The Onyx Throne - Ch.74-76

Chapter 74

Mitchell stared at the sprawling medieval metropolis before him. He imagined it was what London or Paris must have looked like in the Middle Ages. Or maybe even Rome since Mitchell knew that, at its peak, there were roughly a million people in the city whereas London in the Middle Ages didn't even have a tenth of that. And Lorivin definitely held more than fifty thousand people.

Their frantic pace through the forest had gone largely without incident after that first encounter with the patrol. With Vras to scout ahead, they had come across a few others, but opted to avoid them in favor of speed since it seemed to be more frequent. Word had obviously gotten out that they'd tracked her to that part of the country and being somewhere else became a priority.

The real trouble had been the bridge that they'd crossed yesterday. There was a guard station at the bridge, just as Allora had suspected there would be. With Vras's help, though, they had been easy enough to distract.

The shadow cat was getting better at his illusions and, in the small camp on the far side of the river, he had created visions of several truly terrifying creatures that had sent the people into a panic and Mitchell had given him permission to leave a guard's corpse somewhere to be found to add to the fear and confusion. This had drawn the handful of guards away from the guard stations at the bridge as people swore they were under attack from demons, and the trio had been able to creep across under the cover of darkness without being detected. They'd had to stop and let Vras find some food after they'd put enough distance between them and the bridge as using his illusion so much apparently took a lot out of him, but other than that, the journey was unhindered. Moving at speed had proved to be their best advantage.

The city was roughly circular, with a diameter of four to five miles as near as he could tell. Mitchell could also see walls constructed at various intervals inside the settlement itself. Dominating the skyline was, of course, the palace. It sat on a rise near what counted roughly as the center of town, given its irregular shape. Maybe it had once been a proper circle but over the years it looked as if it had grown in fits and starts to meet the demands of the rising population and so that led to some interesting bulges here and there in walls that were constructed later.

The palace wasn't some grand edifice with spires every fifty meters, but there were a few towers. It was hard to gauge the height since they were still a few miles from the city itself and the whole area sat in the bottom of a small depression that wasn't quite deep enough to be called a valley. Still, the string of hills that encircled the urban center did allow him to get a good view.

Even from this distance, the translucent dome that shielded the palace was evident. It was almost like a soap bubble that enclosed the whole structure. In the bright light of the afternoon, he could just make out the high walls that encircled it and the buildings of the palace compound itself. He could see one large central building that was maybe eight or ten stories high, and then around that, many other smaller buildings, some clustered, and some set apart but still enclosed within the protection of the bubble. It reminded him quite a bit of a university campus from this distance.

"Wow," was all he could say.

Mitchell started to study the surrounding city, and he thought he could detect where districts might be based on the building sizes and orderliness of streets. Things closer to the palace looked grander, with more even lines indicating streets, and the more his eyes tracked out farther, the smaller the buildings became, the more varied in their designs, and the more disorderly the grid. He could make out market squares at various points and then the outer walls themselves, which seemed to have undergone some construction as of late. There were scaffolds erected at various points, and some parts of the walls were higher than others.

Then, just outside the walls, there was a whole other city with little thought given to planning outside the main avenues going in through the main gates. It was like the haphazard market that he'd seen outside Besari, only substantially larger. He could also see what were clearly homes and even apartment blocks outside the walls themselves. And, just as the gnome had said, there were long lines of people, carts, and goods, waiting to make it through the gates as things and people were searched.

"Lorivin," Allora said, a note of both love and dread in her voice. "We have finally made it."

"I knew it was big," Lethelin said, "But I didn't know it was this big."

"How does it compare to Varset," Mitchell asked her.

"About double the size, I'd say."

"At the last census, the population of Varset was estimated to be just under three hundred thousand people," Allora intoned as if reading from a fact sheet. "The population of Lorivin is around eight hundred thousand permanent residents. So more than double."

The pride in Allora's voice at this fact was obvious, and she said it without taking her eyes off of the splendor of her home. And Mitchell had to admit, there was a majesty about the place.

Lethelin, never one to let something like that slide, made her "little miss know-it-all" face and mouthed mimicking the numbers behind Allora's back, but didn't reply. Mitchell grinned. They really were so much like sisters at this point, with their snipes at one another, but also a fondness that seemed to grow by the day. Even though their bickering could be a little frustrating, he still found it adorable.

"That is the Onyx Gate," Allora said, pointing to a large structure off to their right opened out towards the east. "The road swings north and enters the Shadow Glen about three days ride from here. One can take it to the northern sections of Awenor and eventually to Kazig, either by boat across the Hartik Sea, or via passage through the northern section of the Skybreaker Peaks."

She indicated the gate to their left and the road it serviced, which arced away from the city and pushed through the western ring of hills.

"That is the Sapphire Gate and that road heads towards the coast and," Allora glanced at Lethelin, "Eventually all the way to Varset. The other three gates are the Blood Stone Gate, the Opal Gate, and the Obsidian Gate."

Mitchell and Lethelin watched where she indicated and, while the Opal and Obsidian gates were on the far side of the city from their vantage point, he could still make out the roads that led away from them.

Allora continued with her geography lesson.

"The Onyx Gate is reserved for official traffic only. That is people or merchants traveling on diplomatic missions, goods meant for the palace or one of the many embassies inside the walls, government business, the Knights, or high level city or military officials."

Mitchell nodded his understanding and Allora continued.

"The Sapphire Gate is for non-official merchants and people with business in the Cloud District." She glanced at her two students. "That is the district just outside the palace proper."

"The snobby rich folk, right?" Lethelin remarked, as her eyes followed the road where it tracked into the city and up the gentle slope towards the palace.

"The people there are considered the wealthy of Lorivin, yes," Allora answered, her voice a little tighter. "The rest of the gates are open to any traffic except for Opal Gate. That is the smallest and reserved for foot traffic, or for individuals, merchants and tradesmen with no more than a pull cart."

"Do you know where the inn is that we're supposed to report to?"

"It is in the Kethend District..." Allora's voice trailed off as her eyes scanned the city. "Roughly there."

She indicated a section of the city west of the Onyx Gate but off from the main road about halfway up the slope towards the palace.

"It is a mix of residential and trade shops."

"Which gate do you think you'll use," Mitchell asked Lethelin.

"Hmm?" she said distractedly as he pulled her out of her thoughts. "Oh, probably none of them."

