Apple shook her head, chuckling softly. “I take it you are one of the stronger Delvers?”
Malek smiled. "Most adventurers claim of pressure, drowning in their dreams if they plunge too deep, dream too frequently. Those Delvers have trained themselves to snap back into the waking world with the same surge of will a dreamer can sometimes use to jolt himself free of nightmare, even if they must leave all their discovered treasures behind."
His gaze turned reflective. "Jess and I, we never had that. Always, we saw our adventures through to the end. It never occurred to us to do otherwise. And no matter how deeply Morlekai takes Alacabar, Lucienda, and me, none of us have ever felt as if we were drowning in nightmare, choking on horror."
He shrugged. "If anything, I feel more alive, more potent in Shadow than I ever did here in the waking world, for all that I know that one of these days our explorations will probably kill me."
Apple turned away. "I'm not surprised that you stand tall and proud in even the deepest realms of dream, Malek." Her smile was almost shy, when she gazed his way again. "The things you did, for me, I can never thank you enough."
Malek swallowed, his heart racing, horrified that she would so boldly call him out on his most hideous secret, that monster he had become, when he felt Apple wrap her arms tightly about him, hugging him close.
“Thank you, Malek. Thank you for coming to my rescue. Thank you for saving me from those monsters, thank you so much!”
Malek spent a wordless moment holding her close as Apple sobbed, exhaustion and terror working their way through her, until she found calm once more.
Gently he kissed a tear-stained cheek. “I'm glad I could be there for you, Apple. You are the sister of my sister, after all,” he smiled.
Apple dried the tears from her eyes even as she held him close, as if for comfort, reassurance from the horrible storm that her life had become. “How did you know?” Her voice, the faintest of whispers.
Malek gazed off for some moments, shrugging slightly. "Twilight, mostly. He alerted me. As did Jess, in her own way. From there? I just sort of, I don't know, tracked you down. Felt where you were. And then, well, you know the rest."
Solemnly she nodded. “I do.”
They spent some moments gazing out the slatted window then, an odd moment of peace, snug and warm on a cold winter's day, even as the winds howled forbiddingly outside.
Apple shivered. “Malek, what happens now?”
Malek grimaced. “Now? I do my best to snip the strings binding the hapless marionettes to Franken's will.”'
“Saints above, do I hate that man. If only he wasn't an inquisitor. There would be no way he could get away with what he is doing, then.”
Malek nodded philosophically. “Which is no doubt why our enemies are using him to spearhead their assault on the Calenbry clan.”
Apple kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Malek. I don't know what we would do without your help.”
Malek shrugged. “You both are like sisters to me. Of course I am here for you two.”
Apple took a deep breath, collected herself. “All right, then, what is our first step?”
Malek blinked and smiled. "My first step? Have a very personal... talk with whichever factors or patrons are holding debts outstanding against the lords that will be deciding Jessica's fate. If I can buy off those liens, or even take possession of the debts so that the lords owe their markers to me directly, well, at least we can make sure that Franken can't sentence Jessica to death."
Apple grimaced. "It might not be that easy, Malek. Franken supposedly represents the Crown. If he has affiliates even higher up, and they authorize him placing Crown liens on those debts, well, then there is only one thing you can do."
Malek shook his head. “Let's hope it doesn't come to that.” He then blinked as Apple proceeded to dress herself as elegantly and warmly as possible in the attire left to them.
"Well, hurry up, Malek. We're not that far from Krona's south gate, if you remember how we got here last night, and we really should get started if we are to make any use of the day."
Malek blinked. “Apple? I'm really not sure that's such a good idea.”
Her animated expression turned hard. "Do you have experience negotiating with various lords, plying them with honeyed words before you intimidate them all to hell with your sword? No? I didn't think so. Trust me, Malek. Far better we do this with honey and vinegar both, than vinegar alone."
