It took them ten days to walk the length of Uilada, take a short ferry to Miscomme, then walk up the peninsula to camp a day away from Hanala. The plan they had crafted was that Raulin would check in at the headquarters, leave immediately for New Wextif to get Garlin, and return to finish the contract. He’d collect his beads and get money from his order. Then, they would spring their new, more simple scheme where Al would claim to be a disgruntled man who killed Raulin in a knife fight at the docks for sleeping with his wife. He’d pretend to stab him, take his mask, then kick him into the water. Telbarisk would make an air bubble for Raulin to breath as he swam to another area along the coast. Anladet had contacts that would act as witnesses, should Arvarikor decide to investigate. Still a risky strategy, but less risky than Raulin having his life almost extinguished in order to pretend to be dead.
Al was still having a hell of a time trying to come to terms with the situation. He understood quickly that the person he had read about for years in the alley novels was not the person before him. That was fiction, fake. Raulin was Raulin, the same as he’d been for the past year, though he did seem far more content than Al had ever seen him. The problem was that their relationship was fundamentally shattered, at least to Al. Raulin continued to treat him the same while Al found himself tongue-tied and bashful at strange points, stammering over his words, instinctively trying to please his master, then reminding himself that it wasn’t what Raulin wanted as he tried to cool himself off of the obedience. Raulin was genial. The few times Al had said, “Your Ma-, Raulin,” he had smiled and say, “Yes, I am.”. He tried to be normal, if only for Raulin.
The four readied for the day in a routine that had become seamless. While Raulin and Al worked on their exercises, which Al struggled to concentrate on, Telbarisk checked the weather and Anla cooked. She didn’t know how to prepare many meals, so they usually ate fried eggs and bacon with fruit she carefully sliced on a small piece of wood Tel had made flat for her. Al and Raulin would find a stream to wet towels in and would return after a quick bath.
After breakfast, Anla and Raulin would go for a “walk”. They did walk for some time, discussing some topic for a bit, then one thing would lead to another and they would find better things to do with their time. On that particular day, a half hour past the time they had left, found Raulin laying on the ground next to Anla, his eyes staring at a nearby flowering bush. He reached out and picked a bright pink flower, the same kind from her wedding bouquet, and tucked it behind her ear. “This is always going to be your flower, you know that?”
“We need to find out what it is so we can plant it in Aviz.”
“Bushes in front of our stoop, one outside our window so we can have clippings in our bedroom. I don’t know if they’ll grow, but we’ll try.”
She kissed him quickly before leaning on his chest. “May I ask how your other contract in Riyala went? We don’t need to return, do we?”
“No, that is finished. Oh, I told you about your brother, but didn’t tell you about Jakith. Seems Arvarikor was checking up on me, to make sure I was doing my contract correctly. I guess I passed the test. But I guess you knew at least Out of curiosity, how did you know how to help me?”
She gave him a mischievous smile. “I snuck into your room when you were taking a bath and read what you wrote. I followed you around the city.”
He sighed. “I’ve had you, the Cumber, and a trirec follow me at the same time and I didn’t even know it. I think it’s high time to get out of this profession; I’m not doing well at it. Oh, and I was also possibly followed by a gang of thieves, if they realized who I was.”
Her smile dropped. “Were you happy with her? You seemed happy.”
“Mmm, no. I was happy to have some companionship and, well, to satisfy needs, but she was more around for me to use. She trounced me thoroughly, so even if I were happy, there wasn’t much time for me to get attached to her.
“There are levels of appreciation to my paramours. I’ve tumbled with some women I really can’t stand,” he said, holding his hand flat almost to his chest. “I’ve had some I thought were cute, but I wasn’t really attracted to.” He raised his hand a little higher. “I’ve had a few that I had a connection with.” His hand rose a little higher. “And I’ve had some women I’ve loved and gave some serious thought about leaving the order for.” He raised it much higher. “And then there’s you.” His hand went as high as he could reach before brushing it aside.
Anla smiled again. “So, no more paramours?”
“Of course not! That’s what I promised. And I’ve been through enough to know that I’m okay with that. I know who I am and I’m not interested in carrying out affairs anymore. In fact, even if I had decided to stay in the order, I’d still cut out seducing women. I’d wait to come home to you.”