"But how will you get us into the city?" Allora demanded.

She'd brought up her finger to twirl around a ring of coppery red hair as she studied the buildings and people outside the walls.

"I don't know yet," she said as she pursed her lips, her eyes calculating.

"You said you can get us in!" Allora said, the pitch rising enough that Lethelin was finally pulled away from her deliberations.

"Oh, unbunch your armor, woman!" Lethelin retorted. "I don't know right now. I need to look around first. I have to make contact with the guild, and that will take me at least an hour. I'll have you in by nightfall or tomorrow morning at the latest. Stop worrying! What you need to do instead is figure out how you're going to get Vras in through all of that. Getting people through will be easy. I can't do anything about our resident hell beast."

"I have a plan for that," Mitchell said. "But I don't think Vras will like it. Can you get us in with some supplies?"

"I can get you in with a dancing goblin troupe," she said. "But no one will let a shadow cat in without screaming to the two moons and back about it. So you deal with him and I'll deal with getting us in."

Mitchell explained what he wanted and she frowned.

"That will make it harder, but I'll see what I can do."

With that, Lethelin set off towards the city with their mounts in tow to sell them and then make her contacts. Once she was on her way, Mitchell and Allora retreated to a copse of trees well out of sight of the roads and the occasional patrol that passed by and awaited her return.

"Are you nervous," he asked her as she leaned into where he sat with his back to a low tree.

"Yes. I have not been back to the city since I fled shortly after the coup. It is my home, and I hate that I am afraid to enter its walls. And I am afraid of what will happen if we are caught. My whole life has been leading to this moment for two years. And we are only a few miles away from the throne. I wished so often to be in this exact position and, now that I am, I am terrified of it all going wrong."

"I think we're going to make it," Mitchell said.

Allora turned and looked up at him.

"Why is that?"

Mitchell recalled that night in the cave with Lethelin when they'd discovered they'd been trapped with no way out. Lethelin had been panicking, only a heartbeat away from full-blown hysteria at having a mountain pressing down on her, and he'd needed to calm her down.

"Because I'm just too pretty," he told Allora, echoing what he'd told Lethelin in the cave. "I'm too pretty for Stollar to let me die."

"What?!?" Allora demanded. Then she saw the teasing look on his face and she laughed.

The knight twisted, sat up, and then straddled his legs and placed her arms over his shoulders. Her hair was free, and it fell in long black waves past her shoulders as she leaned in.

"I love you," she said as her eyes locked onto his.

"Love you more," he told her back and kissed her.

***

As the sun approached late afternoon, Lethelin emerged from the stable, her purse a bit heavier from the sale of the jivis, and began to head to what the stable master had called the Maka. A sort of unofficial district near the Opal Gate where she could find shadier dealings. Even though Lorivin wasn't her territory, she found she walked easier among the warrens of the outer city than she did in the wilds. The noise, the smells, the bodies, the mix of languages and races, all of it was like home to her.

Lethelin exited the stable and all its foul odors, and stepped back onto the road. She immediately spotted the young pickpockets already sizing her up. They would have seen her go in with three jivis and almost no gear, and come out with none. That indicated a sale, which meant heavy pockets. Before they even started their approach, she flashed a quick hand sign and all but one of them, the youngest, halted and tried to look busy doing other things.

"Move on," it signaled to them. "I'm not a mark and you don't want to fuck with me."

The youngest one apparently didn't pick up on the signal and was still working to get into position when an older boy cuffed him on the back of the head and whispered something in his ear, and then yanked him off somewhere.

Lethelin grinned and tried to remember when she'd been that young. Not that it was that long ago, but it felt like a dragon's age when she thought about how far she'd come as a gangly teenage girl rebelling against her mother and the memory of her father, and thinking she could be in a gang. She remembered those first fights she'd had when one of the older boys thought she was an easy target, either to rob or to bed, and how quickly she'd disabused them of that notion. At fourteen high suns, she'd been small, but she hadn't been weak, nor had she been a fool.

The leader of the first gang she'd tried to join had been one such boy. Narder, he called himself. The arrogant river slug actually tried to claim the title of Edrokii with his little gang of six boys who barely had hair on their sacks yet and one girl who was missing a leg. She was surprised one of the more established gangs didn't kill him on principle for trying to claim he was a true boss.

Narder been sixteen high suns old at the time, although she found out later he'd never made it to seventeen. But the moldy crotch stain had claimed that any girl that wanted to join up with his gang had to bed him. Lethelin played along, acting too scared to resist, until his confidence was up, and he took his filthy pants down. Then she'd buried her rat sticker in his nethers and punched him in the nose so hard that he had breathed with a whistle up until the day he'd been killed trying to steal some cargo from a boat crew.

Needless to say, she'd found a better gang after that. And the boys in that one had heard about what had happened to Narder and left her alone. At least when it came to trying to bed her. She'd still had scraps when they wanted to steal some of her coin to make them look better for their Edrokii. Some she'd won, some she'd lost, but once Alvi found her, no one bothered her again.

"Balls, but I miss that gnarled old skitterback," she thought to herself with a sad smile.

As Lethelin picked her way across the sprawling outer city, she spotted several more pickpockets but only needed to signal one of them. The others were otherwise occupied. She came across a handful of patrols but, thanks to Mitchell's decision to leave no witnesses, she was unknown to the city watch and had no fear of being recognized.

She was glad that he had found his mettle. The way he often talked about things back on the human home world, life there seemed incredibly soft. At least in the part that he lived in. He had shared some stories of the scale of conflict that the humans had and, honestly, she still wasn't sure if she believed him. The way he described the weapons and the machines, she found it hard to fathom such mechanized death. But his life, it seems, had been free from war and deprivation. Killing seemed to trouble him, even when the bastards were out to kill him. She had been prepared to argue for the surrendering members of the squad's execution, but she didn't have to, much to her relief.

Oddly enough, she could tell when she'd crossed that imaginary line into what the locals called the Maka. Something about the mood changed almost immediately. Glances were a little more furtive, people walked a little more on their guard, and stares were more hostile. The buildings were roughly the same, but the atmosphere was seedier and the smells slightly riper. This was the place, all right.

She prowled around, looking for the subtle signs of gang territory markers. Some were obvious, like a dagger stuck into the lintel of a door at the start of one street, a weathered and crumbling drake skull driven onto a pike. The streets seemed much the worse for wear, though so she kept looking. Gangs that couldn't even maintain the look of their front businesses likely wouldn't have the connections she needed.

