‘At what?’
Bugg cleared his throat. ‘I have a meeting tomorrow with the royal architects.’
‘Finally!’ Shand sighed from where she sat at the table, knuckling her eyes before continuing, ‘As far as we could tell nothing was happening about anything.’
‘Well,’ Tehol said, ‘that’s precisely the impression we want.’
‘Fine, but that’s the outside impression. It’s not supposed to apply to us, you idiot. If we aren’t in on the scheme then no-one is.’
‘Preparation, Shand. The groundwork. This can’t be rushed. Now, I’ve got to go.’
‘What?’
‘It’s late. My bed beckons. Fix up a room for Ublala. Get him some clothes. Maybe even a weapon he knows how to use.’
‘Don’t leave me here!’ Ublala moaned.
‘This is all business,’ Tehol assured him. ‘You’re safe here. Isn’t he, Shand?’
‘Of course,’ she murmured.
‘Cut that out. Or I’ll hire a bodyguard for our bodyguard.’
‘Maybe Ublala has a brother.’
Tehol gestured for Bugg to follow as he headed for the door. ‘I suppose meetings like this are useful. Every now and then.’
‘No doubt,’ Bugg replied.
They emerged onto the street. The night crowd was bustling. Shops stayed open late in the summer, to take advantage of the season’s frenzy. Heat made for restlessness, which made for a certain insatiability. Later in the season, when the temperatures became unbearable, there would be enervation, and debt.
Tehol and Bugg left the high street fronting the canal and made their way down various alleys, gradually leaving the spending crowds behind and finding themselves among the destitute. Voices called out from shadows. Dishevelled children followed the two men, a few reaching out grubby hands to pluck at Tehol’s skirt before running away laughing. Before long, they too were gone, and the way ahead was empty.
‘Ah, the welcoming silence of our neighbourhood,’ Tehol said as they walked towards their house. ‘It’s the headlong rush that always troubles me. As if the present is unending.’
‘Is this your contemplative moment?’ Bugg asked.
‘It was. Now over, thankfully.’
They entered and Tehol strode straight for the ladder. ‘Clean the place up tomorrow morning.’
‘Remember, you’ll have a visitor tonight.’
‘Not just in my dreams?’
Tehol clambered onto the roof. He closed the hatch then stood and studied the stars overhead until she emerged from the darkness to one side and spoke. ‘You’re late.’
‘No, I’m not. Midnight. Still a quarter off.’
‘Is it? Oh.’
‘And how’s life, Shurq? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.’
‘And I’ve never heard that particular quip before. It’s a miserable existence. Day after day, night after night. One step in front of the other, on and on to nowhere in particular.’
‘And being dead has changed all that?’
‘Don’t make me laugh, Tehol Beddict. I cough up stuff when I laugh. You want to offer me a contract. To do what?’
‘Well, a retainer, actually.’
‘Ongoing employment. I refused all retainers when I was alive; why should I do anything else now?’
‘Job security, of course. You’re not young any more.’ He walked over to his bed and sat down, facing her. ‘All right. Consider the challenges I offer. I have targets in mind that not a thief alive today would touch. In fact, only a high mage or someone who’s dead could defeat the wards and leave no trail. I don’t trust high mages, leaving only you.’
‘There are others.’
‘Two others, to be precise. And neither one a professional thief.’
‘How did you know there were two others?’
‘I know lots of things, Shurq. One is a woman who cheated on her husband, who in turn spent his life savings on the curse against her. The other is a child, origin of curse unknown, who dwells in the grounds of the old tower behind the palace.’
‘Yes. I visit her on occasion. She doesn’t know who cursed her. In fact, the child has no memory of her life at all.’
‘Probably an addition to the original curse,’ Tehol mused. ‘But that is curious indeed.’
‘It is. Half a peak was the going price. How much for sorcery to steal her memories?’
