Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (47 page)

“How did you find me?”

“Madam Jensette told me where you were. If you go into hiding, it’s best to leave old habits behind.”

Izak had the good grace to go red and look away.

“Well,” he said. “I’ll know for next time.”

“Can I sit down? Is there a chair or…”

“Ah, no. Only the bed. It’s… clean.”

Felice took a mouthful of wine on the way to the bed and shrugged the satchel off her shoulder. Sighing, she rubbed her neck and sat. Izak retreated across the room and looked at her like a mouse would a cat that had it cornered.

“I need your help,” she began as firmly as she could. “And a safe place to stay.”

“Here is—”

“Is known to everyone around here who knows you. And now Jensette knows I’ve come here. It’s not safe anymore.”

Izak looked around, eyes darting this way and that. Clearly afraid, almost comically. Felice would have laughed, if she hadn’t been so tired.

She took a sip of wine then put the glass aside regretfully. She couldn’t drink too much, as the way she was feeling, one glass might do her in.

“Izak, listen carefully. We have to get out of here. Tonight.”

Izak stroked his goatee and bobbed his head. “Yes. Not safe, as you say. But where?”

“Rebecci. We can ask her for refuge.”

“She’s disappeared. Hasn’t been seen in social circles since my last meeting with her. I don’t know where she’d be. Is there somewhere else? Think!”

She couldn’t think of anywhere else, but it was probably wise not to let on to Izak. “Pack some things. Whatever’s important to you.” She looked around the apartment at empty tables and chairs; even the dresser was devoid of anything personal. Chests and wooden crates filled with Izak’s belongings were stacked against a wall. He’d not bothered to unpack yet, or hadn’t had time.

She sat still while Izak shoved clothes and personal effects into a sack, along with a small jewelry box and a few coin purses. Which reminded her.

“I’ll need some ducats. Not a great deal, mind you. Whatever you can spare for now, just in case I require them.”

Izak hesitated but nodded and handed her a few silver ducats, which she pocketed. He stood in the middle of the room and turned a full circle, as if deciding what else to take. Eventually, he shrugged. “I’m ready.”

“Good. I’m sorry Izak.”

Izak hefted his bulging sack and slung it over his shoulder. “Where to now?”

This time, Felice did laugh. It felt like years since she had. “Perhaps you’d better get dressed first.”

•

After leaving the apartment, Izak had started to head toward the docks, but Felice insisted they head back to West Barrows, where the Sorcerers’ Guild and Protectors used to be located, and where the Indryallan forces were headquartered.

She dragged Izak by the arm, and he wisely followed, though his eyes were a little wild. To the east, the horizon was beginning to brighten, and Felice guessed the streets would soon be filled with people on their way to work. Already, they’d passed some early risers, mostly apprentices and laborers, and women on their way to the communal ovens to bake their bread.

“We shouldn’t have come this way,” hissed Izak.

“I’ve an idea, and no time to explain.”

“No time? We’ve been walking for an hour.”

“I know things you don’t, so you’ll just have to trust me. Do you have a gold ducat?”

“Yes, but…” Izak sighed, fishing in a purse and handing her the coin.

“You’ll get it back.”

If Rebecci had gone into hiding, Felice thought, then why hadn’t she left with the rest of the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern? The company had many businesses here in the city, as well as in others, and it stood to reason Rebecci had stayed to look after their interests, which meant following the trail of ducats. And there was one business in Anasoma no one knew was associated with the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern, except for a select few.

Outside the offices of Empirical Commerce, a queue of people stretched down one side of the building and around the corner. With the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern closed indefinitely, people rushed to do business with the second largest bank in the empire, and it seemed they had more than they could handle. Not yet dawn, and already people jostled in the line. A few hours of waiting, and it would be chaos.

Four unhappy-looking guards were stationed outside the copper-clad double doors, which were closed and wouldn’t likely open for some time yet. Bankers did like their sleep-ins.

“Come on,” said Felice, and strode up to the nearest guard.

He took in her plain appearance with disdain. “Queue starts around the corner.”

“I’m aware of that.” She held up Izak’s gold ducat between her index finger and thumb, and smiled at the guard. “We need to see whoever’s in charge today, as soon as possible.” She extended the coin toward the guard. “It’s urgent.”

