Tales Of Grimea (12 page)

“Yeah?”

“We need to stop this assassination, no
matter what. Uncle Salim will help.”

Unfortunately, the two were unable to enlist
the aid of the old man. They were told by a neighbour that he’d
left a few days earlier for the east, in order to visit a relative
of his. “Had to see that bald head of his shine all the way he
walked into the sunrise. Said something about a jade rock, he
did.”

“He’s not bald,” the warrior defended his
uncle dutifully as he’d been taught to, reciting an age old adage.
“He cuts his hair.”

Hwosh thought he knew which relative she’d
meant, and therefore understood that the old man was now beyond
their reach for a few months at the very least. Upon looking for
Mukhlis, the two were informed by a rather surly woman at the
ambassador’s office that he had been withdrawn to Indellekt for
urgent business.

At that point, Hwosh was beside himself with
worry. At least, he was sure that uncle Salim hadn’t been kidnapped
or harmed, unless the man had been forced to make up a story for
the neighbours. The bigger problem was that a man as influential as
Mukhlis Matr had been pressured into leaving town early. There was
no doubt in Hwosh’s mind that the wizard would arrive in the
capital, only to be informed that there had been some sort of
misunderstanding. After all, the impending crisis was in Lor.

“Don’t worry,” said Percy when they came back
and told him the entire story. “I’ll be feeling better in a few
days. I thought old man Salim was worried only about my personal
safety, but now it seems that there’s more at stake. We only have a
few weeks to figure out when the attempt on Wedd’s life is going to
be, but I’m not leaving things as they are. There’s no running
away. We will find him, warn him, and stop Mikhlab’s plan.”

Two weeks later, there was still little to
show for their efforts. They were able to piece together only the
location and timing of the attack: Tamas Wedd was to be poisoned
after getting drunk, as he was wont to, at a gathering for high
society just two days before the signing of a new trade agreement.
All attempts to warn the man failed due to the large number of
guards he had brought for protection. They were part of some order
or the other, and their honour caused them to refuse any sort of
aid with impunity. One even tried to strike Percy at some
point.

Just as the blow came, Hwosh stepped in to
take it on his shoulder instead. Luckily, only three of the guards
were present in that particular alley next to the tavern. Hwosh was
saved by the element of surprise, for his admittedly large but lean
frame was nothing compared to the behemoths. Being underestimated,
the warrior took the chance. The first’s blow was dodged, and he
retorted with an upwards knife hand into the man’s neck, followed
by and instant roll towards the second, who foolishly lunged into
Hwosh’s straight kick as he came up from the ground, throwing the
man backwards and unto his face, hard. The third, a blonde man who
actually looked a little like Percy, was a magician and began to
wave his hands whilst reciting a spell. He was smacked on the eagle
like nose, then caught in a choke hold while still disoriented. The
whole thing was over in a few blinks, and then Hwosh lead Percy
away in a hurry.

“I knew you were good,” the old man had
spluttered, “But I didn’t know you were that good!”

From that day on, they were unable to get
anywhere close to the tavern, and even Murata became out of
reach.

It is said that luck seems to wait for the
last possible moment, and so it was for Hwosh and his companions.
After countless futile attempts to warn Wedd or anybody capable of
helping, the three found themselves loitering around the western
part of town on the day of his assassination. Adra sat on the dusty
floor, Percy on a low wall, and Hwosh stood to the side. Theirs was
a trinity of disappointment.

That’s it
, thought he.
Death, war
and destruction, just because I couldn’t save the life of one man.
Percy will have to run away for his life, and I’ll never see either
of them again. Adra will go with.
He was going to be left alone
again. One more loss for justice, two fewer treasures for him. He
mentioned it to Percy in a low voice, and the man said, “It’s not
that bad.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Hwosh. He couldn’t
imagine anything worse than being separated from these two in such
a way.

