At first I thought it would take a heavy hand to get Monaco’s cohorts to talk.
The man with the gunshot wound in his leg was still unconscious. Roland’s sister, Lou, had set about digging the bullet out of the wound, busying herself with her medical training. I didn’t understand why she would help someone who had attacked us, and I watched her work from a short distance as I tried to figure it out.
Yuzuruha had dumped the passed out thief on the floor in another room. The room was littered with things I’d never seen before; tubes and wires, bulbs and pipes, tinker tools, and the like. She said it was Roland’s workshop where he did maintenance on his weapon. She swept a bunch of tools off one table in a corner and left the thief there, though not before taking anything he could use as a weapon and tying his hands behind his back with a belt.
Lou took some soap and water from a nearby basin and washed her hands, then laid out her toolbag next to the thief. She drew several instruments from it, then set about her work. She didn’t say a word as she dug around in the giant hole in the thief’s leg for the bullet, finally extracting it with a pair of slim tweezers.
From the doorway, about ten feet away, I stood in silence. I was as fascinated by her skills as I was confused by her decision to treat the man. Eventually, Roland stood next to me, observing his sister as she pulled out a roll of bandages to wrap around the leg. “Why bother with him? He’s our enemy.”
He gave a heavy sigh before he answered. “Because she’s a medic. It’s what she’s trained to do. Oddly enough, having a patient to treat calms her, focuses her. After what happened, with my life threatened by that thief, the only way she knows how to cope with her stress is to distract herself.”
“Still seems like a pointless waste.”
There was a pause before he spoke again. “She wanted to be a doctor. But we never had enough money to send her to a proper school. I joined the Forgeborn Army to help pay her tuition while she studied to pass the entrance exam. We were both working hard to make that dream come true.” He sighed again. “Then the Ishmarians invaded Marevar and anyone with decent medical knowledge was drafted for the Medic Corps. She got deployed in the second wave, after the Army occupied Elorik.”
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up at the mention of the invasion. I know that’s a really touchy subject for pretty much everyone here. I didn’t poke at it because I was afraid it might cause some tension. Trying to keep a neutral tone in my voice, I danced around the subject to see what his intention in bringing it up was. “So you were both soldiers in the Army?”
He crossed his arms. “I was the soldier, in name and rank. Lou wasn’t. The commanders figured there would be a lot of civilians in need of medical aid, so they put out an emergency call to ensure they’d have enough people to handle them. Lou was reporting for duty before I even found her draft notice. She was that eager to help.”
His green eyes became clouded. “But she wasn’t ready for what she saw. My sister has a gentle heart and a pure soul. When she saw the cruelty inflicted on the commoners who made it to Elorik, she got to see the uglier side of her dream.” He lowered his voice. “Do you know the difference between a combat medic and a doctor?”
Having had little experience with doctors in Ishmar, I did not. “No. We didn’t really put a whole lot of importance on doctors in Ishmar. A glorious end in battle was to be welcomed, not avoided.”
Roland skated around my attempt at baiting him into making a statement about Ishmarians and continued. “Doctors have the luxury of working with equipment and trained staff, usually with enough supplies to help their patients. Medics don’t have any of that. Lou knew going in that her odds of saving people was going to be drastically less than ideal. Didn’t stop her from trying, though. And it broke her heart because she had to watch good people who did nothing wrong die.” I felt a twinge of regret, but he put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault. War is ugly. Doesn’t matter who is on what side or what they’re fighting for. So even if that man is our enemy, please indulge my sister. This is the only way she knows how to have any control over her situation.”
Lou finished her bandaging, snipping the cloth with a pair of shears and slouching back in a nearby chair. She’d been working for nearly an hour, so focused on her task that she was oblivious to everything around her. Now that she was no longer fixated on her patient, she turned her head and saw the two of us in the doorway.
“I’m hungry. Go make me some food, Rol.”
“You want some tea too while I’m at it? Yuzu could probably use some too. Our guests as well.” She nodded silently. “Alright. It’ll be a few minutes. Tea alright with you, Alicia?” At first I was taken aback by his tone. He seems like he really doesn’t hold anything against me. Then again, maybe he’s just better at hiding it. Yuzuruha and Lou seem like the types to wear their hearts on their sleeves, so concealing his feelings kind of balances them out.
“Yeah. Tea will be fine.” He swooped out of view.
