A Dance of Death

21

Haern sat restless in the single room home Graeven had brought them to, nestled into a quiet section of Angelport against one of the inner walls.

“I did not think you would provide us a place to stay,” the elf had told Alyssa as they sneaked inside during the cover of night. “I had a human on friendly terms with us procure it for our use. When you agreed to house us, I felt it best to keep this place just in case something went wrong.”

“Something did,” had been Alyssa’s only response.

The windows were covered with curtains, leaving the interior dark despite the midday sun. They’d had little to eat, just a small loaf of bread Haern had purchased at the market. None of them seemed to have any real appetites.

“It’s painful to sit and just wait,” Zusa said from her position sprawled out across the only bed. Alyssa sat at the foot of it, looking very tired. She wore a fine dress of elven make, a shimmering silver to replace her dirty, worn clothing from the dungeon.

“What else is there to do?” she asked. “Ingram would imprison me, the merchants would kill me, and the elves would send me off for a mockery of a trial and then execution. We’ll wait and see what Graeven can figure out.”

“I don’t like relying on others for your survival,” Haern said, peering out the window to the dull street. “We should get you out of Angelport, tonight.”

“Graeven said they’d track us.”

Haern shrugged.

“I’m scared of no elf, and I doubt Zusa is either. We’re about the best bodyguards you can have. With just the three of us, we should make it back unnoticed.”

Alyssa lay down on the bed, Zusa sliding over to make room. With her hand across her eyes, Alyssa sighed.

“I know. You’re right. I need to be back in Veldaren, where I can deal with Madelyn appropriately. I miss my little boy, too. Let’s at least wait for Graeven. If he can get the rest of his kind to let us be, for even a few days, we should escape with little difficulty.”

Haern shrugged.

“If you insist.”

He stood and reached for the door.

“Where are you going?” Zusa asked.

“Out.”

He kept his sabers hidden with his cloak, his head low and his hood removed so he appeared like every other poor, tired worker of the city. At first, Haern didn’t know where he wandered, just let his instincts guide him. At one point, he’d promised the Wraith he’d investigate the city to learn its secrets, but there was nothing particularly striking or secretive about it. Everyone wanted power. Everyone wanted everyone else crushed underneath their heel. Even Alyssa wasn’t completely innocent, though her intentions seemed more noble than the norm with the wretched city.

To his surprise, when he stirred from his thoughts, he found himself staring up at the meager temple to Ashhur. His anger came and went, and despite himself, he entered. Logan was at the door, and he started to greet him until he saw Haern’s face. His skin paled, and he dropped the cloth he’d been using to clean the floor.

Haern held a finger to his lips.

“Not a word,” he said. “Go to Nole’s room, lock the door, and do not leave for an hour. Understood?”

The young man swallowed, and he nodded rapidly.

“Good.”

Logan scurried toward the back of the temple, with Haern following. Past the benches, Nole knelt, his head bowed in prayer at the altar. Normally interrupting such a private act would have bothered him, but Haern had no patience for the man’s piety, not this time. As Logan went rushing past, Haern hopped onto the bench beside Nole and leaned his weight on his heels. At the noise, the priest opened his eyes and looked up. His reaction was hardly any better than Logan’s.

“You,” he said, startling bad enough he fell to his rear. “Please, no, don’t kill me.”

Haern felt as if ice flowed in his blood, but at the same time, he felt so tired, so drained, that he could not muster the anger he thought the man deserved.

“Tell me,” he said instead. “Do you sleep well at night?”

Nole was breathing heavily through his nose, and he glanced around as if unsure whether or not the question was a trick.

“No,” he admitted. “Not since…you know.”

“You betrayed us?”

Nole swallowed.

“Yes.”

Haern stared at him, as if trying to see through the robes, the fear, and his own anger, to the man underneath it all.

“Why?” he asked. “We trusted you.”

“Logan told me of the bounty,” Nole said, sighing. “I thought if I sold those acres, I could rebuild this temple into something magnificent. Something people would feel proud to enter. And there you were, supposed criminals; all I had to do was turn you in.”

“You’d rebuild your temple with blood money?”

“Don’t you understand? Look around. This place is empty, broken. Every day I pray to Ashhur, yet all I feel is failure. The weight of a whole city lay upon me, and for once, just once, it seemed like I saw a way through. I did it for the souls of thousands, Haern! What does one little whispered word to a guard matter when compared to eternity?”

Haern’s fists clenched.

“You’d break your trust, and profane Ashhur’s ideals, all to serve him?”

