Chronicles of the Black Company

  Shed shook with anger.

  “How far down do you have him?”

  “Eighteen leva, and nearly another ten in interest.”

  “I can work him for another five.”

  “Do it. I have a buyer hot to go.”

  Shed left. He wandered the Buskin for hours. He looked so grim people crossed the street. There is no vengeance as terrible as the vengeance a coward plots in the dark of his heart.

  Late that afternoon Shed strolled into Gilbert’s office, all emotion locked back in the shadows he had discovered the night he had run with Krage’s hunters. “I need fifteen leva, Gilbert. In a hurry.”

  Gilbert was startled. His one eye opened wide. “Fifteen? What the hell for?”

  “I’ve set up a sweet deal, but I have to close it tonight. I’ll go a couple extra points if you want.”

  “Shed, you’re into me big now. I’m worried about you covering that.”

  “This deal goes off and I can clear it all.”

  Gilbert stared. “What’s up, Shed?”

  “Up?”

  “You’re awful sure of yourself.”

  Shed told the lie that hurt most. “I’m going to get married, Gilbert. Going to ask the lady tonight. I want to close this deal so I can make the Lily over into a decent place for her.”

  “Well,” Gilbert breathed. “Well, well, well. Marron Shed getting married. Interesting. All right, Shed. It’s not good business, but I’ll take a chance. Fifteen, you said?”

  “Thank you, Mr. Gilbert. I’m really grateful. …”

  “You sure you can meet the payments?”

  “I’ll have you ten leva before the end of the week. Guaranteed. And with Sue helping out at the Lily, I’ll have no problem clearing enough to cover the rest.”

  Gilbert controlled a thin smile. “Then you won’t mind putting up collateral more valuable than your word?”

  “Sir?”

  “I want a lien on the Iron Lily.”

  Shed pretended to think hard. Finally: “All right. She’s worth the risk.”

  Gilbert smiled the smile of a hungry stoat, but managed to look worried at the same time. “Wait here. I’ll have a note drawn up and get the money.”

  Shed smiled nastily as Gilbert departed.

  Juniper: Lovers’ Parting

  Shed pulled his rig into the alleyway behind Sue’s place, raced around front, pounded on the door. It was a class place for the Buskin. A man guarded the entrance from within. Eight women lived there, each in her own apartment. Each in the same business as Sue. Each commanding a substantial premium for her time.

  “Hello, Mr. Shed,” the door guard said. “Go on up. She’s expecting you.”

  Shed tipped him, something he hadn’t done before. The man became obsequious. Shed ignored him, mounted the stair.

  Now came the difficult part. Playing cow-eyed lover when he was no longer blind. But he would fool her, just as she had fooled him.

  She answered the door, radiantly beautiful. Shed’s heart climbed into his throat. He shoved something into her hand. “This is for you.”

  “Oh, Marron, you shouldn’t have.” But, if he hadn’t, he would not have gotten past her door. “What a strange necklace. Are these serpents?”

  “Real silver,” he said. “And rubies. It caught my fancy. Ugly, but the craftsmanship is superb.”

  “I think it’s gorgeous, Marron. How much did it cost?”

  “Too much,” Shed replied, smiling sardonically. “I couldn’t tell you. More than I should have paid for anything.”

  Sue did not press. “Come here, Marron.” She must have had orders to play him carefully. Usually she gave him a hard time before surrendering. She began disrobing.

  Shed went. He took her rough, something he had not done before. Then he took her again. When it was over, she asked, “What’s gotten into you?”

  “I have a big surprise for you. A big surprise. I know you’ll love it. Can you sneak out without anyone knowing?”

  “Of course. But why?”

  “That’s the surprise. Will you do it? You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Just do it. Slip out a few minutes after I leave. Meet me in the alley. I want to take you somewhere and show you something. Be sure to wear the necklace.”

  “What are you up to?” She seemed amused, not suspicious.

  Good, Shed thought. He finished dressing. “No answers now, darling. This will be the biggest surprise of your life. I don’t want to spoil it.” He headed for the door.

