Valley of the Emperors to find Nicokator’s tomb,” said Aetius. “Jurchan said he needed to plan the route, so my father gave him the map without complaint. He suspected nothing. Likely my father had the map memorized by then and so had no further need of it.”

  “All right,” said Caina. She considered telling Aetius about the list of numbers she had taken from the Count’s corpse, but decided against it. She thought Aetiu
s was telling the truth, but she had been fooled before. Best to be cautious until she knew for certain.

  “So, Master Sebastian,” said Aetius. “I have told you all I know. How shall we proceed?”

  “We’ll start,” said Caina, “by assuming that either Jurchan or Taldrane murdered your father and took the Sword. Jurchan, most likely.”

  “Why?” said Aetius. “Because his men tried to kill me?”

  “Because all the evidence points in his direction,” said Caina. “He had the map, which means he knows the route to Nicokator’s tomb and its treasures…if he figures out how to read it. Therefore he had every motive to murder your father and steal the Sword. Our next step is to take a look around that apartment building of his. The noyan has a nice little fortress there. Likely he has the map hidden within, and if he killed the Count and took the Sword, then the blade is probably there as well.”

  “Well and good,” said Aetius, “but how are you going to persuade Jurchan to let you look around his building?”

  Caina shrugged. “I’ll ask for an invitation.”

  ###

  A few hours later Caina walked towards the front doors of Jurchan’s apartment building. A half-dozen Kagari warriors stood there, scowling at anyone who walked past and passing a clay jug of wine back and forth between themselves. They wore the traditional dress of Kagari warriors, long coats of steel-studded leather armor and hats of fur, their black eyes hard and suspicious above their black beards.

  As one all the warriors looked at Caina.

  She offered them an obsequious smile and limped towards them, her cane tapping against the cobblestones. After making sure Aetius Valdarion had returned to Eastwarden without incident, Caina had changed her disguise. She had chosen the disguise of a merchant of middling prosperity, a worn robe and a threadbare cap, a leather belt wrapped around her waist with a sheathed dagger at her side. Makeup made her look older, and the heavy cane in her right hand made her look a harmless middle-aged man.

  “What is your business here?” said one of the warriors in harsh, accented High Nighmarian.