Rawk finally got himself organized and hurried upstairs. In the kitchen, he realized he had skipped breakfast and grabbed a couple of wrinkled apples. He was about to head out into the taproom when he noticed Demon had returned. The kitten was sitting near the door, watching him silently.
“Hello again.” He found some meat and held it out. And much braver than before, Demon entered to kitchen to take the food. Rawk scooped him up before he could escape and hurried back down to find Celeste.
A few minutes later, kittenless, Rawk stepped down from the porch and towards the river.
“Where are you going, Rawk?”
Rawk looked around and spotted Waydin coming in his direction. He tried to think. “Well...” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “I’ve got all those Heroes standing around the city waiting for trouble. I thought they could be useful, so I was going to round them up.”
Waydin looked around too. “Weaver has lots of men. I’m not sure your Heroes will be needed.”
“Do you think? Well, I’ll just tell them they aren’t needed then so I can stop wasting my money.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Did Weaver send you along to watch me?”
Waydin winced. “No.”
“I’m just going to find a couple of them and tell them to find the rest. I’ll be back up at the palace in about an hour.”
“I don’t know...”
“Waydin, bugger off. Just tell Weaver I lost you. Or I’ll hit you on the head and leave you here.”
“What makes you think you could do that, even if you wanted to?”
“Go away, Waydin.” Rawk turned his back on the man and continued down the street. When he turned at the first corner, he saw the guard standing and watching. He didn’t look happy.
A couple of quick turns later, Rawk slowed down. For a moment he wondered if he should really go and round up the Heroes, but decided not to risk it. Some of them may well side with humans against dwarves, regardless of who was offering the money. And Rawk wasn’t sure he wanted them on his side if they were fighting for the money anyway. He turned down another alley and headed down the hill as quickly as he could.
He stopped at the offices of Keeto Alata and barged in past the receptionist.
“Rawk?” Yardi said when he entered the office. “Today you not even pretending to be polite?”
“No time. How much capital is locked up in Katamood.”
Yardi shrugged. “Not a lot. Real estate, mainly. A few of our warehouses be full, but that’s all.” She put down her pen and sat back in her chair. “Weaver is calling up the mercenaries?”
“You know about them?”
“Of course. We brought a few boat loads in.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know who had hired them at the time. I’ve had people investigating.”
“Well...”
“If we lost everything in Katamood it would hurt, but we would recover. You not be broke just yet.”
“Good. Good. Then just make sure everyone is safe, I suppose.”
“I’ve got them moving to the other side of the river. I was assuming you be fighting against Weaver?”
“Yes. Against. It sounds as if you’ve got it under control then.”
Yardi shrugged. “South of the river won’t necessarily be safe, but there are evacuation plans if required.”
She wrote a note and called in her receptionist. “Give this to Marcus.” The lad was gone a second later. “You should go, Rawk. You don’t want to get caught here.”
“Of course. You should leave too.”
“I have a few more things to do. I assure you, I not intend to die for your money.”
“Good. Stay safe, Yardi.”
He gave her a kiss on the cheek and went, hurrying back out the front and down the stairs. He was breathing a little easier. If Yardi said she had everything under control then he believed her and it gave him a lot less to worry about. That just left a lot of things he needed to worry about.
The city was holding its breath.
Everyone hurried about their business, barely looking aside, or stood and watched everyone else suspiciously. Rawk placed himself firmly in the former group, but knew that he was getting more attention than anyone else. Once he was across the river, it wouldn’t matter.
“Rawk.”
It took a moment for Rawk to recognize his name and a moment more to stop. He looked around and saw Clinker and a dwarf work gang looking at a wall.
“Hello, Clinker. What are you doing here?”
He pointed at the wall. “Working.”
Words of Wisdom were scrawled across the timber and plaster. “Tomorrow is too late. The Prince must go.” Rawk grunted. “That seems a lot less obscure than usual.”
One of the dwarves nodded. It was Kristun, carrying on as if nothing had happened the previous night. “Doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination, does it?”
“Leave it there,” Rawk said.
“What? If we do that...” Kristun was watching Rawk carefully.
“Today is too late. Leave it. Everyone get over the river as quickly as possible. If you see any other dwarves or elves or fermi or on the way— or anyone else— take them with you.”
The dwarves looked at each other.
Rawk sighed. “I’ve been talking to Weaver this morning. He’s had enough and he has the mercenaries to prove it.”
“Mercenaries?”
“They’re everywhere.”
Kristun looked at his companions, and Rawk left them to figure out what they were going to do. When he looked back, Clinker was hurrying along a few steps behind.
“Does Prince Weaver really have mercenaries?”
“Yes, he does, lad. It’s going to get ugly very soon.”
“Does Thacker know?”
If Yardi knew, surely Thacker did as well. “I hope so. Now you have to get across the river.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, I’m making a detour first. You go. And no arguing this time; just do as I ask.”
He pushed the boy gently down the hill and turned aside, heading towards Biki’s place. The tension in the city seemed to grow with every breath. It was stifling, oppressive, hanging over everything like a pall. At Biki’s place, he hurried inside and up the stairs.
