25
The three of them, Garon, Colin, and Colin’s mother, packed up their gear and cleaned out the tunnel as if they knew what to do next. Garon knew it was on him to figure that out, and a plan was starting to form in his mind, but Colin’s constant questions weren’t helping.
“Tagg’s gone, too,” Colin said, not for the first time. “Maybe they abducted him, too?”
“Either way,” Garon tightened a strap on his bag. “He drugged us and took her, or they were both taken.”
“We’ve got to find her!” Colin said. “She’s probably in danger!”
“Not we,” Garon said. “You’re not coming, and you can’t go home either. It’s not safe since it seems like the Thief Lord isn’t backing off, after all.”
“They didn’t kidnap me,” Colin said. He moved in front of Garon, diving to pick up Garon’s hat and hand it to him. He seemed to be trying as hard as he could to stay in the center of Garon’s attention. “They don’t care about me!”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Garon said. “Because the Firebrand does care about you, and if the Thief Lord’s agent figures that out, he might try to use you as leverage against her.”
“We have to go somewhere,” Colin’s mother broke in with a soft but firm voice.
Garon turned to her, startled. “No, I know,” he said. “They know this place. I’ll find someplace safe for you.”
“Where?” She sounded weary. She cast her eyes down and hefted the pack onto her shoulder. Everything was packed, it was only left for Garon to decide where they should go.
It was clear she did not have the confidence in him that Colin did, but Garon was determined to earn it. Garon put a hand on the wall and leaned against it, thinking hard. He wished Mala was still here. She was selfish and shallow, sure, but she was also soft-hearted. If Garon had shown up at her yacht with these two and said they needed protection, then he was sure she would have welcomed them generously. A smile came to his lips when he thought about how generous she could be. They had been impressed by bread and cheese. If they got a taste of Mala’s hospitality, you’d be able to knock them over with a feather.
“We’re going to the docks,” Garon said finally. “Follow me.”
Colin’s mother looked skeptical, but she followed obediently. She had to care about keeping her son safe, and Garon was the last person she had left to lean on.
~
The bed was soft. That woke Kiri first, with the abruptness of snapping out of a nightmare. The bed was soft, and the room was warm. It was not dank and cold like the tunnel. She opened her eyes, but the world stayed dark, and she realized that the pressure around her head was a blindfold. She started to sit up, but her hands jerked against cords that she now noticed were tying her down to the bed. Someone had put a thick scratchy glove on her right hand, her Firebrand hand. It was so thick she couldn’t bend her fingers. She wondered if it might be possible to get her power to work with just wrist twitches, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to risk setting fire to a bed she was tied to. Without being able to see, she couldn’t direct the fire even if she could get it to work.
Having no other useful senses available to her, Kiri pricked up her ears. Whether or not it would do her any good, she wanted to know as much as she could about where she was. It would at least be a comfort to be able to imagine what the place she was tied up in might look like. She might not feel then like she might be floating on a bed in the middle of a black sea.
Kiri dismissed the image and listened carefully. She could hear, faintly, the whistle of wind. The room must have a window then. It was a kind thing to include in a prison, and would be nice to have if they ever took the blindfold off. She didn’t hear anyone else moving. If the others had also been taken captive, they might be somewhere else, too far away to hear. Or still unconscious. For a moment she envisioned a row of identical soft beds, each with one of her friends tied to it, blindfolded and unconscious. At least none of them would be wearing this horrible uncomfortable glove. This, at least, should be easy to check. She wasn’t gagged.
“Hello?” she called, first softly, then louder. “HELLO!” She waited, and when no answer came, and no echo, she modified her mental image of the room. Small, with a window, and only a single bed. And her shout had not echoed at all, so she added a rug, and a soft wall hanging, maybe a tapestry? There was another sound in the room, the soft tick-tock of a clock. She had only ever seen them before in the market, and at Lord Westfall’s house. It was unlikely that someone would have put one in a room meant to be a prison. Conversely, what was the likelihood someone had made her prisoner in a luxurious room in what must be a fine house? She knew the Thief Lord was the head of a wealthy network, Useph being the best example of that. Even so, she would never have thought they’d bring kidnapping victims into their fine homes. Wasn’t that something to be left to the thugs like the Outsiders?
