Chapter 9

I was sweating more than I would on a midsummer day upon the hills.

The braziers were a roaring flame that had no tame to them. I was breathing heavily, feeling weak and ready to slump. Ready to give up.

“You're slacking!” Raina spat.

Slowly, I picked myself up from the stage and rubbed the back of my head, “Can we stop soon?”

Ben stood opposite me. His stupid face was expressionless as always.

“Pathetic,” Said Raina and stomped her cane onto the stage, “Again!”

Ben sauntered towards me, His legs squat and his palms out. I had gotten better at keeping him off me for a while. I would twist my body to make things awkward or dig my heels in to keep my stance firm, but eventually, he would out-muscle or out-manoeuvre me. He would get me where he wanted and then.

Up. Over. SLAM!

Before I knew it, I was facing the ceiling for what felt like the hundredth time. I had gotten so used to seeing that ceiling that I began to take note of which of the misshapen stone blocks had chips in them and which ones were darker than the others… It had been a trying few days.

The routine became a simple one. I would get up at sunrise and make sure to spot the Helms spying on me on their first patrol around the ruin. After a few attempts of actively seeking them out, they were easy to spot. They were hunched and mixed in with the crowd, or they were leaned up against the wall. hooded. No matter what time of day.

When they were gone, I would then make my way to the Merchants’ Bridge and meet a Mard, or so they called themselves. He would blindfold me and bring me to the crypts and then Raina would torture me for the next four hours by way of combat training. After that, I’d be escorted back to the ruin for the second patrol and then back to the crypts for more torture. On the first day, I tried convincing them that I didn’t need to train so vigorously, but I quickly learned that I’d had a better chance of convincing grass to stop growing than changing Raina’s mind.

She stepped over me as I stared up at the familiar ceiling. “You need to bend your knees more and keep your back straight, counter Ben's strength against him as he comes forward. You have muscles hill man, so fucking use them!”

I let out an exhausted breath. I was fed up, “Why are we doing this? you have said yourself that my motion of the stabbing is convincing enough to fool the guards. Why do I need to learn how to wrestle?”

She jabbed me in the stomach with her cane which caused me to spit out and yelp. “Because you're soft, that’s why. You’re about to cost us a valuable asset with our informer. And in return, we get you. A Bervian who doesn’t even speak the local language. You best believe that I’m at least going to have you in fighting shape if I’m to make any sort of gain on this investment…AGAIN!”

Slowly, I rise to my feet, “you sound a lot like the people that threatened us.”

Raina gave a pitiful laugh, “The fools south of the Ghid offer you a knife in the back and we offer you a bed with a warm fire and a full belly. You should be kissing my feet hill man… Ben!”

The small blond man charged and,

Up. Over. SLAM!

It rocked me so hard that I felt my insides shake. A ringing went through my ears that didn’t let up and I felt a sharp pain in my jaw of all places. Ben had used extra force.

“Care to comment on anything else Bervian?” said Raina.

I let out a large cough, “I would kiss feet, but I’d fear that their stench would kill me before the Helms got the chance.”

I heard Gerert snort from afar. Even Ben smirked.

“A Bervian with a sense of humour, now that is a rarity,” said Raina. “It’s almost time to get you back for the second patrol. Go and get yourself cleaned up. You have a big day tomorrow.”

She nodded at Ben curtly and without another word, they left the stage. They exited the training ground, opening and closing the doors behind them. Not bothering to look back.

I had gotten used to her cold demeanour quite quickly. When she was done with you, she was really done with you.

I stayed on the floor for a moment to catch my breath. Then I sat up and wiped the sweat from my brow. I let out a large sigh before making it to my feet. Everything ached. From head to heel. I felt as if I had been run over by a horse. By a hundred horses. The only thing that stopped me from quitting was knowing that Caine probably had it worse.

I made my way to the built-in stone bench that edged the length of the hall. I wiped my brow again and began to gingerly change from my robes back into the ragged clothes I was wearing before I arrived at the crypts.

“You’re looking a lot better,” Gerert said as he took a seat next to me.

“Ben manages to pin me every time,” I said.

“Yes, but it’s taking him longer than it did five days ago. It shows that you’re improving.”

“I suppose.”

