Av’ry staggered into K’ivin’s sitting room and collapsed into a plush, velvet chair near the fire. K’ivin fixed the younger man with an appraising gaze, noting that his eyes were bloodshot and he was deathly pale, a sheen of sweat covered his face.
“You look awful,” K’ivin announced at last.
“I’d take offense, but honestly, I can’t look worse than you do,” Av’ry retorted, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I’m old and I’m tired. What’s your excuse?”
“I am extremely sober,” Av’ry responded dryly.
K’ivin considered requesting an explanation for that but decided not to bother. He knew exactly what the man had meant and Av’ry would have expected as much. It was clear from his research that the hound had been telling the truth. He had been Taevyn Fox’s partner in the years leading up to her untimely demise 2 years ago, likely at the hands of the now queen, Istaria. It seemed that he had taken her death very hard and by all official accounts, he had simply vanished. However, unofficially, he had been seen often enough, though not once was he sober. The fact that he seemed to have cleaned himself up and dried himself out in a great hurry to get here was something that inclined K’ivin to believe his story. Also, the information he had brought with him had proven eerily accurate, if a bit out of date. So, though he didn’t entirely trust Av’ry March, he had decided to work with him in a limited capacity and see what developed. It couldn’t make things much worse, at any rate, and he needed all the help he could get.
“So, what do we know?” Av’ry asked, eager to change the subject. “Any leads yet on Istaria’s target?”
“Unfortunately, no. Whatever Fox knew…” K’ivin trailed off, but his implication was clear: whatever else she knew had died with her.
“Well, I might have found a place to start.”
Av’ry reached into his bag and tossed him a leather-bound volume. K’ivin caught the book and looked down at the cover,
“A book of old fairy tales? This tells you something?”
“Shockingly, yes. This was one of the books on the list of items Istaria was known to be collecting 2 years ago. Unusual for a woman her age, with no children, isn’t it?”
K’ivin’s eyes brightened, and he looked down at the musty tome with renewed interest.
“Very odd indeed,” he murmured. “Any other strange materials?”
“There are several other books on Fox’s list, but this was the only one I could get a hold of so far,” Av’ry handed K’ivin the list. “Most of them are fairy tales, but they are also black-market items, since they often delve into draconic lore. When the priests find them, they are usually destroyed. It was Void-cursedly hard to even get a hold this one. Istaria went to real trouble for these, for some reason.”
“Interesting,” K’ivin opened the book and idly leafed through a few pages. “Banned books… She must have had a good reason to go to all that trouble. You are right, this may be a place to start.”
K’ivin chewed his lip for a moment, then nodded to himself.
“I’ll be right back, just wait here for a few moments.”
As K’ivin slipped out into the hall, Av’ry settled back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was exhausted. He’d hardly slept in days, and he really was sober, which was a new and fairly unpleasant sensation. He had seen a healer to get past the worst of the withdrawal, mostly so it wouldn’t kill him, but that had only delayed the onset of the other symptoms, and he was suffering for it now. His head throbbed and his brain slogged along at a tortuously slow place. He had never felt quite so stupid in all his life. More than anything, he desperately wished Fox was here.
“This is pathetic,” he scoffed, chastising himself aloud for his self-pity. “It’s honestly embarrassing. I am pretty sure I used to be competent.”
The empty room offered him no encouragement. Sighing, Av’ry massaged his temples; the chair was plush, the fire was warm and comfortable. He rested his head in his hands and, without meaning to, drifted off into a light sleep.
**
As they crested the hill and the lights of Telvanar became visible, Mikiva breathed a sigh of relief. They had been riding for days with little rest, and she was sore and eager to be home. They had reached the border and crossed into Maaskal almost two days prior. Her secret route was quite well hidden; no one would notice the overgrown cave entrance until they were practically inside of it. It was no wonder the Maaskalan army wasn’t guarding it, they probably didn’t even know it existed. Although now that she thought on it, it might be a good idea to mention it to K’ivin. Either way, the crossing had been easy, but it was still an arduous journey through the mountains. When they had finally emerged into the gentle lowlands near the capital that afternoon their pace had picked up significantly. Now, well into the night, the mountains had disappeared into the darkness behind them. Unconsciously fingering the bruise under her eye, Mikiva glanced down the slope that stretched out in front of her. It was steep and treacherous, so she normally wouldn’t take this way into the city, but it would save them about an hour, and she was eager to get to the palace and report in. As their horses picked their way down in the darkness, Mikiva gave the beast its head, allowing it to find the safest way it could manage, she turned to advise Jade to do the same, only to find the other woman had already done so. She was a good horsewoman, but that only served to remind Mikiva that she shouldn’t be. She liked Jade well enough, but there was no denying that something was off about her. Perhaps K’ivin would be able to figure out what that was. He was good at that sort of thing. All the more reason to get to the palace quickly.