Kiri jumped--as much as she could while tied to a bed--at a soft thump nearby. What could have made a noise like that? She had her answer, and a scare that brought her heart into her throat, when a warm weight plopped onto her legs, followed by what was unmistakably the soft padding little feet of a cat walking up to lay down across her stomach. It made it a little uncomfortable to breathe, but Kiri was so grateful for the cat’s presence that she didn’t mind.
“Hi, kitty,” she said. “Are you a prisoner, too?” She wished she could pet the animal. It might get offended that she wasn’t offering it any affection. It kneaded her clothes with its claws and then settled down with a rumbling purr. Apparently it didn’t need petting.
There was clicking-creaky noise--a doorknob?--followed by soft footsteps that came close enough that Kiri tensed with the need to move away.
“I see you’ve made friends with Tango.” It was Neal’s voice, the Thief Lord’s agent, the Untouchable’s man. Kiri wished she could see to spit at him.
“I see you’re a treasonous lizard.”
Rough fingers closed on her blindfold, making Kiri flinch as Neal jerked the fabric off her face. He had a smug, infuriating smile on his lips.
Kiri spat at him. Tango, irritated at her movement, meowed and dug his claws into her chest.
“Treason, you call it? What agreement have I broken that you did not already break?” Neal tossed the blindfold onto a small pedestal table that stood by the bed. “We were allies only for a single mission, and that has passed.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Not kidnapping each other the minute the mission is done wasn’t explicitly spelled out, I’ll admit,” Kiri said. “But it’s just basic courtesy.”
Neal laughed. “But look at the courtesy that I have afforded you,” he said, gesturing at the room. “I’ll wager you’ve never stayed in such a fine home.”
Kiri dutifully looked around the room, not to oblige him, but because she had been wanting to see it. It didn’t look like she’d imagined it; it was much nicer. There were not one, but two, tapestries on the walls, each depicting fanciful woodland scenes with unicorns and silver-barked trees. One unicorn looked right at her with purple eyes. The window was draped with heavy silks, but she could catch a hint of daylight between the curtains. The clock was bigger than she had thought, a tall one with a wide pearl face and a huge swinging pendulum in its glass-fronted belly. She imagined it was from this that Tango must have jumped down with that loud thump earlier. The only other piece of furniture was a high backed wooden chair with carved arms and a brocade seat, besides the bed and pedestal table. It was a nicer room than any Kiri had slept in before, but that fact didn’t make it any nicer to be there.
“I’m tied to the bed,” she said.
“You must admit the necessity,” Neal said. “You’re a very dangerous woman.”
“The glove is driving me crazy.”
“No doubt,” Neal said. “Again, necessity.”
Kiri ground her teeth. Tango purred loudly, shaking her whole chest.
“You are wondering why you are here?” Neal asked.
“Um, yes,” Kiri said. “That, and how to kill you without hurting the cat.”
“Let’s set murder aside for a moment.” Neal said. “You are here because the Thief Lord wants you on his side. And for more than just one mission.”
Kiri felt her eyebrows shoot right up into her hairline at that. “No, what? What? Are you crazy?” She spluttered and shook her head vigorously. Tango scolded her with a hiss and jumped to the floor. “I’m not ever. Ever! And how would this…? I’m not helping him now!”
Neal smiled smugly again. “You may yet change your mind,” he said. “And I do apologize for the necessity of keeping you tied up. We are working on a better arrangement right now.”
“Oh, great,” Kiri said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Neal strode back to the door. “I’ll leave Tango with you for company,” he said. “Someone will bring you lunch shortly.”
“Do I get to sit up to eat that?” Kiri asked. “And use my hands?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Neal said. “Again, alternate arrangements are being made. Ah, I almost forgot.” He picked the blindfold up from the table and pulled it back over her eyes. Kiri jerked her head up and bit his thumb while he was doing it, but she didn’t even draw blood. He just grabbed hold tightly of her hair with the other hand while he settled the blindfold into place.
“Sorry if that hurt you,” Neal said. “Again, necessity.”
“I hope I hurt you,” Kiri said.
Neal clucked his tongue. “Sorry again,” he said. “I’m right as rain. Your lunch will be along soon. I’ll be back this evening.”
Kiri regretted not having noted the time when she looked at the clock earlier. She wished she knew the time.
