Ebudae (24 page)

“You may.”

The captain’s mouth twitched in amusement at
the non-answer. “Where were you last night?”

“I was sleeping in my room until midnight or
so. Then I went to Carnival for a short while. Then I came home.”
Ebudae wondered if it was about the death of Lizor, the
disappearance of the troupe, the break-in to the warehouse or
something to do with the Guardsmen she had met last night.

“Did you travel through the Mosh
District?”

“Yes.” Ebudae let out a slow breath at
remembering what had happened with Juggles. The blood in her veins
felt light, an odd sensation, and she knew she must be pale.

“Did anything happen?”

Ebudae glanced at her grandmother. The old
woman was staring at her in stony silence, obviously having
condemned her granddaughter for whatever the Guards were accusing
her of.

“An owl hooted, I believe.” The sergeant
snorted in a futile attempt to keep from laughing. Ebudae took a
sip of her wine then held it in both hands in her lap. “Perhaps if
you tell me what you’re digging for I could give you a specific
answer.”

The Captain became serious. “Very well. Did
you kill anyone last night?”

The question sent chills up her spine. She
had left Juggles vulnerable on the ground. “I did not.” It didn’t
seem enough. “I swear to you that I did not.”

The captain frowned. “Then tell me what did
happen. You’re hiding something.”

Ebudae took a deep breath and then the last
sip of wine in her glass. Tina came to take the glass to refill it,
but Lady Pallon said, “She doesn’t need anything else to drink.”
Ebudae chose not to look at her anymore.

“After leaving Carnival, I met Juggles, a
friend who . . . juggles at Carnival.” She paused to see their
reactions.

The captain kept a straight face, but the
Guardswomen behind her exchanged glances. “Go on,” Captain Fallamer
said. “What happened then?”

“He took me to a small courtyard with
nightflowers and tried to . . .” Ebudae let out another slow
breath. “I fought him off and kicked him in the crotch, hard. Then
I left him there on the ground and ran home.” She turned to her
servant. “Tina, please get me one more glass of wine.”

“Do not obey that command,” Lady Pallon
ordered.

Ebudae stood and went to the liquor cabinet
to pour her own glass of wine. On her way back to the couch, she
didn’t do anything to acknowledge her grandmother’s hateful look.
After sitting, she told the Captain, “Once I came home, Tina had
food waiting in my suite. She drew me a bath and then I went to
sleep.” Sleep would be nice right then. Ebudae was still hungry and
tired from using so much magic and rubbed her hand over tired
eyes.

“And how did you kill the man you call
Juggles?” the sergeant asked.

Ebudae’s head jerked up. Tears sprang
unbidden to her eyes. “Killed?” Weariness and confusion washed over
her. Tina deftly took the wine glass because it was beginning to
tilt in Ebudae’s slack hand.

“You were seen leaving with Juggles in the
Mosh District late last night,” Captain Fallamer stated. “A lady
friend of his found him dead this morning. Did you kill him?”

Ebudae moved her head side to side in
stunned disbelief. “No. I promise, no.”

“Very well, you proclaim your innocence.
However, you were the last one to see him.” Captain Fallamer leaned
forward with elbows on knees. “You said you left him in a courtyard
alone. Did you see anyone else in the courtyard? Did anyone follow
you?”

“I . . .” Ebudae tried to clear her
thoughts. The shock that Juggles had died was overwhelming. But
they were accusing her and if she wasn’t careful, she could go to
jail. Nobody wanted to visit Dralin’s jails. “I felt like I was
being watched all night, but didn’t see anyone.” She frowned. “How
did he . . . die? Did they attack him in the courtyard?” Everyone
stared at her in silence. Ebudae wanted to hide under her covers.
“I swear I didn’t kill him,” she finally whispered.

The captain sat back in the couch. “Were you
attacked in an alley off of Portman Street?”

“Huh?” The question caught Ebudae by
surprise. “No. I was on Portman Street, but I wasn’t attacked.”

“Did you murder anyone there?” the sergeant
asked, leaning forward and smacking a hand on the table.

The action made Ebudae jump. “No! I didn’t
murder
anyone
! I promise I didn’t murder anyone.” She closed
her eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out.

“We should take her in, Captain,” the
sergeant said, his jaw jutting forward in accusation.

