Decimus Fate and the Butcher of Guile: (Decimus Fate - Book 2)

by Peter A Flannery

  They had been poisoned.

  In a flood of recollection, it all came back to him. Crawling across the floor, he put a hand on the Tutor’s shoulder.

  ‘Tutor,’ he said, but the demon hunter was still half asleep. ‘Alexander!’ said Fate in a louder and more insistent tone. ‘You have to help me… Motina is too small to survive a theriac stone. She’ll die if we don’t help her.’

  Something in Fate’s voice managed to break through the Tutor’s torpor and he began to stir.

  ‘Is she alive?’ he murmured. ‘I tried to give her a stone.’

  ‘She’s alive,’ said Fate. ‘The light is still purging her body, but the magic will kill her if I can’t draw off some of its power.’

  Getting to his feet, Fate swayed as he leaned against the table, his eyes squinting against the brightness that shone through Motina’s pale and fragile skin. Whatever was poisoning her had clearly spread through her entire body. Her back was arched and her mouth was open in a silent scream.

  ‘Take off her dress,’ said Fate, and the Tutor looked at him askance. ‘Her dress!’ Fate repeated as he began to remove his own tunic and undershirt. ‘I might be able to help her, but it will need skin to skin contact.’

  The urgency of the situation left no room for propriety so the Tutor merely snapped the laces on the front of Motina’s dress and pulled it up over her head. Beneath the dress, Motina was wearing a white shift that left her arms and legs bare.

  ‘That’ll do,’ said Fate. ‘Now, pass her to me.’

  The sorcerer was still wearing his charcoal grey trousers, but his chest was bare and for a moment the Tutor stared at the scars and arcane symbols that covered his skin.

  ‘Quickly!’ said Fate as he sat in a chair and held out his arms.

  Still not really understanding, the Tutor lifted Motina from the table and passed her into Fate’s arms. Her body felt light and fragile, such a contrast to the strong and sharp-witted housekeeper he had come to know.

  ‘Stand back,’ said Fate as the white light from Motina’s body seemed to ignite a series of magical symbols that extended across Fate’s shoulders and down his arms. The glowing symbols obviously caused Fate discomfort and the sorcerer gritted his teeth as he wrapped his arms around Motina’s small frame.

  ‘Will your magic save her?’ asked the Tutor.

  ‘Not my magic,’ hissed Fate. ‘The symbols will simply absorb the stone’s power before it kills her.’

  ‘I can feel heat,’ said the Tutor as the light of the arcane symbols grew even fiercer. ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘Like the very devil,’ groaned Fate, then he closed his eyes and held Motina tight as the power of the theriac stone burned his flesh.

  Outside the window there was a cacophony of squawks and dark flapping wings, while inside the kitchen the light was so bright that the Tutor squinted against it and, when it finally faded, the air in the kitchen was filled with the metallic tang that follows a lightning strike.

  Hunched over Motina’s body, Fate gave a heavy sigh as the symbols on his body stopped glowing. Slowly, he relaxed his arms and looked down at Motina who sat on his lap with her head nestled against his chest. For several seconds he thought she might be dead, but then her shoulders shifted as she drew a breath.

  Outside the window, the flapping had ceased and a single bird let out a deep-throated caw as it peered into the kitchen.

  ‘Motina,’ said Fate. ‘Can you hear me?’ Motina’s narrow chest continued to rise and fall. ‘Raven Mother…’ urged Fate and still there was nothing until Motina opened her eyes.

  ‘You smell terrible,’ said the witch and Fate smiled.

  ‘That’s what happens when your housekeeper tries to poison you.’

  *

  Fate and the Tutor recovered surprisingly quickly from their brush with death. After washing, the Tutor put on a clean shirt and scrubbed down his black leather doublet while Fate donned a fresh set of robes. Standing in his bedroom, the sorcerer frowned at his reflection in the mirror as he watched Carduus’s dandelion seed settle back on his chest.

