CHAPTER EIGHT

WEB OF FATE

Black scars from the fire marked the stones below Useph’s feet. Anger at the assault brought the blood rushing loud in his ears. They had dared to rise up against him, and he wanted to squash every last one of them like the bugs they were. He planted the Sceptre of Fatefall in the center of the walk over the gate and pivoted to look down on the yard. The guard captain hadn’t liked the idea of him standing up here, an easy target for any who had not lost their bloodlust in the confusion at the riot’s ending. It was the darkest part of the night, the moon having set and dawn still hours away. It would be easy for an assassin to hide. But Useph was not afraid. He was angry and he wanted to loom over these scum his men had captured. He wanted to terrify them.

The captives were lined up before the gates, down on their knees, their hands bound behind their backs. Men of the desert guard stood behind them with weapons drawn, waiting for their Lord’s order to strikel.

“You have moved against your Lord and master,” Useph said loudly, in a voice that carried without shouting. “You have broken the peace of the city with violence. You have risen in rebellion. You are traitors. For this, you die.” The guardsmen raised their swords and Useph stopped them with a lifted hand. “Not by the sword,” he said. “By the power of Fatefall, you will die within the day. Until then, you will wait. As each of the men around you dies, one by one, there will be nothing you can do to escape your own fate.” He looked at each of the men, and as he looked he tapped Fatefall against the stone. The sound rang louder than reason would have allowed, and with each strike Useph felt the surge of power as Fatefall accepted another victim. When he had looked at each of the men and sounded their fate with the Sceptre he waved them away.

“Tie them together, and keep them under guard by the gate. When they die, leave them on the line. Let all see the fate of those who rise against me.” He turned away and went back into the tower beside the gate. A page fell in behind him, carrying a torch to light the way down the narrow spiral stair. Sealing the fate of those captives had turned down the roaring in his ears, but he was not satisfied. There had been many more in that riot, and they all should be punished. He hoped at least that they would see what happened to the captives and feel fear freeze their hearts. It was not satisfying, but it was something, to punish those who had dared to threaten him, and his wife. At least she was now safe. He had made sure of it.

~

“You were easy to find. I make it even odds that Useph knows you are here.” Neal stood in the doorway of Kiri’s room. He looked smug as ever, and Kiri felt sure he’d noticed she was chewing her nails when he’d opened the door. He was not fooled at all by her quick switch to straightening her clothes.

“Well, fine with me,” Kiri said. “If he’ll show up and get this over with. I’m going crazy waiting.”

It was only a few hours after noon, but Kiri felt like she’d already worn a path in the carpet with her pacing. The comments of the other people crowded in the small room let her know she wasn’t the only who felt this way. Her fidgeting was, apparently, annoying, but she felt certain it couldn’t be as annoying as watching Garon re-pack their gear thirty times. Riular had spent the whole time reading a book. He was, he said, used to waiting. Kiri supposed that was true.

Garon slipped his boot knife back into its sheath and gave it a pat as though he was making sure it was really there. “I don’t think he knows we’re here,” he told Neal. “He has other things on his mind. Have you heard about the riots?”

Neal stepped into the room. He was followed by two silent, cloaked figures, a man and a woman. Kiri didn’t recognize either one of them. She kept her silence. If they were going to take down Useph, they needed all the help they could get. Even so, she wasn’t really comfortable letting strangers into her room, not least because they were simply, physically, crowded. The woman closed the door behind her and leaned against it. There wasn’t really anywhere else left to stand.

“It would be impossible to miss. It’s the only thing anyone in town is talking about,” Neal said. “You might be right that he isn’t paying attention to you, even if he does know you are here. But the Thief Lord is savvy and clever. He can have his attention on more than one thing at once. If we plan to make a move on him, it will be that much harder if we are already under observation.”

“We’ll be careful, then,” Garon said.

“Careful?” Neal said. “If the Thief Lord is notified of our plans in advance, it will be the death of all of us. Secrecy is paramount.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Kiri asked.

Neal grinned. “Be careful.”

Garon narrowed his eyes and huffed. “Are you going to introduce your friends?”

