Chapter 29: The winner's prize

Death was no stranger to me; I had witnessed fights where both contenders bit it, I had seen corpses rotting in the sewers, I even abandoned my own mother’s corpse.

I knew the Drak’oora had not much life left; his death didn’t come by surprise. Me standing there, spellbound and out of myself, was not the consequence of his parting. No, I didn’t care much for that old man; I was desperate to ask him questions, to hear the rest of his story.

Why wouldn’t you leave a successor behind? I couldn’t understand how someone with so many secrets would just die and let all of them be lost. It made absolutely no sense!

She what? I inwardly shouted as I remembered his last unfinished sentence. Who is it that tortures Her? And why would they do so?

I had only seen the tip of the truth; I had confirmation, even if only the word of a man looking at his death, that the Empire was orchestrating everything behind our backs. And what’s worse, the Drak’oora seemed to be in the charade. Did he grow a conscience? Had he decided that he didn’t want to be part of this anymore?

I heard rushed steps coming from beyond the door, cries of alarm being thrown right next to me, yet I couldn’t care for those. He had said that everyone could speak with Her, even potentially see Her true form. The Empire had weaved a web to stop us from doing either, by supplying cheap Ink, by hiding the old glyphs and replacing them with watered versions. And everything must be to stop us from finding out what they are doing to Her. What cou-

“You!” A strong grab on my shoulder woke me up from my thoughts. I focused my sight on the man in front of me, noticing his burning eyes and panicked expression. “Explain yourself!”

His other hand was shining; I saw the Ink on his torso rapidly becoming a curved sword in his closed punch. He thinks I killed him! My eyes opened wide at the sudden realization.

“No!” I could barely say before the metal described an arc towards my neck. “I-” I felt a cut burning on my neck. “Ah!” I screamed as my brain caught up with the pain, making me take a step back. “I haven’t done anything!”

Deep inside me, I wanted to fight back, I burst with the desire to stab him with my La’er, I wanted for everyone to know what a moron he was, assuming what had happened and taking justice by his own hand. Luckily, I wasn’t dumb enough to do either of those and had to make do with clenching my teeth, holding all my pent-up anger. It wasn’t sufficient that Kasd decided it was his time to die, leaving all those unanswered questions, that I was also being blamed for it.

“Look,” I said, raising my arms in a defensive position, “I won the challenge, and he was congratulating me; we were talking when he suddenly...” I didn’t finish the phrase and, instead, pointed towards his body.

He took his sweet time, what felt like hours, examining me. I had no clue what he was looking for, but whatever it was, surely didn’t lead to a bow. His body lowered as his hand touched his shoulder, the sword quickly released. My fame might have just gone up, but there were absolutely zero possibilities it warranted such a felt gesture.

“You can leave,” a feminine voice said from my back. It didn’t take a genius to get the clues and figure out that Drak’oora Layan had arrived.

I was saved from him, whoever he was, but I had fallen prey to someone much harder to deal with. Don’t let any Drak’oora know, his last words echoed in my head. I couldn’t agree more with him, yet how could I explain having won the challenge without revealing my new ability?

“Come.” Her voice was dry, definitive. I had yet to turn, but I was sure she couldn’t care less for the corpse in the room; maybe she hadn’t even looked at it.

I wasn’t in a position to say anything, so I followed behind her, probably towards her office. I used our silent walk, only interrupted when she met with someone and explained the situation to figure out a way out. I couldn’t say it had been chance; it was simply impossible. Luck might have opened the lid, in which case I would have been dead. No, I had to disclose something and bend the truth around so I could still remain unsuspected. Discarding my gifted sight, I only had one other escape.

“Should I say congratulations?” Her voice was mixed with laughter, ending the sentence with an unshameful scoff. I didn’t answer; nothing I could say would do me a favor. “How.” Once again, the word came like a knife, piercing through my ears and stabbing on my head—a single word, yet full of meaning behind.

