Return of the Crimson Guard

Storo nodded sourly.

‘What do you mean?’

‘He means,’ continued Silk, ‘that there's been a coup tonight in the city. Rheena is surely dead. We're all alone.’

‘C'mon, a coup? That's ridiculous. The Claws would crush it.’ But Sunny, Hurl noticed, wasn't sneering. Holding his leg, he looked personally affronted by the news. She bent to that wound, tore the trousers for a better look.

‘Not if they're too busy elsewhere,’ said Storo.

‘Where?’ Hurl took hold of the quarrel shaft, held Sunny's eyes. Rell eased over to take hold of his shoulders. He gave a sharp nod, gasped, ‘Do it.’

Hurl leaned her weight on to the shaft, bore on to it until the head burst through the other side of the thigh. Sunny thrashed in Rell's grip, snarled through his teeth clamped in his permanent leer. She eased off. He lay limp, his face glistening in a cold sweat. She unrolled her kit and set to work.

‘Orlat and I had a chat,’ continued Storo. ‘From what he hinted at I got the idea that the Seti were rising, as was Tali, and others of the old kingdoms. An organized insurrection. Laseen's been bleeding the garrisons dry for years now to fuel those overseas wars of hers. There's hardly more than a division between here and Unta. And most of those probably turned.’

‘Turned to who?’ Hurl glanced to the Captain. He was looking away, over the river to the torches and golden lanterns gleaming over the domes of the city.

‘Did you recognize the name Orlat?’ he asked.

‘Sounded familiar.’ Everyone, Hurl noted, was watching the Captain now. Even Sunny, who'd come to.

‘Orlat Kepten. Was captain of the Spear long ago. I was his first mate.’

Kepten! Yes, Fat Kepten. How could she have not made the connection? But he'd been a captain in Urko's fleet. That meant… ‘You served with Urko?’

Looking embarrassed, Storo rubbed again at his jowls. ‘Yeah. There at the end. My father served much longer. He was one of the first Falarans to join up — even before the invasions.’

While Storo was speaking, Silk had taken the stern and now directed them to the north shore. Storo turned to him. ‘What's this?’

‘My arrangements,’ Silk answered. He studied the maze of docks and jetties cluttering the shore like a mess of snaggled teeth. They slid under one sagging dock and Silk grabbed hold of a timber and they waited, silent. Waves licked at the glistening slimed wood of the old posts. Rell cleaned his blades in the water then ran an oiled cloth over them and sheathed them. Once again, Hurl saw, the youth had escaped any injury. In all the years campaigning together she'd yet to see him cut. There was something unnatural about that. She turned to Jalor's wounds.

‘That's all right, Hurl. Help should be coming,’ Silk told her gently.

‘You're just full of arrangements this night, ain't ya?’ Sunny challenged, watching the mage through slit eyes. Silk answered with an enigmatic smile of his own — one that Hurl had seen turn many a girl's head.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Shaky.

‘I mean Silk here showed a lot more tricks tonight than ever before. Those two mages must've been damn good but he kept both busy. How does a plain squad mage manage that? And these arrangements… he knew something was up for tonight.’

Shaky was watching Sunny; Hurl saw his eyes bugging out the way they did when he was scared. ‘What're you sayin?’

Sunny's smile was a death's-head. ‘I'm sayin’ maybe we don't need to tell Rheena anything because maybe Laseen already knows. What say you, Silk? Gonna fess up?’

Shaky gaped at Silk. ‘You a Claw, Silk?’

‘Quiet,’ Storo said. ‘We've enough to worry about.’

Silk raised a hand. ‘It's all right, Captain. I'll talk. Truth is, I happen to be from Heng. I grew up here. This is home turf for me. I pull more out of myself here than anywhere.’

An old woman's crow of a laugh sounded from above. ‘Bicker, bicker. I smell sour defeat!’

Silk pushed his fingers through his hair, sighing. ‘Down here, Liss.’

Hard heels clacked and clattered above. Rell and Storo eased the launch to a floating dock. Two youths, no more than ragged street urchins, helped an old woman down the short ladder to the dock. She took hold of the gunwales of the launch with hands all gnarled and disfigured with arthritis and in a very unladylike manner swung a leg over the side. Grinning a dark wide mouth full of rotten stumps she squatted over Jalor, cackling at what she saw. Hurl backed away because the old hag stank of rotting fish.

‘Greetings, Loyalists,’ she said, laughing.

Loyalists? Hurl wondered. What did the old crow mean by that?

‘Morning,’ answered Storo.

‘Ah, the great Slayer of Avowed. Captain Matash himself!’ She squinted at him, snorted. ‘You don't look like much.’

‘Liss…’ Silk whispered, warning.

‘Yes, yes.’ She took hold of Jalor's head, twisted it side to side while he grunted his pain. ‘Ah! Courage and resilience here. Good. He will live.’ She turned on Sunny who flinched from her swollen hands. Those hands darted out to his leg. ‘Ah! Stubbornness here. Good. He will walk again.’ One of those hands then snapped to Hurl's upper arm and clenched there, squeezing the bone; Hurl winced at the woman's strength. The fetid stink of a muddy river bank at low-water assaulted her and she turned her head away. Seeing that, the old woman cackled. Hurl didn't find it funny at all. ‘Greetings, Builder. I am pleased to meet you.’ Builder? She must mean engineer.

The old woman faced Rell next. He sat motionless, his limbs tense, almost quivering, looking up through his long tangled hair. She pulled her hands from him at the last moment and a long breath hissed from her. Turning away she inclined her head, mouthing something beneath her breath. It seemed to Hurl there was certainly significance to the woman's actions but for the life of her she had no idea what it might be.

The youths helped the old woman out of the launch. From the dock she reached down to flick a tear in Silk's shirt. ‘All faded now,’ she chuckled. ‘What's become of us, hmm?’

‘The Twins turn, Liss,’ Silk murmured with an affectionate smile.

‘Hunh! They do, do they? Well, they're taking their own sweet time about it.’

‘Many thanks,’ Silk said softly and he pushed off.

As they drifted away Hurl heard her call after them, ‘Protectress Bless you!’

They drifted downriver, east with the sluggish current. Soon the next broad curve of the Idryn would bring them to the first of the River Gates, the huge iron grills sunk from bridges that served as extensions of the curtain walls surrounding the city. Jalor suddenly lurched upright, nearly swamping them. He glared about as if still in the fight then eased back under Shaky and Rell's grip.

‘How's the leg?’ Storo asked Sunny.

‘Fine,’ he grunted, sour.

‘Good. ‘Cause you're going to need it.’

Sunny's smile slid back to its usual sneer. ‘Why?’

‘Because we're headed to the Palace.’

Everyone gabbled at once. The Captain raised a hand for silence. ‘We've no choice. We have to act now before they firm up control. Before everyone salutes them tomorrow.’

Shaky goggled at Storo. ‘What? Us against the whole garrison?’

Storo waved that aside. ‘There's only a handful of officers behind any coup. Them plus some outside muscle. Can't be more than that. The soldiers are just waiting it out. They'll take their orders from whoever's around tomorrow at the dawn mustering.’

‘What about Orlat and his crew?’ asked Sunny.

‘They have to stay behind the scenes for now. Can't show themselves. But we'll have to keep an eye out.’

Hurl caught Sunny's gaze. ‘For sure Smiley's one of ‘em.’

Sunny showed even more teeth. Then he frowned. ‘Don't matter, do it? We'll never make it to the Palace.