Surrender to the Will of the Night (78 page)

Katrin’s bruises crossed his mind. Her torment must be worse than his. What had she gone through before she surrendered to her lust?

“Sir?” Terens Ernest needed instructions.

“That was not a pleasant interview, Mr. Ernest. Let’s take a walk along the river and have a gander at the wonders of the Mother City.” This was Ernest’s first visit: hardly a pilgrim’s journey.

“Might that be risky?”

“Possibly. Stay on my left. Last time somebody tried to kill me here he was down there in the monuments. He used a longbow.”

Ernest had heard about it, not from his principal. He knew the story behind each assassination attempt, including some that had not been brought to Hecht’s attention.

Ernest asked, “What happened? Can you talk about it? Did you see the Empress? Her bodyguards say she’s gone completely nuts.”

“I did see her. There was a lot of ranting. She isn’t pleased with how I’ve treated our host city. I’m too gentle for her taste.” He stopped, stared back at Krois on its stone-clad island amid the Sacred Flood. Bronte Doneto was out there, scarcely a quarter mile away, completely nuts himself. And completely invulnerable.

Pinkus Ghort should arrive sometime tomorrow, despite the Grand Duke’s best efforts.

The worm kept twisting and turning.

Hecht noted signs of substantial explosions over there. Lila’s work?

The girl was going to get herself in trouble if she was not careful.

He enjoyed a smirk at his own foolishness.

Shouting broke out back that way, followed by the rattle of horseshoes on stone.

Brothe, round there, was all stone, including the faces of the channel of the Teragi. A conceit of the Old Brothens. Even the Sacred Flood had been under their control.

Hecht and his lifeguards faced the excitement. Several riders headed their way, pursued by men on foot. The horseman out front went into a gallop. Insanity on this kind of surface.

That lead rider was no man. That was Katrin Ege in her loose-fitting armor, headed for her Commander of the Righteous at the best speed her mount could make.

Hecht’s heart sank. This could mean ruin. … What the hell? Had she lost it completely?

Ernest grabbed Hecht and dragged him toward potential safety among the monuments.

Too late. Far too late. Shrieking words that never made sense to anyone, Katrin was upon them. Her mount narrowly avoided Hecht and Ernest. Both dove away. Both ended up sprawled on the pavements, with bleeding palms.

Captain Ephrian whipped past, face a mask of despair. He meant to snatch Katrin’s reins as she tried to turn to charge in the opposite direction.

The footing was not appropriate for a horse wearing iron shoes.

Ephrian collided with Katrin. The horseman behind Ephrian collided with them both.

Combined momentums pushed Katrin and Ephrian over the brink of the embankment. Screaming, man, woman, and horses all went scrabbling, spinning, and tumbling down the stone facing, into the river.

Hecht was seconds behind. Just the length of time it took to shed a mail shirt and weapons. Terens Ernest was seconds behind him.

Hecht did not think about his actions till later, though the cool water was an encouragement to reflection. He saw Ephrian floundering, a poor swimmer but safely separated from his mount. Hecht went after Katrin, who had gone under while still trying to separate herself from her animal. He got her loose. Her horse drifted on downriver, shrieking at first but soon getting it together and striking out toward the lower northern bank.

Terens Ernest tried helping with Katrin. He was a strong swimmer.

Captain Ephrian made it to the embankment but could find no decent handhold so he tried to stay near the stone while the weak current carried him somewhere more felicitous.

Ephrian would be overlooked despite all the would-be rescuers gathering above.

Hecht was not as strong a swimmer as he believed. Nor was Terens Ernest. They reached the embankment only to face the same problem as Captain Ephrian. There were few congenial handholds.

People up top yelled about hanging on because ropes were on the way.

Ernest lost his weak hold and followed Ephrian downstream. Hecht could not help without abandoning the Empress.

Eyes tearing, he drove bloody fingers into a crack between blocks while keeping Katrin’s face above water with his other hand.

He lost consciousness.

***

Piper Hecht, Commander of the Righteous, wakened in an unfamiliar bed. A headache and upset stomach told him he had been sedated for some time. His left hand ached. The fingers were bandaged. The crust on his eyelids kept him from opening those. He tried to rise.

