A Clash of Shadows (14 page)

In the corner of his eye the men relaxed a bit.

“Of course not, that would be foolish,” the leader said and smiled with a bit more sincerity. Vajan felt he himself had earned a shred of respect. “Draw your knife,” the man then suddenly said.

The atmosphere in the hollow changed and Vajan saw his brethren tense up similarly to the hired thugs just earlier.

The long-haired Loghan-man walked a bit to the side, away from the other men, without taking his eyes off Vajan.

“Come now,” he said severely.

Vajan followed him and reached for his knife. He had gotten another one from Hong.

The Loghan-man drew his own knife and held it in a fighting pose. Vajan did likewise and braced for combat. He went over his opponent’s pose and stared into his eyes to see when he would do something.

Dead silence reigned in the hollow for a few moments.

Then the man smiled again and lowered his knife.

“Very well. We will work for you.” He sheathed the weapon and Vajan followed suit with a satisfied smile. “How do you want to do this?”  

--------------------

They bought a meal and then walked to the harbour area.

Serdra looked thoughtful.

“What is it?” Katja asked. “This meeting is still a way off.”

“Do you remember when Geir Anson mentioned the secret place where people sometimes dock if paid well enough? I think we should take advantage of that option.”

“Why?”

“Many things are pressing in on this city at the moment. Great fear and anger and uncertainty. And if either the demon or our activities here further shake the illusion of peace it could light a fire.”

Katja looked at the harbour opening and the giant chain piled up by one end of it.

“Are you afraid the chancellor will have the harbour closed?”

“Yes. And in addition there is no telling what will happen in the manor. We may need to exit the country in haste. And then it would be better to not have to go through the city.”

It all sounded quite logical.

“But do we have enough to get the sailors to take such a chance? Since we also intend to pay our way into the manor?”

Serdra took something from her pocket and was careful to let no one see it. She lifted the closed fist to Katja’s face and opened it just enough for her to see a small opal.

Katja gaped.

“Where... did you get that?”

“We are in the city of thieves, Katja,” Serdra whispered and replaced the gem.

Katja shrugged and heard surrender in her own sigh.

“I must remember to go through your things while you sleep.”

“I will be proud if you manage it without waking me.”

Katja sighed again.

“Let us get it over with then, shall we?”

They walked to The Harp. The cheer within could be heard out on the street. Sailors were known for love of merriment.

Serdra opened the door and they stepped into the smell of strong drink. The inside of the house turned out to be quite similar to the outside. The furniture was old and worn and boating objects of every sort decorated the walls, in addition to various carved plates. Most of them seemed to show sea monsters and famous sea battles and shipwrecks. Ropes and fish hooks and even a rotten oar were nailed to the ceiling. No one could miss that this was a sailor’s tavern.

Eight men with mugs in hand danced the goose dance in the middle of the floor and given the wild joy they seemed to have been at it for quite a while.

Could they become a problem?
Katja thought. She was quite up for a harmless tussle. It would be a fine balm after the wrestling match with Vajan.

Geir wasn’t in the wobbly dance group and they scanned the boots running along the walls.

“There,” Serdra said and pointed at one of them.

Geir had a mug in hand and sat opposite two other men. Given the eye bags and colour of his face he seemed to be drinking away a hangover.

“Greetings,” Serdra said.

“Ah, welcome!” the man said with a bit too much energy. “Are you weary of the city of thieves already?”

“Actually I wanted to discuss our arrangement.” Serdra looked at the other two men. They weren’t a part of the crew. “In private.”

“Alright then. Boys, we will delay this slightly. Go and... go and talk to Bogga or something.”

He waved his hand and the men left without complaint.

Serdra made sure no one was close enough to listen in and then leaned closer to the man.

“I want you to dock somewhere else,” she said. “And tell no one. We prefer to leave here in secret.”

“Well,” the man said casually. “That has a price, as I said.”

Serdra held her fist over an empty mug left by someone and Katja heard a slight clink as something hit the bottom.

“You can have another one when we get back.”

Geir Anson picked up the mug and stared into the bottom. He blinked slowly and then stared a bit more.

“Will that suffice?” Serdra asked.

The man smiled a bit awkwardly.

“My my,” he said and turned his gaze at the wall. “It sure is dangerous to know you.”

“Absolutely,” Katja said. She couldn’t tell whether his smile was due to joy or sudden nervousness.

“If you don’t want the payment I will take it back,” Serdra said.

Geir poured some ale from his mug into the precious one. Then he pointed at the wall.

