The Healing Wars: Book III: Darkfall (14 page)

A
salve
? “No, I’m fine, really,” I said. There were always one or two herb sellers hanging around near the League, selling their homemade potions and claiming they healed you just fine. Sheer foolishness, Grannyma used to say. Mixing a bunch of flowers and weeds together didn’t do a thing to help healing. In the summer, the League had a lot of folks come in with infections and blood sickness from those “treatments.”

“That’s a deep cut.”

“Once I wash and wrap it, it’ll be fine.” I took the bowl from Danello before she could and started washing my leg. It stung where the water hit it, but I’d endured a lot worse. The cut was clean and would heal well on its own, probably barely even scar.

Saama gave me a look. “Never known someone to turn down healing before.”

“That’s not heal—”Folks who couldn’t afford the League did what they could, and offending Saama probably wasn’t the best idea. “—really necessary. It looks worse than it is. And I heal fast.” That last part was true.

“It’s fine, Saama,” Danello said, taking the basket out of her arms. He peeked into the basket and pulled out some long strips of cloth. “Here, wrap it with this.”

I did, tying the ends off and tucking them under the edge.

Saama gave me one last incredulous glance, but she didn’t force the salve on me. “What are you all doing here? In the middle of the night no less.” She settled herself in a chair bigger than she was. It was the only thing in the room that didn’t fit her.

“We came to warn the city that the Duke’s army is on the way,” Danello said. “He’s coming after Geveg.”

Saama’s eyes darkened. “I figured it was only a matter of time. Better get you to Ipstan at first light then. I don’t get out much, but one of the girls who helps with my shopping can run a message for me.”

“Ipstan?”

“
General
Ipstan.” She rolled her eyes. “He leads the resistance, such as it is. Bunch of fools playing soldier mostly, but their hearts are in the right place. Not as organized as the ’Crats though.”

“The aristocrats have an army?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t go that far. They have soldiers who took on the Gov-Gen, and at least one of them was responsible for the man winding up facedown in the canals.”

“Wait, Baseeri
aristocrats
killed the Gov-Gen?”

“They did. The Duke demanded too much too often from them, just as he’d done to us all those years ago. They finally said no, same as we did.”

Amazing.

Danello sat on the arm of a chair. “Saama, what’s been going on? We’ve heard some news, but not enough.”

“We’ve been away for a while,” I added. No need to say why or doing what.

Saama nodded. “Were you here when those Healers were arrested?”

“Um, I don’t know.” Did she mean when Vyand had captured us?

“You’d know if you’d seen it. Some tracker was hauling them through the streets like they were a prize catch. Made folks mad, and they joined up and freed them. Gave those trackers a good what for too.”

She
did
mean us. “That we saw. But nothing past that.”

“Then you got out before it went bad. The whole thing started people talking, and then complaining, and then talking about doing something about the complaints. Wasn’t anything serious at first—a few places got torched, some folks roughed up. The blue-boys put a stop to it before it got too far.”

“Blue-boys?” I said.

“Soldiers still loyal to the Duke. Not as many as there were, a few thousand, but still enough to cause trouble.”

Danello frowned. “How did the Baseeri get involved?”

“The Duke’s new laws. He demanded money, men, food, pynvium, Healers. They complained to the Gov-Gen about it, and he ignored them like he ignored us. They didn’t take too kindly to that. Once his body was found, the whole city went mad. Blue-boys tried to get control again, but with half of them working for the ’Crats, and a good chunk of the ’Crats angry as we were, it didn’t go so well.”

“So the aristocrats are working with us?” I asked.

Saama cackled. “Saints no, child. I think if they could chase us off the isles as well, they’d do it. They’ve got themselves tucked away in the Aristocrats’ Isles and the terraces, probably the Gov-Gen’s estate by now too. The looters control North and South Isles, which is probably the only thing keeping the ’Crats from coming after
us
next.” She sniffed. “Well, that and the blue-boys at the League.”

I looked at Danello. That wasn’t good. We’d have trouble defending against the Duke if
everyone
fought. If we had to watch our backs as well as our fronts, we didn’t have a chance of winning.