“She told me,” I said, taking a gigantic leap that might very well end with me crashing against the floor.

Drak’oora Kasd said that all of them could talk with Her, and by its looks, he actually meant having conversations. I had barely gotten her to repeat my name, and that was before being granted my vision. Perhaps it was a question of perseverance, probably it had to do with my Ink’s quality, but the fact remained that I couldn’t converse with Her. I was betting, hopefully to the right horse, that She could tell me what to draw.

Tension wouldn’t even begin to describe how I felt. My legs wanted to shake, I could feel my stomach revolting, I had to stop my eyes from frantically blinking, my lips wanted to twitch, my whole body was screaming for me to take it out of there. It took me an immeasurable amount of willpower to stop them all. If I walked out of there with the truth still hidden, I would have to lie in bed for days to recover from the emotional hit.

She didn’t speak, and neither did I. If I added anything else to my explanation, I could expose my lie. I didn’t know how those interactions with Her worked; adding more details was akin to suicide. Not even the sword on my neck from a minute ago could compare with the eternity I was being put through. It took longer than it should have, maybe she was waiting, betting if I would break, but she eventually nodded. She hummed, lost in deep thought, and hopefully for the last time on that night, I had to repress a sight.

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“Maybe you are ready, now.” She said, speaking to nobody in particular. It was more a reaffirmation for herself than something I should be answering. “Yes, it’s time.”

“Time?” I asked, silenced by a severe look that ordered me to listen and shut my mouth.

“The Empire has requested for an Inker, one of our best actually. Now, normally, I wouldn’t send you, your formation is not yet complete, and your age... well, they might see it as a problem. However,” she raised a finger, “it’s time for you to-”

“No, no, no.” I couldn’t hear any more of what she was saying.

She wanted to send me to the Empire, back to the place I had almost died once, where Spare was killed. I could only think what would happen if I stepped in Lamar one more time. Given our feats, I wouldn’t have expected anything less than the whole Baril’s soldiers chasing me. No, I couldn’t go there. No matter what.

“Maybe,” she continued, noticeably bothered by my interruption, “I haven’t expressed myself well. I am not asking if you want to go to the Empire; I’m am calling in my favor, you are going.” The words entered through my ears, but the sound was muffled by all the feelings rushing to my head.

“I-I can’t! I still haven’t read those bo-”

“I. Don’t. Care.” She cut me short. “They have something that I want, and you will bring it to me. Get ready; you are moving out in three days. Eithe-”

“I said I can’t!” I exploded, shouting as loud as I could. My whole body moved forward, tensing and readying for action. “If I have to go there, you might as well kill me now!” I kept my furious tone, spitting as words came out of me.

She squinted one eye, caught by surprise by my answer; she had never expected I would offer my life like it was nothing. Her mouth opened, she was about to say something, yet not sounds came out at all. It closed and opened several times, her face turning ugly as she tried to refute my words.

“The reason I can’t go there,” I breathed with as much calm as I could, “is this.” I sat down on the floor, leaving my left leg half extended.

For the first time in what seemed an eternity, I was about to reveal the Inkpot. I had been careful enough to hide it whenever I went to the baths, making sure no prying eyes would discover my secret. Sure, my chest was tattooed in that same blood-red Ink, but that didn’t prove much. Maybe my teacher had been rich, or perhaps it was another similar tone of red. An Inkpot that size, however, was unequivocal proof of my origins.

As I undid the knot that kept the cloth tightly wrapped around my ankle, I looked Layan in the eyes. Her raised eyebrow slowly went back to its natural position, her eyes rapidly widening and her mouth opening against her own control. I’m stupid! The thought popped up on my mind later than it should have. Kasd had just told me a few minutes ago that Ink quality played a considerable role in entering communion, yet there I was, exposing the best Ink of all. Her eyes were round, naturally so.

“You are a noble...” Her disbelief was evident from her voice and look.

