They were slow to understand him. So was I. The young man took hold of Leger’s bloody sword and stood up with it. The greencoats got moving. Horace and his lieutenant got onto their horses, and the soldiers lifted Leger and Ryat up to them. I waved them to go, and they rode away with his body as townspeople began to appear in the streets.
“What is happening in Moorsmoth?” I asked Bohn.
“We only just negotiated the Raydau’s surrender. It won’t hold together without Leger.”
“What will you do?” I asked.
“As he meant to. I am recruiting away the Raydau and Cynt’s best men and will march south with them to save Heneur. Can I promise their families passage to Enhedu?”
“I’ve just the one ship here.”
“With the rest of the ships, I mean. Bring the fleet and carry all the families north.”
“I can, Bohn, but why?”
“It is the agreement Leger convinced them to sign. It allows much, but I must be swift, or his genius will be lost. The Oreol is overpopulated, and there is no road north for them to use to get to Enhedu. I can sign thousands if I can get them away from here. You will bring the ships?”
“I will. What of Leger?”
“The Oreol is used to seeing his tent, not him. He will lead the army south and die in battle above Opti Pass, as he should have. As he …”
The young man’s desperate focus began to fray. I put my hand upon his shoulder. “You’ll find the right time and place. I’ll bring the ships you need. Can you hold things together here until I return?”
He nodded, and we parted ways.
51
Geart Goib
I kept myself calm and my magic ready.
Soma and the greencoats in our group were agitated and angry. Two had already drawn their swords. The bugs in the shaded grove beneath Ojesti had us all impatient and were loud enough to mask the push of the morning air through the trees. I worried that we would not hear the signal.
A laugh from inside the wide house startled me. Soma caught one man’s arm, and they settled back.
The long high peal of a bell reached up from Urnedi, and the morning’s work began. The Chaukai rose, charged the back door of the house, and crashed through. The yelling ended quickly as the men inside were gagged and bound. One man after another was taken out and dropped into the tall grass before me.
Soma pulled the gag from the first man’s mouth. “Name all those loyal to the Ashod in Enhedu.”
The bound men froze in place. The first offered no answer.
Soma stepped back, and I cleaved him open. She moved on to the next and removed the cloth from his mouth. “Who made you thrall?”
“Don’t do this,” he squawked. I kicked him backward and chopped his head open.
When Soma pulled the gag from the mouth of the third, he rattled off a list of names. It was the same list Selt had assembled from Haton’s documents—the men of Haton’s association that had come to take Enhedu for the Ashmari.
“Who made you a thrall?” Soma asked. Countless spatters of blood sparkled on her face and clothes in the hot sun.
“A man in Bessradi. I do not know his name,” he said. “Onmar was there.”
“Who did he report to?”
“Please,” he said. “You don’t have to—”
I cut him nearly in half down the middle. His body fell and gurgled where it lay.
The next was the last before Onmar. He managed the Constant Pony for Haton. I’d liked him. I pulled the gag from his mouth. I said to him, “You have been trying to kill our prince. Tell me why.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “We were to make Enhedu prosperous.”
“How do the Ashmari communicate with Onmar?”
“I do not know, but you interrupted it somehow. Onmar was furious after the road opened. He was expecting someone to arrive.”
“How is it you can speak and the rest cannot?”
“Strong men can break free,” he said with typical Bessradi arrogance. Sadness rose behind it. “End me, Geart. I walk through nightmares.”
“Names,” Soma said, and he listed them quickly. It was the same list. I took him by the hair and chopped my sword down upon the side of his neck. It jammed in his sternum, and I left it there as he fell.
We gathered close around Onmar. I knelt down, set my hands around his neck, and made ready to snatch the mercury from him if he so much as twitched. Sweat streamed down his face, and his eyes darted about.
“All clear?” Gern asked from the trees.
