Old Man's Ghosts (26 page)

‘Now get out.’

Just before Narin reached the door, the Lord Martial called out again. ‘Wait.’ He sighed, sounding like age was once more settling on his shoulders. ‘There was a child.’

‘Yes, my Lord. Her name is Dov.’

‘She is healthy?’

‘Yes, my Lord. Her mother too. I … I intend to wed her when I can.’

‘You remember at least the first Lawbringer oath?’

‘Yes, my Lord – “protect the innocent”. I will give my life before I allow her to be harmed, either of them.’

‘Above all, we are Lawbringers,’ ald Har said gravely. ‘We serve the Emperor’s law and the oaths we made before the Ascendant God himself. Fail mother or child and I’ll kill you myself.’

‘Yes, my Lord.’

‘Narin.’

He stopped on the stair, feeling strangely light-headed after the Lord Martial’s words. When he turned, Rhe was at the top, stave in hand.

‘Lawbringer?’

Rhe held out his hand. ‘I must take your sword. You are no longer permitted it. I suggest you have a novice fetch your greys from your home. I doubt it would be safe for you to go back there, but you should not be wearing the white.’

Narin couldn’t help but laugh briefly at the absurdity, but he unbuckled his sword without comment and shrugged his white coat off his shoulders. Underneath remained the white jacket of the Lawbringers, of course, but tossing the coat aside was as much of a statement as he could be bothered to make. He watched it slide rather pathetically down the remaining steps of that flight before it came to rest in an unimpressive heap at the bottom.

‘You blame me,’ Rhe stated.

‘You?’ Narin shook his head. ‘You could’ve had a little more tact perhaps, Lawbringer, but I don’t blame you. No, I know I’m the fool here and this was always going to come. I just didn’t expect it today.’

‘Here.’ Rhe held out the stave to Narin. He wanted to refuse it, but he had no room in his life for petulance now. There were still people trying to kill him and going unarmed wouldn’t stop them. He was low caste, after all; Narin had already provided sufficient reason for a warrior to cut any man down in the street.

‘Thank you,’ he said finally. ‘What about the summoner?’

‘The house is under surveillance. We will not move until we’re sure what we are dealing with, but we cannot wait a week.’

Narin nodded. ‘Without me you lose my friends too, I expect. I’ll ask them if you want, but I doubt they’ll join you unless they’re making the decisions.’

‘I understand.’

‘You’ll take more casualties without them,’ Narin added, wondering if the stony-faced Rhe cared about such details. Noble and warrior castes saw death differently to the rest of the Empire.

‘The Gods have willed it so. I’ll endeavour to minimise our losses. I hope the surveillance will assist there, and Prince Kashte may be persuaded to join us again.’

‘Good. There’s lots of royal family going spare,’ Narin said, too weary to put any real effort in his bitterness.

He nodded absentmindedly to himself and set off again. This time he was not called back and soon he rejoined the anonymous bustle of the lower floors. At the bottom he stopped on the stair and spent a while looking blankly at the great slate where Lawbringer Cailer oversaw the city’s crimes.

The woman saw him staring and limped over, leaning heavily on her cane but determined to ascend the half-dozen steps to where Narin stood.

‘So you got busted down, eh?’

Narin blinked, unable to help glancing back up the stairs. ‘What? How did you hear so quickly?’

Cailer smiled. ‘I hear everything.’

‘Lawbringer Rhe?’

‘My novices are the ones to bring me gossip; you think they’re likely to get anything from him?’

‘Then what—? Oh, the Imperial petitions.’

‘It’s not hard to put those threads together. Petition for divorce, disappeared pregnant noblewoman, your friendship with the husband – and o’ course you coming down those stairs looking like a puppy just had his bits cut off with the sword you don’t have no more.’

She turned and beckoned to one of her novices. ‘Danshuer, come here.’

Narin flinched as a tall, dark-skinned youth darted forward, but when he looked he realised the boy was a Moon, not a Wyvern.

‘Gods,’ Cailer commented, noticing his reaction. ‘You’ve really not been having a good week, have you? Danshuer, head to Narin’s quarters – Lord Scholar compound, isn’t it?’

Narin nodded.

‘Mistress Sheti,’ he said before shaking himself out of the daze. ‘Find her there and she’ll let you into my rooms.’

‘Go fetch him a set of greys and coat. That your stave?’

Narin glanced down at the one in his hand. It was identical to his own, but it belonged to Rhe and he realised he’d be glad to hand it back. ‘Stave too.’

‘You heard the man, jump to it. If you’re not back within the hour I’ll be more than displeased.’

