Kell walked out of Sandor Feyn's inn, deep in thought, but not too lost in it to stop being alert. Outside, Chaga and two other men were waiting, their eyes alert and searching every face.
"One thing we must make sure of is that there are no tracks back to me. It's time to start tying off loose ends."
"Any particular ends in mind?" Chaga asked as they began walking through the streets of Turnitia.
"Lukas Bertam had several men hired to run interference for him during his escape. He's dead and someone else made the assassination attempt. Whoever did take the shot at Rhodon also had men running interference for his escape, and since he used the same route, perhaps he used the same men."
"Men who might be able to tie Lukas to you."
"Or who might tie our mystery assassin to me. I doubt they'd know the difference and the Faith Confessors wouldn't care."
"Consider them dealt with," Chaga said smoothly. "I'll put the word out immediately."
"One other thing," Kell said. Chaga turned expectantly. "I want to know everything those men know. If Lukas' men aren't the ones who took part, I want to know what happened to them. If the men who did help the assassin are not the same men hired to assist Lukas, then I want to know who they are and who hired them. Understood?"
"Thy will be done, sir. You have my word"
The hooves of Gabriella's horse cracked old bones as they neared Andon. Gabriella had known that the last war between Vos and Pontaine had cost uncountable lives before it ended, but she had been a little girl at the time, living above her father's bakery in Andon. From the window of her room she had been able to see the Cathedral library where her mother took care of the archives. She liked to spend days in there, reading not just tales of old Anointed Lords and their battles against the Brotherhood of the Divine Path, but the latest messages about the progress of the war, which were being archived there. Whoever won, the records would remain for future generations.
When war had come, the DeZantez family had moved to Dathyn, an out-of-the-way town in the Drakengrat. Gabriella had been both terrified that the war would come to Dathyn while also longing for it to do so. There had been only a few skirmishes near Dathyn, though the town was close to military supply lines.
The Faith itself had sided with Vos back then, and Gabriella's parents had both been keen that their daughter stay safe in the small village bakery with her father, just in case the Pontaine forces decided to attack the temporary Archive in Dathyn. They never did, and when the war was over, her parents had returned to Andon.
Then Gabriella had grown up and joined the Order, inspired by the reports she had seen, of the generalship of Katherine Makennon, who was now the Anointed Lord. Since then she had seen combat and fought and almost died. Until the past few days, however, when they had ridden past the edges of the Killing Fields outside Andon, she had largely forgotten what the place was like. And, as a child, she has never really understood the numbers of the dead.
For two days, their horse's hooves had cracked and crushed bones still lying unburied in the fields overgrown with evergreen weeds and flowers. She supposed they were well-fertilised with organic material since the war. There was no equipment left among the bones, not after so many years. No clothing, no armour, no weapons. Just bones. She didn't even want to think about how wide an area they truly covered, or how much denser the remains of the dead must be getting as they neared Andon.
"While we're in Andon will you tell your mother about us?" Erak asked. He felt his guts tighten immediately. If Gabriella's mother disapproved, and tried to come between them, he didn't know what he'd do. Well, it was too late to change things, but how was he supposed to feel?
"Don't worry," Gabriella reassured him. "It'll be fine."
The Cathedral at Andon, presided over by Archimandrite Tomas Marek, was the most visible sign of the Faith in Pontaine. There were smaller cathedrals in Gargas and Volonne as well, but Andon was largest because it was closer to home, and because of its strategic value in times of conflict between the two nations.
Its great arms enclosed a Preceptory of the Order of the Swords of Dawn, a hospital, a seminary, and a large archive building. Gabriella felt strange riding past the archive's doors in armour. The last time she had been here, she had been in her early teens, visiting her mother, who was the archivist here. She was already a squire in the Order, and a friend of Erak's, but she had never worn armour in her mother's presence. She wondered whether she would get the chance to visit the archive during this visit, and whether she should wear armour if she did.
There were four posts from which to hang gibbets at the corners of the churchyard of the Cathedral, though of course none had been occupied recently, as the sight and smell of rotting bodies wasn't welcomed by the people of Pontaine as easily in the Empire of Vos.