Katja hadn’t noticed it before but someone had painted a giant map of the Inner Sea coastline on it. She looked at another wall and there saw a map covering almost all the coastlines of the world. Pins had been nailed into various harbours, perhaps to mark where men had been.

“Here,” Geir said quietly and pointed at a spot east of the city. “Hare Grove. The forest goes down to the very edge of the beach and in fact hides a small cove. It’s easy to hide a ship there. We can sail away with the twilight, then turn back once visibility fades and make a landing.”

“How far is it?” Katja asked.

“It is perhaps,” Geir contemplated his answer, “a three-hour ride from the city. We can wait, but if we hear nothing from you for a week we sail home. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Serdra said.

Geir explained how they could reach Hare Grove and then make their way down into the hidden harbour.

“Then I will see you there,” he said and lifted the opal mug to his lips. “And in the meantime I will hide this in a secure place.”

He slammed the contents into his mouth and grimaced a bit as he swallowed.

--------------------

They waited by the harbour.

Serdra leaned against the wall with the hood over her head and Katja knew better than to disturb her. She settled for strolling along the piers and examining the ships.

Had Vajan arrived in one of these or had he gone by land? Or had Leifur been lying for some reason?

She found no answers and so tried to chat with the sailors. She enticed a few of them into short discussions about the harbours they had been to but didn’t really learn anything new.

Finally the bells rang in the sixth hour and Katja walked back to Serdra.

“There isn’t really any reason to wait any more,” she said and indicated The Harp. “Shall we go inside?”

They walked back to the tavern and were almost to the door when Serdra stopped.

“There he is,” she said and looked along the street.

Katja followed her gaze and spotted the man when he saw Serdra and changed his direction slightly.

He was of average build with a high forehead and rough facial features and short, thinning hair. The eyes were small and keen and he wore a sword at his hip.

“Greetings,” he said with a northern accent and a polite smile. He extended his hand to Katja. “Haflidi is my name.”

“Sandra,” Katja said.

“Where is this comrade of yours?” Serdra said.

“I believe he is waiting for us inside,” Haflidi said. He opened the door somewhat theatrically. “Shall we go see him?”

They entered The Harp again and he followed.

The tavern was more crowded than earlier but wasn’t any noisier. Katja supposed the drinkers were weary.

Haflidi looked the place over and then motioned for them to follow him to a particular booth.

“Hello friend,” Haflidi said to the man sitting there.

He wasn’t much older than Katja herself. She guessed he might be twenty years of age. He had thick auburn hair and when he looked up she saw grey eyes.

A large raven sat on the table in front of him and the man was feeding it crumbs. He nodded at them.

“Good day. My name is Mikael.”

12.

Haflidi sat down next to his comrade and Katja and Serdra sat down opposite them. The raven hopped up on its owner’s shoulder and cawed angrily at Katja.

She looked around. They were rather isolated in this booth. The man had probably kept that in mind when choosing..

“Well, these are the travelling companions you found for us,” Mikael said to Haflidi and looked them over. He noted the swords and examined Serdra rather more closely than Katja.

“Yes,” Katja said. She put her elbows up on the table, intertwined her fingers and rested her chin on them. “How is this supposed to go?”

“You said you would give details once we were all together,” Serdra said to Haflidi.

“The Fox seems quite stingy about details,” Haflidi answered. “Which shouldn’t surprise anyone. It is quite embarrassing for the authorities to have him still running loose after all this time.”

“Have you met him?” Katja asked.

Haflidi smiled.

“No. Apparently very few do. That is how he keeps this operation of his going. Everything is done through representatives. The one I spoke to wants us to meet him in the Crescent with the full amount. He receives half of it there and tells us where to meet him tomorrow evening. Then he takes the rest and shows us to the way inside the manor.”

“Tomorrow evening?” Katja asked, mindful of the stirring she had sensed to the north. That was also the night of the meeting with Leifur.

“Are you in a hurry?” Mikael asked.

Katja was silent a moment to see whether Serdra would respond, but the woman apparently meant to let her handle this.

“Well, maybe. Isn’t it possible to go tonight?”

“The Fox is, as I said, concerned with his safety,” Haflidi said. “He doesn’t rush into anything. I tried to haggle and reason with my contact but he made it clear that no part of the arrangement was negotiable.”

“Then we must accept it,” Serdra said.

Katja squirmed in her seat. She didn’t want to risk waiting. She was irritated by Serdra’s calm and the men’s indifference. But what could she do?

She forced herself to keep calm, but couldn’t do more than pull the unease into herself and let it simmer.

