Part 17 (1/2)

'So your suggestion is?' Doranei asked, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

'Daken asks her to provide the diversion.' Osh raised a hand, seeing Doranei open his mouth to argue. 'We keep one of the king's mages back in case all she does is swamp the district in b.u.t.terflies or something of the like - you'll want one in reserve anyway, to cover your retreat.'

'But to willingly let the Trickster loose in a city?' Veil asked, aghast. 'You've no idea what destruction she could wreak!'

'Do we have a choice?'

Neither of the Brothers replied. Doranei looked towards the upper levels of the Ruby Tower, visible above the rooflines. Veil continued to stare at Osh, trying to think of an argument against the proposal. He closed his mouth again when Doranei gave him a slap on the arm and pointed at the street opposite.

'Look, what's that all about?'

The cobbled street had a smoother patch just as it reached the crossroads, where Aracnan's magic had somehow fused the cobbles together. It led from Eight Towers district, the widest and quickest route from the Ruby Tower through the city, and walking down it now was a group of a dozen men and women, some wearing white, some dressed entirely in white. Many carried long walking staffs, and all bore some sort of pack on their back.

'They're dressed for travel,' Veil pointed out, peering forward.

'Missionaries,' Osh concluded with a grave face. 'The word's being spread beyond Byora.'

'p.i.s.s and daemons,' Doranei growled, pus.h.i.+ng his wine aside and shoving a hunk of bread in his pocket. 'As soon as they pa.s.s we go to look at the ground around the Ruby Tower. If they're starting the next phase of their plan we need to stop it, and soon. I want Ilumene and the child dead by Prayerday.'

CHAPTER 13.

Over the darkest hours Doranei's elite company gathered by fits and bursts. Men and women in small, subdued groups appeared out of the mist at the door of a warehouse adjoining the minor gate between Coin, Byora's financial district, and Breakale. At night Breakale was the quieter of the two - all Byora's upscale gambling dens were located in Coin, well away from the disapproving clerics of Hale and the gangsters of Burn.

When he arrived Doranei found most of the company already a.s.sembled, but unlike the rest of the King's Men he was unable to sit quietly. He prowled the warehouse, running the plan and escape route through his mind again and again, looking for flaws. The warehouse was crucial to their escape, providing a useful bridge between streets that were not quickly accessed otherwise - certainly not now a cart stood in the alley alongside the warehouse, waiting to block the remaining s.p.a.ce.

He ascended the narrow staircase that led to a room above the rear entrance, from where Doranei could see the street and the gate into Coin. The gate was shut at this hour, of course, but since the warehouse was close enough to the wall for a nimble man to jump, that wouldn't be the case for long. Once in Coin a second gate - guarded by Menin troops most likely - would let them into Eight Towers, and to the gate of the Ruby Tower itself.

'More obstacles than I'd like,' Doranei commented softly when Veil joined him. 'This could go badly wrong, my friend.'

'Aye, that it could,' Veil said, looking unconcerned, 'but that's the way of it. On the other side of the coin we've got Cerdin-blessed thieves, mages and a fair amount of brawn, if it comes to that.'

The slim man was dressed in black from head to foot, unlike most of his comrades. They were going to make their way to the Ruby Tower as quietly as possible, with Veil leading the way until the alarm was raised, at which point Coran and Daken would take over.

'What's taking that mad b.a.s.t.a.r.d so long?' Doranei muttered, still staring out of the window.

'Peace, Brother,' Veil urged, 'he's not late yet.' He paused. 'You're as jumpy as a raw recruit, Doranei. What's got you wound up?'

'A woman,' Doranei said darkly.

Veil frowned at that. 'You heard from her?'

'No, I kept her well out of this. Last time I saw her we, ah - ' He faltered. 'Well, I don't know how I left it, really, but it felt sort of final. Can't tell whether she's been keeping an eye on me, but there's this itch at the back of my mind.'

'Reckon you'd be able to tell if she was tracking you?'

'I guess not, but I got a burr of something nonetheless.'

'You decided she's our enemy now?' Veil asked in surprise. Last time the subject had come up, Doranei had been emphatic that Zhia wasn't working with Azaer, and her actions had borne his a.s.sessment out. 'What's changed?'

