Moon's Artifice (12 page)

Kesh released the knife again and looked around, taking a step towards the open doorway before halting.

Can’t knock on the door now, can I
? She turned to the window.
Maybe I can hear them instead.

She leaned out of the window and checked left and right. Like the front of the hospital building, there was a gallery running down the whole flank of this part of the building – a sandy stretch of ground extending for twenty yards all around it before a six-foot wall separated the complex from the street-life beyond. Crucially there was no one in sight so Kesh slipped over the deep window sill and crouched down. Back against the wall she crept along it, keeping her head below window level. When she reached the next one along she paused, listening for voices, but they were faint through the closed shutters.

Must be the other side of the room.

She moved down the wall with a wary look around at the courtyard to check no one had spotted her. Reassured, she continued on and reached the next window, five yards further along. There she waited, hearing nothing at first. Just as she was wondering whether to stand and see if she could get closer, Father Jehq’s voice came clear through the thick slat of the shutter.

‘That man is proving a curse on us all, Perel – who’d have thought
Irato
, of all of the Detenii, would cause so many problems ?’

‘What do you want me to do ?’ asked a second man in a heavy growl, doubtless the bodyguard. ‘The girl’s dead, right ?’

‘This one ? In her mind, yes. A small dose is all it takes to wipe the slate clean – her mind has been emptied entirely. There’s nothing left of the child she once was or anything else. She’ll stay like that until her body dies of thirst. Killing her will be a mercy.’

Kesh felt her stomach lurch at his words and jammed her knuckles into her mouth to stop herself crying out.

Emptied ? Killing Emari would be a mercy ?

She closed her eyes, a storm of terror unfolding inside her head, but somehow the voices cut through it all – adding to the maelstrom of horror and grief.

‘I kill the sister ?’

‘No – let me do that, best we leave no sign of violence for anyone here to notice. You dispose of the bodies tonight ; they’re never to be found, you hear me ? Good. Then this boarding house – Irato’s sea-chest should have been rigged for anyone breaking into it. Tell Synter to clear up after her team properly this time around. Moon’s Artifice is corrosive ; if it’s spilled enough to leak out of the chest, any further movement will likely set it off – but we cannot make assumptions.

‘Her whole team keeps their eyes on the house – if it’s not on fire by nightfall or the enemy are spotted, she does it herself, understand ?’

‘I will tell her so.’

Kesh tried not to gasp.
Mother ! Mother would be home by now !
Without a warning she stood no chance, as little as Emari.

I have to warn her – I have to get there before they do ! But how can I leave Emari ?
Kesh almost sobbed with helplessness.
How can I leave her here to die ?

The Father’s chilling words had left her in no doubt about Emari’s condition, but just thinking about fleeing left Kesh sickened. Her little sister was in the hands of men who talked about murder as though it was a mere detail – how could she abandon her ? But how could she stay ? How could she take the risk of trying to save Emari – when the old man had said she was beyond help and her mother remained in danger ?

Kesh found herself reaching again for her knife, but caught herself just as her fingers touched it. She took a long controlled breath and stared down at the dirt underfoot. There was a weathered shard of pottery impressed into the ground right there, unremarkable in every respect, but she found her attention fixed upon it as the jangle of panic ran through her body.

Empress forgive me, I’ve got to go.

As soon as she thought the words, Kesh hated herself. At the back of her mind she screamed and raged, but the young woman crouched below the window remained perfectly still, fighting the fury and fear as she tried to make herself move.

I can’t take him – most likely even if that Jehq hadn’t done something to me. I don’t know if I can run, but if I stay I’m dead – Mother’s dead, Emari’s dead.

She closed her eyes and for a moment heard screams on the wind, men crying distantly from the roiling ocean. She’d watched sailors be washed overboard during her time on the merchantman
Piper’s Lament
and done nothing to save them – unable to move lest she also lost her grip and was caught by the heaving waves. The captain hadn’t turned the ship, had done nothing but watch them go under. There had been nothing more to do ; no lines they could throw, no way to make up the distance or correct their path, but they had all felt like murderers once the storm subsided.

