“I don’t understand,” Tanzik said. “What do you mean you’re going to die?”

“Just that. If I die, we have an in with the Rooks.”

“Absolutely not. There’s been enough death, you’re not going to sacrifice yourself.”

“And who said anything about sacrificing? If I can use my magic to make it look like I’m dead, that’ll get their leader’s attention.”

“How about a show?” Lura asked. “We pretend to fight and I more or less figuratively stab you in the back.”

“I don’t like how excited you sound about this,” Allena said hesitantly, holding her arms.

“Someone from the Rooks is likely following us, they’ll see the whole thing.”

“The guards would arrest you,” Tanzik said. “I’m not comfortable with this idea.”

“You could tell the guards,” Allena suggested.

“No,” Lura said. “Too risky, they might have someone planted in the guard. This has to be just us. Tanzik, I’ve avoided the guards before. Once I kill her I can flee.”

“I don’t like how excited you are about this,” Allena said hesitantly.

“Just let me have this.”

“This is too much,” Tanzik said. “This is reckless. The cost of the magic, Allena, when does this end?”

“You don’t understand,” Allena said. “You think you do, but you can’t know what I know about the Phoenix. There is no surviving this. We can only hold out as long as we can. It doesn’t matter if we die now or in a month, it’s all the same.”

“Allena…”

“You think I enjoy this? You think I like any of this?” Tears welled in her eyes. “All I’m doing, all I can do, is try to survive as long as possible. If not for my sake, then…” She looked away.

“For ours,” Tanzik finished. Allena crossed her arms and took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure. Tanzik sighed. “You’d be on your own. We couldn’t help you.”

“I’m open to suggestions,” she said quietly.

Tanzik rubbed his beard in thought. “You’re not doing this alone, Allena. Lura?”

“Yes?” She asked.

“Think you can kill me too?”

“Oh, easily, sure.”

Tanzik frowned. “You’re right, that is disconcerting,” he said to Allena.

“Oh come on,” Lura said. “I respect you enough not to flatter you, and let’s be honest, I’m faster than both of you.”

Tanzik cleared his throat awkwardly. “Okay. So you said we put on a show?”

“Yes, we have a big argument in the street, then I kill you and turn your bodies in to the Rooks. They’ll try to stop me probably but I’ll negotiate. Veza brings us together, you hop back up, we do what we do best.”

There was a moment of silence as Tanzik and Allena thought. “It’s… kill people,” Lura said. “That’s what we—”

“I understand,” Allena said tiredly. “Which of the side streets is less traveled?”

“Hm, probably Half Pass Road,” Lura said. “In the Slate Quarter, one of the older parts of town. Not as many guards there. We do it quick, do it quiet. By one of the market stalls early morning before they open, so I can put you in a cart.”

“How does this work?” Tanzik asked Allena.

“It has to look real. So it has to be real. Lura will have to actually hurt us. We’ll need to leave a trail of blood so they know it’s not an act. Once we get thrown in the cart and we get covered up I’ll heal us like I did when we fought the vargrs.”

“I can make a couple superficial cuts that will bleed a lot without hurting too much,” Lura said. “You’ll just have to make it look convincing.”

“Are you sure about this?” Tanzik asked.

“I don’t see another way,” Allena said.

“Yeah, I’m all good,” Lura said.

There was a moment of silence. “Okay,” Tanzik said. “When do we start this?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Lura said. “It’s late and it’s been an incredibly long day. We’ll sleep close to the castle, Rook’s won’t bother us here.”

“I don’t exactly have any money,” Tanzik said. “The Rooks fleeced me when I was captured.”

“Me too,” Allena said.

“I’ve got a few crowns,” Lura said. “Best not to worry about how.”

Tanzik frowned. “Fine. Snowdrift’s Rest? It’s close, that’s where Allena and I stayed last time.”

“Before we were kidnapped,” Allena said sourly.

