Blades Of Magic: Crown Service #1 (17 page)

“I can see that, but how do you know he went willingly?” ventured Ezekiel.

“Because he had
honor
,” spat out Sara. “Unlike these damn mercenaries. And besides, if he hadn’t gone willingly there would be a trail of dead bodies from the battlefield to the capital city in his wake.”

Ezekiel couldn’t dispute that.

“So he had the journal on him when he died,” Ezekiel prompted her.

“Which means this Matteas Hillan would know where it is now,” Sara said fiercely.

Ezekiel was silent for a moment before he admitted, “He might.”

“Then I need to find him,” Sara flatly. “Before the Red Lion guard does.”

“N
o offense to your awesome planning skills, Sara.” Ezekiel said, “but you have
no
idea where he is.”

“But we know someone who might,” said Sara darkly.

“We do?”

She looked toward the door. “Our new watcher is a Red Lion mercenary.”

“That’s true,” Ezekiel said, coming up to stand beside her. “But it’s a large company. He might not have any idea who Hillan is.”

“And he might be his best friend,” said Sara calmly.

Ezekiel nodded and looked over at her with a pained expression on his face. The kind of expression that said he really hoped she wasn’t going to kill someone.

“Look I’m just going to talk to him,” she explained. “If he’s amicable, nothing unsavory needs to happen.”

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes while crossing his arms. “And if he’s not?”

Sara turned her dark gaze on him. “I’m going to find out what happened to my father whether you help me or not. Whether this man is willing to tell me or not.”

“All I’m saying is don’t put the cart before the horse, and don’t kill a Red Lion guard and bring the whole company down on your head in retaliation,” he said flatly.

She cocked her head. “What makes you think I haven’t already?”

A frustrated look crossed Ezekiel’s face. “This is nothing to joke about.”

“I’m not joking. I killed a rithmatist and a necromancer on the same night. They should fear
me.
I’m not sure the necromancer had anything to do with the Red Lion guard, but the rithmatist did, and they’re certainly aware he’s dead now. So I need every piece of information that I can get before I leave this city. Got me?”

Ezekiel nodded reluctantly.

“Can you call him in?”

Ezekiel unfolded his arms and walked to his door to stick his head out. She paced away and back before the new watcher came back in.

As he walked through the door, the mercenary took in her agitated state. She knew her clothes, stiff with blood, didn’t help matters. His hand tensed near his weapon, but he didn’t stop Ezekiel from closing the warehouse door.

Standing between Ezekiel and Sara, the man was silent. She didn’t move toward him because she knew it would be taken as an outright threat.

Instead she spoke from where she stood. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just need some information.”

The man’s face turned to stone. “Is that why you hired me? For information?”

Sara tensed. “No, actually. Some interesting developments have recently come to light tonight, though, and I believe you’re just the man to help shed more light on them.”

He turned to her fully and said, “I don’t know you. Why should I help you?”

Sara was tempted to kick him in the shin and bring him to his knees with her knife at his throat. But she restrained herself. Barely.

Ezekiel read the tension in her body and quickly stepped around to face his new watcher.

“Because we can pay you.
I
can pay you. Mercs like money, right?” he said.

The man spared him a glance. “How much money?”

“Enough to make your next week one to remember,” said Ezekiel.

The man cracked his knuckles and then slowly relaxed. “Now we’re talking.”

Sara took a step forward and the mercenary quickly pointed a warning finger.

While looking at her he said, “But
you
stay where you are. No offense, but you look like trouble.”

Sara shrugged. “None taken.” She was.

She caught Ezekiel’s eye and gave him a thankful nod.

Out of his bag, Ezekiel fetched a coin purse, which he handed over to the mercenary.

The man hefted the purse in his hand, checking the weight of the coins without peering into the bag. The bag obviously weighed enough because the mercenary looked up, satisfied.

“Ask away.”

Sara swallowed tensely. “Do you know a Red Lion mercenary named Matteas Hillan?”

“Yes,” said the man. “What do you want with him?”

“Just some information,” Sara replied.

“About him or from him?” questioned the mercenary.