  Within an hour they felt almost normal, if a little shaky and sore. By contrast, Motina was completely wiped out by the potion that had overwhelmed her body, and by the theriac stone that had finally cleansed it from her system. After waking in Fate’s arms they had carried her up to her room where she slept soundly for five straight hours. It was well into the evening when she finally woke. Even though she was weak and disorientated she insisted on coming downstairs to talk about what had happened. Fate and the Tutor had cleaned up the mess, but there remained a lingering smell of upset stomachs and magical force. The two men sat quietly as Motina leaned on the table, fighting against her weariness as she struggled to recall the events of the day.

  ‘I remember leaving Madam de Lorni’s house,’ she said, her hands restless as she stared into space. ‘I was being followed,’ she added. ‘Three men… armed and ugly. One of them had a gold tooth.’ She glanced up as if the clarity of this memory surprised her.

  ‘I tried to get to the mainstreet, but two other men blocked the way.’ Motina frowned as the fear of that moment returned. ‘One was about your height, dark hair, fine clothes,’ she added, glancing up at Fate. ‘The other man was taller and darker… He was dressed in crimson robes like the nomads who live in the desert.’

  Fate and the Tutor looked at each other. It was clear that she was describing Alonso Medici and his Don’Sha’Vir.

  ‘I tried to fight,’ said Motina, her breath quickening. ‘Tried to burn them and escape, but the nomad had magic, and he was strong… very strong.’

  Motina was trembling and Fate put a hand on her arm.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he told her. ‘We can do this tomorrow when you’re feeling stronger.’

  ‘No,’ said Motina. ‘We do it now.’

  Fate removed his hand and sat back as she continued.

  ‘They made me drink something, and then everything changed,’ Motina’s voice took on an air of wonder. ‘I stopped struggling and all I wanted to do was obey.’

  ‘Inganno,’ said the Tutor and Fate nodded.

  ‘I would have done anything,’ Motina went on. ‘Anything he told me to do, I would have done it.’

  ‘And what did he tell you to do?’ asked Fate and Motina hung her head.

  ‘He told me to kill you,’ she murmured. ‘You and the Tutor.’

  ‘How did you get past the gate?’

  ‘I had to stop thinking about killing you,’ said Motina, ‘which wasn’t easy because I knew they were watching.’

  ‘Who was watching?’

  ‘The three armed men... I think they were making sure that I carried out my task.’

  The Tutor glanced at Fate. Those three men were probably still watching the house.

  ‘And what about you?’ asked Fate. ‘Did you take the same poison you gave to us?’

  ‘No,’ said Motina. ‘I think it was the potion they gave me. Even as I drank it, I could tell it was too strong… concentrated to the point of being dangerous.’

  Fate’s eyes glittered with sparks of gold.

  ‘He told me to kill you,’ Motina repeated to herself. ‘And I tried,’ she added, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘I actually tried to kill you.’ Motina could not bring herself to look at Fate.

  ‘Yes, you tried,’ said the sorcerer. ‘And you would have succeeded if it weren’t for the box of theriac stones I had tucked away in the basement.’

  ‘Is that what you gave me?’ said Motina, her eyes widening in surprise. ‘It felt like I’d swallowed a star.’

  ‘They do burn some,’ said the Tutor and the three survivors smiled.

  ‘And now,’ said Fate. ‘I think I’d like a cup of tea.’

  The Tutor began to get up, but Fate waved him back down as Motina got slowly to her feet. Making her way over to the stove, she opened a lidded jar and put several spoonfuls of crushed mint leaves into a teapot before adding hot water from the kettle
.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re asking me to make the tea when I tried to kill you with poison.’ Her voice contained a note of disbelief as she made her way back to the table where the Tutor had now laid out three ceramic cups.

  ‘It wasn’t poison that was used to try and kill me,’ said Fate. ‘It was trust.’

  Motina bowed her head in shame, but then Fate put a finger under her chin to raise her face.

  ‘Before today, I trusted you with my life, Varna Motina.’ The sorcerer looked deep into the housekeeper’s small black eyes. ‘And on my oath, I trust you still.’

  Fate’s normally stern face was softened with a smile as a tear ran down Motina’s cheek.

  They sat in silence as they finished their tea, and Motina’s eyes drooped with tiredness, but there was one more thing Fate had to ask of her before she could go back to her bed.

