Burn Me Deadly

TWENTY-THREE

I dragged the little gnome across town to the inn where Argoset and his pet Gargantua kept their rooms. I was probably too rough about it, and at least one person on the street roused himself from his post-hanging merriment to complain that I shouldn’t treat an old man that way. I didn’t care.

Before this, in my office, Lesperitt provided the rest of his story. When Liz failed to return by yesterday evening, he’d gone to Gary Bunson first thing this morning to report her missing. Gary had brushed him off before he could mention Liz’s name, he was so wrapped up in the upcoming hanging. That rang true, all right; anything that required Gary to actually do his job, especially amid the chaos of a public execution, would’ve sent him skittering under the nearest table like the cockroach he was. Then Lesperitt approached Argoset, who listened politely and promised to look into it. Since Argoset had not mentioned this to me at all in Gary’s office, either he forgot or he knew more than I first thought he did. He didn’t strike me as the forgetful type, so it was time to pile everyone in one place and start kicking until someone talked.

Just before we left my office I asked Lesperitt one last question, the one I really needed answered. “Why? Why would Liz even care about made-up dragons, after all this time?”

He looked at me with an almost infinite weariness. The back-lighting through the window gave him an infuriatingly serene, holy demeanor, and he spoke with the patience of a priest addressing an acolyte. “Have you ever believed in anything, Mr. LaCrosse? Especially when you were young, not yet aware of how ugly the world can be? We do anything to hold on to that spark that says the world is a magical place where gods can be found and touched. Even as old, cynical adults, that hope never fully goes away. That’s why she went. For the chance, however small, to touch a god she had once believed in.”

I did know a thing or two about belief, and about gods that could be touched. But I’d never shared that story with anyone, even Liz. I tried not to dwell on the fact that now I might never have the chance. Instead I said, “Even if dragons once existed, even if they existed now, they’d just be animals. Big lizards or snakes or something. Not gods.”

He smiled at me in what he probably meant to be a compassionate and sad way. It came out patronizing, and restoked the fury he’d momentarily doused with his feel-good mumbo jumbo. I grabbed him by the back of his collar, shoved him ahead of me toward the door and growled, “Yeah, well, keep your gods to yourself, pal. You better hope nothing happens to Liz, or you might be seeing your daughter sooner than you think.” It was a cruel thing to say, but I was in a cruel mood.

A short walk later we went through the lobby of the Saraden’s Sword, the only inn ritzy enough for an envoy from Sevlow. Its small tavern was usually reserved for guests only, but a hanging was a special occasion, and the revelers would have simply broken in had they not been freely welcomed.

Slats Pickering, the inn’s owner, was halfheartedly trying to keep the drunks under control. He looked up, smiled and said, “Hey, Eddie, what are you-” But something in my face made him abruptly fall silent.

“What room is that guy from the capital in?” I demanded. I must’ve radiated bad humor, because the patrons gave me plenty of room.

“Seven. The suite. Top of the stairs to the right. He’s in there right now.”

“And that big guy with him?”

“Eight, right next door.”

“The rooms connect?”

“No.”

“Seen the big guy today?”

“No. He left this morning and hasn’t come back.”

I nodded curtly. Some days it was good to be intimidating. I slapped a coin on the counter. “Send someone to get Gary Bunson, and when he gets here send him up to that room.”

Pickering nodded. I pushed Lesperitt up the stairs to the indicated door. It was the only room in the place that had a separate sitting room and bedroom, the closest thing to classy accommodations to be found in Neceda. I put my ear to the wood and heard nothing over the noise from downstairs. I started to knock, but decided I’d been polite enough under the circumstances. I drew back and, despite the protest in my hip, kicked the door open.

Argoset, shirtless, looked up sharply from the basin where he was washing his hands. The sudden movement splashed water onto the girl seated in one of the padded chairs. She gasped, “Hey!” and covered her undergarments, all she currently wore, with her hands. Through the bedroom door behind them, the rumpled sheets confirmed what their state of undress implied.

“Is there a reason for this intrusion?” Argoset said, in a voice that could probably reduce cadets and stable pages to tears.

It was less successful on me. I slammed the door behind me and shoved Lesperitt toward one of the other chairs. “Sit down,” I said, and he obeyed. I stepped challengingly close to Argoset. “This guy told you my girlfriend disappeared. You did nothing about it, and you didn’t mention it to me when I saw you this morning. I’m going to find out why.”

I turned to the girl in the chair. I’d recognized her at once. “For a girl so worried about her cherry, you gave it up quick enough, didn’t you, Nicky? Or do you prefer ‘Your Highness’?”

Nicky’s mouth opened to protest, but she thought better of it. Instead she nodded and said calmly, “A worldly man like you would know there are many pleasures for men and women that don’t involve that, Eddie. How did you recognize me?”

“Your face is on some of the money.” And that really was true, but I’d been inclined that way by her delirious mutterings about her brother, Ricky. “Ricky and Nicky,” were common slang names for Frede rick and Vero nic a in Muscodian gossip, often used in rude rhymes about their supposed decadence. The clincher had been a fresh look at the official portrait in Gary’s office that morning. “Great way to keep an eye on your brother, too, for a girl not concerned with her modesty.”

