The Queen's assassin

Chapter Seventeen

“Harven?” said Rik. “Why are we going to Harven?”

Asea smiled sourly and put the General’s letter down on her writing table. “Lord Azaar has asked me to go and negotiate a new treaty with the Free Council.”

“Surely there are other people just as qualified?”

“According to our new supreme commander I am not only the best qualified, I am the best respected. In Harven it is known that I have the ear of Queen Arielle. That the information is a little out of date has not reached the august council of merchants.”

He took a deep breath and went through the mystical exercises she had given him, trying to alter the state of his mind along with the state of his body and concentrate on her words at the same time. It was good practise for sorcery apparently.

“His Lordship had other reasons?”

“Yes, my apprentice, he has. He suspects I was behind the attack on Tamara. That is why he assigned me to supervise the mages looking into the matter. No one has ever accused my half-brother of being a fool.”

“Why would he suspect that?”

“He has a nose for such things.”

Rik thought he detected a half-truth or an outright evasion there, but he was in no position to call her on it. “Did the mages find out anything?” Rik asked, pausing for a moment. He had a very real interest in this. He, Weasel and the Barbarian could easily end up being hanged for their part in it. If they were lucky they would not be tortured before their death.

“Nothing remotely interesting. Divination revealed that there were two attackers, which was strange because we found the footprints of three men. The watch are still looking for a missing footman, one who ran away. They think he might have been in collusion with the attackers.”

“How has Lady Tamara fared after her ordeal?”

“She is very distressed and will not set foot outside the ambassadorial mansion. She was apparently wounded, and the poor dear is having difficulty recovering despite Lord Jaderac’s patient ministrations.”

“What are you going to do about that pair?”

Asea grimaced. “There is nothing I can do now. I have sent her a message offering to bear news of her condition to her father.”

Rik stared at her. “Her father?”

“Lord Malkior is leading a Sardean deputation to Harven. We are not the only nation wooing the free city, it seems.”

Her smile seemed especially cold now. “You expect to meet with him there?”

“Indeed I do, Rik, indeed I do. It is a thing I most especially desire.”

“And then what?”

“We shall see what we shall see.”

Her smile told him all he needed to know about her reasons for taking this mission. He suspected that if Asea had her way, Lord Malkior would not be leaving the free port alive. He had a good idea who would be expected to do the killing.

He had barely survived his encounter with the daughter. It gave him no reason to look forward to meeting the father.

“How long will you be gone?” Rena asked.

Sardec took her in his arms. “Too long,” he said, and meant it.

She kissed him and he responded with passion.

“How long?” Her voice was very small.

“I don’t know. It will take at least a week to get to Harven, and then however long it takes for Lady Asea to convince the burghers to take our side, or at least not to interfere in the war.”

“How long might that be?”

“It might take the whole winter,” he said. “But I hope not. I hope we will be back in time for Kathea’s coronation.”

“You will have forgotten me by the time winter is over.”

“I will never forget you,” he said. “Not ever.”

Privately he wondered whether he might. Not for the reason she feared but because the ghoul disease might overtake him and swallow his sanity. He was still not sure he had a clean bill of health. He was glad he had written her the letter now. She would only get it if something happened to him, but at least she would know how he felt about her, and she would be taken care of in case of his death. He was glad more for his own sake than hers for at least he had finally managed to tell her what he thought about her, although he could never bring himself to say it in speech.

“Never?” she said.

“Never.”

“That’s a long time.”

“I mean it.”

“I’m glad.”

“I had better go and get the men ready,” he said, suddenly embarrassed by his outpouring of emotion. He found it very difficult to let her go. He had a foreboding that he might never see her again, and he took it very seriously.

Lord Jaderac sat down beside Tamara’s bed. She looked pale. More so than she ought to have, given the slightness of her wound. He had inspected it himself and had found no trace of infection but, it was always possible, although unlikely, he was wrong about it.

“Are you sure you are all right?” he asked. His concern for her welfare was unfeigned. Her father was his greatest ally among the Sardean nobility and the Brotherhood, and it would not bode well for him if something happened to her while she was in his care.

“I am well on the way to recovery.”

“You are sure it was the half-breed who attacked you?”

She nodded.

“I should have killed him back at the Serpent Tower,” Jaderac said.

