Escana (30 page)

Another
wave of exhaustion caressed his eyelids as he slumped down upon the
cage floor, his back pressed up to the wall. He drifted in and out of
consciousness and each time he woke he found no sign of any movement
from the slaves. Many of them were either asleep already from
attempting to stave it off in the past few days or nodding at the
sight of so many others doing the same.

He
didn't dream, his last thoughts were oddly hopeful.

S
he
didn't know where he was leading them, all she knew was that given
the events of today they had little choice.

The
winding streets he led them through had tall buildings stretching up
on every side, none of them with any lights. He picked his way
swiftly, pressing forward with purposeful strides as Jakob remained
held securely in his arms. She didn't know why but she felt
confidence of their escape grow in her mind.

He
took a sudden right and motioned to the door. Jimmy unlocked it with
a key and The Hermit brushed past him into the room.

It
was extremely small, a single bed and a lamp on the far side with a
bowl of water and a miniature chest. There was little else of note
and Ella wasn't in a particularly observant frame of mind. She
quietly hoped that this small place offered seclusion for the night
after the slaughter they had left behind.

The
Hermit lay Jakob out on the bed and opened the chest, revealing an
assortment of what looked to Ella like medicinal supplies.
Unwarranted hope sprang in her heart once more in the knowledge that
Jakob wouldn't go unattended in spite of the remaining fear that this
overly convenient friendliness could still be a ploy.

'Who
are you?' she asked, hoping that this stranger was a little more open
than Falarus.

Jimmy
shook his head at her. 'He can hear you but he won't answer. He
hasn't responded to anyone since he arrived here.'

The
Hermit continued tending to Jakob as if the conversation were of
little import.

'You
know this man well then? Why didn't you tell me?'

Jimmy
sat himself on the floor and stared at The Hermit for a moment in
thoughtful silence. 'He's an enigma, at least according to what I've
heard from Gadtor. We've worked together for the past week in the
Black Quail, I've never seen anyone like him. I'd have told you about
him sooner if I'd had the chance.'

'So
how can you trust him if he doesn't even speak to you?'

Jimmy
seemed to go a bit pale at the thought of whatever he was recalling,
apparently he had seen something recently that he didn't want to
share.

'If
you had seen him just days ago, you'd understand,' he finally
answered, shifting uncomfortably. 'He always finds a way. You saw
what he did to those guards, that's but a facet of his power. If the
Black Quail had a score of men like him Urial would be free.'

Ella
looked at him sceptically. 'His bravado and luck got us out of the
warehouse but it'll take more to convince me that he's what you
claim.'

Jimmy
crooked a brief but weary smile. 'Is my word not good enough?'

'I
just think all the adrenaline from running around the sewers has gone
to your head. He may have got you out of a few tough scrapes but
there's a reason that there's only the two of you left.'

She
expected him to deflate somewhat at her words, his face only seemed
to harden with resolve.

'I
know what I saw, it doesn't matter if you believe me. We have even
more to worry about. Thom is here in Urial and he's looking for us,
he probably thinks I killed Solomon now. I wish that was the worst of
our worries.'

Ella's
heart unexpectedly jumped at his tone, the brash confidence Jimmy had
exuded throughout their journey seemed to have dissolved in front of
her eyes. 'We're on the run from both the Justice's guards and the
Escana Warden while Jakob lies critically ill, what could be worse?'

Jimmy
shook his head. 'Gadtor mentioned something about a phantom creature
slicing up all his men. Entire squads were lost and all to this one
thing, it took them apart methodically, bled our numbers dry for
sport. It's the bandit that we met on the road in pursuit of you.'

The
chest nearby was slammed shut violently, making them jump. The Hermit
gazed at them with a grim expression and put a finger to his lips. He
didn't want Jimmy talking about this mysterious ghoul.

They
had landed themselves in an enormous amount of trouble and she sensed
the depths of the danger could escalate if they kept blundering
about. She would have attributed Jimmy's talk to his over-active
imagination but this was no ghost story he was revelling in. If
anything it sounded tangible and dangerous, something they needed to
avoid given Jakob's condition.

The
heightened tension of the conflict and the ensuing flight seemed to
have sapped her of all the rest she had in the warehouse, leaving her
immensely weary. She sunk down the wall to sit beside Jimmy, taking
little comfort in his presence.

Looking
through the crack under the door, she saw that the night cloaked
everything, making the ominous silence that bit more unbearable.

She
stared at The Hermit's back for a long time, futilely pondering what
kind of life the man had led up until now. If he had always been this
way, what he spent his days doing and how he had involved himself in
this Black Quail group. She rose up from the floor and walked over to
him, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

He
was still bent over the bedside, either in great concentration or
slumber, surrounded by various ingredients Ella couldn't begin to
describe. Whatever frantic work he had been undertaking on Jakob
appeared to have ended. Whether that was a good thing or not she
couldn't say.

His
figure had remained cloaked to ward off the chill of the room, that
managed to hide anything else Ella could have used to pinpoint what
sort of person this man was.

'You
can hear others but you cannot respond?'

There
was no response for a period of time, just as Ella thought he was
ignoring her or deaf as well as dumb, he inclined his head slightly
in a nod.

Her
inquisitiveness renewed, she pushed her luck somewhat. 'Does anyone
in Urial know who you are?'

He
seemed to think about this for a moment, possibly deciding whether to
dignify her with a response, then nodded again.