Nicky stood, and her poise was definitely regal. She pulled a robe on over her undergarments. “I seem to have a hard time keeping my clothes on around you, Eddie.”

“I’ve heard that all my life.”

She did not smile. She no longer looked like a vulnerable teenager, but like a hard, professional politician. “The fate of Muscodia is far more important to me than to my idiot brother. I can’t keep him from behaving like the moron he is, but I can ensure that he does as little damage as possible until he either grows up or debauches himself to death.”

“And leaves you next in line for the throne.”

She cinched the belt tight. “I thank you for your kindness to me, Eddie, but this is a matter of state and you, as a private citizen and an immigrant, are not involved.”

“That’s the first wrong thing you’ve said, Princess.” I drew my sword; in the small sitting room it loomed very, very large. “I got involved when Marantz’s hatchet man dropped me, this guy’s daughter and the best horse in the world off a cliff. And I’m in it until someone either pays for that or drops me off a much higher cliff.”

Argoset made a move, probably innocuous, but I slapped his bare stomach with the flat of my sword anyway. “You’re not up to it, fancy pants, and I’ve got no compunctions about gutting you right here. I don’t like liars or king’s lackeys, and you’re both. So why didn’t you tell me that this little bozo sent Liz off into the woods?”

Argoset winced and clutched his stomach; the blow would leave a red mark, but nothing serious. He cast a look at Nicky, who said nothing. “It seems you’ve forced your way into this issue far enough to become a legitimate part of it,” he said to me, and tried to step closer. The point of my sword stopped him. He raised his hands in a gesture of capitulation and stepped back. “All right, fine. But please listen carefully. I’m going to pronounce a few words. They’re harmless words. Just a bunch of letters scrambled together. But their meaning is very important. Try to understand what they mean.” He spoke softly but with real urgency. “Glaurung. Scatha. Vermithrax. Solarian.”

“Lumina,” I finished.

“Lumina,” he said with a nod.

I almost laughed aloud. These were the names of famous storybook dragons everyone in the world knew from childhood. “So you believe this dragon-egg bullshit, too.”

“I believe in my country, Mr. LaCrosse. Muscodia has been the butt of jokes for too long. We have trade routes we don’t tax, borders that allow any riffraff to cross, and a king so self-involved he truly thinks he’d be mobbed by grateful citizens if he steps outside his castle.”

I looked at Nicky. “I don’t mind being called ‘riffraff,’ but are you going to let him talk about your father like that?”

“Yes, because he’s right. I love my father, and as a parent he’s the kindest, gentlest man you can imagine. But as a head of state he’s an utter failure. And Frederick is just like him, except for all the new vices he keeps inventing for himself.”

“And you’d be better?”

She had the dignity of royalty, and the certainty of untested youth. “I wouldn’t be perfect, no. But I would be better.”

Argoset actually made a fist and held it up to show how serious he was. “If they’re real, think about the power possessing those eggs would bestow on us. Not only could we prove the existence of gods, for those who need to believe in such things, but we’d also have the ultimate deterrent, a weapon so powerful that no one would dare attack us for fear of unleashing it.” He smacked his fist into his other palm for emphasis, which just made him look silly.

“And if they’re not real, which they aren’t?” I said.

He shrugged. “Then no harm has been done.”

I was cosmically tired of people shrugging things off. My blood began to simmer. “Except that this man’s daughter is dead because of it,” I said, nodding at Lesperitt. “And I was damn near killed. And Liz…” I choked on the words and couldn’t finish the sentence. My chest grew tight at the thought.

“None of that had anything to do with us,” Nicky said. “That was all Gordon Marantz’s doing.”

While my eyes were on Nicky, Argoset moved to his left, toward the hook where his sword hung along with his jacket. I poked him in the stomach again and he stopped moving. “So Muscodia gets a big stick to wave at the other backwater countries. And you get the princess, for bringing the dragon home instead of slaying it. Not a bad promotion for a career soldier.”

“I love her,” he said with a nod to Nicky. “And it’s mutual.”

I chuckled. They had no idea how angry I was. “Nice. Where’s your gorilla Marion, anyway?”

Argoset blinked in surprise. “Marion? He has his own room. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m not sure. I’m digging through this Lumina nonsense because it’s personal, but I’m also on retainer to find out why your boy killed Hank Pinster and burned down his stable.”

Argoset said nothing. I smacked him in the stomach again and said, “I know he did it.”

Argoset gasped at the pain. “You knew that man didn’t kill the moon priestess, too.”

He was quick; I had to give him that. “Touche. But I saw how Hank was murdered. There’s no one else within a week’s travel strong enough to do it that way.”

For a moment I thought I’d have to smack him again; then he blurted in defeat, “It was an accident. Really, I swear.”

“What happened?”

“Marion said he was going to ask around, see if anyone had seen Mr. Lesperitt. Usually the local blacksmith knows everyone, even the people who don’t live in town.”

“Why would you want to find me?” Lesperitt asked in a thin voice.