Leaving Lou with her thoughts, I returned to the living room. Sheena and Yuzuruha were seated on opposite ends of the couch. Neither were talking. Yuzuruha was sitting with her arms crossed, her signature snarl on her face, while Sheena had her eyes closed and legs crossed in a posture of meditation, her hands in her lap. Or maybe she’s sleeping. Last I checked she was still pretty messed up from that liquor she had earlier.
“Where’s Alverd?” I asked.
Yuzuruha was the one to reply. “He took that thief ta’ the back room. Used ta’ be mah brothers’ room, now we just use it as storage. He’s just been starin’ at that damn thief fer the whole last hour. Bastard ain’t gonna cooperate.” I know the thief didn’t want to say anything, but has Alverd really just been giving him the silent treatment for that long?
Following her instructions, I slid the door on the far side of the living room open and entered a hallway. At the end of the hall on my left was the room she’d mentioned. I thought about knocking but saw how fragile the sliding door looked and tapped my foot on the wooden floor instead.
“Come in.” Alverd’s voice said from the inside.
I came in, pushing the door back shut behind me. Most of the far side of the room was stacked full of things that wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the home, neatly packed into wooden crates stacked on top of each other. Like most of the house, the floor was made of wooden mat and was comfortable to sit on; I placed myself next to Alverd, who was cross-legged in the middle of the room. Seated in front of him about five feet away was the thief, who had a thick length of chain wrapped around his legs.
Now that his gear had been taken and the alchemical foam was gone, I could make out more about him. He was a weasel beastman with wiry limbs and beady eyes. Instead of hairs on his arms he had patches of fur that began above the elbow and ended at the backs of his hands. He had slightly longer buck teeth and a nest of dirty dark brown hair, which had been hidden under a cowl. His eyes shifted from Alverd to me and back nervously, but he said nothing.
“He hasn’t been very talkative. I was hoping he would be more forthcoming but he’s kept his silence for the last hour,” Alverd said, lifting his chin in the thief’s direction.
The thief didn’t respond, just continued to look at us both as if sizing us up. Bet he’s wondering if he could outrun us with that chain on his legs, or some other equally stupid gamble. Occasionally he would lean left or right, switching his weight distribution as if testing something. Doesn’t matter how fast he thinks he can run, I can run faster. My legs may not be that long but I can sprint fast enough to catch a wounded thief.
“Have you tried threatening him yet?” I asked. The thief’s brow twitched so quickly that I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been looking at him.
“Threatening people isn’t what a knight would do. I would prevail upon his better nature to tell me the truth.”
I scoffed. “A thief’s better nature? Isn’t there some idiom about how they have no honor among them?”
“When I say his better nature, I really mean his best interest. After all, isn’t that what scoundrels always default to in the end?” He said with a wink and a smile. My heart skipped a beat when he winked. I wasn’t expecting that. Evros, that actually caught me off guard. Get yourself under control. Now’s not the time to get butterflies.
“So how does one appeal to a thief’s best interests?” I asked with faux innocence.
Alverd raised his voice a bit as he started his little game. “Well a thief normally wouldn’t get thrown in jail if he were part of a reputable guild like the Four Winds, provided he registered his guild card with the local authorities.” He gave the thief a pointed look. “Which I’m sure he did. After all, that’s just the law. If he registered, then he has nothing to worry about.”
A bead of sweat ran down the side of the beastman’s face, but his expression didn’t falter. “As a law-abiding individual, it’s my duty to report Monaco to the guard. If they find out she didn’t register her card either, then I guess a city wide manhunt will be declared for her. She did mention she was going to hit the Repository, and that’s a serious crime.” The thief’s eyes narrowed. It’s working. Alverd is a lot smarter than he looks.
Now on a roll, he leaned forward. “They’ll also look for any contacts or associates she might have. Anything that will help them establish means or a motive. I’ll be ever so happy to turn you over. And I’m sure the Emperor’s people will be far less conscientious about your well-being than I.”
Not gonna lie, I kind of like when Alverd threatens people. I smirked, the corner of my mouth lifting as I saw the genius of his approach. I mean, it’s not threatening. More like just stating facts. The hook is in, now we see whether he bites.
More sweat was rolling down the man’s face. He was breathing harder, too. Finally he sighed, leaned back, and groaned. “Alright, alright,” he whined in a nasally voice. “I get it. I got no good choices. But I wanna know what’s in it for me if I tell ya what ya wanna know.”
Smirking, Alverd tilted his head as he saw the bait taken. “Well, if what you tell me is so helpful that I can act on it right away, I might just forget you exist. I’ve got bigger fish to fry, so to speak.” He pulled out a map of Blossom City that Lou had given him earlier and placed it on the ground before the thief, tapping his pointer finger on it to flatten it out. “Give me the location of your hideout. Tell me what you’re here to steal. Then I won’t turn you in.”