Lura waved her hand dismissively, clearly annoyed. “I feel like I need to keep reminding you two, but you very much stabbed me and left me for dead!”

“We settled our debt before we turned in, so we should still be in good standing,” Tanzik said.

They three walked to the Snowdrift’s Rest and paid for a room with three beds. They figured staying together was the most prudent thing to do given the circumstances. If the proprietor remembered Lura, he pretended not to, which suited her well enough.

***

The night went by mercifully quiet, and in the small hours of the morning while it was still dark, they ate a large breakfast together using some of Lura’s ill-gotten coin. After they finished, they left and began to walk to the Slate Quarter.

“Everyone ready?” Lura asked.

“No,” Tanzik said.

“Not really,” Allena echoed.

“Good. Keep you on your feet then. Well, until I… never mind. Okay, here’s the place. Half Pass Road. I know a guy who can hide us.”

“Hide us?” Tanzik asked.

“Yeah. From the Rooks? You know, the people who are trying to actively murder us?” Lura winked.

Seeing the cue, Tanzik shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Hiding in the city is too dangerous. We need to leave.”

“Well sure, that’s why we’re here. My friend can get you out of town.”

“You said we were hiding, not escaping.”

“Same thing.” She turned around to keep going.

Allena put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re hiding something,” she said. “Again.

Lura turned around and grabbed Allena’s wrist. “Don’t tough me, mage.”

“Lura, that’s enough,” said Tanzik as he moved in to stop her.

“Stop!” She shouted. “Fine. Then leave.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I’m not going to turn my back on you.”

Lura sighed. “Look,” she said as she stepped toward him. “If you won’t do this the easy way…”

She whipped out a dagger and cut across his chest. Allena screamed and held up her hands to use magic, but Lura cut through her wrist and moved in to stab her. It wasn’t deep, and she kept it away from any internal organs. Allena gasped from the pain and fell to the ground.

Tanzik rushed to grab Lura, but she ducked under his arms and stabbed him as well. “Sorry, friend,” she whispered in his ear as she pulled him into the blade. He dropped to the ground. Lura looked around quickly to make sure there weren’t witnesses, then put the bodies in a nearby cart, covering it with a tarp. She moved away from the market as quick as she could. Windows were starting to light up and she was sure she had attracted attention.

Under the tarp, Allena held Tanzik close. Her key glowed a soft pale gold as her magic dulled the pain and stopped the bleeding from Tanzik’s wounds, then her own.

“Better?” She whispered.

Tanzik nodded. “Marginally.”

After Lura left the area, she took the cart down an alley. “Right,” she said. “Just need to find the Rooks and get this done with.” She stopped to catch her breath for a minute, then moved forward.

She heard the sound of an object whistling through the air then felt the cold, dull pressure of wood against her head before falling unconscious.

***

Lura woke up to a bright light in a damp cellar that smelled of old wine. Tanzik and Allena were lying in the corner, looking dead with the help of Allena’s magic. Two large enforcers were standing beside Veza, who sat in front of her impatiently tapping his fingers on his knees.

“Gods above, this is dull. There, she awakes! Throw water on her or something.”

“No, I’m go—” The rest of her protest was interrupted by cold water crashing over her face like a wave, gluing her hair to her face past her eyes. She flipped her hair over to the side and forced a grin. “Gotta quit meeting like this, bud.”

Veza squirmed slightly, lips pursed and head shaking. “This familiarity of yours is egregious.”

“Sorry,” she said as she rattled the chains around her wrists. “Wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable, would we?”

“I’m surprised you even know what that means.”

“I don’t! Just using context.”

Veza sniffed. He looked agitated, or at least more so than usual. “I don’t have the stomach for this. I just wanted to see you before you were tortured to death.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t be coy, it doesn’t suit you.”

“I’m not being coy, I just think it’s funny.”

There was a moment of silence before Veza, increasingly more annoyed finally said, “What’s funny, Lurala? Would could possibly be a source of amusement for you hours before the end of your waste of a life ends?”