A gibbet was being prepared in the yard, under the supervision of Preceptor DeBarres. This would be the site not just of an execution, but of a cleansing of the soul. The gibbet was an iron cage, slightly larger than an average man, and vaguely human-shaped. It was pitted and blackened, and lumps of charred meat stuck to the metal here and there. Freihurr vom Kalten gave it a distasteful glance as he watched with Eminence Kesar, who had come for the ritual cleansing after a brief trip to make his report to the Anointed Lord. Eminences Jan Voivode and Ludwig Rhodon had also come to Andon with them. Confessor Kamil stood nearby.
"Well," Freihurr asked Kamil, "Did this man Scarra say anything useful?"
"Little of practical value," Kamil admitted. "He confessed to apostasy in having joined the Brotherhood, and gave up the names of three people from his estate. He also confirmed what Sister DeZantez reported he told her."
"And what of the plot to shoot me?" Rhodon asked weakly. "You'll understand if I have a somewhat biased interest in the matter."
"He confessed to a part in that also. He named Lukas Bertam as the assassin."
"The assassin was killed," Freihurr said, "so his name makes little difference."
"And what about the whereabouts of the other man, Goran Kell?" Rhodon asked, anxiously.
Confessor Kamil shrugged. "Kell was apparently very firm about them not telling each other where they were going, just in case. All Scarra knows is really supposition"
In the Preceptory's deepest cell, Gabriella and Erak dragged Karel Scarra out of his straw and lice-filled cot, and prompted him towards the dark staircase. He had lost some weight over the past couple of days, and his belly had begun to sag. Without his fine robes, he was a repulsive sight, pale and clammy. The tattoo of two linked circles, symbol of the Brotherhood of the Divine Path, mocked her from his shoulder.
"It's time," Gabriella said blandly. "Was it a nice chat with the Confessor?"
"I told her all I knew." Scarra could only wonder whether Gabriella had kept her word about keeping his family's employees in work. He was tempted to ask, to be sure, but then took hold of his senses again. If he asked, she would either tell him they were executed in order to taunt him, or she might be provoked into doing so if the question made her suspicious of them. Always assuming they hadn't been punished anyway, which wouldn't surprise him.
He decided he'd rather not know.
He could hear singing from somewhere outside; the sort of uplifting tune the Faith used to make people think there was a better life after this one.
By this time they had emerged onto the yard and the grey light was blinding after several days in the darkness below. Men and women were singing along with a small choir led by an Enlightened One in pastel blue robes. It was a full service, all for his benefit.
Scarra couldn't take his eyes off the gibbet, an eight-foot high cage of blackened metal and he struggled against his captors as he was led towards it.
Gabriella tightened her grip on the struggling man and, with Erak's help, shoved him into the gibbet. Gabriella had thought she would feel triumphant at bringing this heretic to his cleansing, but she felt nothing. This was just something that had to be done, like oiling her swords. She wasn't sure whether this lack of emotion was a good thing or a bad thing.
She and Erak joined a line of Knights and Faith officials that had formed up a safe distance from the gibbet, while it was lifted onto a tubular gallows, and a valve opened at the top.
As the hymn ended, Eminence Kesar unrolled a scroll and began to read.
"Karel Scarra. You have been found guilty by the Inquisition of the Final Faith of the crimes of apostasy, immorality and conspiracy to promote heretical actions, as well as the attempted murder of an Eminence of the Final Faith. Have you anything to say for yourself before your soul is cleansed of its heresy, by the sacred fire?"
"Only that I will soon be in the clouds of Kerberos with the Lord Of All, while you fawning dogs who take orders from a woman will be in the pits when it's your time."
"I'll take that as a no then." Kesar nodded to a runner, who darted into the cathedral. "Lord Of All, show mercy to the souls of those who would betray You. Accept them back into Your fold as they return to be with You…"
Within the crypts under the cathedral, Gabriella knew, two sweating squires would be operating the see-saw handles of the pump, sending the burning naphtha through the cathedral's reservoir to the gibbet. As she watched, flaming oil began to pour into the cage and Karel Scarra screamed as the burning rain sprayed over him, washing the sins from his flesh. He continued screaming for a long time, but a new hymn had begun, which drowned him out with the power of many voices. Gabriella felt a tear roll down her cheek at the beauty of it. Scarra was so privileged. He had turned away from God, insulted God, but, through the Faith, he would be returned to the fold.