As Lethelin stepped around something unpleasant in the road, she ended up coming close to a few barrels that had been placed near the wall of an apothecary. She felt the shift in her clothing immediately and her hand shot out like a scorpion's tail and seized the offending wrist. There was a muffled screech and Lethelin turned her head to see the wide eyes of a girl, face grubby and hair unkept, staring at her as though Denass herself was weighing her soul. She was wedged tightly between two of the barrels, and Lethelin could see the small-pointed ears and vibrant eyes that marked her as a half-elf child. Full elves had eyes that almost seemed to glow, but half-elves didn't have that same quality. Instead, they were merely richer in color, more crystal-like in appearance.

"Clumsy, girl. The last one who tried to take what was mine lost the offending hand."

The girl's grubby face paled noticeably.

"I'm sorry, m'lady!" she said in that smooth Lorivin accent. "Please don't take my hand! I need it!"

Lethelin yanked and the child came sprawling out from her hidey-hole, all set to fall on her face but she pulled the sloppy pickpocket up to her feet.

Lethelin got a good look at her then. She was a gangly thing, all knees and elbows, her clothing patched, her honey-blonde hair filthy and greasy. Dirt under her fingernails, scratches and bite marks on her arms that Lethelin recognized all too well, and a fading bruise on her cheek.

"You'd rather I turn you into the guard?"

The girl wobbled her head so hard that Lethelin thought she heard bones clattering. Tears began to well-up in her hazel eyes.

"What's your name?"

The girl looked around, perhaps thinking someone would come to her aid. She'd have better luck finding true love in a dockside brothel. The few people on the road all had better things to do than worry about some gutter rat who was too clumsy to snatch a purse.

"Speak, girl!" Lethelin barked.

"Eraphys, m'lady," the girl squeaked. "Eraphys Ne Silvalorin. Please let me go, m'lady. I'm sorry I tried to pick your pocket. I won't do it again."

"How old are you, Eraphys Ne Silvalorin?"

"I'm... I'm twelve high suns old, m'lady."

"When is the last time you had a hot meal?"

"M'lady?" Eraphys said, her tone uncertain.

"Don't make me repeat myself, gutter rat, or I'll cut off the hand and feed that to you."

"Two days ago, m'lady!" Eraphys blurted. "Madam Sarry at the Dancing Moons Tavern let me clean the stables for a meal."

"You fancy another one?"

"Another one?"

"A meal, you silly girl. Do you want something to eat?"

"Y- Yes, m'lady," she said, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Listen up, Eraphys. I'm new in the Maka and I need to find some people. You point me in the right direction, and I'll see to it you're fed and some coin in your pocket besides. How does that sound?"

"You won't turn me into the guard, m'lady? Or take my hand?"

"If you keep your word --and stop calling me m'lady --I won't. Do we have a deal?"

The girl nodded enthusiastically and Lethelin finally released her scrawny wrist. The girl rubbed at the joint, trying to work the feeling back into it, and for a second Lethelin thought she would make a run for it. Just then, however, the girl's stomach rumbled, and Eraphys still had the manners to look embarrassed.

"Could we, um, maybe eat first, m'l-- mm, miss?" Eraphys asked gently, those too-bright hazel eyes pleading.

"Yeah, come on," Lethelin said, shaking her head. She'd seen fatter cloud addicts after a week-long binge. "Is there a spot close by that you like?"

Lethelin began to walk, and the girl immediately moved beside her.

"The Drake Rider two streets over has good athi pies," she said. "They aren't too spicy. I heard people from Varset can't eat spicy food."

Lethelin eyed her curiously.

"Who told you I was from Varset? And who said we couldn't eat spicy foods?"

"Your accent. I've heard people like you before in my father's shop. They were merchants that came all the way from the coast to buy his paper. They said it was the best in all of Awenor. And everyone knows people on the coast can't eat drake peppers."

Lethelin snorted at the notion. How silly. But then again, a lot of people in Varset said that the people in Lorivin were all afraid of the sea and wouldn't come within a kilometer of water they couldn't see the other side of.

Eraphys indicated that they should take a left at the next corner.

Lethelin felt her brow furrow at the other things the girl said.

"Eraphys, if your father sells the best paper in all of Awenor, why are you hiding between barrels in the Maka trying to steal coin?"

"He... he was killed when the soldiers came. My mother, too. They had gone to the palace to deliver paper and," the girl swallowed. "And they never came back out."

"Well, balls and taint," Lethelin said to herself.

"Excuse me," A harsh voice said from behind them, and Lethelin heard Eraphys gasp. "But where do yous think you're going with my git?"

Chapter 75

Lethelin turned to find a wiry human of about twenty-five high suns with greasy, slicked-backed hair the color of stable yard mud and bloodshot watery blue eyes. He had a day's growth of whiskers in patches along his jaw and a scar across his right cheek. His lips were cracked, and he had the distinct smell of someone who'd taken a cloud trip in the last few hours. His pale eyes were glassy with the effects, and there was still spittle on his chin. Must have been poor quality stuff. His clothes were in little better condition, looking ill-fitting and soiled with things that Lethelin was sure she didn't want to guess at.

"I'm sorry, Master Erik!" Eraphys said in a panicked squeal. "She was gonna take me to get some food, and I was going to take her coin there! I promise I was!"

Lethelin hardly knew the girl, but even she could tell she was lying.

"You little gutter rat," Erik snarled. "I told yous not to leave that spot until yous collected at least three silver. How much have you got?"

"F-- four copper, Master Erik."

"Yous are about the most worthless piece of shit that ever fell off an offal cart, yous are. I can see that the lesson I taught yous the other day didn't stick. I'll see yous don't ever forget the next one."

Eraphys whimpered, and that was when Lethelin decided she'd had enough.

"Master Erik, is it?"

The man looked at Lethelin, almost like he'd forgotten she was there.

"That's Edrokii Erik to yous, my lovely. Looking for works? I know a good brothel wheres a woman with hair such as that would fetch a fine price."

Lethelin snorted and couldn't hide the scorn on her face.

"Edrokii? You? You look like you've been dragged behind a jivi cart halfway to Kazig and back, and then dumped into a barracks latrine. If a real Edrokii hears you say that, they'll gut you and use your innards for chum."