“I think that’s not practical, but since we won’t have to worry about it, we shouldn’t have to worry about it.”
“You don’t believe me,” he said, sitting them up.
“Right now I know this is a promise you’d make, but it’s untested. You’d find some girl fetching in some way you couldn’t deny or you’d find no other way to work around your contract but to seduce someone. I understand how men are. It’s okay. We don’t need to talk about this because it’s not going to be a part of our future.”
“This is because of what you’ve seen.” She nodded. He held the sides of her face gently. “This is something worth talking about because we need to work through this. I’ve been terrible to you and I am sorry. I know that words aren’t going to solve that. I will just have to show you that you’re enough for me.”
She smiled and kissed him, then sighed. “Time to get back. We need to get to Hanala, so this is it. We’ll get your last contract done, spring the trap, and head to New Wextif. Just a few more weeks and we’ll be on the train to Aviz.”
He stood and helped her up. “Just a few more weeks.”
It began to pour suddenly and Raulin laughed. “I guess Tel is giving us a message. Come!”
* * *
“They’re not actually going for a walk,” Telbarisk said.
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“Yes, I know,” Al said, wiping the pan clean of grease with some broad leaves.
“They’re actually-”
“I know exactly what they’re doing, Tel. That’s a private thing married couples do. It’s fine.”
“You’re not upset that they are lying to you?”
Al pursed his lips. “Raulin was right. Sometimes people lie, but they’re not bad things. I always thought honesty was the best way to go and that I would always want that in return. I’m thinking now I was wrong.”
“You now think that some lies are fine?”
“I think they’re necessary,” he said, moving over to the bushes to dump the leaves. “It’s best to tell the truth, but there will be times when telling the truth hurts more than lying would. It’s hard. Tichen opined that the best laws are ones that are universal, but that’s not true. That’s…” He stopped when he turned and saw the look on Tel’s face.
“Agarik nemi frask,” he said just above a whisper. It had been one of the commands Al had memorized when they’d been hunting Cove Gray, just in case the wizard had decided to hide in order to ambush Al.
Al paused for just a moment, then adjusted his grip on the pan. “Yes,” he said, his stomach completely knotted from tension. “That’s… that’s too ideal a construct to survive in our world. Tichen didn’t know as much as I once thought.”
He turned and started walking back to the fire, his hackles raised in a chilling, prickly pressure. Even with his superior hearing and his perception of the situation, he still found it hard to hear the whisper-quiet footsteps of someone running up to him. He stopped and swiveled on his feet, using a backhanded motion to connect the bottom of the pan with the figure behind him.
There was a loud clang, not a thump. The trirec had seen the pan coming and had turned into it, taking the full brunt on his mask. He still staggered back a few steps, but recovered quickly, jumping at the wizard, who lost the pan. Al turned and tried to shake him off, but the trirec held onto him. The trirec pulled on him as Al tried to shove him away, backing away one heavy step at a time. There was a thunderclap and the skies opened up, rain pouring in sheets. Al slipped free of his grasp and backed up.
“What do you want?” he shouted over the roar of the rain.
The trirec crouched and began looking for an opening. It was at this moment that Al noticed he held two daggers in his hands, the same shape as the ones Raulin had. Weapon, he thought, and ran to his pack. He made it just in time to grab his ax and swing it wide in a circle, missing the trirec by an inch. He started wide with his grasp far out on the handle and pulled the ax closer in towards him, hoping to lure in the trirec before he swung out again.
The trirec watched, stepping back. Al almost had him backed against a tree when he dashed to the side, slipping around the radius of Al’s attack. He turned and they both realized at the same moment two things: they were evenly matched, years of training and skill versus heightened balance and tenacity, and that there was a better target.
“Come at me!” Al yelled as the trirec ran towards Telbarisk. “No!”
Tel hadn’t even stood up, sitting to concentrate better on making the rains fall to give Al the advantage. He looked up as the trirec sank behind him and pressed a knife to his neck. “Raulin Kemor!” he barked in that gulping way that Merakians spoke.
“Raulin’s that way,” Al said pointing, halting ten feet away from the hostage situation.
“Raulin Kemor!” he repeated.
“Do you want me to go get him?”
“Go!”
“Okay, okay,” he said.