“I seem to recall you gave it your best effort. The Nerghul was supposed to be invincible, yet somehow he survived it.”

“It was most likely Ilmarec’s sorcery. It followed him into the Tower after all.” Jaderac realised that somehow Tamara had taken control of the conversation and directed him away from the questions he wanted to ask. He shook his head. He was not going to allow that. He had too many suspicions about his companion. He wanted some answers.

“Why did he attack you?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you do, Tamara. Please don’t take me for one of those foolish young men whose brains turn to jelly when you bat your eyelashes at them.”

“Then use those brains you boast about. He suspected I was behind the Nerghul’s attack. He told me as much at Elakar’s ball. Perhaps he simply wanted revenge.”

“He does not seem like a stupid man. And performing such an act without his patron’s blessing would be folly bordering on madness.”

“Aren’t you the one who is always telling me that humans are driven by their glands? Perhaps he is foolish or mad.”

Jaderac sat down beside her bed. “Don’t you find it the least bit suspicious that a few days after Lord Elakar passes on to a better world, Asea’s pet attempts to abduct you?”

“I am not sure I follow you.”

“Why would she risk a diplomatic incident? Lord Azaar is not a Terrarch who would enjoy having his reputation besmirched. He has always been a stickler about points of honour.”

“Perhaps she did not expect me to escape.”

“I admit despite your many talents I am surprised that you managed it as well. By the way, where were you when Lord Elakar was killed?”

“Surely you do not suspect me of that?” Tamara’s smile had a vicious edge. She was glad he suspected, perhaps even proud of it. Could she really have managed the killing on her own? That particular killing made Jaderac think of sorcery far older and darker than most practised here on Gaeia. He studied her closely, taking in the resemblance to her father. Malkior had taught him many strange and sinister secrets. Perhaps he had passed on a few to his daughter. She had certainly demonstrated an uncanny talent for magic.

Perhaps she in touch with some of her father’s old allies. That seemed far more likely. Some of them were formidable indeed. Jaderac sensed he was sailing on dark waters here, and every instinct told him to be careful. He had his own plans, and Elakar’s death certainly played well towards those. He did not want anything happen to spoil things.

She picked one of the roses up from the vase at the side of the bed. “Be a dear and open those curtains. I would like to see sunlight, grey and wintry though it might be.”

He did so, although the task was one a menial should have performed. She smiled at him. “How goes your plan?”

“Very well. The Brotherhood’s lab is most useful. I have drained the ghouls of blood, and begun to work on the serums. My fellow necromancers in the Brotherhood have begun preparing the ground. Kathea’s coronation is going to be a most interesting event.”

“And you have succeeded in creating another Nerghul?” Jaderac looked at her. Was she mocking him? Did she know about the trouble he was having. He had followed the rituals precisely but the creature did not seem to want to wake. There was some flaw in the matrix. He must have missed something but he could not think what. There was still time, he told himself.

“It is almost complete. Do you have some special use for it in mind?”

Tamara looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “I am sure I can think of something,” she said.

“I see you arranged our getaway vehicle, Halfbreed,” said Weasel. He sat on a crate watching men load supplies on to the huge barge that was to take them to Harven. The rest of the men were in the nearby taverns, saying good-bye to families, sweethearts or favourite whores. It was a cold clear day and Weasel liked to sit outside and smoke his pipe.

“What do you mean?” Rik asked. He had come over as soon as he had seen the former poacher sitting there.

“Nothing, nothing at all. If that’s the way you and her Ladyship want it.” So Weasel thought this whole diplomatic mission was just a cover story to get them out of town, did he? Sometimes he was a little too cunning for his own good. Or maybe it was a cover. Rik was in no position to claim he knew all of Asea’s mind.

“I would not mention that too loudly if I were you.”

“A nod is as good as a wink.”

They studied the dockers. Most were short burly men who used hooks to move the supply crates and bales.

“Did not realise we needed so much cloth,” said Weasel, studying the rolls of fabric being moved aboard.

“We’re not the only cargo. I reckon the captain intends to make a profit on trading as well as carrying us.”

“Can’t say as I blame him. If I had thought of it, I would have done the same myself.” Rik would have been surprised if Weasel had not put some stuff aboard on his own account already but decided it would not be diplomatic to mention this.

