Forgotten (21 page)

More than one, actually.
Once he paid attention to the noises, he heard three distinct voices. Only one was female, but that wasn’t surprising. Gregor had a fairly even number of male and female officers. It was disgusting, and made the memories of his own experience far too near the surface of his thoughts. But it did remind him of his purpose. His target wasn’t among the shuffling masses.

Kaie couldn’t decide if it was better to
breath
from his nose or mouth as he pushed his way along the wall. Either way, whenever one of the Hollows got too close he would end up gaging. But he did move along quickly. The Hollows didn’t put up any resistance to his passing, and Kaie felt
no
need to hide himself.

Kaie slowed as he reached the top of the stairs. The grunting noises were louder here. He crept along slowly, pausing at each door to press his ear against the wood. The woman was obviously behind the first door, one of the men behind the second. The next two rooms were empty, save for a pair of worn mattresses. That left two rooms, and at least one more grunter.

He pushed open the door. His heart dropped. The room was empty. The one he was looking for was in one of the occupied rooms, and he was going to have to wait down among the Hollows until they were gone.

Except…

Not sure what it was that caught his attention, Kaie turned back to look the room over one more time. The walls were unpainted, the floor uncovered. There was no decoration or furniture save the worn bed in the center of the room.

His eyes narrowed. There was a blanket on this mattress. There was someone underneath it. Ready to flee at any second, Kaie slowly pushed the door closed behind him and crossed the small room to peer at the head sticking out from beneath the blanket.

Cold gray eyes stared through him, locked on some distant point past the ceiling. Her hair was still short, but much longer now, and her face wasn’t round anymore. It was unrecognizable, devoid of any hint of the life that used to animate it. But he would never forget the scar on her eyelid, where lashes didn’t grow.

Kaie let out a slow sigh and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He was surprised to discover himself drained of his hatred. Even on the way to this room, he held it close, nursed the low flame back to a biting blaze. This was supposed to be part of his revenge. His punishment for the part she played in breaking his
mind,
and his theft of something Gregor loved. But now, looking down at her empty eyes, all he felt was sorrow.

“You didn’t deserve much,” he murmured. “But you deserved better than this, Kissa.”

He did what he came to do.

Kaie wrapped his hands around Kissa’s throat, pressing down against the soft part with his thumbs. She gasped and fought to get air around his grip, but she didn’t struggle. He imagined it a quick death, but it wasn’t. He could feel her body working for air even as the whites of her eyes turned red and blood trickled out of her right nostril. Her face turned a frightening color of purple. He nearly let go, horrified at what he was doing to her, but then her lips twisted into a smile. Her head twitched, and Kaie was certain it was a nod.

He kept his hold a minute or two after he felt the pulse in her neck stop, just to be sure. Kaie leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead lightly. He didn’t know what compelled him to do it, only that it seemed wrong not to offer her some small measure of comfort. He straightened the blanket until it covered her naked body, giving her what little dignity he could manage.

He was tempted to try to make his way back to the manse underground. But Kaie returned to the streets and hiked his way back through the crowds. He risked being recognized, but it was slightly less likely that he would lose his way if he could see more than two feet in front of him. He did his best to navigate the crowded city. His sense of direction was far from perfect and reversing the directions wasn’t as easy as he hoped. But he was reasonably sure he was heading the right way. Or he was up until the point he stumbled into a strange plaza that was disturbingly empty.

Kaie nearly darted back down the path he was on before he even took in the scene before him. Getting away from the Hollow house without a seeing a single soldier seemed impossible. He more than half expected to stumble into a trap set by the Ninth Rit. The sudden shift of the crowd caused a creeping anxiety to start forming at the base of his spine. Before he could turn around something caught his eye.

It took him several seconds to identify what caught his attention. Scanning the plaza his gaze soon came to rest on a burst of dark red hair amid a knot of soldiers wearing that strange gold star on their shoulders. There was no reason for the surge of kinship he felt to the kid. Rare as it was, their hair color was no true connection. But he could not reason the feeling away.

The men were pushing in close to the huddled form. They were a few seconds, breaths really, away from doing the kid serious harm. The boy was no small, helpless prey, but they were going to rip him apart all the same. Before he could think through the stupidity of his actions, Kaie was moving forward. He didn’t beat the first punch thrown, nor
the one from behind that knocked
the kid to the ground. But he was there for the second and the third.
And a good handful after that.

He lost track of how many times fists and boots connected with his body. It hurt, and that was all the attention he could afford to give it. This wasn’t sparring with Gregor. These men intended to hurt someone, and they seemed perfectly content to make it him. Distraction was just as great an enemy as any of the five men working so hard to break him.

