The Crimson Campaign

  “I didn’t say I believed it,” said the Proprietor through his interpreter. “I tend to only believe hard facts, but if I only acted on hard facts, I wouldn’t be here. Half of my trade is whispers and rumors. Information.”

  “Information is power,” Adamat agreed. “You’ve certainly made your living well enough.”

  “It’s not just power, it’s money. But I’ll give you this for free: Field Marshal Tamas is dead.”

  Adamat clasped his hands together to hide the sudden shaking of his fingers. Was this true? Could the field marshal be dead? If that was the case, Adamat was suddenly without a sponsor. His campaign against Lord Vetas already had little enough backing for a man that dangerous, but sixteen soldiers and an open checkbook was nothing to scoff at. Adamat wasn’t sure he was prepared to take on Vetas alone.

  “How do you know?” Adamat said when he trusted himself to speak. His voice wavered.

  “I received this missive from General Hilanska of the Second Brigade just this morning.” A hand reached out from behind the screen and gave a note to Amber. She in turn gave it to Adamat. “I assume his other councillors – Lady Winceslav, Prime Lektor, Ondraus the Reeve, and Ricard Tumblar – all received the same note.”

  Adamat slipped the silk ribbon off the note and unrolled it. The letters were Adran, but the single paragraph gibberish.

  “A cipher?” Adamat said.

  “Indeed. It says —”

  Adamat cut him off. “That Kresimir has returned and Field Marshal Tamas was cut off behind enemy lines with only two brigades. He’s presumed dead.”

  Silence from the Proprietor. Amber stared behind the screen for several moments. Her eyes opened a little wider before she delivered the Proprietor’s response. “That was… impressive.”

  Adamat gave the missive back to Amber. “A perfect memory makes ciphers very easy to decode. I spent two summers as a boy memorizing the keys to over four hundred different ciphers, both common and uncommon. That one is extremely rare, but I don’t forget. Kresimir. I thought Taniel Two-Shot put a bullet through his eye?”

  “Gods. Rumors. I’ve built this empire in Adro’s underworld by making very good guesses, and my guess here is that General Hilanska wouldn’t say such a thing unless he believes it fully.”

  Adamat leaned back. He stared at the screen, feeling less intimidated for some reason. What was behind that screen? What kind of a person? The hand Adamat had seen reach out was old, obviously male, with manicured nails. The Proprietor didn’t spend his whole life behind a screen. Somewhere else he had an assumed identity. One that allowed him to move about in public.

  “Only a handful of people in Adopest know this information,” Adamat said. “Why tell me?”

  The Proprietor seemed to hesitate. “Because it puts you to the wind. Tamas was your employer.”

  “And you want to employ me?” Adamat felt his hackles rise. In all his life he never thought he’d have a job offer from the Proprietor himself.

  “Ricard Tumblar will ask you to help with his campaign for the new ministry. He’ll offer to pay well. I can pay better. Other than that, what role could you possibly fill? A place back on the police force? I don’t think you want to be walking the streets in uniform over the next few years.”

  “What would you hire me to do?”

  “That brings me around to my first question. What interest do you have in Lord Vetas?”

  Adamat tilted his head to the side. The Proprietor didn’t know about Adamat’s wife. Which meant the eunuch hadn’t told him yet. It also meant either the Proprietor wasn’t working for Lord Vetas or that he was not close enough that Vetas had told him about Adamat.

  “He has my wife. I’m going to find him, rescue my wife, and kill Lord Vetas.”

  Adamat heard a low chuckle from behind the screen. He couldn’t help but scowl.

  “Perfect,” the Proprietor said through Amber. “Just perfect.”

  “Why should you care about Lord Vetas?”

  “As I said, he’s been causing problems for my organization.”

  “What kind of problems?”

  “Ones that I can’t handle without things becoming very noisy. He has at least sixty enforcers, and one of them is a Privileged.”

  Adamat’s heart jumped. A Privileged? Pit, how could he deal with something like that? “It might help if you were more specific about the problems.”

