A Dance of Shadows

CHAPTER 22

Half a mile outside the walls of Veldaren, Grayson inspected his three wagons, particularly their cargo. All around him were gathered his fellow Suns, thirty in all. Each man and woman sported at least two earrings in their left ear, for he would consider no less for such an important job. The first few days would be crucial, and not a time for amateurs.

“Not sure I’ve ever seen so much leaf in one place,” said Boggs, the hefty man in charge of operations in Grayson’s absence. He scratched at the dark stubble on his face, then sniffed. “How much we charging per pinch? Four silver? Five?”

“One,” Grayson said as he hopped down from the last of the wagons, inspection complete. Several others scoffed at that, and Boggs shook his head.

“That’s insane. This trip to Veldaren will cost us a fortune.”

“One silver on the first day,” Grayson repeated. “Two after that, until all of the crimleaf is gone. The Trifect won’t be able to match, and neither will any of the guilds. We’re spending money now to make it all back later. Consider it an investment.”

“Don’t understand why we need to go through all this,” said Pierce. He was a thinner man, and often complained, but his ear was full of rings and he’d proven himself an adept killer for the Suns. “You hear what they say back home? Every guild here’s weak, full of pussies too frightened to go after a coin purse lying on open ground. If we want territory, I say we just take it, and anyone who gives a shit can die.”

“I give a shit, Pierce,” Grayson said, grinning at the man. “You gonna kill me?”

“Only if I get to take your earrings afterward.”

Grayson laughed. “We’ll have our share of killing, and pay no attention to the rumors you’ve heard. Even with their balls chopped off, the thieves here are dangerous. But we’ll be better, won’t we? We’ll kill everyone we need to kill, but for now, no reason to fight. When the money starts running dry, the underworld will turn to us. It’s only a matter of time before the other guilds crumble. Now ready up the oxen. I want us at the gates before the midday trade is done.”

“Get ’em harnessed!” Boggs shouted.

The thieves scattered about, gathering the few supplies they’d broken out for their rest and preparing the wagons to move. Grayson hopped into the front-most wagon and leaned back in the seat, hands behind his head.

“Think it’ll be easy getting through the gates?” Boggs asked, taking a seat beside him and grabbing the reins. Grayson fingered the medallion in his pocket, then shrugged.

“We’ll find out,” he said. “No reason to panic until then.”

“Never a bad thing to be prepared,” Tracy said, hopping up to join them as the wagon shuddered into motion. Tracy was Boggs’s half sister, and far more pleasant to look at. Her brown hair was tied into a tight ponytail, clearly showing her seven dangling earrings as she took a seat behind them.

“If the guards give us trouble, just show them your tits,” Grayson said.

“And if they’re not into that?” she asked, flashing him a wide smile.

“Then I’ll show them my dick. Hardly complicated.”

Boggs let out a laugh, and Grayson shot him a look. “Care to share, Boggs?”

“Don’t you see?” Boggs asked. “We’re the most dangerous men Veldaren’s seen in ages, and they’re going to let us through their walls because of some tits and a dick?”

“Don’t forget a little help from on high,” Grayson said, pulling the medallion from his pocket by its bronze chain.

“Just seems shameful,” Boggs said. “Shouldn’t we be climbing over walls at night or something?”

Tracy kicked him in the back with her heel, the hilt of the knife hidden in her boot jamming him hard in the kidney. “Just shut up and steer.”

“Yes, Sister.”

They followed the road through the shallow hills, enduring the jostle of the wagons. Grayson lay back so his eyes were free of the sun and did his best to relax. Getting through the gates would be trickier than he let on, and a crucial part of their plan. In the nation of Neldar, the Trifect had arranged so that only they were allowed to grow and sell crimleaf, the drug of choice for the lowborn. This had allowed the price to rise by gross amounts, yet in the west, where the Trifect’s influence was far lesser, the simple leaf could be grown in abundance by any farmer regardless of station.

So the guilds in Veldaren had taken the natural course: they bought absurd amounts of crimleaf from the west and smuggled it east. They then undercut the Trifect’s sellers, but only a little, given the trouble they went to to get it past the guards and walls. It was that easy coin that fueled much of the thief guilds, Grayson knew. It was that easy coin he wanted to disrupt, if not permanently take away.

