Kotara stared at him in consternation. "How can there be a next time? You've already punished Axdan's murderer. You've meted out your justice."
"Not true," the magician said, rising restlessly from his stool, his snowy vestments swirling about him. "We've only made a start. It was clear from an examination of the ground that several of the Ilmieras waylaid Axdan in that alley. The others held my brother while Multam tortured and slew him. Obviously, they too must pay."
"Do you know who they are?"
Sabul shrugged. "More or less. Multam had certain boon companions who helped him when he got up to deviltry. From what you told me, I'd guess that you saw four of them tonight."
Four of them? By the Divine, how many were there altogether? "Magician," she stammered, "my sisters and I owe your predecessors a debt, and I am happy to serve you. But I beg you to recall that your fraternity is consecrated to the Divine Will as much as any priesthood. Your art was not created for this purpose, and neither was I."
He scowled. "What are you prattling about?"
"The magic of your guild is holy magic," she replied, "meant to nurture, heal, and protect. I, a child of that same power, defend. In times of war, when an aggressor is at the gate, wizards summon me to stand against him. It's not in my nature to initiate violence."
"It's in your nature to obey me," he snapped, "is it not?"
She sighed. "Yes."
"Then I'll hear no further objections." His face softening, he reached out hesitantly and patted her on the shoulder. "It will be all right. You'll see for yourself that all the Ilmieras are wicked men. It truly is just that they be punished, and surely justice is holy work no less than ministering to the sick or driving back an invading army."
"Perhaps," the angel said.
He smiled. "Then we're in agreement, and all's well. Now, no one should see you here, so perhaps you'd better leave. Return tomorrow night an hour after dusk, and I'll tell you whom to punish next."
Like his cousin Multam, Yirtag possessed the signature lanky frame and long, narrow face of the Ilmieras. They gave him the look of a famished wolf, which Kotara supposed was appropriate. According to Sabul, Yirtag, a poor relation, had followed his kinsman around like a faithful hound, eager to assist in any escapade or crime in exchange for the purses of silver that Multam occasionally tossed him.
At present Yirtag and a friend sat drinking arrack in the former's ramshackle cottage on Leather Street. Judging from Yirtag's silence and sullen expression, he and the other toper were holding a wake of sons, though whether they were lamenting the loss of Multam or his money was an open question.
Kotara skulked behind the house in a cramped, malodorous alley, peeking through a barred window. She needed Yirtag's companion to leave him alone, yet dreaded the moment when he would.
Eventually the fellow rose and exited the room to answer a call of nature. At once the angel gripped the wrought-iron grille and tore it away from the window so she'd be able to carry out her captive.
Yirtag's head snapped around at the squeal of tortured metal, but by that time Kotara was already swarming into the room. As he drew breath to cry out, she clapped her hand over his mouth, snatched him off his grimy pillows, and bore him out into the open air.
Kotara flew him to the apex of the domed, tiled roof of a nearby temple. When she let him go, he teetered precariously on the smooth, curved surface. Spreading her wings, she balanced without effort.
"What?" he whimpered. "What are you?"
"What do they say slew Multam?" she replied.
"Some creature," Yirtag said, crouching to lower his center of gravity. "Some roc or efreet that swooped down from the sky."
"I am that creature," she said, "sent to avenge Axdan Hajeen's murder."
"Please," begged Yirtag, "don't kill me. It was all Multam's idea. When we grabbed the boy, I didn't know he meant to knife him. I thought he was just going to knock him around a little."
"It doesn't matter," said Kotara, wishing that she didn't pity the wretch in his dread and desperation. "You still must answer." He had a dagger tucked in his sash. A paltry thing, but she wanted it in his hand. "Draw your weapon."
He shook his head. "Please-"
"Draw it!" she rapped. "Let's not protract this any longer than necessary."
His face gray and his hand shaking, he fumbled out the dagger and pointed it in her direction. With a beat of her wings, she darted toward him.
The blade flashed at her. She brushed it aside with her armored forearm and struck Yirtag a backhand blow across the face. The impact sent him tumbling helplessly down the side of the roof. The dagger slipped from his grasp and bounced clanking along beside him.
He screamed as he shot off the edge of the dome, where the curve met the sheer wall beneath. Kotara swooped, caught him, and bore him up. Twisting his head, Yirtag goggled at her in bewilderment.
"I'm sorry," she said, her opalescent wings beating at the chill night air, "but I couldn't simply let you fall. My master ordered me to give you a slower death."
Yirtag shrieked and thrashed, but his strength was as nothing compared to hers. She lit atop the dome, and holding him down, did with him as Sabul had commanded.
When it was over, and that portion of the roof was foul with spatters of blood, she crouched there weeping, quaking, remorse burning inside her like some excruciating poison. It took her half an hour to compose herself sufficiently for the flight back to the mansion of the Hajeen.
As she spread her wings, she noticed something curious. With her luminous feathers, she was accustomed to kindling a glow in any reflective surface she happened to encounter in the dark. Indeed, she saw smears of light swimming in the glazed tiles. They seemed strangely faint, as if the radiance of her plumage had dimmed.
It was an odd phenomenon, but as far as she could discern, of no particular significance. Very little seemed significant to her now, save for the brutal act she'd just committed. Sobbing anew, she soared away from her abattoir.
Ash still streaking his face and stubble darkening his chin, Sabul listened gravely to Kotara's account of Yirtag's demise. Unseemly as it was for an angel to harbor such a hope, she wished the Civic Guildmage would gloat over her description of her victim's agonies, because that might indicate he was satisfied, or at least becoming so.
But he never so much as smiled, just nodded thoughtfully, like a clerk checking an inventory of goods and finding it in order.
"You did well, " he said when she had finished.
Oh, yes, did well as his torturer! Had she not been bound to his service, she might almost have wished to strike him.
"Perhaps. But despite my efforts to slink about unseen, the Ilmieras know that something is slaying them. Moreover, they suspect that it's something inhuman, some' thing that plunges from the sky."
Sabul shrugged. "If you say so."
"Having deduced that much, surely they will in time surmise which magician sent the killer against them, whether they catch a glimpse of me or not."
Sabul smirked. "As a jurist, I can tell you that what they know and what they can prove to a magistrate's satisfaction are two different things. By the two moons, I think I'd enjoy being accused. Let them discover how it feels to watch your kinsman's slayer saunter out of court a free man."
"They might find a way to convict you," Kotara insisted, "and if they do, you'll go to the block."
"I risk it gladly."
"What of the risk to your family?" the angel asked, shifting her wings in frustration. Her feathers rustled. "If you're exposed, Tartesk and all your other relations will share in your disgrace. The scandal could ruin the Hajeen for all time."
Sabul grimaced. "Exactly what are you getting at?"
"The man who actually murdered Axdan is dead. So is his foremost accomplice. That's two lives for one. Be content with so much, and stop now, before you and your kindred come to grief."
He shook his head. "I can't. Anyway, you needn't pretend that you want to stop because you're concerned about my welfare."
"But I am. From the first moment I heard your voice, so full of suffering-"