Fall of the Tower 1

by Cecelia Isaac

  Moon had picked out the leader of the crew to follow tonight, but as the encounter wound down, she changed her mind. A younger woman, brash and new to the crew, crowed loudly about taking her winnings to the nearest pub, and several others decided to join her.

  Moon signed off with the leader of the mission, went down a side street, turned invisible, and backtracked.

  Hoping something would bear fruit, Moon tracked the three to the pub. There followed several hours of watching them drink and play dice. She did not know if this was a quality of her magic or not, but Moon rarely grew bored on a stakeout. When she worked, a concentration fell over her that meant she was both alert yet patient. Moon's only anxiety now was that Renat would wonder where she'd been, but he was used to her random comings and goings.

  After some time, the brash Demon's Breath got up, and staggered out the door. Moon followed on quiet feet.

  They wound through the city. They were deep in Demon's Breath territory now, and this young woman had little to fear. Renat wouldn't let his people wear colors, but Loviva had no such qualms. She used them to show power, and it was known in her territory that only a fool would attack a member of her crew.

  Moon missed her jacket. She'd worn a cape of deep green tonight, and it was soundless and warm enough, but she liked the weight and jingle of her military jacket.

  Despite the brazenness of her crew, Loviva's base was still well-hidden. When the Demon's Breath turned abruptly down a nondescript lane, Moon's heart sped up. Finally.

  They came around a corner and Moon stepped into the courtyard of a palatial estate. This deep in the crowded city, the amount of space was impressive. The courtyard was lined with carved white statues and pretty topiaries in strange shapes. Somewhere, a fountain burbled.

  The brash young fighter was the most incongruous piece of the panorama, and she didn't seem to notice it as she walked through the courtyard path. After a stretch, stone steps led up from the garden to the building, which boasted three floors of balconies. The young Demon's Breath turned left, to a well-lit wing off the first floor, where Moon spied bunk beds and other young crewmembers leaned against the walls and smoked.

  She was certain Renat's crew would care only for the cost of such a haven, but she appreciated the artistry. Large, yes, but not gaudy. There was no doubt this was Loviva's lair, and Moon let the young fighter go on alone to the far wing. She didn't need her anymore.

  Casing the house was hardly a chore for Moon. This was what she did best, and besides a few mishaps running into servants while invisible, she was good at it. She searched the whole place, starting with the wings on the ground floor and then working her way up the building.

  On the second floor, she found Loviva working with her lieutenants. Moon came as close as she dared to the door, but it was only opened a crack, and she couldn't swing it open without drawing attention. The room was large and square, the far wall opening to the balcony and courtyard below. Directly ahead, Loviva folded her arms while she listened to the report of the night's raid.

  Moon cast about for a way in. She had used the "wind blowing the door open" trick in the past, but she doubted Loviva would fall for that, not when she knew Moon's secret.

  Keeping her ears trained for signs of movement from the office, Moon checked the room to the left. It was dark and quiet, and the door was ajar. She slunk into the room, leaving as little space between her body and the doorframe as possible, so the door only moved a little. Once inside, she saw the balcony ran the whole length. She stepped out of the glass-paned door, and almost jumped out of her skin when she caught site of a guard on the balcony. He leaned against the wall in a well of shadow, the bright end of his cigarette burning. He glanced curiously at the door as it moved under her hand.

  Invisible, she cast no shadow, but some people could sense her. It wasn't magic, or at least she didn't think so. Just an intuition that made people look in her direction, straining for something they couldn't make out.

  But she froze, and he looked away. She was able to get around him without difficulty, and step into the light thrown from Loviva's room.

  The lieutenants had gone, but Loviva remained, standing over her desk and examining the papers there.

  This is why Loviva and Renat are the rulers of the city, Moon thought. Neither rested.

  She, too, wanted a look at Loviva's papers, but that wouldn't be possible while the woman was still in the room.

  There was nothing to do but wait.

  ~*~

  Renat had started looking toward the window every two minutes, waiting for Moon to return. It was getting late, and with the unrest in the city, he didn't like how she wandered. What if the walls came down? What if a guard snatched her? What if—

  Gawin entered the office, his face grim.

  Renat straightened, wincing as the movement sent his head into a spasm of pain, like a visor tightening. "What?" he barked.

  Gawin dropped a piece of paper onto the desk. A quick scan told Renat exactly what he'd expected: another hit by the Demon's Breath, and this time Loviva was claiming the territory.

  He cursed. A turf war, now? Just as he was planning their escape? Why couldn't things have stayed the same, just for a few weeks? Then Loviva could have the whole damn city.

  "Renat, I..."

  "Spit it out, Gawin."

  "Faruq was out on Garland tonight, sir. He says... well, he says the Demon's Breath was ready for them. Outnumbered three to one."

  "Loviva came ready for a fight, so?"

  "He thinks they may've come prepared with some special information."

  Renat drew a breath. Why did he have to wait for Gawin to spell it out before he could see it? It was right in front of him.

  "Someone's been passing them information."

  Gawin nodded grimly. "We thought the same."

  The paper crunched between Renat's hands. "Fuck."