The streets of Telvanar were deserted at such a late hour, most of the honest merchants had locked their doors for the night and turned in. It was not a good time for decent people to be outdoors; luckily for her, Mikiva had never really been all that decent. She led the way through the maze of quiet streets towards the royal residence with Jade following just behind. They were walking now, having stabled their horses by the gate. The guard had let them both through with only a half glance at her papers, it seemed that the paranoia brought on by imminent war had yet to reach the city itself. That would change, likely sooner rather than later. In the meantime, she was glad that she didn’t need to worry about getting in to see K’ivin. If they had tightened security, her usual route of entry might have been blocked off. But it didn’t look like that would be a problem tonight. Which was good; she had barely slept since their encounter in the woods; she needed to bathe and rest, somewhere safe this time. But first, K’ivin needed to know what she knew. He would never forgive her any delays, not at a time like this. The palace finally loomed ahead and Mikiva turned back to Jade,
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Well, this is it, the seat of power for all Maaskal,” Mikiva gestured to the grand royal dwelling.
Jade looked it over critically,
“I’ve seen better.”
Her blasé expression held for a moment, then she snorted a laugh. Mikiva chuckled, the girl certainly had an odd sense of humour.
“Your vast, globe-trotting experience aside, you ready to go in?”
“I assume not through the front door?”
“Nope. Just follow my lead, stay close so the wards don’t detect you as a threat, and watch out for the dogs.”
“Seriously?”
Mikiva just smiled,
“Let’s go.”
The spy went around the perimeter fence and extracted a small key, which she used to open a side gate. Locking it behind Jade, she proceeded across the grass to K’ivin’s private balcony. Reaching into her pocket, she touched the small stone disc that allowed the wards to recognize her as a guest, confirming it was still safely on her person, then she climbed up and tried the door, fully prepared to need to pick the lock, but surprisingly, it was already open. It wasn’t precisely unsafe that way, the wards would keep out any uninvited visitors, even were the door wide open, but K’ivin usually kept it locked out of an abundance of caution. Odd. Stepping inside, the ex-assassin froze in her tracks. The unfamiliar man in the armchair sat up abruptly, as if startled from a sound sleep.
“Who in the Void are you?” he yelped.
His hand went to the sword on his belt, the rasp of metal sliding through leather made her heart rate quicken. It was a sound she knew well, and her body responded automatically, her knives finding her hands in an instant. Before the stranger could even finish standing, Mikiva darted towards him and pressed the tip of her dagger into his neck,
“Drop the sword. Make a move and I’ll slit your throat,” she whispered.
“Do you want me to drop it, or do you want me to not move? Those are mutually exclusive, you know?” the man asked, surprisingly casually.
“Don’t get cute,” she snapped.
“If only I could help it,” he turned back to her and grinned broadly.
Mikiva couldn’t believe the nerve, she had threatened to cut his throat, and he was trying to be charming? Though, she had to admit, now that she got a good look, he was quite attractive. Maybe the flirting normally worked for him. She could see how it might at least be an effective distraction.
“Drop it, now,” she demanded, pushing the thought aside.
She pressed the blade more firmly to his skin and a thin line of blood traced its way down the curve of his neck.