The novice blanched a shade, no doubt having experienced Lawbringer Cailer’s displeasure before. He bobbed his head and scampered away.

‘Now you go sit up in the shrine. An hour or so among the oaths might be good for you – remind you what’s important and it’ll keep the gossips away.’

‘Bugger the gossips,’ Narin replied, standing a little straighter.

‘The ones who don’t out-rank you, sure,’ Cailer said. ‘But there were some with their noses out of joint after the way you got raised, remember? The last thing you need is a confrontation to heat your blood further. I doubt the Lord Martial’s well disposed towards you at the moment so don’t let anyone goad you. Either you’d be expelled from the Emperor’s service or restored to novice and ordered back into the dormitories as punishment.’

Narin nodded, the spark of anger in his heart not enough to cloud common sense. ‘You’re right, I’ve got a blood feud to deal with. Petty squabbles will just get in the way.’

‘That they will, if you’re fool enough to let them.’ Cailer cocked her head at him. ‘I’ll tell you what, though, I’m an old woman and need for little, but I’d not object to having a woman with some learning around to help me with chores. My maid’s a foolish little girl who can barely sweep the floor without breaking something. I’ve no children, but I’m getting old enough to think it might be good to hear a baby’s cry in my house before I die.’

His mouth fell open, recognising the generosity of the gesture for what it was. ‘I— Gods above. Thank you, Lawbringer Cailer; that is good of you.’

‘If she’s high born, might be she’ll get the maid working better than I can. The girl barely speaks she’s so frightened of me. I can’t have her live in, though; I’ll not have wailing disturb my sleep.’

‘Of course.’ Narin hesitated. ‘Ah, she might not be able to take you up on the offer right away, she will need to recover.’

‘They take it out of you, I’m told,’ Cailer said dryly. ‘Babies, that is.’

Missing her joke, Narin shook his head. ‘That’s not all. Her husband has demanded she be whipped for deserting him, one stroke only but it must break the skin and will make her recovery longer.’

‘There’s nothing more vicious or petulant than a man scorned,’ Cailer said. ‘No doubt it was a man’s spite that made up the saying about a woman scorned. I’m in no rush, just so long as I’m not taken for a fool when she does come.’

‘I promise,’ Narin said, bowing as best he could without backing up the stairs. ‘Dov is all that matters to either of us now. Letting you down would let her down.’

‘Good. Wait – a moment more, Investigator.’ Something had changed in Cailer’s voice and Narin returned to her side with a puzzled frown, sensing this was something of greater import than a maid’s work.

‘Yes, Lawbringer?’

Cailer gestured for him to lean closer. ‘There’s a woman waiting down the corridor. Lawbringer Uledenin sent her to me from the front desk. If you walk to the bottom of the stairs and look right you’ll see her.’

Narin did so, glancing along the high corridor where a dozen people in grey or white were walking. Off to one side was indeed a woman – warrior caste, with long red hair and an ornate red-and-white tunic. Her eyes were turned in the other direction, but Narin still ducked back out of sight with a gasp.

‘Is that a Banshee?’ he hissed in astonishment. ‘I’ve never seen one in the flesh, not even while patrolling Leviathan District.’

Cailer inclined her head. ‘So she appears.’

‘What does she want?’

‘To speak to the Lord Martial.’

Narin scowled. ‘He’s not in the finest mood.’

‘More importantly,’ Cailer said pointedly, ‘she gave old Uledenin quite a tale, one he’d be inclined to dismiss if it weren’t for what she is.’

‘Well yes, Banshees aren’t likely to get hysterical over something imagined.’

‘Indeed. She claims she saw a man with features twisted beyond recognition entering a house on the Tier Bridge, the upper level. Given what she’s heard from local gossip, she seems pretty sure it was a man possessed by a hellhound – a House Smoke mercenary.’

Narin nodded. That confirmed what he’d deduced about likely safe-houses used by the Etrage Merchant House. Now it was Cailer’s turn to frown.

‘You don’t seem so surprised.’

‘I’m not, only that whoever’s behind this is sloppy about covering their tracks.’

‘I’m glad I brought it up, then. My question’s this: who should I tell?’

‘Who? I don’t understand.’

Cailer had a pained look on her face. ‘Lord ald Har was most grieved by the losses the Lawbringers took as they assaulted the goshe island. He’s wary of another such confrontation – quite aside from how House Dragon might act were we to impede them in asserting their authority a second time. Lawbringer Rhe, on the other hand, fears no conflict of any form and is something of a zealot in matters of what constitutes the Lawbringers’ purview.’