Gerert pressed his hands together and leaned back on the bench, “You nervous? About tomorrow I mean.”

I didn’t reply right away, instead, I paused and thought about it. Was I nervous? In truth I hadn’t had time to be nervous, Raina had kept me busy all week escorting me from one part of town to the other, working me to near death, and then drilling into me the importance of not messing up on my part of the plan. Any time that I did have spare, I had to pretend to do a mock reconnaissance on Gerert, in order to throw the Helms of our scent. This happened on the second patrol, and it wasn’t easy as it meant I had to walk to the northern parts of the city after an intense morning workout in the crypts. If it wasn’t for the Mards feeding me, I would have collapsed in the street.

I shrugged, “I’m not sure… I’m more concerned about what’s happening to Caine than myself. What about you?”

“Bah! Not really, if anything I’m looking forward to it. I mean sure I will miss Wannihiem. It has its charms, with its buildings and its business, but it also comes with a strong smell of rats and not just ones with fur. Humn on the other hand, now there is a city that has elegance. It has all the culture of Wannihiem without any of the… grit. It’s a perfect place to retire.”

“So, you’re planning on leaving?”

“Indeed. The plan is for me to stay dead. It’s for the best. If I were to stay here and be recognised by the Helms it could cause retaliation that would be catastrophic, it would bring along the wrong sort of attention. No, it’s best to quit whilst I’m ahead. I just need to work up the courage to tell my wife.” I frowned at him.

He read my expression perfectly and shrugged, “I couldn’t find the right words to say at the time and so I didn’t say anything, it’s a problem I have sometimes. If I’m honest, she still doesn’t know that I have been a Mard man for the past decade. She thinks I’m a traveling merchant that trades through the free cities. When really, I hardly ever leave Wannihiem,” he began to Snigger, “She’s in for a big surprise tomorrow when I tell her and the boys that we are taking our things and heading downriver.” He let out a wheezing laugh and clutched his chest.

I found myself grinning.

The lanky man who was my escort home approached. I nodded to him. it was my time to go.

Gerert placed a hand on my shoulder, “You’ll do all right here hill man.” He rose to his feet and bowed to the escort lowly and somewhat mockingly.

“Just remember one thing, no one in this city is who they say they are, and the ones that are, are to be feared the most.” He gave me a Bervian salute before setting off down the hall in the drunken gait he did the first time I saw him.

*

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It was the morning of the big day, the day that I had spent all week training for, the day I get my brother back. I awoke early to find Anna in my room at the ruin. How she knew where it was, I had no idea, I certainly never told her. Neither could I tell how long she had been watching me sleep. It was both comforting and terrifying.

She was leaning against the wall, idly inspecting her nails “Do you realise how much you snore?”

“How can I when I’m asleep?” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Aren’t you afraid of being seen?”

“Not today. I called in a favour… Get dressed, we have work to do.”

There was no time for breakfast apparently, as soon as I was dressed and ready, Anna rushed me out of the ruin. She went from relaxed to tense the moment we were out in the open. The way she walked with her head down and bunched her shoulders told me she had no desire to be noticed, and so I copied her as best I could. Both of us were hooded, she had made sure of that, they were dark, colourless things that covered our faces down to the nose. We marched to the Merchants’ Bridge at a pace that was just shy of jogging. Her thick black boots splattered in the muddy puddles, and she took long strides for extra measure.

“What about the patrols from the Helms?” I asked breathlessly. Butterflies rose and fell in my stomach as the weight of the day began to sink in.

“Least of my concerns right now. Our boys in The Mule and Mare said that there’s a Helm man at the inn as we speak. And he’s not drinking too much. It could be that it’s the morning and he’s not a man who relies on the drink, but we know better than that don’t we. He’s in there waiting for you.”

“I see.”

“Talk me through the plan again,” Anna said without looking at me.

I gazed along the busy street. Carts stacked with fruits and vegetables crowded the main roads Whilst pedestrians took to the side paths. We weaved among the crowd, doing our best to be invisible to prying eyes.

“I am to arrive at The Mule and Mare at midday and wait there until three hours after midday.”

“Correct.”

“Gerert will enter shortly after I do, he will have two drinks and a nap in between them. Then he’ll leave.”

“How long will his nap be?”