Was I a noble? I didn’t consider myself one, but she had just offered me a way out. If I could somehow sell that I was still a noble, yet had somehow fallen out with part of my family, then maybe I could preserve my Inkpot. I nodded, scheming my way out while she thought about her next question.

“Why would that be a reason not to go back?” If anything, being a noble should be a way in, not something that threatens your life.

“I became Spare’s student against my family’s wishes,” I made up, trying to sell my lie. “I escaped from the Baril’s domain, studying while fending off assassins that my father’s internal enemies send my way.” It wasn’t a secret that there were opposing forces stuck in a power struggle inside every big house. I was a pawn in their battle, a chip they could get rid of to weaken my father. Or at least that’s what I was implying.

“I’m not buying a single word,” she came down hard as a hammer, shattering all my hopes. I gulped, already scrambling for new ideas. “Although, I do believe someone wants you dead, which is why I’m willing to give you some time.”

“I will need more than just some time,” I replied, perhaps stretching the already tense situation too much. Yet, it was true; I would need years to go back there.

“Three years.”

“Sorry?” I had been ready to protest, to haggle a few more years. Maybe even use my new ability or even my Ink as leverage. Her offer caught me entirely off guard.

“Isn’t that enough? Five years, then.” I was frozen, looking at her with astonishment. “You will have grown; I doubt they will be able to recognize you that easily.”

“Yes, of course,” I said after shaking my head.

“In exchange-” fuck! I inwardly cursed, refusing to believe how I could have been so naive as to think she was giving more time out of the goodness of her heart. “-I want a third of that.” I followed her finger and wasn’t surprised to see it landing on my ankle.

“No.” I didn’t hesitate, not letting even more than a second pass by. A simple no, I didn’t add anything else. It wasn’t up to debate.

“Kid! Don’t tempt you-”

“Five years,” I didn’t let her finish. “Only then will I give you a single drop. Consider it my way of saying thank you.” Only that it wasn’t a thank you, it was borrowing time, making sure I’d have those years.

“What’s to stop me from killing you and getting every drop of it right now?” Her face turned into a dark smile, one brought from nightmares.

“You want something inside the Empire, and I’m the only one that can get it.” I shrugged my shoulders, acting as if it wasn’t important. But, of course, the only reason she had agreed to my terms was that.

“Five years, don’t betray me, or-” I couldn’t help but think of my severed arm, of my body being mutilated, even of my death, “- I will make your friends suffer terrible deaths.” Yet what I wasn’t expecting was a threat to someone else; my friends.

“We’ll talk about your task when the time comes,” she dismissed me with her hand.

“Actually, I have to ask for one more thing.” Her eyes went blank, and I heard her sigh. “I need someone to train me in combat.”

If there was the tiniest chance of them finding out about me, and realistically speaking, there was, I wanted to be prepared. Spare’s memories would help for sure, but recalling movements and techniques isn’t enough. You must teach your body, train your muscles, memorize every single stance until they become second nature to you. And, for those physical tasks, I would need a master.

“I will get someone. And now,” her voice turned completely monotone, “be gone before I change my mind.”

Still, with my mind in turmoil, I left the office and the building, walking away as fast as I could without breaking into a run. The square, save for Makka, Yaira, and some bystanders, was empty. Undoubtedly, the news of Kasd’s death had been given; nobody was expecting any festivity to take place, as was usually the case when the challenge ended.

My friends, though, wanted to celebrate. And perhaps I should have let them, acting as if nothing had happened, forgetting about everything and enjoying myself for once. Yes, it would have been better than breaking the news to them. Yaira seemed particularly affected by my new assignment, not giving me enough time to explain we still had five years and killing the mood for everyone. I don’t blame her; I’m convinced I subconsciously laid the information in a way that would make that happen.

Five years, that seemed like a long time for my young self. Now, however, I know that they are gone in the blink of an eye.