The Hekamon (14 page)

His arrival at the trading post had seemed to spook the
tradesman into a fast exit. Tansley must have guessed what he was looking
for and brought them here with the intention of selling them on
quickly.

Decarius knew that if he were to suddenly appear in the shop
demanding their return, it might startle Tansley again. How might the
man react to him this time? Might he run again? Or stand his ground,
emboldened now he was no longer on his own.

Decarius
reminded himself that it was
he
who was now on his own. Alone among the workshops of Serfacre and
restricted in what he could do. He was in no position to force the
issue or make demands. Not that he needed to, not yet anyway. Not now
he knew who was about to take possession
of the Eagle Standard. He could wait for Tansley to leave, then move
in and deal with the proprietor. Easier that way. No fuss.

He walked by the door, and kept walking.

As he did so, a thought kept nagging at him, and it was one he
couldn't easily dismiss. He still hadn't actually seen the gauntlets
yet. If only he could hear what the men in the armory were talking
about, then he would be better informed, and could plan his next move.

More than anything, he wanted to know what Tansley was saying. Could
the tradesman be putting the word out about Coralainians sniffing
around the trading posts? There was still the possibility that the
man had left the gauntlets at his hut and was raising the alarm
instead. If so, Decarius knew he would need to get back to Aegis and
Gregario as quickly as possible.

Moving further down the street, he found it to be far
less busy here. There were still a few workmen around, but they were
busy with their labors and paid him little attention. He walked past
two more workshops, a toolmaker and beyond that a locksmith.

After that, the cobblestoned street became nothing more than a dirt road,
disappearing into some rough scrubland. In the distance, and just
visible through a cluster of bushes and trees, were some large
wooden scaffolds. What appeared to be the above ground workings of
active coal mines.

Decarius took a moment to get his bearings. He was
facing north. To his left, the Demedelei Fort loomed high above on
its rocky motte. While the open ground that lay between, sloped down
and disappeared out of sight. He knew a moat used to be there, since it had been visible from the Eyrie.

It had formed part
of the fort's defenses but hadn't circled the whole fort, just the
eastern flank. It was now used as a road, or a least, as an easily
traversable stretch of land. He starting walking in that direction,
which meant that the fort was now, ominously, directly ahead of him.

He moved quickly, looking to his left and in the
direction of the armory, watching for activity there,
but saw nothing. As he descended down what used to be the bank of the
moat, the workshops disappeared from view. Now he would need to be
fast, since there was a window of opportunity for Tansley to leave
without him seeing.

Once partway down the bank, he started working his way
back in the direction he had come. He ran some of the way, before
climbing back up the bank and emerging through the long grass and
bushes that grew on the edge of Serfacre. It meant he was shielded
form view but not perfectly so, the buildings here were widely
spaced and the bushes stopped short of them.

Surveying his position, he could see he was directly
behind the armory, while the land that lay between was used as
storage area or small goods yard. Handcarts, pallets, sacks and
crates abounded, some stacked neatly others haphazardly.

They would give him some cover but not much, Decarius decided he would just have
to chance it. He was readying himself to potentially make a move for
the gauntlets anyway, which risks of one kind or another were
inevitable now. He knew that if he could find out what was going on
inside the armory, he would be able to mitigated those risks.

Keeping low, Decarius darted out of the bushes, and
started running across the open ground, weaving between some crates,
jumping over a few discarded boxes and moving right up to the
building, pressing himself against the wooden clap board exterior.
Once there, he stayed crouched and looked around. It seemed his
approach had gone unnoticed and he was as well concealed as he could hope for.

There was a small window above him and he cautiously
tried and get a look through it but it didn't take long to see that
it would be impossible. The window was covered in coal dust and there
was no way of seeing inside. He remained beneath the window and tried
to listen instead.

Since it had taken him a few minutes to get into this
position, there was a chance that Tansley might have left, but the
murmurings he could hear coming from inside seemed to indicate he
hadn't. Hearing voices was one thing, but making out what was being said, and by whom,
was another thing entirely.

Unable to see or hear anything, there was no point in him remaining were he
was. There was nothing else for it, he was going to
have to move around the building toward the large window.

Even as Tansley held the necklace, Galvyn could see that
it was not the kind of thing the merchant usually brought for him to
mend.

From just the briefest glimpse he could see it was an exquisite
piece of jewelry. Held up in the sunlight that came streaming in
through the window, the necklace shone and glistened. A silver chain,
with an attached oval pendant, spinning with a mesmerizing beauty.
Unfortunately, the chain was broken and in need of repair, so
naturally, Galvyn reached out and took it, before starting to examine
it more closely.

"Shouldn't be a problem for a young man of your
talents, you'll have that fixed in a jiffy."

"Hmm," Galvyn said, "I'm not so sure."

"Galvyn! It's not like you to haggle," the
merchant chuckled, reaching into his coat and flipping him another
coin. "You're learning I see, learning from a master."

"No, I just meant that it's not a five minute job,
this is a very fine chain."

"Ah, I see," Tansley said, eyeing the hand in
which Galvyn had caught the coin before seeming to give up on it.
"But can you do it?"

"Yes," he said, taking an eyeglass to examine
the fine detail. "Does it belong to you?"

"You always ask the most inappropriate—"
Tansley said, recoiling, before regaining his composure. "Family
heirloom."

Galvyn hadn't stopped looking at the necklace, his gaze
moving from the chain to the pendant. Finding a clasp on the side, he
could see it was a locket, and opened it to reveal a tassel of golden
hair inside. He looked at Tansley, whose hair was black, even when
clean.

"A great aunt, very dear to me."

The answer barely registered with him. It wasn't just
because he was learning of Tansley's unreliability when it came to
details, but because the pendant now had his full attention. With the
intricacy of the engravings, and the runic symbols and motifs that
were present inside and out.