Erik squinted his eyes at her, no doubt trying to clear his cloud-addled thoughts.

"Who are yous? I ain't seens yous around here before."

"Who I am is no one you want to toy with. The girl and I have business, and it does not include you. Now crawl back to whatever cloud den you were shat out of and don't ever speak to me again."

"The girl is mines. She owes mes for the bed she sleeps on and the food I puts in her belly. She ain't earned back half what I spents on her yet, and she's too young to works on her back. So yous gives me whatever yous was gonna pays her, or she ain't going nowhere. Yous understand me?"

Lethelin felt a tug at her cape and looked down to see Eraphys's glitter-bright eyes staring up at her.

"Please, miss. Don't make him angry. I'll go with him, it's okay."

"Yeah!" Erik seconded. "Yous best not be making mes angry. I gots ways of teaching lessons to women whos makes me angry. Don't I, Eraphy?

Eraphys nodded her head in a jerky sort of way and shied away from him. It took all Lethelin's strength not to end the disgusting man right then and there. She thought about the mission, though, and figured it was better to be discreet. Bodies draw attention, even in a place like the Maka.

With the girl trembling against her leg, Lethelin fished out five silver.

"Here," Lethelin said, offering them in her palm. "And by Stollar's holy light, if you lay a finger on this girl again, I will slice open your belly and hang you with your own guts. Do you understand?"

Erik's eyes widened at the silver in Lethelin's palm, no doubt already thinking of the powder he could buy with it. He reached for it, his face splitting into a grin, and Lethelin pulled her hand back out of reach.

"I'll have your word, Erik, and I'll have it now."

"Yeah, yeah. Take her!"

He was almost vibrating with his lust for the coin and Lethelin was glad she had her gloves on. The idea of even this man's fingers brushing against her palm made her skin crawl like it was covered in sand fleas. She extended her palm once more and he snatched the coins and was off without another word. Lethelin resisted the urge to spit.

"Now," she said, turning back around to Eraphys. "About that food."

The girl was staring at her with a mix of disbelief and what looked like horror.

"Close your mouth, Eraphys, or something's likely to fly in there and build a nest."

She did so but looked no less shocked.

"I... I can clean well, and I'm getting better at... at picking pockets. I just need practice, is all. But I'll get better, I promise. And you don't have to send me to work on my back when I'm older. I'll make the coin back you paid him. Under Stollar's light, I will. And you won't need to teach me any lessons. I'm a good listener. Really, I am!"

Lethelin stared at the shaking little girl, half starved, filthy, covered in rat bites, and desperate, and she almost cursed the gods. She let out a long sigh, instead.

"I wasn't buying you, silly girl."

Eraphys stared at her, her brow creasing as she tried to understand.

"But you gave Master Erik five silver. It's so much!"

"It was easier to give him the money than to kill him. I've got more important things to do today than hide a body. And there's still coin for you if you can help me get my work done. Now, food or not?"

Eraphys nodded and then gave her rescuer a cautious smile. For just a moment, Lethelin thought she could see the beautiful girl that was buried beneath all the grime and filth. What she might have looked like if her parents hadn't been killed, but were instead still making the best paper in Awenor and reading her stories in her bed at night.

"Come on, then."

Lethelin held out her hand, and Eraphys stared at it dubiously.

"You're not going to cut my hand off and feed it to me, right?

The girl was almost grinning.

"Not today," Lethelin told her, and smiled back. "Can't promise about tomorrow, though. Might need something to feed my pet shadow cat."

Eraphys giggled, but placed her hand in Lethelin's, and they continued on to find food.

"Everyone knows you can't have shadow cats as pets!" Eraphys proclaimed.

"Is that so?"

***

As much as Lethelin wanted to indulge the girl, she was on a schedule. She allowed her one medium athi pie, and ate a green drake pepper raw, just to show the girl that people from Varset could indeed eat spicy food, thank you very much. Once she'd had her fill, which honestly wasn't even half of the pie they'd ordered, Lethelin let the food settle before getting down to business.

"Eraphys, do you know the game people play on the streets called Three-Toed Troll?"

She scrunched up her nose at the image but wobbled her head.

"I've never heard of that. What is it?"

"It's a game with three cups that are moved around and underneath one is usually a round stone, like an Iva stone, or something similar. The person moves the cups quickly, and the person watching has to try and find the ball when he stops."

Eraphys's eyes went wide and she suddenly nodded.

"I know that game. But they don't call it Three-Toed Troll."

"What's it called?"

"The Knight's Gambit," she replied. "I've seen it a few times. Erik likes to play it sometimes, but he never wins."

Lethelin wasn't surprised, and said so.

Eraphys nodded, but then Lethelin saw a shadow pass over her face.

"He gets mad when he loses, though."

"Well, don't worry about him. Do you know where I can find a game? Not just any game, though. Do you know where I can find the best Knight's Gambit player around here?"

Eraphys frowned in thought.

"Not many people play it in the Maka."

Lethelin waved the idea aside.

"I'm thinking more near the Obsidian or Blood Stone Gates. Preferably the Obsidian."

It had been clear to her in her short wanderings through the Maka that the quality of the lowlife she wanted wasn't going to be found there. She'd not spotted anyone displaying a proper guild affiliation and had been close to giving up and moving on when Eraphys had taken her chance and tried to lift some coin.

"Erik never left the Maka, but I used to run messages for some of the shops," Eraphys mused. "Sometimes near the Blood Stone and to the Obsidian."

Lethelin waited, idly picking at some of the pastry of the leftover pie crust, while the girl searched her memory.

"I didn't see a Knight's Gambit player, but once near the Obsidian gate I saw someone playing a different game. It was with cards. I think I've seen more card games than Gambit games."

Lethelin wondered if the people in Lorivin just didn't care for the game. Three-Toed Troll was the street hustle of choice for those back home. She was familiar with the card games, usually called The Sea Fairies in Varset. It had been a little while since she'd run it herself, though.

"That could be what I need. Do you remember where it was?"

Eraphys creased her brow a moment, then her face lit up.

"I do! I remember because I was bringing a message from a stable master to a buyer at an inn on that street. The card game was in a little park. There were some people standing around in really nice clothes."

Lethelin smiled.

"That's what I want. What was the name of the inn?

Eraphys pursed her lips in thought for a moment.

"The Silverblood!" she said triumphantly, pleased to be useful.