“Yours are more interesting,” Neal said. “But, sure I will. This is Del and Weta, the husband-wife team of top spies in the Thief Lord’s network.”

“Coordinators, not spies,” Weta corrected in a husky voice.

“They know the ins and outs of the network from top to bottom,” Neal said, ignoring her correction. “And neither one relishes the Eldan magic that Useph has been bringing into the game.”

“We want it gone,” Del said. “This is not business anymore. The Thief Lord is corrupting the whole organization with this crazy Eldan nonsense.”

“Right,” Garon said. “So. I’m Garon. I work the docks in Laed. And this is the Firebrand, and the Eldan Guardian, Riular.”

“I have Eldan magic,” Kiri added helpfully, stripping off her glove to show her glowing palm. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“We were told we would be meeting the Firebrand,” Del said. “Of course we are aware of your powers.”

Weta stood away from the door to get a better look at Riular. “You’re Eldan?” she asked.

Riular stood to his full height and pushed back his hood. His inhumanness was unmistakable.

“Why did you bring these two, human?” Riular demanded of Neal. “If secrecy is paramount we cannot risk anyone not dedicated to our mission know of it.”

“They’re dedicated to getting Eldan magic away from the Thief Lord,” Neal said quickly. “By any means, right? We discussed that.”

“By any means,” Del said. But he seemed to be trying to edge away from Kiri and Riular.

“Don’t worry,” Kiri said. “I won’t bite. Can’t speak for Riular, though.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I will not hurt them,” Riular said.

“Now that we’ve agreed there’s no biting allowed,” Neal said. “Let’s talk plans. But not here. Whatever you might think, Garon, this place was too easy for me to find. We’ll leave--separately--and meet at a well-hidden place Del and Weta know.”

“Are we sure Useph and his people don’t know the place?” Kiri asked.

“We’ve kept it to ourselves,” Del said. “It is always good to have a bolthole. For spies, things can turn south at any time. Spies give loyalty guardedly and expect none.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be called spies,” Kiri said.

Del looked to Weta, who shrugged one shoulder.

“Why tell us about the bolthole, then?” Garon asked.

“It’s not our only one,” Weta said. “And we will not tell you about it, in fact. We will take you there ourselves.”

“But Neal said separately-” Garon said. He looked at Kiri. “Uh-uh. No way; we’re not splitting up.”

“I will take you and the Eldan,” Weta said. “And separately Del will take the Firebrand and Neal. That is the plan, and that is what will happen, or we return to Useph and take our chances with him. He may be mad, but we can take our chances. He’ll appreciate word on the Firebrand.”

“We’ll do it,” Kiri said quickly, before Garon got a chance to get too mad at the implied threat..

“Come, then,” Weta said. “Let’s go, boys.”

“Wait, wait,” Kiri said. “There’s just one problem. I am supposed to meet Shendra here.”

“Shendra?” Weta’s voice was sharp. “You have brought her into this? That was foolish. She is loyal to the Lady completely. If she convinced you that she would help bring down Useph, you should not have listened. She was leading you on, likely as not right into a trap. Let her come and find you gone.”

“Mala--Lady Mala,” Kiri corrected quickly. “She is afraid of what the staff of Fatefall has done to her husband. I spoke to her. If Shendra is loyal to her, then she will help us. Lady Mala at least wants to get Fatefall away from Lord Useph, if not to overthrow him. I’m not going to leave an ally like her out of this.”

Weta tapped her foot and pursed her lips, looking into the distance as she thought it over. She seemed to come to a decision, but shot a glance at Del before she spoke. He nodded. “Fine,” she said. “Del will remain here with you until you have met with Shendra. I will go on with the Eldan and the other one.”

“Garon,” Kiri supplied.

Weta strode out without another word. Garon scrambled to gather up the gear he had been repacking and caught up quickly. Riular glided out the door after him, keeping up easily without showing any sign of effort.

There wasn’t anything left to bite. Kiri spat out the last bit of thumbnail and turned her hand to look at her fingertips. They were all about as short as could be managed without drawing blood. She wished Neal would stop asking her questions. Del stood at the window, silently watching for Shendra’s arrival, but Neal talked and talked and talked.