  “Five minutes?” she called.

  “Don’t make me wait. I’m a bear when I have to wait. And don’t forget the necklace.”

  “I won’t, dear.”

  Shed waited nearly fifteen minutes. He grew impatient, but was certain greed would bring Sue out. The hook was set. She was playing with him.

  “Marron?” Her voice was soft and musical. His heart twisted. How could he do this?

  “Here, love.” She came to him. He enfolded her in his arms.

  “Now, now. Enough of that. I want my surprise. I can hardly wait.”

  Shed took a deep breath. Do it! he yelled inside. “I’ll help you up.” She turned. Now! But his hands were made of lead.

  “Come on, Marron.”

  He swung. Sue slammed into the wagon, a mewl the only sound she made. He hit her again as she bounced back. She sagged. He took a gag from the wagon, forced it into her mouth before she could scream, then tied her hands quickly. She began kicking when he went for her ankles. He kicked her back, nearly let anger carry him away.

  She quit fighting. He finished binding her, then propped her on the wagon seat. In the darkness they looked like man and wife about some late business.

  He did not speak till they were across the Port. “You’re probably wondering what’s going on, darling.”

  Sue grunted. She was pale and frightened. He retrieved his amulet. While he was at it, he stripped her of jewelry and valuables.

  “Sue, I loved you. I really did. I would have done anything for you. When you kill a love like that, you turn it into a big hatred.” At least twenty leva worth of jewelry, he guessed. How many men had she destroyed? “Working for Gilbert like that. Trying to steal the Lily. Anything else I could have forgiven. Anything.”

  He talked all the way up the hill. It distracted her till the black castle loomed so large it could no longer be overlooked. Then her eyes got huge. She began to shake, to stink as she lost all control.

  “Yes, darling,” Shed said, voice pleasantly rational, conversational. “Yes. The black castle. You were going to deliver me to the mercy of your friends. You made a bet and lost. Now I deliver you to mine!’ He halted, climbed down, went to the gate. It opened immediately.

  The tail being met him, wringing spidery hands. “Good,” it said. “Very good. Your partner never brought healthy game.”

  Shed’s guts knotted. He wanted to change his mind. He only wanted to hurt and humiliate Sue But it was too late. He could not turn back. “I’m sorry, Sue. You shouldn’t have done it. You and Gilbert. His turn will come. Marron Shed isn’t what everybody thinks.”

  A whining noise came from behind Sue’s gag. Shed turned away. He had to get out. He faced the tall creature. It began counting coins directly into his hand.

  As always, Shed did not barter. In fact, he did not look at the money, just kept stuffing his pockets. His attention was on the darkness behind the creature.

  More of its kind were back there, hissing, jostling. Shed recognized the short one he’d dealt with once.

  The tall being stopped counting. Absently, Shed put the coins into a pocket, returned to his wagon. The things in shadow swept forward, seized Sue, began ripping her clothing. One yanked the gag out of her mouth. Shed started packing his rig.

  “For God’s sake, Marron. Don’t leave me.”

  “It’s done, woman. It’s done.” He snapped his traces. “Back up, mules.”

>   She started screaming as he turned toward the gate. He did not look. He did not want to know. “Keep moving, mules.”

  “Come again soon, Marron Shed,” the tall creature called after him.

  Juniper: Banished

  The summons from Whisper caught me unprepared. It was too early for the daily report. I’d barely finished breakfast. I knew it meant trouble.

  I was not disappointed.

  The Taken prowled like a caged animal, radiating tension and anger. I went inside by the numbers, stood at a perfect attention, giving no excuse for the picking of nits—in case whatever it was was not my fault.

  She ignored me for several minutes, working off energy. Then she seated herself, stared at her hands thoughtfully.

  Her gaze rose. And she was in complete control. She actually smiled. Had she been as beautiful as the Lady, that smile would have melted granite. But she was what she was, a scarred old campaigner, so a smile only ameliorated the grimness of her face.

