Terrance folded the guard’s uniform and made sure to get the keys back in the pocket. “Take this bundle to the address I’m about to give you. Tell them you’re part of the rescue. They’ll understand, and these items are your proof that you really are part of the plan. When you get there, do everything they say without question. I will visit you eventually.”
The boy nodded. Hesitated.
“Go.”
After he left, the father broke down crying. The mother had broken down several minutes ago. But Terrance didn’t have time for that.
“You never had a son. You understand that? This man here- he’s your brother, down on his luck, that you decided to take in. That’s what you’re going to tell the next Inquisitor, if he asks. He’ll be here in less than an hour. You’re going to tell them how cruel I was, or maybe just look on in sullen silence. Take your pick. If you don’t, if instead you tell them I saved your son, then he and I both die. Do you understand?”
They nodded through sobs.
“Good.” He grabbed Turnic. “Now I’m sorry, but there’s still going to be blood on the floor.”
16
Terrance came back with blood on his cloak. That was a good touch.
John was waiting at the entrance to the Mages' Guild, casually sitting on a low wall. He perked up immediately when he saw Terrance. “Have a bit of trouble out there? You’re thirty over standard.”
“Climax is better when you build up to it for a bit. If you know what I mean.”
John laughed. “Most people don’t realize that their first time.”
“I had good training.”
“Me or Johanna?”
Terrance used that opening as a reason to fake offense and drop the jovial bullshit. “Just go check the body.”
“You got it, Journeyman. Address?”
Once Terrance scribbled down the address, John dropped the foot or so to the ground and began skipping towards the boy’s home. It was unreal how much pleasure that man got from his job. Imagine if he had chosen something useful.
Next up was the paperwork. Basic stuff- age, gender, description. Same thing for known family members. Address, community standing, estimated wealth, guild membership if applicable.
John had breezed over most of it, giving guesses for what he hadn’t bothered to verify (most of it). That was quite convenient for Terrance’s purposes- if anyone caught him fibbing on the paperwork, he could say he was just guessing like John. Even better, the body verifier — for him, usually John — was the one who signed off on the paperwork, and even the Inquisitors who were careful with their own paperwork tended to approve everything that sort of matched without thinking too hard about it.
Terrance handed off the sheet to the secretary, who wrote out the answers on two more sheets of paper so he could organize the same record by address, by date, and by family name. Terrance had considered checking his brother’s records, but didn’t want to raise unnecessary suspicion. It was already suspicious enough that he had requested a mass of recent cleansings in order to find families who might be motivated to help their rebellion; that was where the safehouses had come from. Given how little others used the records, he half thought the bulk of them were just to make sure the Inquisitors felt real good about the sheer number of people they’d cleansed.
It was certainly a good reminder for Terrance, should he ever doubt the righteousness of his cause.
There was a room where Inquisitors tended to gather when they were on duty.
It wasn’t required for all of them, of course, as long as they checked in every once in a while. The lineup was set at the beginning of the shift, so most of the Inquisitors could go elsewhere without much worry. The first Inquisitor in the lineup was usually the only one to get called off to a cleansing, and then the second one was to go and verify afterwards at their leisure. If a second infraction occurred while they were verifying (unlikely) the second Inquisitor would divert their attention to the new infraction and get back to the verification after the paperwork had been filed.
The whole system had been set up to handle multiple simultaneous violations. For Terrance’s shift that meant four, but some shifts had three and others had five. Those numbers were obvious overkill. The records, however, showed that two or three violations at a time had been common soon after the founding of Nordheim, even though the population was significantly less than half the size it was now. The “verify at your leisure” part had been very important, sometimes taking days to get to.
Perhaps the average person had been more magical back then… but then again, all records indicated that mages had gotten more powerful. Johanna would likely say something about the inherent superiority of the Mages' Guild bloodlines; Terrance didn’t think the superiority was inherent, but he could admit that there was something there. Maybe if you selected for magical power in one population and purposefully destroy it in another their natural talents would diverge.
That could also explain the emphasis of grappling in the official guidelines. No one followed the guidelines — Terrance hadn’t seen an Inquisitor practice their grappling since training — but they must have been created for a reason. The magical power level being more equal in the past would certainly qualify as a reason to learn other ways of taking someone down.
Terrance made himself go back to the matter at hand. It wasn’t required that he stop by the Inquisitors’ room, especially since he had just taken his turn and the chances of him having more duties this shift were practically nil, but not doing it would look suspicious. Any “normal” Inquisitor would be proud of his first solo kill and want to celebrate with his fellows.
John was off verifying the kill, leaving his other two shift-mates, Lorenz and Wanda.
“You fuck ’em up?” said Wanda. “You were gone for a good long time.”
She smiled as she only did when discussing death.
Wanda was an interesting case. The only current female Inquisitor — extreme sadism and psychopathy were less common in women, or at the very least less commonly expressed in this manner — she overcompensated to prove she fit in. Every cleansing she did was brutal, even if it was a child. For her the head came off last, but it wasn’t the limbs that came off first. She wanted to make it last, and taking off the limbs made the kid bleed too much and die too fast.