“Lady Mala is not so empty-headed after all, is she?” he said.

“If you thought she was empty-headed, then you’re the fool,” Kiri said. “She’s the smartest person I’ve ever known.”

“Is that so?” Neal asked.

“Yes,” Kiri shoved away the little table, which was now loaded with the remnants of their meal, with her foot against its base. It wavered, and a little wine splashed out of Del’s untouched glass. Wasn’t he thirsty?

“How do you mean?” Neal asked. “What has she ever done that makes you say that? I’ve only seen her act like a socialite.”

Kiri looked at Del, noting the flask hanging on his belt. Could be water. Maybe he just didn’t want to drink when he was working. Neal cleared his throat and so she answered. “It isn’t luck that got her from miller’s daughter to Lady of the Desert.”

“I thought it was beauty,” Neal said.

“That helps,” Kiri said. “But I think that was more a matter of her using the resources she had available. If she wasn’t beautiful she would have found a different way. There are plenty of beautiful commoners. They don’t usually become nobles.”

“So you’re saying-”

“I’m saying Mala is Lady of the Desert because she planned it. She saw an opportunity and she made it happen. She would’ve found some other opportunity, or made one, if Lord Useph hadn’t come. There is no doubt in my mind that she was not going to end up a commoner in Westfall Valley like she started out.”

“You aren’t a commoner in Westfall Valley anymore, either,” Neal said.

“Well, yeah,” said Kiri. “But that really was luck.”

“Was it?” Neal said. “Sure about that?”

Neal smiled at Kiri’s puzzled expression. She had no idea how to answer him. Of course it was luck. He’d been there. He knew, had to know, she hadn’t planned this. She clenched her gloved right hand, feeling the burn build, just a little.

“All right, lucky Firebrand,” he said. “Do you really believe Lady Mala is acting out of concern for her husband? Or does she see an opportunity again?”

“I think she’s concerned for herself,” Kiri said. “She really is afraid of him and wants Fatefall gone, I think. But she wouldn’t be Mala if she didn’t see the opportunity in it, too. What I’m saying is, if you’re looking to overthrow Useph and become the new Thief Lord…”

“I will have competition,” Neal said. He stepped up to the little table. He wasn’t a particularly tall man, but standing so close with her sitting, Kiri did feel he was looming a little.

Kiri raised her chin. “Exactly.”

Neal snagged Del’s untouched wine glass and swirled it, then took a sip. “You do not see this as a betrayal of your friend, telling me this?”

“I’m not betraying a confidence,” Kiri said. “This is just what I think is going to happen. If she wanted to treat me as a friend and tell me her plans, then I would keep them to myself. I mean, I think I would.” She looked down at her chewed-up fingers, ashamed that she considered it, but Mala hadn’t been a real friend in a while. “I’m telling you because I don’t want the Thieves’ network ending up in civil war. A lot of innocent people would be hurt.”

“It amuses me,” Neal said. “That you would refer to the thieves as innocent.”

“The fight wouldn’t be their fault,” Kiri said. Neal was still standing very close to her chair so that it would be awkward and difficult not to bump into him if she tried to stand. She hated having to look nearly straight up to meet his eyes. “But I was actually talking about all the other people who would be hurt.”

“Telling me won’t stop a civil war, you know,” Neal said.

“I think it might,” Kiri said. “I don’t think you like taking too many chances. And I think, now that you’re warned you won’t be unopposed, you might take a different approach. You and Mala might work something out that’s good for both of you. I told you, she’s smart.”

“Shendra,” Del said from the window.

“Finally!” Kiri said. She stood quickly, forgetting in her haste that she would bump into Neal as she did. She didn’t mind so much when it happened, especially since it made him stumble back a step.

“Firebrand,” Neal said as he recovered. “I’ll remember what you said.”

“Not in front of Shendra,” Kiri said. “We just act like we take Mala’s words at face value with her.”

“Of course,” Neal said. “Best behavior.”

“Shendra,” Del muttered, distaste obvious even in his barely-audible tone. “Working with the Order. Must be crazy. Shendra”

Kiri tried to act like that sentiment didn’t make her even a little bit nervous.