‘Half as much again, I’d think. That’s a lot to do to a ten-year-old child. Why not just kill her and bury her in some out of the way place, or dump her in the canal?’ He sat forward. ‘Tell you what, Shurq, we’ll include the pursuit of that mystery – I suspect it interests you in spite of yourself.’
‘I would not mind sticking a knife in the eye of whoever cursed the child. But I have no leads.’
‘Ah, so you’ve not been entirely apathetic, then.’
‘Never said I was, Tehol. But, finding no trail at all, I admit to a diminishment in motivation.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
The dead woman cocked her head and regarded him in silence for a moment. ‘You were a genius once.’
‘Very true.’
‘Then you lost everything.’
‘That’s right.’
‘And with that, presumably, a similar loss in confidence.’
‘Oh, hardly, Shurq Elalle.’
‘All part of your diabolical plan.’
‘Every worthwhile plan is diabolical.’
‘Don’t make me laugh.’
‘I’m trying not to, Shurq. Do we have a deal?’
‘The secret of the curse upon the child was not your intended payment for my services, Tehol. What else?’
‘I’m open to suggestions. Do you want the curse undone? Do you long for eternal night? The final stealthy departure of your slinking soul? Do you want to be resurrected in truth? Gifted life once more? Revenge against the one who cursed you?’
‘I already did that.’
‘All right. I admit I’m not surprised. Who was blamed for it?’
‘Gerun Eberict.’
‘Oh, that’s clever. Speaking of him…’
‘Is he one of your targets?’
‘Very much so.’
‘I don’t like assassination, in principle. Besides, he’s killed more than one knave.’
‘I don’t want you to kill him, Shurq. Just steal his fortune.’
‘Gerun Eberict has been getting more brazen, it’s true.’
‘An actual liability.’
‘Assuming maintaining the status quo is a worthwhile endeavour.’
‘Make no assumptions, Shurq. It’s more a matter of who’s controlling the dissolution of said status quo. The Finadd is losing control of his own appetites.’
‘Are you one of his targets, Tehol?’
‘Not that I’m aware of, not yet, anyway. Preferably not at all.’
‘It would be quite a challenge defeating his estate’s defensive measures.’
‘I’m sure it would.’
‘As for my retainer, I’m not interested in living again. Nor in dying with finality. No, what I want is to be granted the semblance of life.’
Tehol’s brows rose.
‘I want my skin glowing with palpable vigour. I want a certain dark allure to my eyes. My hair needs styling. New clothes, a flowery scent lingering in my wake. And I want to feel pleasure again.’
‘Pleasure?’
‘Sexual.’
‘Maybe it’s just the company you’ve been keeping.’
‘Don’t make me laugh.’
‘You’ll cough up stuff.’
‘You don’t want to know, Tehol Beddict. Maybe we can do something about that, too. That river water is three years old.’
‘I’m curious. How do you manage to speak without breath?’
‘I don’t know. I can draw air into my throat. It starts drying out after a while.’
‘I’ve noticed. All right, some of those things can be achieved easily enough, although we’
ll have to be circumspect. Others, for example the reawakening of pleasure, will obviously be more problematic. But I’m sure something can be managed—’
‘It won’t be cheap.’
‘I’m sure Gerun Eberict will be happy to pay for it.’
‘What if it takes all he has?’
Tehol shrugged. ‘My dear, the money is not the point of the exercise. I was planning on dumping it in the river.’
She studied him in silence for a moment longer, then said, ‘I could take it with me.’
‘Don’t make me laugh, Shurq. Seriously.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s a very infectious laugh.’
‘Ah. Point taken.’
‘And the retainer?’ Tehol asked.
‘Taken, as well. Presumably, you don’t want me hanging around you.’
‘Midnight meetings like this one should suffice. Come by tomorrow night, and we’ll make of you a new woman.’
‘So long as I smell new.’
‘Don’t worry. I know just the people for the task at hand.’
****
The thief left by climbing down the outside wall of the building. Tehol stood at the roof’s edge and watched her progress, then, when she had reached the alley below, he permitted himself a roll of the eyes. He turned away and approached his bed.
