Arc 5: Chapter 24: A Lesser Villain

Arc 5: Chapter 24: A Lesser Villain

“You should have guards,” Rosanna told me some time later. She had mastered herself, once again donning her royal mask. “Kaia and I were not challenged when we arrived.”

She sat on my chair, while I leaned against the wall by the window. The sea seemed to have calmed outside.

“I’ve been a bit busy to worry about security,” I said.

“I heard they also assigned malcontents to you,” Rosanna added thoughtfully. “You need a proper household. It took me more than half an hour to reach this tower, and most of it seems unused. You’re isolated out here. You should have a cook for your meals, along with a chamberlain to see to daily needs. Has my husband not provided any of this?”

“I think he’s been a bit busy too,” I noted dryly.

“Hm.” Rosanna considered a moment, then seemed to dismiss the issue. “I have been appraised somewhat of your investigation. You just returned to the castle this morning, along with that dwarven knight from Idhir?”

I didn’t much want to explain the whole story again, and felt certain Markham would demand the conspiracy I’d uncovered stay in that council room. But Rosanna was my monarch, the only one I’d ever actually followed because I had wanted to. Besides, she had a shrewdness to match her husband’s and fewer distractions than him presently. She might be able to help me.

As I spoke, Rosanna occasionally asked clarifying questions. They were sharp and poignant, rarely diverging the conversation so far off course as to waste time. I had her caught up to speed soon enough.

“I have not been idle this past week,” Rosanna stated when my tale was done. “I’ve had Kaia chasing leads as well, and I am aware of this confederation of noble families taking matters into their own hands. I will speak to Markham about it, but for now…”

She adjusted her skirts and stood. Her advanced pregnancy seemed to trouble her, and I had to resist the urge to help. I knew she would not appreciate it. “I have some information that might help you. The assassin who targeted the Ironleaf was caught.”

I started. “What? Why haven’t I heard of this?”

Rosanna’s lips pursed. “Because House Braeve is the one who found him. I only know of it because their alliance includes a secret ally of mine, one who passed this information to my people.”

I cursed bitterly. “I can’t keep up with all the resources of Garihelm’s elite with less than a dozen people, especially when the city is battling me every step. I’m drowning, Rose.”

Rosanna cast me a sympathetic look. “There are many who want you to fail, Alken. They see you as a threat, and fear what you represent. What happened that day in court… it scared many people.”

I knew she spoke of the Onsolain. “So what became of this assassin?”

“That is where it gets complicated,” Rosanna said. “It was a courier, a commoner who had worked in the castle for years. He was young, married to a laundress who also works in the palace, and could not tell the interrogators anything about his motives. He would not say who hired him, what they offered or threatened to make him do their will, or anything of value. Even under torture, he gave them nothing but pleas for mercy.”

“How did these nobles know he was their man?” I asked, frowning.

“Ser Jocelyn cut his assassin on the neck with a dagger,” Rosanna explained. “Here.” She tapped her neck just above the collar bone. “A shallow strike, but enough to leave a mark. He was reported by some of the other servants when they noticed the wound.”

“Plenty of agents are trained to endure torture,” I noted.

“True.” Rosanna leaned forward, her green eyes intent. “But that is not the strange part. My people questioned his wife. According to her, he went missing in the Hammer Ward three weeks ago. He returned to the palace only a few nights before the Culling, and did not know her. He acted like a stranger.”

I remained silent a long while at that information. “A stranger, was it?”

Rosanna had no doubt heard about my report the day her husband restored my knighthood. I suspected she’d already drawn the same conclusion solidifying itself in my mind.

“The chorn,” I breathed. “It was eating people’s memories. Eating them, and perhaps putting something else in their place.”

Rosanna’s face paled. “They can do that?”

“The forces of darkness can do many terrifying things,” I said darkly. Like put a parasite in your dreams.

I recalled the old puppeteer who’d attacked me, paranoid and fearful of his own creations. I remembered the report my lance had given about the innocuous maid who’d stabbed Ser Alencourt in a tavern, even though her family lived not three blocks away.

I had been wondering how the Vykes managed to position so many assassins in the city for something of this scale. They hadn’t. They had created them from innocent people.

“One of the twins, or perhaps a member of their retinue, is a warlock.” I met Rosanna’s eye. “Do you think anyone else has figured it out?”