'If
I were to obtain parchment and ink, would you tell me a little about
who you are?'

The
faintest of smiles touched his face as he shook his head.

'Why
won't you tell me who you are?'

The
smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, a stupid question to
ask one who cannot talk.

'I'm
sorry.' Ella replied, feeling idiotic and insensitive. 'Have you
always been this way?'

An
almost imperceptible shake of the head, a very sensitive subject.

'Do
you mind me asking all these questions? We've been thrown in the deep
end here, with little hope of salvation until you seemed to appear
from nowhere. Can you understand why we'd want to know who you are?'

He
shook his head and then nodded at that, she was getting somewhere.

She
felt Jimmy's gaze on her and spotted his approving nod from the
corner of her eye, she wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

'Will
Falarus and Gadtor survive where they are being taken by the guards?'

He
shook his head quite emphatically.

'Will
the guards lock them away?'

Another
more surprising shake of the head.

Jimmy
answered for him this time. 'They're going to put them to death and
The Hermit wants us to help him do something about.'

The
Hermit pointed at Jimmy and nodded.

'What
can we do against a whole city? There's only three of us left and
they butchered all the rest and....' She stopped in shock. The
Hermit's hand had crept up and a single finger had been placed on her
lips. She fought down the urge to slap the hand away and tried to
focus on how gentle and cautious his touch had been, something she
knew existed but had never experienced. It was an odd feeling and an
altogether unexpected one.

'I
think he wants us both to sleep,' Jimmy remarked, an amused smile
once more playing across his tired face.

She
felt her own tiredness creep back into her head, whatever fire that
sustained her had been snuffed out. She vaguely noted The Hermit
leaving and returning shortly after with arms full of straw, her last
sight was his back as he settled down into the chair for the night.

T
he
frightened looking man rapped on the door cautiously, sweat soaking
his shaking fists. 'Lord Kelgrimm, my lord, there is a situation that
requires your immediate attention, if you can my lord.'

Thom
eased Skullcleaver from the man's back. Gaining entrance to the
Justice's manor had been a largely perfunctory exercise in power,
being a local Warden meant that he could not be denied at any hour.
This piss-pants bureaucrat had been most irritating to deal with and
had wasted far too much of his time. The direct route was
surprisingly enjoyable as a result.

The
large door swung open, admitting him into a small antechamber, yet
another delay.

He
pushed the man up against one of the walls and set the steel to his
throat. 'Now listen carefully you son of a bitch, you will tell Lord
Kelgrimm that if he doesn't see me immediately I will break his
Judiciary door down and give him a nice shave with Skullcleaver.
Understand?'

A
small puddle was forming at the man's feet. Thom didn't need to see
his frantic nod to know he understood, piss-pants was living up to
his name.

As
soon as he lowered his blade the man sank down the wall in relief,
then as if remembering himself scuttled off toward the far door where
Kelgrimm was undoubtedly in conference with some lesser nobles.

It
didn't take long for the large doors to swing open in admittance,
clearly his message had been delivered verbatim by the quivering
fool.

A
number of displeased looking diplomats strutted into the antechamber
in all their flowery pomp. Thom had seen such posturing far too many
times, they reminded him of birds deep in plumage that were yet to
realise that life could pluck them at any given moment. Sadly he
wasn't going to be the one to enjoy such an event this day, he had
business to attend to.

'Warden
Thomas of Escana province, you may enter,' said the same voice that
was terrified by his activities mere moments ago. Here was a man
surrounded by friends and in his element, such false confidence
didn't become him. In spite of how irritating the man had been, Thom
felt the Justice would frown upon murder in his Judiciary room.

Thom
knew that the Urian council was a series a noblemen and elected
officials that gathered in this chamber to deliberate on any number
of matters. What he was almost exclusively privy to was that Kelgrimm
had manipulated his way into nothing short of total dominance in the
past twenty years, if action was required, he was the man to go to.
In more modern times the chamber had seen less and less of the minor
nobles and even the councilmen found ways to excuse themselves.
Kelgrimm had a stranglehold on who was elected and precisely how much
power they knew they possessed, any opposition soon found themselves
out of office by whatever means necessary. The old man was powerful
in many ways, Thom had heard that not all of them were political.

As
he strode in he noticed that there were no other councillors present,
it seemed that he had done away with the pretence of power-sharing
altogether. Thom nodded in approval, he wasn't in the mood for
deceptions and the honesty in layout was refreshing at least. Direct
speech, no middle man.

He
sat at the head of the council table on the far side of the room, his
white beard and black eyebrows visible even from here. He was garbed
in the usual golden splendour of office, Thom always found the
meticulous presentation of the man repulsive.

As
he drew closer he noticed a second figure in the room, the wary
announcer of his title had since been dismissed by Kelgrimm and had
been more than happy to leave. This one was swathed in a hooded robe
as if he were a leper hiding his wounds from sight. Not a member of
the council, that's for sure. His wariness at the presence of this
unexpected person grew with each step.

'Greetings
again, Warden of Escana,' Kelgrimm said simply, his basso voice
carrying all the expected gravitas. 'How may I be of service to you?'

He
wasn't fooled by the succinct words at all, There was depth
immeasurable behind each of them, Kelgrimm being an unrivalled master
of tongues. Thom was no fool, he knew that the man didn't appreciate
the intrusion or the candour of his entrance.

'I
have come in search of some runaway criminals who have entered this
land and I require your assistance in apprehending them.'