“How long you reckon this is going to take?” he asked.

“Most of the folk I talked to reckon we’ll get there in a week. Providing we don’t have no accidents. Or we don’t run into any river pirates, or the odd rogue wyrm.”

“It would be a damn stupid bunch of bandits that attacked a ship carrying a squad of Foragers and Lady Asea.”

“Would be a damn stupid bunch of highwaymen that attacked a Terrarch noblewoman and her footmen. It still happened.”

Rik could see what Weasel was getting at. “You reckon we might have an accident.”

“I reckon there’s some might be out for a bit of revenge, and we’ll be moving through no-man’s land for a good deal of this trip.”

“Not strictly speaking true. The lands along the river are mostly held by Terrarch Aristals. Some have declared for one side or another but none of them will risk an attack on a boat flying the diplomatic flag in the winter season.”

“Bet Lady Tamara thought the same.”

“There’s something about her that has you spooked, isn’t there?”

“You’re right there, Halfbreed. Never thought a chit of a girl could have come so close to taking out the three of us. Three of us, Halfbreed, and we’re all of us hard, hard men.

“I’ve never seen a better man with a blade than the Barbarian, but he’s still got a scarf wrapped round that bull neck of his to hide the stab wound. A girl in a ball gown almost killed him with a knitting needle, and him with those butcher knives in his hands.”

Rik looked over his shoulder to make sure there was no one close enough to overhear what they were saying. He saw only a few more carts being drawn up. Dockers were loading a huge riverine bridgeback from them, but they were more than twenty yards away.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Rik said.

“You bet. There’s that shadow thing we saw. That was a product of black sorcery and no mistake.”

“It scared you?”

Weasel gave him a lop-sided grin that revealed sharp yellowish teeth. “Let’s just say it got me to thinking.”

“About what?”

“She knew who you were.”

“So?”

“Maybe she knows who me and the Barbarian are too.”

Rik shook his head. “I doubt it. She’d met me before.”

“I hope you’re right. She’s a witch that one and I would not want her putting the evil eye on me.”

“Uran Ultar did not manage that. Ilmarec of the Serpent Tower did not either. I think you’re safe.”

Weasel glanced up at the nearby spire of the dockside temple and made and Elder Sign of Warding over his heart. “You think she had anything to do with that Nerghul thing that attacked us back in Morven?”

“Most likely — either her or Jaderac.”

“Thought as much. I would watch my back if I were you, Rik. She’s poison that one.”

“I’ll watch your back if you watch mine.”

Weasel spat on his hand and offered it to shake. Rik did the same. It had not escaped his notice that the former poacher had used his real name which was a mark of how seriously he took the situation. “I’ll take you up on that.”

They wiped their hands. “What do you know of Harven?” Weasel asked, obviously wanting to change the subject.

“Big city,” said Rik. “Nearly as big as this one. Built on a chain of islands in the estuary of the river. Huge seaport, massive trading power. A free state, ruled by its own council, who put trade before anything.”

“And what about the Quan? You know anything about the Sea Devils?”

“They say they are the only Elder World demons still really active in the world. Lady Asea says they are not demons but some star-lost race who fell from the sky long ago. They have cities beneath the sea. Some of the beasts are large enough to pull down ships bigger than this one.”

“They are allies of the Harvenites, aren’t they?”

“They have some sort of pact. It’s why Harven is still a free city. Some say it’s why she is Queen of the Northern Seas. No nation with a fleet wants to have the Shipbreakers fighting against them.”

“Thought they were supposed to be neutral in all conflicts, trade with every side. A free port, a safe meeting ground, that sort of thing.”

“Times are changing. This war may shift the balance of power on the continent for ever.”

More wagons rolled up. Karim sat on one.

“Here comes her Ladyship’s stuff.”

The dockers started manhandling massive chests and hampers down from the back of the wagons. They were all marked with the symbol of Asea’s house, a red tower, and men moved them carefully.

“She surely is taking a lot of stuff with her,” said Weasel. “What’s in those?”

“Thinking of trying to steal some of it?”

“That’s more your line than mine, Halfbreed. Least it used to be. No — I’m just curious.”

“You know as much as I do. Clothing, money, sorcerous adjuncts. Her tent and her wargear. You’ve travelled with her before. You know how much she carries.”