  “How were the men disposed last night?” she asked.

  Baffled, I responded, “Excuse me? You mean their temper?”

  “Where were they stationed?”

  “Oh.” That was properly Elmo’s province, but I knew better than to say so. The Taken do not tolerate excuses, sound though they may be. “The three men on the ship south with Bullock, looking for that man Asa.” I worried about her having sent them. When I do not understand the motives of the Taken, I get paranoid. “Five down in the Buskin pretending to be foreign sailors. Three more down there watching people we’ve found especially interesting. I’d have to double-check with Elmo to be positive, but at least four more were in other parts of the city, trying to pick up something of interest. The rest of us were here in the castle, off duty. Wait. One man would have been down in the Duke’s secret police office, and two would have been at the Enclosure, hanging around with the Custodians. I was with the Inquisitors most of the night, picking their brains. We’re scattered pretty thin right now. I’ll be glad when the Captain gets here. We’ve got too much going for the available manpower. The occupation planning is way behind.”

  She sighed, rose, resumed pacing. “My fault as much as anyone’s, I suppose.” She looked out a window for a long time. Then she beckoned. I joined her.

  She indicated the black castle. “Just whiskers short. They’re trying to open the way for the Dominator already. It’s not yet time, but they’re getting hurried. Maybe they’ve sensed our interest.”

  This Juniper business was like some giant, tentacled sea beast from a sailor’s lie. No matter where we turned or what we did, we got deeper into trouble. By working at cross-purposes with the Taken, trying to cover an increasingly more obvious trail, we were complicating their efforts to deal with the peril of the black castle. If we did cover well, we just might make it possible for the Dominator to emerge into an unprepared world.

  I did not want that horror upon my conscience.

  Though I fear I tend not to record it that way, we were embroiled in substantial moral quandaries. We are not accustomed to such problems. The lot of the mercenary does not require much moralizing or making of moral decisions. Essentially, the mercenary sets morality aside, or at best reorders the customary structures to fit the needs of his way of life. The great issues become how well he does his job, how faithfully he carries out his commission, how well he adheres to a standard demanding unswerving loyalties to his comrades. He dehumanizes the world outside the bounds of his outfit. Then anything he does, or witnesses, becomes of minor significance as long as its brunt is borne outside the Company.

  We had drifted into a trap where we might have to face the biggest choice in the Company’s history. We might have to betray four centuries of Company mythos on behalf of the greater whole.

  I knew I could not permit the Dominator to restore himself, if that turned out to be the only way we could keep the Lady from finding out about Darling and Raven.

  Yet. … The Lady was not much better. We served her, and, till lately, well and faithfully, obliterating the Rebel wherever we found him, but I don’t think many of us were indifferent to what she was. She was less evil than the Dominator only because she was less determined about it, more patient in her drive for total and absolute control.

  That presented me with another quandary. Was I capable of sacrificing Darling to prevent the Dominator’s return? If that became the price?

  “You seem very thoughtful,” Whisper said.

  “Uhm. There’re too many angles to this business. The Custodians. The Duke. Us. Bullock, who has axes of his own to grind.” I had told her about Bullock’s Buskin origins, feeding her seemingly irrelevant information to complicate and distract her thinking.

  She pointed again. “Didn’t I suggest a close watch be kept on that place?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We did for a while, too. But nothing ever happened, and then we were told to do some other things. …” I broke off, quaking with a sudden nasty suspicion.

  She read my face. “Yes. Last night. And this delivery was still alive.”

  “Oh boy,” I murmured. “Who did it? You know?”

  “We just sensed the consequent changes. They tried to open the way. They weren’t strong enough yet, but they came very close.”

  She began to prowl. Mentally, I ticked off the roster for the Buskin last night. I was going to ask some very pointed questions.

  “I consulted the Lady directly. She’s very worried. Her orders are to let ancillary business slide. We’re to prevent any more bodies reaching the castle. Yes, the rest of your Company will be here soon. From six to ten days. And there is much to be done to prepare for their arrival. But, as you observed, there is too much to do and too few to do it. Let your Captain cope when he arrives. The black castle must be isolated.”