Argoset turned to him, one eye warily on me. “Because once Marantz killed your daughter, you were the only link to the eggs. Luckily, you came to us.” Then he sighed and shook his head. “I took Marion out of prison two years ago to basically stand behind me and provide the, ah

… scale I might lack. I’m not that intimidating, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. He went through military training, took his oath to the king, never gave me any indication he was capable of anything like that.”

“What was he in prison for?” I asked.

Argoset looked down. “He murdered a man over a woman. Killed him with his bare hands.”

My knuckles were white on my sword hilt. “No indication,” I repeated. “So when Hank told Marion he didn’t know this old man, your boy didn’t believe him.”

Argoset sighed. “No. He’s not… the brightest. He… well. You can imagine the rest.”

My sword’s blade began to tremble, making the light twinkle off it. “So a nice guy with a family died… and everything they had was destroyed… because your guy’s an idiot.” I glared at Nicky. “Is this okay with you, Princess? You approve of this sort of thing? Is this the new and improved Muscodia?”

Argoset looked at her, his head down. “It really was an accident,” he said.

She tried mightily to let nothing show, but I could tell she hadn’t known about this, and it genuinely appalled her. Maybe not as much as it did me, but I felt a little better knowing that she still had a functioning conscience.

I slapped Argoset with the sword again. Anger flashed in his eyes, and I really wanted him to make an issue of it. But he caught himself. “Where is Marion now?” I asked.

Argoset licked his lips and had to force the words out. “Following Miss Dumont,” he said, and flinched in anticipation of a blow.

I was too startled to hit him again. The thought of Liz at the mercy of the man who’d pitchforked Hank to the wall sent a chill of fury through me. “ That’s why you didn’t tell me this morning,” I said.

Argoset took a step back. “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions, Mr. LaCrosse. When I learned Mr. Lesperitt had told your wife the location before he told me, I sent Marion to secure the site. I didn’t want anyone else to die.”

I stepped toward him. “Or anyone to be held accountable for it. You were going to let people think that crazy guy from the woods killed Hank as well as Dr. Bennings. Your man gets off free as a bird.”

“I had to do what was necessary for the good of Muscodia,” he said, his eyes on my sword. He looked desperately at Nicky. “Veronica, you know me; you know-”

I jabbed at him. I didn’t run him through, just gave him a nice slash on his side. He winced and cried out.

“Eddie!” Nicky exclaimed.

I cut him on the other side. I began to feel incredibly calm.

“Eddie, please!” Nicky said.

I slashed him across his stomach. He was in the corner now, his arms wrapped protectively around his belly. I’d seen men do the same thing to hold in their own guts. Would Argoset actually have any if I really sliced him open?

Nicky grabbed my sword arm with both hands. They were small, but I felt real strength in them. “I know he deserves it, Eddie, but he’s my responsibility.”

I turned to her. She drew back from what she saw in my eyes. “So was Hank Pinster, Princess. And Laura Lesperitt.”

Argoset slid to the floor. The shallow cuts bled profusely and hurt more than if I’d sliced off a finger. He looked up at me in a mix of rage, pain and fear. I really enjoyed seeing that.

“If he dies, I’ll see you hanged, Mr. LaCrosse,” Nicky said in her best regal voice.

That got my attention. I turned to look at her. She was still afraid, but did not back down.

“If you kill an unarmed and injured man in my presence, I’ll see that you are executed for it.” Her lip trembled, and her face flushed, but she kept her head. “And if you kill me, too, you’ll be drawn and quartered, then hanged. We’re very thorough about treason.”

So she had a conscience and a backbone. I don’t think I would’ve killed Argoset in cold blood, but I’m glad I’ll never have to find out. At that moment the door opened slightly and Gary Bunson said, “Eddie? You in here?”

“Yeah. Come in and shut the door.”

He did so, then stayed with his back pressed against it when he saw Argoset bleeding on the floor.

I put my sword away without wiping off the blood. “Gary, I’m going to leave in a minute. I need these people to stay in this room.”

He looked at them. He did not recognize Nicky, but he knew Argoset was a big deal, and I clearly had the upper hand over him. “For, ah

… how long?” he asked in his whiny, uncertain way.

I slammed my fist into the door an inch from his head and glared with every bit of my righteous fury. “ Until I tell you different,” I snarled so softly only he heard.

He nodded rapidly. “Okay, sure thing, no problem. Keep the peace, that’s what I do, right?” He managed a weak, sick smile.

“Take care of him,” I said to Nicky, and she knelt beside Argoset.

“Did he kill my daughter, too?” Lesperitt asked softly. He hadn’t moved during the excitement. “Did he order it done?”

“No. A different man did that.” I walked over and stood in front of him. He’d pushed himself deep into the padded chair. I met his eyes. “Where,” I asked calmly, “did you send Liz?”

His lips fluttered soundlessly for a moment. Then he told me. In detail so I could find it.

“And you told that man”-I nodded at Argoset-“the same thing?”

He nodded.

“Thanks,” I said, and turned to the rest of them. “If any of you follow me,” I told him, “I will kill you. Neat, clean and fast. You’re not worth any more effort to me.”

None of them said anything. I left without another word.