On the night after Scarra's Cleansing, Gabriella tried not to breathe in as the squires carried the cooled gibbet past her. What was left of Scarra steamed slightly in the chill night air as they hoisted the gibbet up onto one of the poles in the Garden of Lessons, which ran along one side of the Preceptory.
Erak came over, removing his helmet. "Gabe, Eminence Kesar wants to see us."
Gabriella followed Erak to the largest refectory, where two Eminences were dining with Archimandrite Marek and members of his family at a long table. Marek, with his waves of silver locks, and chiselled features, was at the head of the table with Kesar opposite. A skull-faced man in black robes with silver trim watched from a seat beside Eminence Voivode. Eminence Rhodon, still weak from his recent wound, had retired to his chambers.
As Gabriella and Erak moved to kiss the signet rings of Kesar and Jan Voivode, Kesar rose with a slight bow. "That won't be necessary. Today it is we who pay you an honour."
Gabriella and Erak exchanged a surprised and curious glance.
"All of us here today," Kesar went on, "both the Archimandrite, and my fellow Eminences and myself, are grateful for your work. And we are most impressed by it. Most of my responsibilities, as you know, are in the realm of the Treasury in Scholten. However, my fellow Eminences and myself are agreed that we are willing to, shall we say, guide the next move in the search for the second mind behind the attempt on Eminence Rhodon's life."
"Did Scarra give further information about Kell?" Erak asked.
"Sadly not," Voivode admitted. "But I've communicated with the Preceptories in Gargas and Volonne, with the intent of shedding more light on the woman whom Scarra thought to be Kell's lover. They're not close to Fayence, of course, but they are our only other Preceptories in Pontaine, so…"
"You're asking them about the Huntress?" Gabriella asked.
"Indeed. It's early days, so we might yet hear of an actual person by that name — most likely a woman of fallen virtue, obviously — but it may be that Scarra himself was mistaken."
"Or lying."
"Perhaps," Voivode acknowledged, with a canny smile. "But hear on, Sister DeZantez. I've heard from our, shall we say, less official people in Fayence that there is also an actual place called the Golden Huntress. Apparently a house of ill-repute."
"A brothel? That would make sense of Scarra's comment about the Huntress bringing Kell profit."
"Indeed," Kesar said, taking up the story. "It seems this Golden Huntress is to be found somewhere north of Fayence. If it were in the Empire of Vos, we could simply send a force of Imperial troops under the command of the Swords to crush the place. Being in Pontaine, however, we shall have to be a little more circumspect. We don't want the Crown Prince in Gargas, or Lord Aristide in Fayence, to think we're starting a new war."
"Perhaps if we had representation in the area of Fayence," Erak ventured.
"We do," Kesar said, "The town of Solnos is about half way between Andon and Fayence. There is a moderately sized Faith church there, overseen by…" He looked at the skull-faced man. "Cabbert?"
"Kurt Stoll," Cabbert supplied
"Enlightened One Stoll has no Preceptory attached to his church," Voivode said, "But there is room for a number of soldiers."
Kesar closed his eyes as if reading something written on the inside of his eyelids, then glanced at Cabbert and DeBarres.
"It would be a shame to lose either of them from regular duties to such a detached assignment," DeBarres said, "but we do need to expand our influence in Pontaine. And as Gabriella is from Pontaine she will be a great asset."
Kesar looked at Gabriella quizzically and she nodded. "I was born in Andon, but my parents are both originally from Scholten."
"Very well. Go to Solnos and find the Golden Huntress and seek out Kell. Alive if possible."
"You can form a small Preceptory of your own," Voivode added. "We could do with one in the area and this is a perfect chance to test the waters in this matter. Take a full complement of squires, sergeants and soldiers-at-arms with you. "
Gabriella was so shocked that she could hardly speak. "Thank you, Eminence." She was going to be able to carry the Faith's laws to so many more people, in areas so far deprived of the light of the Lord Of All. This was the best day of her life.
Outside, Gabriella looked up at the azure glow of Kerberos and listened to the sounds of the city around her. The chatter of voices, laughter, distant screams. Erak followed her out quickly. "Gabe!"