"That's my girl," Lethelin told her, then set down three silver on the table in front of the clumsy pickpocket.

Eraphys's eyes bulged.

"And there will be more of that if you do something else for me."

"Wh-- What?"

"I want you to stay here until I get back. You are not to leave the tavern for any reason. I've already spoken to Tilly, and she's agreed to let you sleep in the store room if I'm not back by nightfall. You'll have as much food as you need, and she's going to let you into her little house in the back to bathe. Don't steal anything. Mind your manners, stay out of sight, get cleaned up, and wear whatever clean clothes she gives you. Do that and you'll have more coin. Do we have a deal?"

Eraphys sat frozen for a moment, seemingly too afraid to move lest the spell end. Finally, she nodded, and her hands reached slowly for the coins.

Lethelin nodded back and stood to go.

"Okay. Get to it. Don't make any trouble, and I'll be back when I'm done."

The girl suddenly stood and flung herself around Lethelin. She was sniffling, but only quietly.

"Thank you, miss... miss..."

"Call me Leth," she told her as she patted the crying girl's head.

"Please come back, Miss Leth. I won't make trouble. I promise I won't!"

Lethelin suddenly found herself fighting back her own tears.

"Look at me, going all soft. Damn it, Mitchell!" she cursed him silently. "You're turning me into bladder fish!"

"I'll be back before you can say glitter fish."

Eraphys allowed herself to be pulled away and wiped at her grimy nose.

"Bath first, I think," Lethelin told her.

She nodded and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Off with you."

***

It took Lethelin nearly an hour to get over to the Obsidian Gate from the Maka. The area, while still in the outer city, was nicer than most. It had a more established feel to it, with several of the older buildings having actual stonework and some streets that were cobbled. There were more guards present, which only confirmed her suspicions and was why she'd wanted the Obsidian Gate to begin with. If a street rat was running The Sea Fairies out in the open here, that meant money to bribe the guards to look the other way. Someone making that good a profit was almost certainly a guild member. Little gangs in the Maka might pay dues to the Guild, but none that she'd seen looked noteworthy enough to have earned a membership. That struck her as odd in and of itself. The Maka was plenty big enough to attract a lot of vice, and that she hadn't been able to find a guild affiliation spoke to something having happened.

She turned down the street where she had been told she would find The Silverblood Inn and took her time getting to the park area. She even stopped to purchase some bread from a cart so that she would look more like a casual traveler. She came to the little park in short order. And there was her fish.

He looked human and young, certainly no older than Lethelin herself, but he had an easy smile and a confidence that spoke of long experience working crowds. He was smartly dressed in a violet tunic and tight black pants that showed off a shapely backside. He accentuated that with a silver belt with short silver tassels on it that glittered as he moved. It was a good effect, she thought. His Fairies table was just slightly slower and every time he swirled his hips the tassels flashed, helping to distract the eye. He also wore slim gold bracelets on each wrist that added to the effect. Lethelin walked up slowly, working her way to the front of the crowd, bakery bag in hand, acting as if she'd been brought in by his crowd work. He was chatting with a few of the audience and looked like he was finding his rhythm and just beginning his routine.

"Step up my fair and gentle folk, and test your fate!" he called out enthusiastically. "Tis but a game of chance, you see, and victory comes to those who don't hesitate!"

His clever wordplay got him a few smiles, and Lethelin watched his hands move the cards around smoothly. They made a steady click-click-click as he placed each one down in a slightly circular hypnotic pattern.

"Find the lady, with hair so fine, and win a silver, most divine!" He flipped over one of the cards to reveal a drawing of Vish, a silver moon in the background. "Or maybe it's men your heart doth desire? Is it bulging muscles that set your loins afire?" At that, he flipped over another card to reveal a drawing of Ithstasy with the golden moon. "Then find the gentlemen, with eyes of gold, and win a crown, a risk for only the bold!" That earned him a few oohs and aahs.

"But truly the greatest treasure has yet to be seen, and it can all be yours if her location you can but glean." The man flipped over the third card and held it out to the audience, and Lethelin saw there her namesake.

"You just had to do it, didn't you, mother?" she groaned inwardly.

The street rat continued.

"Double your money, if you dare, but heed my words, I say 'beware'. For the dancer is fast, and her lesson is clear: all will pass, especially love, most dear."

"Okay," Lethelin admitted to herself. "He's pretty good."

The rules of the game were simple enough, although this version was a little different from the ones usually played in Varset. The Three Fairies only had one winner. This one, it seemed, was designed to give some freebies to lure people in to go for the prize. Once she got that down, she looked for the man in the crowd. It took some patience but eventually she found the partner. It wasn't a man, but a woman.

She was a young elfin girl of maybe fifteen high suns. Lethelin had spotted her as she waited through the rubes, who won just enough to keep the crowd interested, but not so much that the man was losing more than he was taking in. No one had wagered more than a crown so far, though. Then the girl made her move.

"I want to double my money!" she said enthusiastically.

This got some chuckles from the gathered audience to see someone so young being so brazen.

"Hey there, girl. Don't you think you're a little young to be playing at games like this? Where's your mother?"

His eyes never left the pretty challenger, and his hands never stopped their rhythmic motion. Click-click-click-click.

"I've got coin, that's all that matters!" the girl shot back. "Are you afraid to lose to someone so young, and a girl no less?"

The crowd made some mumbles of respect at her feisty nature and looked to see what the man would do.

Click-click-click-click, his hands never stopping. He looked annoyed but then shrugged.

"As you like it, young miss. But don't be sending your father to me after he finds out I've taken all his hard-earned coin."

"You'd best not go crying to my father that I cheated when I walk away with your purse!"

The man grinned and looked at the audience.

"She's got fire, this one. I like it. A fair bit braver than all you lot, it seems. She went right for the dancer." He looked back to the girl. "Very well, young miss, step forward and place your wealth, perhaps the dancer will reward you with more coin, a long life, and health!"

Click-click-click-click.

The girl stepped up to the table, every inch the cocky young teenager, and placed five crowns down in the center. The crowd gasped. Even the hawker seemed to lose his rhythm at the sight of such a large amount. Then he "remembered" himself and cleared his throat.

"Five crowns this child of fortune has placed at my feet. Can she best me, shall I win? I think we are all in for a treat."

The man pulled one card from the dancing trio and flipped it over to reveal a woman dancing with two moons at her back.

