' Quiet,' Pepperdyne warned. 'They're here,'
The guards opened the gates sufficient to squeeze through, and approached.
They were brisk and moderately wary. The false papers came out again. There was the obligatory going over of the wagons, carried out indolently. The guards recited routine questions. Finally they nodded, parted the gates and guided the wagons through.
At the substantial doors of the building itself, the Vixens disembarked, pails in hand. There were worries that Spurral's height would attract attention, but no eyebrows were raised. As the resistance had explained, children were not unusual in work details. Coilla had the uncomfortable thought that the group might be subjected to a body search. But again the fear proved groundless. The humans seemed to have no conception that females could present a threat.
One of the guards rapped on the door with the hilt of his sword. A panel slid aside and he spoke with someone. Then the door opened and everybody filed in.
The interior was a little grander than the outside. Cool grey marble faced the walls, and there were mosaics. The lofty ceiling had ornate carvings. But the embellishments were unfinished, a work in progress.
'They live a damn sight better than the rest of us,' Chillder whispered.
'Surprise,' Coilla said.
One of the guards leading the group turned his head and gave them a sour look. They fell silent.
The building was large. Brooms over their shoulders, and clutching their buckets, the Vixens tramped a seemingly endless passageway. They passed a number of doors. Some were open, affording glimpses of humans poring over benches strewn with paper and ledgers; or orcs hauling boxes. One room, bigger than most, held scores of artefacts. Under human supervision, orc servants packed straw-filled crates with gold statuettes, carved wooden relics and ornamental weapons.
' Damn! ' Brelan muttered under his breath.
'What?' Coilla mouthed.
'Our birthright,' he hissed. 'Looted to decorate the parlours of empire quill-pushers.'
' Hey! ' the guard yelled. 'This ain't a pleasure trip! Cut the mumbling!'
'Too right,' Pepperdyne said, stepping in. 'Button your lips! And don't dawdle!'
He underlined the point with a hard shove to Brelan and Coilla's backs. When Coilla turned, glowering, he gave her a wink. She didn't return it.
At length they came to a tall pair of double doors. Beyond lay a spacious, hall-like chamber. It contained rows of writing tables with high stalls. The walls were shelved from floor to elevated ceiling, and there were ladders for the upper reaches. Scroll cylinders, bound volumes and document boxes filled the shelves. Little light entered through the slit windows. Despite being broad day outside, the room was lit by a series of wooden chandeliers, each bearing scores of stout candles, and by a plentiful scattering of lamps.
There were perhaps a dozen humans present, mostly clerks, seated at the tables. Two or three orc lackeys fetched and carried for them.
A stick-thin, gangly human approached. From his dress and bearing he could only be an overseer. The harassed look he wore strengthened the impression.
He clapped his hands like a prissy schoolmarm, his bony palms producing a strangely brittle sound. 'Listen to me!' he announced, his tone almost shrill. 'You orcs couldn't possibly understand what goes on here in the Bureau of Tallies. All you need to know is that it's much more important than the sum of your miserable lives. Sloppy work will not be tolerated. If you damage so much as a sheet of parchment, you'll be whipped. Is that understood?' He didn't wait for an answer. Which was just as well, given that the Vixens were in no mood for compliance.
Coilla and Spurral caught each other's eye. Coilla nodded, very faintly.
The overseer began issuing orders. Jabbing a lean finger at the ersatz cleaners, he dispensed chores. 'And you, you and you,' he decided, pointing at Coilla, 'can take care of the latrines.'
'I don't think so,' Coilla told him.
The overseer stopped short. He looked to Pepperdyne. 'Did that creature address me?'
'Why don't you ask her yourself?'
' What did you say?'
'Tell him, Coilla.'
'Clean your own fucking shithouse,' Coilla said.
The overseer turned scarlet. 'How dare you talk to your betters like that!'
'I just open my mouth and it comes out.'
A vein began pulsing in the overseer's forehead. 'This is gross disobedience!' He turned to Pepperdyne again. 'Have you no control over this creature?'
Pepperdyne shrugged. 'Looks like she doesn't want to clean your latrines.'
'I don't believe you're taking the brute's part. Are you drunk?'
'Chance would be a fine thing.'
'If this is some kind of joke — '
'Then the laugh's on you,' Coilla said. 'We might not understand what goes on here, but we sure as hell can stop it.'
Alarmed, the overseer backed away and started yelling, 'Guards! Guards! '
The pair of sentries who accompanied the group on the way in had been watching bemused as the scene unfolded. Now they stirred. The nearest made a grab for Coilla. She deftly swung the bucket she was clutching and struck him square to the forehead. He tottered. She swung again, landing another hard blow, then a third. The guard collapsed. His companion went down under a flurry of punches and kicks from a bevy of Vixens.
The overseer's crimson complexion gave way to pallid. Coilla turned to him. 'Now keep your mouth shut and do as you're told.'
She bawled an order. The Vixens produced their concealed weapons, and Pepperdyne drew his sword.
'Traitor!' the overseer spat.
Pepperdyne showed him the tip of his blade. 'She told you to shut up!'
The Vixens were levering out the false bottoms of their pails and retrieving sealed pots of oil.
'Splash that stuff around as widely as possible,' Coilla ordered.
The overseer's eyes widened. ' Louts! ' he shouted. 'Animals! How dare — '
Pepperdyne drove his fist into the man's jaw. He went out like a snuffed candle.
Coilla nodded approvingly. To the Vixens, she said, 'Let's have the tithe detail.' Ten females stepped forward. 'You know your job. Sniff out the taxes these bloodsuckers have wrung from the citizens. Remember, every coin you find puts another sword in the hands of the resistance. Now get moving.'
The group went off.
Coilla looked around the room and saw that the human clerks and their orc menials stood frozen and gaping. She beckoned a trio of Vixens. 'Get the civilians clear, and don't let them out of your sight until we're done here.'
The onlookers were rounded up and led away, a couple of them dragging the overseer by his heels. As the orcs passed, heads bowed, Coilla needled them with, 'We wouldn't have to do this if you had guts!'
'Don't be too hard on them,' Chillder said. 'They've known no other way.'
Coilla shrugged.
'What about the treasures?' Brelan asked.
'What?' Coilla replied.
'Our birthright. The artworks they were — '
'Yeah. What about 'em?'
'We can't leave them here.'
'The plan was to grab the loot and torch this place. Nobody said anything about — '
'We can't leave them here,' Chillder echoed her brother. 'It'd be profane.'
'We barely have enough hands as it is.'
'We don't need your permission when it comes to our heritage,' Brelan stated flatly.
Coilla sighed. 'All right. You two take care of it.' She looked to her depleting forces. 'But we can't spare more than four to go with you. We'll meet up on the way out. And if anybody tries to stop you — '
'We know what to do.'