Her grin widened. “Ah, nothing. Kind of an inside joke.”

“Bloody intolerable. You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side since we met. You killed my finest soldiers and the woman who was, to understate, more indispensable than my right hand. Backstabbers are the most revolting kind of person on this gods forsaken rock, and you are the worst of them all. Ordinarily the sound of screaming is grating, but I will be as happy as I have ever been to hear your screams fade to silence.”

“Okay,” she said. She leaned back on the chair she was shackled to with a smug grin.

He fidgeted with his waistcoat for a moment, then left. He pulled at the door to leave, but it wouldn’t open. He walked back quietly and held out his hand. The enforcers looked at him confused. “The key, you bloody oafs.”

“There’s no key, sir,” one said. “Just the crossbar.”

“The crossbar,” Veza said acridly, “is removed. Go open it.”

The enforcer closer to the cellar door nodded and tried to yank the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. He groaned with effort as he pulled with all his strength but nothing happened.

“Sorry, sir, I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m pulling hard enough to pull it off its hinges. It’s almost like—”

“Magic,” Veza finished. He sighed and crossed his arms, lifting one to rest his forehead on. “You can stand up now, Miss Albard.”

“Already up,” she said. The two enforcers were lifted off the ground with incredible force and cracked their heads on the ceiling above them. They fell to the ground in a heap. Tanzik took his sword back from the enforcer who had confiscated it while Allena helped Lura out of her binds. She touched Lura’s head and a soft gold glow began to heal the wound.

“That’s what was funny,” Lura said. “You thinking I wasn’t walking out of here alive.” She picked up her knives from the other enforcer and pinned Veza against the wall, putting one blade against his neck. He squealed and shuddered, trying to squeeze out of her grip.

“The fearless leader of the Rooks,” Tanzik said sardonically.

“I have a noted aversion to pain,” Veza said shakily.

“That’ll make this easy then,” Lura said. “Tell us what we want to know and you walk out of here alive. In chains, but alive.”

“I’m not suited to prison life.”

“Oh. Pity.” She moved the blade closer to his throat.

“But I’m willing to negotiate.”

“Better.” She tapped the flat side of the blade against his cheek and stepped away. She looked at Allena and gracefully motioned to Veza.

“The token,” she said. Her face was hollow and expressionless, and her eyes looked cold and distant. Veza squirmed. “The Rooks were hired to retrieve it. By who?”

“Privileged information, I’m afraid.”

She held up her hands and wisps of fire danced rhythmically from her palm to her fingertips. “Then allow me the privilege.”

“If I tell you, no one will trust the Rooks again.”

Lura barked a loud, hoarse laugh. “Veza, since you’re not understanding, let me spell it out for you. The Rooks are done. You’re done. No one will trust the Rooks again because there will be no Rooks to trust. Tell the woman what she wants to know or she’ll do to you what she did to Yudhi.”

Veza grew pale. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Allena whispered.

“Couldn’t conceive of it. The job was anonymous. It was a woman, wore a robe and kept her face covered. Wouldn’t give me any details, but she paid up front.”

“How much coin?” Lura asked.

“It wasn’t coin. She paid in ingots. Pure, solid gold. By weight, the equivalent of five thousand crowns.”

“And you didn’t question it?”

He frowned and a flash of anger crossed over his face. “Of course I questioned it. At length. She wasn’t exactly loquacious.”

“Whatever that means,” Lura said.

“Chatty,” Allena said as she leaned a little closer. “Like you need to be.”

“I’m complying rather well, I think.”

“Then who was the recipient?” Lura asked.

“A dead drop in Katavysia. The fountain in the Gold Quarter with the statue of God Queen Katavy.”

“Katavysia is weeks away,” Tanzik said. “When was this supposed to happen?”

“By the end of autumn. She wasn’t concerned about the exact date.”