"Here she is, the beloved of the gods, the picture of grace. Watch as she dances, from place to place."

He slid the card effortlessly back into the shuffle, and the speed picked up considerably.

Clickclickclickclick.

"She dances here--" he flipped up the card revealing its location, then flipped it almost immediately and moved it back into the shuffle, his fingers a near blur. "She dances there," he flipped it up once more and, even though Lethelin knew what to look for, she found she'd been wrong. Like a flash, it was back into the shuffle. "Not bound by death, she dances anywhere!"

Clickclickclickclick.

His fingers flowed, never missing a slide, the silver at his waist and the gold at his wrists sparkled, and despite herself Lethelin found herself being lulled by his movements.

Then, he stopped so suddenly that the crowd gasped. All three cards were laid in a perfect row.

"We come to it at last, my young maiden, how quickly the time hath passed. Decisions to make, coin to take! Where does she rest, the dancer most fair, make your choice, if you dare..."

With a flourish he spread his hands and stepped back from the table. Lethelin watched her face carefully. The girl was an excellent actress and if Lethelin didn't know the game so well, she would have doubted her own instincts. Somehow, she'd actually managed to make herself sweat!

"Umm..."

"The hour grows late, Stollar makes his way across the sky," the man taunted. "Delay too long, and thy coin shall in my pockets lie."

"You didn't move that fast with the other people!" the girl complained.

"This is the game as it is played, and warnings did I give before the bet was made."

He gave her a predatory grin.

"Cry not foul at your lack of ability," he continued. "Accept your defeat with a smile and some dignity."

"Oh, be quiet!" the girl snapped at him. "I can do this."

The man gave her a bow and closed his mouth.

The girl began counting things off under her breath and pointing at different cards as she did so. This went on for several seconds, and then a smile came over her face.

"Aha!" The man shouted. "The young miss has made her choice. Silence now as we await youth's voice!"

With deliberate slowness, the girl extended one manicured finger and touched the card to her right.

"I believe I am owed a dance."

The hustler hesitated. The crowd was holding their collective breath.

"Ah... Um... Are you sure, young miss? You only get one chance. Think carefully now. That is a lot of coin you have wagered."

"No clever rhymes, oh gentle master? Why, could it be that, while your hands were fast, my eyes were faster?"

That drew a hearty chuckle from the crowd.

"Come on, flip the card," one man called out. "Let's see if she's won."

Several people voiced their agreement.

The hustler glanced up nervously and cleared his throat.

"But of course!" he called out, trying to keep his control of the crowd. "I only wanted to give the young miss one last chance."

Then, as if it pained him to do so, he flipped over the card that she had chosen. The dancer stared up at them from the table and the crowd cheered.

Several people patted the girl as she calmly picked up the coins and extended her hand to await her five new crowns.

The man shook his head, plucked them from some hidden pocket, and set them one at a time in her palm.

"Good day!" she said lightly, and then skipped off with her newfound wealth.

The effect was immediate. Several people stepped forward, much more confident now that, if a young girl could best the dealer, they could as well. The hustler, while he played at being annoyed at such a huge loss, seemed to take it in stride and was back to working the crowd once more. Even Lethelin took a turn to help herself fit in and "lost" three silver to the man.

After that, she stayed near the periphery watching and, by her count, he was up twenty crowns over the next half hour as people kept trying to double their money. She noticed that no one was ever able to double their money if they bet more than two gold crowns. In this way, he was able to keep his losses minimal while he kept his profits high. People who won one crown would often try to double it again.

Lethelin was beginning to lose patience when the man finally called that he was done for the day, but that he would be back again tomorrow. As the last handful of customers left the area, he began packing up and could no longer hide his smile.

"Was it your Uncle Lapiet that taught you to handle cards that way?" Lethelin asked to the man's back as he was bent over folding up his table.

The man jerked at the question, but he recovered quickly, turning around as if nothing was amiss, giving her a more thorough once over.

"It was," he said at last, before setting about removing his flashy jewelry. "But he's been dead these last two years. Died when Milandris and his soldiers came."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Lethelin said. "I had wished to see him now that I've finally been able to visit the city."

"And where is it that you've come in from. It must be far if you'd not heard of his passing."

"From the coast. Varset. Your uncle and my uncle were old friends."

"Eh, is that so?" he said with a cautious grin. "Well, more's the pity."

"Who is it that teaches you the cards these days?"

"Oh, Lapiet wasn't my only uncle. I've others. The best at the cards is my Uncle Hamiren."

"This might work out well, then. I brought some gifts for Uncle Lapiet. Three gifts, in fact. Maybe, in honor of his unfortunate demise, I can offer them to your Uncle Hamiren, instead."

"Gifts from Varset?" he arched an eyebrow. "They must be valuable for you to have carried them such a distance."

Lethelin nodded.

"Oh, they are indeed. I am confident that your uncle would want them. Precious things he wouldn't find anywhere else in Awenor."

"Is that so?"

"Do you have some place we might discuss it? They are somewhat delicate and I wouldn't want unkind ears to overhear the details."

"That can be arranged. But your name, young miss, if you please."

"Nelitha. And you?

"Call me Jonan," he said and touched his fingers to his heart and head.

Lethelin returned the greeting.

"Follow me, Nelitha. I've a place where we can chat about your gifts."

He picked up his bag and started walking toward the street and Lethelin stepped up beside him.

"Oh, and do invite your cousin. I'd love to chat with her as well."

Jonan grinned at her and chuckled.

"Those pretty green eyes are sharp," he said.

"Not as sharp as my blade. And I'd hate to have to use it if your cousin got the wrong idea and tried to sneak up behind me."

"Fair enough."

He stopped, turned and looked at an alley just across from the park he'd been working in and gave a nod. A moment later, the girl emerged from the shadows who had won the five coins earlier. Only she looked completely different. Instead of long blond hair, she now had short brown hair, and her clothes were much shabbier. Her face had also been cleaned of the bit of color she'd applied for her performance. She approached and eyed Lethelin warily.

"Lenna, this is Nelitha. She's people. Nelitha, this is Lenna. She aspires to be people one day."

The girl's expression went from guarded to curious.

"Stollar's blessings upon you, Mistress Nelitha," she said and touched her heart and head.

"And you as well. That was a fine performance earlier."

"Thank you!" the girl gushed. "I've been practicing every day."