Shakily, she made her way back to the window she’d climbed from, then past it before straightening up. Kesh glanced back at the empty window, fearing she might see the brutal face of the bodyguard, Perel, staring back at her, but there was nothing.

She lurched back toward the plaza where she’d entered the hospital, heading for the gates that separated hospital grounds from the district beyond. After a dozen steps she started to find her balance again and almost broke into a run before she realised she’d only be attracting attention to herself. It was an effort to keep walking at a normal speed and not look back until she was at the edge of the plaza, but she did just that and only paused once she was in the shadow of a tall building. That one look was enough to spur her on. Half-hidden by the corner of the building, Kesh watched a man in black dart out of the hospital entrance.

At the foot of the steps below the polished double doors, he turned left and right like a man panicked. Kesh couldn’t wait any longer – she ran, uncaring of who might see. There was only one thought in her mind now ; saving her mother’s life.

Kesh looked up and saw a break in the buildings ahead, the midday sun casting its light over the further buildings and bleaching their stone facades white. Her heart gave a jump – she was almost home, her mother was almost safe.

In the next instant something smashed into her shoulder and the world was thrown sideways. She flew across the rubbish-strewn street and into a shadowed alley, crashing into a jumble of abandoned, broken boxes. Stars burst before her eyes as she fell, landing heavily on her shoulder and crying out in shock and pain. Everything became a blur, sun and shadow slashed and whirled before her eyes as a second blow rolled her onto her back, then a rough hand grabbed her collar.

Kesh kicked out in panic, feet flailing wildly as she grabbed her attacker’s wrist and tried to wrench free. His grip was iron-like. Kesh was strong and threw herself around in an attempt to break his hold, but she could do nothing and in the next moment she was lifted and hurled against a wall. She slammed into it with a stuttered howl, the impact driving the air from her lungs even as she cried out. Kesh fell to her knees, body ablaze with pain, and only the wall behind her stopped her from collapsing backwards.

‘Led me a pretty dance, bitch,’ Perel snarled. The big goshe stood over her and glared down, hate filling his eyes as he drew a long-knife. ‘But it’s all ended now.’

Kesh whimpered and curled up in a ball, but the goshe laughed and bent down to grab her by her hair.

‘Crying ain’t going to help,’ he promised, dragging her back up to her knees.

Kesh didn’t wait to hear any more. She slashed up with her father’s knife and felt it bite into his inner arm. He released her and on the second pass she lunged for his throat, knowing she couldn’t wait, but he was ready for her and caught the blow on his own weapon. Deftly slipping his free hand underneath her arm, the goshe grabbed her wrist and smirked, not even looking at his injury.

Blood dribbled from the tear in his sleeve, but if anything the wound seemed to have improved his mood and as he bent her hand back, Perel pursed his lips and made a kissing sound.

‘Like it rough, eh ?’ he said with a broken-toothed grin.

Kesh wrenched her body back and stamped forward with all her strength, kicking the goshe square in the groin and at last eliciting a grunt of pain from the man. He released her wrist and backed off a step, his apparent amusement wavering only for a moment.

‘Oh that’s good – you’re doing well, girl,’ he laughed. ‘Fancy another shot ?’

To Kesh’s astonishment the goshe pushed back a fold of his black robe and sheathed his long-knife, standing before her with empty hands outstretched.

‘Come on then, you’ve earned a free swing. Help yourself.’

Knife held out before her, Kesh found her feet and stayed where she was, crouched low as she’d been taught – ready to move, despite the little space available in the alley.

‘Come on, ain’t got all day,’ Perel said, beckoning to her. ‘Think about me snapping that little girl’s neck like a—’

He didn’t get any more out as Kesh darted forward, cutting left and right in small, controlled movements. The first missed, the second caught the laughing goshe’s palm and tore into the flesh, the third nicked him on the wrist. Kesh drove forwards, pushing inside his guard to jam the knife in his ribs, but Perel didn’t try to back off. With his injured hand he swatted down into the side of her head and a blinding flash of light burst before her eyes. Kesh was driven down to one knee, knife almost falling from her hands before a second slap and flash of light sent her hand numb and the weapon fell.