Only to hear voices down below. Surprised tones from Bugg, but not alarm. And loud enough to warn Tehol in case Shurq had lingered.
Tehol sighed. Life had been better – simpler – only a few weeks ago. When he’d been without plans, schemes, goals. Without, in short, purpose. A modest stir, and now everyone wanted to see him.
Creaks from the ladder, then a dark figure climbed into view.
It was a moment before Tehol recognized him, and his brows rose a moment before he stepped forward. ‘Well, this is unexpected.’
‘Your manservant seemed sure that you’d be awake. Why is that?’
‘Dear brother, Bugg’s talents are veritably preternatural.’
Brys walked over to the bed and studied it for a moment. ‘What happens when it rains?’
‘Alas, I am forced to retire to the room below. There to suffer Bugg’s incessant snoring.’
‘Is that what’s driven you to sleeping on the roof?’
Tehol smiled, then realized it was not likely Brys could see that smile in the darkness. Then decided it was all for the best. ‘King’s Champion. I have been remiss in congratulating you. Thus, congratulations.’
Brys was motionless. ‘How often do you visit the crypt? Or do you ever visit?’
Crossing his arms, Tehol swung his gaze to the canal below. A smeared gleam of reflected stars, crawling through the city. ‘It’s been years, Brys.’
‘Since you last visited?’
‘Since they died. We all have different ways of honouring their memory. The family crypt?’ He shrugged. ‘A stone-walled sunken room containing nothing of consequence.’
‘I see. I’m curious, Tehol, how precisely do you honour their memory these days?’
‘You have no idea.’
‘No, I don’t.’
Tehol rubbed at his eyes, only now realizing how tired he was. Thinking was proving a voracious feeder on his energies, leading him to admit he’d been out of practice. Not just thinking, of course. The brain did other things, as well, even more exhausting. The revisiting of siblings, of long-estranged relationships, saw old, burnished armour donned once more, weapons reached for, old stances once believed abandoned proving to have simply been lying dormant. ‘Is this a festive holiday, Brys? Have I missed something? Had we cousins, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, we could gather to walk the familiar ruts. Round and round the empty chairs where our mother and father once sat. And we could make our language unspoken in a manner to mimic another truth – that the dead speak in silences and so never leave us in peace—’
‘I need your help, Tehol.’
He glanced up, but could make nothing of his brother’s expression in the gloom.
‘It’s Hull,’ Brys went on. ‘He’s going to get himself killed.’
‘Tell me,’ Tehol said, ‘have you ever wondered why not one of us has found a wife?’
‘I was talking about—’
‘It’s simple, really. Blame our mother, Brys. She was too smart. Errant take us, what an understatement. It wasn’t Father who managed the investments.’
‘And you are her son, Tehol. More than me and Hull, by far. Every time I look at you, every time I listen to you, struggle to follow your lines of thought. But I don’t see how that—’
‘Our expectations reside in the clouds, Brys. Oh, we try. All of us have tried, haven’t we?’
‘Damn it, Tehol, what’s your point?’
‘Hull, of course. That’s who you came here to talk about, isn’t it? Well. He met a woman. As smart as our mother, in her own way. Or, rather, she found him. Hull’s greatest gift, but he didn’t even recognize it for what it was, when it was right there in his hands.’
Brys stepped closer, hands lifting as if about to grasp his brother by the throat. ‘You don’t understand,’ he said, his voice cracking with emotion. After a moment his hands fell away. ‘The prince will see him killed. Or, if not the prince, then the First Eunuch – should Hull speak out against the king. But wait!’ He laughed without humour. ‘There’s also Gerun Eberict! Who’ll also be there! Have I left anyone out? I’m not sure. Does it matter? Hull will be at the parley. The only one whose motives are unknown – to anyone. You can’t play your game if a stranger wades in at the last moment, can you?’
‘Calm yourself, brother,’ Tehol said. ‘I was getting to my point.’
‘Well, I can’t see it!’