He blinked and shuffled his feet. “Urgent, is it?”

“Yes.”

“A matter of life and death?”

“Certainly.”

The guard took the coin and motioned to his fellow, who pushed one of the copper doors slightly ajar. “Inside, please, before this rabble starts to think we’ve opened for the day.”

“Thank you. Come, Izak.”

She slipped between the gap, and they found themselves in a marble-tiled entryway. Ahead was another set of open copper doors. As they passed through into a room filled with polished wooden counters, their footsteps echoed off the floor. A smartly dressed woman hurried from the other side of the room to meet them.

“Excuse me,” she said imperiously. “How did you get in here?”

“Bribed the guards,” said Felice, and the woman’s mouth dropped open. “We need to see whoever’s in charge.”

The woman frowned. “That’s me today, but I don’t see how I can help…”

Felice shook her head and leaned in close to the woman. In barely a whisper, she spoke. “No, no, no. Rebecci. We need to see her. Tell her it’s Lady Felicienne Shyrise and Sir Izak Fourie. She’ll see us. If she’s out, we’ll wait.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. She swallowed then nodded curtly, turning heel and disappearing through a doorway behind one of the counters.

It didn’t take long before she returned, waving them over. She ushered them through the doorway and down a corridor, then up a short flight of stairs and into a sparse-looking office.

“Wait here,” she commanded.

Felice sat in one of two hard wooden chairs in front of a desk, leather satchel in her lap, and waited as Izak paced in front of her.

“I don’t understand,” he muttered to her. “Why would Rebecci be here? Empirical Commerce is the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern’s main rival. Though they’re only half the size, the two compete most vigorously for any contracts and loans that come up.”

“Stop pacing and sit down. It’s simple: they’re not rivals. The Five Oceans Mercantile Concern owns half of Empirical Commerce. Well, not quite half; the empire has a controlling interest.”

Izak stopped pacing and stared at her. She could see him taking a few moments to organize his thoughts around the information.

“So, it’s all fake? The greatest business rivalry in the empire is a sham?”

“Yes. And Rebecci wouldn’t go into hiding somewhere she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on what’s going on, to assess any developments. So, she’s here.”

Izak slumped into the chair beside her. “This is insane. Why own two banks?”

“They took over Empirical Commerce decades ago, but they were getting too powerful, and the emperor decided to limit their expansion. I’m sure they’ve found other ways to get around his controls, but at least this stymies their efforts.”

As she finished, Rebecci entered the room, looking as emaciated as usual, her white hair in tangles.

“I warned you to get out of Anasoma,” she began without preamble. “I even gave you ducats. Bags filled with them. And yet… here you are. And you—” She pointed at Felice. “You have a taint.”

Felice nodded, knowing she was dealing with a sorcerer. “It’s the river. I had cuts on my arms, and they became infected.”

Rebecci sniffed. “No. A taint,” she stressed. “You’ve been close to him.”

“Kelhak?” ventured Felice.

Without warning, Rebecci grabbed Felice’s head with thin hands. It felt like she was being squeezed in a vise. Felice gasped for breath, trying to scream, but all that came out was a whimper. She could hear Izak shouting, but it sounded like he was underwater.

Of a sudden, the pressure eased, and she could breathe again. Izak was kneeling beside her, wiping drool from her chin.

“Lucky. Lucky,” said Rebecci. “You must have escaped before he’d had a chance to take you.”

Felice pushed Izak away. “Thank you,” she said, embarrassed. She turned to Rebecci. “What did you just do? And what do you mean, take me? Not… sexually?”

“Probably that as well, from what I’ve heard.” Rebecci sat behind the desk and frowned at Izak, who brushed at his knees before sitting next to Felice.

Felice touched the leather satchel in her lap, thoughts coalescing. The Five Oceans Mercantile Concern had known the Indryallans were coming, they must have. Yet they hadn’t warned the empire. She should tread carefully until she knew their angle. But Rebecci had also given them aid when she didn’t have to. She was a sorcerer, and had been able to sense Felice had been close to Kelhak.

“You know he’s not Kelhak, don’t you,” she blurted.

Rebecci froze for a moment, so quickly Felice would have missed it, if she hadn’t been watching.

“Who is he?” continued Felice. “What is he?”

“He is Kelhak, but… it’s complicated, and not my place to tell you.”

