Interlude: Lenore

“Gillis got sentenced.”

Lenore looked up and raised an eyebrow. Kai had burst into the Pearl, breathless and looking more excited than she’d seen him in years. Like this, he resembled his round-faced teenage self, the same awkward lanky-limbed boy who’d wandered into the Pearl one day looking for a job.

She paused her current writing and reached for a new piece of paper, setting it down on the table. “Is that so?”

Kai nodded vigorously and handed over a crinkled newspaper, which Lenore studied critically.

“Yeah, they announced it at the square and everything! They’re trying to find an executioner now.”

A quick scan of the newspaper indicated that Kai was correct. SERIAL KILLER TERRORIZING ALNWICK UNMASKED, the headline read. Marcus Gillis’s actual name was located further down in the body text—the Gillis family had likely paid the newspaper to keep their name out of the headlines directly, but the damage was done. Lenore hummed and set the newspaper aside to add to her file on the Gillis family later.

“Joshua wouldn’t do it?” she remarked. Kai shook his head.

“Nah. He said he didn’t want to deal with any nobles getting pissy with him.” Kai leaned over the table conspiratorially. “I heard Marcus’s brother’s been sending out threats to anyone thinking of taking the job.”

Lenore chuckled. “Come now Kai, what’ve we said about rumors? I only deal in fact.”

The [Receptionist] snorted and shrugged. “Well I’m not the informant here. I’m just saying what I heard.” His nose scrunched in thought. “It sounded like they were thinking of hiring someone outside Alnwick to do it.”

“They may need to, if that’s their only option.” Lenore scribbled a few extra notes on her paper. She’d known the identity of the Ribcage Killer, as the newspapers had dubbed him, some time ago, but she was genuinely surprised that he’d been arrested considering his family name.

Old memories rose, nudged to the surface by the present. She still remembered running barefoot through the slums as a little girl, hiding away at night behind trash piles and anywhere else she could find. The wards protected Alnwick from Echoes, but there were other types of monsters that lurked the streets in the darkness.

The ones of her childhood hadn’t been caught, had been allowed to terrorize the slums freely while the upper crust turned a blind eye to it. No reason to waste guards protecting trash, after all.

Lenore shook her head and set her pen down. Either Marcus Gillis was foolish or particularly deranged to have targeted fellow nobles when he could’ve easily gotten away with his crimes, though she didn’t care much to understand the mind of a man like that.

“Anyway, the execution’s next week if they can find someone,” Kai was saying. “Right in the square. You gonna watch?”

Lenore hummed. It was clear Kai was going regardless of whether or not it was during his shift, but if it was exactly a week away then the Pearl would be closed that day anyway. She supposed this might be an opportunity to collect more information, and she would admit she was curious to see who would take the execution job.

Lenore rose from her seat, gathering her notes and the newspaper to put away with the rest of her files.

“Perhaps I will.”

—

The city square was packed. Lenore exhaled, the cool air crisp against her skin. She pulled her cloak closer—she was wearing her long overcoat and a hat specifically designed to hide her face. She’d become well known enough in Alnwick by now that she’d rather not draw extra attention to herself.

There were more people gathered than Lenore had seen in a long time, but she supposed the situation was indeed quite rare. The scaffold had already been set up, and murmurs coursed through the waiting crowd. She listened in, catching flashes of conversation. Most were commenting on the killings or the execution—nothing new or particularly useful.

“Yeesh, it’s packed,” Kai said from beside her. He was squinting in an attempt to get a better view of the scaffold. A row of guards stood in the back, but there was no sign of Marcus Gillis or the executioner. “See anything yet?”

As if on cue, the volume of the crowd surged. Lenore’s gaze shifted to the right. The doors of the city hall opened and a man in chains was roughly dragged out by two guards, three more standing stiffly behind him.

It was Marcus Gillis, though he was hardly recognizable in his current state. His usual finery had been replaced with tattered prisoner’s clothing, his dark hair was limp and fell messily in front of his face, and he was covered in a layer of grime. Angered shouts and jeers rose from the crowd as he was dragged forward towards the scaffold, Kai joining in with a few creative hollers of his own.

The guards stopped just at the edge of the scaffold stairs, muscles tense as they waited. They, too, were likely worried about repercussions at the hands of the Gillis family, though Lenore herself doubted they would be particularly severe. The only other surviving member of the family was the convicted’s younger brother, and the Gillis family itself had continuously lost influence over the past several years.

As Lenore waited, the crowd suddenly quieted. She was immediately on alert, dark eyes scanning the square before they landed on the source of the hush.

The city hall doors had opened a second time, and this time an unfamiliar figure stepped out. She was tall and well muscled, with thin grey hair pulled low to the neck that streamed behind her as she walked. But the most distinguishing features were the scars. There were layers of them, thin lines and dark splotches and burns and stab marks piled on top of each other until there was barely any unmarred skin left. Lenore felt her eyebrows raise. She’d never seen someone with so many scars before, and evidently from the onlookers’ reactions, she wasn’t the only one.

Kai cursed under his breath. “Damn, what do you think happened?” he muttered.