“I wasn’t even certain until now,” Rosanna said. “Very few people outside of the Magi and the elves know much demon lore. Perhaps Lias could have made us aware of this plot earlier, but…”

But he had abandoned us.

“I’m only guessing at what makes sense, and what I think is possible.” I shook my head. “I don’t actually know if that chorn was capable of something this complex. I’ll have to talk to Fen Harus, get his opinion. His people trained the Table to fight demons in the first place, so maybe he will know something.”

“I will pass on a message for you so he knows you want to meet,” Rosanna offered.

I glared at the floor, chewing on my lip. “Those two Talsyner shits are very good at carrying out their schemes in ways we can’t prove, even when we’re certain they are the culprits.”

I started to pace, frustrated. “I should just kill them.”

“You will start a war,” Rosanna said warningly.

“We’re already at war. If it’s a choice between that and letting them kill us by inches...” I turned and gave her a hard look. “Maybe it’s time something is actually done about the Condor.”

I wondered then why the Choir had never sent me after his head. I suspected plenty of his allies had fallen under my axe, even if I hadn’t known them as such at the time.

“You and I cannot make that choice,” Rosanna insisted.

“You’re the empress,” I reminded her.

“The lords follow Markham,” Rosanna told me soberly. “The Church has put its faith in him as well. I am the mother of his children and the leader of the southern realms, or what’s left of them. And I know he will not choose to field his armies unless there is no other option, not when Hasur Vyke has the support he needs to make any victory we might win a pyrrhic one. Talsyn is nigh unassailable in those mountains with even a small army defending it. And they will not have a small army. Who knows what evils he’s been preparing these past eight years, what alliances he has made?”

I remembered Orson Falconer and his council. I looked at the floor, frustrated because I knew she was right. I’d made those very same arguments to Emma and Hendry just that morning.

“Besides,” Rosanna added in a grim voice. “King Hasur is hardly the greatest threat we face. It is no accident Markham extended an invitation to Graill and has been in private councils with Princess Snoë. He intends to prepare us to retake the east, even if it does not happen in his lifetime.”

Startled, my gaze shot to her. “Markham is preparing to reclaim Seydis?”

Rosanna nodded. “Few know. The Ignited Lands grow every year, and there are rumors of terrible things straying out of them into Lindenroad, Graill, and some of the southern realms as well.”

“That’s why Markham invited House Wake to join his council,” I realized. “Resettling Verdanhigh is just the beginning, isn’t it?”

Rosanna approached me, not quite to the intimate distance she had before but still standing very close. Her green eyes were sharp and bright as twin gemstones. “We must deal with Talsyn without resorting to open war. If we have to use force of arms to oust the Vykes, then the Accorded Realms will be left crippled for generations. We cannot afford that with a warlord of the Adversary still lurking inside our shores.”

I closed my eyes against the roar of inhuman laughter echoing through my memories. There were far worse monsters than Hasur Vyke, or even Yith Golonac. I had seen the Gorelion only once, and it had scarred me.

“You are right,” Rosanna said quietly. “We are at war. A war of shadows and sorcery and man-made monsters. If our enemies will not fight us in the open, then we must meet them where they are.”

I scoffed.

“You disagree?” Rosanna asked sharply.

“No, I…” I shrugged and smiled lightly at her. “It’s just, you’re making the same argument I made to myself when I accepted this duty. When I became the Headsman.”

Rosanna’s eyes softened, then roamed the room a moment. I knew she was looking for my axe, but she wouldn’t find it.

Seeming to put it out of her mind, she paced to the door. “I brought some other items that might help you. Reports from my embassy’s own investigation, mostly, but I’ve been looking into your own staff as well.”

I blinked out of my reverie. “You’ve been spying on me?”

Rosanna turned and quirked a royal black eyebrow. “Of course. I spy on everyone. I’m a queen.”

She knocked three times on the door and Kaia stepped in a moment later. The larger woman handed some scrolls to the Empress.

“That man, Emil, is a spy for the Clericon College.” Rosanna walked to my desk and placed her papers there. “He is one of the Royal Cleric’s people, and personally loyal to her.”

I had suspected at least a few of my subordinates would be spies. “Thanks.”

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“I also have something here on Kenneth Garder,” she told me. She had a strange look then, one I couldn’t read. “I will let you decide what to do with it. It will make sense after you read these. I am also giving you Lisette.”