“Of course it is. Anasoma’s in peril, possibly the empire. They wouldn’t take over the city and just wait unless they have a plan. You need to be truthful with me.”

“As I said, it’s not my place.”

“Whose is it, then?” demanded Felice.

“You were supposed to leave Anasoma.”

“Well, we didn’t. Who were we supposed to meet? You said we’d join you, but you’re still here as well.”

Rebecci tapped her fingers on the desk, staring at her. After a few moments, she spoke. “Our leader, Gazija. You were to meet him, and he would have explained some things to you.”

How cryptic, thought Felice. She guessed this Gazija wouldn’t tell her the whole truth. After all, Rebecci herself had been notoriously short on details.

She leaned forward. “Who is Kelhak?”

For the first time since Felice had met her, Rebecci looked unsettled. She dropped her eyes to the desk. “He is beyond you.”

“Beyond me. Maybe. But the Indryallans are stuck here like rats in a trap. The emperor will kill most of them and push the rest out to sea and back to Indryalla.”

Before she’d finished, Rebecci started shaking her head, though she remained tight-lipped.

With rising dread, Felice met Izak’s eyes. Rebecci didn’t think the emperor would be able to defeat the Indryallans.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Elpidia placed the fresh herbs into her basket and thanked the trader, before strolling to the next stall along. Another herbalist, but this one’s herbs were not as fresh. Wilted leaves, saggy and lifeless, probably picked at least a few days ago. She sniffed and wandered past.

Riversedge wasn’t too bad a city, and she was enjoying her trip to the markets. She stepped more spritely than she had in years, decades even, though her memory of those days wasn’t as sharp as more recent ones. For a long time, she’d lived and worked with one thing in mind: a cure for her disease. She returned the smile of a man who walked past and tipped his hat to her. He wasn’t as good-looking as Amerdan, but he wasn’t bad. Too young for her, though.

She stopped and almost laughed. It had been a long time since she’d had a thought like that. A great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and her mind. She could see now the darkness that had consumed her every waking moment, and was glad it had been lifted.

This morning, the state of her rashes and sores had improved markedly, and to her disgust and delight, she’d had to brush flakes of scabs from her bedding, where they’d rubbed off overnight. She took her time bathing, gently massaging soothing oils into her patchy skin, and brushing her hair. For the first time in a long while, she’d been happy to go outside.

The scent of fresh baked bread wafted across to her, and she smiled. With her disease likely gone, her appetite had returned. Its diminishment had not been a result of her sickness but of her doldrums. She followed her nose until she stood in front of a communal oven with a baker’s stall to the side. She took her time perusing the bread and cakes, then chose a crusty round loaf she thought Caldan would like, along with a small cake sprinkled with sesame seeds for later.

After paying the baker, she tucked them into her basket, turned, and froze. Her chest tightened.

Amerdan was across the busy street. He was side on, but she recognized his profile. He held a metal implement up to the light to examine, then turned back to the stallholder and gestured at him.

Elpidia swallowed nervously. She glanced left and right. She couldn’t see anyone watching her or Amerdan, but that didn’t mean no one was.

Why was he in Riversedge? Since she knew he’d been back to the camp while she was unconscious, she’d had her suspicions he was more than he claimed to be.

Amerdan had to know she and Caldan were in Riversedge with Miranda. When Bells had escaped, Caldan was already in the city, and there was nowhere else for Elpidia to take Miranda. So why was he here, and why hadn’t he found them and made himself known?

She watched as Amerdan purchased a number of metal implements. The stall displayed knives and scissors, along with a variety of other implements. It could be he was sick of running and didn’t want to stay involved with the Protectors and Indryallans; perhaps he was starting up his own business again.

Somehow, she doubted it. He’d left Anasoma to join with them, then left their group at the same time Bells escaped. It was too much of a coincidence. He was up to something.

Elpidia kept one eye on Amerdan as he finished his business at the stall and made his way through the crowd. He was heading away from the Protectors’ headquarters, and for a moment she hesitated, wary that if she followed, she’d be moving further away from Caldan. She needed to tell him about Amerdan and her suspicions, but… if she could find out where he was living, it was possible that information could lead the Protectors to Bells. A remote possibility, based on her gut feeling, but there nevertheless.