“One moment,” I said and decided to take no chances.
draw mercury blood flesh man
I sang it just the once and lightly, but it had the desired effect. His neck swelled from the mercury tearing through. Only a few pinpricks’ worth emerged, but enough to keep him in line.
Soma waved Gern on, and he led in Barok, Fana, Pemini, and Avin.
“The rest of the thralls are dead?” Soma asked them.
Gern said, “Urnedi has signaled that all is well. We got everyone on the list.”
“Hear anything new from them?” Barok asked, and Soma shook her head. Barok stepped to Onmar and pulled the gag. I kept my hands wrapped around his throat.
“Are your account books accurate?” Barok asked him.
Onmar gurgled a confused response. “That is what you ask me?”
“Will you tell me how to find the Ashmari who made you?”
“I could not if I wanted to.”
“That’s what I thought,” Barok said and waved Fana forward. “My scribe has a few questions about your books. You will answer every question she asks.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll feed the mercury from all of your stinking corpses to your wife and son.”
“I have no family,” he said.
Fana said, “Then who are you sending gold and jewelry to in Thanin? This entry here, with the little heart in the margin, see it? Same entry every season for the last two years. You keep excellent books, by the way.”
He tensed, and I squeezed my hands around his swollen neck. He closed his eyes and nodded.
“Let me know what you learn,” Barok said to Fana and turned to Soma. “I’ve let Mercanfur know that I’ve given you command of the new ships. Will you be able to head south tomorrow?”
She nodded, and the prince walked away.
Fana was quick to her questions, though few of them made much sense to me: carrying rates, covering charges, and market tax wavers. Avin interrupted once to ask who owned a property in Urnedi.
I didn’t know they were done until Pemini stepped forward and jammed the gag back in Onmar’s mouth and motioned to Fana. The scribe stepped close, leaned in, and whispered something in Onmar’s ear. His eyes went wide, and he gurgled franticly against the gag.
“Our little secret,” Pemini said. “Something to steal away his calm during his last moments. We want him to feel all of this.”
Then she knelt down and opened the bag. It was full of quicklime.
“Careful with that,” Soma said.
Onmar thrashed a bit, but he wasn’t going anywhere. I said to her, “Don’t pour all of it on him. It will kill him too quickly.”
“Not if you sing to him. You’ll do that for me, won’t you?” she asked.
“Pemini this is too much,” Soma said. She looked to Gern, who stood with his arms folded.
“You can fix us all at the next convocation, priestess,” Pemini said. “This man has brought more death and suffering to Enhedu than anyone since Sikhek. Today we are giving it all back to him.”
Then she carefully poured the caustic lime into his trousers, and I let him fall. His pain and stifled screams went on and on. I sang the healing song to him once when he was fading. Pemini watched through to the end. Gern and the greencoats stayed to dispose of the bodies.
Avin and
I walked back down the ridge to Urnedi alone.
“Why did the girls do that?” I asked him.
“No mystery. Fana and Pemini have witnessed all of Urnedi’s hurts. She said it herself, they wanted to give some back.”
“Hmm. That I understand,” I said. “Why all the questions about Onmar’s account books, though? Why did Barok care so much?”
“We just executed thirteen of the most prosperous and industrious men in Enhedu. Between them, they had interests all over Enhedu, Almidi, and even Alsonvale. Losing them all at once is a crippling blow to Barok’s efforts.”
“We are still as weak as that?”
“Very much so. Barok is holding all of this together with bits of blood and vellum.”
The town came into view below as we made it out from under the trees atop the ridge. It was quite a sight. “You start classes again tomorrow?” I asked.
“I am looking forward to it. Will you be doing the same with your student?”
“Yes, but not in town. I spotted a nice ridgeline and waterfall above Erom’s quarry while aboard Soma’s ship. Out amongst the trees seems a better place for Lilly and I.”
“Geart, that sounds just perfect.”
“I hope so. I’m just holding it together myself.”