Rawk knocked loudly but it seemed to take forever before he got a reply. The door opened a crack and Biki looked out nervously. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.
Celeste, Grint and Juskin were waiting inside, looking like they wanted to be somewhere else.
“How do you get here so quickly?”
“You told us to hurry,” Grint said.
“I know but... Well, why are you still here?”
“We got here about a minute ago.”
“Very well. All right. Come on then, let’s get out of here.”
Biki nodded. “I was just trying to get Suki organized.” She was putting her daughter’s shoes on as she spoke. The little girl was nursing Demon, running her fingers through his black fur. He was enjoying it enough to lie still and quiet.
“Is that it?”
Biki looked around the room. “I’ll just be a second.”
“Ummm, Rawk?” Grint said from his place by the window. He motioned Rawk over and twitched aside the flowery curtain so Rawk could see. “Are they with you?”
Rawk swore. A troop of the City Guard was out in the street, weapons drawn, listening to their captain. It wasn’t immediately obvious what was being said, but Rawk doubted it had anything to do with lunch.
“No time, Biki. We have to go now.” Rawk grabbed Celeste’s hand and pulled her to her feet.
“I can’t run, Rawk,” Juskin said.
“You have to.”
“No, you don’t understand. I really can’t. I have a bad hip and... Well, I’m just too old.”
“Well.”
“I am human. And they won’t be expecting me.”
Rawk tried to think. It didn’t seem to be working. “We can’t just leave you. Weaver will want to talk to you eventually.”
“If I can just get through the next few minutes I should be fine.” He took a deep breath. “I am just going to walk out the door and across to the other side of the river. The guards will not know me.”
They didn’t have time to argue. “Very well. But please be careful.” He wished there was someone else they could send the same way, but even regular dwarves and fermi would be harassed at the moment. Ones know to consort with him would be arrested on sight. Then he thought of someone who could go the easy way. He took Demon from Suki’s hands and passed him over to Juskin. “Look after this guy would you?”
“Of course.” Juskin took another deep breath, opened the door and stepped out into the hall. A moment later he was gone and Rawk closed the door.
“Can we go now?” Grint grabbed Suki from where she sat quietly on the bed and swept her up into his arms.
“Yes.” Drawing Kaj, Rawk opened the door again and checked the hallway. Nobody, so he went out and headed towards the stairs. Standing on the landing he stopped to listen. “Path, damn it.” He motioned the others upwards, then followed behind Celeste, last in line. He ducked out of sight on the next floor just as the first of the Guard pounded up the stairs. Up another floor, until there were no more stairs.
“Where to now?” Grint asked. He swapped the little girl to his other arm.
There was no way out. Rawk knocked on the door to the rear of the building and, when there was no answer, motioned for Grint to work on the lock.
The dwarf grunted. “I’m not a locksmith. Or a thief.”
“I could possibly break the door, but it would be very noisy.”
Grint put Suki down and set to work. A couple of minutes later, the lock was broken and the door was open.
“Close enough,” Rawk said. He herded everyone through and closed the door behind him. It wouldn’t latch properly, so he jammed it shut with a chair.
“And now?” Grint asked.
Rawk motioned to the window at the rear of the apartment’s single room. Outside, a dirty, grey-tiled roof led down to the roof of the neighboring building. He sheathed his sword and quickly climbed out.
Crouching on the tiles, he looked around. Buildings crowded close. It seemed that the roofs were sewn together like a patchwork quilt. They were hardly distinguishable from the never-cleaned plaster walls. All he could see was a long grey and brown landscape of mountains and valleys. There was no clear way out. Rawk turned about and lifted Suki out through the window. He sat down, held her close and slid down the roof. He hit the gutter at the bottom of the valley and grunted when he hurt his knee, but the little girl was suddenly enjoying herself.
“That was fun, was it?”
She nodded and gave a small smile.
“Well, I’ll see what else I can organize for you.”
But next he carried her up the opposite roof and stopped at the peak and examined the options. There weren’t all that many. The next slope lead down to the nothing of an alley and the gap across to the next building was too far to cross. Grint stopped by his side, grabbing his arm as he tried to get his balance. He examined the possibilities as well. “This is going to be fun.”
“Suki and I were just talking about that, weren’t we?”
The little girl didn’t say anything.
Celeste and Biki clambered up but there wasn’t time to rest. Rawk sent them shuffling along the ridge towards where it butted up against the blank plaster wall of another building. There was no window or any other obvious way to get inside, but it was the only route that didn’t involve leaping across alleys or falling onto cobbles. At the wall, Rawk put Suki down with her back against the plaster, and looked around. He went carefully down the slick tiles to the gap. Grint stayed at the top and tapped the wall experimentally.
“Down here,” Rawk called softly, beckoning them down with him. The wall by his side continued when the roof he was on ended, so the alley ended at a dead end. There was a balcony on the end wall and its rail just a couple of feet lower than his position.
“Just one level,” Rawk muttered, shaking his head.