“Why?” Sara asked with a lifted eyebrow. “You his lover?”

The man snorted. “No. But I ain’t going to send a fellow mercenary to his death, either.”

“How touching,” Sara said, “Most mercenaries don’t have any loyalties. If they do it’s tied to their coin purse.”

Her eyes flickered to the heavy purse he now held in his hand.

He glared at her but didn’t respond.

“Do you know where Mercenary Hillan is now?” Sara asked.

“Still deployed in the battles to the east,” he answered.

“Under what commander?”

“Kansid for now.”

“Why ‘for now?’” Ezekiel quickly interjected.

The mercenary spared him a glance. “Changeover in leadership in three days when Captain Simon of the damn Corcoran guard takes over.”

He barely restrained himself from spitting to the side at Simon’s name and Sara suspected the restraint was only because they weren’t standing on a dirt floor. Meanwhile, her eyes lit up at the news.

Then she frowned. “Why would that matter? The Red Lion guard doesn’t serve under Corcoran captains. They’re two different mercenary companies.”

The man hooked his thumb in his belt. “New rules from the mages. I heard they got tired of the different leaders of the companies. Wanted a smoother rank and file structure to boss around. What they’re going to get is their asses handed to them when the mercenaries revolt.”

Ezekiel muttered, “Can’t say you’re wrong about that. You mercenaries
really
hate working together cross-company.”

Sara mumbled. “So from now on the Red Lion guard and the Corcoran troops are going to be led by one man?”

The mercenary nodded. “Captain Barthis Simon.”

“And Mercenary Hillan will stay deployed under Simon’s command?” she demanded.

“For the next two months, yeah,” said the mercenary in front of her. “He has no choice. Can’t leave until his company does. They’re due back in Sandrin a little over six weeks from now.”

Sara nodded. “Thank you. That’s all I needed.”

And it was true. She knew what she had to do.

Ezekiel said to him, “Would you mind hanging out in the back of the warehouse? We’re through for tonight.”

The man jangled his coin purse. “No problems here. Can I take the cot?”

Ezekiel glanced over at him with a disinterested look. “Yeah, have yourself a nice rest, too.”

The man walked off, content.

Ezekiel walked up to Sara. “I know that look.”

“What look?” she said, feigning innocence. It was hard to accomplish when she was covered in blood and still carrying her sword.

“The look that says you have a plan.”

Sara dropped the pretense and looked at him seriously, “I do.”

“Well, let’s hear it.”

“I don’t want to involve you any further in this, Ezekiel.”

“Because you don’t trust me?” he asked with a sharp look.

She nearly cursed aloud. “Of course not. I just don’t want you to get
hurt
. If the Red Lion guard came looking for you to get to me, I would never forgive myself.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, “I have my own hideouts in the city.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” he said firmly.

She hesitated and then said with fire in her eyes. “I’m going to join the Corcoran guard.”

“To find Hillan,” he said unsurprised.

“Exactly,” she replied.

“It makes sense.” She could hear the reluctance in his tone. But, to her surprise, no condemnation.

She nodded. “If he’s serving on the edge of the war front, then there are very few ways for me to get out there. The regular military would never take me on but the mercenaries are hard up for good people that also happen to be battle mages.”

“There aren’t that many of you in the empire,” he said ruefully. “Looks like all two dozen are going to be fighting each other for this stupid war of the mages.”

Sara shrugged. “I’ll get in and get out quickly. I just need to ask Hillan a question after all. Getting there will take a couple days, add a week for incidents, and I should be back in Sandrin.”

“Where the Red Lion guard is waiting to kill you?”

She shook her head. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take care of them as soon as I get back with my father’s journals and secrets in hand. They won’t get away with what they did.”

For a second a hate so furious crossed her face that Ezekiel took an involuntary step back.

“You need to focus on getting to that information and Hillan before
they
do,” he said, “Retribution will come after.”

She stared at him and let out a slow breath. “You’re right.”

As she calmed, an anxious look crossed his face.

“What is it?” she asked.

Reluctantly, he said, “What about your gifts?”

“What about them?” 

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You. Your powers. People trying to kill you. Need I spell it out?”