But that meant getting into the city with their wagons untouched.

“Remember,” Grayson said, sitting up as the walls of Veldaren grew closer. “You keep your mouths shut and let me do the talking. Don’t want anything to draw attention to us.”

“Not our first time smuggling,” Tracy said.

“And all things considered, I’d prefer it not to be our last, either,” Boggs said. “Guards are crawling everywhere. Well, Grayson, I hope you’re right about your little helper on high.”

Grayson grunted. He hoped he was right as well.

The wagons approached the west side entrance, the portcullis open for the daytime traffic. Boggs stopped the lead wagon at the behest of two guards who approached with hands raised.

“Been here before?” asked the first, an older man with his gray hair mostly hidden behind his helmet.

“Can’t say we have,” Grayson said.

“Need you to register your cargo, as well as pay a fee if you’re not with the merchant’s guild. I’ll let you know the tariff once I look it over.”

“Not sure that’s necessary,” Grayson said, leaning closer to the guard. He lifted the medallion, given to him by Laerek to ensure entrance to the city without incident. The guard’s eyes widened upon his seeing it, and he glanced about.

“Back to your post,” he said to the other. The man looked unsure, but did as he was told.

“You’re asking a lot,” the guard said when they were alone. “We allow the temple to bring in supplies as necessary, but three wagons? And you’ve yet to tell me what you carry.”

“What I carry is of no concern to you,” Grayson said, reaching into his pocket. He’d worried the priests of Karak might not have enough sway to get his men and crimleaf through. But of course power wasn’t the only way to get what one wanted in the world…

“This, however,” he said, tossing a bag of coins at the guard, who caught it. “I think this is what will most interest you.”

The guard opened it, saw the gold within. The yellow sparkled in his eyes. Closing it, he pocketed the bag and then nodded.

“I’ll still need to inspect it,” he said. Grayson motioned to the others so they knew to leave him be. The guard climbed into the back of each wagon, giving only cursory glances and not once opening a crate. After the third, he returned to the front.

“Your tariff plus merchant fee is seventeen silver,” he said. “Going rate for such low-quality wheat.”

“You heard him,” Grayson told Boggs. “Pay the man for our wheat.”

Boggs grumbled but pulled the demanded coin from his own pocket. That done, the guard waved them through, then went back to his station to hand over the tariff.

“So much for your help from on high,” Tracy said as the wagons rolled forward.

“We’re through, and untouched,” Grayson said. “That we had to grease the wheels a little shouldn’t be much of a surprise.”

“Just preferred we used your grease instead of mine,” Boggs muttered. “Where to now?”

“Head south. I already have a contact there waiting. Once we’ve claimed the hearts of the city’s most poor and desperate, and established our territory, we’ll worry about moving north.”

The quality of the roads steadily deteriorated as they traveled deeper into the southern district, the neglect apparent with potholes and even gaps where the brick had been covered with long swaths of dirt in halfhearted attempts to smooth out the passage. The wagons slowed, and the jostling increased. Grayson saw Pierce hop out of the second wagon and come running. At first he thought him just tired of the rough ride, but that turned out not to be the case.

“We got a tail,” he said, walking beside them.

“To be expected,” Grayson said. “I doubt too many merchants travel this far south. Did you catch which guild?”

“I don’t know them well enough to say for sure,” Pierce said, shaking his head.

“Just keep your eyes open,” Grayson said. “And don’t let them know we see them.”

Pierce nodded. “They’re running ’long the rooftops,” he said. “Watch them if you can.”

He returned to the second wagon. Grayson leaned back, imitating his relaxed position of earlier. As he did, he looked to the rooftops, trying to see out of the corners of his eyes who shadowed them.

“Any of them a threat?” Boggs asked as they shifted to one side to avoid a nasty stretch of mud.

“Not really,” Grayson said. “Spider Guild’s in ruins, which just leaves the Ash Guild as any real danger. But if that’s who’s tailing us, well, they might have a tail of their own soon…”

They continued until they reached their contact, one of the few merchants still maintaining a presence in the far south of Veldaren. He was an overweight man, sweaty and with his shirt overstuffed with his own fat.

