There were bloodstains on the scene and a confusion of footprints among the mud but nothing to explicitly tell the tale of what had happened. Had Cat merely been wounded, then staggered away? Had someone come upon his corpse and hauled it off?
Deo, as she well knew, was a most excellent shot with a crossbow; but even he was unsure if the bolt had hit the boy fatally. It had happened so fast, and Deo didn't have a combatant's instincts. Radstac's feeling was that the lad was still alive and licking his wounds. And very likely seeking out his partner this very moment. Certainly there was a bond between the two males; the staunch camaraderie of thieves was her guess.
It meant she had an eye out for Cat, as well as all the other potential dangers she was alert to. She had no complaints. She simply accepted the parameters of the mission.
This was, after all, what Deo wanted, and she was still in his employ. He wanted to play at being a rebel, just as before he had tried his hand at being an assassin. The latter hadn't worked out, though Radstac conceded that Deo had made a very fine effort at it.
As to this new role of anti-Felk rebel in this occupied city... today would likely tell if he was going to succeed. In truth, if this operation was accomplished, it would have consequences of almost unimaginable scope.
They came at the Registry through the marketplace. The scene seemed brisk, but Radstac noted that very little actual transacting was taking place. The new higher taxes were evidently impacting the economy. Governor Jesile had thought he'd found a way to stabilize things after the counterfeiting debacle, which she had first read about in the report Aquint had given her and Deo when they were recruited. Instead, the Felk governor was probably worsening conditions overall—and certainly giving the people of Callah something more to grumble about.
Aquint, under the Minstrel's directions, had sent an official messenger to the Registry last night, bearing a communication meant for the garrison's Far Speak wizard. The message had since been relayed to Felk and acknowledged. Radstac was satisfied that Aquint hadn't planted some code in the communiquй that would lay a trap for herself and the others of the Broken Circle.
It wasn't too difficult to judge a person's character, particularly if
'I'd like to have my sword back before things happen,' Radstac said as they approached one of the Registry's entrances.
Aquint gave her a glance. It was flat, indifferent, yet she knew it was full of loathing. 'That won't be a problem.'
They entered the large stone building. Radstac was no longer affecting her limp. It felt good to be moving about normally. Her balance was right, her reflexes at the ready. She was primed, just as though this were a battlefield and she was preparing to face an enemy.
She had never had an opinion regarding who she favored to win a particular war. It was a pointless frill for a mercenary. But perhaps she did have a conviction about this Felk war. After all, if the Felk did manage to conquer every other state of the Isthmus, then that unified Isthmus would no longer supply her with the reliable conflicts that allowed her to earn her livelihood. Certainly the Southsoil didn't produce enough wars to keep her employed. The Southern Continent, though a shadow of its former pre-Upheavals glory, was still too civilized to engage routinely in internal hostilities.
Also, she couldn't get her
Sentries immediately passed her and Aquint through, and they moved along chilly corridors. Radstac wondered if they would encounter that same fussy officer with the pinched lips who'd made things difficult for her and Deo when they first arrived in Callah.
Aquint led her into a room where a uniformed clerk appeared. His eyes moved rapidly between them, while his face remained bland.
'Describe the sword,' Aquint said to her.
She did so, and the clerk went scurrying into a partitioned alcove, emerging a moment later bearing her sheathed combat sword. She took it, examined it, feeling that a piece of herself had been returned to her. It was nearly a sentimental experience.
She strapped it on, and Aquint led her out. The clerk had been nervous in their presence. The Registry's sentries, too, had betrayed an uneasiness. It was surely their status as Internal Security agents that prompted this reaction. Aquint had told her and Deo repeatedly that their positions overrode any normal military authority.
What measure of power, then, did this Abraxis wield? Aquint had said he was second in the empire only to Matokin. It was a formidable figure they were going to tangle with today.
They wound through a few more corridors, finally coming to a high-ceilinged chamber that Radstac recognized. A pair of robed mages was already present. They gave her and Aquint timid anxious glances. One of the wizards held a figurine of smooth purple glass in her hand, her thumb stroking it persistently. This was the Far Speak mage, Radstac concluded. Waiting for the word from Felk to open the arrival portal, which would be the job of the other wizard.
She and Aquint stood and waited. Aquint maintained a cool demeanor. For the first time Radstac spared a thought to wonder who this man had been before this war, before he had become so successful a collaborator. Surely he had engaged in some illicit enterprise. She couldn't quite imagine Aquint living an honest life. If she had to guess, she would say he'd been a black marketeer.
The message Aquint had sent to Felk had alerted Lord Abraxis that arrests of the key figures in the Callahan rebel underground were imminent. It also invited Abraxis to participate in the subsequent interrogations. Abraxis's reply indicated that he would accept the invitation.
The Far Speak wizard's grip on the glass figurine tightened, and her eyes closed. When she opened them and looked to her fellow magician, the Far Movement wizard started the busy process of conjuring the portal that linked to the one being opened at this same moment in the city of Felk.
Radstac was acutely conscious of the shifting energies in the room. She watched as the air in the center of the chamber wavered in a way that contradicted all natural principles. Magic, though, she knew, was as natural as any other precept of nature. It existed, as did those who had an innate affinity to practice it.
It was only that those users could pervert magic to their own unnatural ends that made it dangerous.
A figure—robed, tall, trim almost to the point of gauntness—emerged from the patch of disorderly air. He had a confident stride, cold and expressionless eyes. He showed no more response from materializing out of the portal than he might have if he'd merely walked across this room.
From Abraxis's right shoulder hung a small red cloth bag.
Aquint stepped forward and saluted. 'Lord Abraxis, welcome to Callah.' The two wizards of the garrison huddled excitedly together, sneaking looks at the mage from Felk. Radstac supposed that Abraxis was something of a celebrity to these magicians.
'Have the arrests been made?' Abraxis asked bluntly. There was no trace of friendliness in his voice. This was a man who likely associated with no one but those of comparable status and power. Underlings were not to be fraternized with.
'I have been holding the order until your arrival,' Aquint said.
'My time is very valuable. Why have you delayed?'
'I thought you would enjoy seeing the rebels' downfall for yourself, Lord.'
'I am interested in results, nothing more. I believe I've made mention of that fact before.'
Aquint didn't flinch from the cool edge of Abraxis's tone. 'You have, Lord. However, since you
Abraxis's gaze shifted past Aquint, picking out Radstac for the first time. His eyes dismissed her, and he looked again at Aquint. 'Very well. I will observe. But I perceive that you are doing this to demonstrate to me how useful an agent you are. I don't especially object to that. However, if you fail in this, my disappointment will be proportionally dire.'
Aquint took this without blinking. He escorted Abraxis back through the corridors, Radstac behind the two, palm atop her sword's pommel. Aquint mentioned that he had recruited other agents for this assignment, but Abraxis made no comment, evidently truly uninterested in the details.
They came out again into the marketplace that abutted the Registry. Aquint picked a path through the stalls