“If you live long enough, you realize a few
things about life. One of those is the nature of friendships.
They’re all about heart, not location or company. When people
separate, their hearts are bound by strings of care, and it’s those
that mark a true friendship. The stronger the string, the better
the friendship.” Suddenly, the man coughed a bit, then continued
after a few seconds of silence. Adra sniffled. “It will hurt not to
play cards at Murata’s, but we’ll always be friends, and if we do
meet someday, we’ll pick things up like nothing’s ever changed. No
matter what, I and Adra are on your side, standing by you in
spirit, thought and intent. Even if you need to go to a job
interview and I’m not there, my support will be, like the leftover
warmth after a hug. And I know it goes both ways.”

Hwosh didn’t know what to say. Part of him
was extremely touched, and another felt lonely already. A nod was
enough, he thought. If nothing else, he was thankful for his good
memory, as it would allow him to keep these two close.

“Maybe he deserves to die. Wedd, I mean,”
said Adra sullenly.

“You don’t mean that, sweetheart,” chided
Percy.

“Have you seen how he treats the masses? It’s
horrible, the way he gets carried on that chair of his, throws
coins in the filthiest places to watch how beggars scramble for
them, laughing like the pig he is. I want to punch that beady eyed
face of his.”

“Aye, he is shifty,” agreed Percy. “It’s sad,
but those kinds of psions exist too. To them, the difference
between them and normal people is the same as between people and
animals.”

Hwosh interjected, “It’s sick.”

Just then, a short robed figure bumped into
Adra and moved past her. The tree were so absorbed in their own
misery that none noticed anything for a few seconds, until Adra
suddenly exclaimed, “My money! Thief!” By then the figure had
turned left into an alleyway.

Almost immediately, Hwosh spun about and
began to sprint after the brown robed thief. He managed to glimpse
the thief just barely, turning away from the Bazar.
Curious,
he thought to himself. Hwosh and his quarry weaved left and right,
each pushing hard but neither being able to gain an edge. The brown
caped culprit overturned a few pigeon cages in an effort to put off
the warrior, but Hwosh was able to vault over them with ease.
Slowly, the thief visibly began to tire and Hwosh was able to
slightly reduce the gap. Just then, the shape ahead saw its mistake
and turned right twice, going back towards the Bazar in order to
lose Hwosh in the crowd. Slowly the bustle began to mask all
sinister movements, and the warrior was unable to find the thief.
Panting, he stopped to catch his breath amidst the shouts, scents
and shapes of the bazar. Shadows danced as the bright canopies of
every colour directly above were rustled by a welcome breeze.
Another failure,
he thought to himself. At that point, it
didn’t really matter that Adra had warned him too late.
What
good is it if I can’t even catch a pickpocket?
He couldn’t do
anything on his own. One job other than the ones from uncle Salim,
and it was just getting some feathers. He had no doubt that if
anything hard came along, he would have no plan to deal with it.
All Hwosh wanted was to take a long bath and forget about the
world, but he knew that even that mind of his wouldn’t leave him
alone. It would just be a torrent of worry amidst horrid
memories.

“So I just put this in a glass, and my debt
is gone?” asked someone from Hwosh’s right, and for some reason the
man peered over to where two obvious thugs were threatening
someone. The boy looked to be about as old as Hwosh himself and as
tall, although much smaller and prettier. Maybe he also had a few
hidden talents to put the warrior to shame, but apparently avoiding
intimidation wasn’t one of them, for the youth was visibly shaking
in his perfect boots.

“Sure,” answered one, the bigger of the two.
His voice slipped and snickered as he spoke. “Someone will find you
and hand over the thing. You’ve just got to find the drunkest man
around at midnight, and slip it in his drink. The guy said it’s to
sober him up, but he gets feisty when he’s drunk and won’t admit it
so needs to have the stuff slipped into his drink. No harm done,
save a rich noble some face and save your pretty face a whole lot
of heartache down the line. Good deal for our little Lila, no?” The
other one, who was smaller and stood as if he favoured one leg,
cackled a little but said nothing.

Could it be?
thought Hwosh, not daring
to hope. Part of him wanted to go get Percy and Adra, see what they
thought, and ask them what to do. He crept to where he couldn’t be
seen, behind a crate, and listened carefully, trying to reach Percy
telepathically to no avail. If luck was truly on their side, then
maybe the three of them could hatch a careful plan together. If
not…

“B-b-but… What if he doesn’t want to?”

