They had reached the place where the woman had emerged from the alley. Crillo was turning round, pointing in the direction she had run, when a spear struck his head, spinning him round in a mass of blood, brain and shattered bone.
From the alley rushed a score or more Tiste Edur warriors.
‘Take them!’ Gerun Eberict commanded, and was pleased to see his men surge forward.
Past the Finadd, who then stepped back.
And ran.
Onto the trail of the woman. Coincidentally, of course. His real target was Tehol Beddict. He’d take her down first, leave her trussed and gagged close by, to await his return. More difficult, now, since he was alone. Tehol’s bodyguard would be a challenge, but when one’s sword edges were painted with poison, even the slightest cut would be sufficient to kill the man. Quickly.
There!
The woman had been hiding in a niche twenty paces ahead. She bolted at his approach.
Gerun broke into a sprint.
Oh, he wanted her now. She was beautiful. He saw the knife in her hand and laughed. It was a fish knife – he’d seen the Letherii slaves using them in that Hiroth village.
Running hard, he quickly gained on her.
Across another street, into another alley.
Close, now, to Tehol Beddict’s home. But he could reach her in time – five more steps-
‘There’s trouble.’
Stunned, Tehol Beddict turned. ‘Not mute after all…’ His words trailed away at seeing the unease in the bodyguard’s eyes. ‘Serious trouble, then.’
‘My brothers are both dead. Gerun Eberict is coming.’
‘This city’s full of Edur,’ Tehol said, throwing both hands up to encompass a vast sweep of rooftops, tiers and bridges. ‘Ranging round like wolves. And then there’s those real wolves-’
‘It’s Gerun.’
Tehol studied the man. ‘All right. He’s on the way for a visit. What should we do about it?’
‘They can come up the walls, the way your thief friend does. We need to get below. We need a place with one door and only one door.’
‘Well, there’s the warehouse opposite – I know it quite well-’
‘Let’s go, then.’
The guard went to the hatch, knelt at its edge and cautiously looked down into the room below. He waved Tehol forward, then began the descent.
Moments later they stood in the room. The guard headed to the entrance, tugged the hanging back a fraction and peered outside. ‘Looks clear. I’ll lead, to that wall-’
‘The warehouse wall. There’s a watchman, Chalas-’
‘If he’s still there I’d be surprised.’
‘You have a point. All right. When we get to the wall, we head right. Round the corner and in through the office door, the first one we’ll come to. The main sliding doors will be barred.’
‘And if the office door is locked?’
‘I know where the key’s hidden.’
The guard nodded.
They stepped into the narrow corridor, turned left and approached the street.
Three more strides.
She threw a desperate look over her shoulder, then lunged forward in a sudden burst of speed.
Gerun snarled, reaching out with one hand.
A whimpering sound escaped her, and she raised the knife just as she reached the mouth of the alley.
And thrust it into her own chest.
Gerun was a hand’s width behind her, coming opposite a side corridor between two warehouses, when he was grasped hard, pulled off his feet, and yanked into the dark corridor.
A fist crashed into his face, shattering his nose. Stunned, he was helpless as the sword was plucked from his hand, the helmet dragged from his head.
The massive hands lifted him and slammed him hard against a wall. Once, twice, three times, and with each impact the back of Gerun’s head crunched against the cut stone. Then he was smashed onto the greasy cobbles, breaking his right shoulder and clavicle. Consciousness slipped away. When it returned a moment later he was vaguely aware of a huge, hulking figure crouched over him in the gloom.
A massive hand snapped down to cover Gerun’s mouth and the figure froze.
The sound of running feet in the alleyway, a dozen, maybe more, all moccasined, the rasp of weapons. Then past.
Blearily, Gerun Eberict stared up at an unfamiliar face. A mixed blood. Half Tarthenal,.half Nerek.
The huge man crouched closer. ‘For what you did to her,’ he said in a hoarse whisper. ‘And don’t think it’ll be quick…’
The hand over his mouth, Gerun could say nothing. Could ask no questions. And he had plenty of those.
It was clear, however, that the mixed blood wasn’t interested.
And that, Gerun said to himself, was too bad.
Tehol was three paces behind the guard, who was nearing the warehouse wall, when a scraping noise alerted him. He looked to his right, in time to see an Edur woman stagger out from an alley. A knife handle jutted from her chest, and blood was streaming down.
Dumb misery in her eyes, she saw Tehol. Reached out a red-stained hand, then fell, landing on her left side and skidding slightly on the cobbles before coming to a stop.
‘Guard!’ Tehol hissed, changing direction. ‘She’s hurt-’
From the warehouse wall: ‘No!’
As Tehol reached her, he looked up to see Tiste Edur warriors rushing from the alley mouth. A spear sailed towards him-
– and was intercepted by the guard lunging in from Tehol’s left side. The weapon caught the man under his left arm, snapping ribs as it sank deep into his chest. With a soft groan, the guard stumbled past, then sprawled onto the street, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
Tehol went perfectly still.
The Edur ranged out cautiously, until they formed a rough circle around Tehol and the dead woman. One checked on the bodyguard, turning the man over with one foot. It was clear that the man was also dead.
In trader tongue, one of the Tiste Edur said, ‘You have killed her.’
Tehol shook his head. ‘No. She ran into view, already wounded. I was coming to… to help. I am sorry…’
The warrior sneered, then said to the younger Edur beside him, ‘Midik, see if this Letherii is armed.’
The one named Midik stepped up to Tehol. Reached out to pat him down, then snorted. ‘He’s wearing rags, Theradas. There is no place he could hide anything.’
A third warrior said, ‘He killed Mayen. We should take him back-’
‘No,’ Theradas growled. He sheathed his sword and pushed Midik to one side as he came close to Tehol. ‘Look at this one,’ he said in a growl. ‘See the insolence in his eyes.’
‘You do poorly at reading a Letherii’s expression,’ Tehol said sadly.
‘That is too bad, for you.’
‘Yes,’ Tehol replied, ‘I imagine-’
Theradas struck him with a gloved fist.
Pitching Tehol’s head back, his nose cracking loudly. He bent over, both hands to his face, then a foot slammed down diagonally against his right shin, snapping both bones. He fell. A heel crunched down on his chest, breaking ribs.
Tehol could feel his body trying to curl up as heels and fists battered at him. A foot smashed down on his left cheek, crushing bone and bursting that eye. White fire blazed in his brain, swiftly darkening to murky black.
Another kick dislocated his left shoulder.