“Really, Sergeant?” Captain Fallamer asked
with raised eyebrow. “You want to take a noblewoman to jail with
absolutely no evidence?”

“Umm . . .” The sergeant didn’t have
anything more intelligent to say.

“My Lady,” Captain Fallamer said to Ebudae.
“I don’t know very much about you, but you don’t strike me as the
sort of person capable of killing five men, especially not the way
they died.”

“Five? . . .” Ebudae’s mouth was dry and her
stomach grumbled at being ignored. “Five men? What happened?”

It was the captain’s turn to lean forward
again. “Four unsavory characters died in an alley off Portman
Street. Each of them had a hole all the way through their chest
that pierced their hearts. It was precise and each of them died
without struggle. We had to fight off the rats that were nibbling
on the bodies.”

Instead of being grossed out by the
description, the word ‘nibble’ made her stomach growl more. The two
Guardswomen behind the couch shared looks of amusement. Ebudae
rubbed her face and focused on the words.

“Your friend Juggles was found in his
apartment with the same wound as the men in the alley.” Captain
Fallamer stood. “If you think of anything else, please send someone
to contact me and I’ll come back. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes, Captain,” Ebudae said.

“Good day, Milady,” the captain said to Lady
Pallon with a slight bow. She gestured for her troops to follow,
which they did with puzzled expressions. Ebudae mirrored that
puzzlement. They could have asked more questions.

“Did you kill them?” By the smug expression
on Lady Pallon’s face, it was obvious she believed Ebudae had.

“No. I didn’t,” Ebudae replied
absentmindedly. She was trying to think of who would have committed
the murders. Blavoci’s men might have killed Juggles, but that
didn’t explain the four men in the alley.

“Oh? You admitted killing that wizard. Why
shouldn’t I believe you didn’t kill these men, you little
monster?”

Ebudae was too tired to get into another
contest of wills with her. “Because I admitted to that and I’m
telling you I didn’t do this.” She sighed and stood up. “Believe
whatever you want to, grandmother. I’m going to get some food then
go back to sleep.” Her stomach growled in agreement.

The smug expression disappeared from Lady
Pallon, replaced by one of surprise and confusion. She didn’t say
anything as her granddaughter left the room.

***

Ebudae was being shaken awake again. “What?
I’m tired!”

“G, g, g, g . . .”

“Grandmother wants me again?” Ebudae threw
off the blankets and got out of bed. Tina helped her change back
into the dress from earlier. It had a stain from the large meal she
had eaten that morning before climbing back in bed, but Ebudae
didn’t care.

Once again, Tina had food for her to nibble
on and even another glass of wine. As they headed down the stairs,
Ebudae wondered if Captain Fallamer had come back with more
information. Just before the door of the sitting room, Tina took
the empty glass, Ebudae brushed down the front of her dress and
they both did the best they could to fix her hair.

She came to an abrupt halt at seeing the
black-striped yellow tunic of one of Master Blavoci’s men standing
behind a very well-dressed man sitting in the same couch Captain
Fallamer had sat on earlier. “Ahh, there she is. Come in and talk
to us, young lady,” the man said with a false grin.

Lady Pallon was sitting in the same chair as
before, but instead of looking smug, there was concern on her face.
Ebudae went to the same couch she had used before and sat down yet
again. When Tina brought her another glass of wine, she waved it
off. These men were dangerous.

“I hear that you’ve been breaking into
warehouses and stealing valuable property, young woman,” the man
said in a slick voice. Touches of grey speckled his perfect hair
and beard. He wore a frilled white shirt decorated with green
embroidery. His pants were dark green with gold threads and his
boots were clean black leather. A dueling sword lay across his lap
and he sat with the confident air of a man who knew how to use
it.

“Did you kill Juggles?” Ebudae asked
suddenly, ignoring the accusations. “He was found dead last night.
Did you or your men kill him?”

The man scowled at being questioned and
didn’t answer right away. “No. Neither my men nor I killed him. I
wasn’t aware he was dead.” The knowledge seemed to disturb him.
Ebudae glanced at the bodyguard standing behind the couch much the
same way as the Guardswomen had done for Captain Fallamer
earlier.

