“As you are no doubt aware, Milady, sometimes wards have flaws which can be exploited.”
Asea nodded. “You are quite correct, Captain, and I am very tired. Is there anything else you wish of me?”
“The servants will not talk?”
“Nor the guards I have spoken to, Captain. They are placed under a deep compulsion. It would take a mage of considerable skill to undo it.”
“Then I thank you for your help, Milady. I will continue with my investigation.”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” said Rik, once they were back inside the coach, and clattering over the cobbled streets. He was a little unsettled. Only a few hours ago, Lord Elakar had been alive, sitting in state in his Palace, supervising the ball. Rik had not known him, and had never cared about him one way or another, but it was jarring that he was gone. He had become used to death in his life, but he expected it on the battlefield and in the back alley, not in the palaces of the powerful.
“It’s very bad, Rik,” she said. “And whoever did this knows it. They have killed one of our Generals in his own mansion, and they have left no clues.”
“No clues. Is that possible?”
“You saw me perform the rituals, Rik. I looked for residual auras in the room and on the weapon. There were none. Sorcery was used, of a very powerful type. It would be needed to prevent me from making a connection.”
Glancing out the window, Rik saw that many in the crowd were looking at them with resentment. Their coach bore the marks of foreigners and the mob here was developing a well-honed hatred of foreigners. And it seemed like they were losing their sense of fear.
“It will get worse once word of this gets out. One of our highest has been killed, apparently by one of their Brotherhoods. It will embolden those who resist us and give heart to Kathea’s enemies.”
“You don’t think the Brotherhood did it?” Rik had encountered the secret Brotherhoods, those multiple interlocking conspiracies woven through all the lairs of society, before. One of them had been partially responsible for the terrible events at Deep Achenar.
“They might have, Rik. And they have picked a good time to strike. Winter is coming. Food is short. Resentment is high. Our own men are feeling displaced. This will not help morale.”
She sounded thoughtful and not a little homesick. It was rare to see Asea look vulnerable but she did so now.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s starting again, Rik, I can feel it.”
“What is?”
“Inexplicable killings. Unexplainable murders. Untraceable assassins. I have seen this before. On Al’Terra and after the old Queen was killed. It sickens me, and this time I am going to put an end to it.” She sounded very determined. He did not doubt that, if it was possible to find a way to do it, she would then the significance of her words sank in. Untraceable killers.
“I did not do it,” he said. “I was in the Palace.”
Asea looked at him carefully as if measuring his trustworthiness. “I believe you,” she said, but he was not entirely sure that she did.
If it was someone like him there might be some connection to his long lost father, to another Shadowblood. Once again it occurred to Rik that she was using him as a kind of bait, but now it seemed she might be seeking bigger and more dangerous fish. She might be looking for someone who could kill the Lord Governor in his own Palace surrounded by his guards.
Who would that person try for next, he wondered? He had a terrible feeling that he was going to find out.
Chapter Fourteen
“Assemble the men, Sergeant,” said Sardec. “It seems we have work to do.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sergeant Hef. If he had any curiosity about the reasons for his commander’s urgency he kept them off his face. He had already seen the messenger arrive and had perhaps even talked to him. Hef strode out of the room, shouting orders to Corporal Toby and the men. Sardec could hear the clatter of boots on stairs and the sounds of weapons being taken from racks. Within five minutes the company was assembled in the courtyard. Sardec stood in front of them.
“A mob is gathering in Old King’s Square. They are protesting about the price of bread. At least they were. Agitators have been speaking to them. Word on the street has it that some patriots killed Lord Elakar last night.”
A murmur went through the ranks. Sardec thought he might as well share the knowledge that had been the talk of the officer’s mess this morning. “It is true. Lord Elakar was killed. The Lady Asea herself is investigating the matter. I have no doubt she will get to the bottom of it.”
That quietened them. Asea had been with the company when the descended into the Elder World hell beneath Deep Achenar. The soldiers of the company had a lot of respect for her. They were frightened of her too although they would never admit it.
“That’s neither here nor there at the moment,” said Sardec. “We have to see that the mob does not get out of hand. There will be no looting. There will be no disturbance of the peace. And there will be absolutely no shooting of civilians, unless I give the order. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” the soldiers chorused.
“Then let’s move out.”
From up ahead Sardec could hear the mutter of the crowd. It was a soft sound in its way, almost like that of the sea. It rose and fell in answer to something. As the troops marched into the square, Sardec saw what it was.
A man clung to the side of a statue of Old King Orodruine. He held onto the king’s arm with one hand while his feet rested on the king’s knee. At this distance, all that Sardec could make out was that he was a man, garbed in the clothes of some street hawker. As the Foragers entered the square and fanned out into a single line, muskets at the ready, the man pointed at them and shouted; “There they are. There are the killers. There are the ones keeping bread from your children’s mouth. There are the ones whose presence defiles the sacred streets of Halim.”
All eyes in the crowd whipped around to look at them. Sardec felt like he was facing some sullen many- headed beast. The same suppressed fury was visible in the eyes of every man, woman and child. He took a deep breath. The crowd outnumbered his company by at least ten to one. Already one or two of them were stooping to pick up cobblestones. He turned to Sergeant Hef. “Form the men up in two ranks. Tell them to be prepared to fire.”
He turned to the crowd and raised his hook. That got their attention. “That will be enough,” he said. “You will disperse and return to your homes. This is an unlawful assembly.”
The crowd simply looked at him, measuring its will against his own. He forced himself to smile coldly and raked his gaze across the front ranks. Not one of them would meet his eyes. He let his glance linger on a few faces, giving the owner’s time to realise that he would remember them. Several of them turned away and began to slouch off.
“You have families. You have businesses. You have children,” Sardec said. “Why risk them?” That message too seemed to get through. He felt as if something had gone out of the many-headed beast, as if it was starting to get its fury under control. He told himself not to get too confident. He had not tamed it yet.
“Why risk it indeed?” sneered the agitator. “Where is the honour of Kharadrea? Where is your courage? Why behave like men when you can behave like whipped dogs and slink away with your tails between your legs.”
The crowd began to mutter among themselves. Some of them were angered by the agitator’s words but
