A Dance Of Death

“No way Ingram gave them orders to fight their way in,” said the mercenary, shooting a glance toward Laurie. “They came all show, no teeth. I figured I’d call them on it, and sure enough, they went running with their dicks tucked between their legs.”

“They’ll be back,” Laurie said. “And you insulted Ingram.”

“He’ll get over it. Now’s your turn to talk your way out of this.”

“And if I can’t?”

Torgar nodded toward the window.

“Then out there, those boys will get to kill themselves a whole lot of city guard. You ain’t even seen a scrap of how many we’ll soon have. Sounds like Ingram tossed the mercenary guild leader into his prison. What I’m hearing, half the sellswords in the city are volunteering up just to get some free food and a shot at payback.”

Madelyn thought of open warfare filling her gardens and walkways with corpses, and blood running like rivers across the carpets of her mansion.

“Like Veldaren,” she said. “Just like Veldaren. She did this. She brought them here, and now we’ll suffer the same madness.”

Laurie swallowed hard.

“Do what needs to be done,” he told Torgar. He looked to Madelyn. “I’m tired, and shall take a rest.”

She knew what that meant. They’d be sleeping in separate rooms that night, which was fine with her. Knowing that her best time to act was now, she went searching for Alyssa. She found her in the room with the two wounded troublemakers, sitting at Zusa’s side. Madelyn smiled sweetly at her.

“How do your cousins fare?”

“Well enough,” Alyssa said, standing. “May I help you?”

“You can,” Madelyn said. “You can leave. Go back to Veldaren, where you belong. My husband doesn’t need your help to handle the likes of Ingram and the merchants. And take these two wretches with you.”

“Watch your tongue…”

“I will speak as I wish in my own household. You are guests, and I am being gracious calling you that. The city guard has left for now, but they’ll come back. Go to Veldaren where you’ll be beyond Ingram’s reach. Don’t treat me like a fool, Alyssa. I know no Gemcroft blood runs in either of their veins. I won’t have you destroy my household just because of some crude attachment to your pet killers.”

Alyssa did not back down, and more shocking, her hand fell to the hilt of a dagger attached to her belt.

“Do not presume to give me orders,” she said. “I will not go running like a coward, nor refuse the protection your husband has offered me. Now, if you please, Haern and Zusa need to rest.”

Madelyn went to the door, but could not resist one last parting shot.

“You should be responsible for your own actions, your own errors. Too often the rest of the Trifect gets dragged down with you.”

“You stupid woman,” Alyssa said. “I’m the one who faced the thieves while you fled. It was my servants who died, my coin that paid for the mercenaries to stand against them. I earned our current peace with blood and gold while you stayed down here in Angelport, so eager in your safety to tell me everywhere I went wrong. Why do you think I’m here, Madelyn? It was your sole task to keep the Merchant Lords in line, and you and your husband have failed spectacularly. You once owned every boat sailing from Angelport, yet now hardly a ship bears your crest. The Merchant Lords have taken your boats, your trade, and now take aim at the last lucrative business you have left. I’ve come to help clean up your mess, and now you accuse me of being the cause of it?”

She reached into her pocket and flung a small bag at her. Madelyn caught it out of pure reflex, but only after it softly smacked against her chest. She barely felt it, so stunned was she.

“Try some Violet,” she said. “Bite down on a leaf and breathe deep, and when you do, imagine what will happen when the value of your crimleaf trade dwindles to nothing because of it. When Connington and I open our coffers to keep your family afloat, we’ll see who drags who down.”

Madelyn crushed the bag in shaking hands, and she heard the sound of crinkling leaves.

“All three of you deserve nothing but the noose,” she said. “One day, my husband will see that.”

Alyssa slammed the door shut in her face.

At first Madelyn wanted to find Tori and hold her to her chest, to cry out all her anger and frustration, but she knew she could not. Not yet. Despite his subtle request for privacy, Madelyn went to their room. It was dark inside, heavy curtains blotting out the little light given off by the setting sun. Laurie lay half-naked across the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t look at her when he spoke.

“I wish to be alone.”

“I know.”

Her dress fell to the floor. When she climbed into the bed, he tried to resist. She grabbed his wrists, pressed her mouth to his, and straddled him, ending the protest. She let the fire within her take over, riding out her fury as her husband moaned. When he climaxed, she lay atop him, her lips beside his ear.

“We’re losing control,” she whispered in the dark.

“I know.”

“How did it happen? You were feared among even the Trifect. Your cruelty was legendary.”

“Seven long years happened. I never enjoyed it, and here in Angelport, I thought the fear unnecessary. You know that.”

She nestled closer to him, resting a hand atop his chest.

“Your cruelty was a tool, and we need it back. Everyone is against us: Ingram, the Merchant Lords, the elves, that murderous Wraith; even Alyssa. We can’t trust them, not any of them. We were meant to rule. You were meant to rule. Can you not do so?”

Laurie sighed, and she could tell he was staring at the ceiling, searching through his thoughts for the right words to say. That alone told her she wouldn’t like what she would hear.

“Alyssa is one of the few left we can trust, Madelyn. And the elves are helping us, just as we are helping them. Did you not know?”

Madelyn felt her blood run cold.

“We help the elves? How?”

“Alyssa helped pay, but I secured places for the elves to stay within the city. We need their aid in stopping the Violet from spreading across Dezrel. If the merchants ever gained access to their forests, and start growing it in crops…”

Madelyn felt a chill run through her as she thought of what Ingram would do if he ever discovered their involvement. She thought to challenge Laurie over this, but then bit her tongue. Her hand reached under her pillow, to where she kept her dagger.

“You’re not the man I married,” she said.

“I suppose not, but neither are you the wife I once knew.”

She plunged the dagger into his throat. He caught her wrists when it was an inch in, blood pooling about the tip. His neck tightened, and his eyes flared wide as he fought against her.

“Just stop,” Madelyn said as she flung all her weight into the thrust. Tears ran down her face. “Please, stop, just stop, just let it go.”

The tip sank further in. He tried to scream, but all he could do was let out a quiet gurgle as he choked. He shifted his weight, but if there was any part of her stronger than her husband, it was her thighs, and she straddled him as she had only moments ago. His whole body began to shake violently. His eyes met hers, and she refused to look away despite the horror she saw. Despite the betrayal.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as his strength faded, and he could no longer stop the blade from sinking another inch. Her lips brushed his ear as blood smeared across her bare breasts. “But you aren’t strong enough to save us. Tori needs better. I need better.”

She stabbed again and again, turning and shredding flesh. I do this for Taras, she thought. I do this for his child. When her dagger revealed bone, she finally stopped. All at once, it seemed the room was painfully quiet. Only her breath broke the silence, that and the soft patter of blood dripping from the drenched sheets to the floor. Madelyn felt something lurking heavy above her, like an animal ready to pounce, but she could not relent. She had to be strong, stronger than Laurie had ever been. Steeling herself, she took the dagger, knelt on the floor, and began to draw.

Taras, she thought, even as she scrawled the symbol left by his killer.