Retribution

Morning in the City

We decided to store the fragments of the bishop in a couple of large sacks deep in Jejal’s cellar, where the temperature was cold, and they were safely away from prying eyes. Curiously, Jejal did not seem to mind at all that we wanted to store human remains in his establishment. In fact he declared, with great insouciance, ‘Of course I will oblige. Though you must know, I will be forced to add a small fee to the cost of the room. Just because they are dead does not mean I will not accept payment for their use of my facilities! It is a mistake to draw such matters to a close when life has departed. Who is this fellow anyway? Should I fear some sort of reprisal attacks in my humble dwelling?’

‘For now,’ I said, ‘it’s probably safer you don’t know anything.’

‘You sound like one of my former wives.’

‘I mean we should tell the authorities first.’

‘Agreed, agreed. Always the secrecy with the Sun Chamber! Alas, at least a few secrets make life interesting, do they not?’

At Jejal’s insistence both Leana and myself washed thoroughly before we went to bed — it was only then that I realized just how much we must have reeked after our time in the refuse area.

I rested well that night — enjoying a deep and peaceful sleep that I had not known for a good while. When travelling on the road, working on a case, I always felt on edge, agitated to make progress lest I found my end thanks to some rogue agent or a criminal in the dark wilderness, leaving the case unresolved. Sleep didn’t come easily when one spent most of the time with one eye peering into the shadows, wondering when an attack might come.

Even with Leana, a warrior of considerable talent guarding me, it was not easy to relax. I had not experienced soldiering since the token training we received in the Sun Chamber, almost a decade ago, and so I willingly accepted that I was someone who relied upon basic securities: safe lodgings, armed protection.

To be completely honest with myself, part of me suspected that my curse of seizures would somehow leave me more vulnerable, especially in the countryside. Sometimes I could shake uncontrollably in the night and know nothing of it — who knew what attention that might attract out in the wilds?

In the city there were any number of strange noises and events to distract from those of my own creation. Fortunately Leana said I had no episodes in the night. She reminded me that I needed to find an apothecary or herbalist who could recreate the mix I had bought in Tryum, in order to stabilize my seizures.

After a hearty breakfast of flatbreads and local fish, which we ate on a small bench beside a street vendor in the sparsely populated marketplace, we checked with Jejal about somewhere safe to stable our horses.

They had been kept overnight in Jejal’s stables, but would need to be taken somewhere else, to better conditions. What Jejal owned wasn’t much, frankly, and was generally for those who were just passing through. Even the boastful Jejal admitted that it could get crowded and uncomfortable for the animals.

He told us of better quality stables deeper in the Sorghatan Prefecture, so we led our horses along the short journey there, with the body of the bishop in a sack slumped over the back of my mare, Kinder, and the head hanging in a bag over the neck of Manthwe, Leana’s own horse.

Though I was glad of my black cloak, whatever gusty chill might have pervaded the streets at night had long since gone. The day promised something more sultry, and there was a fug of woodsmoke lingering as the city awoke. The comforting, symmetrical lanes of the prefecture were filling up with those heading towards the markets. Scrawny livestock were being driven past new stone buildings. Carts carrying bright cloth clattered along the roads. There were a lot of highly skilled craftsmen here: woodworkers through to silversmiths, and many of them were making equine equipment of the highest quality. But it was the animal-based industry that impressed me most: several small tanneries could be found alongside butchers and shops selling leather goods. The level of ingenuity on display in such a confined space was like nothing I had seen throughout Vispasia. And the stench of urine being used in the process was equally as staggering. .

I was beginning to recognize just how important animals were to the Kotonese, not just in what was sold. Subtle symbols were rendered on many of the signs around. Then there was the raised stag on the nation’s flag, the statues of horses and the creatures in stone reliefs on major buildings.

