The Shattered Crown

SIXTEEN

The girl was lying to her. During Kaira’s many years teaching young acolytes in the Temple of Autumn there had been times when girls in her care had tried to fool her, to make excuses, to rely on their feigned naivety. Kaira could see deception now in the eyes of this girl.

Young and simply dressed, she had looked innocuous enough handing out food in the courtyard. But Kaira had watched as she crept into the barrack room, had followed her as she entered Captain Garret’s study chamber. This was no lost waif. There was something going on here and Kaira wanted to know what.

‘Ain’t got nothing to tell,’ insisted the girl, lifting a hand to wipe away a tear. Was it a real tear or part of an act? Kaira guessed the latter.

‘Maybe I should just call the Greencoats. Have them deal with you.’

‘No,’ said the girl, too quickly. Clearly she’d had run-ins with the Greencoats before.

‘Why shouldn’t I?’

‘There’s … just no need. I have to go, my uncle will be waiting.’ She seemed desperate, like a cornered animal. Her eyes darted to left and right but there was nowhere to escape.

‘Who is your uncle?’

The girl paused. Thinking fast, devising her story. Kaira let her think a while.

‘He … he works in the palace.’

‘Where in the palace?’

‘Kitchens.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘F … Henrik,’ she said, mouth twitching at her error.

‘F-Henrik,’ repeated Kaira, finding herself enjoying this a little too much. ‘Come on then. We’ll go and see him together.’

‘No.’

The girl stood rooted to the spot, another tear starting down her face. As much as she was putting on a brave show, she obviously knew the game was up. The girl was scared, exposed — Kaira felt a sudden pang of guilt that she was enjoying watching her squirm.

‘Sit down.’ Kaira gestured to a chair beside Garret’s desk.

The girl obeyed, watching Kaira warily, as though she might attack at any minute. Kaira remained standing, thus reinforcing who was in control here.

‘What’s your name?’ Kaira asked.

Another pause.

‘Rag,’ the girl replied.

‘Rag?’

‘Yeah, Rag. Am I lying about that too?’

Kaira guessed from the girl’s sudden anger that she wasn’t.

‘All right, Rag. My name is Kaira. And I know you’re not lost, so you may as well tell me exactly what you’re doing here.’

Rag looked up defiantly, angry that Kaira had doubted her when she was actually telling the truth.

‘I don’t have to tell you shit,’ she said, sloughing off her pretence of innocence. ‘Go get the fucking Greencoats. I don’t care. Nothing they’ll do to me will be worse than …’

Rag looked as though she had said too much, said something she didn’t want Kaira to know. Was this girl in trouble? It roused Kaira’s natural instinct to protect the weak, but she had to be careful — the girl could well be stronger than she made out. If Rag really was in trouble it was Kaira’s duty to help, but the last thing she wanted was to be made a fool of.

‘Worse than what?’ Kaira said gently. ‘Has someone threatened you? Are you in danger?’

That brought a wry smile to Rag’s face. ‘What do you care? I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Let’s just keep it that way.’

‘If someone wants to harm you, I can protect you from them.’

Rag gave a little laugh. ‘Lady, you can’t do shit. No one can protect me from them. And who says I want protecting anyway?’

Kaira looked into those fierce little eyes. Despite her protestations it was obvious Rag really did want someone to protect her. Behind that brave face there was a sadness, a defencelessness.

‘We all need protecting, in our own way, even if some of us can’t admit it.’

Rag just shook her head and stared down at her lap.

‘Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?’ Kaira asked gently. Rag shook her head but the tears were coming now. Kaira tried giving her a smile. ‘You can trust me. You can tell me the truth. I promise no harm will come to you.’

‘I can trust you?’ said Rag. ‘How do you know you can trust me?’

Good question.

‘Let’s say that, on occasion, I like to put faith in people. I let them try to make the right choices.’ Her memory flashed back to that day weeks before, when Merrick had taken up his sword and freed a warehouse full of slaves. He had done that because Kaira’s faith in him had led him to make the right choice.

‘How has that worked out for you so far?’ Rag asked.

Kaira shrugged. ‘Let’s just say I’ve had mixed results.’

Rag was frowning, as though weighing up whether Kaira could be worth confiding in. Eventually she made her decision.

‘I’m just here to find someone,’ she said. ‘That’s all. Nothing serious or nothing.’

‘Who were you sent to find?’

Rag paused, as though holding onto her one final bit of information, as though giving up this last thing would leave her completely vulnerable.

‘Bloke by the name of Merrick Ryder,’ she said with a sigh.

Kaira stopped breathing.

There could only be one reason Rag was here for Merrick. This girl had been sent by the Guild, most likely Palien himself, eager for his revenge. But Kaira had to be sure.

‘Tell me, Rag. Who sent you to find this man?’

‘Just …’ Rag couldn’t answer. She had already said too much.

‘I thought we were going to trust one another. I promised no harm would come to you, and I will keep that promise. In return you have to tell me who sent you.’

‘It was … Look, it’s nobody you’d know. Nobody important.’

‘Someone asked you to break into the barracks of the Sentinels and they’re not important? They sound important to me, Rag.’

‘It was a man I know.’

‘His name?’

Rag shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, opened her mouth to speak then thought better of it, shook her head, then sighed.

‘His name is Friedrik.’