He was talking about her battle rage, she knew.

“I’ll handle it,” she said with defiance.

“And if you can’t?” he asked, “If you go berserk?”

“Then I’ll die fighting like every single one of my forefathers. Fighting for a cause or fighting one man, it makes no difference. But if I don’t do this, Ezekiel, I will regret it for the rest of my life. Regret not knowing what my father uncovered and what the Red Lion guard would fight so hard to hide.”

He swallowed so deeply that she could see his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I understand.”

“Hey!” said the mercenary. His abrupt shout was so loud that they both startled.

This entire building is like a giant amplifier,
Sara thought as she remembered the blast that busted Edgar the thief’s eardrums.

Turning, Ezekiel and Sara looked to him.

“What?” she called out.

“You got any water?” he said.

Ezekiel and Sara looked at one another.

“Yeah,” she began to answer.

Ezekiel looked up at the roof and whistled.

In a dry tone, Sara said, “You forgot to refill the barrel, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” said Ezekiel with an awkward shuffle.

“Well?” shouted the mercenary.

“No!” they both shouted back simultaneously.

She couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. After a minute Ezekiel joined in.

After their laughter had died down, Ezekiel looked at her. “You should get cleaned up.”

She hesitated. “It won’t matter much. I’ll be in the streets fighting men until dawn.”

He looked at her strangely. “Why would you do that?”

“There’s nowhere safe to go. I don’t have any place to hide, and the taverns are the first place they’d look.”

“No,” he said, stepping forward. “You’re wrong that you don’t have a safe place to hide for the night.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“My home,” he said.

Hesitation crossed her face.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said flustered. “I just...can’t imagine you with your own place.” She was lying through her teeth but she couldn’t tell him her anxiety lay somewhere else.

He shrugged. “I sleep here most of the time. Can never be sure the mercenaries won’t duck out. Some do even when I’m here. But tonight I’m leaving it behind. It’s not my job, Cormar or no Cormar.”

She nodded. “You trust the new watcher to guard the place?”

“Cormar came by this afternoon. I explained the situation with you as well as the fact that I need to live my own life now. I don’t think he really expected you to stick around. But he put the fear of the gods in that mercenary over there. I think he’s got him fairly spooked.”

“Oh? What did he say?”

“That he’d skin him alive if he didn’t stay overnight and make
sure
nothing happened to his artifacts,” Ezekiel said blithely.

They began to walk out the door.

“Sounds like Cormar,” she said.

Ezekiel turned around as he pulled the door shut. “See you in the morning!”

The mercenary was already walking to the front as Sara saw out of the corner of her eye. “All right.” 

Ezekiel shut it tight and they walked into the night.  

As they hit the streets, Sara said, “I made sure no one followed me when I came and I know no one knew I’d taken on this new job.” 

“Aside from that street kid,” muttered Ezekiel.

“Yeah,” said Sara as they weaved through the streets until they came to a small one-story home next to the tavern.

Ezekiel quickly opened the door. “It’s small, but it’s home.”

“Thank you,” Sara said, preceding him in awkwardly. Her sword was at the ready, but the room was tiny enough that she could perceive no threats with a quick sweep of the room.

Ezekiel stood at the door for a moment staring at her before he snapped out of it. “I’ll go ask for some hot water from the kitchen.”

Sara turned to him in surprise. “Thank you. I’m grateful.”

“No problem,” he said, ducking to grab a bucket that lay just inside the door and pulling the door shut with a creak when he left.

Sara’s mind flashed back to her own home, now in flames, when she saw him leave with that old bucket. It was the kind they had had just outside their door.

“Wood slats, metal nails, and a wide brim,” Sara whispered to herself with a slight tremble of her mouth.

She wouldn’t cry. She’d cried once for her mother, and she was through now. She straightened turned to look around. If possible, this place was smaller than the room and loft she and her mother had shared. Shelving lined the walls at face height and she saw a couple of plates and broken cups sitting on the undusted wood. A pile of blankets on a mattress served as his bed and a small fireplace lay on the opposite of the room. In its pit sat the remnants of coal and wood burned to ashes long ago.