  “None that concern you.”

  Adamat smoothed the front of his shirt again. “A turf war, maybe? Vetas is moving in on your sources of revenue? Stirring up trouble in the underworld? Stealing your manpower, maybe?” That would explain why Roja the Fox was one of the guards holding Adamat’s children hostage – but if Roja had gone over to Vetas without the Proprietor’s blessing, it meant that Roja thought Vetas the stronger of the two.

  A scary thought indeed.

  “None,” the Proprietor said, Amber’s translation somewhat icy, “that concern you. This meeting is over. You may leave.”

  Adamat blinked at the abruptness of it. “You don’t want to hire me?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “And you’re not going to kill me?”

  “No. Out.”

  Adamat stood and examined the room once more, careful not to focus too much on the screen. Everything here was of a very fine quality, but not handcrafted. The paneling was milled, the candelabras secondhand. Even the desk looked like the kind that were made a dozen-a-day at a large carpenter’s workshop. Nothing here that could be traced.

  Except the rug. Gurlish, by the design, and even to an inexperienced eye the fibers were finely woven.

  Adamat fished inside his jacket for a handkerchief. He blew his nose noisily and dropped it, then bent and snatched it from the floor, making sure to look away from the Proprietor’s desk.

  When he stood, Amber still had the expectant look on her face that told him he’d overstayed his welcome. She glanced toward the door and he nodded.

  Outside, the eunuch stood by the door.

  “Stay here,” he said, going into the Proprietor’s office.

  Adamat took the moment alone to examine the fibers in between his fingers. There were only a few, all crinkled and dry. He couldn’t tell them from the lint in his pocket. But he knew a woman who might be able to identify them.

  The eunuch emerged from the office, pulling the door closed behind him with a click. He seemed troubled. “You’re free to go,” he said. “Of course, we can’t just have you walk out the front door. Keep the clothes.”

  Adamat opened his mouth to respond, when someone grabbed him from behind. A rag was shoved over his mouth and nose, and the last thing he remembered was the overpowering smell of ether.

  CHAPTER

  11

  Taniel was awakened from his half doze at the reins by the distant report of cannon fire.

  Dark thoughts swirled in his mind, thick as the clouds of smoke in the mala den. He could still see the Warden eating black powder. He could still feel the powder-enhanced strength in the monster’s twisted limbs. How could the Kez have made one of those creatures out of a powder mage? From what he knew of Wardens and Privileged, that seemed impossible.

  Then again, so did stabbing a Warden with its own rib after ripping it from the creature’s chest.

  The sudden sensation of falling made him grip the saddle horn in a panic, startling the horse. The world seemed to spin around him. He took several deep, ragged breaths. Even once he knew that he wasn’t actually falling, his heart still raced. Five days without mala. His hands shook, his mouth was dry, and his head pounded. The heat of the sun beating down didn’t help any of it.

  A cool hand suddenly touched his cheek. Ka-poel sat in the saddle behind him, arms wrapped around his waist for most of the journey, for she didn’t know the first thing about riding a horse. It should have been terribly uncomfortable to have her clinging to him in this heat, but somehow it was the only thing that gave him relief.

  Not that he’d admit i
t to her.

  It was early afternoon and the mountains were closing in on either side as they traveled into Surkov’s Alley. They’d spent the night in Fendale, a large city of some hundred thousand that was swelled to four times that number with army reserves and the refugees from Budwiel.

  What little sleep Taniel had managed in Fendale was restless and plagued with nightmares. He’d read once that the only way to sleep well after forming a mala addiction was with more mala.

  Ka-poel removed her hand from his cheek, to his decidedly uncomfortable regret. What would he do with this girl? She seemed to think he belonged to her in some way. He could sleep with her, he supposed, but the thought of it made him feel… conflicted. She was a savage, and his servant. A companion and nothing more. There wasn’t a soul in polite Adran society who wouldn’t think it most improper.

  When had he ever cared about what society thought proper, he reminded himself. And a savage? Taniel had seen Ka-poel’s sorcery. She’d saved his life on several occasions. She was anything but “just a savage girl.”