“Okay,” the trirec repeated, his beady eyes warning of his intentions if Al didn’t leave.
The rain stopped. Al hadn’t even gotten near the edge of the clearing before he saw Raulin and Anla walk into view. He stood still and met his eyes. “Raulin…”
Raulin’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment until he looked past him at Telbarisk and the trirec.
They say you can tell a lot about a man by how he reacts in the moment he realizes his life is over. Some blubber and plead, others bargain, others fight or rage. Raulin gave a quick smile and a laugh, then sauntered over to his pack. He picked up his mask and put it on, then walked casually towards the trirec, giving him a wide berth. “Well met,” he said, speaking in Merakian.
“You dishonor us by showing your face to the miartha!” he said.
“I am on a spy mission and I can’t-”
“Silence! No one speaks, especially her, or I will spill his blood all over the ground. One sound from her and he dies.”
“Let me tell them.” He switched his tongue to Ghenian. “No one is to speak, especially Anla. I’m guessing he knows about your magic.”
She swallowed and nodded.
Raulin turned back. “You’re Jakith, the trirec from Riyala.”
“I am,” he said.
“Care to tell me about your contract now?”
“I just had to follow you and wait until you broke your vows.”
“What do you want? Money? Contracts? I’d like to remind you that I saved your life in Monsard…”
“You think poorly of me if you think you can bribe me.” He cracked his neck. “It was sanctioned for me to work in tandem, due to the nature of the situation. I tell you this so that you don’t get the idea of ambushing me and either killing me or using her foul magics on me. If I don’t report to my colleague or colleagues soon, they will go to Hanala and report that I am missing. Then, ten trirecs will be sent to find you and slaughter you without mercy.”
“I didn’t really think I was worth such measures.”
“It isn’t you but the what you tried to do. You must be made an example of.”
Jakith was just a pawn in this, therefore it wasn’t worth trying to convince him otherwise. “Let us break our camp and gather our things before heading off to Hanala. I assume we’re traveling until we get there?”
“Yes.”
“Just a few minutes, then.” He turned to the group. “We’re breaking camp. Let’s gather our things and move to the road. No words.” Anla caught his gaze and gave him a pleading look. “It’s fine,” he said softly. “It’s just a miscommunication I need to clear up with Arvarikor.” She gave him a dubious look because the rock-grinding sound coated his words. “Shh. I love you.”
To Jakith he said, “I think you should take me by knife-point. It will be awkward with Telbarisk.”
He gave Tel his pack, slipping his wedding ring into his large hand, and stood with his arms out while Jakith searched him, removing all the knives he had on him. When they were finished, they walked solemnly out onto the road and began the trek north to Hanala, everyone in front of Jakith. A few miles down the road, right as Raulin was beginning to suspect this was a solo operation, another trirec appeared from the other side of a building. He greeted Jakith and asked how he was faring. Since his voice was distinctive, Raulin recognized it immediately. “Curvot,” he said. “This is about Afren, then? We promised no retaliation!”
Jakith jammed his knife into his ribs. Sharp pain blossomed and he felt the area grow wet after a few moments. “I warned you not to speak!”
“No more words,” he said through clenched teeth.
The people who lived just out of Hanala stopped and stared at a strange group parading through the streets. Some even followed, murmuring loudly when a third trirec appeared. This must be Ratzik or the other trirec who had assaulted him in New Wextif. It didn’t matter because the fourth member of the group showed up not far from the gates of the compound.
By this time it was late in the evening. The lamps were burning and the traffic had slowed, which was a godsend to a group of eight trying to navigate a street wide enough for only two carriages.
Jakith pounded on the sliding door before Curvot pulled on the bell. Isken was only a minute in answering, his voice changing quickly from a pleasant tone to one of alarm. “Open the damn gate,” Jakith said.
While he was distracted, Raulin risked another wound by leaning close to Telbarisk and spoke quickly to him. “Raulin?” the grivven asked right before the gate opened to accept the trirecs, then slammed in their faces.
“What’s going on?” Al asked. “What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Don’t say anything about trirec ways, trust Isken, I love you all, and I’m sorry.”
“Sorry about what?” he asked, but mid-question he looked over at Anla and had seen her fall down into the street, hugging her stomach as she began to cry. This was not good, he realized, but he would do everything in his power to help his friend.