“What about the demon?” Katja asked. “Aren’t you concerned?”

She wasn’t sure why she asked. Whether it was due to worry or curiosity. But she couldn’t let it lie.

“Concerned?”

It was Mikael who whispered the word and Katja turned her attention on him. The man looked a bit to the side, with a distant look in his eyes and a smile on his lips. She couldn’t decipher the meaning behind it.

“I came to Farnar to enter that manor,” he said quietly. “I will not let danger deter me.”

He seemed to be quite serious. She glanced at Haflidi but he kept silent.

“And what if the demon is still in there?”

“Then it is,” Mikael said. “If you worry about what
could
happen you would never get anywhere.”

“Suit yourself,” she replied, for a lack of anything better.

“What about you?” Mikael asked. “Why is such a young woman going on this trip?”

“Well, perhaps I am just mad.”

She said it with utmost sincerity that amused Mikael.

“Yes, let’s discuss the reasons,” Haflidi suddenly said. “Or at least what we want out of this.”

“We are going on a personal errand,” Serdra said before anyone else could interject. “You can keep any valuables you find to yourselves. We have no interest in arguing about jewels.”

The two men were silent for a moment. Then they looked at one another and Mikael put on a strange expression.

“That is... rather funny,” Mikael said. “Because we ourselves are not looking for metals or stones.”

Katja opened her mouth.

“Well, what then?” she asked after hesitating.

“Come now,” Mikael said calmly and leaned back. “People of influence can leave many things other than money.”

He smiled again and he seemed to enjoy having secrets. She was a bit irritated but still smiled back. She understood that feeling quite well.

“We wouldn’t happen to be after the same thing?” Haflidi asked quietly and alternated his gaze between them.

Katja was starting to get a different feeling from him than his comrade. The eyes were stinging. Searching.

“I doubt that,” Serdra said. “We simply need to tend to a little matter and then leave. Probably empty-handed.”

“Well, good to know,” the man said, but he didn’t seem to relax.

“How dependable is all this?” she asked. “Just what do you know about this Fox?”

Haflidi watched her with those sharp eyes in that brutish face.

“I know that people fear him. It’s quite natural that a city as large as this with so many paupers had quite a few murders and disappearances, but it still sounds like people connect quite a lot of incidents to him in some way.”

“The unknown causes fear,” Serdra said.

“Exactly,” said Haflidi.

Mikael seemed to be somewhat amused by those words, but Katja kept her focus on Haflidi. The depressions in his face filled with shadow in the tavern and helped give his words weight.

“Everyone is afraid of angering him or inquiring about him, because one never knows if one is speaking to one of his underlings. Or even the man himself. There is a certain power in mystery.”

Katja felt he spoke with considerable admiration.

“I can’t confirm it, but given how organised this all is I think the Fox makes considerable profits from the tunnel. He wants us all to go in together and demands secrecy about the location.”

“And if one gossips one might be talking to one of his men,” Mikael finished. “It’s a pretty good set-up he has.”

Katja shrugged. She had no reason to tell anyone in Farnar about this.

“Do you know anything about the state of the inside of the building?” Katja asked.

“Nothing except that it is entirely traversable, but little light makes it inside,” Haflidi said.

“And we have a covered lantern that will be useful in the manor,” Mikael said. “So we will be able to see what we are doing. The mercenaries will not be able to see it unless they come close.”

“But what if they do come close?” Katja said.

“I talked to one of the mercenaries the other day,” Haflidi said. “I passed by as a simple farmer on his way south for the market.” He shrugged. “They are afraid, don’t let anyone tell you different. They became mercenaries to contend with men, not monsters. From what I saw they just want to sit still and wait to be recalled.”

“Well, I didn’t see them myself but the chancellor could decide to order them inside,” Mikael said. “If the pressure to do so mounts.”

“But hardly at night.”

“No, I suppose not.”

“And are we definitely not being swindled?” Katja asked. She felt she had to ask.

“The escape tunnel is real,” Mikael said. He looked away at nothing and seemed to be reminiscing. “Agora the Hood described the escape in writing a year after it. It was only meant for her and her family, so she didn’t bother describing the location of tunnels that saved her and her children from the uprising. But they are real.”

“And how in the world did you find such writings?” Katja asked, surprised.

“By searching,” the man said with a mysterious smile.

For a moment he reminded her of Serdra and Katja saw she would get no more out of him. She glanced at her mentor but there was nothing to see there either.

The booth fell silent and everyone waited for someone to add something. The merriment of the Harp went on a few metres away as Katja tried to think of something, but the situation seemed well covered to her.