Doranei rubbed a callused palm over his face. 'I don't know,' he admitted, 'just a feeling. I could be wrong o'course, she's had a hundred lifetimes to practise giving nothing away, but something's got me thinking all the same. She's a cold b.i.t.c.h when she wants to be - think she surprises herself when she's with me - but there was always a part of her that was closed off.'

'Aye, well that's her reputation,' Veil said. 'She might be a vampire, might be a heretic, but her heart's that of a blood-sucking politician.'

Doranei nodded. 'She's been doing it for too long, it's what she is. I'm just scared she might decide what Azaer did in Scree was a true demonstration of the shadow's power. Cursed with compa.s.sion she might be, but she'll still take sides with Azaer if she can break her curse.'

'And if that happens,' Veil finished, 'we're in a whole heap of trouble.'

As Veil spoke there came a quiet knock at the door downstairs. Both men were up and moving before it had even been opened, hands moving automatically to their weapons. When Daken slipped through the doorway, his face more animated than before, it was clear the operation was in motion.

'It's done?' Doranei asked.

'That it is,' Daken replied, lifting his mail s.h.i.+rt in evidence. The white-eye's broad chest was missing the large tattoo of Litania the Trickster; the skin where she'd been looked raw and painful. He grinned. 'She said she'd give me time to get here. I left her slipping into some servant girl near the Menin barracks.'

'Any idea what she's going to do?'

Daken's grin got wider. 'She's not one for plannin' but that girl's hungry for a bit o' fun. They'll be distracted all right!'

'Then we're off. Get moving, Veil.'

As Veil and the youngest of the four Tio He thieves headed for the roof, Doranei turned to the rest of his troops. 'Everyone remember their job? Any questions? All got your equipment?'

'Stop fussin' like an old woman,' Daken growled, 'we're good to go and you ain't in charge, remember?'

'The plan's mine,' Doranei reminded. 'If everything's in place, then I'm yours to command.'

'That's the sort o'talk I like.' Daken pointed past Doranei to the smaller of the warehouse's two doors, the one leading to the gate. 'Time to move.'

Upstairs, Veil pulled himself up onto the building's roof and hauled his companion up after him. The greater moon, Alterr, was hidden by cloud, and this deep into the night, the Poacher's Moon was hours off. Veil sensed as much as saw the swift dark clouds sweep east overhead. He made his way to the corner of the building closest to the wall and knelt to check the iron hook they had put there that afternoon.

'Ready, Dirr?' he asked softly.

'Hurry up old man,' Dirr replied, with an obscene gesture.

Veil secured a rope to the hook and slipped over the edge, lowering himself down until he felt his boots reach the jutting edge of a beam that ran down the side of the building, almost the height of the wall beyond. He retreated along the beam a little and let the rope play out, then signalled to Dirr before launching himself forward. He ran a few steps along the beam and jumped forward, pulling hard on the rope, using the hook as a pivot to swing himself up to the district wall.

Reaching it comfortably, Veil hooked his legs over and caught his balance. He found himself just above the guardhouse on the right of the gate. He eased himself down until his feet were touching the roof, then braced against the wall to take the strain on the rope as Dirr came hand over hand down it.

Once they were both safe on the guardhouse roof Veil crept to the edge and peered over. None of the guards were in sight, but the door was half-open, spilling light into the street and illuminating the barred gate where Doranei would be waiting. Veil dropped, using the door and lintel to swing himself into the guardroom and he was on the ground and drawing his shortswords before the guards realised what was happening. There were three, all seated, and only one had a weapon close enough to grab, so Veil lunged like a fencer towards him, catching the man in the throat.

'What - ?' was all the next man managed before Veil turned and whipped both swords across him, slas.h.i.+ng deeply into face and chest and sending him spinning over a table.

The third had more presence of mind. He grabbed a spear propped against the wall and had almost levelled it by the time Veil made up the ground, but it wasn't enough. One shortsword got him in the stomach, the other pierced his lung from behind, and he fell with an abrupt cough.

Not waiting to check whether there was need, Veil turned back to the second man face-down on the table and stabbed him in the back. The guard arched up, mouth open as though about to scream, but Veil slit his throat and the only sound was his dying breath.

'G.o.ds, you really are fast!' came a gasp from the doorway.