  Taniel tried to blink away the fog that permeated his mind, but with little success. Drifting off like that could be dangerous. They would reach the front by tomorrow evening, and from there he’d have to find out if there were any other powder mages left in the army, and news of his father. And of course, he’d have to report to… to who? Taniel had never reported to anyone but Field Marshal Tamas.

  Could Tamas really be dead? Taniel was a little surprised to feel a lump in the back of his throat at the idea. He loved Tamas, admired him even, but he didn’t like him, and they had never been especially close. After all, the old bastard had ordered him to kill his best friend. Taniel didn’t even know where Bo was now. Maybe he’d died on the mountain, or been executed by Tamas weeks ago.

  Taniel hoped they were both alive – Tamas and Bo. There were still things that needed to be said.

  As for Ka-poel… Respect. That’s all Taniel was feeling. And a feeling of hopelessness, for Tamas had been Adro’s best chance at winning the war.

  They stopped to rest in one of the many little towns in Surkov’s Alley between Fendale and Budwiel. Normally a town like this would have a couple thousand residents. With the war on, it was overflowing. Supply trains flowed through the city, and infantry reserves walked the streets in their uniforms, enjoying a few days away from the front. Taniel watched as dozens of carts rolled by, carrying wounded and dead soldiers from the front. He’d seen hundreds of such carts since leaving Adopest. It didn’t bode well for the war.

  “Captain, if you ignore me for another moment, I’ll have you flogged.”

  Ka-poel, seated next to him on a grassy bank while they ate their lunch, elbowed Taniel in the ribs. Taniel looked up, feeling genuine surprise that someone was talking to him.

  A colonel sat on horseback, his narrow features twisted in a scowl. He pointed his riding crop at Taniel. “Captain, what brigade are you with?” He gave Taniel a moment to answer, and then, “Wipe that stupid look off your face. Is that such a hard question?”

  “I don’t have one,” Taniel said.

  “Don’t have a… are you daft? Are you a captain in the Adran army or not? Be careful how you answer, son, or I’ll have you brought up on charges of impersonating an officer!”

  Taniel fingered the captain’s stars on his lapel. They were gold, as he’d used his silver buttons to buy mala and these were the only replacements he could get on short notice. His powder-keg pin was in his pocket. Who the bloody pit was this man? Taniel had never answered to anyone other than the field marshal. He supposed that technically he was attached to a brigade. The Seventh, maybe?

  Taniel shrugged.

  The colonel’s face turned red. “Major!”

  A woman in her midthirties rode up beside the colonel. “Sir?” She had long brown hair tied back behind her head in a single braid, and a thin face with a beauty mark on her left cheek. She saluted the colonel and then looked down at Taniel.

  “Have this man arrested,” the colonel said.

  “Charges, sir?”

  “Disrespecting a superior officer. The man didn’t salute me, or answer my questions, or stand in my presence.”

  The major climbed down from her horse and gestured to a pair of neatly dressed soldiers to join her.

  Taniel watched the three of them approach. He took a bite of mutton and cheese, chewing slowly.

  “Stand up, Captain,” the major said. When Taniel didn’t respond, she jerked her head to one of the soldiers. He bent to grab Taniel by the arm.

  Taniel lifted the pistol from his lap and cocked back the hammer, pointing it at the soldier. “Bad idea, soldier.” Taniel almost cracked a smile at the looks on the faces of the major and colonel, but he doubted that would help his position.

  “Uh, sir,” one of the soldiers said, “are you Taniel Two-Shot?”

  “Yes,” Taniel said, “I am.”

  “I used to be with the Seventh. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir, but it seems we’re supposed to arrest you.”

  Taniel locked eyes with the major. “That’s not going to happen today.”

  The major retreated for a moment and held a quiet conference with the colonel. A few moments later the colonel nodded and the major and the soldiers were dismissed.

  Taniel returned to his lunch, only to find the colonel still sitting on his horse not ten feet away. The man rode a little closer. Taniel looked up. He wasn’t in the mood for this.