Alverd willingly letting a thief go? I bet Kuro won’t believe this. I’d love to see the look on his face when we find him and tell him that he bent the rules to cut a criminal loose. The thief swallowed, then nodded.
“Broken Mirror. We hired some locals to scout around town, learn about the Repository but they ratted us out to the Glassmen.”
“Who are the Glassmen?” I asked.
“They’re the local crime syndicate. They run the entire Broken Mirror district. A bunch of cutthroats who unified together to make the idea of cleaning out the Mirror too costly to the Imperial Guard. When the Glassmen found out we were planning a heist, they came demanding their cut. We had to make a deal with them.”
“What kind of deal?” Alverd prompted. “The kind where you throw somebody under the wagon. Once we told the Glassmen we were here for the Hand of the Usurper, they wanted to speak to Monaco. But I doubt she would’ve agreed to their terms, so we had to arrange for her to meet with them in private.”
“Arrange? You work for her. Why are you talking like you aren’t on the same side?” I said.
“Because we ain’t. I don’t work for her, I work for the Guildmaster. I dunno all the details but she’s got an axe to grind with Monaco, ‘cause she told us to get rid of her after we got the Hand of the Usurper.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“So you saw a way to kill a whole flock of birds with just one stone.” Alverd said, his voice growing cold.
“Look, I won’t lie. It all just kind of came together as we went. Glassmen wanted their pound of flesh, we wanted Monaco gone.” I had to stop myself from choking the rat bastard out, but I kept my hands by my sides.
“Where in the Broken Mirror district is your hideout? How many more of you are there?” Alverd said.
“Six more of us. But by now they’ve hightailed it. We agreed to abandon that location once we set Monaco up. Our plan was to reconvene elsewhere. In the Silken River Markets.” The thief saw how angry I looked and squirmed. “The rest of the crew is probably just removing any trace of us back at the hideout, then they’ll scatter. If you move now, you might catch them.”
Having gotten what he wanted, Alverd pushed himself off the floor and stood up. “Well, then time is of the essence. We should get moving, Alicia.”
I rose off the ground and cracked my knuckles. “I agree. To the markets.” The thief’s beady eyes widened.
“No no, I said that’s where we were meeting later.”
Alverd let out a small laugh. “Which means that your crew burnt your lair by now. You’re sending us on a wild goose chase. Why go looking for where they are, when I could wait for them where they’ll be?” He dusted his hands together, then called out. “Yuzuruha. We’re done here. He’s all yours.”
The heavy footsteps of the heavily armored woman echoed in the hallway. Soon she was looming in the doorway, her face full of unrestrained malicious glee. “Finally. Ah’ll just drag this fool down ta’ the Guard now. That is, after ah’m done makin’ ‘im pay fer all the grief he jus’ put mah friends through.” She ground her fists in her palms. “Lou has her way ta’ burn off stress, and ah have mine.”
The thief swiveled his weaselly gaze back at Alverd. “Wait! You said I could walk away! You tricked me!”
Alverd crossed his arms. “I said I wouldn’t turn you in. That’s Yuzuruha’s job. I’m going to walk out the front of this house and let her deal with you. You are, after all, trespassing. Not to mention you attacked her and her friends.” The slightest hint of a grin appeared on his face. “She has every right to report you for a host of crimes. I suggest you comply.”
Didn’t think Alverd could be so cunning. Maybe Kuro is rubbing off on him. Not sure whether that’s good or bad, but my money is on bad. They’re supposed to balance each other out, not turn into each other. Following Alverd out into the hall, I stepped out of Yuzuruha’s way so she could slide the door shut behind her. I heard one last whimper from the room before I walked out of earshot.
Back in the living room, Sheena was still sitting cross-legged on the couch. Her eyes were open though, suggesting she’d finished her meditation. “Urgh. We simply cannot go anywhere without stumbling into trouble, can we?” Alverd shook his head.
“It would seem not, and we’re about to go find more. Up for a trip to the markets, Sheena?”
She unfolded her legs and stood up, arching her back as she stretched her arms over her head. “Hrrrnnngh. Some fresh air sounds lovely. An evening stroll through a busy market could be just what I need to unwind.” She picked up her staff, which lay against the wall. “Will everything be alright here? Your friends will be okay?”