This idea was strengthened further when we arrived at the sumptuously decked-out stables, which were good enough for humans to inhabit let alone animals. A large pale stone quadrangle was framed with wooden chambers for horses, all of which looked out onto a wide cobbled courtyard. The site was huge, full of nooks and crannies, workshops and filled with the noise of industry. Everything here was clean and in good order; there was plenty of food and water for the animals, and a good number of workers to hand.

‘Everything about the place looks good,’ Leana said. ‘Manthwe and Kinder will be happy while we remain.’

‘Not too comfortable for them?’ I asked wryly, but there was no smile in response.

‘Comfort is good for animals,’ she replied. ‘But not for you. An animal will remain strong with a bed of straw. You go soft.’

I caught the gaze of a well-built farrier, who had cropped blond hair and bright-green eyes. After brief introductions he offered to take care of our mares for the duration of our time in the city. I started the conversation in Kotonese, but he continued it in gruff Detratan.

His name was Sojun and he came across as a kind-hearted man, not one for long sentences and small talk, but judging by how he was with the animals, our horses would be well looked after and they would not mind the lack of conversation.

There was an air of patience about him; he was someone who took pleasure from his job. Very quickly it became apparent that he cared more about the animals than humans; he was more natural with them than us. More skilled. If the animal themes I noticed earlier were anything to go by, it was possible that many people in Kuvash were the same.

We discussed rates as he rubbed the nose of another handsome mare. His suggestion was more than reasonable, and I told him so.

‘Outside of the military stations,’ he grunted, ‘you can find several smaller stables, scattered about the city. We must remain competitive with them. It is not ideal, because they cut corners, but we have deals with the tanneries.’

‘For the horses?’ I tried my best not to look startled.

‘No,’ he muttered, shaking his head. ‘For their piss.’

With that he took the reins of Manthwe, since we would still be using Kinder to carry the bishop’s body up to the royal palace before dropping her off later. I began to lead her away when another three horses cantered by, with only the one rider on the foremost animal.

Dressed in military uniform was a young woman with a broad face and black hair that stretched down to her waist. I smiled to myself as she exchanged a lingering glance with Sojun, with startling blue eyes, and wondered at the relationship — if any — between them.

It reminded me of my brief moments with Titiana, in Tryum, and suddenly I couldn’t summon the emotions to continue happily with my expression.

I wondered why army personnel would be here in a civilian stables — it was a sign of growing military activity elsewhere, but perhaps I was being overly suspicious. I asked Sojun.

‘You like your questions,’ he replied.

‘Merely curious,’ I added. ‘I’m trying to build up a picture of this place. I’m a stranger in a strange city.’

Sojun’s gaze followed the girl as she rode across the cobbles to the other side of the courtyard. ‘She trains the queen’s horses, and helps others from time to time.’

‘What do your soldiers do here usually? What trouble do you get?’

‘Some tribes have never accepted Koton and they carry out occasional raids around towns, villages and trade routes. Reckon the old clans have a hand in that. Sometimes we get ships landing. Bands of warriors come from abroad to take what they can. Women, children, young men to be sold or used as slaves. That’s not as often as I remember. Our queen makes sure we’re protected. It’s damn good pay being in the military. She makes sure of that. And with soldiers being much better off than a tradesman, they’ll make sure she’s well looked after in return. Less likely to be open to corruption that way.’

‘That would explain two decades of stability.’

He grunted something close to a laugh. ‘That’s what outsiders will think. Not everyone likes it. Couple of the clans think it’s giving the masses too much power by training them as soldiers and giving them military coin. Reckon it’s dangerous in the long run.’

‘And what do you think?’

‘Job’s a job.’

‘Either way, all that military coin flowing through the city can’t be bad for tradesmen like yourself,’ I commented.

But, with a shrug, Sojun made it clear that he was done talking, so I figured it was a good idea to move on.

Leana and I exited the stables and made our way back towards the royal palace.

In the distance stood the snowless mountains, which I hadn’t been able to see in yesterday’s murkier weather. The terrain of the city was flat, and the buildings rarely rising more than three storeys high, so it was impressive to see how far that mountain range stretched.

