03 - Death's Legacy (15 page)

“I see.” Rudi didn’t quite, but maladies and their treatment
were Hanna’s area of expertise, and he was prepared to take her word for it. “So
what does that word mean?” Hanna glanced around, and led the way into a narrow
gap between two warehouses, just wide enough to walk through in single file. It
was evidently a well-used short cut, but no one was taking it at the moment, and
she stopped halfway along, turning to face him, sure that they wouldn’t be
overheard. Nevertheless, her voice dropped so low that Rudi had to strain his
ears to catch it.

“It’s the name of one of the Dark Gods,” she whispered. Rudi
felt his bowels turn to ice.

“How do you know that?” he asked, shocked to the core.
Gerhard had accused Greta Reifenstahl of following one of the Chaos Gods, and
although he hadn’t wanted to believe her daughter was also a cultist, how else
would she know of such things?

“They told us about his curse at the college in Marienburg,”
Hanna said. The university there was the only place in the Old World other than
the colleges of Altdorf where the study of magic was permitted, and Hanna had
briefly enrolled as a student, before being forced to flee the city. “That’s
what they call it when a spell goes wrong.” She shrugged. “He’s supposed to
control change and mutation, so I suppose it’s a sort of joke.”

“Not a very funny one,” Rudi said. Hanna shook her head.

“Not a safe one to talk about, either. If I were you, I’d
forget you ever heard it, and the name.” Rudi nodded.

“So how do you suppose Bruno knew about it?” He remembered
the story they’d been told of how the mercenary band had rescued him from a herd
of beastmen while he was still a child, and shrugged. The youth had encountered
the minions of Chaos at least once before, and that had probably only been the
first time of many. “Never mind. I don’t suppose it’s important.”

“Maybe not.” Hanna shrugged too, but her eyes remained
troubled. “Although, they say everything’s significant to the Changer. Every
coincidence has his hand in it.”

“Well, I don’t think running into them was much of a
coincidence,” Rudi said slowly. “This is the only significant stopover on the
river before we get to Altdorf. Gerhard probably sent them here to wait for us
in case we were travelling by boat.”

Hanna considered it, and nodded, clearly much relieved.

“I suppose you’re right,” she said. A troubled frown appeared
on her face. “Do you think he’s waiting for us too?”

“I doubt it.” Rudi shook his head. “We’re only a day or so
from Altdorf. He’s probably gone back there to report or something.” That meant
that every witch hunter in town would be keeping an eye out for them when they
reached the capital. Hardly a comforting thought, but at least that was a
problem for tomorrow. Squeezing past Hanna in the narrow passage, which was
surprisingly pleasant despite the hard look she gave him, he peered cautiously
out into the next thoroughfare.

The road was wide, with a wharf on the other side of it, and
the keen wind carried the scent of the river. A couple of river boats similar in
size to the
Reikmaiden
bobbed at anchor in the water, and beyond them a
flat-bottomed barge was just putting in, sweating dock workers hauling in the
lines.

“At least I know where we are,” he said, recognising the
vessel as the ferry from the other side of the river. Pieter had pointed it out
while they were entering the harbour. It connected with the coach road running
between Altdorf and Marienburg on the south bank, and was presumably how the
bounty hunters had managed to get to Carroburg ahead of them. Despite his
assurances to Hanna, he was unable to resist glancing up and down the roadway,
half expecting to see the black-clad figure of Gerhard waiting to pounce on
them, but the shouted challenge never came. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

Hanna joined him, and they hurried along the dockside,
dodging stevedores and handcarts as they did so. The
Reikmaiden
was only
a few berths away, on the next wharf but one, and they should be there within
moments. With any luck, Shenk would have concluded his business, and would be
ready to get under way again. Certainly the news of a fight between two
magicians would be all over the city by nightfall, and Rudi wanted to be well
away before any of the crew had the chance to hear the story.

“Excuse me. Sorry.” They were passing the ferry dock, and the
crush of disembarking passengers was beginning to spill out across the roadway,
impeding their progress. Most of the new arrivals were on foot, but there were a
handful of riders on horseback too, and even a couple of carts. Rudi and Hanna
ducked around a wagon apparently loaded with turnips, and almost collided with
an elegant young man in a neatly tailored doublet and cloak, his face hidden by
a hat with a large floppy brim and an extravagant feather protruding from it.
“Oops, sorry.”