“Never thought I would hear myself say this, but I am glad she does. These are strange times, Halfbreed, strange times.”

Rik nodded.

“Of course, we would not be going if we was not escorting her, would we?” Weasel added.

“I’m sure the army would find something stupid for us to do.”

“You’re not in the army any more, old son, but I know what you mean.”

Sardec felt the boards beneath his feet. The barge rocked slightly. And it smelled of damp and wet and the slightly fishy tang of river wyrm. A docker with a hook wandered past, and Sardec found himself inspecting his own. There was a strange resemblance. A human saw him doing it. When Sardec’s gaze rested upon him, he bowed.

“I’m Mathias, the captain, your Lordship,” he said. He was a big burly man with a long black beard, plaited and oiled. He wore a jacket and britches of heavy broadcloth and a very wide tricorne hat. His hands were very large and gnarly. His voice was hoarse and rasping. “I’d like to welcome you aboard the River Dragon if I may.”

Sardec smiled. He did not bow back. It was not the place of a Terrarch to bow to a human. “Thank you, captain. On this trip I am on the Queen’s Commission so best you call me Lieutenant.”

“As you wish, Lieutenant.”

“When will we be under way?”

“Soon as her Ladyship is aboard we will hitch the wyrms. Should be quick enough trip, Lieutenant, we’re going down river.”

In the distance, Sardec could see a bunch of handlers bringing a huge river bridgeback upstream. It was a massive beast, larger even than its land-going cousin, so large it could walk along the bottom even of this river.

“I would not have thought it would make much difference, captain. The beast does not swim, so surely its speed would be the same no matter in which direction it walked.”

“You almost have it right, sir. See the beast gets less tired when it’s not pulling against the current. More tractable, can go further in a day.”

“It’s your business, captain, so I expect you are right.”

“I most definitely am, sir. Ah here’s her Ladyship now, sir. With your permission I will go and greet her.”

“By all means, captain.”

Sardec glanced down at the companionway. Sergeant Hef and Corporal Toby were counting men aboard. A fair number of them were drunk. There had been a time when that would have infuriated Sardec but now he understood. These men were going away, parting from loved ones they might never see again. They did not need to march. As long as there was no misbehaviour he would turn a blind eye to the drinking, at least today. Once they were under way and in dangerous waters it would be a different thing.

Rik took Asea’s hand and helped her up the gangplank. There was little chance of her falling in, but it was best to take no chances. A broad, bearded man garbed in black greeted them. He was the captain, and he wanted to show Asea to her cabin, personally. Rik had spent enough time around the docks in Sorrow to know this was not normal behaviour, so he eyed the man suspiciously, until it became obvious he was only trying to ingratiate himself with one of the high nobility. He probably did not get a lot of chances to do that.

The cabins seemed small and spare but Asea pronounced herself perfectly satisfied, and the captain bid them farewell, and headed upstairs to supervise the push off. Asea wanted to do the same. Rik joined her.

They cast off. Sailors pulled ropes aboard. Dockers pushed the ship out into the river. Smaller wyrms pulled them out into midstream where an absolute monster half as big as the barge itself waited for them, a creature so large that it needed the water to support its own weight. It would have collapsed on land after taking only a hundred steps.

Rik watched the massive reptile nervously. A thing so huge could smash the barge to flinders if it went amok. It seemed docile enough but you never knew. Ropes were fastened to hooks on its harness and a heavy wooden yoke lade down from the bow of the barge. Its’ padded cross-piece lay on the river wyrm’s shoulders and was fastened into place by its mahouts. After the operation was complete, the captain raised his hand, a horn was blown, and they set off down the river.

Brown water bubbled along the barge’s sides. Soldiers waved to their sweethearts on the banks. Sailors blew kisses to girls. A thrill passed through him. He loved departures. Leaving places appealed to him.

He paid careful attention as they moved through the city, passing the vast swarms of small bumboats that did business on the river, going by the craft of vendors trying to sell the sailors stuff even as they departed. He watched palaces and temples and towers, massive warehouses and large taverns go by on the banks.