Little square flags of various different colours had been strung up between buildings, some of them containing writing that appeared religious. Two priests had set up on opposite sides of the street, and I wondered if that had any symbolism in relation to the two gods or if they were simply competing with each other on who could preach the loudest. Their words seemed to spar with each other, causing many passers-by to pause as if unsure which way to turn their attention.

Finally we arrived outside the front of the palace. Here it was styled like a white-walled citadel, though all the decorative flourishes indicated that this place saw little in the way of combat. It was without doubt the largest building in the city, with narrow glass windows spaced at regular intervals and reaching five storeys in height — though it looked as if there were more layers to be found further in. Looking up, there were four turrets on this face, spaced about thirty paces apart; passing back and forth in between them was the glistening helmet of a soldier. All in all, given the number of royal palaces I’d seen — from King Licintius’ residence in Tryum to the ziggurat of Prince Bassim in Venyn City, not to mention the palace of the Queen of Dalta — I was not much impressed. Here was a fairly basic structure that had been built long before the country had a taste for fine designs.

I spotted a large, arched black gate manned by four soldiers armed with bows, and that was where we headed. I informed the archers, who on closer inspection wore ornate green and white uniforms with brightly polished helmets, exactly what was in the sack.

After their own private, urgent conversation, we were led through the gate and into the royal compound, whereupon I lifted down the body and we were told to wait. Here, the entrance appeared to be an even less grand affair, with exposed red brickwork showing and a garden full of herbs.

‘The staff entrance,’ Leana muttered.

We watched a man come out of a small door to empty dirty water down the drains.

Eventually two soldiers returned and declared, ‘Sulma Tan will see you now.’

Two other men in the red and blue of the City Watch helped us carry the body inside.

Knives and brutal barbed implements hung on racks along the wall, and I wondered where we had been brought. This brick chamber, Sulma Tan informed us after noting my suspicious looks, was used for training students of medicine. White paper lanterns glowed under the large arched ceiling. Sulma Tan moved one of the lanterns over beside a ledger before I had the chance to glimpse what was on it. As she did so, I told her about my discussion with Priest Damsak and of the bishop leaving the city.

‘Was that true?’ I asked. ‘Or do you need to confirm it with the Astran officials?’

‘It was true,’ she said. ‘The queen had already asked me to look into the process of adding a new bishop to that district. She is a great admirer of those gods, given they are not representative of the barbaric cults of our past. She is keen to see their forward-looking ways are continued in the city.’

‘And do you believe in such progressive ways?’

‘My beliefs are not important.’ She then steered us to a central table positioned directly beneath a skylight made of clear glass. Around this thick wooden table were three curved rows of stone benches, much like a theatre, only on a far smaller scale.

Sulma Tan had brought with her two middle-aged male officials, who were clothed in red silk trousers, black silk jackets with high collars, and long white socks. They lingered by the ledger at the back, ready with a reed pen to make notes as she spoke. Myself, Leana and Sulma Tan gathered around the covered remains of the bishop.

‘There’s not much hope for a recovery with this fellow,’ I said, pulling back the cloth.

One of the men gasped and muttered something incomprehensible as I uncovered the head carefully, before discarding the sack to one side.

‘By Astran,’ the other breathed. If these men had come here to study, they were clearly not that familiar with corpses.

‘Ah, it is so.’ Sulma Tan clasped the edge of the table. She asked one of the other men behind to run out to retrieve the other limb. In the meantime, we continued stripping back the fragments of cloth, exposing the body piece by bloodied piece.

‘You have the stomach for this?’ Sulma Tan asked us, and she was being sincere.

Leana gave a short laugh and said fiercely, ‘Lady, we have seen worse. I first met Lucan wandering around a field of corpses.’

That was putting things lightly. Our paths met during the aftermath of a most bloody battle. Her friends and family — and her husband — had been wiped out in the war. In the intensely hot location of a massacre, she had asked me if I needed a worker. I was an excuse for her to leave those horrors behind, to try to forget what could not easily be forgotten.