  The colonel’s expression was still disapproving. “Captain, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. We’ve met before, but it was years ago. Your father was a great man.”

  Taniel swallowed a mouthful of food. How was he supposed to answer that? “Yes, he was.”

  “Captain, I should warn you. The field marshal was quite lenient with all his soldiers, especially his mages. With his death there’s been a shift in policy in that regard. I doubt the General Staff will make an exception for you, even with your reputation. Point a pistol at a ranking officer again and you’ll be —”

  “Shot?” Taniel asked, not able to keep the smirk from his face.

  The colonel scowled. “Hanged.”

  “Thank you for the warning. Sir.”

  The colonel nodded. “I’m glad to hear you’re on your feet again, Captain. We need you on the front.” He paused for a moment, as if waiting for Taniel to stand and salute him. He could have waited all day for that, as far as Taniel was concerned. After nearly a minute he turned his horse and was off at a canter.

  Taniel couldn’t help but wonder why the colonel wasn’t on the front with the rest of the army.

  “Pole,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to come with me.”

  She rolled her eyes at him.

  “I’m serious, Pole. It’s a war zone. I know you’ve been in war before.” Pit, she’d been with him facing down the same Kez Grand Army just a couple months ago. He’d watched her butcher half the Kez royal cabal up on South Pike. “But I’ve felt… strange since you brought me back. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’d rather not get you killed.”

  Taniel again remembered the blood on her hands when he awoke from the coma. He had seen dead soldiers, and a man he felt he should recognize lying on the ground unconscious. Ka-poel had tried to explain it with hand gestures. Taniel had surmised that she’d traded a life for his. Whose, he didn’t know, but the thought made him sick.

  Ka-poel took the piece of cheese from his hand and tossed it in her mouth. That seemed like all the answer that Taniel was going to get.

  “Oh well,” he said. “I had to try. It’ll be good to have you at my side.”

  Ka-poel pursed her lips in a sly smile.

  “My side, Ka-poel. I don’t —”

  She put her finger to his lips, her smile widening.

  “They won’t like you being with me,” Taniel said. “There are some women soldiers, and fraternization is strictly prohibited. It happens all the time, of course, bu
t the officers like to keep up appearances. They might try to make you sleep in a different tent.”

  Ka-poel spread her hands, questioning.

  “What? Fraternization? You know. Men and women being… together. Intimately.”

  She pointed between them, then made a flat, chopping motion with her hand. But we aren’t. The grin on her face made the motion appear mocking, like a child denying that they’d done something wrong when they’d been caught doing it.

  It made Taniel’s heart beat faster, and he could feel his face go red. “All right, girl, we’re going now. Just after I piss.”

  When he got back to the horse, he found her sitting in the saddle already, but toward the front, as if she expected him to sit behind her.

  “Move back,” he said.

  She ignored him. He pulled himself up into the saddle behind her, and to take the reins, he had to wrap his arms around her waist. She snuggled up against his chest and he flicked the reins with a sigh.

  The number of people along the road increased as they got closer and closer to the front. In the last ten miles there were so many tents that they filled the entire valley from one side to the other. It seemed like a sea of people – soldiers, smiths, whores, cooks, laundresses, and merchants. He saw soldiers with the stripes of just about every brigade in Adro, including all of the Wings of Adom, Lady Winceslav’s mercenaries. By now she’d know that Tamas was dead. Taniel wondered if she’d pull her mercenaries out of the war.

  The road seemed to disappear beneath the crowd, and Taniel knew they were just one good rainstorm away from it becoming a shit hole of mud. The Addown River cut through the whole thing, a dirty mess clogged with the waste of hundreds of thousands of people. There were barges moored here and there along the river – supply ships from Adopest, no doubt bringing food, weapons, and fresh recruits.

  The tents gained some order as he finally reached the army proper. He didn’t think he’d ever look forward to straight lines and discipline again, but after having to push his way through the final few miles he was glad to leave the reserves and hangers-on behind him.