The river wyrm ducked its head as they passed under the arches of bridges. The structures themselves were more like streets. They had shops and houses built on them. Men sat at the base of the pillars, fishing with rods and nets, trying to catch something for supper. Once he thought he saw a corpse bobbing in the river. He doubted that anyone would want to swim on a day like today. The sky was clear and blue but the wind was cold and air and water both held a winter chill.

He felt as if someone was watching him, and turned to see that Asea’s eye was upon him. “Yes?” he said.

“You look happy,” she said. “You don’t look happy often.”

He smiled. “I have just discovered that I like leaving places.”

“I have never felt much that way myself,” she said. “Not since the Exile, not since we left Al’Terra.”

“What was it like?” he asked. “Did you have cities like this?”

At first he thought she was not going to answer. Her gaze was fixed on a point in the distance, as if she was looking at something far off in time, as well as distance.

“Bigger,” she said. “With taller towers, lit by magic, and strengthened by spells and steel so that they were tall enough to touch the clouds. Air chariots and flying ships moved between them, common as the little boats on this river.”

He could almost picture it in his eye. “Did dragons draw them?”

“No, they were powered by magic. Folk rode dragons for sport mostly, and for war.”

“Was it cold like today?” She shook her head.

“The climate was kinder on Al’ Terra, Rik. At least where I lived. It never got really cold, although near the world’s waist it could get very warm. Magic kept our palaces cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We had so much power and we did not even know it. We took it all for granted.”

“What happened? Did the Princes of Shadow steal your magic?”

“No. It was fading before ever they appeared. Afterwards some said that the failure of the great spells was a portent of their coming. I am not so sure. I sometimes think it was a coincidence. If there was a connection I think it was subtler.”

“In what way?”

“This is not the time or the place to discuss such matters, Rik.” She smiled, lovely as a girl and for a moment he forgot that she was the most powerful and terrifying sorceress he was ever likely to meet. “Ask me of something happier?”

He tried, but being put on the spot like this, his mind went blank. “Were you happy there?” he asked.

“Happier than I have ever been since we came to this world — that is a certainty. Magic was easier to work there. Even at its worst, when magic was failing, there was more power there than here.”

“I was thinking more of friends, and family.” These things had been rare in his life before he had joined the army. They were a treasure he thought he could understand, made all the more precious by their rarity.

She laughed. “I am a sorcerer, Rik. Magic is my art, my addiction, my passion. The quest for knowledge and the ability to shape tau, those were the things that drove me then, and still drive me now, even after all these centuries.”

He heard the truth of that in her voice. He envied her it as well.

“But there was all the other things as well; friends, lovers, laughter, light, joy. Children?”

A shadow passed across her face, and he thought he had perhaps been too impertinent. The smile vanished. “There were.”

There was something in the tone of her voice that told him that it would not be a good idea to ask what had happened to them. Very, very few Terrarchs indeed had made the passage to Gaeia. Only ten thousand according to scripture. Asea has been describing a city bigger than Halim, and he had read that there had been many hundreds of cities on Al’Terra.

“The Princes of Shadow took from us far more than you can know, Rik.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have the talent. Here using it is so difficult. You must sometimes draw on the life force of your own body to work spells. It kills you slowly unless you are very careful. On Al’Terra, magical energy flowed freely through the very air. You could reach out and shape it and sculpt it into wonderful things. You could heal the sick, summon creatures from other planes, build ships that flew and not worry that you might kill yourself by overdrawing on your power.”

“It sounds wonderful,” he said, and meant it. What would it be like for him to live in such a world? He resigned himself to the fact that he would never know. And it dawned on him, that given his heritage, he had lost something, a thing that he had never even known he had lost until she had told him. So much of his life seemed like that, and he resented it.

“It was wonderful.”

“Do you think you will ever go back?”

She shook her head. “I fear though that it has followed us here.”

“The Princes of Shadow?”

“Or their agents at least.” He glanced around just to be certain that no one had come within earshot since they had started their conversation.

“Lord Malkior?” he said.

“I would be very surprised if he were not one of them.”

He shivered. If she was right and Malkior was his father he had a direct lineal connection to the very lords of evil. “But there is the possibility you are wrong.”

“There is always that possibility, Rik. Only a fool thinks otherwise.”

She fell silent, studying the city as it fell away behind them. He leaned against the boat's wooden railings and did the same, content for the moment to let the world just drift by. It grew dark and Asea went below.