“That isn’t going to be easy,” Grint said a moment later, letting go of Suki’s hand and putting her safely against the wall again.
“Have you got a better plan?”
He grunted. “I don’t even have a worse plan.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“And you and I might be able to do it, but I don’t know about anyone else.”
Rawk shrugged. “There’s a little ledge just down there…”
The dwarf leaned out carefully to look. “Yes, there is.” He looked from the roof to the ledge to the balcony, as if calculating. “It still won’t be easy.”
Rawk nodded. “I’ll climb down and then...” Yes, and then? He was about a foot taller than anyone else and probably a lot more used to jumping and climbing and...
Celeste sat down on the edge of the roof, dangling her legs out into nothing, then reached out, found a handhold and slowly lowered herself down to the ledge. Rawk wanted to reach out to grab her, to pull her back, but she stretched her leg across to the rail, found another spot for her hand and pulled herself after her foot. A moment later, she stepped down onto the balcony and brushed off her hands.
Rawk grunted as she waved to the others. “It’s easy,” she said, though the look on her face suggested otherwise. “You come across, Grint, then Rawk can pass Suki over.”
Grint looked at Rawk and did as he was told. He was shorter than his sister but managed to jump over to the balcony with minimal effort. The next bit was going to be the problem. But Rawk didn’t hesitate. He didn’t have time. And if he paused to think anyway…
He got the little girl onto his back, holding on tight, then wondered if it would be better if she held on to the front. He didn’t know. He couldn’t think. But every delay was bringing Weaver’s men closer and probably making Suki more scared. So he carefully lowered himself onto the ledge. There was barely room for his feet.
He was being choked and could barely breathe, but he managed to mutter some encouraging words as he worked out what he was going to do next.
“Keep your eyes closed, darling,” he said. He looked down and wished he could keep his closed as well. He stretched across towards the railing. He could feel his foot beginning to shake and willed it to stillness. Suki’s weight was pulling back out into the nothingness. She clung to him tightly, breathing into his ear. Rawk froze for a moment and he did close his eyes. The little girl wasn’t crying. She trusted him. He shifted his hands, and managed to lean sideways enough for Grint to complete the transfer. The dwarf hugged Suki for a moment before putting her down.
Rawk took a deep breath and was over. He smiled at Suki and clenched his fist around his shaking fingers Biki started across almost straight away. When she made it to the ledge, she looked down and it seemed she might never move again.
“Look there.”
Rawk looked towards the mouth of the alley and swore. Three of the City Guard were staring up at them.
“Is that Rawk?”
Rawk swore again and turned his attention back to Biki as the men started to run down the alley. He called her across, but she couldn’t move. “Come on, Biki.” But the dwife shook her head and clung to the wall. Down below, the soldiers were starting to climb. A couple more paused at the entrance to the alley, then headed off to find another way into the building.
“I can’t.”
“You have to do it. Suki is waiting.”
That got her attention. Biki looked at the little girl, who was crying now, sitting on the rough boards by Grint’s feet. “Help me,” she said.
Rawk reached out and took her hand. “Jump and I’ll pull you over.”
She did, but it wasn’t much of a jump. Rawk grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards the balcony. She landed half ov
er the rail, winded and hurt. Rawk was flat on his back, but the other’s rushed to help, dragging her over onto the balcony. When Suki went to her it wasn’t immediately obvious who was comforting whom.
“We don’t have time for this,” Grint said. He pulled Biki to her feet and picked up the girl. “They could be here any second.”
Rawk stood up and shouldered open the door into the apartment. Inside was quite a bit larger than Biki’s apartment, but it was shabby and unloved. There must have been a second room with the bed. Rawk went to a door and reefed it open. Yes, the bedroom. He swore and went to the other door. He looked up and down the hall, trying to decide which way to go but there was nothing to give him a clue. “This way.”
They’d barely gone anywhere at all when two men appeared out of a doorway. “There they are.”
Rawk drew his sword, even as he turned to urge everyone in the opposite direction. There were more men at the other end of the hall. The first ones were closer, so Rawk turned back and charged. He killed one man in the initial rush, slicing him across the leg and running him through. But Kaj got stuck in a rib and he couldn’t pull the weapon clear fast enough.
He ducked a swing, blocked another with his arm against his opponent’s arm. The wound from the riot screamed at him. No time. He punched once and kicked, blocking out the crunch of bone and the scream of pain. He pulled Kaj free with a jerk and pushed past his companions before the second set of guards could close the gap. The men slowed but kept coming.
“Keep everyone moving, Grint,” he said. “Not too fast though. We don’t want to run into trouble before we know it’s there.”
The dwarf grunted.
Rawk’s knee was aching. His arm was worse; there was blood soaking through the bandage.
Walking backwards after his companions, Rawk carefully stepped over the two dead guards. He smiled at the remaining men. “Are you two ready to die today?”
They slowed slightly and looked at the dead men. One of them shifted his grip on his sword.
“Is it worth it? Just for Weaver?”
The men looked at each other.
“He won’t even know. Say you didn’t see us.”
An Army of Heroes Page 17