“We can take care of ourselves.” Roland appeared, carrying a tray with a simple teapot and several plain china cups. He set the tray down on the small table in the center of the living room before seating himself in front of it, legs crossed and under the table’s covering. So that’s what that table was for. Kierhaians sit at it? I guess chairs are kind of an oddity here.
Lou came out of her workshop, dabbing at her head with a cloth rag. She sat down opposite her brother, placing the weapon Kuro had confiscated from her earlier on the table. “We won’t get caught unawares this time. Rol and I turn this place into a proper fortress. Just make sure you come back in one piece.” She waited for her brother to pick up the teapot and start pouring boiling tea into the cups.
The three of us were halfway out the front door when Roland’s voice called out behind us. “Hold on a moment. Miss Ishmarian.” I turned warily. “Pardon, Alicia.” He did his best to keep his voice neutral. “Beware the markets. I’ve seen Ishmarians there lately. Men and women in gleaming black armor reminiscent of dragon scales. I’m sure you know what that means.”
Mother Evros, as if we didn’t have enough things to worry about already. “Black Scale Legionnaires. Thanks for the warning. We’ll keep an eye out for them.”
He nodded to me solemnly. “There’s talk their leader is here to make some kind of treaty with Ishmar. The previous Emperor would’ve sent them packing, but his son isn’t old or smart enough to see their envoy for what he is: a snake. Watch yourself.”
Alverd led the two of us out into the street. By now night had properly fallen and the stars were faint in the sky above, drowned out by the lights coming from the inner reaches of the city. Sheena hailed a man standing nearby with an unusual cart to bring it over. The man, dressed in a loose-fitting orange tunic with simple embroidery, waved to another similarly dressed man not far away from him and the two brought their cart over.
I only called it a cart because I had no idea what it was actually called. It was a coach seat on two wheels with a wooden canopy over it, with a solid metal bar encircling the front that the two men used to push the cart as they ran to us. As they screeched to a halt, the two men gave us a once over. They were identical twins, human men with dark but well-groomed hair and goatees and lean physiques.
“Rickshaw runners, at your service! See Blossom City in the most authentic way possible. We have reasonable rates, whether your aim is business or pleasure.” One of the men saw Alverd and then gave Sheena and I a once-over, then grinned lecherously. “Well look at this. High roller out with his ladyfriends. Perhaps the latter, then?” His brother snickered.
Alverd put a stop to their idiocy quickly. “Business, actually. We need to get to the Silken River Markets. On the double, if you please.” The two men exchanged glances and then nodded.
“Aye, Silken River. Where gold and hidden treasures flow like purest springwater. Hop on, boss!” The man on the left gave the cart a kick with his foot, and a small staircase unfolded out of the bottom.
Alverd helped me up into the rickety wagon, and I took a seat on a worn but comfortable cushion on the far side of the rickshaw. Alverd then stepped in, and gave his hand to help Sheena in. Once we were all in the rickshaw, the driver hooked his foot under the stair and pushed it back up into the hidden compartment it had come from, and with some grunts of effort, the two brothers took off down the street.
Unlike the covered wagon we’d used to reach Blossom City, the rickshaw gave me the opportunity to see the sights as we went. A special lane allowed us to move adjacent to the stone paths that ordinary citizens walked on, giving us more mobility in navigating the tangled mess of traffic that choked many of the city’s streets. Whether they were street vendors moving their stores into place or weary workers hauling their equipment home, movement was at a standstill for the most part.
“Like a spring, all roads lead to the market, and from there wealth flows outward,” one of the runners said, struggling to speak in between breaths. He was definitely not expecting to haul a man in full armor and his two companions today. “You can find anything you seek in the Silken River, esteemed guest, no matter how rare your taste might be.”
Twenty minutes of listening to the flowery language of the runners started to grate on my nerves. Why do some people have to take so many words to say something that only requires a few? Is that really what helps sell this place to outsiders? I looked over at Sheena, who had stars in her eyes. She was soaking in the sights with childish glee, each new thing catching her attention only long enough for another shiny object to snare her.
A teahouse with a second story open air terrace with live entertainment, a statue of a fearsome looking dog with flamelike fur and a row of dancers weaving through a crowd with synchronized grace all managed to draw her eyes for a few moments. The market in Ethenia didn’t look anything like this. She’s probably impressed with what she sees, and so am I, albeit for different reasons.
To Sheena, this was simply a new culture for her to learn about. For me, it was another example of how much more alive people were outside of Ishmar. This is what I can offer my people when I return to them. But it’s not enough to offer it. I need to make good on those promises. My people need food, safety, the ability to grow and learn.