Malek sighed. He could only imagine how Apple was feeling, but part of him still felt it prudent to wait for Morlekai.
Apple took a shuddering breath. "Trust me, Malek. Besides. The last thing I want to do is to spend endless hours in this small little cabin, quaint as it is, only to be haunted by my own thoughts. I would far, far rather be doing my part to rescue my clan, to say nothing of distracting myself."
Malek lowered his head, suddenly ashamed. Of course he should have thought of that. Poor Appolonia spending the day with nothing but those slavers' mocking laughter haunting her memory, the things she had no doubt been forced to endure... he shuddered at the recollection, but his nose was far too sharp not to have detected the man's seed upon her.
It had filled him with such unholy fury.
The poor man's soul shrieking as it was stretched and warped in ways unspeakably horrific, before being utterly consumed in the hideous furnace of a dying star...
He roughly shook the thought away.
Beholding a trembling Apple, her face gripped by a ghastly pallor, eyes haunted by whatever she had seen in his gaze.
“Apple? It's all right,” Malek whispered, gaze firmly upon his shaking fists. “It's over. He's gone now. Forever.”
“What did you do?”
The words hung in the air, endlessly.
Words that could not be taken back, no matter how much either may wish that nothing had been said at all.
Malek swallowed, his gaze filled with apology even as he winked. "What I did was agree with you. When a beautiful lady offers to accompany me and smooth my path through polite society with her natural grace and charm, I would be a fool to disagree."
Apple braved a trembling smile, linking his arm to hers. “Well then, my heroic and noble companion, it's time to get you looking presentable.”
2
Sooner than he had thought, Malek found himself freshly washed and scrubbed, armaments clean and oiled, looking as presentable as he ever did. A proper courtesan he would never be, but as to his station there could be no doubt, as evidenced by the pair of guards at the lords gate before the vast and majestic walls of Krona, gazing at Malek with no small amount of apprehension, but not daring to deny him entrance, especially when he smiled.
“You may pass, Del Sousel,” offered the more senior guardsman, stepping back for all that he still kept a firm grip on his halberd.
"But what about that Zweihander? It's no sidearm, it's a weapon of war," hissed his younger companion, both men wearing open-faced helms and mail hauberks over well-padded gambesons that served as excellent protection and insulation both. Yet the guardsmen were still shivering, their breath clearly visible in the winter air. Apple shivered as well, for all that she had dressed up as warmly as she could, Malek alone seeming immune to the bitter cold.
"He's a Delver, Marcus! Do you really want to make an issue of it, let alone touch that damned thing? And half of those bastards are completely mad," the senior guardsman hissed, perfectly audible to Malek's increasingly acute sense of hearing even as he smiled and waved Malek and Apple through, not bothering with even the most cursory checks of their person, nor even bothering to ask Apple's name.
Malek nodded his silent thanks and wisely said nothing, taking Apple's arm as they made their way through, immediately caught up in the crowd of commoners who had been forced to wait at the main gate, though all instinctively made plenty of room for the youth wearing scaled armor of the deepest prismatic blue, and a massive serpentine blade that even the least magically gifted could sense whis
pering hungrily for their very souls. Said sword being presently worn within a clever backsheath slitted at one side to allow for comfortable carrying, as well as the surprisingly fast unsheathing of his blade, after Malek had practiced for countless hours to draw it even faster than most men could draw their sabers when he had first been gifted with it. For death, as his mentor Eloquin had been fond of saying, could come for them at any moment, at any time.
"They didn't even ask who I was," Apple wryly shook her head. "They just took one look at you, and seemed ready to foul themselves."
Malek shrugged. "I get that, sometimes. Ever since Jess and I first survived the deeps, people would sometimes look at me strangely, and the deeper I went, the worse it got. And after joining Morlekai's band, battling every conceivable nightmare Shadow throws our way... people now cross the street, just to avoid us."