  ‘You said there were three men watching the house?’

  Motina nodded.

  ‘Can you show us?’ he asked and some of the weariness faded from Motina’s eyes as she pushed herself up from the table and led them to a room where the window looked out onto the street.

  ‘They’re definitely watching the house,’ said the demon hunter as he studied the hiding places that Motina had pointed out.

  Fate gave a slow nod and his face was set like stone as he turned to Motina.

  ‘We need to leave you for a while,’ he told her. ‘Will you be all right?’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ said Motina. ‘But maybe it would be better if we just forgot about…’ Her voice trailed off as Fate shook his head.

  ‘What was it you told me about cruel people with power?’

  ‘They need to be opposed,’ said Motina with a sigh. ‘Cruel people grow crueller if they are allowed to go unchallenged.’

  The witch and sorcerer exchanged a meaningful look before Fate turned to the Tutor.

  ‘You know what I have to do,’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ said the Tutor. ‘You’re going to kill Alonso Medici. I also know that Lord Medici will murder half the city to find you if you kill his son.’

  ‘You don’t have to join me,’ said Fate, but the Tutor just shrugged.

  ‘They tried to kill me too,’ he said. ‘Besides,’ he added, ‘my diary happens to be clear for the next few days.’

  Fate’s dark eyes shone with streaks of gold.

  ‘So, how do we get out of the house without them seeing us?’ asked the demon hunter.

  ‘We don’t,’ said Fate. ‘I’ll go out the front door and make it look like I’ve been poisoned. If Medici’s men are there, they’ll move in to finish the job and then you can attack them from behind.’

  ‘And just how am I supposed to do that?’

  ‘Follow me,’ said the sorcerer and with that, he led them down to the basement where the sorcerer opened a large cabinet to reveal an array of weapons and armour.

  ‘Take whatever you want,’ said Fate, but the Tutor shook his head.

  ‘I have everything I need for Medici’s men.’

  ‘And for the Don’Sha’Vir?’

  ‘Crossbows and throwing knives won’t help against an opponent like that.’

  ‘And what will?’

  ‘The skills of a demon hunter,’ said the Tutor and the two men exchanged a smile.

  For his part, Fate took a pair of steel bracers that fitted snugly beneath the sleeves of his robes. In addition to his dragon-handled daggers, he now buckled on a three-quarter length rapier before selecting a small hand crossbow with five black bolts in a small belt quiver. Closing the cabinet, he began to cross the room then stopped as he passed the massive circular steel door of his vault.

  ‘Is there anything in there that would help?’ asked the Tutor.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ said Fate. ‘But wielding such power always comes at a cost.’

  The Tutor could almost feel the power of Fate’s temptation, and he wondered again at the sorcerer’s reasons for giving up magic.

  With a sigh, Fate squared his shoulders and turned away from the vault before glancing down at a table where three small white spheres sat in a black onyx bowl.

  ‘Although, one of these might help,’ he told the Tutor as he slipped one of the small spheres into a pocket.

  With a final glance at Motina, he walked towards the far corner of the room. There was no door in that direction and the Tutor simply assumed he was going to collect something else until the sorcerer touched a particular block in the wall and the corner of the room hinged open to reveal a spiral stairway leading down into the ground.

  ‘A secret passage,’ said the Tutor. ‘Why am I not surprised?’

  Standing beside the secret opening, Fate smiled as he reached up to take one of his elongated crystals from a stone sconce set into the wall. He gave it a shake, and the crystal began to shine with a pale blue light as he held it out to the Tutor.

  ‘Follow the passage for about fifty yards and then take the right-hand fork.’

  ‘Where does it come out?’

  ‘The right-hand fork leads to a cemetery about two hundred yards from the house. The exit is canter-levered so it should slide away without any trouble. Then make your way back to the house. I’ll give you about ten minutes to get into position.’

  The demon hunter dipped his head in agreement then raised the glowing blue crystal as he started down the narrow spiral stairs. ‘This place is just full of secrets.’

  ‘You have no idea,’ said Fate.