Sulma Tan continued to cut away at the final fragments of the bishop’s thick woollen clothing, until his flesh was fully exposed. Leana helped pull away the strips of material and discarded them in a metal bucket underneath the table. Sulma Tan retrieved a small metal tray, containing water and a cloth, and began to ever-so-gently wash away the detritus from the torso. The water soon took on the colour of the blood and dirt.

Now and then the queen’s second secretary would lean away to avoid the stench, and eventually she ordered one of the note-taking officials to open the room’s windows, allowing in a refreshing salt-tang breeze and the absent-minded chatter from a nearby courtyard.

The skylight above created harsh shadows, so Sulma Tan asked for three lanterns to be moved in order to see the gruesome details from all angles.

‘Most disturbing,’ I muttered, as it became apparent what had happened to the bishop.

‘A sick mind was at work here,’ Sulma Tan added.

The bishop’s body had not just been severed at his shoulders and neck, though that would have been a terrible enough way for him to have been killed. In addition to this, and though it was difficult to make out fully, there were well over a hundred cuts across the various surfaces of his skin, which had long since started to transform in colour to that of a green-tinted bruise.

There were a couple of skin blisters, too, but it was unlikely that these were related to the method of his murder. I tried to imagine the bishop’s final moments, being slashed repeatedly — though not all that deeply. It was as if he had not been allowed to die straight away. The murderer wanted to inflict pain upon him before concluding the matter brutally.

Sulma Tan said something quietly in her native tongue, perhaps a prayer — I couldn’t quite discern it — and she shook her head. She turned to one of the officials and asked him to bring in a physician. I noted how she asked for a physician, as if there were more than one — quite unlike the royal palace of Optryx in Detrata, where such individuals were generally rare.

After Leana placed the head alongside the body, we all stared at the reunited pieces for a little while longer. Sulma Tan asked how we came by the remains, so I told her of our evening escapades and just how we came to find the body so soon.

‘I must confess,’ I said, ‘that the bishop seems to have rotted too much for me to glean anything useful from him. This is certainly beyond my level of skill.’

‘Yes, the real expertise is on its way.’ Sulma Tan nodded thoughtfully. ‘It has been a long time since I’ve had training in dissecting the human form, especially since my tools tend to be a reed pen and ledger these days.’

‘In my experience, it isn’t often one finds such attention to detail in a murder,’ I said. ‘Usually a killing is done quickly — a cut throat in the dark, or a blade to the heart. Murderers want to get away, cover up their crime or flee the scene of the crime. Get the job done quickly in a back alley, if possible, and then get out. But here we have so many lacerations across the skin, not to mention the issue of dismemberment, which on its own would take a lot of time to complete. There was consideration here.’

‘A butchering, of sorts,’ she replied.

‘A torture,’ Leana added.

‘Both,’ I replied, and turned to Sulma Tan. ‘Has anything like this ever happened before in the city, some archaic religious ritual perhaps?’

‘Never.’ She looked up and there was a flare of anger, as if I had judged her culture to be primitive. ‘I have never seen anything quite like this. We are a peaceful, cultured city now. Especially in this prefecture. Even before, when we were a more savage culture. . No, this bears no resemblance to the kinds of ritual killings thankfully consigned to history.’ After a pause, she added, ‘The kinds that all cultures are guilty of perpetrating. Even Detrata, am I correct?’

‘I don’t disagree with you on that matter.’ The acts of the Detratan Empire of old were of course well known to me; our families would discuss them as if they were charming fables, conveniently forgetting about the cruelty and bloodshed involved. Within Detrata these events were considered to be acts of glory rather than sin.

‘Do you think the killer will have fled the city by now?’ she asked.

‘Anything is possible,’ I said, ‘but something does not feel right about this. This feels personal. The bishop must have had an enemy — has he always lived in Kuvash?’

‘His whole life, or so I believe, has been spent in the Sorghatan Prefecture.’

‘Did he travel much?’ I asked.

