“We don’t have that much time. Ezra is going to burn her way in here if we don’t get out soon.”
Amri grinned. “I guess we should hurry up then.”
She peeked her head outside of the closet and into the room beyond. The heavily curtained window prevented what remained of the natural sunlight from properly illuminating the space.
“I wish it wasn’t so dark in here.” She cursed as she moved towards the door into the hall.
“Amri have you seen any Na’tyr in here?”
She blinked at him for a moment as she thought about it. “No, just Humans I think.”
“Ok, if we get spotted let me do the talking.”
Amri nodded and leaned against the door to listen. After a moment she waved Ralis over and together they ducked back into the dimly lit hall. He followed her as she presumably made her way towards the exit. They paused before a turn in the hall and Amri carefully peeked around the edge then pulled back sharply. She looked at Ralis and shook her head with a frown.
Carefully he edged his way to the corner to take a peek of his own. He could see the door that only moments ago he had tried to enter through and in front of it a group of four Human soldiers. Finding the hall without intruders the soldiers turned to again patrol down the rest of the hall and Ralis pulled back anxiously.
Amri was already doubling back and searching for a hiding place but Ralis knew that they weren’t going to be fast enough even as he followed her. She jiggled the handle of a locked door and cursed under her breath as the soldiers rounded the bend and spotted them with their lantern.
“Look what we have here.” Gloated one of the soldiers. “Just as we were promised.”
Ralis pushed aside his doubts and concerns as he looked towards the soldiers and flashed them his most charming smile. “We’re not who you think we are.” He tried to lie.
The soldiers stopped with confused expressions even as their eyes glossed over under the full effect of his charm.
“We’re guests of Commander Atton and got a little lost.” Ralis continued even as he was terrified that the doubt that he felt was audible in his voice. “The garden is that way, right?”
One of the soldiers nodded and stepped aside. The others followed suit and Ralis could tell that his charms were not going to hold for very long. He took Amri’s hand and flashed another flirtatious smile at the soldiers as they hurried for the door.
Chapter Twenty
Ezra
Ezra shuddered against the rain, as droplets sizzled against her warm skin. The power of flame inside of her did not like water. It didn’t hurt, but she could feel the flame recoil against its counterpart. She wondered briefly what would happen if she attempted to take a bath or go swimming.
A sound caught her attention and Ezra smiled when she spotted Ralis and Amri hurrying through the gate. They were both breathing heavily as they joined them in the shadows of the manicured brush. Then Amri started to laugh.
“Guests of Commander Atton?”
“I wasn’t sure if that would work twice.” Ralis shrugged sheepishly as he concealed his identity again with his cloak.
“You’re a terrible liar.” Amri continued to snicker. “You’re lucky you have those charms of yours.”
“You were seen?” Miri gasped.
Ralis and Amri nodded.
“I don’t know how long my charm will last on them. The soldiers especially seemed confused by what I was saying.” Ralis noted.
“Someone else spotted you?” Amri asked.
“A servant, but I’m fairly confident that she’ll stay quiet.” Ralis answered with a nod.
“Either way we should not stay here any long.” Miri shivered as she looked towards the large house.
Together they returned to the main street and again blended in as best as they could with the small crowd that walked it. They had no destination in mind as they walked, other than they wanted to put as much distance between themselves and that house as possible. They hadn’t gone too far when Amri broke the silence between them.
“I should have seen that coming.” She cursed at herself as she kicked a loose pebble down the street. “The Boatman wins either way. Either we kill the Commander that’s been bothering him or he’s finally able to pay him off. How are we going to get into Esper now?”
“We could see what Buris has to offer. It’s been enough time for him to get whatever his setup is together.” Browen tried, and failed, to not sound pleased about the result.
“If the Boatman was setting us up, then perhaps your friend was genuine in his intent.” Miri suggested.
“He isn’t my friend.” Amri hissed in reply.
“Either way, we shouldn’t be here.” Ezra noted, the streets were still void of soldiers but that was almost as suspicious in this part of town.
“Agreed.” Amri nodded and they continued to make their way out of the opulent Gold District.
Together they hurried down the clean streets but as they moved Ezra could not shake the feeling that they were being followed. She felt paranoid as she looked behind them and flashed a glance down every street and alley they passed. Amri had to quietly whisper to her more than once to stop acting suspicious and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling.
“I think we’re almost at the bridge.” Amri remarked as the buildings were no longer as grandiose and the streets no longer as clean. “Let’s get a little bit closer before we find a sewer entrance.”
Ezra shuddered at the idea. “Must we use the sewer?”
“We don’t want to be seen, and if the sewers are anything like Verta’s then there are plenty of places to hide in them.” Amri answered.
“Many places to hide may also benefit our enemies.” Miri noted quietly.
As if on cue, a group of soldiers rounded the corner and stopped as they faced the five, head on. Everyone froze at the sight. Ezra’s heart began to race and the flame, despite the constant rain, flickered against her mind. She could burn them all, as she had done the soldiers in the mountains. She resisted the temptation as Amri’s whisper reached her ears.