"Well, that was interesting," she said. "I… I'm not sure what to make of our new careers."
Erak took her hands in his. Gabriella felt the tension ease from her. Maybe it was just his touch. She didn't mind either way. "I was thinking…"
"Now that's what I call breaking the habit of a lifetime."
Erak laughed. "It happens sometimes. Proves I'm not a perfect soldier."
"Nobody's perfect."
He opened his mouth to try speaking two or three times, but without success. Gabriella sighed. "What's the problem?"
"There's no problem." He looked at her.
"If there's no problem, then why are you having such trouble saying whatever it is you want to say?"
"I — You know I still haven't begun the quest for a child."
"Neither have I." Gabriella didn't expect to say the words, and was surprised to hear them coming out of her mouth. "We could… You'd be a good…"
"Father?"
"I can't think of anyone better. We've served the Lord of All, and the Anointed Lord, in every way possible way. Except for one thing. Neither of us has had a child to keep the Faith."
"Are you saying — "
"I'm saying maybe we should because I've loved you for years and I don't think I could bear either having someone else's, or someone else having yours. When the time comes, we can take the Pledge, even at Solnos."
His smile softened the hard edges of his features. "I think maybe we just did." He looked up at Kerberos and her eyes followed his. "Under the sight of the Lord Of All."
Goran Kell woke and crossed the room he had taken in Turnitia. It was a private room in an old coaching inn, tucked away behind the great hill. Kell opened the window and looked out over the stables. Two of Chaga's men were there, alert and on guard. Kell was satisfied. He had paid for the best.
As his servant dressed him in hard-wearing travelling robes, there was a knock at the door. The servant opened the door, admitting Chaga. The mercenary Captain's armour rattled as he marched in and gave a bow. "Word from the Empire, sir."
"Go on."
"The mystery assassin who so concerns you was caught and killed by the Faith."
"Typical of them. Another burning, another soul supposedly cleansed — "
"He was killed in combat, with the Swords of Dawn."
"Ah." Kell was vaguely surprised, and felt a momentary respect for whoever the man was. "He had some honour, then."
"There is worse news, and closer to us. Karel Scarra has been taken by the Faith, at his vineyard."
"He went there?" Kell was amazed. "How stupid could the man be?"
"The word is that he may have spoken before he was taken to Andon for execution."
"Spoken to whom?"
"Two Knights of the Swords. An Erak Brand and a Gabriella DeZantez."
"It would be interesting to know how much he told them."
"Do you require any further action, sir?" Chaga asked.
"Prepare our mounts. We still have a long journey ahead of us."
In the half-light that passed for night, Gabriella looked out over the city she had grown up in, for the first time in over a decade. She was standing on a terrace jutting out from the thick wall of the archive building that adjoined the cathedral and its Preceptory. A short wiry, woman with steely hair cut into a bob was there, and Gabriella approached her.
"I always thought you'd end up here. I remember how much you hated the city."
"The city stinks," Marta DeZantez said. "Too many people too close together… How can you rise up to be one with the Lord of All, when all those other lives are stuck to you? Like dough that's too thick."
"That's father speaking."
"Yes… It's funny how much the bakery has coloured my thinking. I'm glad I don't have to work there; the house smells of flour and warm bread enough as it is."
Marta took a half step back, looking Gabriella up and down. "My daughter, a Sister of the Swords… I've never been prouder of you." She smiled. "Well, except every other day."
Gabriella blushed. "I wish I could stay, but the Eminences — "
"It's too short a visit," Marta sighed. "But the Lord's work is more important." She looked at Gabriella askance. "Is there something else? You look as if… I don't know, either there's something you need to say, or you're too far from the privy."
Gabriella couldn't help but fidget somewhat. For all that she had fought and killed men, and been under threat of death twice in the past few weeks, she still couldn't help feeling terrified at the thought of telling her mother about she and Erak. She belatedly wondered if she could have brought Erak to her attention more often, and built up to the news. She knew there was no way, of course, but knowing and feeling weren't the same thing.
"There's something I really should…" She felt herself blush. "I mean, I know I should have said something before — "
"You're thinking of either taking the Pledge or the Binding, or both," Marta said. She hesitated, regarding Gabriella for a moment. "No… Not thinking of. You've taken — "
"The Pledge," Gabriella admitted.