‘Though I am not familiar with his schedule, I never knew him to leave the city for long periods. He was very committed to his temple and his community.’

‘So, if that is the case, presumably whoever committed this atrocity,’ I gestured to the body, ‘whoever had such a grievance with him that they felt they needed to slice and dissect him in such a manner. . I would say that they, too, must originate from Kuvash. Probably the Sorghatan Prefecture. Which means in turn that they might still be around. Or if they have left, then they may return at some point.’

‘They could have hired the skill,’ Leana said. ‘This could have been a torture and assassination carried out for money.’

‘True,’ I concluded. ‘It still seems probable that the person responsible for it dwells in the city.’

Sulma Tan gave a sigh of annoyance. ‘I have far too many things on my mind without having to deal with this. The bishop’s funeral will require organizing and there will be even more legal matters to attend to as a result.’ She paused, cringing at her indelicacies, and gave me a look of embarrassment. ‘You must think me heartless. Please understand that it is not the case. Merely, I have many duties. .’

‘The queen works you hard, I take it?’

‘I work hard for the queen.’ She made it perfectly clear this was a point of pride. ‘There is a difference. Both the secretaries do. The other, my senior, will retire before long, which means even more responsibilities fall to me. I have a census to declare in the near future, as well as the monthly games to coordinate. . You should know that we are a nation of great planning and organization. I have several subordinates who help in establishing how our city — how our nation — is to be run. The queen would not have it any other way, of course. As a secretary, one of my roles is to oversee various strategies and schemes in order to drag our nation from its past into a thriving cultural future, one that we can all be proud of. We have done so at speed. So, it does not take the intelligence of the Sun Chamber to work out that murder like this does our reputation no good, Officer Drakenfeld.’

There was something about her manner, her sheer determination to take on the weight of her nation and carry it forward that impressed me deeply.

‘I’ll do my very best to help you out,’ I replied.

The physician entered the chamber. He was a slender, jovial man in his forties, who introduced himself as Carlon. Though he had long, greying hair, he also possessed a deeply receding hairline. Wearing a brown shirt with his sleeves rolled up, black trousers and a large leather apron, he carried with him the box containing the bishop’s arm.

He bounded over towards me. He clutched my forearm and we shook in the Detratan style, before greeting Leana in the same way.

‘People of culture, you Detratans,’ he said to me. ‘Good to know.’

‘So I keep being told,’ I replied, marvelling at how much my home nation was respected here. Its culture wasn’t something I ever noticed until others pointed it out, as I’d long since understood the follies of bold patriotism in a continent like ours. Every nation was different, yet some possessed a gravitas that went beyond mere lines on a map. ‘Your own people clearly don’t do too badly yourselves — it’s impressive to know that studies of the body are taken so seriously here.’

‘We try, we try. And you’re the Sun Chamber officer, right? We don’t get many of you out here. I hope the corpse doesn’t put you off Koton!’

‘I tend to see them all over Vispasia.’

‘Does death follow you, or do you follow death?’

‘A little of both.’

‘Well, while we’re on that then. .’ He placed the box on the table with the reverence of a priest making an offering at an altar. ‘We’re just missing the other arm otherwise we’d have a full set!’ he took a moment to glance over the body and head, crouching down low to get a better look. For a moment it looked as if he was actually sniffing it, and I wondered if this was some new form of science. ‘This is definitely the bishop?’ he asked.

Sulma Tan nodded.

‘Fine,’ Carlon said. ‘How long since he’s been missing?’

‘Twenty days, give or take,’ she replied.

‘Yes, I’d agree he’s been dead more or less that long, judging by his colour. Hard to tell precisely. Decay tends to vary so.’ Carlon repositioned the arm on the bench where it would have naturally joined, then placed the head above the severed neck. He began to give his analysis aloud, as he moved around the body with some spirit and excitement. Occasionally he would try to moderate his behaviour out of respect, remembering that he was dealing with the dead. First he pointed out the obvious wounds that we all had seen, but then after a good while of careful examination, he made some more astute conclusions: that the tongue had indeed been removed; one leg had been broken; both of the eyes had been stabbed; and that there were also deep puncture wounds along with the cuts, as if from a very thin blade. Carlon said, with great authority, that judging by the coloration of the bishop’s veins and arteries, the man was of mild temperament right up until the moment of his death. He added that such knowledge of moods during the process of death was a theory he had only recently begun to teach, and I confess to not entirely following his line of reasoning.