The smaller one slapped the boy, careful not
to bruise him. “You don’t ask him, idiot! Weren’t you listening to
what we said?”

The boy began to cry softly. “I did,” he
said, about to sniffle into his rather expensive looking uniform,
looking like it was made for serving boys and girls. The taller
one, who was bald, smacked Lila’s hand away, exclaiming “No, no, we
wouldn’t want you to ruin that uniform, would we? Nobody even knows
what you look like over there, all you have to get in is that
thing. Keep it safe, will you?

“Y-yes, Deg…”

“Good, make sure you do it right, or loan
collection will be paying you a visit. Gump, let’s go.” With that,
the two thugs strutted off to the opposite side Hwosh had come
from, one looking around and giving the boy a little wave.

While Lila cried himself into calm, Hwosh
thought quickly. If this was the same banquet, then he had to act
quickly lest the boy leave. There was no time to go get Percy or
Adra. Steeling himself calmly, the youth drew himself to his full
height and went over to the serving boy. “Hi, there,” he greeted
him in, hopefully, a reassuring manner.

Quickly, Lila rubbed away his tears before
turning around. “W-what do y- I don’t have any money!” he
announced, and Hwosh realized he’d made him think he was a
robber.

“Don’t worry, Lila,” he tried again, putting
both hands up as if to calm a skittish horse. “I won’t hurt you,
promise.”

Slowly, Lila started to get more confidant
and said, “My name isn’t Lila; it’s Daniel.”

Hwosh was confused, and came closer to the
boy, still cautious about frightening him in the dark alleyway.
“I’m sorry.” The boy seemed to draw power from the apology, and he
stood a bit taller. All around, the bustle continued, although it
was subdued by the houses on either side of the two.

“You should be!” he exclaimed in a high
pitched moan.

“The two men you were with seemed to call you
that,” explained Hwosh, and the boy stiffened. “I won’t tell anyone
what I saw. I just need to be there tonight; it’s important.
Someone could die unless we warn him first. I heard them say that
no one would be able to tell the difference, that they wouldn’t
check. If I could please have your uniform, everything will go
perfectly like they said. No need to do dangerous things, and your
debt will be erased exactly as you wanted.” Telling the lie hurt,
but Hwosh decided to help the boy once this was all over to soothe
his guilt.

For all intents and purposes, Hwosh thought
the proposal was quite reasonable. He was starting to relax
himself, hoping that for once things would go smoothly. Thus the
warrior was taken entirely aback when Daniel’s face contorted
itself and he wailed, “You, wear my uniform? Nonsense!”

“…What?”

“The sizes are all wrong,” complained the
boy, showing off his thin shoulders on his gold threaded uniform.
“It would be too tight. Besides, the servers at council balls and
banquets are only the most attractive men and women. Look at your
skin, your eyebrows. Ugh, what an unsightly jaw! You’d never make
it, the first high class lady to take wine from your glass would
spit it out and mess up all her conversations for the day.”

“Uh, sure, but that’s not really the point. I
don’t want to work there. I just need to get in tonight to save
someone.”

“Hah! And you think to blend in without
looking and acting your best? If I were a humanitarian, I’d offer
to train you in grace and care. However, I am a realist.” The
warrior actually thought that the boy was going to pose. “I
understand that people like you are different from those like me.
We are of different stock, and always will be. Begone, and never
think to raise yourself from being a simple brute! You are
inferior. I might one day even be taken by a lady to be her private
servant!”

Hwosh sighed, looking at the sky above. There
was no time left, and this fool was bragging about the shallowest
things anyone had ever heard of. “Look, are you going to help me?
I’m sorry about your stock, but this really is more important.”

“Silence, Mongrel!” shrieked the servant,
finger waggling imperiously as he pouted, “Your lies will not wo-“
Hwosh leapt in, swift as a nightmare, and struck him on the back of
the head. He held him before his body could hit the dusty ground,
and stripped him of his clothing. When he was dressed as a servant,
the warrior tried to remember Daniel’s mannerisms for Percy and
Adra, then said, “Sorry, Lila.”