"You're my daughter, Gabriella, don't think I couldn't tell."
"Erak and I have known each other since we first joined the Order. It just seemed such a natural way to go."
"Erak?" Marta thought for a second. "Erak Brand, of the Order?"
Gabriella wished she could tell what her mother was thinking. She probably could, if Marta wasn't deliberately keeping a poker face. She was good at it too, which wasn't surprising as Gabriella had herself learned the talent from her.
"You know Erak."
Marta couldn't hold her bland expression any longer. "Of course I do! I'm not a dullard, Gabriella, I don't have the memory sickness." Marta hugged her. "And, as it happens, I think you've made a good choice."
"You do?"
"He's a good man, and a soldier of the Lord, just as you are. It's always seemed to me that the two of you are well matched for each other."
Flooded with relief, Gabriella embraced her mother. As always, it was something she did to say goodbye.
It had been a tiring journey after the completion of a job in Vosburg, but Dai Batsen had finally returned to the lakeside home he had occupied for the past four years. It was a fisherman's stone cottage, on the grassy shores of a lake as close to the exact centre of Pontaine as a man could get. The interior was as harsh and uninviting as the stones on the outside of the building. Batsen lifted a wooden trapdoor in the floor of the tiny kitchen and descended a set of well-crafted wooden stairs into what had originally been a cellar. Now it was the ante-room to a warm and welcoming home.
The wood furniture in the main room was immaculately polished, the chairs had padded seats. Once Batsen had put his coinage away and dumped his saddlebags in an anteroom, he lit a number of lamps. To his surprise, the lights didn't dispel the darkness in the centre of the room, but outlined it.
Batsen immediately reached for the power he had spent years mastering, and tried to sweep away the shadow but it didn't dispel. Cautiously, he sat on a chair and regarded the darkness.
It was a column of deep shadow, standing floor to ceiling. Batsen realised what it was after only a few moments.
"Well," he said, "you knew where to find me. You must know what I do."
"Yes," the voice came through loud and clear. "Please forgive this unusual intrusion, but I cannot spare the time to make such a long journey as would be needed to see you in person and I felt that, as a Shadowmage, you wouldn't be unduly alarmed by magical communication."
"If you're hunting me, you just made a big mistake."
Batsen could feel tendrils of cold thought probing at the corners of his mind and he quickly dispelled the touch
"There are two warriors of the Swords of Dawn." The darkness said.
"And you want them removed?"
"Yes, because — "
Batsen raised a hand. "I have no interest in why you want someone removed. I'm only interested in how much you're offering for the service, whether there are any special requirements and where to find the persons in question. It's safer for all concerned that way. Most of my contracts are for people who knew too much, so you understand why I don't want to become a man who knows too much."
"I see what you mean. The target's names are Erak Brand and Gabriella DeZantez. We'll try to keep you updated on their location, but that may not always be possible. For now, they are preparing to go to a town called Solnos, in the lands controlled by Lord Aristide of Fayence."
"It's hard to find someone who doesn't want to be found, outside of the cities."
"Too much trouble?"
"Merely more expensive." Batsen said.
"No trouble. In any case, they'll have a base of sorts. There is a small church in the town of Solnos and both targets will be based there. They may be founding a Preceptory of the Order in the town. As to the fee — "
"Negotiations about the fee are fairly unimportant. I get what I want, or you get someone else." Batsen paused. "I don't mean to sound rude, arrogant or greedy, but it's better to be honest about these things."
"You come highly recommended and the price is unlikely to be an object."
"Five hundred gold, plus ten more per week or part of a week as expenses. The five hundred to be payable in advance. Is that wildly fantastical?"
"Highly expensive, but no, not fantastical."
"Then consider your two problematic members of the Faith gone. As I mentioned before, if there are any special requirements, feel free to request them."
"None," the voice said. "Use your judgement to remove them in whatever manner you deem most efficient. The important thing is that they die, not how."
With that the strange black cloud shrank and, in a few moments, it was gone.
"Impressive," Batsen murmured to himself. Then he lit a few more lamps and began to select the clothes and equipment he would need for the new mission.