  “Why not fly some men in?”

  “The Lady has forbidden that.”

  I tried to look perplexed. “Buy why?” I had a sweating, fearful suspicion that I knew.

  Whisper shrugged. “Because she doesn’t want you wasting time making hellos and briefing newcomers. Go see what can be done about isolating the castle.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I departed, thinking it had gone both better and worse than I had anticipated. Better, because she did not throw one of her screaming rages. Worse, because she had in effect announced that we who were here already were suspect, that we might have succumbed to a moral infection the Lady did not want communicated to our brethren.

  Scary.

  “Yeah,” Elmo said when I told him. He did not need it explained. “Which means we got to make contact with the Old Man.”

  “Messenger?”

  “What else? Who can we break loose and cover?”

  “One of the men from the Buskin.”

  Elmo nodded. “I’ll handle that. You go ahead and figure how to isolate the castle with the manpower we have.”

  “Why don’t you go scout the castle? I want to find out what those guys were doing last night.”

  “That’s neither here nor there now, Croaker. I’m taking over. Not saying you done a bad job, just you didn’t get it done. Which is my fault, really. I’m the soldier.”

  “Being a soldier won’t make any difference, Elmo. This isn’t soldier’s work. It’s spy stuff. And spies need time to worm into the fabric of a society. We haven’t had enough of that.”

  “Time is up now. Isn’t that what you said?”

  “I guess,” I admitted. “All right. I’ll scout the castle. But you find out what went on down there last night. Especially around that placed called the Iron Lily. It keeps turning up, just like that guy Asa.”

  All the while we talked, Elmo was changing. Now he looked like a sailor down on his luck, too old to ship, but still tough enough for dirty work. He would fit right in down in the Buskin. I told him so.

  “Yeah. Let’s get moving. And don’t plan on getting much sleep till the Captain gets here.”

  We looked at one anothe
r, not saying what lay in the backs of our minds. If the Taken did not want us in touch with our brethren, what might they do when the Company hove in sight, coming out of the Wolanders?

  * * *

  Up close, the black castle was both intriguing and unsettling. I took a horse over, circled the place several times, even flipped a cheerful wave at the one movement I detected atop its glassy ramparts.

  There was some difficult ground behind it—steep, rocky, overgrown with scraggly, thorny brush which had a sagey odor. Nobody lugging a corpse would reach the fortress from that direction. The ground was better along the ridge-line to east and west, but even there an approach was improbable. Men of the sort who sold corpses would do things the easy way. That meant using the road which ran from the Port River waterfront, through the scatter of merchant class houses on the middle slopes, and just kept on to the castle gate. Someone had followed that course often, for wheel ruts ran from the end of the road to the castle.

  My problem was, there was no place a squad could lie in wait without being seen from the castle wall. It took me till dusk to finalize my plan.

  I found an abandoned house a ways down the slope and a little upriver. I would conceal my squad there and post sentries down the road, in the populated area. They could run a message to the rest of us if they saw anything suspicious. We could hustle up and across the slope to intercept potential body-sellers. Wagons would be slow enough to allow us the time needed.

  Old Croaker is a brilliant strategist. Yes, sir. I had my troops in place and everything set by midnight. And had two false alarms before breakfast. I learned the embarrassing way that there was legitimate night traffic past my sentry post.

  I sat in the old house with my team, alternately playing Tonk and worrying, and on rare occasions napping. And wondering a lot about what was happening down in the Buskin and across the valley in Duretile.

  I prayed Elmo could keep his fingers on all the strings.

  Juniper: Lisa

  Shed spent an entire day lying in his room, staring at the ceiling, hating himself. He had sunk as low as a man could. There was no deed too foul for him anymore, and nothing more he could do to blacken his soul. A million-leva passage fee could not buy him aboard on Passage Day. His name had to be written in the Black Book with those of the greatest villains.