  He could not afford a rat at a time like this. Things were too precarious as it was. It could undermine their escape from Carnate, it could undermine his crew. He saw everything falling apart in front of his eyes, everything he'd worked to build.

  "Leave."

  "Let me help, Renat, we need to—"

  "Leave," he said again, coldly. The only person who could help him now was Moon. She was the only person he trusted. Gawin would have to wait while he rooted out this person on his own, and dealt with them swiftly.

  After Gawin closed the door, Renat paced the room. The action made him tired, and he sat on the bed and closed his eyes. He twisted his cane in his hands, fear and fury making it hard to think.

  Abruptly, he stood. He could make a plan to oust the rat, but first he needed more information. He put on a light coat and exited the office from his window.

  Ever since Moon had married him – instead of working against him or for his competitors – she'd said they should make the building less accessible. Other cities had wider buildings, or glass shards in the tops of walls, or magical wards...but that was not the nature of Carnate. Sealed between the walls, and with the tower taking up space in the center, the buildings had grown close together. And when there was no more space to build, they had gone upwards, stacking on top of each other to contain the population. Since the siege, the crowding has only worsened, as people moved toward the city center. The guard had cleared houses that crowded the wall, for fear of aiding the Wolves of the Hji. And at first the Hji had had a catapult that launched fire and shrapnel into the city, but eventually the guard had managed to destroy it. All of this paled in comparison to the magical attacks, of course. Thankfully (and this was the first time Renat had thought this about the crown's sorcerers), they had plenty of wizards stashed up on the top floor of the tower, indentured into service to the king. While Renat usually went up against these sorcerers, he couldn't deny that whatever they'd been doing for the past eleven months, it was working.

  And so, using the crowded rooftops, he left his room with his crew none the wiser.

 
A scarf over his face and the darkness of the night concealed his features. Each step sent a wave of pain through his skull, but the cane would've been too noticeable.

  In Demon's Breath territory, he slowed his pace and tried to look like a man on his way home to a normal dinner with a normal family. He wasn't even sure what a man like that looked like, so he brought to mind his old neighbor Arlo, who left in the mornings to fish in the river, and returned late in the evenings.

  Now that the city was besieged, Renat wondered what Arlo was doing.

  He almost forgot himself, and bent at the waist again to keep up the illusion of a man with his own troubles, and nothing of value on his person.

  He'd relish a little trouble with the mood he was in, but he knew that wouldn't be very smart.

  The front of Loviva's manor gleamed gray under the light of two lanterns on either side of the double doors. Sentries stood on the steps, a few more in the little guardhouse by the gate. He had no need to get in. Watching would do for now, especially since the rat didn't yet know that he was on to them. He leaned against the doorway and pulled the scarf tighter around his face.

  ~*~

  Loviva retired. She dimmed the lights and closed all the doors around her. The guard on the balcony switched with another crew member, and he and Loviva locked the new guard outside, and then the door to the hallway, locking Moon in.

  She spared a glance to the new sentry on the balcony, but it appeared he wasn't planning on staying there long. He swept the balcony before retiring to the room to the right of the office. She guessed the regular crew bunked on the main floor, while lieutenants had rooms in the main building. A quick glance to the courtyard told her there were enough sentries there that the Demon's Breath crew needn't worry about posting a guard on the second floor balcony.

  She kept a sharp ear out nevertheless, but felt comfortable enough to go to the desk and begin examining the papers there.

  The first was a map of the city. No one else would recognize it as such. It was written in a smuggler's code, one which was related but not completely the same as the one Renat had taught her after their marriage. The lines crisscrossing it were not the normal roads but rather smuggler routes, carving along the city. They looped around guardhouses and ran through houses of sympathizers. Red slashes marked where one would have to climb a building, X's marked routes tagged by the guard and no longer viable.

  It wasn't exactly what she'd come for, but it was valuable enough, and she noted a few places of interest before flipping over to the next piece of paper.

  Moon scanned the sheet in the dim light, at first not understanding what she saw. Then her eyes widened as she realized. She took a quick look around, making sure she was still alone, and then took up a scrap of paper and jotted down the crucial details in the smuggler shorthand.

  Fifteen minutes later, she had finished her sweep of the desk and the room. Despite her powers, Moon was no fool, and too much time spent in enemy territory was asking for trouble. She secured the pin in her headscarf and decided to make her way back.

  At times like these, Moon wished she had djinn powers. Shifting to animal form would've made things a lot quicker for her most days. As it was, she exited via the balcony, then back out the far room and down the quiet stairs.

  The courtyard was dark this time of night, but broad and open enough that she was able to cross it without trouble.

  The door presented a different problem, for it was now shut, and no drunken crew were conveniently arriving home. She was just considering her options when the door opened and a sentry poked her head in from the outside.

  "Oi!" she called to the guardhouse, and another Demon's Breath poked his head out. "Got a light?"

  Moon grinned. The whole evening had gone entirely too well, and she'd scaled enough walls in her lifetime. She stepped forward boldly while the other guard rummaged in his pockets. She put a fist to the door and pushed, sharply but quietly.

  It popped from the woman's fingers. "Ope!" she grunted, and lunged for it. Moon twirled past on her other side, crossing the threshold on light feet.