“Alright, alright,” the sword clattered to the stone floor and he raised his empty hands in a show of surrender. “Let’s not be too hasty, here. This is really just a misunderstanding…”
As the man spoke, he had been slowly turning towards her, then, with a quickness she hadn’t expected, he grabbed her wrist and twisted the knife away from his neck. She whipped the knife in her other hand around, but he threw his weight into her, toppling them both to the ground. Landing on top of her, the man pressed his forearm into her throat, trying to grab her wrist as she struggled to bring the knife back around. Mikiva hadn’t wanted to actually hurt him, but he was leaving her no choice. As they both grappled for position, a piercing whistle brought them up short. Mikiva glanced up to see Jade removing her fingers from her mouth. She had forgotten for a moment that the woman was there.
“Alright, I think this has gone on long enough. How about we all drop the pointy objects before someone does something stupid?”
“This isn’t stupid already?” the man eased up the pressure on Mikiva’s throat, just a touch.
“Jade, stay out of this,” Mikiva gasped.
Jade rolled her eyes,
“For crying out loud. Can we at least try to be logical here? No one breaks into a palace to take a nap by the fire. He’s obviously a guest here, and I doubt your boss will appreciate you redecorating the room with his blood.”
Mikiva had to admit that Jade had a point. He was likely here for K’ivin. She may have overreacted when he drew the sword. She was apparently a bit on edge today, and the sleep deprivation wasn’t helping.
“And as for you,” Jade continued, addressing the stranger in the room. “I imagine you are here for the same person we are. K’ivin has been waiting some time for the information my friend here has for him, and I bet he would be a bit unhappy if you choked her to death before she could share. So how about we call a truce before one of you does something they’ll regret?”
“That argument would be a lot more believable if you hadn’t both just climbed in through the balcony,” the man grunted.
“Why is that a problem? That’s how you got in,” Jade shrugged.
“How did you…?”
“I couldn’t help but notice your boot prints on the balcony railing,” Jade replied, glancing pointedly at the soles of his shoes as she spoke. “It seems to be a fairly common entrance around these parts. Must be Maaskalan custom.”
A long tense moment of silence passed,
“Alright, you’re right. I have no reason to fight with you,” the man looked down at Mikiva. “At the same time?”
The last thing Mikiva wanted was to give in. To do so was to show weakness to, for all she knew, an enemy. But Jade was right, this was getting stupid, what was she planning to do? Was she willing to kill him just to prove some ridiculous point? No, she wasn’t that person. Not anymore. With a sigh, Mikiva nodded. In the same moment, she dropped the knife, and he released the pressure on her throat and sat back. Reaching up, she rubbed her neck and drew a deep, ragged breath.
“Much better,” Jade sighed, flopping down in the recently vacated chair by the fire.
Slow, patronizing, clapping drifted into the room from the doorway. Mikiva turned and looked up from her position on the floor,
“That was quite the performance,” the emperor’s advisor strode into the room, shaking his head slowly.
“Hello, K’ivin,” Mikiva waved sheepishly.
“Good to have you back, Mikiva. Though I can’t say I am comforted to know how willing you are to aerate my guests.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off,
“And please don’t say he started it,” K’ivin turned to Jade. “Frankly, it’s nice to know that at least one person here has a good head on their shoulders. Though I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”
“Jade,” the former slave offered a nod and a half smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
K’ivin turned to Mikiva, obviously wanting an explanation,
“She’s with me,” Mikiva replied.
“Clearly. We seem to have some catching up to do, Mikiva.”
“Yes. We do need to talk,” Mikiva looked up pointedly at the man who was still sitting on her legs. “Preferably alone.”
“I agree that would be best. I apologize, Av’ry, but this is the information I have been waiting for. I am afraid it can’t be delayed.”
“I understand, I can wait. Take as long as you need.” the man K’ivin had called Av’ry rose quickly to his feet and offered Mikiva a hand. She batted it aside irritably and stood on her own. She didn’t need any help from him, and she certainly didn’t need him thinking that she did.
“Will your friend be alright here, Mikiva?” K’ivin looked at Jade.
It was clear that he wasn’t asking after her comfort, he wanted to know if Mikiva trusted her to be left without supervision.
“If your friend will be,” she retorted.
K’ivin chuckled,
“Well, that’s settled then. Let’s go to the map room. Av’ry, Jade, please excuse us for a moment. And I would appreciate if you would wait here. Try not to kill anyone until I return.”
The two outsiders nodded their assent. Mikiva grabbed her knives from the floor and followed K’ivin out of the room.