“Act natural.”
Ezra swallowed hard and looked back the way they had come. Yet more soldiers were approaching, and they were all looking directly at them. Following Amri’s lead they started walking forward again, and in unison the soldier moved forward as well. In an attempt to avoid the seemingly inevitable confrontation, Amri attempted to lead them down a new street.
“They’re following us.” Ezra whispered.
“I have an idea.” Instead of hurrying down the oddly empty and lengthy street Amri turned and ducked through one of the store fronts before the pursuing soldiers could round the corner.
Everyone hurried after her and piled into the shop. A small bell chimed alerting the owner that there were visitors and the five hurried behind the many tall shelves so that their presence wouldn’t be seen from the large front windows.
Ezra tried to steady her breathing and not think about the enemies only feet away from them. She looked at the items on the shelf to distract herself and gasped as she realized she was staring into a horrific face. Clutching a hand over her chest she dared a second look at the thing and realized that it was only a well-crafted mask.
“Is that you again Lady Melani?” A withered voice called from the back room. “I told you I needed more time… oh.”
Ezra looked behind her to see a kindly looking old man with long white hair looking at them in surprise. Soldiers ran past the window and the man gasped as he guessed the situation before him. Ezra prepared the flame inside her, she would not let this man alert the guards to their presence, she would take the whole shop down if she needed to.
Amri seemed prepared to do what was necessary too as she drew one of her twin daggers from its plain sheath and directed it at the elder.
The man’s lips pursed tightly together as he looked between the five strangers in his store and the soldiers running through the street.
After a tense moment of strained silence, he waved them over. “I believe what you’re looking for is in the back. Come along this way.”
He pulled aside a heavy burgundy curtain that separated the main room from a back hallway with a polite grin. Everyone hesitated at the gesture. Ezra could not believe that this man would be willing to harbor the most wanted people in the country, even as he waved them over again.
“Come, come, I haven’t got all day. And I expect that I shall be receiving more customers shortly.” He chuckled, oddly calm despite the circumstances.
Ralis was the first one to accept the offer and hurried into the back, and everyone followed hesitantly behind him. Ezra played with a spark of flame between her fingertips of her left hand as they moved deeper into the strange shop, ready to ignite the very air if it came down to it.
With all of them through in the back the shopkeeper pulled the curtain again and concealed the darkened back room. A single lamp sat on a workbench where someone, likely the old man, had been working on a white mask. Parts of the mask were already carefully set with miniature red rubies and a bag of more rubies rested on the table beside it, waiting to be added to the work of art. A staircase, tucked neatly into the corner, reached up to the second-floor and the walls were covered in partially completed and finished masks.
The spark in Ezra’s hand grew into a small flame as she heard the chime of the front door ring again. “This is another trap.”
Amri’s eyes flicked around the room and eventually settled on the stairs up as the only other exit.
Miri drew her short sword and held it in steady hands. “We should be ready for a fight.”
Ezra smiled at the suggestion. Miri was so quiet, shy and timid in every scenario, other than combat.
“Shh.” Ralis had remained by the curtain and was holding a finger to his lips as he peeked through into the other room.
The old man’s voice echoed from the other side. “Good evening Sirs, not often that I see the Queen’s men in my shop. How might I be of assistance to you goodfellas?”
“Good evening.” A stern voice responded.
Ezra could hear the clomp of the heavy boots and the shifting of sturdy platemail as the soldiers moved around the store.
Another, equally firm voice continued. “Enemies of the Queen passed this way. Has anyone come into your shop in the past few minutes, or have you seen anything suspicious? The Queen will reward your loyalty.”
Ezra swallowed hard in the silence that followed and looked to the flame crackling in her hands.
Finally, the shopkeeper answered. “I’m so sorry Sirs, I am afraid that I haven’t seen anything suspicious this evening. I’ve been busy working on a new project for Lady Melani. That lucky woman has been invited to the upcoming Masquerade; can you believe it.” He then paused briefly. “If any of you gentlemen are attending, you won’t find a finer mask maker in all of Madaria. And since you are loyal servants of the Queen, I think I could give you a reasonable rate for any services rendered.”
“We’re done here.” One of the soldiers commanded.
After another brief moment of shuffling, the entrance chime sounded again. Not long after the shopkeeper joined them in the back room with a wide smile. His cheerful eyes moved between the flame in Ezra’s hand, to Miri’s shortsword, Amri’s twin daggers and Browen’s blade. He did not seem bothered by the armed strangers and continued to smile as he moved to his work bench.
“Did you hear that? What unpleasantness.” He chuckled as he sat upon the worn stool. “Feel free to pass the time here, I’m sure that they’re moving door to door searching for those Enemies of the Queen. They could be at it all night.”
Without a care, the man put a jewelers glass to his eye and resumed his work. Carefully he set a ruby into the white mask. His kindness had disarmed them all and Ezra looked between her four friends, unsure how to proceed.