“He’s starting to wake up!” That voice belonged to Vali. It brought several people quickly and others within minutes. Head throbbing, Hecht made noises that were senseless even to him.

A hand went behind his head, lifted. Sweet, cold water filled his mouth. A damp cloth daubed at his eyelids. Anna said, “Relax, Piper. You cheated Him again.”

A heavy hand pushed on his chest, forced him back down.

He did will himself to relax. Relaxing had to be good. He would not be in these circumstances if something dire had not happened.

Lamps got lighted. His surroundings became less obscure.

He was surrounded by family. Pella. The girls. Anna. Heris and both old men. What were they doing here?

He remembered. He wanted to ask questions but knew the sensible course was to conserve energy. They would tell him what he needed to know.

The smell of fresh coffee hit hard, like a kick in the shin, wakening memories.

Anna and Pella lifted him and propped him with pillows. Heris put a small cup into his right hand. “You gave us a scare, little brother.”

“Yeah?”

“You wouldn’t let the woman go.”

Anna said, “She drowned. Before you pulled her free. You and her horse were the only survivors.”

Hecht teared up. This was insanity. He did not mention Katrin’s mother. These people did not know, nor would they understand.

Ernest did not make it? That was just plain wrong.

From somewhere out of sight the Ninth Unknown said, “Piper, you need to quit lying around feeling sorry for yourself. Pinkus Ghort is at the gate.”

“Really?”

“Not literally. Not exactly. But he could be knocking by this time tomorrow. We need to take steps to eliminate his motivation.”

“Excuse me. Why are you and Heris here?”

Heris said, “We came to drag you off to watch us wrap our job.”

Februaren said, “She killed a god, Piper. Just went after him till
boom!
Like that worm on the Dechear. Only this was no pup. This was a true Great Old One.”

“Why do you need me?”

Heris said, “Later, Piper. Double Great, quit gushing. And, how about we go give Serenity a double dose of Ostarega the Malicious?”

“Works for me.”

With no further discussion the pair turned sideways.

Hecht was on his feet and dressed when they returned, but was woozy. Anna had begun changing his bandages, saying, “This isn’t as bad as I thought when they brought you. You’ll be good as new in a couple weeks.”

Februaren appeared, running. His hair was smoldering. If he had not encountered a wall he would have gone down. Heris arrived bent over. She collapsed into a crouch. Her breath came loud and ragged. Had she been male Hecht would have pegged her for a victim of a skillfully delivered groin kick.

The Ninth Unknown eased over to lean on a table. He gasped, “I think that went well.”

“Yeah.” Heris tried to laugh. She fell over. “You should see the other guys.”

Hecht asked, “What happened?”

“We didn’t surprise them. Doneto has some clever friends.”

Anna finished wrapping Hecht’s fingers. She found a chair for Februaren. He settled gingerly. “We tamed them up some, though. You can get in through the tunnels now, if you want. Unless they flood them. They could always do that.”

Hecht kept after them but could not get no more sense out of either. He said, “First chance we get we need to let Princess Helspeth know what happened so she can be ready when the news gets to Alten Weinberg.”

Heris and Februaren both groaned and glared.

Lila said, “I can do that.”

“No. You can’t,” Hecht told her. “You’ve taken enough risks.”

The Ninth Unknown said, “I’ll do it. In the morning. I’ll need tokens from you and the Empress to be convincing, though.”

“I’ll write you a letter. That should do. She’ll recognize my hand.”

43. Alten Weinberg: Bad News, Bad News

A short man in dirty brown stepped out of the shadows in the Princess Apparent’s private bedchamber. She had just risen. Her women shrieked and fled.

“You.”

“Me. I have news. Listen closely. It’s critical. You’ll only get to hear it once before the guards arrive.” He told her what had happened to Katrin. He handed her a letter from Piper Hecht, now
her
Commander of the Righteous. He vanished seconds before Algres Drear burst in.

“He’s gone, Captain.”

“Who?”