Apple smiled, squeezing his gloved hand almost tenderly. “It's okay, Malek. Jess is my sister, after all, and I know just how crazy you Delvers can get. Mad, but always loyal to those you love.” She looked up at him then, and something in her eyes made Malek flush furiously.
He turned away to gaze at what was, he had to admit, a wonder of a city. Krona entire surrounded by massive walls of pristine alabaster whiteness, stone that never turned gray with soot or smoke, but always shone brilliantly in the light of the sun, as if they had entered Heaven's gate.
Even from the outskirts of the capital city he caught sight of a number of massive palatial structures comprised of the same shimmering stone as had been used in the construction of the great walls, capped with perfectly polished domes of copper and bronze, sparkling with an almost painful brilliance in the noonday sun. Truly, Krona was a city of wonder to rival any other.
As they walked along the generous boulevard in the center of the city, Malek almost felt as if he were strolling in a park. Vast walls of palest stone were covered in ivy, many lush with health despite the cold weather, the thoroughfare all the greener with the row of birch and pine neatly dividing the twin flows of pedestrian traffic and carriages, soothing touches of green in a city white with ice and snow. For an ugly, cold winter day, Malek had to admit that Krona shone as beautiful as ever, the boulevard kept pristine along its entire length, so that all might enjoy the harmony of the seasons, as the king put it, lover of the horticultural arts that he was.
He turned to Apple then, bemused to see the expression of awe covering her exquisite features.
“She is beautiful, isn't she?” Malek said with a certain fierce pride.
Apple smiled, her gaze strangely knowing. "The crown jewel of Erovering, what every Squire of War trains to fight to his dying breath to defend. Sometimes you remind me so very much of Jess, Malek; and my father too."
Malek chuckled softly. “It's true. Beneath all the petty backbiting in the Lords Council lies a city, a people, I would do all I could to protect, even if the king cried havoc, and Krona herself was besieged by all the armies under the sun.”
Apple shivered but nodded. "I have no doubt any invader foolhardy enough to lay siege to Krona would rue the day they dared challenge the home city of the Adventurers Guild."
“True enough, sister of my sister. True enough. Come, Apple, I do believe I see the home of our first factor up ahead.”
Apple squeezed his hand, only slightly nervous, yet her calm smile gave nothing away. “Excellent, Malek. Please, be a dear and let me do the talking on this one? If I misplay my hand, then I will let you finish the round, but if we were to try speaking softly and carrying a big stick first?”
Malek chuckled dryly, patting his sheathed blade. “I take it I am the big stick?”
Smiling, Apple knocked on the entrance to one of the better appointed villas in the merchant's district, the discrete bronze placard upon the fine hardwood door proclaiming the resident therein a skilled representative for all legal and financial needs, though the face of the man gazing at them both through the door slit upon the other side of the reinforced door was that of a hard-eyed veteran, well used to dealing with the city's more desperate clientele.
“Barrister Teeson's residence, how may I help you?”
Apple smiled. "Good day, sir. We wish to speak with Barrister Teeson regarding a fiduciary matter.
The man blinked then nodded. "One moment, my lady. Let me see if the good barrister is free to receive guests."
With that, the man closed the door slit, only to return moments later, granting them admittance and leading them down a well-appointed corridor indicating that their host was doing quite well, or at least wanted to give the appearance of such, and Malek had to admit that several of the bronze statues upon various hardwood end tables were exquisitely made, and the pastoral landscapes would not have been out of place even in a lord's manor. The doorman visibly paled once Malek had entered the manor, catching sight of the greatsword strapped to his back, but between Malek's cold smile and Apple's soothing patter as she made her way to the heart of the structure, the doorman did his best simply to keep ahead of the situation, hurriedly greeting his master and exchanging a few quick words before bowing his way out.