‘Quietly, please. Hull found her, then lost her. But she’s still there – that much is clear. Seren Pedac, Brys. She’ll protect him—’
Brys snarled and turned away. ‘Like Mother did Father?’
Tehol winced, then sighed. ‘Mitigating circumstances—’
‘And Hull is our father’s son!’
‘You asked, a moment ago, how I honour the memory of our parents. I can tell you this, Brys. When I see you. How you stand. The deadly grace – your skill, taught you by his hand – well, I have no need for memory. He stands before me, right now. More than with Hull. Far more. And, I’d hazard, I am much as you say – like her. Thus,’ he spread his hands helplessly, ‘you ask for help, but will not hear what I tell you. Need there be reminders of the fates of our parents? Need there be memory, Brys? We stand here, you and I, and play out once more the old familial tortures.’
‘You describe, then,’ he said hoarsely, ‘our doom.’
‘She could have saved him, Brys. If not for us. Her fear for us. The whole game of debt, so deftly contrived to snare Father – she would have torn it apart, except that, like me, she could see nothing of the world that would rise from the ashes. And, seeing nothing, she feared.’
‘Without us, then, she would have saved him – kept him from that moment of supreme cowardice?’
Brys was facing him now, his eyes glittering.
‘I think so,’ Tehol answered. ‘And from them, we have drawn our lessons of life. You chose the protection of the King’s Guard, and now the role of Champion. Where debt will never find you. As for Hull, he walked away – from gold, from its deadly traps – and sought honour in saving people. And even when that failed… do you honestly imagine Hull would ever consider killing himself? Our father’s cowardice was betrayal, Brys. Of the worst sort.’
‘And what of you, Tehol? What lesson are you living out right now?’
‘The difference between me and our mother is that I carry no burden. No children. So, brother, I think I will end up achieving the very thing she could not do, despite her love for Father.’
‘By dressing in rags and sleeping on your roof?’
‘Perception enforces expectation, Brys.’ And thought he saw a wry smile from his brother.
‘
Even so, Tehol, Gerun Eberict is not as deceived as you might believe. As, I admit, I was.’
‘Until tonight?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Go home, Brys,’ Tehol said. ‘Seren Pedac stands at Hull’s back, and will continue to do so no matter how much she might disagree with whatever he seeks to do. She cannot help herself. Even genius has its flaws.’
Another grin. ‘Even with you, Tehol?’
‘Well, I was generalizing to put you at ease. I never include myself in my own generalizations. I am ever the exception to the rule.’
‘And how do you manage that?’
‘Well, I define the rules, of course. That’s my particular game, brother.’
‘By the Errant, I hate you sometimes, Tehol. Listen. Do not underestimate Gerun Eberict—’
‘I’ll take care of Gerun. Now, presumably you were followed here?’
‘I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, probably I was. Do you think our voices carried?’
‘Not through the wards Bugg raises every night before he goes to sleep.’
‘Bugg?’
Tehol clapped his brother on the shoulder and guided him towards the hatch. ‘He’s only mostly worthless. We ever seek out hidden talents, an exercise assuring endless amusement. For me, at least.’
‘Did he not embalm our parents? The name—’
‘That was Bugg. That’s where I first met him, and saw immediately his lack of potential. The entrance can be viewed in secret from one place and no other, Brys. Normally, you could make no approach without being detected. And then there’d be a chase, which is messy and likely to fail on your part. You will have to kill the man – Gerun’s, I suspect. And not in a duel. Outright execution, Brys. Are you up to it?’
‘Of course. But you said there was no approach that could not—’
‘Ah, well, I forgot to mention our tunnel.’
Brys paused at the hatch. ‘You have a tunnel.’
‘Keeping Bugg busy is an eternal chore.’
****
Still five paces from the shadowed section of the warehouse wall that offered the only hiding place with a clear line of sight to the doorway of Tehol’s house, Brys Beddict halted. His eyes were well adjusted, and he could see that no-one was there.
But he could smell blood. Metallic and thick.
Sword drawn, he approached.