Perel laughed and stepped back, in no rush to finish her off as Kesh groggily tried to keep upright. She blinked back the stars bursting darkly before her eyes and looked at her hand. A smear of scorched red skin ran across the back of her hand while her head rang with the impact of Perel’s blow.

His throaty chuckle seemed to clear the fog from her mind, but it was replaced by an insistent sting from her hand and head. Realising she was unarmed, Kesh fumbled on the ground for her knife. Her hand seemed slow and uncoordinated, flapping against the knife’s grip but refusing to grasp it. She managed to pick it up with her left but the contempt on Perel’s face showed she looked far from threatening with it.

Kesh tried to stand but the effort made her sway and lurch backwards. The dim lines of the alley and the bright sky above seemed to distend and blur as she moved, the pain in her head waxing briefly until she found her balance once more. Beyond Perel, mere yards away, a thin strip of sun shone on the cobbles of the street – but it could have been a mile in her condition, with him blocking the path.

The brisk patter of footsteps suddenly came from further down the street, but Kesh only made out a flash of movement past the alley-mouth as she tried to cry out for help. The sound came out as little more than a moan, one that broke off as Perel drew back his hand threateningly. As he did so a flicker of light danced between his callused fingers – an ephemeral, threatening glitter that made Kesh realise it wasn’t her scrambled senses. Her hand really was scorched, head too no doubt.

The realisation prompted a deeper fear inside her. This man was no mere thug or bodyguard but something worse – some sort of Astaren, with magic at his fingertips.

The goshe have warrior-mages ?
Kesh wondered dully.
How ? How have the Houses allowed it ?

A streak of rusty-brown flashed down from the rooftop before she could make any sense of the sight, then a second from the other side. Wisps of white light seemed to follow them, faint in the daylight but distinct as they entered the building’s shadow. Perel twisted with unnatural speed to slap away the first attacking shape with a whip-crack sound. There was a small explosion of light around the object and it was thrown to the ground. The second, Perel seemed to catch in a crackling ball of light, his expression contorted with rage in the bright flare of white.

As he held it there Kesh at last saw what it was and gasped – writhing in the cruel, searing fire was a fox, fur already scorched and teeth bared in a rictus of pain. She blinked and saw for a brief moment another shape surrounding it, some far larger creature with storm-blown fur and crushing jaws that similarly struggled against Perel’s grip. An instant later it vanished and Kesh blinked away the stars bursting before her eyes, taking a moment to see the long furrows that had appeared along Perel’s sleeve.

A third fox struck him from behind, racing into the alley along the ground and driving its teeth into the back of his knee while the wolf-spirit surrounding it raked its claws down his thigh. Perel let the second creature fall and turned towards the new attack, finally drawing his long-knife to stab it in the back. From up above came a piercing shriek that made Kesh flinch and reel from the burst of savage sound. Perel rocked back as though physically struck and staggered sideways before he caught himself. Through watering eyes, Kesh saw him recover a moment later and, long-knife at the ready, he hurled himself forward like a pouncing cat.

From a standing start the goshe jumped across the alley and up – grabbing the gutter with his left hand and dragging himself up until he was above roof height, assailant still hanging from his leg. The fox standing there darted forwards at him, a russet blur of teeth that caught his face even as Perel drove a knife right through its side.

He dropped back down, sparks of lightning dancing over his knuckles and down the bloodied blade. His cheek was torn open and Perel touched his fingers to the wound, shock flourishing on his brutal features even as he staggered drunkenly back and almost tripped on the fox-corpses there. Behind him, at the entrance to the alley, came another sharp bark and he whirled around – knives drawn and ready to ward off a further attack.

None came. The remaining fox simply stared at him and for once he didn’t move. The goshe wavered slightly and glanced up at the rooftop, wary of another attack from above, but no more of the lithe creatures jumped to their death. He was still watching for them when Kesh scooped up her own knife and rammed it with all her strength under his half-raised arm.