Kaira felt disappointed. She’d been hoping it was Palien. Hoping it was the Guild, but it was most likely just someone Merrick owed money to.

‘What does this Friedrik want with Merrick Ryder?’

Rag looked guiltier than ever. ‘Don’t rightly know. But Friedrik’s one of the fellas what runs the pickers and pinchers and the rest, so it can’t be for anything good.’

‘The pickers and pinchers?’ said Kaira.

‘Yeah,’ said Rag, as though Kaira were somehow dense for not understanding. ‘You know … the Guild.’ She whispered her final words as though someone might be listening.

All Kaira could do was stare.

The Guild.

This must be him — this was the man Kaira had been hunting, the man she had been sent from the Temple of Autumn to track down and bring to justice. And her one link to him was a girl off the streets.

‘What you staring at?’ demanded Rag.

Kaira realised her eyes had been locked on Rag all the while.

‘Nothing,’ she replied. And it was nothing. Her mission for the Temple of Autumn was long past; she had turned her back on all that. She had a new life and she was no longer beholden to the Shieldmaidens and the Matron Mother.

Even so, something in Kaira wanted to find this man, to bring him, kicking and screaming if necessary, to the stairs of her temple. To shout out the Matron Mother, to tell her she had succeeded in the task given, and on her own terms.

Besides that, it was obvious this man wanted Merrick for nothing good. Kaira could not simply stand by and let the Guild find him. Though they were safe within the boundaries of the palace, they could not stay inside its walls forever. It was only a matter of time before the Guild would make their move. And if they found him they would most likely find her, and it was doubtful they’d greet her with smiles and hugs of friendship.

Kaira Stormfall was not the type to wait for trouble to come to her. If there was a fight to be had she would take it right to the enemy’s door.

And this urchin — Rag, the street rat — was the key to it all.

Kaira looked down at the girl, still deciding if she could trust her. Perhaps she had no choice. Was she to torture her for the location of the Guild’s leader? Hand her over to the Inquisition and let Seneschal Rogan use his own inimitable methods? Not likely. Even if Kaira could have allowed such a thing to happen to a young girl, there was no guarantee Rogan wasn’t already in the Guild’s pocket.

‘Do you know what the Guild intends to do with this Merrick Ryder?’ Kaira asked.

Rag shrugged. ‘They didn’t say.’

‘What do you think they’ll do?’

This time there was no shrug. Rag had every idea what they’d do.

‘Nothing good, I’ll wager,’ the girl replied.

‘And you’re happy with that?’

Kaira could see Rag weighing that up. She clearly understood the implications of her actions.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘No I’m bloody not. I’ve …’ She stopped herself.

‘You’ve what, Rag?’

The girl’s brow furrowed into a frown and then her face crumpled. ‘I’ve had enough of watching what they do to people. I’ve had enough of seeing the misery they cause folks. The things they make people do … I only wanted to join up ’cos I was sick of living day to day with nothing to eat and no roof over my head. But they … they …’ She looked down at her hands, squeezed together all white-knuckled, on her lap. ‘All I wanted was somewhere to belong. But I don’t belong with them. I’m just not like them.’

Kaira took Rag’s hands in hers.

‘I can help you,’ she said with a smile. ‘I can protect you from them. Give you a new life if you want it. But you have to help me first. Do you think you can you do that?’

Rag nodded. How could she turn down the prospect of a new life away from Friedrik and his vicious ways. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘This man Friedrik. I want him. And I need you to lure him out so that I can get him.’

Rag understood. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘But how am I going to do that?’

‘He’s after this Merrick. If you tell him you’ve managed to infiltrate the Sentinel barracks, you’ll gain his trust. Say you can lure Merrick out but you’ll need more time. Persuade Friedrik to meet you at a certain time and place when Merrick will be outside the palace. That is when I will strike.’

‘All right,’ said Rag. ‘I can do that.’

She stood up and wiped her eyes dry. Kaira placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

‘I can trust you, can’t I, Rag?’

Although Rag’s nod seemed sincere enough, Kaira hoped that Vorena was watching and this girl’s lament about the Guild was indeed genuine.

‘How do I get them to believe me?’ Rag asked. ‘To believe me enough to do what I say?’

Kaira thought for a moment. It would certainly help the girl to persuade Friedrik and the Guild to follow her if she had something to back up her words.

‘Take this,’ Kaira said, removing the Sentinel medallion from around her neck. ‘As a show of trust. It could also help you to convince this Friedrik that you have been successful; that you have found the man he’s looking for. Tell him it belongs to Merrick Ryder.’

Rag took the shiny steel medallion and ran her thumb across the face of it as though the crown and swords emblazoned there might rub off.

‘Thanks,’ she said, putting the medallion round her neck and tucking it inside her shirt. She took it a little too easily, tucked it away rather too deftly, and again Kaira had fleeting doubts. But what choice did she really have?

She guided Rag out of the barracks, across the courtyard and out onto the street beyond.

‘I’m counting on you, Rag,’ Kaira said as they stood in the shadow of Skyhelm.

‘I know,’ the girl replied, and walked quickly away.

Kaira watched her go, hoping her faith would be justified. Only time would tell.

As for Merrick — did he have to know about this? That the Guild had not forgotten about him and were even now planning to kill him? No. He had enough to worry about right now.

Kaira would see this through on her own.