“Afternoon, Billick,” Grayson said as they stopped the wagons in front of his shop.

“I assume no guards followed you?” Billick asked, furtive eyes bouncing among the wagons.

“Guards?” Grayson asked, hopping down from his seat at the front. “No, guards are the least of our problems, my friend. Where can we store our merchandise?”

“Space for everything,” Billick said, gesturing toward the open door to his shop. “Carry it in, and put it in the back room.”

“You heard him!” Grayson roared, amused at how the fat man jumped at the volume of his voice. One by one the wagons were unloaded, his Suns lugging the crates into their place of storage for their time in Veldaren.

“I won’t be handling any of it,” Billick said as he watched. “You know that, right? Don’t tell me what it is, and don’t make me sell it. I’ll let you get it in, and I’ll let any of you Suns get it out. Just make sure the pay is on time.”

“Good man,” Grayson said, smirking at him. “So brave, so noble. You’ll get your pay. Just keep an eye on our wares. I don’t take kindly to those who help themselves to what isn’t theirs.”

Billick got the message, and he nodded fast enough to make the fat of his neck bounce.

“I have business elsewhere,” he said. “Shop’s all yours for the rest of the day. I won’t come back until morning.”

Once the crates were stored, Grayson gathered his men and began handing out smaller bags.

“One silver per pinch,” he told them. “Stay close, and stay together. No one’s sold crimleaf this cheap for decades, so let them come to you. And I’ll drag back to Mordeina in a bag anyone I hear of charging more and pocketing the top.”

The men began to scatter, each eager for his first step in taking over the streets of Veldaren.

“Pierce,” Grayson called out, stopping the man.

“Yeah?”

Grayson grinned at him.

“Go find someone in a different guild, don’t care which, or how old they are. Just find someone, and then gut them. I want to send a message that we aren’t to be messed with, understood? So make it brutal.”

Pierce’s grin was from ear to ear.

“That I can do,” he said, twirling a dagger in his hand.

“Good. Go get to work.”

As the rest scattered in groups, only Boggs and Tracy remained behind.

“Not many places to stash three wagons,” Boggs said, climbing up into the first.

“We aren’t leaving for a while,” Grayson said, glancing up and down the street. “Should be an inn nearby desperate enough for coin to let us hole up all three for a few months. At worst we can sell them at market.”

“Come on, lovely sister,” Boggs said as Tracy climbed up to join him. “Let us find some clean, comfortable beds for our companions.”

Tracy snickered. “So not too much lice in them, then?”

Before they could move out, the back two wheels of the wagon exploded, and with a loud bang the wood hit the ground. The oxen jostled, startled, but Boggs kept them calm.

“The fuck?” Boggs asked, looking back. Tracy hopped down to take a look, but Grayson could already tell what had happened. Smoke rose from a magical fire that burned out into nothing. Grayson drew his swords as a man in a gray cloth mask approached from down the street. Ash swirled about his face, hiding his dark features. Grayson recognized him from the failed attack on Alyssa’s mansion. He gripped his swords tighter.

“Grayson…” Tracy said, also seeing him, but Grayson raised a hand, gesturing for her to remain calm.

“Well, now,” Grayson said, approaching the intruder in a way that positioned him nearer to the first wagon, and therefore cover. “This is a surprise.”

“Perhaps,” said Deathmask. “But your arrival isn’t. I’ve been expecting one of the guilds from Mordeina to arrive for years. Honestly, your delay proved irritating.”

Grayson let out a laugh.

“No more than your interference. What is it you want? If you’re here to protect your territory, you might as well give up now. Our money, leaf, and coin are pouring in from Mordeina like a flood. You won’t stop us.”

“I’ve stopped you twice already,” Deathmask said, crossing his arms. “I stopped you when you sent mobs and thieves after Alyssa Gemcroft’s mansion. Or have you already forgotten the fun my guild had on that night?”

Of course Grayson hadn’t, but he kept his smile going, kept hoping whatever conflict he faced he could resolve without a fight.

“You were an inconvenience, nothing more,” Grayson said. “But I only count one time you’ve stopped us.”

The strange wizard gestured to the broken wagon.