“Don’t mention it.” The young man turned, eyes widening in
surprise as he took in their faces. “Sigmar’s hammer, what are you two doing
here?”

“Fritz?” Rudi shook his head in astonishment. “I thought you
were still in Marienburg.”

“Same here.” Fritz Katzenjammer shrugged, looking for a
moment like the slow-witted yokel Rudi remembered growing up with in Kohlstadt,
and then grinned widely. “You’ll have to tell me all about it over a meal and a
drink, as soon as I’ve run a little errand for the boss.”

“What sort of errand?” Hanna asked suspiciously. Fritz worked
for the Graf von Eckstein, an Imperial nobleman involved in some clandestine
business back in Marienburg, the man that Sam Warble had asked Rudi to find some
information about on behalf of the Fog Walkers. Fritz shrugged.

“I’m supposed to pick up a package and see that it gets to
Altdorf.” He glanced around, taking in the scale of the harbour surrounding them
with the air of vague bafflement, which Rudi remembered well. “I don’t suppose
either of you have seen a boat called the
Reikmaiden
around here by any
chance?”

“The
Reikmaiden
?” Rudi repeated, exchanging a stunned
glance with Hanna. For a moment, he wondered if their conversation about the
Chaos god of coincidence had somehow invoked that baleful power, and a flood of
irrational terror swept through him. A moment later, that was swept away in turn
by a storm of hatred, welling up from somewhere deep in his mind, so strong and
powerful that it left him physically trembling with the reaction.

“Yes,” Fritz confirmed, apparently oblivious of his friend’s
inner turmoil. “I’m supposed to collect the package from her captain.”

“Then you’re in luck,” Rudi told him, steadying his voice and
forcing the unwelcome emotions away with the same effort of will that he used to
overcome the rush of exultation in combat. As his rational mind took over and
common sense began to reassert itself, he glanced across at Hanna again,
wondering if she’d noticed anything, but her eyes were still on Fritz. “That’s
the
Reikmaiden
over there. We’ve been sailing on her ourselves.”

He led the way towards the riverboat through the thinning
crowd of ferry passengers, evading the bustling dockworkers as they went,
pondering the implications of this unexpected turn of events. If the artefact
that Shenk was smuggling really was for von Eckstein, that would explain the Fog
Walkers’ determination to intercept it. The attempted piracy and the attack on
Shenk were all part of whatever covert power struggle was going on between
Marienburg and the Empire, which he’d become peripherally involved in himself,
and which he’d hoped had been left far behind them when they quit the city to
begin their journey upstream.

Fritz’s presence was equally explicable. His mission in
Marienburg complete, von Eckstein would have wanted to return to Altdorf as
quickly as possible, which would have meant travelling by the coach road. No
doubt he had continued his journey along the south bank, after giving Fritz his
instructions and seeing him off on the ferry to Carroburg.

“That’s right,” Fritz confirmed, as soon as he’d put the
thought into words. “He and Mathilde are going on by coach, while I pick up the
package and finish the journey by boat.” He grinned ingenuously. “He thought
anyone trying to get hold of it would think he had it himself, and concentrate
on the road, while I slip into the city through the docks. Nobody in Altdorf
knows I’m working for him, you see.”

“Neat idea,” Hanna said shortly, “but it didn’t work. His
enemies have tried to steal it twice already.” She looked faintly surprised as
Fritz stood aside to let her board the boat first, and Rudi suppressed a smile.
Clearly, the lessons in etiquette that Rudi had noticed the effects of at their
last meeting in Marienburg had extended to more than just table manners. Fritz
looked concerned as he followed her up the gangplank, his eyes narrowing as he
looked behind them for signs of pursuit. Rudi followed, scanning the dockside in
case any more Fog Walkers were lurking among the stevedores, but if there were
any, they were concealing themselves as well as the lumberjack in the logging
camp had.

“Twice?” Fritz asked. Rudi nodded.

“They tried to board us a couple of days back. Then the night
before last, they tried to kill Shenk after we put in at a riverside
settlement.”