~
“Hello, hello,” Tan called to Garon as the young man ducked sheepishly into the warehouse. “I didn’t think to see you today. You’re lucky, there’s work.”
Garon tried to wave him to silence and gestured Tan to join him in the shadows. Tan looked puzzled as he sauntered over, tucking his list of orders under one arm.
“What’s going on, boy?” he said. “Are you not here to work?”
Garon looked around quickly. They appeared to be alone in this part of the warehouse. “Actually, I’m not,” he said. “I’m here to get help for some good people. You’re the best man I know in this city, so I thought maybe you’d help.”
Tan frowned down at him. “I’m an honest man,” he said. “Which is why I’m not wealthy, so I don’t know how much help I can give.”
“Oh, they don’t need money,” Garon said quickly. “They just need a place to, well, hide. The Thief Lord might be after them.”
Tan leaned his head to one side, then the other, cracking the joints in his neck. “Then they can’t stay with my family,” he said. “I’ve got little ones, you understand. How many people are we speaking of?”
“Just two,” Garon said. “A boy and his mother.”
Tan nodded slowly, mulling it over. “I know a place,” he said finally. “It’s-”
“Don’t tell me,” Garon said. “If I get taken, I don’t want it to lead to them.”
“All right,” Tan said. “I’ll show them there, then. Where are they now?”
“At the White Elk,” Garon said. “Tell them Fires burn the stones. It’s the password. You’ll know who they are. They look way too poor to be there, and they’re carrying heavy packs. I gave the barmaid a tip not to kick them out. It was most of my money, so I hope it was enough.”
“Got it, boy.” Tan said. He looked Garon up and down. “You be careful. I don’t know what you’re into, but be careful.”
Garon nodded. “I’ll be as careful as I can.”
~
Tagg brought lunch.
Kiri, remembering how ineffective it had been with Neal, resisted the urge to bite at him when he removed her blindfold. There was also the chance that, once bitten, he might not risk getting close again and feeding her. And she was very hungry.
“Neal said he wasn’t a treasonous lizard,” Kiri said. “Because our bargain was done. But you-”
“I am a traitor to you,” Tagg said. “I don’t regret it. If you were smart, you never would have trusted me. I didn’t trust you. I was never loyal to you. I needed you on my side. Then, I needed to drug and kidnap you, so I did. Because I need the Thief Lord on my side.”
“So you are a treasonous lizard,” Kiri said. “But why do you want the Thief Lord on your side? The Thief Lord is the reason you don’t have a side.”
“You mean the reason all my boys are dead?” Tagg’s normally cool voice turned hot and bitter. “That wasn’t the Thief Lord. That was the Enforcer, and you. Everything was working before you came along. I don’t know why the Thief Lord wants you. We should have just killed you.”
“I guess you think I should thank you for drugging and kidnapping instead of poisoning me?” Kiri snapped.
“It’s not my decision,” Tagg said. “I followed orders. And right now, my orders are to feed you. Do you want it, or not?”
Kiri looked at the tray he had balanced on the pedestal table. It had a bowl of broth, two slices of bread and a pat of butter, and a small bowl of crisp-looking pickles she could smell from the bed. “Yes,” she admitted grudgingly.
“Then don’t talk,” Tagg said. And then he fed her fast enough that she didn’t have a chance to. He shoved in one bite after another fast enough that she had to chew and swallow furiously to keep from choking as the next bite came. Finally the tray was empty except for the broth. Tagg picked it up and frowned at her, assessing.
“I don’t know how they expect you to drink this,” he said.
“You could untie me?” Kiri suggested.
“Not a chance.”
So Kiri twisted her head up from the bed as much as she could, and Tagg poured the broth down her throat. She chugged as quickly as she could, but Tagg wasn’t trying very hard to be careful, and a good bit of the broth splattered on her chest and down her chin. Tagg grinned evilly when Tango leapt up onto Kiri and started to lap up the broth. Kiri didn’t mind so much at first, when he was licking it off her chest, even though Tagg was obviously enjoying it too much. But she didn’t relish that scratchy tongue on her neck and face, and she knew she wouldn’t have any way to get him off. She had a crazy thought that he might go ahead and decide to eat her once the broth was gone.
Tagg lost interest in watching once the cat moved on to Kiri’s face. He exited with the firm click of the closing door, leaving Kiri at the mercy of the cat.