His face showed no expression as though it
was made out of stone. Brown hair was cut tight to the skull and he
had a long scar that traveled from the side of his right eye to
behind that ear. His tunic fit tightly over a chain shirt and he
rested a hand on a wicked longsword at his waist.

“I don’t know what happened to your friend.
What I do know is that you and that little mascot girl the Guard
keeps broke into a warehouse the other night and stole property
that belongs to Master Blavoci,” the oily-voiced man accused.

Ebudae studied the man’s face. There was no
hint of a bluff to get her to admit to it. He was confident,
meaning someone had told him who they were, probably Juggles. “I
stole no property.”

“Perhaps you don’t understand, little girl,”
he said in condescending tones. “Everything in that warehouse
belongs to Master Blavoci. When you and your little friend went in
there with your buddies from Carnival, you made a powerful
enemy.”

Ebudae formed the spell in her mind, one
that wouldn’t require ingredients since she didn’t have her
pouches. She wasn’t quite ready to do battle, but nobody was
allowed to come into her home and threaten her.

The man stood and pointed a threatening
finger. “You stole those people and you’ll pay for your theft, as
will your little friend. Not even the vaunted Dralin City Guard
will protect her.”

A supernatural breeze blew past Ebudae’s
face.

“Spell!” the bodyguard yelled, reaching for
his sword.

It was too late. Lightning flew from
Ebudae’s hand as she uttered words of power and performed a
sequence of gestures. The wind came back and blew her messy hair
around her face.

The crack and sizzle of the lightning
deafened everyone in the room. Lady Pallon, Mary and Tina all
covered their ears. Ebudae didn’t notice as she watched the slick
man blasted into the air, knocking over the couch as he flew
backwards. The bolts of electricity jumped across the couch and
danced to the bodyguard as well.

It wasn’t enough to kill anyone, Ebudae
wasn’t willing to do that in her grandmother’s house, but the slick
man crashed into a table with pretty decorations on it, knocking
them over. He writhed on the ground, moaning.

The bodyguard yelled in pain as the
electricity danced over him and burned the steel-wrapped hilt of
his sword. His battle-hardened training became evident as he shook
off the effects and drew the blade.

Ebudae’s knife was already in her hand and
she threw it with all her strength, just as Pelya had shown her. It
landed in the soft flesh above the man’s knee and below the chain
shirt. He fell to the ground, clutching at it with one hand. The
other hand retained its grip on the sword.

“If you make a move, I’ll
kill
you,”
Ebudae warned the man in a hissing voice from her clenched teeth.
Her hand shaped in a claw as she pointed at him. He didn’t move,
glaring back at her while every muscle in his body was tensed from
pain and fury.

Lady Pallon pushed against the back of her
chair, fear in her eyes as she watched her granddaughter in
horror.

Ebudae made her way to the slick man, who
was curled in a fetal position. He twitched and shivered with sweat
covering his face. His eyes were bloodshot and he had soiled
himself. She bent over him so their faces were close. “You will not
harm Pelya in any way. If you do, I will make it a personal mission
to hunt you down along with everyone associated with Master
Blavoci. Then I will make them scream as they die.”

She meant every word that hissed out of her
mouth. Nobody was allowed to hurt Pelya,
ever
. She needed to
make certain he understood. “I have certain measures in place in
the event that I should die. My undead body will rise from ashes
and form into a creature worse than any nightmare and your screams
will be even louder as I drag you into levels of hell not mentioned
in any book.” She took his head into her claw-shaped hand and added
a supernatural effect to her voice that made it swirl throughout
the room in layers. “Do you understand?” It echoed off the walls
with unintelligible whispers from lost souls mixed in.

“Unnghh, nnnn, nnnn,” was all the man could
get out from his locked jaw as he attempted to nod. Ebudae was
fairly certain he was nodding, but it was hard to tell with all the
twitching.

With a slow turn, she stalked the bodyguard,
who tried to slink away on his back. Ebudae approached him
cautiously, knowing he was dangerous in any state. He lifted his
sword just as she came near, but it was a fearful gesture. She
moved around him and stepped on his sword arm, pinning it to the
ground. With her other foot, she stepped on the leg with the dagger
in it then reached down and yanked the sharp blade out. He screamed
in pain and grabbed for the wound. Ebudae had to jump off at the
motion or risk falling over.