"We can discuss that later," Jonan said, for the first time sounding a little annoyed. "I'd like to get us off the street, if you don't mind. I've heavy pockets."

Lethelin nodded, as did Lenna, and the three of them set off.

Chapter 76

Up ahead in the darkness of the tunnel, the torch light of their guide illuminated an ancient-looking iron gate set into a thick stone wall that looked even older. Mitchell blinked to clear his eyes of what he hoped was just water that was dripping constantly from the rough stone ceiling and coughed as he caught a breath of the smoke coming from the torch carried by their guide.

"This is it," the young man named Jonan said, as he looked back at his charges.

"How many passages like this are there into the city?" Allora asked as her violet eyes took in the sight before them.

"Just this one," Jonan replied with a grin.

"Just the one?" Allora said, her disbelief obvious.

"You don't really expect him to tell you the other ones, do you?" Lethelin said, rolling her eyes.

Mitchell also shook his head a bit and smiled. Allora, for all her talents and knowledge, seemed completely naive about how criminal activity was conducted.

The knight looked from Lethelin to Jonan and back again. Rather than argue, she chose to keep her mouth shut.

"Where will this take us?" Mitchell asked. The cart with their crate of deadly cargo that he had been pulling behind him for the last hour and a half was starting to make his shoulders ache. He could feel the knots forming already.

"This lone passage," he said with extra emphasis and a wink to Allora, "cuts under the outer wall near the Opal gate and into the Dregs."

"The Dregs?" Mitchell interrupted.

"Old part of the city," Jonan said.

You'll be coming out in an old warehouse that's rarely used these days. The gang that used to control it ran into a bit of trouble a little while back and no one has stepped up to claim it just yet. Officially, at any rate."

"How much farther?" Mitchell asked.

"Maybe another thirty minutes once we're through the gate," he told Mitchell as he produced a large key from inside his pocket and forced the old lock open. "We'd move faster but your cart will make it harder to navigate some of the twisting passages. Are you sure it's necessary?"

Mitchell nodded and set it down briefly to work his shoulders and then picked it back up to follow the others through the entrance.

Lethelin had returned just before sundown and informed them that she'd made contact and had instructions on where to meet the man who would see them into the city. Compared to the work of convincing Vras to get into the crate, making contact had been the easy part.

The shadow cat hadn't gotten violent exactly, but the ordeal of calming him down had maybe been the first real time where he thought Vras might attack him. The creature had scared him plenty and his body seemed to have an instinctive response to hearing him growl a warning, but Mitchell never really felt like his companion would hurt him. Still, when Mitchell had told him he needed to get into the box and let them close the lid on him, he thought the animal was going to lunge for his throat.

The shadow cat had immediately lowered itself to the ground, ears flat, fangs bared, and tentacles open. Allora had stepped back like she was spring loaded and it was only a quick command from Mitchell that stopped her from drawing her blade.

"Vras, this is how we are going to get you into the two-leg city. I don't want to leave you out here alone, I need you in there with me, but you can't be seen."

"I am gratha!" he snarled. "I am only seen if I want to be seen!"

"In the forest, yes. In the wilds," Mitchell said in as calm a voice as he could. "But this is a city. There are two-legs beyond counting and any one of them would scream and raise the alarm if they saw you. If that happens, we might fail. There will be too many two-leg enemies and you won't be able to protect me."

This gave the animal pause. Mitchell knew that Vras considered it his job to protect him but protecting him from what was still vague. Vras only ever said it was for a great hunt, but when asked if that was what they were doing now, the shadow cat seemed to feel it was not, that the great hunt was later.

Mitchell went on to demonstrate that the lid would not be secured, that Vras could escape if he needed to, but that he should only do so if there were sounds of battle. They'd also taken the liberty of drilling several small holes into the bottom and a few around the top to ensure he had plenty of air.

Finally, with an unceasing growl of anger and fear--although Mitchell would never let Vras know he'd heard that--the shadow cat went into the crate. He tested the lid immediately and saw that he could push it open with his head without any difficulty. This mollified him somewhat, but his hackles were still raised as the lid settled into place once more. Mitchell felt guilty but there really was no other way.

Up ahead Mitchell watched as their guide, Jonan, followed signs apparently only he could see and understand. His pace was steady and confident. Mitchell found his quick smile and easy confidence a little slimy, if he was being honest. His hands were a little too smooth, his eyes a little too observant. He reminded Mitchell of some sort of smooth-talking salesman that was always working an angle, always hustling someone. Lethelin had said he was the man who could get them inside, though and that he was with the guild, so they had little choice but to follow.

After several more minutes moving through dank passages, stepping over pools of who knows what, and choking on the stench of things Mitchell would rather not imagine, Jonan suddenly stopped at a black section of stone wall that was indistinguishable from all the other damp, algae-covered stone walls they'd passed over the last half hour or so. With a gloved hand he scraped away some of the slimy growth and located a small hole in the stone. He blew on it to clear away any vestiges plant life that might linger, and then Mitchell saw the glitter of a small gemstone being placed into the newly-cleared hole. With his ungloved hand, he touched the stone and immediately something inside the wall clicked. The wall slid into a recess and then opened to the right revealing a dark room on the other side.

"This is it," he said, a little too enthusiastically.

Allora peered in, her eyes just as good as Mitchell's in the gloom and, not finding anything she disagreed with, stepped inside. Lethelin followed, and then Mitchell brought up the rear, dragging the cart over the lip, and then Jonan stepped inside behind them, popping out the stone as he did so. Once it was free, the wall began grinding closed and, in just a couple of seconds, had resealed itself. As Mitchell turned to examine the wall, he once again could find no sign that anything was out of place. There weren't even scuff marks on the floor.

The room they now found themselves in was dusty and a little bit rank. There were empty shelves on the wall, almost all either listing or missing pieces. A few odd bits of furniture were also scattered about with some broken glassware, rusted out tools, and a few barrels with missing staves. The dust of years was over everything. No one had been down here in quite some time. On the far side of the room were a set of steep rickety wooden stairs that led up about three or four meters to a door that Mitchell could just make out at the top.

"That's the warehouse up there," Jonan said, noticing Mitchell's focus while he set the half-burned torch into a rusted out sconce bolted into the wall. "The old gang that ran it used it for smuggling, mostly. Anything of value was cleaned out and now it's empty. But there's space aplenty for you all to rest up."

"Thank you, Jonan," Lethelin said.