Also by Blake Hausladen
Ghosts in the Yew - Vesteal Series Volume One
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Beyond the Edge
Part 2 - Opposing Oaths
Part 3 - Reckless Borders
Part 4 - Bayen’s Women
Part 5 - Falling Tides
Native Silver - Vesteal Series Volume Two
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Sutler’s Road
Part 2 - Forgotten Stairs
Part 3 - Thrall’s Wine
Part 4 - Corsair Princess
Part 5 - Tanayon Born
The Vastness - Vesteal Series Volume Three
This omnibus volume includes:
Part 1 - Silent Rebellion
Part 2 - The River War
Part 3 - The Blinded
Part 4 - Crimson Valley
Part 5 - Singer’s Reward
About the Author
Armed with an English degree from Ripon College and an MBA from Chicago’s Stuart School of Business, Blake has delved for twenty years through the shadowed realms of the financial industry. He currently solves financial crimes during the day and gives life to wild fantasies during the blackest hours of night.
Glossary
Abodeen - A poor northern coastal province
Adanas - A monster in a children’s story and the name of the lost religion of the Edonians
Aderan - A rich western plains province
Akal-Tak - The fierce warhorses of the Hemari
Almidi - Provincial seat of Trace
Alsman - A bodyman appointed by the Exaltier to each of his sons
Alsonbrey - Eastern gateway city of the Kaaryon
Alsonelm - Northern gateway city of the Kaaryon
Alsonvale - Western gateway city of the Kaaryon
Aneth - An eastern coastal province
Anton - A greencoat trainee, Erom’s son
Apped - A prison in Aderan
Arilas - A provincial governor and hereditary title
Ataouk - A royal family defeated by the Yentif
Avin - A former church lawyer who escaped to Enhedu with Geart
Barok - Arilas of Enhedu, heir to the throne of Edonia, One of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Bayen - The god of Zoviya
Bellion - Rich noble family from Eril
Bendent - Arilas of Thanin, and cousin to the Exaltier
Bergion - The southern sea that often sends cold winds north
Berm - A vast southeastern province of tundra and mountains
Bessradi - The capital city of the Zoviyan Empire
Bleau - Noble family in Kuet
Bluecoat - Another name for a Hemari soldier
Bunda-Hith - The monstrous mountains in Berm
Chaukai - The secret order sworn to the King of Edonia
Corneth - A rich noble family in Alsonelm
Cynt - A rich family in the Oreol
Daavum Mountains - A thick mountain range that runs south from Enhedu through Trace into Heneur
Dagoda - A Zoviyan school that trains young women to serve the rich and powerful men of Zoviya
Dahar - A poor eastern province
Dame - A familiar title for the oldest woman in a family or place, grandmother
Darmia - Leger’s wife, sister to Evela
Dekay - A conservancy priest that serves Sikhek
Deyalu (way of the blood) - A wing of the Bessradi Palace where the Exalier’s sons are raised
Dia - Matron of Urnedi, married to Barok
Dooma, Avinda - Avin’s full name
Eargram - Urnedi’s bailiff
Edonia - A kingdom destroyed by the Zoviya Empire
Ellyon Grano - A Hemari captain who serves with Evand
Enhedu - A desolate northern province
Eppel O’Nrosevel - Horsemaster in Alsonvale
Erd Oklas - Warden of Trace, brother to Erom
Erik Feseq - A Hemari colonel
Eril - A rich western coastal province
Erom Oklas - Mayor of Urnedi, brother of Erd
Errati Saristrava - A moneylender that works for Chancellor Parsatayn
Evand - Hemari colonel, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Evela - Sister to Darmia
Exaltier (Sword of Bayen) - The head of the executive branch of the Zoviyan government
Fana - Barok’s senior scribe
Fell Pony - A stout mountain pony