Malek and Apple made themselves comfortable upon fine stuffed leather chairs across a well-polished oak table, facing the smiling countenance of none other than Barrister Teeson, who had adapted the recent custom of wearing a fine woolen vest along with his cotton tunic, his hosiery as well tailored as any nobleman's. Refreshments had been laid out for them by a second servitor wearing messer and buckler, much as had the doorman, Teeson's men obviously expected to perform a dual role as the situation demanded.
Malek took a sip of the fine brandy laid out for them, nodding appreciatively. "A Calenbry Red, is it not, Barrister Teeson?"
The somewhat nervous looking man flashed a relieved smile and nodded, pleased perhaps to hear Malek speak so civilly when Malek knew that all eyes had been upon him and his admittedly large sword.
“Quite excellent,” Apple allowed, taking a sip as well. “And you gave it a moment to breathe. Well done.”
"Yes, I am so glad you both enjoy. The Calenbry ciders and brandies are both in considerable demand of late, so many other groves having succumbed to fruit blight of one sort or another over these last few years. At least with the Calenbrys, you know you are always getting a quality drink," he chuckled.
Apple nodded solemnly. “I quite agree. Their wines are the only ones I drink, really.”
Teeson raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know they had branched off into wine making. A wonderful addition to their repertoire! Sadly, I am not aware of any significant quantity being put up for auction."
"That's because sugar, as you know, is expensive. Until they refine the process and are absolutely satisfied that it meets the most discerning of palates, their batches of apple wine will be relegated to family, retainers, and close friends."
Teeson dipped his head, suitably impressed. "A connoisseur then? Most excellent. And how may I help you today, Lady..."
"Calenbry." Apple smiled. "Appolonia de Calenbry. And the one you can thank for this most excellent vintage, grown from groves that never suffer blight, is my sister."
For some reason, the man paled and swallowed. "That is most... interesting." He braved a smile. "Did you perhaps need capital for a shipping venture on your family's behalf? I can do you even better! I can put you in touch with a number of traders who would love to purchase exclusive rights to your stock directly, at handsome rates, I can assure you. Traders who would, of course, be more than happy to handle the logistical end of things as well."
Malek frowned, catching the sudden stench of fear, noting the sheen of sweat now forming upon the man's brow despite the chill. Apple had chosen the direct approach, double-edged blade that it was, for it would eventually leak out to all that she was very much in play, and dipping her feet into the murky waters of Erovering's politics. Then again, it had the virtue of absolute honesty, and she could more effectively hint at the benefits of doing favors for a most powerful family
.
Then again, if it alerted individuals with less than healthy interests in Apple, well, Malek would be more than happy to deal with those individuals directly, pump them for all the information he could, then show them exactly what happened to people who hurt those he loved.
He was a Squire of War, after all. A master of all his courses, and as Eloquin had hammered into them time and time again, mercy for the enemy was never on the agenda.
Never.
Malek blinked to hear a whimper.
Teeson was gazing at him in unmistakable terror.
For some reason, this infuriated Malek.
“What are you afraid of, Teeson?”
His voice, cold as death.
Teeson swallowed and tried for a laugh that rang false on Malek's ears. "My lord, I assure you! Nothing could be farther from the truth. I merely worry that I might lack the capacity to be of assistance to you. If it is not trade contacts to better facilitate the distribution of Calenbry's most excellent Red and Golds, I am not entirely sure that I can provide service of the caliber you fine nobles deserve." He nervously cleared his throat and Malek detected the faintest tingle of a bell being rung.
“Perhaps, Lady Calenbry, Lord? You would prefer to make arrangements with a barrister more suited to your station than one as humbly situated as I?”
Apple smiled and shook her head, even as Malek mimed stretching, lifting himself from the seat to saunter over to the door, allowing Apple to do her best to charm the barrister with her patter even as Malek discretely fastened the bolt of the door.
No one would be entering those chambers without tearing the door down, and as the door opened outward and was of excellent construction, Malek was sure they would have plenty of uninterrupted time with the barrister.
Gods of Shadow and Flame Page 2