“The Duke’s soldiers are at the Healers’ League?” said Soek.

“The whole lot of them is holed up there. It’s why we can’t do anything about them. They’ve got the bridges and Upper and Lower Grand Isles locked down on our side, and the looters control the isles on the other.”

“Maybe you should leave Geveg,” Danello said, frowning. “Head into the mountains and find somewhere safe to hide.”

“These old bones wouldn’t make it. This is my home. I was born here and I plan to die here.” She shrugged. “Didn’t think that’d be so soon, but the Saints do what the Saints do.”

No one said anything for a bit. Saama’s eyes fluttered, and Aylin looked about ready to fall asleep herself.

“Is it okay if we stay here until morning?’ Danello asked.

“Of course! Can’t let you sleep in the park. Easiest way to get yourself kidnapped these days.”

Danello jerked straight. “Kidnapped? A friend of ours was waiting for us on a skiff, but both she and the boat are gone. It looks like someone might have taken her.”

“Oh dear, sounds like she was plucked for ransom then.”

“Why? Who would they ransom her to?” I said.

“I don’t know, but those looters started grabbing rich folks right after the riots. If they took her, they must have thought she was from a rich family.”

“But how—”We’d stolen the League’s boat. If that didn’t say rich, nothing did. “It had to be the skiff. They must have thought she was from the League.” I sucked in a breath. She might not be from the League, but Lanelle
was
a Healer. The League would probably pay good money to get a few more of those back. She could wind up right back with the League Elders and in the Duke’s experiments.

“What happens if no one pays the ransom?” Soek asked.

Saama shrugged. “Don’t know. They might kill her, or they might just toss her out.”

Aylin looked at me, her bloodshot eyes clearly saying she was okay with taking that chance.

I couldn’t leave Lanelle to the League. Maybe she deserved it, but she’d already paid that price once. “Do you know how to contact them to pay the ransom?” We had that bag of jewels we found in Zertanik’s town house. A gem would certainly cover the ransom.

“I only hear the rumors. Bridge guards might know. They deal with them folks more than most.”

Aylin sighed. “Does this mean we’re going to go get her?”

“She didn’t leave us or betray us. We can’t
not
help her just because we don’t like her.”

“Nobody’s going anywhere else tonight,” Saama said, standing. “I’ve got extra pillows and blankets. Most of you will have to bunk down on the floor, but you’ll be safe. You can go get your friend when the sun comes up.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Aylin curled up in the big chair and pulled the blanket under her chin. Soek grabbed a blanket and a patch of floor. Tali had already fallen asleep on the floor under the kitchen table. I draped a blanket over her, praying that she’d be more like herself in the morning.

“Get some sleep.” Danello tossed a pillow down on the couch and nudged me toward it.

He blew out the candles and sat on the floor beside me, leaning back against the cushions. I put my pillow behind his head, then lay down, stretching my hand until it rested against Danello’s shoulder. He reached up and laced his fingers through mine.

“My da’s with Ipstan,” he whispered, his words heavy with hope.

I nodded in the dark. “Think he’d come with us? Your da, I mean.”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

My parents had stayed and fought. Danello’s mother had fought. “I don’t know. He might want to help defend the city.”

“He’ll want to leave with us. We’ll tell Ipstan everything we know, then we’ll get another boat and go to Veilig.”

“Okay.”

I stared at the ceiling. Faint streaks of moonlight slipped in past the shutters. I tried to imagine starting over with Tali and the others in Veilig, leaving Geveg and the Duke behind, but all I could picture were people dying and soldiers in blue.

And me, walking away from them.

I
woke to bells. Loud, insistent, the kind of bells that rang when something was very wrong. Then came a sharp bang, wood scraping across the floor, and a soft whimper.

Tali!

I jerked around. The table had moved and the candles on top had fallen over. Tali was up against the kitchen cabinets, hands out, her gaze darting back and forth. It settled on mine, and for a heartbeat something flickered in them, like she knew me.

“It’s okay—it’s just the clock tower,” I said. “Go back to sleep.” She looked at me, then at the window, and settled down again.

“What’s going on?” Danello asked, yawning.