  She resisted the urge to cackle.

  Feeling invincible, she became visible once she crossed out of the dark alley. Take that, Loviva. Never threaten a Fade's family.

  "Moon?"

  Her blood froze in her veins at the sound of Renat's voice.

  ~*~

  Renat had come around the back of the manor after the front had proved too quiet for too long. He knew smugglers' ways, and evening time was often the busiest.

  He moved a circuit around Loviva's manor. He and Gawin had identified its location months ago, knowing their rival would be getting defensive as they pressed in on territory she'd held since he was a boy. Renat hadn't yet decided what to do with the information. But he'd only ever sent Gawin here, and had thought seeing it for himself would help.

  It was good they didn't need to topple Loviva, just put her off for a while. He didn't like the thought of wasting resources on her, but she'd struck three times in the past week. He could smell trouble brewing, and he hadn't become top of the pack in Carnate just by being quick on his feet. Sometimes you needed to bring down the hammer on your enemies. Moon had told him that. She always thought he was too soft. "This world's going to crush you flat some day, Renat." She didn't seem to notice he was already at the top of the underworld of Carnate, and as far as he was concerned, that made him just as much a king as anyone else. The one in the tower never bothered him much.

  And yet when he thought of giving it all up, there was no regret. He could rebuild anywhere, now that he had Moon to help him. She was worldlier, and he was a fast learner.

  There was some activity by a back gate for a while, a drunken crew member returning, and some crates loaded in by the crew at the door. But as the night waned on it grew quieter and quieter. He settled in against a dark corner. He wished he could sit but didn't want his body to grow stiff, in case he had to move quickly.

  He settled in expecting to spend the whole night there. It was hard to say what he thought he'd find, but certainly something was wrong. He ran through the members of his crew. None of them had enough information to be of value to Loviva, and the crewmembers who'd been attacked were all different. He rubbed a considering hand against his chin. Gawin knew more than most, but he couldn't imagine...

  The gate guard twirled a cigarette between her fingers, and patted her pockets down. She searched the ground around her but seemingly finding no book of matches in the dark alley, pulled open the door and poked her head into the courtyard of the manor.

  Renat sat up, trying to catch a glimpse of the interior. He wasn't sure if he needed to get in; he didn't that night, anyway. But if Loviva insisted on a war he might bring it straight to her doorway, just to show her who was in charge of Carnate now.

  The door popped out of the woman's hand, and she jumped forward to catch it.

  Renat frowned and cocked his head. The only light came from the lantern inside the walls, and he couldn't make out anything in the single shaft of light.

  It was a suspicion he wouldn't voice out loud, not even to himself. Still, he shifted behind the corner of the building, out of sight of the gate and further back into the dark.

  When she flitted into being, he said her name like a gasp.

  She turned on her heel. She wore her dark clothing, not the spangled jacket or her prized bracelets. He didn't even realize he'd come to expect her in those bright tones. The first half of their relationship she'd only worn black, but he'd learned it was only her cover, only utilitarian. She loved the bold colors more.

  Or so he thought.

  A look of guilt passed over her face before either of them could say another word, and it was more damning even than knowing she'd been leaving Loviva's place right after an attack on his crew.

  "This isn't what you think," she said, sharply.

  "You haven't been informing Demon's Breath on our runs?"

  She seemed to fold, a
s if bending herself from the weight of the truth. "I have, Renat, but--"

  He felt the pain of the realization more deeply than he thought possible, like a spearhead driving straight for his heart. For a moment, he couldn't speak. He couldn't even breathe.

  "Renat—" She stepped toward him.

  He stepped back. His gaze went to the dark alleys and high buildings around them. Suddenly he realized what a fool thing it had been, to call out in Demon's Breath territory, when they had a Fade working for them.

  "Stay back," he said, thinking only of making it out alive.

  His words seemed to only shock her. "Renat, no, you don't need to fear me—!"

  She hadn't acted yet. He needed to go before she had her wits about her. He turned, putting on a burst of speed and shifting as he did. His limbs lengthed, black fur covered his body, his vision improved. In panther form, his pain was less noticeable, at least for a time, and he used the energy he gained to run away as fast as possible.

  ~*~

  Moon gaped as Renat bounded away from her. In animal form, she had no hope of catching up to him.

  The look in his eyes had cut her. She'd seen him realize the moment he should be afraid, that he was in enemy territory face-to-face with a perceived threat. She tried to tell herself he was being practical. But there was little she hated more than that look. That look had followed her since childhood, whenever anyone realized what she was. Her own parents had turned her out. It was a mark of their fear, for they could have sold her to the empress, or a noble looking to overthrow her. But her parents had apparently been true believers of the lore that said Fades led cursed lives. She'd believed it, too, until Renat had offered her a way out of that life.

  Now she had seen that look. For the first time, in her own husband's face. Moon swayed on her feet, momentarily stunned. Finally, mechanically, she realized she ought to do something, that she stood only around the corner from Loviva's manor. And despite what her husband thought, being here was dangerous for her too. She strode forward mechanically, rounding a corner, and disappearing from the view of all with djinn blood.