Deadly Games

He said nothing.

“He hasn’t either,” Amaranthe said. “He’squite fastidious.” When neither person commented, she cleared herthroat and got back on topic. “We work for the good of the empire,taking on missions that the emperor would approve of in the hopesof-” getting the cursed bounties off their heads, she thought,“-winning his favor. In fact we-”

Whistling came from the arena. The worker hadreturned, a box of matches in hand, and he was veering toward thefurnace.

“But perhaps we should discuss it elsewhere,”Amaranthe murmured.

She led the way into the shadows outside thestadium. Despite her criticism of mercenaries, Fasha picked up herbow and followed. Sicarius disappeared, but Amaranthe trusted himto stay nearby. More than anybody, he knew how good she was atfinding trouble.

Voices sounded-two male athletes walking pastthe stadium a few dozen meters away. Amaranthe chewed on her lip.The idea of a mission excited her, but it would be foolish tolinger at Barlovoc Stadium after sunrise. Though a week would passbefore the Imperial Games themselves started, enforcers werealready patrolling the barracks and training areas to keep thepeace amongst the athletes. That thought made her wonder why Fashahad not sought out the law for help.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Amarantheasked.

“My sister and I are here from Kendor tocompete. This is the first year your Games have been open tooutsiders.”

Amaranthe nodded. She had read the article inThe Gazette and knew Emperor Sespian was responsible forthat. Though monetary rewards had never been a prize in theempire’s biennial competition, every young citizen dreamed ofcompeting and winning. Also there had been instances of superbathletes sweeping the events and being granted a ticket into thewarrior caste, something usually reserved for outstanding wartimeperformances. A foreigner would not be eligible for that, but thenewspaper article had mentioned a citizenship prize for those whowished it-an offer that had traditionalists grumbling in ciderhouses across the city.

“She didn’t come back to the barracks lastnight,” Fasha went on.

Amaranthe’s shoulders drooped. That was it?The girl had only been missing for a few hours? “Maybe she found ahandsome young man and spent the night with him.”

“No. She’s been training too hard for this.She may celebrate after it’s all over, but for the last week she’sbeen in bed early and up before dawn to train. Keisha is good. Verygood. She’s won every race back home. She even beats the men inanything over a hundred meters. She’s utterly serious about winninghere.”

“Did you try going to the enforcers?”Amaranthe asked.

“Yes, late last night. I returned from myevening run, and Keisha wasn’t in our room. Right away, I knewsomething was wrong. I went to the men who guard the barracks, butthey were derisive. They said nothing got past them. And theythreatened to throw me in jail when I mentioned…”

Amaranthe straightened, her interestreturning. “The Science?”

“You…know about the mental sciences?”

“My team has had run-ins with practitionersbefore.”

“Oh!” Fasha’s clothing rustled as she brushedAmaranthe’s shoulder with a pat made clumsy by the darkness. It wasan enthusiastic pat though. “Maybe you can help. Theenforcers told me it’s forbidden to talk about magic-that was theirignorant word for it. Two breaths later, they told me magic doesn’texist. If it doesn’t exist, why would it be forbidden to speak ofit? Ignorant heathens.”

“Yes, the empire’s stance isn’t entirelylogical,” Amaranthe admitted. “What did you actually sense? Are youa practitioner yourself?”

“No, but there’s a shaman in our tribe, andyou come to recognize the Science being practiced when you grow uparound it. I sensed…a definite residue. I believe something wasdone to my sister so she’d be easy to steal away.”

Amaranthe tapped her fingers against herthigh. “I’d like to see your room. I used to be an-” she stoppedherself from saying enforcer, since that might not breed confidencein the girl, “-an investigator. Is it private, or are there othersstaying in there?”

“We paid for a private room.”

“Any windows?” Amaranthe supposed she wouldhave to admit she was a wanted woman at some point and that shecould not stroll past enforcers without risk of being recognizedand captured-or shot.

“No, it’s a little room on the inside of thebuilding.”

“Near a backdoor, by chance?”

“No….” Fasha sounded puzzled. “Does itmatter? We can bring guests in.”

“My comrade and I are wanted by the law.”

Fasha’s lips formed an “Oh,” but no soundcame out.

Amaranthe eyed the brightening sky. More andmore athletes were on the road leading past the stadium, and thebarracks would be an active place. “Don’t worry about it. I’llthink of something. Let’s go.”

Amaranthe had taken only a few steps when adark figure appeared at her shoulder. She jumped despite the factshe ought to know better by now.

“We’re going inside the barracks?” Sicariusasked.

Now Fasha jumped and sidled several stepsaway. The brightening sky revealed Sicarius’s unexpressive angularface, his fitted, black clothing, and the variety of daggers andthrowing knives adorning it. Fasha fingered her bow.

“It’s fine,” Amaranthe said. “He’s my mosttrusted ally.”

“That’d be more comforting if you hadn’t justadmitted to being wanted by the law,” Fasha said.

“You didn’t think you’d find a Science-savvymercenary team in the empire without a few eccentricities, didyou?” Amaranthe asked.

“The barracks,” Sicarius repeated, cuttingout whatever reply Fasha might have made.

“I’ll sneak by the enforcers and check itout,” Amaranthe told him. “I won’t be long. You can wait outside.If they try to drag me off to Enforcer Headquarters, you can benice and provide a distraction so I can slip away. Anon-death-causing distraction.”

“The last time you went into the enemy campwhile I waited outside,” Sicarius said, “someone threw a blastingstick at me.”

“As I recall it was at the positionyou’d recently vacated, but, thanks to your hyper-vigilance, fastreflexes, and quick mind, you evaded the attack and were long gonewhen the cliff top crumbled.”

Amaranthe smiled, hoping to tease a lightresponse out of Sicarius, something that might show Fasha he had aside that was not entirely dark and scary.

Birds twittered in the branches of treeslining the road. Thunks and whistles of steam came from within thestadium, signifying the Clank Race gearing up.

Finally, Sicarius spoke. “I see. Your plan isto flatter your way past the enforcers.”

Amaranthe’s smile did not fade. “If the plandoesn’t work, maybe so.”

She left Sicarius to the shadows and ledFasha to the athlete complex, a mix of permanent structures andbrightly colored tents set up to house visiting competitors fromacross the empire. Men and women jogged or bicycled past, someheading off to train, others stopping at the food pavilions first.A steam carriage chugged past, rumbling up a circular drive to themajestic travertine lodge reserved for warrior caste athletes.Enforcers guarded the front door of the women’s barracks. Amaranthemulled over how to get in and out before full daylight came, makingit easy to recognize faces.

Instead of veering in that direction, sheangled off the main road toward a pair of dome-shaped brickbuildings: men’s and women’s bathhouses. Smoke wafted from thechimneys, signifying the floors and pools were already warm.

“You wish to bathe before investigating?”Fasha asked.

“I could use it.” Amaranthe plucked at hershirt, still damp from the stair-running session. “But, no.”

She headed for the entrance of the women’sbathhouse-no enforcers guarded those doors.

Steam wrapped about them as they headed in,obscuring visibility, but Amaranthe had visited the complex