“That’s the attack bell,” Saama said, coming out of her room. “Means the blue-boys are making trouble for someone.”

“Better wake the others,” Danello said.

Soek was already up when I turned around, but I had to shake Aylin a few times.

“Hmmm? What’s going on?”

“Soldiers are coming.”

“Oh, not again.”

We opened the shutters and huddled around the window. Men and women ran past carrying weapons, heading for the bridge on the far side of the isle by Tannif’s Coffeehouse.

“Been happening a lot the last week,” Saama said. “Soon as Ipstan started openly organizing folks, handing out weapons and armor. The blue-boys attack fast and hard and then run back to safety.”

We watched the streets while the sun rose, its gentle light reflecting off swords and bits of armor as more and more people raced past. It was all so familiar, like nightmares come to life.

“Wait, I see something,” Danello said. “And I definitely hear fighting.”

And running, feet slapping against brick. Folks fled past us, their clothes and faces bloody. They ran as if they didn’t care where they were running to. Panic.

Two soldiers walked down the street, their swords dark, their armor blue.

I gripped the curtains, every inch of me hot. “Undying.”

Danello moved closer, blocking my path to the door. “Nya, don’t.”

“It’s only two. I can handle two.”

Saama looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “You can’t kill
those
blue-boys. Why do you think they’ve been able to keep us down and licking our wounds?”

“I can stop them.” I’d done nothing while the Undying turned my sister into a weapon. Just watched when they killed that poor girl in Baseer. I wasn’t going to do nothing again.

“They’re coming inside,” Soek said. “One here, the other across the street.”

Wood banged against wood, a door being kicked open. People started screaming. Tali gasped and dropped to floor, arms around her knees. I hated to see her scared, but that was a more Tali reaction to screams.

“Let me go.” I shoved against Danello, but he wouldn’t budge.

“No. You don’t know how many more might be out there.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can stop the one in here.”

“Nya, you—”

I put my hands against Danello’s cheeks. “Move, please.”

His eyes widened a little, like he wasn’t sure if I was asking or threatening. I wasn’t sure either.

He stepped aside. I raced out the door and down the stairs, ignoring the ache in my leg. I’d be rid of that soon enough. I followed the sobbing, the pleading, and found the Undying on the second-floor landing, standing above three men cowering on the floor. Fathers, brothers, uncles. Their clothes were sliced and blood seeped through.

Cold anger settled around me. I thought the folks here had been fighting back. But these three grown men just sat there, not even
trying
to fight. Is this what the Duke had done to us? What the Undying had done?

“Get away from them.”

The Undying looked at me, casual, as if he had nothing to fear. Was his armor lined with silvery metal too? Maybe not. He didn’t seem blank like Tali. He looked like he enjoyed the killing. So young to be so cruel. This one wore a helmet, but his face was exposed. He smirked the way older boys with too much power always could. “Wait your turn.”

“Some Healer you are. Nothing but a pathetic Undying.”

His smirk vanished. “Be smart to shut that mouth of yours.”

“Murdering thug. Your mother must cry herself to sleep every night.”

He climbed closer, blood dripping from his sword onto the stairs. I retreated, luring him farther up, out of range of the men on the floor.

He stopped halfway up the stairs. “Trying to draw me into an ambush? I don’t think so.”

I took a step closer. Then another. He did a poor job of masking his surprise.

“Coming after
me
?” he said. “Nobody does that and lives.”

“I can.”

He studied me and his bluster faded. “No, you can’t be.”

“Can’t be what?” Another step.

“
Her
. I know who you are,” he said, backing away. “The commander warned us about you.”

“Then why aren’t you running?”

He stopped two steps above the men he’d cornered before. They hadn’t run either, though they should have.

“I’m not running from no quirker.”

I smiled. “You mean Shifter.”

I dived forward, hands outstretched, aiming for his chest plate, or an arm bracer, or, Saint’s willing, his hand. He jerked back and slipped, falling off the step and toppling toward the landing. The men yelled and rolled out of the way. I hit the bottom of the stairs on my side, but not quite close enough to grab him.

An older Undying stepped onto the landing, his sword arcing toward my neck. “Good thing I know how to kill Shifters.”