“Why did you help us?” She finally asked, unable to go on without an answer.
The mask maker chuckled again. “Why not?”
“You could have been killed if they caught us here.” Amri pushed, equally confused.
“I choose not to live in the world of what could have been. I am here, safe, and so are you. I care little for speculation on missed futures.” He bit his tongue in concentration and he set another ruby carefully against the mask’s temple. “I suspect that you are the ones on all the posters, the Enemies of the Queen that everyone is talking about. If that is the case, then I am happy to have done my part in preventing the Queen from getting what she wants. Oh, and it is an honor to have royalty in my humble shop.” He looked up with a chuckle. “Should you ever need a mask made, please think of me first.”
Ezra blinked with surprise. “What do you want?” She asked, everything had a price and certainly this man was no exception.
He turned to her as if reading her thoughts and chuckled. “What do I want? I think, like many people, I want prosperity and good health.”
“No, for hiding us. What do you want?” She pushed, frustrated by his charismatic demeanor.
“Oh, for that.” He returned to his work with a chuckle. “I do enjoy a bit of company from time to time. If you are insistent on making this into some sort of transaction, then that would be enough for me.”
Ezra looked between her friends again. Only Ralis seemed to relax in the mask shop’s work room. He had moved to examine the many completed masks waiting on hooks. The mask maker smiled and returned to his work, pinching the jewelers lens to his eye with his cheek with his eyebrow.
“We need to cross into Esper.” Browen said quietly as he twisted his signet ring around his finger. “Can you help us.”
The old man hummed in concentration before answering the question. “I imagine that the likes of you cannot simply walk across the bridge. And I am afraid that harboring Enemies of the Queen is about as rebellious as I get these days.” He tapped his chin with his tweezers and considered. “I do have a shipment heading into Frellan soon, but I doubt all five of you would fit into the crate.”
“If only we could fly across” Ralis lamented again from the mask wall. He inspected an ornate black and lavender mask made almost entirely of lace.
“Fly?” The old man looked up and his eyes locked with Ralis’s.
As was to be expected, his expression glazed over once Ralis’s charms afflicted him. He smiled warmly at Ralis and nodded his head.
“I see.” He remarked. “Do you like that one? You can keep it; I think it would look fetching on one such as yourself.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.” Ralis politely returned the mask to its place on the rack.
The old man chuckled and stood from his work. With aged and veiny hands, he retrieved the mask and presented it to Ralis. “I am a maker of masks. Nothing gives me more satisfaction than pairing the right mask to the right person and this one is calling to you.”
Ralis smiled shyly as he accepted the mask.
The mask maker shuffled back to his seat. “Everyone wears masks, whether they acknowledge it or not. From Queens to pickpockets, we’re all part of this elaborate masquerade. My job is making those masks a reality, and I am damn fine at it, if I do say so myself.” He chuckled again then looked up at the grim faces of the others. “Whatever you’re planning is very dangerous. The soldiers will be watching the shores even more aggressively now that they know that you’re here.”
Amri moved to peek through the curtain. “We still have... another way.” She looked back at the mask maker. “Do you have access to the sewers?”
“How uncouth.” He blinked at the request and set his tools back down.
“I didn’t think so.” She looked through the curtain again. “I don’t see any sol
diers from here, I’m going to take a closer look.”
“There is a sewer grate in the center of the street, not far from my shop entrance.” The mask maker hummed. “If you are determined in your course, I do wish you luck.”
He returned to his work and Amri disappeared to the front of the building to peek through the tall windows. Miri and Browen followed after her and Ezra remained with Ralis, who continued to drink in the many intricate masks.
“You have so many and they’re all so unique and beautiful.” Ralis commented as he looked around, his gift held delicately in his hands.
“Why thank you, young man.” The mask maker smiled without turning away from his work. “I am but a muse, when inspiration calls I am obligated to listen. Unfortunately, the need for such things is rare these days. Were it not for the annual masquerade I would likely have closed my doors long ago.”
“Have you ever been?” Ralis asked.
“Only as a servant to those in attendance. More specifically the King-Regent himself. He had taken a liking to my work about six years ago and has tasked me to provide masks for his entire staff. It is uninspired work, but such things are necessary these days. Hence my upcoming shipment. I would usually deliver the masks myself, but I find that I can no longer tolerate that Mad King’s presence. I do wish that I could do more to help, I would love to make things harder for those damn loyalists.”
“You’ve done more than enough already.” Ralis smiled at the kindly man.
“Yes well… I do what I can.” He replied as another ruby was set next to the others.
Miri peeked through the curtain with an anxious expression. “There have been no soldiers yet, Amri thinks we should try for the sewers now.” She disappeared back to the front without waiting for a response.
Ezra sighed, the idea of creeping through the sewers made her skin crawl and she wondered if getting caught by the soldiers would really be that bad. She was wanted alive after all. She shook aside the foolish thought and moved for the curtain as Ralis said his goodbyes to the mask maker.
Sunken Wind Page 20