“Around an hour, give or take a few minutes. Although he’s not really asleep, he’s eavesdropping on conversations to find out information.”

“Indeed. Continue.”

“I am to follow him down to the riverbank until he reaches the tree with blue leaves.”

“Correct.”

“There I am to whistle to grab his attention.”

She nodded.

“He is to turn, and I am to grab his right shoulder with my left hand. I am to stab him once in the heart and then try to escape.”

“Correct.”

“Then a guard is to have seen the attack, threaten me at spear point, lock me in shackles, and escort me to the dungeon.”

“What colour tunic will the guard be wearing under his breastplate?” Anna asked, turning her head towards me slightly.

“I... I don’t remember” I said.

“A green one.” She replied.

“I forgot-”

“Don’t forget. This is very important; one slip-up could cost us. What is his hair and eye colour?” “Black hair and blue eyes.”

“Good, and what are you to do if it is another guard?”

“Run.”

“Okay.”

We came to the Revellers’ Square. Even during the morning, it heaved with drunkards that went about singing loudly. Anna hunched herself more, and we walked straight into the centre. Something I never did when passing through. To my amazement, we were not bothered. No one so much as even muttered kling under their breath.

After we were through, we pretty much followed the exact route Caine and I took to the Merchants’ Bridge a week before.

She slowed her pace when we crossed the bridge. I could see her relax her shoulders almost instantly. She pulled her hood back and let her hair fall.

“Much better,” she said with relief.

“Do you never worry that they will follow you across the bridge?”

“The Helms?” She shook her head, “This is Furn territory and the Furns and the Helms are currently …. at odds. Maybe not to the extent that we are, but still.”

“And your… our… people aren't? At odds with the Furns, I mean.”

Anna looked pensive, “There may be some financial disagreements but none that has left us in outright conflicts. Some of the lower members of our group get into tavern brawls now and then. It's bravado usually. Young Mards fuelled by the drink trying to prove themselves. We usually solve such problems with our own justice. For now, we have no issue with them, so we walk freely among each other.”

“But I don’t understand, how are the Helms then able to come so far into the northern parts of the city if they’re bound to the south.”

Anna smiled again, “The Mule and Mare is a neutral territory by the Doge’s orders. He has a few places like it around the city. Ironically, he did it so that there would be less violence between the groups. In truth, all it does is give us a place to scout out and plan against one another. “

“And what about getting there?” I said, “Surely the Helms have to travel through Furn territory, if not Mards aswell.”

“You pick things up quickly hill man.” She held up her fingers. “Two ways,” she said. “They could ask permission. There would be rules for them of course, they wouldn’t be able to do any… business with anyone, and they’d be watched, but they wouldn’t run into any trouble whilst they walked through either. Or they could do what I have just done. Which would be to sneak through. It’s cheaper but dangerous.”

“And which one did they do?”

Anna shrugged, “I can’t say for sure, but I’d wager that they would have spoken to Archin. On a day like this, you don’t want to take any more chances than you need to.”

“But you said the Helms and the Furns were at odds. Why would Archin grant permission to a rival?”

“Because Archin loves coin more than anything. And the Helms will be more than happy to pay if the day goes the way they want it to. Which it won’t of course.”

“Shouldn’t the Mards do something about that then? Shouldn’t they stop this Archin from allowing the Helms to come through?”

Anna shook her head, “It would create too much tension in an already tense time. We don’t dabble in Furns affairs nor do they in ours. The doge would also have an issue with more needless infighting. Besides, these groups are fickle. It might be in the future that we embrace the Helms as friends. It’s best not to make enemies so quickly and for something so small.”

I frowned, “that doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well right now, it doesn’t have to. Right now you only have to worry about what you’re doing today.”

I stopped at the usual spot almost on instinct and was surprised to see there was no lanky Mard man there to blindfold me.

Anna noticed, “Not today Bervian, today we walk to the Inn.”

My heart dropped a little, I was aching from the day before, and the lack of breakfast left me feeling weaker.

“Why?”

“If they see you pull up in a horse and cart, they are going to suspect something. Come along.”

I huffed and then followed her, dragging my feet. when I was close, she pulled my arm like a mother would pull a child. She was stronger than she looked.