"Least I could do for someone that was friends with my old uncle," he told her with a slight bow. "And my other uncle is looking forward to meeting you."

"You knew his uncle?" Mitchell said, looking at her curiously.

"In a manner of speaking," she said in that tone she had of saying she wouldn't say any more about it. Focusing her attention back on Jonan, she added, "I will contact you as soon as I can to arrange a meeting with him."

"About that," Jonan said slowly. "I actually expect he'll be along shortly. Until then, just sit tight. The building is being watched, so they'll know if you leave. Uncle wouldn't like that."

"Lethelin, what is this?" Allora said, her voice growing hard.

Ignoring Allora, Lethelin turned to Jonan.

"That wasn't part of our deal. I said we would meet him when we could make arrangements."

Jonan gave her that too-quick smile, showing a lot of teeth.

"Don't feed me to the dragon, here, m'lady. I'm just the messenger," he said, spreading his hands in supplication. "I relayed your wishes to my uncle but he had other ideas. He's eager to see the gifts you brought him."

Allora's sword was out in a flash and at the man's throat. For all his oily speed, Mitchell thought even he looked startled by how fast she had moved.

Jonan froze and his grin faltered. He swallowed and Mitchell saw the tip of Allora's blade nick his Adam's apple, causing the man to jerk at the sharp sensation. Mitchell knew that feeling. It wasn't pleasant.

"We have no intention of staying here to wait for your uncle, thief!" Allora hissed. "If you wish to see the sun again, you will let us leave unmolested."

"Ah..." Jonan said, his voice trembling but his body stone still. "My uncle thought that might be the case. The people watching the building expect me to come out alone. If I don't..."

He let the word hang there and Lethelin cursed at him.

"You lying pile of jivi shit! Is this how the guild behaves in Lorivin? If word gets back to my uncle, he will not be pleased. You risk open conflict."

That put some steel in the man's spine.

"You're in the city, aren't you?" Jonan shot back. "I kept my word. Safe and unseen! But he's got questions and people who don't answer them to his liking have a way of disappearing. Answer his questions and I'm sure you'll be fine."

Mitchell walked up to the man. He placed a finger on Allora's sword and, with a gentle push, she lowered it. Then Mitchell stepped in front of him and he practically loomed.

Jonan wasn't tall, maybe only 5' 9" or so, and Mitchell had several inches on him. Not to mention being significantly more muscular. This close, even in the dark, Mitchell could see the beads of sweat dripping down from his dark, slicked back hair.

"Who is your uncle?" Mitchell said, his voice low and dangerous.

"Edrokii Sereg," Jonan said.

"Sereg?" Allora asked.

"You know him?" Mitchell half turned to ask her.

"No, but the name is Waivian. It means blade or knife."

"What is edrokii?" Mitchell asked, since it had the feel of a title.

"That I am not sure," Allora told him, her voice thoughtful. "It sounds like the old draconic word for slaver, 'edirokin'."

"It's what we call a gang boss who's gotten enough power to lay claim to the title," Lethelin offered. "Generally, they have claimed a portion of a district and run their operations from there. They can have anywhere from twenty to a hundred people working for them. Maybe more in Lorivin."

Mitchell turned back to the trembling Jonan.

"Even if you kept your word, Jonan, you brought us here under false pretenses. I could kill you or have you killed in any number of ways. Convince me not to."

"You... You would be making a powerful enemy," Jonan said in a rush. "Edrokii Sereg would come after you. I'm protected. I'm in the guild! Killing me without a declaration would put you at odds with every edrokii in the city!"

Mitchell glanced at Lethelin.

"Is this true?"

The thief grimaced.

"Yes. I'm in the guild and if we killed him that would break open a net full of razor fish all over our deck. That's trouble we don't want."

"That's right!" Jonan said. "Trouble you don't want!"

Mitchell found he was tired of the man's sniveling. They'd come too far and too much was at stake to tolerate being double-crossed this close to the goal. His hand shot forward and grabbed the shorter man by the collar of his purple shirt and shoved him against the wall, then lifted him up bodily until his feet were dangling several inches off the ground.

"Stollar's fucking taint!" Jonan squealed as his hands clutched Mitchell's wrist and his legs kicked over open air.

"Whatever happens with your uncle, Jonan, I want you to know that you've made an enemy today. You could have been honest with us, but you weren't. If we cross paths again and I catch you lying a second time, being in the guild won't save you. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Jonan said, his voice straining as he began to choke on the fabric of the shirt closing around his neck.

"Good. Now go tell your uncle we're waiting."

Mitchell released him, and he fell to the floor gasping. Once he'd caught his breath, he stood and, without another word, bolted for the stairs. He threw open the door at the top and they heard his footsteps echo across what sounded like a large room above, and then another door opened and closed.

Mitchell sighed.

"It would have been nice for one thing to go easy," he said to the ladies.

"It would have," Allora agreed.

"I'm sorry," Lethelin said, her face chagrined. "The guild has a way of operating that keeps the peace between the different gangs. Mostly. If this were Varset it never would have went down this way. If I get a chance to get word back to the edrokii in my city, there will be consequences."

"Is that normally a bad thing?" Mitchell asked her as he put his arm around here. She slumped into him. "Like do they worry about it?"

"It can be. There have been secret wars before between edrokii in different cities, and even between different nations. It's almost always done in the shadows, with assassinations, arson, small skirmishes that don't usually draw much attention. But it can get bloody and go on for years. Jonan and this Edrokii Sereg are taking a pretty big risk."

"Why would he do that?" Allora asked.

"I don't know," Lethelin answered. "I didn't have time to try and get a sense of what was going on in the city. We're on a schedule, after all."

"We'll just have to deal with him when he gets here," Mitchell told them.

"His name is curious," Allora said.

"Why?" Mitchell asked as he went over to let Vras out of the crate.

"Waivian is not a common language. Few know it. I would not expect a thief or gang boss, or whatever he is, to know it."

Lethelin shrugged.

"It's pretty common for an Edrokii to pick some name they think makes them sound more sinister or imposing," she said.

Mitchell lifted the lid and Vras bounded out and began to scout the room. He sneezed several times at all the dust.

"I guess we should head upstairs and see what plans we can make before our host arrives," Mitchell said.

The girls agreed and they made their way up to the main floor of the abandoned warehouse. To everyone's surprise, the rickety steps held them.