Fenol - A swordmaster in Bessradi
Feseq - A noble family from Urmand
Fleur - A master of horses, Sahin’s sister
Furstundish - A Chaukai family that includes Gern
Geart - Healer and singer in Enhedu, was Barok’s body guard for many years
Gern - A Chaukai at Urnedi, married to Fana
Greencoat - The name give to the soldiers from Enhedu
Grand Mhedhil - A famous avenue of shops and baths in Bessradi
Grano - A noble family from central Thanin
Haton - A barkeep and leader of a Bessradi labor association
Harod Serm - Arilas of Aderan
Havish - A rich eastern province
Hemari (bluecoat) - Zoviya’s elite soldiers that garrison at its capital and gateway cities
Heneur - A mountainous coastal province in the northwest
Hessier - Soldiers of the conservancy
Horace - A Chaukai healer
Hooak - Noble family from Thanin
Hurdu - Cavalry from Urmand
Kaaryon - The capital territory of the Zoviyan Empire
Kennculli - A Chaukai family
Kalot - Darmia and Evela’s family name
Khrim - A poor northeastern coastal province
Kiel - Noble family of Aneth
Kuet - A poor southwestern coastal province
Kuren Pormes - Former Arilas of Trace
Kyoden - The last King of Edonia
Leger - Barok’s alsman and leader of the Chaukai
Lilly - A young girl at Urnedi
Liv - A girl from Dagoda
Ludoq - Defeated royal family from Havish, rumored to remain in hiding
Mangor root - a dark root that interferes with pregnancy when ingested
Marrow - Evand’s golden Akal-Tak mare
Mercanfur, Elsar - Admiral of Enhedu’s young fleet
Merit - A carpenter from Almidi
Mhedhil - A famous avenue at the capital of shops and baths
Minister - The head of the conservancy branch of the Zoviyan government, responsible for the Hessier
Moorsmoth - A city on the Oreol Coast
Nolumari - A lawyer of the church
Ojesti - A small
village in Enhedu
Okel - Evand’s master sergeant
Oenry Kiel - The Arilas of Aneth
Onmar - A merchant
Oreol Coast - A western region of Trace ceded to Enhedu after losing a war
Osburth - A city along the Oreol Coast
Parsatayn, Helet - The Chancellor of Bessradi
Pemini - A cook at Urnedi
Pikailia (Pix) - One of Soma’s daughters
Pormes - A weak royal family from Trace
Pqrista - Royal Family of Heneur that rebelled and was defeated by the Yentif
Rahan - An elder Zoviyan prince that was assassinated
Raydau - A rich family in the Oreol
Red Hat - A senior prelate of the Church of Bayen
Reeve - A man responsible for the collection of provincial taxes
Ryat - A church librarian in Bessradi
Sahin - A bowyer in Enhedu
Sedauer - A family of Chaukai that includes Fana
Selt - A scribe from Bessradi who works for Prince Rahan
Serm - A noble family in Aderan
Sevat - Barok’s master carriagemaker
Sikhek - Minister of Zoviya and the most powerful of the Hessier
Soma - Mother of nine from Enhedu
Sten (Mouth of Bayen) - The head of the religious branch of the Zoviyan government and chief prelate of the court
Tanayon - A cathedral in Bessradi that houses the Sten’s superior court
Thanin - A rich northern plains province
Thell - An old man at Urnedi that takes care of the horses
Trace - A poor northern province
Umera - A clothier from Almidi
Urmand - A rich southern coastal province
Urnedi - The provincial seat of Enhedu, also the name of the manor
Urs - Former reeve of Enhedu, Fana’s father
Vala - An old woman at Urnedi that everyone calls Dame
Vall - The Exaltier of Zoviya
Vlek - A noble family from Heneur
Wayland Feseq - A Hemari captain that serves Evand
Wilgmuth - A city along the Oreol Coast
Yarik - Commander of the Hurdu, one of the last three surviving princes of Zoviya
Yentif - The ruling family of Zoviya