Lenore didn’t answer, too focused on watching as the woman strode forward towards the scaffold. She didn’t give the crowd a second glance, ignoring the stares and whispers, and walked with a quiet, calm confidence. A few people leaned further away as she passed them. Everything about her exuded danger, and even after she slipped the executioner cloak on, some unease lingered.

The execution itself was almost laughably short for the fanfare. Marcus Gillis was shoved roughly onto the scaffold. Face now covered by the cloak, the [Executioner] unsheathed a long blade that gleamed in the light. A single swing was all it took to behead the man, and then it was over. Quick. Practiced. Professional.

The temporary stillness that had fallen over the crowd broke, and the cheers and hollers returned full force as the people celebrated. Lenore, however, remained quiet, watching as the [Executioner] silently stepped down the stairs and headed towards the city hall, blood-soaked blade still in hand. A creeping shadow distinctly separate from the crowd.

She didn’t look away until the woman had disappeared into the building, and it was only after the [Executioner] was long gone that Lenore finally peeled her eyes away.

She turned away from the scaffold and nodded at Kai.

“Let’s go.”

—

Alnwick quickly returned to usual following the execution. By then, Lenore had brushed aside her interest in the [Executioner] as a passing curiosity.

She was an informant; it was only natural that something new and mysterious would grab her attention. She knew the city so well by now that anything out of the ordinary warranted a second glance. With that in mind, she continued working at the Pearl and put the scarred stranger out of her mind.

That was until one evening, when Kai burst into her room out of breath.

Lenore raised an eyebrow and finished tying her robe. “I assume you have a good reason for barging in,” she remarked.

The [Receptionist] didn’t answer right away, instead taking a moment to catch his breath. Evidently he’d sprinted up the stairs.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“She’s here,” he finally got out, gesturing wildly. Lenore hummed in acknowledgement.

“And who would that be?”

“The scary executioner!”

That finally got Lenore’s attention. She turned to the man, dark eyes sharp.

“She showed up a few minutes ago,” Kai explained. “She said she’s looking for guarding jobs in the city.”

“Not a client?”

The [Receptionist] shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it.” He nodded down the hallway. Through the open door, Lenore could see a few of the other courtesans had poked their heads out of their doors, curious at the noise, but they didn’t interrupt the conversation. They knew Lenore would tell them what was going on later.

“I told her to wait in the lounge,” Kai continued. “I said I’d get my boss.”

Lenore smoothed out her clothes a final time and grabbed her pipe as she headed to the door. “I’m surprised you didn’t send her away immediately,” she remarked as she exited the room.

Kai shrugged. “Eh, I figured we could use an extra guard. Besides, you looked interested.” He shot her a pointed look, indicating he’d noticed her staring at the execution. Lenore laughed.

“Cheeky, but not wrong.”

They descended down the stairs at a steady pace with Lenore leading at the front. The reception area quickly came into view, empty save for a single person who stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the Pearl’s elegant decorations. The Gillis case [Executioner] turned to face them as they neared the first floor, and she looked exactly the same as Lenore remembered.

No one spoke for a moment. Grey eyes scanned the two new arrivals, and Lenore noticed the practiced ease of the gesture. There was an almost clinical, detached quality to it. She next took note of the sheathed sword kept at the [Executioner]’s side where it was both unobtrusive and could still be easily drawn. Her body language was casual, but also deliberately left no openings.

This was likely someone well acquainted with combat, Lenore guessed, and smart or experienced enough not to judge by appearances. She’d purposely avoided putting anything on over her robe—she’d found over the years that she could learn a lot about a person depending on how they reacted to her, and right now, the [Executioner] was regarding her as a potential threat.

Lenore smiled and leaned forward on the railing, purposely remaining on the staircase to force the other woman to look up at her.

“My receptionist tells me you’re looking for a job,” she began. She kept her voice light and fluid even as she deliberately asserted her authority by referring to Kai as “her” receptionist.

“He would be correct.” The [Executioner]’s gaze remained even and steady. “I’m staying in the city for a while, so I’m looking for guard jobs. I thought I’d check every place I saw.”

“I see.” Lenore casually crossed her arms on the railing, the neck of her robe falling lower with the movement. “And are you aware that this is a brothel?”

“I thought it might be.” The [Executioner] nodded at the building’s front door. “The Empire uses a different flower pattern, but it’s quite similar to your wreath.”

That gave Lenore pause.

“You’re from the Empire?”

“I am.” The stranger raised an eyebrow. “Will that be a problem?”

It occurred to Lenore in that moment, as she stared down at the scarred woman, that she, too, was being tested. Dark blue eyes met steel grey, neither one speaking as they continued to assess the other. Lenore heard Kai shift behind her, but she didn’t move her gaze from the [Executioner].

A slow smile spread across her face, sharper and more genuine than the one from before.

“No,” she said. “I don’t think that’ll be an issue at all.”

—

“Is that a new scar?”

Spade paused and glanced back, raising an eyebrow. In the flickering candlelight, her eyes seemed to glow. “Which one?”