I tilted my head, taken aback. “Why? She’s yours, isn’t she?”

Rosanna sighed. “She is wasted as my scribe, and has been languishing ever since she abandoned the Priory. Her talents would be put to better use with you, where she might do some actual good.”

“Surely the Church has some use for her?” I suggested. “There’s always a shortage of healers and warders.”

Rosanna adopted a troubled expression. “The clergy does not trust her. She was a priorguard of the Aureate Inquisition, Alken. You know the sorts of things they did. You saw their dungeons. She was part of that, even if it was as my spy.”

Another outcast, I thought. A talent rare as Lisette’s was no small gift, so I inclined my head and accepted it. “That is very generous, Your Grace.”

“Use all of this,” Rosanna said seriously. “For all our power, my husband and I cannot move against the Vykes without moving the engines of realms. Stop their scheme, and stop this war before it shifts from knives in the dark to armies, and burning cities. That is a command from your queen and your empress.”

Her voice softened. “And get some rest. The days ahead will be trying enough, and you look dead on your feet.”

I felt an involuntary smile tug at my lip. “Is that an order as well?”

“Yes,” she said stonily. “It is. Good day to you, Ser Headsman.”

She gave a brief dip of her crowned head, then departed with her bodyguard. I stood there a while, chewing on everything our conversation had revealed.

Why did all the catharsis in my life have to coincide with more complicated problems?

***

An hour later, I sat behind my desk again and had Kenneth Garder standing in front of me.

“You wanted to talk to me, ser?” Kenneth had his usual half smirk on his face, not quite evident enough to be taken as insubordination. Much of it lurked in his eyes, a subtle wrongness I’d felt but couldn’t quite name in our interactions so far. They twinkled as though he knew something I didn’t.

My fingers lingered on some of the paperwork in front of me. I studied him a while, long enough for him to lose some of his humor and shift in discomfort.

“When I heard I’d be getting a staff,” I finally said in a contemplative voice, “it annoyed me. I knew I would be getting spies from other members of the council. The idea of juggling all the intrigue and secret motives made my skull ache. I’m better with simple problems, you see.”

I motioned with my hands, making a spinning gesture. The nobleman frowned, some of his foppish confidence fading.

I stopped the gesture and splayed my fingers, showing him my myriad burn marks and other scars. “When I am confronted with a threat, I chop it. I’m a fighter, and a piss poor courtier. When they gave me you, Kenneth, I knew you were too good to be true. A great track record, a promising future, good breeding, obvious charisma. All the things I lacked. Things I could make use of.”

Kenneth looked like he couldn’t decide whether I were complimenting him or not. Pointing at him I said, “I was certain you were an agent for someone in the court, moved into my command for some agenda. I admit, the lack of any obvious marks against you made me suspicious, but what the court gave me on you looked clean.”

Kenneth shrugged. “I am sorry to disappoint you, ser.”

“Oh, you haven’t disappointed me. In fact, I’m pleasantly surprised.”

When he gave me another curious look, I stood and picked up the papers I’d had in front of me. My eyes scanned the page a moment, considering the contents.

“Your family is quite wealthy,” I said. “They must be, to pass enough coin around to keep a fourth son’s mishaps quiet.”

Kenneth’s eyes went to the paper. “I’m not sure what you mean, ser.”

I held up the paper, bracing another hand against the cluttered desk. “This is a report submitted by your commander from the city watch, which was kept from me until today. It includes the copy of a letter given to him by a merchant captain who docks here in the city.”

The man’s jaw flexed. “And?”

“It is a complaint,” I explained. “And a plea for justice. Apparently he also tried to go to a bailiff, but your family bribed the law as well. Should I read the letter, Kenneth?”

He shrugged, putting on a good show of nonchalance. “If you must. I certainly have no idea what’s in it.”

“In it is a description of how you stalked and harassed this merchant’s daughter for several months,” I stated flatly. “Using your position with the guard to do it.”

It wasn’t the only mark I had against him. Rosanna’s people had been thorough, and I knew now why a son of the well respected Garder clan hadn’t earned himself a knighthood at his age.

Kenneth’s lazy smile returned. “Ahh, I think I know what this is about.”