“Stop moping, “It’s quicker than it seems, think of your brother.”

Caine. I almost forgot about Caine, as strange as it seemed. He hadn’t entered my mind since I had awoken. In a flash, thoughts of him hit me like an arrow hitting a deer. I stopped still, Anna walked a few steps before noticing I wasn’t beside her and then turned back to me.

“What now?”

“How are you getting him back? My brother I mean.”

She huffed, “As I’ve said before, leave that to us,” she motioned me to keep walking.

I remained still, “not good enough. The only thing I’ve seen of him all week is a carving of his face, it lays in the corner of our room and watches me sleep, I am unable to touch it. For a full week now, you have trained me to do your bidding, and I have listened, and I have learned. The least you could do for me now is to give me the details of what will happen after I do this for you.”

“Where is this coming from Hill man?” she snapped, it was the first I had ever heard sternness in her voice, “We haven’t time.”

I felt emboldened by her sudden burst, “Well, make time. You need me to do this-”

She took a step towards me that cut off my speech. Her face switched from a smile to a sneer. I would be lying if I said didn’t feel a pang of fear. “Need I remind you that the reason you have a whiff of a chance to get out of this alive is because I have thrown you a bone to chew on.”

I puffed my chest, “And need I remind you that in not so long, you want me to do a job for you. A job I won’t do if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

“And then you and your brother will be dead before nightfall.”

“Or I could just aim for the stomach rather than that bag of pig's blood when I ram the knife into Gerert. Let him bleed out like a real pig,”

“And then you and your brother will be dead before nightfall,” She repeated.

“But so will Gerert,” I said, I even dared to smile.

Her eyes glinted and she breathed in deep, “You are playing a dangerous game Bervian.”

“My name is Jeb,” I said, “not hill man, not Bervian, and not kling.”

I kept my gaze on her clouded eye. There was silence for a moment as we looked at each other.

“Fine,” she grunted. “I’ll tell you on the walk. come… Jeb.”

She turned and crossed a road briskly as if to make up for the lost time. I ran after her, carefully dodging a ragged woman carrying a bucket of dirt water.

“Firstly,” she said when I caught up, “Your brother is alive, we got a message this morning.”

“Well, thanks for telling me,” I said.

“Secondly, you need to blink less when you feel intimidated, it’s a tell that could get you killed.”

Anna led us down an alleyway. A girl was sleeping against the wall. She was young, no more than thirteen. And covered in dust and dirt. Anna kicked the girl, and the girl stirred suddenly. She said something in the local tongue to which the girl shook her head.

“Good, we’re clear.”

We carried on moving.

“Now, they will deal with your brother in three different ways. The first will be to kill him, strap a weight to his body, and then cast him down the river. Which is what I think they’ll favour. It’s a perfect crime for them. No one will be looking for the body and if they did, they wouldn’t care about some Bervian.”

I gave her a hard look as we walked out of the other side of the alley and into a new crowd of people.

“It’s the truth,” she said evenly, and then continued. “Second would be to sell him into slavery, it’s mostly outlawed within the city-states, but again, he’s a Bervian and if you can afford a slave you can afford to make people turn a blind eye.”

“And three?”

“Three is they recruit him. It’s rare but it’s been known to happen, people like you make good street informants. A few have even made it through their ranks. Probably the only decent thing about the Helms is that they treat everyone equally bad.”

That made me think of Roc, the Bervian by Ottom’s side on the night this all began. How had he gotten to be that way? So different from any Bervian I’ve known.

“They won’t just let him go?” I asked hopelessly.

Anna laughed aloud; I had seen her smile a lot, but the sudden guffaw caught me off guard.

“Let him go? With all the information he has, not a chance.”

We started to walk through a closed-top fish market. The heat from the steam hit my face in a sudden flush, it made things hard to see but the smells of freshly cooked fish made up for the lack of vision and sent my stomach rumbling.

“So, what will you do to prevent any of that from happening?”

“We go for the latter two of the three options. If they sell him into slavery, then we will be the people that buy him, and if they recruit him into their ranks. Then we have another informant.”

“But if they take the first option?”

“Then that’s when our informant’s cover is blown.”

“I see.”

“No you don’t, but you will, come, we’re going to be late.”