‘So you’re asking who I’d take this information to?’

‘Indeed. It’s far from normal to take any such information to the Lord Martial, but I wonder if this is not an instance where protocol should be ignored? It goes against the grain for me to do so and I’d appreciate your opinion here, given you’re unlikely to be involved either way.’

Narin was quiet for a long while, trying to weigh the two options. Rhe would indeed want to deal with it himself, but the Lawbringers and Investigators he drafted in could be bolstered by Prince Kashte’s band of Imperial warriors, at least. If House Dragon got involved, they might have the greater power to bring, but Enchei would certainly have to keep clear and Narin suspected he wanted to be part of it if he could. Not only to be sure it was over with, but to know no prisoners would be taken to be interrogated by Dragon’s Astaren.

‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘It’s a risk to our brothers and sisters, but I dislike hiding behind the skirts of House Dragon.’

‘As do I,’ Cailer said. ‘If it was just a choice between the death of Lawbringers or the hardened killers of the Astaren, it would be simple.’

‘Tell Rhe,’ Narin said, finally deciding.

A fog of guilt seemed to fill his heart as he said it, but he knew Rhe would at least be careful in who he recruited to the cause. The criminals of the Imperial City were hardly a gentle crowd, so every Lawbringer knew the risks of their oaths.

‘The choice should be his. He knows what forces he can bring to bear and he won’t risk their lives if he doesn’t believe it’ll work. There are Dragon emissaries hounding him already; he’ll always have the option to turn it over to them.’

‘Do you think he will?’ Cailer asked sceptically.

Narin shook his head. ‘I think he’ll find a way to do it under Lawbringer auspices. He’s not one to accept any plan until he’s certain of it.’

‘And not just because he’s House Brightlance originally?’

‘He’s House of the Sun now, as to-the-bone as you or I.’
And he’s made a new friend in Prince Sorote too, perhaps.

Lawbringer Cailer nodded and Narin guessed from the look on her face that her own thoughts had been along the same lines. ‘Thank you, Investigator. Now get yourself to the shrine and meditate on your new life.’

She turned and eased her way back down the stairs where already there were Investigators waiting to speak to her. Narin watched her go then caught the bright eyes of Rhe’s favourite novice, Tesk, beside the slate.

Will she be glad to see me back under Rhe’s charge? I suppose so, better that way than he takes on another, younger, Investigator and she misses her chance while my replacement’s being trained. Once I’ve served my penance I’m either back to Lawbringer or I spend my days as a senior Investigator, training others myself.

Narin shook his head. ‘Getting ahead of yourself there,’ he said quietly as he headed back up to the shrine of Lord Lawbringer where large stone tablets, positioned as the stars of the Ascendant God’s constellation, bore the oaths of his order. ‘Stay alive these coming days, that’s the only plan right now.’

Lawbringer Cailer was right and also wrong, he realised as he crossed through the shrine and sat on the far side, at the narrow windows where the low sill served as a long stone bench. The reverential quiet was preferable there and he knew he wouldn’t be disturbed other than by his handful of friends, but he felt every eye on him. There was nowhere to hide in the shrine and a constant stream of Lawbringers and Investigators passed on the other side. Enough would spot him sitting there like a child sent to the corner as punishment and the tongues would wag all the faster.

‘Protect the innocent’
Narin read from the first of the tablets.
Everything else is just words. Bring me your most hurtful words,
he thought, staring back at some of the curious looks.
My armour is made of a woman’s smile and a baby’s cry. Your hot air cannot hurt me, so try as you will.

He closed his eyes and imagined his life as it was now to be. A smile soon appeared on his face and never left it until the Moon youth, Danshuer, returned with the grey clothing of his old life.

Enchei stood in the cluttered bedroom of his friend Pirish and stared into nothing. The debris of a life was scattered all around him, Pirish having lived half a century in the smokehouse, but his thoughts were on a more distant place. The two little girls he’d left behind, crying with their mother at the estate gate, and all that had been thrust upon them.

‘Tell us how – before anything else I want to know that.’

Their conversation the previous day had been fraught – filled mostly with silences while Kesh kept a respectful distance. They were strangers, fumbling at threads he’d cut twenty years ago.

‘How? How this happened to me – to you?’

‘Yes.’

Enchei had been quiet a long while, forced back into uncomfortable memories.
‘I was on a mission a few years before you two were born, far to the east.’

‘In Shadowrain Forest?’

He’d shaken his head at that. For most the thousand-mile-barrier of Shadowrain Forest, beyond the House Raven hegemony, was simply the furthest edge of the world – not just of the Empire.