He had the gall to laugh, as though some silly mystery had been revealed. “Listen, this sort of thing happens all the time. A jealous father sees his precious girl carrying on with a man he doesn’t approve of, and takes things too far…”

He shrugged, flashing his good teeth. “It’s just a misunderstanding. I explained all this to my commander, but they moved me on just to prevent a hassle. Me and Ursula, well… it’s complicated, but I assure you I wasn’t stalking her. ”

“She seemed to think so,” I noted as I flipped the page. “She signed this as well.”

Kenneth’s expression turned cold. “What is this about, ser? Do you want me to admit to some misbehavior? Over what, some tryst with a peasant?”

“Tryst is not the word I would use for it,” I said darkly.

Kenneth surprised me. He took a step forward and lowered his voice, dropping all pretense of propriety or respect. “Come now, let’s not dance around one another.”

He leaned close, almost over the desk. “You and I both know what this is. This… band of ours.”

“Do we now?” I asked dryly, curious despite myself.

“Of course.” Kenneth’s eyes held no merry, personable glint anymore. “The Emperor and his council assigned you people like me because they intend for us to do dark work. Unclean work.”

When I just glared, the man huffed in frustration. “You think that ape, Mallet, is some saint? He worked for dock gangs, breaking legs when people didn’t pay their protection rackets. I know, because I helped arrest him for it several times. And that private soldier, Beatriz?”

He flashed an ugly grin. “She was let go from the family who employed her because they caught her sleeping in the heir’s bed. Can’t have a lowborn bruiser as a mistress for such a promising soul, especially when she was near done convincing him to elope with a sizable share of his fortune. That old bowman, Penric, used to murder his lord’s political rivals. Talk to anyone in the castle garrison, they all know the stories.”

Kenneth braced his hands on the desk, mirroring my own pose. “You are the Headsman, man. Did you think they’d assign good, chivalrous white knights to you? I was shocked to see that pup Hendry tossed in with the rest of us.”

He pointed at his own chin. “You need people like me.”

“Do I?” I asked.

The man’s grin had more in common with a wolf’s than a man’s. “You and I both know it. So let’s not pretend like this is about some merchanter’s letter, hm? You called me up here to appraise me. Well. Here I am.”

He stood up straight and spread his hands out. There he was, indeed. A villain. Not a particularly impressive or frightening one. Definitely not the sort I’d be tasked to wield Faen Orgis on. I admit, I considered it.

I took a slow breath to make sure I spoke calmly. “Get out.”

Kenneth blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Get. Out.”

I met his eyes directly, something I avoided doing in most casual interactions, so he could see the golden glint in them. “Pack your things and leave the tower. I don’t want to see you ever again. I don’t want to see you near my people again.”

Kenneth let out a disbelieving laugh. “You can’t just dismiss me! I’m a son of House Garder.”

I stepped around the desk so it no longer formed a barrier between us. Kenneth took a single reflexive step back, though he squared up and stopped himself from budging any further. He had to look up to meet my gaze as I moved closer to him. His hand dropped to the side sword belted at his hip. I ignored it.

“You are the fourth son of a minor House,” I told him in a quiet, slow voice. “One that’s already had to intervene so you don’t cause them scandal. You will get out of my sight and never return, or I will throw you into the sea. And no one will care, Kenneth, because you’re a worm.”

The man’s handsome face twisted with undisguised fury. “How dare you threaten me!”

“How dare I?” I tilted my head to look at him sidelong. “I cut Horace Laudner’s head off in front of his entire following last month. I dare a lot.”

I gestured with my chin to the door. “Last chance.”

I will give him this. He stood there for a while, long enough I thought he might refuse or draw on me. His hand remained on the sword, knuckles white. His glare held no artifice in it, just unmasked hate.

I hadn’t mentioned it, but the report Rosanna had given me also included details of an incident with the merchant’s son. Kenneth had nearly killed him when the other man had tried to defend his sister. That had not been the first time he’d hurt people.

The man had a lot of anger and violence in him. I understood why the Steward had given him to me.

But I wouldn’t have him.

Finally, with stiff motions, Kenneth backed away and spun. The door slammed behind him a moment later. I let out a breath, and removed my hand from within my cloak.

“It’s over now,” I said aloud. “You can come out.”

Emma stepped out of the shadows in the corner, dropping her glamour. “That was tense. You think what he said about the others is true?”

“Probably,” I said.

Emma tilted her head at me, curious. “You seem troubled. Why? You got rid of him, didn’t you?”