Oftentimes the parents would fight to intervene, even though they knew it would get them killed.
“He was probably just making sure everything was perfect. Weren’t you, Terrance?”
Lorenz was relaxed and calm, the polar opposite of both John and Wanda. For him this was just a job. A nice cushy job where he could sit back and watch other people work. But when he did work, he did it quietly and precisely. No joy, no revulsion, just the job. For the first year, after he was finished with a cleansing, he would even try to explain to the family the inevitability of the punishment, tell them not to blame themselves or him, this was something that must be done. Now he just bowed and apologized before leaving.
“It got done,” said Terrance. “Older one this time. For some reason they take longer.”
“Yea,” agreed Wanda, “it’s always weird to get one that’s not a kid. They’re shaped different, and don’t cry as much. But sometimes if they’re a parent, the kid’ll come wailing to where you’re working and you get to whack ’em as a bonus.”
Terrance laughed even though he felt sick to his stomach. Always felt that way around Wanda. He hoped they couldn’t tell.
And he hoped he could hold out for a couple more years. Who knew how long it would take to train the kids he was rescuing.
They couldn’t practice magic, or even practice holding it — that would draw attention to them — but they could study magic and train in other skills that would be useful when the time came.
Lorenz looked Terrance up and down. “You’re tired, distracted. First one’s always hard. Go rest up and I’ll see you next shift, okay?”
Terrance nodded, silently thanked Lore
nz. In another life that guy would be a decent friend.
Terrance was tired, but it wasn’t the end of his day. He would have plenty to do before he could rest.
As he was walking out, Angelika stopped him. She’d been sent to the Department of Resource Management along with Adolfo.
She still talked with Terrance every once in a while, even though there was no official reason to, even though she and Adolfo still despised Johanna, even though Adolfo refused to join them. She was a good friend.
“I heard you had your first solo Inquisition today.”
Terrance nodded.
Angelika kept looking at him, judging him, contemplating him, expecting him to say more, but Terrance just let out a sigh.
“I don’t get you, Terrance. You’re a good guy. You’ve got heart. And yet you choose to associate yourself with the worst parts of our Guild. And you’re getting beaten down, I can tell. You’re going to let it change you, one way or another- by you becoming despondent like you are now, or by you turning and starting to enjoy it. I don’t know which is worse. Because you chose this.”
“What?” Terrance didn’t want someone else calling him on this. Even pretending to be evil was easier than showing his inner conflict in a way that didn’t get him destroyed. “Do you want me to change it all now, start over, let someone else do the killing and join you in Resource Management?”
Angelika shrugged. “My mom says you’re just being smart and that I shouldn’t try to talk you out of it. I say it’s your life. And we all still care about you, even after all the stupid shit you’ve chosen. Adolfo cares too, though he won’t admit it.”
Terrance let a strangled smile escape. “Do you really think the Inquisitors are evil?”
“They’re not our best, Terrance. I wish we could have a Mages' Guild without them. I know we can’t, but I really wish we could.”
“And why can’t we?”
“I mean, if you have just anyone using magic, then…” She stopped herself. “No, I’m not going to defend your choices for you.”
He wanted to tell her the plan, tell her everything, but he wasn’t sure how far he could trust her. There was a difference between hating the Inquisitions and wanting to bring down the entire structure that made that job possible. Especially if you had been raised within that structure.
What he said instead was, “I understand. I wouldn’t want to defend them either.”
“You’re fucked up, you know that?”
“More than you know. Let’s grab a drink soon, okay?”
And then, finally, he could leave.
Wile was at the back of the shop in his usual place. Night had just fallen, so the shop was quiet.
He was not happy. “Next one is staying longer at the safe house. That boy, I swear… he’s asked so many things today. Who you were. When he could go back to his family. And for fuck’s sake, he’s only thirteen!”
“Most of ’em are a bit older. Fifteen, sixteen. When they grow into their powers but haven’t yet learned self control.”
“Yea, yea, that’s what you told me.”
“Look, what do you want me to do? Kill the ones that are too young, return the prisoner I was about to sacrifice to his cell? We’ve gotta run with what chance gives us. Maybe we’ll even get a few adults, if we’re lucky.”
Wile sighed. “At least this one will eat less than the ones that are coming.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. If he’s manifesting magic early, he’ll probably develop the appetite early too.”
“You got any good news for me?”
“We did it. We’re alive. I wasn’t followed. As far as I can tell, no one suspects a thing. That’s good, right?”
“You bet your ass that’s good!” Frederick stumbled in, clearly drunk. “I’m sorry about missing the pickup, but my boy on the inside…”
“You mean the random guard who didn’t know who I was?”
“Yea, my boy on the inside, he said someone came asking for a murderer to make an example of. Thought that might’ve been you. Was it?”