“Are you any better? I’ve learned of you, heard the stories spoken since you came down. You keep the thieves in line in Veldaren. You kill to prevent killing. Whose blood is on my hands? Whose lives did I end? Yet I see it in your eyes, you are ready to draw that blade and cut my throat.”

Haern did feel that urge, but instead he shook his head.

“This city deserves better than you.”

Nole chuckled.

“In that, we are in agreement.”

As Haern headed for the door he stopped, and turned back to the priest.

“Did Ingram give you your acres of land?”

Nole shook his head as he slowly rose to his feet.

“Have you brought Veldaren any peace? Or does death and killing still plague its nights?”

Haern wished he had a better answer, but instead thought of his dead, nameless victim he’d given to the gravekeeper.

“No.”

“We’re not men meant to sleep well through the night,” Nole said. “For whatever it is worth, I wish I could take it back, and that you’d forgive my moment of pride. Even if I could haul in the rarest marble, and hang the finest silks from the ceiling, it’d still be just me, preaching to a small few in my weakness.”

“Then why continue, if you have failed so poorly?”

“Because maybe I’ll at least save one life,” Nole said. “That makes this all matter, right? Besides…there’s no one else who will.”

Haern put his hand on the door, and the weight of the temple’s silence was heavy on his shoulders.

“At least in that, I understand,” he said, and then he left, feeling no better than when he’d arrived.

W hen Graeven returned, Alyssa’s heart immediately dropped at the sight of him. The elf looked flustered, and in a great hurry.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up on the bed so her back rested against the wall.

“It is nothing,” Graeven said, but it was an obvious lie.

“Then what ‘nothing’ bothers you?” asked Zusa, who had begun doing various training stretches to keep herself from going stir crazy in the room. Meanwhile, the elf was rifling through one of the few shelves, removing a few personal objects Alyssa didn’t recognize.

“The merchants have…done something interesting, and I must try to deal with it accordingly. They launched all their boats from the harbor, burning what few belonged to the Keenans.”

“They’re planning something,” Alyssa said. “But what?”

“I need to find out. Please, stay here tonight. I have a feeling it will not be safe for anyone.”

He glanced around.

“Where’s the Watcher?”

Zusa shrugged.

“Out.”

Graeven went to Alyssa, and he grabbed her hands in his.

“Please,” he insisted. “Promise me you will stay. Your safety is now my responsibility, and I do not want the shame of something happening to you, especially with all I have gone through.”

Alyssa tried to decide how to respond, especially given her precarious situation.

“I will,” she said. “Only because you have been so kind. Good luck, Graeven.”

The elf smiled.

“I won’t need your luck, Alyssa.”

He bowed and then left. Zusa came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her as they stared out the window.

“It isn’t safe,” the faceless woman whispered.

“Here, or leaving?”

“Both.”

Alyssa sighed.

“I know. But what else can I do? No wonder Laurie had such trouble keeping things in line here in Angelport. I have done no better. I never should have made my coming here a secret. I should have marched down with a thousand men and killed anyone who moved against us. It seems everyone here has their guards, their mercenaries, and their fighting men. What do I have?”

Behind her, Zusa laughed.

“You have me and the Watcher. Are we so terrible?”

Alyssa put her hand on Zusa’s.

“No, but I’d rather lose a thousand fighting men than you.”

The door opened, and Haern stepped inside, his face locked in a scowl.

“Something wrong?” Alyssa asked, stepping away from Zusa.

“The docks,” he said. “I saw them on my way back. Every boat’s fled, except a few that were burned.”

“We know,” Zusa said. “Graeven told us.”

“Did he tell you why? ”

Alyssa shook her head.

“I can only assume they’re planning…”

“They’re planning nothing,” Haern interrupted. He drew a saber, showing them the blood on it. “I managed to find one of their paid men, who’d been left behind to start the fires. They have no attack planned. Instead, they’re getting out of the way.”

Alyssa knew what that meant, but she had to ask, had to hear it out loud.

“Out of whose way?”

Haern’s scowl deepened.

“The elves. Tonight, they’ll make their move.”

The room they hid in suddenly seemed so small, the area of the city far less safe than it once was. Alyssa wrapped her arms about her, and she thought of the chaos that would follow.

“What do we do?” she asked.

Zusa gestured to her daggers, lying sheathed upon the floor.

“We stop them.”

Haern looked to her, and she saw he agreed.

“I don’t know what hope we have,” she told them. “But do what you can.”

They readied their weapons, donned their cloaks, hid their faces, and then vanished into the streets of Angelport, where the sun was beginning to set.