I paid less attention to the scenery as my thoughts lingered on how I would bring change home. For hundreds of years my people have been taught to hate, taught to fear. It’s all they know. People resist change naturally, and when they’ve been trained to do so over such a long period of time, it’s all the more difficult to overcome. I don’t know if there’s any hope at all.
Where would I even start? What proof could I offer them? Would they even believe me? There were so many doubts in my mind, swirling and bubbling like boiling water. This is too soon. Convincing your people is too far away a thing to worry about. Focus on the task at hand. The image of a calm river appeared in my mind, with me standing in the middle, water diverting around me as I stood without moving in the current. Don’t let your stray thoughts distract you. Stay here and now.
Suddenly the current became choppy, water slapping against me with increasing strength and frequency until they felt like full on waves. An intense feeling of sheer wrongness took shape somewhere down in front of me, howling crimson and hostile intention pointed at me like an arrow. Something comes! Steel yourself! Instinct seized control of my muscles as the wrongness forged itself into a spear and lunged forward.
The world became a misty haze as my vision turned into a tunnel of fuzzy thought and blurred lines, and I saw the crossbow bolts hurtling towards our rickshaw as tiny streaks of glinting black coming straight at us. I raised my arms and opened my fingers, the sound of my own breathing echoing in my ears. Any other noise ceased to exist as I watched the bolts come closer and closer.
I seized the edge of the wooden canopy. A flimsy metal bar was the only thing holding it in place over our heads. Without thinking I twisted my arms, and the metal groaned as I bent it through sheer adrenaline and force of will. With a cry of fury I pulled the canopy forward and down, the wood between our faces and the bolts.
Time sped back up. Sound came rushing in like water through a broken dam. There were screams, panic, confusion. Not even a second later the two bolts hit the canopy and I saw the metal head of one bolt pass within inches of my face as it tried to punch through the flimsy wooden shield I’d put in its way. A few inches away, the other bolt did the same, not managing to get far enough through to hit Sheena.
It took a moment for it to sink in that she had been in danger, during which her eyes wandered to the pointed head of the bolt that was now only inches away from her chest. Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth opening and closing in disbelief. “How… how did you know that was going to happen?” She stammered.
“I didn’t. It’s just instinct. A good berserker can sense hostile intent, and the best ones can act before they become victims to it.” I pushed the canopy back up, the metal bar screeching loudly.
With the canopy no longer in the way, I could see our assailants. Two humanoid figures in black armor stood in the middle of the road, crossbows already being reloaded. But when I looked closer, I realized they weren’t Black Scale Legionnaires like I suspected.
While the attackers were wearing black segmented splint armor that gave it the appearance of dragon scales, they also had garish golden capes and helmets with visors and golden horns. Most distinct of all were their gauntlets; among the black and gold, they also had red streaks that looked eerily like blood splattered across them. They still bore the Legion insignia as clasps for the capes, but something felt wrong about the armor itself. The armor is radiating some kind of malice from it, like bloodlust so thick I can taste it. The armor itself is… wrong. Like a corpse walking or something.
The crossbows aimed and fired again. I rolled out of the rickshaw, trusting Alverd to do what he did best. As I hit the ground and tucked into a ball to come back up in a ready stance, Alverd lifted his shield and hauled Sheena out of the rickshaw, deflecting the bolt aimed at her as he pulled her in close. The two runners, realizing they were now in the middle of a fight, hit the ground and tried to crawl under the rickshaw.
The armored men didn’t bother reloading again. Dropping their crossbows, they drew swords from their waists and charged forward silently. They moved unnaturally fast for such heavy armor; they had to be carrying at least fifty or sixty pounds of metal on them and yet they sprinted forward with inhuman speed. They had started about one hundred feet away but in the space of only ten seconds they were almost upon us. I pulled my maul off my shoulder and made ready to fight.
The one closer to me leapt off the road and onto a nearby stone lantern, somehow managing to land on the narrow space atop the light source like some freakish cat before jumping up and drawing a second sword midair. He landed right next to me and started swinging his swords in tandem, alternating his strikes to keep me on the defensive. I had to struggle to keep up, as his speed gave him a clear advantage that my more cumbersome weapon couldn’t easily counter.
How can he keep this pace up? Even a man in peak condition couldn’t fight like this for very long. Is there a demon or a man in that armor? Mother Evros, this close I can barely breathe over the stench of that thing’s murder aura. The air felt sickly and acrid, like the smell of acid eating through metal. How can he breathe in there? What is this?