  32

  Wounded and Bleeding

  Two hundred yards from Blackfell House lay the Glan Ogwen graveyard, the resting place of wealthy families in the First Quarter of Guile. With over a hundred tombs and mausoleums, the graveyard was a quiet and solemn place, and so there was no one around to hear the dull scrape of stone as the lid of one particular grave slid back to reveal a flight of stone steps leading down into darkness.

  The Tutor emerged cautiously. A few oil lamps burned in the nearby streets, but apart from that, the night was dark and quiet. Checking that the coast was clear, he slid the tomb’s capstone back into place and there was just enough light for him to read the inscription.

  ‘In memory of Kristyn Fermi,’ he whispered as he read the name of the grave.

  For just a second he wondered who Kristyn Fermi was then he made his way out of the graveyard and took a moment to get his bearings before heading back towards Blackfell House. As he drew closer he moved slowly, searching for any sign of Medici’s men. Skirting the grounds of one property, he hugged the wall, edging forward until he caught sight of the man he had seen from the window. Armed and wary, the man was keeping to the shadows as he kept watch on Fate’s house.

  There was still no sign of the other two men, and the Tutor was beginning to wonder if they were out there when the man leaned out from his hiding place and looked across to a thick stand of laurel bushes on the far side of the sorcerer’s property; perfect cover for someone who was trying to remain hidden. It was late now and the streets were quiet, so the Tutor moved with care as he made his way round to a point between the two hiding places.

  Like a leather-clad shadow, he crouched behind the protruding edge of a large stone gatepost. He had just got into position when the front door of Blackfell House opened and Fate staggered out, stumbling down the steps and onto the gravel driveway as he headed towards the gate. The sorcerer looked unsteady on his feet, hunched over and gripping his stomach as if he was in pain.

  The demon hunter saw movement to his left as two men emerged from the dense leaves of the laurel bushes. And then, over to his right, he saw the first man edging his way forward as Fate fumbled with the gate before staggering away from his home and into the open street.

  The Tutor tensed. He did not want to give away his presence by striking too soon.

  Fate had reached the open space of the crossroads when Medici’s men finally broke from cover. Moving in from both sides, they converged on the ‘poisoned’ sorcerer; two knives and a sword
glinting in the darkness as they went in for the kill.

  And now the Tutor moved. He knew Fate had the element of surprise, but that would not save him from three dangerous opponents. The man they had seen from the window was the first to reach Fate, gripping his knife as the sorcerer sank to one knee as if from a spasm of pain. The man’s knife drew back and he was just about to strike when Fate twisted round and shot him in the stomach with a small crossbow bolt.

  The attack clearly took the man by surprise and he froze, glancing down at the black bolt protruding from his leather jerkin then he sucked in a grunting breath as Fate’s rapier stabbed up into his chest.

  The Tutor saw the man’s legs give way as Fate got to his feet, withdrawing his rapier as the man pitched forward onto his face. The first of Medici’s men was dead and Fate turned just as the remaining two men closed on him.

  They came in fast, each drawing an additional weapon so that both were armed with dagger and sword. There was no time for Fate to re-cock his crossbow so he simply raised his rapier to meet his attackers. The two men diverged to split Fate’s defence, and it would have ended badly for the sorcerer until one of them cried out as the sharp points of a throwing star stabbed into his back. The startled man turned just in time to see the black-clad figure of the Tutor bearing down on him.

  The man was clearly a veteran and his instinct to survive eclipsed the pain from the throwing star. Raising his weapons, he managed to deflect the Tutor’s first blow, turning his parry into a counter-attack with surprising skill. He slashed out with his sword and blocked a second attack with his dagger before the Tutor’s superior skill brought the confrontation to an end.

  With blistering speed, the demon hunter unleashed a rapid series of attacks until his blade slipped past the man’s guard to deliver a fatal thrust. The man barely had time to gasp before the Tutor withdrew his sword and strode past him to engage the man now fighting with Fate.

  Even against a trained soldier Fate was holding his own, his robes flaring out as he parried attacks with his rapier.

  ‘You’re… supposed… to be dead!’ hissed the man as he tried to close the sorcerer down.