At some point he stopped thinking about the punches that were connecting with the men around him, or even the ones landing on him. He stopped thinking through the moves he was making, and what Gregor taught him. He just let the flow of the fight take over his body. It was perfect. One movement poured into the next, and each breath was another turn. It was intense and exhilarating.

And then it was done. Air pouring in and out of his lungs in brutal gasps, Kaie blinked the haze away from his eyes. All his opponents were on the ground. The boy was awake and staring up at him with open amazement. All around them, a crowd was gathering and muttering as they put on wildly different expressions.

Kaie was sure the Hudukul didn’t like the Urazian soldiers. The new ones would be even less popular than Gregor’s forces. But everyone in the plaza knew what came next just as well as he did. There was a reason all the cots in the hospital were empty. The five Urazin soldiers on the ground weren’t the only ones in the square. Two handfuls were starting to push their way toward him.

There wasn’t any time to think things through. No time to plan an escape. Kaie grabbed the boy’s arm and dragged him back into an alley. For a while he just ran. The boy wasn’t as fast as him, but kept up well enough. He didn’t know where he was going, and didn’t bother trying to figure it out. It was time to flee.
Sorting out where to could wait.

“Excuse me!”

Kaie blinked and slowed, wondering how many times the boy tried to get his attention. “What do you want?”

The boy looked at him with gray eyes far too big for his face. It was disconcerting. The kid was obviously younger than him, but not by as much as Kaie thought initially. The boy was obviously well into his teens and almost as muscular as Gregor. Such eyes didn’t belong with a body built like that.

“I need to get back to my grandfather.”

Kaie felt his face tighten in a frown and his temper fray. Something about the kid tugged at his memory. “You might have missed it, in all the cowering and mewling you were doing back there, but now is not a good time to be wandering around the city looking for some old man.”

The boy’s chest puffed out a bit, and his face twisted into a scowl. “He’ll keep us safe.”

“Well that’s fantastic! Why didn’t you say so?” Kaie scoffed. “So he’s going to be able to fend off all the Urazian soldiers who’ll be out hunting the both of us single-handedly then?”

“If he has to,” the boy insisted. He pointed. “My grandfather said he’d meet me that way.”

Kaie rolled his eyes. “So you’re the grandson of the greatest warrior in the world? Tell me another one, kid. Come on. We can’t be too far from the Rit’s manse. You can hide out there for the night, if you have to. I’m not letting my plan go to shit just because you’re too stupid to stay out of trouble.”

The boy jerked his arm out of Kaie’s grip. “I’m not going. I told you, I need to find my grandfather. And I’m not stupid, either.”

“You haven’t done anything to convince me different yet.” Kaie snarled. “Next time someone saves your ass from shit you got yourself into, you might want to try a bit of gratitude.”

The boy crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t get myself into anything. They saw my hair and decided I was some escaped slave they’re looking for. One who belongs to the Ninth
Rit.
” His eyes tilted up to Kaie’s own hair and narrowed.

“And you decided to piss them off instead of explaining you’re just some stupid kid who doesn’t even know to cover his head?” This was bad. He knew there would be a reaction to his disappearance, but he didn’t expect Gregor to set the new soldiers out to find him.

“Oh, I tried explaining plenty. But Urazian trash never listens.”

Kaie scowled at the boy. “Look, I’ve done all the risking my life on your behalf I’m willing to do today. If you want to go find your amazing warrior grandfather, have at it. But I’m going to the manse.”

The boy stared at him for a while. Kaie couldn’t decide what the kid thought their locked gazes would accomplish, but it was unsettling. His patience for their little contest of wills expired, he turned away and headed out of the alley, determined to put this whole encounter out of his mind and get back to his plan before the soldiers caught up with him and everything was ruined.

He didn’t get far before a hand dropped on his shoulder. He spun around, startled at how eager he was to pound his bruised fist into the boy’s face.

The kid
smiled,
his big eyes intense and all but glowing. Something cold and sharp slithered its way through Kaie’s mind. He stumbled backward instinctually, throwing up all manner of mental walls and clinging to a single thought.

I am Kaie!

The boy blinked and withdrew his hand. Kaie didn’t imagine the irritation he saw.

“You’re not leaving me here,” the kid said darkly. “You’re going to help me find him, or I’ll go find myself another soldier and tell them I’ve found the Ninth Rit’s escaped slave.”

Kaie shook his head, trying to clear it of whatever had just happened to him. “You little bastard,” he muttered, wondering if he was going crazy.

The boy nodded.
“If I have to be.
It’s the best for everyone if you cooperate. My grandfather won’t be far, and he knows this city better than anyone. Once we find him, we’ll take you back where you belong.” Kaie found he no longer felt up to arguing with the boy. The direction the kid was insisting on didn’t seem to lead back where they’d come. So it was as good as any other.