“I consider that number two. But the biggest one that matters is number three… but I don’t mean to stop you. Not unless I must. Your Sun Guild may think it can move into Veldaren easily, but they’ll encounter resistance soon enough, and not just from me. The guilds won’t go down quietly, not unless things change. Not unless you have my help.”

“I can’t decide if you underestimate us, or overestimate your own worth,” Grayson said. “Speak plainly, wizard.”

“I am no wizard,” Deathmask said, and Grayson was surprised to see the anger glowing in those mismatched eyes. “And my offer is plain enough, even for you. Let me help your guild take over the city, every single brick and stone. In return you split your profits with me, and give me a portion of the city to remain under my direct control.”

“Is that so?” Grayson asked, honestly intrigued. “How much of a split would that be?”

“What else would a split be? Half.”

Grayson’s curiosity died amid his laughter. “Do you think I need you so badly that I’d sacrifice a fortune for a victory I’m already certain to win? Show some intelligence. Besides, my master won’t share power, not with the likes of you. He’s decided to make Veldaren his, and nothing will prevent it.”

The ash swirling around Deathmask’s face slowed, grew thicker.

“I am no fool, Grayson. The guilds are crumbling, dying to both you and Victor. I can help finish them off, show you where to shove your sword. What I ask for isn’t much, not when you consider that every coin you take from Veldaren is a coin you didn’t have the day before. But don’t think your take-over of these streets is inevitable. Not when Thren still stalks the city. Not while I’m still alive.”

“Well,” Grayson said. “I guess we should take care of that, shouldn’t we?”

Fire was already surrounding Deathmask’s hands before Grayson rolled to the side, using the wagon as cover. The expected attack from the wizard came, a burst of fire that consumed where he’d stood. It was slow, though, and more flash than heat. He was being played with, Grayson realized, as he leaned his back against the wagon.

“Doesn’t have to go like this,” Deathmask said, his voice drawing nearer. “We could be partners, and work together.”

“Bullshit!” Grayson shouted, his mind elsewhere. Tracy had rolled from the wagon to the door of the shop, hidden from Deathmask’s view. Boggs crouched just above Grayson within the broken wagon. Grayson held up three fingers to Tracy, counting them down. At one, they leaped out, but Deathmask was no longer alone. Men-twins, by the looks of it-stood before him, each holding a pair of daggers. Grayson slid, and he swung his arm to knock Tracy down as well. Four daggers sailed above them, hitting nothing.

“Back,” Grayson said as he turned and ran, sheathing a sword so he could grab Tracy by the arm. No spells gave chase like he thought. Instead, with a few words from Deathmask, his wagons caught fire one by one, burning as if doused with barrels of lantern fuel. Tracy let out a cry for her brother, but amid the smoke Grayson could not tell if he escaped or not.

They ran for the door, but instead of their finding safety in the shop, a woman with a wicked scar across her right eye blocked the way in, bearing the colors of the Ash Guild. She held a dagger in her hand, and it glowed with purple fire.

“Running away?” she asked. “Hardly fits your reputation, Grayson.”

“I think it does,” Deathmask said, calmly walking toward them. Ash circled his head faster and faster, his smile hidden behind cloth yet clearly visible in his eyes. “Arrogance? Shortsightedness? Sun Guild, through and through. The four of us have held our territory for years against all challengers, Grayson, yet you think to brush us aside like children?”

Boggs fell from the back of the nearest wagon, coughing and hacking. Tracy tensed, and Grayson could tell she wanted to go to him. His hands and face were black from the ash, but his burns didn’t seem too severe. Far more worrisome were the twins, who hurried to his location.

“Still breathing,” said the first.

“Just barely,” said the second.

Deathmask stepped closer and closer. Grayson could almost reach him with a lunge, but the man looked unafraid, as if he actually believed he was the dread ghoul he appeared to be. The scarred woman seemed far more tense, and she kept her dagger at the ready.

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on him,” Grayson said to the twins.

“Or what?” they asked in unison.

In answer, Grayson flung himself at the woman, catching her across the face with his fist. As she fell back he tried to stab, but she was faster than he expected. Instead of fleeing farther, she dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the downward thrust that should have skewered her. Continuing, she joined the twins, who stepped before her protectively. The woman fumed, but Deathmask only chuckled.