‘A very thorough job, whoever did this,’ he concluded. ‘They probably wanted to make sure the man was very much dead, eh? These religious types might know something the rest of us don’t about coming back from the dead.’ He chuckled at his own joke.

‘Have you any experience of this kind of incident before?’ It was the same question I had put to Sulma Tan. ‘Something you’ve seen in the past or on your travels?’

‘Oh I’ve seen plenty of people chopped into pieces. Cuts here and there. Severed limbs aplenty! But nothing quite with this. . consideration. Many, many cuts — a slow way to die. It’s a barbaric masterpiece.’

‘Was he tortured or dead before they did this?’ Leana asked. ‘That could say a lot about the murderer.’

‘A fine point, which I was just about to raise,’ the physician replied. ‘Torture. . execution. I can see signs of something around the neck — perhaps rope? — but nothing to suggest restraints around the legs and arms. Though when you’ve a broken leg you’re not exactly going to be running very far, and you’d have little need to restrain him. The cuts, well. . they could indeed come from a thin blade. So we could say that the murderer merely wanted to ensure that the bishop experienced pain. Also, the numerous puncture wounds in non-vital locations seem to support such a view — though that said, they each appear deep to me. Torture, yes. But you don’t often torture people for the sake of it. Information is usually required, yet how can a cut tongue speak? Such an act has so little use. Perhaps information was not needed this time.

‘So I would say — and the corpse isn’t doing us any favours here, being so long gone — that whoever did this wanted to cause an excruciating amount of agony for the bishop. This may be stating the obvious, yes, but the murderer wished to cause a slow and painful death, but most importantly that it be one the bishop would have been all too aware of. He would have been conscious up until the last moment, most likely. That says a lot. Yet as I theorize, his mood was quite calm even in those last moments — which gives us something to be grateful for, yes.’

None of us could really speak at that point. We just stood there, dumbstruck by the seriousness of the injuries.

‘As I suggest, he’s too far gone for a more rigorous analysis, I’m afraid,’ Carlon continued, wiping his hands on his apron, ‘so you’ll have to make do with my vagaries for now. Probably could have worked out the same conclusions yourselves.’

‘Carlon, you’ve been immensely helpful,’ I said. ‘That gives us much to ponder.’

‘Pleasure!’ Carlon replied cheerfully, as if I’d made his day. ‘If you find another corpse, just make sure it’s a little fresher, eh? You’ll find I’ll be much more use with something decent to work with.’

He took off his apron and said goodbye to Sulma Tan with a fatherly kiss on her cheek. There was a history between these two, perhaps that of mentor and apprentice.

There was very little point in examining the bishop’s body further, yet I insisted we try, just in case something came to light. A junior physician came in to cut open his torso with some more efficient tools, yet there was nothing there, for example, to indicate a weapon or something left inside him. Carlon had been correct when he said the bishop was too far gone to really tell us anything, and it was really my own stubbornness that was getting the better of me. No doubt Leana would remind me of that later, judging by the looks she gave.

It couldn’t have been more than an hour later when a young messenger came into the room and whispered into Sulma Tan’s ear. All the time he was speaking she glanced towards me with that neutral expression which was so difficult to read. The one that was assessing me.

When he finished she nodded and said to him in Kotonese, ‘We will be there shortly.’

The messenger bowed and left.

Sulma Tan regarded me with consideration. ‘Queen Dokuz has requested an audience with both of you. You and Leana.’

‘Oh,’ I replied.

‘I suppose we had better wash our hands first,’ Leana muttered.