“Awfully clever of them, which is awfully bad for you,” Lura said. “You’re not giving us a lot to go on, Veza.”

The magic faded from Allena’s hand. “I believe him.”

“To Katavysia then?” Tanzik asked.

“Yeah, sounds fun. Just one more loose end to tie up.” She moved to Veza and put the dagger at his throat. “What, no pleading?”

“Begging for my life is even less dignified than dying,” Veza said. “I know you wouldn’t let me go, and you don’t like me enough to listen.”

“Hey, good guess,” she said.

“Wait!” Tanzik said.

“Don’t get soft on my now, Tanzik, we were told to bring King Hárkast his head.”

“I don’t think that means it has to be detached. He also wanted proof the Rooks had left the city, and who else but Veza can attest to that?”

“I am adept at attesting,” Veza said dryly.

Lura thought for a second. “Hm. Fine. But I get to knock him out at least.”

Veza raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t think that—” Lura slammed the pommel of her dagger on his temple and knocked him to the ground.

“Oh, that felt good,” she said as she sheathed her weapon.

“I’ll carry him back,” Tanzik said.

***

After dragging Veza through the city streets, they were stopped by guards who, after learning who their prisoner was, shackled him and brought him to the dungeons.

King Hárkast beamed with joy at the news and had his steward give them their reward. “And what’s next for the brave unsworn?” He asked.

“We have business in Katavysia unfortunately,” Tanzik said. “We’ll be back as soon as we can, but this is urgent and can’t wait.”

“The border between Serevar and Perandor is closed due to the war. You’ll have to travel south through Monscal to get to Perandor. We’re gathering forces near the border to try to trap the Empire’s forces here and to keep them from sending reinforcements.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“You have my thanks as well. Stormhall is much safer with the Rooks leaderless. My guards will root out the rest of them, but we couldn’t have done this without you. The gold I’ve given you feels insufficient, but you’re always welcome in my hall.”

Tanzik, Lura, and Allena all bowed and left the castle. They spent the rest of the day purchasing horses and supplies for the journey with their newfound wealth. They kept a few coins for other expenses, but deposited the rest in Stormhall’s bank for their return.

The next morning, they rode out toward the Monscal border, and spent the next few days riding across the Serevaran countryside.

“We should head for Makan,” Tanzik said. “It’s just a couple days away and we can resupply there.”

“Didn’t you say Makan was where you were born?” Lura asked. “So this is sort of a homecoming for you.”

“Kind of. It was sacked when I was young, so I wasn’t there for long.” He still held some anger about it, but tried to keep it under wraps.

“You said a power struggle, right? I remember you said you didn’t know much.”

“I know a little more than I let on. At the time, I had just met you and Allena was wary of you so I kept some details back.”

“Of course she was,” Lura said, rolling her eyes.

“There was a fight between the Khayin family, and the other ruling familes of Monscal. The Khayins wanted the Empire to take over Monscal, and the disagreement tore Makan apart. My parents…” He sighed. Allena put a hand on his arm reassuringly. “They gave their lives to get me out of the city. Monscal joined the Empire after the sacking of Makan. The other families changed their tune and sided with the Khayins, realizing they needed more stability to prevent this from happening again.”

The next couple days went by quietly as they rode toward Makan. Tanzik was glad for the warmer weather and as they approached the city of Makan, he noticed a bulletin board posted at a small homestead outside the city limits.

On it were a few job postings, some instructions on behavior in the city, and other official announcements. But one posting sent a chill up Tanzik’s spine. There was a wanted poster with a fairly accurate sketch of his face. Lura and Allena saw it as well. Tanzik’s captor had read him the charges, but Allena and Lura had not heard them. Seeing it now for the first time gave them pause.

“Wanted: Tanzik Albard for the crime of desertion, murder, and treason. The City of Katavysia has offered a 100 crown bounty for his capture, or a 25 crown bounty for information that leads to his arrest.”