“How is the burned friend of theirs?” he asked as Grayson and Tracy stood there, still tense. They could flee into the shop, but that way was a dead end. If they wanted to escape, it had to be through the streets. Grayson had fought spellcasters before, and he knew he’d be pressing his luck trying to avoid their attacks in open space for any length of time.

“He looks like he’s seen better days,” the woman said, lifting Boggs up with both hands, her dagger pressed against his chest. Boggs let out a gasp at her touch.

“A shame,” said Deathmask. “Veliana, if you’d so kindly put him out of his misery.”

The woman was only too happy to oblige. Before Grayson could think of what to do, Veliana pulled her dagger back, spun it, and jammed it through Boggs’s throat. Tracy let out a choked cry, part horror, part fury. Veliana dumped the body on the street, retrieved her dagger, and then burned away the blood with more purple fire. The twins shifted apart, just outside sword reach, blocking off the other side of the street. Only the shop remained, and for some reason Grayson felt he was being herded inside.

“All that smoke will be attracting attention soon,” Deathmask said, still maddeningly calm.

Glancing behind him, Grayson realized most of his merchandise was still inside the shop. If he was trapped inside, and the Ash Guild summoned the city guard, then they’d be out their lives, and their coin. Worse, their guild’s intentions would be revealed to the king’s men. Deathmask didn’t want to just kill Grayson. He wanted to humiliate him, and make life far more difficult for the rest of the Sun Guild should they attempt to move in on the city.

“You bastard,” Tracy said, tears in her eyes. “I’ll kill you, I promise it.”

“Shouldn’t make promises you won’t keep,” Veliana said.

“Last chance,” Deathmask said. “Partners, or the executioner’s ax. Your choice.”

“Tracy,” Grayson said as movement across the rooftops caught his eye. “You do exactly as I say, you understand?”

She nodded. Lowering his swords, Grayson stood to his full height, delaying as long as possible. He had to time it just right, just when the attack hit…

“I guess I have little choice,” he said. “But I’m thinking I’d much rather have you dead.”

Spinning about, he leaped into the door of the shop, smashing it open with his shoulder. Tracy followed without hesitation. Barging in, they flung themselves to the side, avoiding another barrage of daggers. Grayson rolled onto his back, swords up to fend off an attack that didn’t come.

Explosions of fire rocked the street, and they weren’t from Deathmask. Shrapnel from the wagons clacked against the side of the shop, and a long plank shattered a window. Tracy crouched low to the floor, stunned by the sudden barrage of combat.

“We should go help kill…”

“No,” Grayson said. “Either they’ll live or they’ll die. I’m not foolish enough to step in the middle.”

The ringing of steel on steel intensified. From the window Grayson heard a roar of wind, and then what sounded like a battering ram slamming into a castle gate.

“Who’s out there?” Tracy asked, stunned.

In answer Grayson only shook his head.

In less than a minute, the combat was over. Holding his swords at the ready, Grayson made his way to the door and stepped out to survey the wreckage. Their wagons were ruined, each one exploded into pieces. Three of the nearby buildings burned, and a fourth had a gaping hole in its front, from what, he could only guess. There were no other bodies on the ground besides Boggs. Tracy rushed over to her brother, cradling his head in her hands. Tears flowed down her face, but only for a moment.

“What happened here?” she asked as she calmly removed the rings from his ear.

“Saw their coat for just an instant, but the damage is enough to answer,” Grayson said, putting away his swords. “Still think it was a mistake to hire them, but at least they saved our asses instead of getting in the way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Bloodcrafts,” Grayson said. “If the Ash Guild lives through this, it’ll be a miracle.”

Tracy paled at the name. “We need to check on the rest,” she said. “The Ash Guild might not have been the only one to…”

“No,” Grayson said, offering her his hand. “We need to move, now. The city guard will be here any second, and we can’t risk them finding our cache. We’ll take whatever we can carry and then hide.”

Tracy nodded, pocketed the last of Boggs’s earrings. She kissed his burned forehead and then whispered into his ear.

“I’m sorry.”

She took Grayson’s hand and stood. Inside the shop they gathered every bag they could, and as the first of many arrived to investigate the destruction, the two ducked into the nearest alley and lost themselves in the darker parts of the city.