Waterborn

That jarred her memory. 'Tsem!' she yelled. 'Tsem, the sewers!'

'What?' He stopped and turned toward her, shuddering. She remembered that running was difficult for him.

'The new part of the city drainage—the one Yen is working on—it runs out past South Gate.'

'I don't understand, Princess.'

'We can cross under the wall. Just help me find Caul Street.'

XI

The Changeling

After all that had happened that day it was the dank tunnels Perkar and his companions descended into that brought shivers to his spine. The closeness and the dark evoked memories he had no wish to recall.

'That grate up there is beneath Moon Street,' Hezhi called, gesturing at a cataract of light falling through from above.

Passing beneath it, Perkar glanced up, saw perhaps ten faces crowded against the fading light. They still had followers from the Riverside, it seemed. Which was unfortunate, since that would certainly attract the attention of soldiers, sooner or later.

'How much farther?' Tsem called.

'Not too far. They just began construction of the new section, so the outer grill should have been removed. It comes out a few hundred yards from the wall.'

'What if it's guarded, too?' Perkar asked.

'I don't know.'

'We might have done better at the gate,' he observed. 'Fighting up a ladder will be real trouble.'

'They will have bows at the gate,' Tsem informed him.

'Ah.'

'Anyway,' the girl, Hezhi, put in, 'we won't have to climb up. The duct should open from a hillside.'

Perkar was curious as to why a princess should know the ins and outs of the sewers. For that matter, a part of him was fascinated by the very concept of these underground ditches built to drain the city of rain, floods, and Human waste. It was not something he would have ever thought of or searched for, that much was certain.

The three of them slogged on.

'The girl looks like a god,' Harka volunteered.

'What?' he whispered, low, so that the others would not think him insane.

'She is not a god, but she certainly resembles one. This is very odd.'

'Is she my enemy, Harka?' Perkar barely sighed. 'Did the River send me to serve her or stop her?'

'Perhaps the River did not summon you at all. Perhaps it was always she.'

'You say she resembles a goddess. Is she more powerful than the River? Could she force her will upon him?'

Harka hesitated before answering. 'No,' he said finally.

'Everyone who pursues her serves the River. The emperor's guard, the priesthood. Yet she is of his blood.'

'A rebellious child?'

'Why should a barbarian be summoned from half a world away to kill a rebellious child?'

'Perhaps no one who serves the River can do it. Perhaps only an outlander.'

'Still, that feels wrong. In my dreams, she wanted me to help her. That means I should kill her.'

'Only if she is your enemy, and not the River. Remember what Brother Horse said, about a god so large his head doesn't know what his feet are doing?'

'I wanted this to be simpler,' he muttered, somewhat more loudly than the rest of his conversation with his sword. Tsem sent him a sharp glance over his shoulder.

'You always do,' Harka said. 'It is your chief character flaw.'

That should not have come as a shock to Perkar, but it did. 'We'll think about that later,' he muttered. He crinkled his nose, and then, in a louder voice, asked, 'What's that smell?'

'Sewage,' Tsem answered.

'No, no,' Hezhi gasped. 'I smell it, too. Incense, or a priest's broom.'

'Above us?' Tsem said hopefully. 'At the gate?'

'We don't pass beneath the gate,' she said. Her voice sounded choked, as if she were about to cry. Small wonder; a girl her age shouldn't see this much killing, be caught up in so much terror. She was right, too. The smoke was coming from up the tunnel, not wafting down through one of the infrequent grills.

'What does this mean?' Perkar asked.

'Priests,' Tsem said grimly, 'and probably soldiers, too.'

They hurried on regardless, Tsem in the lead, Perkar to the rear, Hezhi between them, protected by their bodies, hands, and sword.

Tsem slowed up after a moment, breathing heavily. Perkar didn't think the Giant looked very well.

'There,' Tsem said. They could see the end of the tunnel, though it was faint due to the darkness outside of the city. It was just light enough to make out the figures silhouetted there. The smell of smoke was stronger.

 

 

Ghe slowed as his opponents did, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He had caught up with them at last, though they had led him a merry chase. Of course Hezhi would remember these sewers— after all, he had brought them to her attention. He fingered the tip of his sword, to make certain the toxin smeared on it was still there. Satisfied that it was, he slipped on toward where the three stood. Clearly they were aware of the priests, were deciding what to do about them. Perhaps the girl would try to use her sorcerous powers, the ones she had used against the guards at the gate. If so, she would fail, for the priests were now thoroughly protected from such attacks. The same smoke that swept away ghosts and demons would contain her power, or so the priests assured him. No, Ghe was much more worried about the barbarian, the one who reportedly had killed eight of the king's elite. He felt the elite were overrated, especially by themselves, but that was still an incredible feat, one that Ghe might be able to duplicate if he managed to strike first, before they were aware. As he would do now. He slipped closer still, until he could see the weave in the outlander's shirt.

 

 

'Something,' Harka warned. 'What?' 'I don't know. The smoke confuses me.'

 

 

Hezhi turned at Perkar's muttered word. Was he talking to her? His gray eyes were staring, shocked. A bloody spike projected from his chest, right where his heart should be. He crumpled, and from behind him stepped a shadow in the shape of a man. She shrieked and leapt away as something swung out—a fist, she guessed later— and struck her in the mouth. Then the shadow leapt on toward Tsem. She reeled back crazily, trying to regain her balance; her mouth tasted coppery, and she realized with horror that it was filling with blood. She spat and fell into the water almost simultaneously.

Pushing up on the palms of her hands, she tried desperately to seize the images around her, force sense into them. The shadow was dancing around Tsem, and she saw the flicker of a blade. Anger surged up from her feet, through the thing in her, and she sent it to stab the black-clad man. He did stumble; but she felt the power drain out of her attack, as if the very air were sucking it up. The smoke, she thought. They sweep me as if I were a ghost.

Tsem was leaning heavily against the wall, how badly hurt she could not tell.

The shadow recovered, stood, walked toward her.

'Well, Princess,' he said. 'The priests assured me that you would not be able to do even that much. I'm impressed. Best I kill you now, I think, before you can prove them wrong again.'