“Luckily, Rudi was around to see them off,” Hanna added.
Fritz nodded, taking in the unwelcome news remarkably quickly.

“I suppose that would explain why no one tried to stop us
along the coach road,” he said thoughtfully.

“I suppose it would,” Hanna said dryly.

Fritz frowned, the familiar puzzled expression on his face.

“I wonder how the Fog Walkers got on to us?” he mused,
although without really expecting an answer. Rudi shrugged, feeling oddly
embarrassed.

The information he’d cozened out of the simpleton over their
last meal together hadn’t included any travel plans, but he suspected that it
might have helped the agents of Marienburg to deduce them a little more easily.

“That’s their job, isn’t it?” he asked. “To find out things?”

“I suppose it is.” Fritz nodded, apparently satisfied with
that, and took a few steps towards Shenk, who was talking to Busch on the far
side of the deck. A scattering of boxes still lay on the planking, although
Berta and Yullis were taking them below with almost exaggerated care, and Rudi
was able to estimate that the rest of the new cargo would be stowed within a
matter of minutes. So much the better, the sooner it was done, the sooner they’d
be away from here, and from the unwelcome attention that Hanna’s display of
sorcery had attracted.

As she began to descend the steep flight of steps to the
hold, Berta almost slipped, and the box on her shoulder shifted alarmingly.

“Careful!” Shenk called, looking up in alarm. “That’s
pottery, not pickles! Break it and it comes out of your wages!”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking.” The deckhand disappeared
below, grumbling under her breath, and Shenk caught sight of his visitor for the
first time.

“Ah, here you are.” He took in the sight of Rudi and Hanna
accompanying the young bodyguard, and sighed. “And you too. Well at least you
made it back on board before we’re ready to go this time. Interesting run
ashore?”

“We passed the time,” Rudi said. “Hanna bought a new dress.”
Shenk nodded at the garment, still slung over the girl’s shoulder, without
interest.

“So I see, very becoming.” His tone became businesslike as he
turned back to Fritz. “I’ll get it for you. I’m sure you’re eager to get on with
whatever you’re doing, and we’re in a hurry to leave for Altdorf.”

“Good.” Fritz sounded quite unlike his usual self, confident
and incisive, his voice taking on the more rounded vowels of a gentleman to
match the expensive clothes he wore. Von Eckstein’s patronage seemed to be
changing him in all sorts of unlikely ways. “So am I. So, I’ll be staying aboard
until we get there. I take it that won’t be a problem?” Even his posture had
changed, conveying the automatic expectation that, as the representative of a
nobleman, his wishes would be met without question or argument. Shenk nodded
slowly.

“I think we can manage to find another hammock, if you can
afford to pay your way. You’ll have to share the hold with Rudi and Hanna,
though.”

“That would be fine.” Fritz said, with every sign of genuine
warmth. “It wouldn’t be the first time his snoring has kept me awake.”

“I don’t snore!” Rudi protested. Fritz and Hanna looked at
one another, and shared a knowing smile. “Do I?”

“Like a pig,” Hanna assured him. Shenk sighed.

“I could ask how you all seem to know each other, but I don’t
think I want to know,” he said. Hanna nodded.

“Probably best,” she said.

In spite of the apprehension weighing heavily in Rudi’s gut,
the
Reikmaiden
sailed out onto the river again early that afternoon with
no sign of either a witch-hunt or interference from Fog Walker agents intent on
forestalling her departure. He was at a loss to explain their good luck, but as
the sails filled and the sturdy little vessel began the final haul up the Reik
towards their destination, Hanna pointed towards the shantytown outside the city
walls. Smoke was rising from it in several places, and a cold chill rippled down
his spine.

“They must have assumed we went to ground there,” she said.

“Either that, or we sparked another riot.” Rudi sighed. The
refugees crowding the city, unwanted and resented by the native Carroburgers,
would have become natural scapegoats for any rumours of witchcraft. Small wonder
that the watch hadn’t made it as far as the docks—they were probably too busy
trying to rein in the lynch mobs and the looters.

“Maybe we did,” Hanna said, not seeming terribly concerned at
the prospect. Fritz joined them at the rail.