In my mind’s eye the river turned an ugly yellowish green, streaks of red passing through it as I fought to stay above the water. I can’t concentrate. I’m getting pulled under… I feel like I just want to kill everything around me. It would be easier. Just give in. Just give in. Just give in. Just give in…
The warrior slammed both his swords down on the haft of my maul, forcing me down on one knee. He pushed hard, trying to unbalance me so he could strike a killing blow. Waves of murderous energy washed over me like a heat wave in the Ishmarian summer, each one chewing my resolve apart. Mother Evros, no. I can’t succumb. I refuse to go so easily.
“Alicia!” Sheena’s voice cut through the fog, bringing me back into sharp focus. A lance of ice ricocheted off my attacker’s helmet, knocking him away but not off his feet. She had taken cover behind the rickshaw and had her staff in hand. Alverd was doing far better against his foe, matching him blow for blow and using his shield to keep him at bay.
“Snap out of it, Alicia! Now is not the time for you to be passing out!”
As if in agreement, the warrior pushed me again, the full weight of his upper body laying into my maul. Twisting my body, I let go of the maul and rolled forward. The warrior pitched forward and over, losing his balance. As he flailed, I rolled past his right flank and pulled one of the daggers he had holstered there; before he could stand back up, I drove it into this abdomen in the weak spot where the front and back plates of his armor were held together with laces, then yanked it out and stabbed him two more times.
But I wasn’t going to stop there. Driven by the suffocating aura, I let rage surge into my limbs. I hoisted the man up and then dove back, throwing him over my shoulder as I rolled backward and pitched him through the air. He landed on the ground in a heap, but no noise escaped him. I grabbed my fallen maul and ran over to finish him off.
“Enough!” A deep, gravelly voice rang through the street. A man dressed in armor similar to the my attacker strode out from under the red spirit gate that marked an entrance to the Silken River Markets. He was tall, well built, and had copious amounts of grey in his hair, which had probably been a very dark brown at one point. His beard was well kept and long enough to showcase his age without being gaudy or bushy. At his side was a longsword in its sheath, and countless trinkets harvested off mages hung from his belt like trophies. I stopped in my tracks when I heard his command, and he fixed me with his weathered brown eyes.
“I know who you are. The Queen believes you dead, but as I can see, she is wrong on yet another matter.” The newcomer bowed to me, showing respect customary of one addressing royalty in Ishmar. “A pleasure to meet you, Princess. I believe the last time I saw you, you were still hiding behind your mother’s knees. But I would recognize you anywhere.” He straightened himself up and made a strange motion with his arm in the direction of Alverd.
The warrior fighting Alverd disengaged immediately. Something about the way the warrior moved was unsettling and unnatural, and in the dim light I couldn’t make out anything of the man’s face under the visor of his helmet. Even more disturbing was that the man I’d been fighting stood up, yanked the dagger I’d taken out of his stomach, and slid it back into his holster without any blood coating the blade. Both warriors took up positions flanking the newcomer, standing silently just behind him.
Sheena didn’t come out from behind the rickshaw. Her eyes were locked on the tall man, her face full of unmasked anger. “Don’t you come any closer! You and your thralls stay over there or I’ll put a lance through your head!” The tall man didn’t flinch, but his face didn’t betray any emotion as he responded. “There is no need for that, Witch-Queen. You are not my quarry today.”
Alverd sheathed his sword and placed himself between the tall man and Sheena. “You must be General Guunzel. We’ve heard all about your reputation. Imagine that… behind that mask of yours is just an old man playing errand boy for his new Queen.”
“That my Queen would send the most capable warrior under her command on this mission speaks to my capability. If she thought any less than her best would suffice, she would have sent them instead.” Guunzel repeated his bow, although it was far more terse than his previous one. “General Pedrias Guunzel, at your service. I apologize for the aggressiveness of my loyal Talionis. They tend not to ask questions when they catch the scent of their prey.”
So that’s what they’re called. I’ve never heard of anything like that in the Ishmarian military. What did Sheena call them? Thralls? Guunzel saw where I was looking and grimaced. “This must look very confusing where you’re standing, Princess. Perhaps once you’ve seen what my comrades have accomplished since our mission began, you might understand what we aim to achieve.”
I didn’t put my maul away, although I relaxed my posture. “What would that be, General?”
With a sweep of his cape, Guunzel turned back in the direction of the Markets, where a crowd was watching to see if hostilities were about to break out again. “Peace, Evros willing. Peace between Ishmar and Kierhai, everlasting.”