“That was me. Where were you?”
“I was a bit nervous last night, about the operation, so I… had a bit to drink. And then I slept in and heard I missed the pickup. And I felt so bad about it that I had a bit more to drink. But it looks like everything worked out great! And the poor guy who let out a murderer and stupidly told his superiors about it… it wasn’t even me! I tell you, life is good.”
“Wait, he told his superiors about it? I thought the records were shoddy.”
“They are! That’s why it surprised me so much when he said something. I guess he was excited. What exactly did you say you would do to that prisoner?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you say you would torture him in front of three hundred people? That’s what he said you said.”
“For fuck’s sake, Terrance!” Wile was aghast. “Don’t tell me you’re fitting in at the Guild.”
Terrance thought back to the scene. “He told me to kill him in front of three hundred people, and I think I agreed. I was in character. I mean, I was going to kill him anyways. And the Inquisition isn’t a pretty kill.”
“Well you gotta be more careful.”
“Look who’s talking. How many drinks have you had tonight?”
“Not enough to fuck up! Next time, make it routine. Make it so no one even remembers you were there. You fit in good, yea, but…”
“How about next time you’re there when you say you’ll be instead of sleeping off a hangover.”
“Heeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy you have a point.” Frederick grabbed Terrance in a big bear hug, which Terrance half-heartedly returned. “I like this adventure. Let’s do more of it. I haven’t felt this alive in years.”
“You haven’t been this drunk in years.”
Wile coughed. “You two should catch up more.”
Frederick shrugged. “Hey, what about the prize? Did we catch our first soldier?”
“Something like that. I was actually here to see him.”
“Well, let’s go!”
“Maybe one at a time,” said Wile. “Poor kid’s seen plenty today without a drunk interrogating him. I’ve got a cot and bucket here in the back.”
“Yea, yea. You two have fun, I’ll fight off anyone who comes in here.”
“Unless they’re here to buy stuff.”
“Unless they’re here to buy stuff.”
Wile and Terrance paused for a bit at the stairwell.
“How long has he been like this?”
“Actions have consequences, Terrance. You were an anchor.”
“Well at least Anne was able to move on without me.”
Wile grunted. “Yea, she’s doing great. Let’s go see the kid.”
What was that supposed to mean? What the hell had happened to all his old friends?
Terrance had to clear it from his mind quickly- what happened tonight would be their first taste of what their army could be, and he needed his full concentration.
Maybe he should have reached out to Anne more. Asked Frederick more detailed questions. Would Frederick have the judgment to know if anything was wrong? But she was married off, so…
The boy. His army. Now.
Okay.
The boy was sitting in his old bed, the one where Terrance had lain with Anne right after his brother and mother had died.
The shelves were empty except for a few dusty economics tomes, although he was going to change that soon. Some of his old books would go there, as well as whatever he could pilfer from the Mages' Guild library. Anne had loved looking at his books, though she had never developed a taste for reading them.
“What happened to the ragged man you brought with you?” asked the boy.
Well that worked. Brought him right back. Harder to stay in your head if your thoughts are filled with gore.
“I killed him.”
“To save me?”
“He was a murderer. He was going to die anyways. But
you… you have the potential to be a Mage.”
“Like you.”
“Kind of.”
“When do I get to see my family again?”
“He’s been asking all day,” said Wile.
“Because I want to know!”
Terrance knelt down so he was at the boy’s eye level. “The Mages' Guild thinks you should die because you used magic without permission. They killed my brother for doing the same thing. You can’t go back to your family. Not until the Mages' Guild falls.”
The boy sighed. “So, never.”
“Why do you think you’re here?”
“Because you feel bad about your brother.”
“Yes. And because you’re going to help me bring down the Mages' Guild.”
The boy flopped onto his back. “Okay. Sure. Right. Can we take down the Palace while we’re at it? Maybe conquer another city too.”
“It won’t just be you and me. We have dozens of people helping us already, including the couple at the safe house you walked to. Their daughter was killed by the Mages' Guild, so they want to take the guild down. And there will be plenty more people here soon, people who would have been killed. Do you understand?”
“I guess I’ll die no matter what. Do I get to use magic again? That felt good.”
“Not until we say you can. If you do, another Inquisitor will come, and we can’t save you a second time. But if you wait you’ll get to use lots of magic. And then you’ll get to see your family.”
“Sure. What do I do now?”
“Wile, can you bring the grappler in tomorrow?”
“Sure thing,” said Wile. “Heaven knows I can’t teach that. I’ll leave the windows open during the day so people visiting the shop think the noise is street bustle.”
“Good. Then I’ll transfer over some books tomorrow night so he can start studying.”
“It’s really happening, isn’t it?”
“It really is.”
“It’s good to have you back. Even under the circumstances.”
“Then let’s change those circumstances and it’ll be even better.”
Wile let out a laugh. It took a while, but eventually he remembered how to do it.
Mages Must Fall Page 8