“A sorcerer. The same one who took Ferris Renfrow. He brought a message. Get these people out and close the door. With you on this side of it.” That done, she said, “Katrin is dead. She fell into the Teragi and drowned. There were twenty witnesses, half of them her own lifeguards. There’s more to the story, I’m sure. The sorcerer brought a letter from the Commander of the Righteous. I haven’t read it yet. Right now, this very minute, I want you to start getting ready for whatever happens when that news gets back here.”

“You believe this sorcerer?”

“I do.” She gripped the letter from the Commander tightly, already willing Drear to leave so she could read.

“Then you’re right. I’d better get started. And stop talking. It won’t be long before someone or something moves in to spy.”

“Yes.”

Helspeth held on barely long enough to let Drear get out of the room. Then, in her haste to get to read it she fumbled the letter twice. And a moment after that she spit like an angry cat to get her women to leave her alone long enough to find out what the Commander had to say.

44. Great Sky Fortress: Heris’s Game

Operations in Brothe turned anticlimactic. First came word that Pinkus Ghort, literally outside the gates and getting set to storm them while, at the same time, preparing to tame the Grand Duke, had, suddenly and inexplicably, ordered the levies to go home and his own men to stand down. He did not disarm but said he would not fight unless he was attacked.

Meantime, the Righteous captured Krois. And did not profit after making history. Never in its twelve hundred years had that island fortress been taken.

“They’re gone!” Vircondelet complained. “We went over every inch of the place. They’re just plain not there.”

Some staff remained, people who were, in essence, part of the physical plant. People whose families had been part of Krois for centuries. They reported that Serenity and his associates had slipped away during the night, aboard three boats. They had fled to a ship waiting downriver. The servants did not know where that ship was headed.

Hecht cursed softly. Doneto’s boats would have sailed right past the Castella. Brotherhood sentries would have seen them. Would have ignored them. All night traffic on the Teragi was ignored.

***

Heris and the Ninth Unknown got into some sort of squabble. They did not explain. Hecht thought the old man wanted to go find ships and sink them while Heris wanted to get on with her own project in the realm of legend, myth, and devil gods.

Heris said, “Piper, I need all those eggs you collected after you killed those Instrumentalities.”

“Why?”

“Instrumentalities have two souls. One they bring into the world with them and one they leave hidden in the Night. The eggs are their middle-world souls. If an egg and a hidden soul got together your success could be undone.”

“How about the thing in the catacombs?” The egg from that had not been collected.

“Double Great is sure it’s still down there, under the rubble.”

“I don’t know how much good I can do, Heris. I never kept those eggs myself. Rhuk and Prosek collected them. They sealed them up in metal boxes but I don’t know what they did with them after that.”

“Find out. I’ll make arrangements to collect and transport them.”

“What’re you going to do with them?”

“Get rid of them.”

But she had to get them to the Great Sky Fortress first. And she could not move them there by translating. The trapped souls might escape while she was cutting the chord.

Hecht was confused. But he did not need to understand so long as Heris and the Ninth Unknown did.

***

Hecht spent a few hours with Pinkus Ghort, watching his friend get drunk and listening to him complain. “I’m unemployed, Pipe. I’m glad we didn’t have to butt heads, but, shit, man, I’m out of a job.”

“That won’t last. They’ll need an experienced man to run the City Regiment.”

The Grand Duke had entered the city to maintain order. The Righteous were already moving out, headed for Alten Weinberg with Katrin’s casket at the head of the column. Hecht would catch up later.

***

Hecht visited the Bruglioni estate. He winced at all the damage his troops had done despite their best efforts.

He told Paludan Bruglioni and Gervase Saluda, “The curse of Piper Hecht keeps coming back on the Bruglioni. Gervase, I couldn’t talk Principaté Delari into it so I volunteered you to take over Krois. Somebody has to be in charge there till everything shakes out.”

“You’re making me Patriarch?”

Paludan laughed out loud. Saluda was not religious. He had gone into the Collegium only because the Bruglioni had had no better man.

“Pro tem. So there’s somebody with a hand on the reins. I’m in a rush. We need to get hold of the reins in Alten Weinberg, too.”

“But …”

“You’re it, Gervase.” Hecht did not stay to argue.

***