I shook my head, trying to sort through my feelings. “When that group of misfits was passed onto me, I thought it was because the council didn’t have much faith in my position. I even suspected they might be trying to sabotage me. But now…”

I turned to look at my squire. “Now I see that the Steward, and maybe even the Emperor himself, had good reason for assigning me the kind of people they did. I just don’t like it.”

“It makes sense, I suppose.” Emma pursed her lips. “So you’re saying Kenneth had good points?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Doesn’t change my decision, though. It’s strange, Emma. I’m relieved, because finding out he was just a bastard rather than some kind of dangerous double agent simplified things. And I’m frustrated, because it shows the council’s opinion of me more clearly. They think I’m a villain.”

“Oh, it’s all relative.” Emma drifted toward the door. “If you’re asking me whether you did the smart thing, then I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. What I can say is that I won’t complain about not having to share a roof with a rapist.”

She shrugged, as though it were no big matter, then studied my troubled face. “Do you want me to kill him? Will that make you feel better?”

I realized then that part of what bothered me was that I’d only dismissed him. I had wanted to do worse.

“No,” I decided. “House Garder could make trouble for us. I was bluffing earlier.”

Emma snorted. “Ah, well. Let me know if you change your mind.”

She turned to go, but I stopped her. “Where is Hendry? I haven’t heard from him in hours.”

Emma paused, her own troubled expression forming. “Ah, I meant to tell you. Apparently, his father just arrived from Venturmoor. He went to greet him.”

I frowned. “Damn.”

Emma seemed to agree. “I…” She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t think Hendry will betray us to his father. We spoke a bit at that vampire’s mansion. I got the distinct impression he and Brenner aren’t on the best of terms these days.”

I wasn’t particularly frightened of Brenner Hunting, but the man did know Emma’s true identity. He could make trouble for us if he decided to use it.

“Let me know when Hendry is back,” I said. “I’ll talk to him, even if it’s just to make sure he’s alright. He’s part of this now. I’ll look out for him.”

Emma looked surprised, but not displeased. “Yes. I think I will as well. I was… cruel to him. More than I should have been. He’s not had it easy.”

I sat down at my desk again. “Also, Lisette has been assigned to us. Make sure she gets settled in?”

Emma’s thoughtful expression gave way to an annoyed scowl. “The choir girl? Why in any Hell would we need her?”

I quirked an eyebrow as I picked up a quill, preparing to pen a letter making Kenneth’s dismissal from my command official. “She was a member of the Inquisition, and not a low ranking one. She also has one of the most versatile Arts I’ve ever run across. Besides, it’s a gift from the Empress. We can’t really refuse.”

Emma scowled, but didn’t argue further. After she’d gone, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed at the bridge of my nose. My eyes felt heavy. My whole body felt heavy. I hadn’t slept in most of a week. My night with Catrin hadn’t exactly been restful, and mild anemia wasn’t helping.

I knew I should rest, but there was so much to do. I would be meeting Catrin that night so we could make an attempt at tracking down Yith, and it would leave me with only a day before the tournament. I needed to talk to Fen Harus and confirm my suspicions about the chorn with him, and I needed to have a meeting with Vander so I could convince him to stop blocking my people. I needed to submit a report to the Emperor, coordinate efforts to look for dangerous amnesiacs who might still be waiting throughout the city like vipers poised to strike. Not every attacker had been caught.

I needed to figure out what to do about Hyperia and Calerus.

So much to do. If I missed anything, it could cost lives.

Why did I come to this city? I asked myself. If I hadn’t, would Lias have managed all this on his own? With the crowfriars behind him, he might have countered the Vykes.

If I’d returned earlier, could I have stopped him from going so far astray?

Would Kenneth be the worst of the people I might have to cooperate with in this post? He was right about my work being ugly.

It doesn’t mean we have to be ugly, a voice in the back of my head whispered. That’s just an excuse to make the rest easier to swallow. I had never bought the idea that a cruel world should be answered with heartlessness, even if I’d strayed near that line before.

I should have talked to Rosanna about Lias earlier, just as she’d said. Avoiding her for political reasons had also been an excuse.

The shadows in the room seemed to creep closer, quickly melding with the darkness behind my eyes. Troubled thoughts swirled around in my skull like gnashing fish as my exhaustion reached out to drag me into its waiting depths.

As always when I slept, I felt fear.

And anticipation.