“So all of us go together along the tunnel early next night,” Serdra finally said. “We tend to our matters in the manor and split up if need be and take care not to alert the mercenaries. When all is finished we go back together and part ways. Is everything clear?”

Katja, Mikael and Haflidi looked at one another in search of doubt.

“It looks that way,” Mikael said.

“Yes,” Katja said.

Serdra stood up.”

“Then let us head out. Best to take care of this before curfew.”

“Yes,” Mikael said. He nudged his comrade and got ready to stand up. Only then did Katja notice that he had a sword at his hip and seemed to adjust it with familiarity similar to her own as he got out of the booth.

They walked together along the streets of Farnar and out of the city. Katja felt considerably better with three people by her side. The chances were slim of Vajan or others making such an attack on a group. But then he needed only know of her movements to seize the next opportunity.

She tried to pay attention to every face they passed, but they were so many and went by so quickly. Was he in an alley, window, sales booth or a doorway? Had he found himself a hat or perhaps hair dye? Or was he licking his wounds in some cabin in the Crescent?

I’ll feel better after killing him
, she thought to harden herself.

Haflidi led them, focused on what lay ahead. Mikael cast his attention this way and that, but Katja didn’t see the same tension in him as in her. He seemed to be examining the city itself rather than the people. His raven took a few flights here and there but always returned to its master’s shoulder.

When they returned to the Crescent Haflidi led then west.

“Here,” he said and pointed along a particular street. It was the first word he had spoken since the Harp.

They arrived at a small woodshop. Katja heard simple flute-playing from around the corner and Haflidi followed the sound.

The musician turned out to be a thin man with a large head, blond hair and ratty beard. He stopped playing upon seeing them.

“Hello again,” Haflidi said. He walked to the man but didn’t extend his hand.

“Hello,” the blond man said. He looked at the other three with a searching eye. It was cold and harsh and she immediately got the feeling he had experienced much.

“So you are going along for the trip?” he said after a few moments.

“Well, I didn’t come here to listen to flute playing,” Katja said and stared back at him with her arms crossed. She was pretty sure he had never looked a demon in the eyes.

“I explained the rules,” Haflidi said to the man. “Just as you explained them to me.”

“Fine, but I’d better emphasise them,” the man said rather churlishly and stepped away from the wall. He walked past Haflidi and looked at the rest of them.

“My master owns the route you are planning to use,” he said and pointed at them. “He and no one else. And it is only available upon payment. Don’t blather about what you did or who enabled you to do it. Or the next people will know better.”

“Keeping secrets is good fun,” Mikael said and seemed to be trying to lighten the mood. “You need not worry about undisciplined tongues.”

“Good to know,” the man said in the exact same tone as before. He untied an empty purse from his belt. “Now let me see the money.”

They brought out a hundred coins and let the contact count them. Then he took half and they distributed the rest back into their purses.

“Well then,” the man said and put his purse back. He seemed about to say something more but then looked over Katja’s shoulder and sneered. “Hey, you!”

Katja looked back and saw some resident.

“Away with you!” the contact said and clearly expected to be obeyed.

The passer-by was startled at the sight of the contact and hurried off.

“We will meet tomorrow evening by Splitlog,” the blond man said after a short wait. “It’s a dead tree that was hit by lightning long ago. Outside the Crescent.” He pointed east. “Just ask around and you will find it. I will be there about an hour after the curfew and lead you to the spot. If I suspect any mischief I will leave and send a group in my place.”

“We will see you then,” Mikael said neutrally.

“Yes,” Serdra said. “Thank you for the transaction.”

The man walked away without further words.

“Fun fellow,” Katja muttered when he had disappeared.

“He handles his matters,” Haflidi said. He then turned around and watched them. “Do you know where Splitlog is?”

“I do,” Mikael said. “I saw it from a distance while we split up. He pointed. “If one exits the Crescent area it is hard to miss.”

“How far is it?” Serdra asked. “Can we find it and get back inside the wall before curfew?”

“Mikael,” Haflidi said and. He stood a bit off to himself and gazed at seemingly nothing. “You should perhaps run and show them the place. Just to be on the safe side.”

Mikael watched the back of Haflidi’s head and Katja saw some expression pass over his face. The corners of his mouth went upwards but it didn’t really resemble a smile.

“What about you?” Mikael asked.

“We will be going together anyway,” Haflidi said. “And I want to ask around a bit more. I will see you at our lodgings.” The man was silent for a while and then glanced back so one of those stinging eyes could be seen. “Is something wrong?”