Lenore pushed herself up from the bed and placed a hand along the [Executioner]’s bicep, where a long thin scar sat underneath a larger jagged one. “This.”

Spade hummed. “Ah, that one might be. I think it’s from an Echo attack.”

Lenore snorted and shook her head fondly. “Of course you wouldn’t remember.”

The [Executioner] smiled. She finished tugging her shirt on, hiding the new scar. “Well, there’s an awful lot to keep track of, and that one’s been there for a few years now.” She cocked her head. “I believe I got it on the road to Sindrey.”

“Ah yes, Sindrey.” Lenore gestured at her robe lying in a crumpled heap at the foot of the bed. Spade silently grabbed it and helped her slip it on. “I’m still shocked you stayed in one place for so long.”

“It was a decent enough job,” Spade said simply as she finished tying the sash. “And I did get a Tier 1 class out of it.”

That had indeed been a surprise when they’d met again. Spade had been stuck at level 20, Tier 0 during her stay in Alnwick as many often were when they couldn’t afford a crest.

Lenore hummed and gestured for the [Executioner] to turn around. It was rare to see her with her hair down, and she found herself running her fingers through the dry, thin strands, untangling any knots she found. Those grey strands, like the scars, told a story.

“Paid better than Alnwick, I assume.” The words were joking, and Spade chuckled at them. Once there might’ve been some bitterness there, but that had long since faded.

“If you want me to stay, there are better ways to ask,” the [Executioner] said wryly. Lenore snorted.

“I’m afraid I act like too much of a fool around you,” she drawled. “I do have a reputation to maintain.” Her gaze shifted briefly to the closed door.

It had been odd to see the [Executioner] again. She’d long accepted their brief affair as a single flash in a long life, transient in nature. But then the door had opened and Spade had walked through looking the same as she had two years ago, and for a moment it was as though nothing had changed.

Lenore reached over to the dressing table and grabbed her pipe, lighting it and taking a puff. Neither of them had changed much, it seemed—both for better and for worse. Dark blue eyes landed back on Spade.

It was almost funny to look back on it now. In the beginning, she’d held a certain awe for the [Executioner]. She’d seemed larger than life in a way that no other person had made her feel. While the respect remained, as she’d grown closer to Spade, she’d begun seeing more of the cracks.

These days, Lenore often thought of the [Executioner] as an explosion happening in slow motion; so bright and awe-inspiring in the moment that you couldn’t take your eyes away. It was only after you forced yourself to step back that you realized the scale of the destruction. There was no stopping it. There would be—could be—nothing left in the aftermath.

Lenore twisted the pipe around in her fingers, idly exhaling another smoke ring as she pulled herself away from the thoughts. If she focused, she could just barely make out the sounds of footsteps downstairs. It seemed her guests were beginning to wake up.

“How are those two?” she found herself asking. She gestured vaguely. “What’s your opinion of them?”

Spade hummed noncommittally. “They’re interesting. Leo’s more soft-hearted than I thought he’d be, and Allan reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger.”

Lenore raised an eyebrow at that. “Really? He doesn’t look the type.”

“I thought you were the one who always said not to judge by appearances,” Spade said with a smile. “I’m keeping an eye on him. I suspect things will come to a head with him soon.”

Lenore hummed in agreement. “Do you think Leo will manage to become the new Administrator?” It was a serious question, and if she hadn’t seen the determination in the [Fragmentholder]’s eyes following the Echo attack last night, she might not have entertained the thought at all.

“I don’t know,” Spade said truthfully. She turned back to Lenore. “But I think he’ll surprise people.”

Lenore didn’t respond to that, simply digesting the words. She hadn’t known what to think at first when Spade had appeared again traveling with two other people, but the more she saw of them and spoke with them, the more she understood how their odd little group had managed to stay together so far. Like draws to like indeed, she thought.

She rose from the bed and smoothed out her robe. Spade followed, waiting while Lenore twisted the doorknob. They’d done this routine enough times not to need to speak about it.

As Spade grabbed her bag and readied to leave the room, grey hair trailing behind her, Lenore gave the [Executioner] a final look. Words rose to her lips that she allowed to fade away, unspoken. Useless questions and sentiments with answers she already knew. Are you still searching. Are you happy. Don’t die.

She shook her head, tugging the door open and revealing the dark hallway beyond.

“Take care,” she finally settled on. She expected Spade to nod and leave as she always did, but instead, the [Executioner] paused long enough to look back. Those flat grey eyes watched her, as unreadable as ever.

“You too.”

And then she turned and exited the room, disappearing into the shadows of the hallway beyond.

Lenore stood by the open doorway for a moment longer, simply watching the [Executioner]’s retreating back. It was only after she’d long vanished from view that she finally shut the door again.

Now alone in the room, she stepped over to the rumpled bed and sat down, gazing up at her new painting. It looked good there, she thought, tracing the rough, violent brush strokes with her gaze.

A sudden weariness took hold. She’d need to attend to the Pearl soon; the Echo attack had rattled everyone, and she could hear the creaking of floorboards as the whole building began to wake.

But for now, alone in the dim quiet, she allowed herself to close her eyes and rest.