“Alright.
We’ll find your grandfather.”

The kid turned out to be surprisingly adept at navigating the city streets. He was clearly not a native Huduku, but it was only his hair that gave him away. Even his skin was tan enough that no one would know the difference. He seemed to have a knack for weaving in and out of the crowds that Kaie lacked.

The building looked no different than any of the others, but it did stand out. From inside leaked smells that made Kaie’s mouth water and reminded his stomach just how long ago he’d eaten.
A bakery.

“Your grandfather’s in there?” Kaie tried to keep the trepidation out of his voice as the sound of angry shouts drifted from behind them. The boy nodded enthusiastically.

“He’ll keep us safe,” the kid insisted again.

Before another argument could slip past his parted lips, the door to the bakery opened and the old man in question stepped out into the cluttered street.

Kaie’s vague hope that the boy was right crumbled instantly. The man was stooped with age, his silver hair floating around him in long waves that were dangerously close to brushing the ground. His wrinkled face was kind, and his eyes were sharp and filled with amusement, but there was nothing in his spindly figure that inspired a sense of safety.

“Well then, my boy, what have you brought me here?”

The kid smiled warmly and patted the old man’s shoulder with affection. “Thank the gods you’re alright. The soldiers are out of control, just like you expected.”

Kaie bit back an observation that, if the man was supposed to be keeping them safe, it shouldn’t be surprising to find him unharmed. Something about the old man made him cautious. It was similar to what he felt about the boy, the same tugging on something half-remembered, but without any of the anger the kid inspired.

“Oh dear,” the old man muttered. A shadow passed over his face as he lifted his eyes to meet Kaie’s. “Caused trouble, did he?”

“He says it’s not his fault,” Kaie responded, feeling an odd compulsion to tell the old man everything.

The old man shot his grandson an appraising look. “I hope you thanked this young man.” He stood as upright as his crooked spine would allow and turned to Kaie. “How many were there, son?”

“Five.”

The laughter returned to the old man’s bright green eyes. It danced, taunting Kaie with a joke he was left out of.
“Of course.
Well, it seems my grandson and I are in your debt. Five times, as it were.”

Kaie brushed it off with a flip of his hand. “Just get me to the Ninth Rit’s manse and I’ll consider it even.” He glanced back the way they’d come, trying to decide if the sounds were drawing closer or if it was just his imagination.

The old man shook his head.
“Nonsense.
A debt of this kind must be repaid properly.”

Suddenly, Kaie was dropping to his knees. His eyes widened as his shins hit the cobblestone, fear coursing through him in waves. The old man didn’t seem to have moved at all, but there was no doubt that it was his will that pushed Kaie to kneel. He tried to shout, but found that his voice was gone.

The old man placed a withered hand against Kaie’s forehead. When it touched his skin, it didn’t feel like flesh at all. There was no give, no softness. Not even the roughness of a laborer’s hands. There was just a chill that seeped out of the old man and snaked through Kaie until he was shivering beneath the other man’s touch.

“Five times, you saved my grandson, son of Fate. Five times, I owe you
..”

Something happened. Or nothing happened. But there was a change. Some shift in the order of the universe, all centered
around
this one old man and where he was touching Kaie’s head. He shook and shivered and wanted to scurry away and hide until the whole thing went away. It was magic, whatever this man was doing. It was terrifying.

Then the old man took his hand away, and Kaie could breathe again. He could almost convince himself that none of it actually happened. “Er, thanks. Look, this has been great, but I really need to get moving. He said you’d point me to the Ninth Rit. I’m going to hide out there until dark. The kid should probably sight for a while too.”

He almost suggested the two hide with him, but bit back the words at the last second. He wanted to be done with them both as quickly as possible, five times owed or not.

The old man smiled kindly, and it hit him.
The dream, the one that never quite faded.
That was why the old man looks so familiar.
The boy too.
It was impossible. But there was no mistaking either one of them.

“The fifth always pays for all?” He murmured, hardly aware of doing so.

The old man patted his shoulder with affection and then helped Kaie back to his feet. “You always were one of my favorites,” he answered lowly. Then, louder, “I’m not one to argue, son, but I don’t think that’s really how you want to do this.”

“What do you mean?”

The old man shrugged. “Well, you could do as you plan, of course, but it’s
Tialmo
Lro’t
.
The Night of Lights.
It only comes once every five years. Even with all this soldier trouble, the people of the city are sure to be bustling about until dawn. The Ninth Rit will be expected to open his home to everyone. It will bring a lot more traffic than most people would want when they’re trying to hide. Might I make a suggestion?”

Kaie frowned, his mind scrambling for an alternative.
“If you make it helpful.”