Then there was the hair itself. It didn't belong to
anyone related to Tansley, not closely anyway, and it wasn't just the
color, the strands were so fine as to be, individually, almost
invisible. It had been tied in a distinctive way, too. A few strands
had been wrapped around the rest in such a way that made it look
like a tiny sheaf of wheat or barley.

"Hmm?" he said distractedly.

"My great aunt, twice removed." Tansley added,
seeing his dubious expression. "I trust you can keep quiet about
this Galvyn, just between you and me, eh?"

From further inside the workshop, there came the sound of
boots descending stairs. Croneygee was coming back down, but Galvyn
continued studying the necklace, transfixed by the detailing. Tansley
cleared his throat. Then did so again a little louder.

Galvyn looked
at him and saw the tradesman staring at him intently. His eyes then
darted from him, to the necklace, to the door to the stairs and back
again. Galvyn returned an uncertain look, before getting the idea.

He knew that, by rights, Tansley should have given the
necklace to his boss, who would doubtless charge more for the repair
of such a high quality piece of jewelry. As it was, they were dealing
on the side, with Galvyn gaining a little and Tansley saving a lot,
but the consequences would be all on him should his boss find out.

The broken necklace disappeared into his pocket, just the
old man walked in carrying a large gray hessian bag over one
shoulder, limping with the uneven weight.

"I need to get going. Galvyn make a start, the
wrist guards first I think. Tansley, we're leaving." Croneygee
said, making it clear he was not going to leave the man in the shop,
attended to only by his apprentice, for very long.

Normally, the inference that he couldn't be trusted
would draw protestations from the merchant. But Galvyn thought that,
in this instance, Tansley had welcomed the armorers suggestion that
they leave together.

"Mr. Croneygee, if I understand you right, I've
kept you from an important meeting with Captain Tregarron."
Tansley phrased his suggestion as politely, and precisely, as
possible, which in Galvyn's experience, meant he was up to something.
"If so, may I suggests we go to the fort via the mine and the
Old Moat Road. It's quicker that way and you'll make up for lost
time."

"You're right, it would be quicker that way,"
Croneygee said, "and these do need to be taken down the deepest
levels of the fort," he continued, weighing up the idea.

This matter-of-fact description of where the bag of
tools were heading, and their intended purpose, caused Galvyn to
shift uncomfortably in his seat. They were destined for the Demedelei
Fort dungeons, where the saws, hammers and tongs were put to
alternate uses.

"It's not a bad idea," Croneygee said, his
mind seemingly made up, "but getting this heavy bag into and
through the mine would be too much hassle. I'll go the road way."

His boss started towards the door but Tansley stepped
in front of him to stop him, "As a goodwill gesture, and
by way of an apology for delaying you, I'll carry your bag for you."
Tansley said, more charming than normal, and at the same time gave Galvyn
a pleading, sideways glance.

Galvyn got up from his seat, walked over and opened the
coal bunker door, "I could lower it down on the pulley," he
suggested.

"Good idea, Galvyn," Tansley said
enthusiastically, holding out an hand and offering to take the bag,
"let's do that."

The old man considered the idea, and after a moments
hesitation, he acquiesced, and Galvyn could understand why. The mine
was, in practice, no dirtier than the streets around the workshops.
What with the dust, the smoke and the sparks flying all around. The
inactive coal mine might, if anything, be cleaner.

Galvyn went into the coal bunker, unhooked the chain
from the tub and brushed off some residual coal dust. Tansley handed
him the hessian bag and he placed it on the hook. While Croneygee
opened the trapdoor and lead Tansley into the mine below.

The two men descended, firstly the ladder and then the
stairs, before making it down to the bottom of the shaft. With Galvyn
unspooling the chain and lowering the bag down as they went.

Looking down into the gloom below, he saw Tansley unhook
the bag and throw it over one shoulder, before the pair walked out of
view.

Galvyn wound the chain up, then closed the door in the coal
bunker floor and returned to his workbench. He did so quickly, there
were things that needed mending.

Decarius began moving along the rear of the armory until
he reached the corner of the building. As he peered around, he could
see the risk of being seen would increase dramatically if he
continued. Not only would he be in plain view to anyone on the street
but the proprietor and customers of the neighboring workshop, too. To
say nothing of the occupants of the armory should he start looking
through the window. He moved back again with the intention of
checking out out the other side of the building.

No sooner had he started back that way, than there came
the sound of a door opening, followed by a voice which he could now
hear much more clearly.

"I could lower it down on the pulley," It was
the youthful, higher pitched voice of a younger man, and not only
that, it sounded close, maybe just the other side of the dusty
window.

"Good idea, Galvyn, let's do that."

The muffled reply came from further inside the building and must have
belonged to either Tansley or the older man he'd seen.

There followed the sound of moving chains, another door
creaked and then the rattle of a pulley, along with a winch, or some
device of that nature. What was happening? Then the sound of
movement, creaking wood and then footsteps on stairs or a ladder.
Descending or ascending?

"I shouldn't be more than an hour, have one of the
bracers finished by the time I get back." This time the rasping
voice of an older man.

That was the armorer, he was sure of it, and
it sounded like he was leaving. But was Tansley going with him?
Decarius was less certain of this, but from what he could hear, it
seemed likely he was, since there were more than one pair of boots on the
stairs.

If they were leaving then they must be descending, but
to where? There could only be one place.

Decarius knew that the whole area was covered with coal
mines. The Serfacre workshops had sprung up here precisely because of
the thick coal seam beneath. And from what he could make out, Tansley
and the armorer where heading into the mines by way of an exit. Was
that normal? Or could Tansley be aware he had been followed. Was he
making an escape similar to the one he'd made from his trading post?