Escana (44 page)

'The city unrest continued to
grow, led in part by a former council member known as Falarus and a
group of mercenaries calling themselves the Black Quail. Kelgrimm
would have lost control of the situation entirely had he not
contracted the services of a member of The Six who happened to be
passing through the area.'

Veran smiled at her
misinformation, seeing it for what it was. She hated that smile and
the patronising implications it brought.

'You know as well as I do that
one of The Six does not simply pass through an area. His appearance
there was quite intentional. You are also holding back information
from me, I will not ask you again. Tell me all you know.'

She blanched at the tone of his
voice, she wasn't intimidated by anyone but something intangible in
those words sent shivers down her spine.

'You are correct. I have not been
entirely honest with you, there was another factor causing unrest
amongst the populace. Another talent outside our previous
understanding subdued El... Subdued the member of The Six.'

Veran's amusement was starting to
subside, she felt a strange coldness as he gazed upon her, unable to
tell what was behind those pale hazel eyes.

'Say his name,' he said.

She gritted her teeth, oh how she
loathed this man. 'El-Vador. The subdued member of The Six was
El-Vador. Outside a sewer pipe on the outskirts of Urial.'

Veran nodded, urging her to fill
the silence with the rest of what she knew. If any of this was news
to him he gave no impression of it.

'There is one other matter,' she
said. 'My spy fell deathly ill at the hands of a second rogue talent,
her reports suggest that it was in league with the first rogue
talent.'

As if carefully giving her words
consideration, the Emperor stared at her with that same blank
expression. 'You are mistaken,' he finally said. 'The rogue talents
subdued each other in the council chambers, they are at odds.'

She was taken aback by his clear
admission, Veran gave her nothing to work with at the best of times,
why was he offering her this to chew over?

'I tell you this because you
would eventually discover they are in captivity and on their way to
the remote desert outpost in the Sah'kel desert. I do not want that
transport waylaid, do you understand me?'

The Emperor had made himself very
clear, in unveiling part of his knowledge and plans to Alissandra he
was holding her directly responsible for their success. Should she
attempt anything he would find her culpable and execute her. Even if
she was not at fault for the transport getting waylaid he would
probably end her, she needed to make sure that remained safe.

'There will be a time and a place
for your machinations, Alissandra. The fate of the Empire is finely
balanced on a crux and your excessive meddling in those affairs would
only end badly for all concerned. You are dismissed.'

She turned then and made for the
door, waiting for his voice to call out as it always did.

'Alissandra?'

She turned and deliberately,
willing herself not to let her thoughts slip and betray her. 'Yes,
your Imperial majesty?'

He rapped his knuckles
absent-mindedly against the arm of the throne, scattering flakes of
marble across the room. 'I know you plot against El-Vador, it is not
a concern of my Empire so long as his tasks are completed. I wish you
luck in your effort and I hope you make him suffer.'

She wasn't sure what unsettled
her more as she gracefully fled from the building. The idea that one
of her schemes was Imperially endorsed or that the Emperor knew even
her darkest secrets.

H
e was
finally himself again, whatever that was in the world he'd been put
back into.

It had all felt like a fever
dream, as if he were staring through the misted eyes of another he
couldn't quite influence or control. He had seen snatches of action,
though the events in Kelgrimm's chamber remained entirely unclear to
him. He remembered tall buildings blurred around the edges as they
rushed by him during his escape. There had been a conflict and he
knew there was a pivotal role that he had played in averting that. As
with most things he wasn't meant to ruminate on, his head hurt the
more he tried to recall.

The steady trundle of the cage
wheels had been strangely soothing as he sat there staring out the
bars. For reasons unknown to him Jimmy seemed entirely distant to
him, ordinarily he wouldn't care but again that niggling sensation
came back to grasp at his attention and insist that he make an effort
to speak with him.

This was made difficult by the
strange man that Jimmy seemed to accompany. Jakob didn't think the
cage was the best place to meet new friends so he could only assume
that it was a previous encounter in Urial that had brought the two
together, possibly during his unconscious spell.

They had stared at each other for
some time. Jakob couldn't help but feel the stranger had gotten more
out of that than he had.

It was an instant sense of
dislike he felt for the man, not an unbidden murderous one like that
he harboured for Gooseman but it was there all the same. He hadn't
heard a single word spoken by the stranger and Jimmy's lack of
efforts to communicate beyond their brief confrontation meant he was
largely in the dark. Something had to be done about that.

Standing up brought the attention
of all the eyes of the cage upon him, as if they were expecting him
to make a move or announce something to the occupants. When he
started to make his way closer to Jimmy they paid no more attention
to him, everyone was on edge in this stifled captivity.

'Mind if I sit here?' Jakob
asked.

Jimmy looked up at him briefly
and shrugged.

Undeterred, Jakob settled himself
down next to him and stared out of the cage. 'Enjoying the scenery?'

Jimmy didn't deign to look at
him. 'Are you going to tell me what happened back there?'

'You mean back in Urial after
gaining my consciousness?'

The young man nodded, staring at
the passing road as if it were the greatest conundrum he had
encountered.

'I have an admission to make to
you, I hope in doing so you can bring yourself to be civil with me
and stop sulking.'

If he had heard the words he
offered no sign, his petulance was beginning to become grating but
Jakob refused to get angry at him. 'I honestly have little
recollection from the last while. I had glimpses of it but not enough
to know any more than you do about what happened after we parted, I'm
sorry.'

Jimmy turned incredulously to
him, at least he had provoked a response from him if nothing else.
'You expect me to believe that you were possessed by some mysterious
spirit beyond your control for the exact period of time that I wanted
to know what you were doing?'

He nodded. 'When you put it like
that, it sounds all-too convenient, doesn't it?'

This brought a sigh from him.
'Jakob, after what I've seen if you want to tell me you've been
possessed by some evil spirit then I'll believe you.'

Jakob wasn't expecting that, what
had Jimmy been exposed to over his time unconscious that had so
radically altered his attitude? Tearing one cell door off its hinges
wasn't enough to convince someone of the supernatural.

The brief acknowledgement was all
he needed, there was one other matter that needed discussed. 'You
never introduced me to your new friend.'

Jimmy looked over at The Hermit,
who sat with his back against the cage silently watching the assorted
men. 'He's not a friend exactly, I owe him my life though. We met in
the Black Quail, a now defunct underground movement brought about to
cause a rebellion against Kelgrimm in Urial. We almost succeeded, but
for the intervention of...' Jimmy faltered then, taking a moment to
steady his breathing. 'He's known simply as The Hermit. He doesn't
speak and with his actions of late I'm not entirely sure whose side
he's on. That's why I'm keeping my distance.' He waved his hand at
the space between them, if The Hermit noticed the movement he didn't
respond. Jakob felt that the space between potential enemies was
meaningless with nowhere to run.

'Is he dangerous?'

Jimmy laughed, as if Jakob had
cracked an unexpectedly amusing joke. 'He's one of the most lethal
people I've ever seen, the thought of him not being on our side
terrifies me.'

Jakob nodded. 'Only one way to
sort that then. Stay here.'

He rose again to another
assortment of suspicious glances his way, more people seemed put out
at his movements than previously. The walk toward the man Jimmy
called The Hermit seemed overly long considering the cramped
conditions of the cage. Jakob fought the sinking feeling in his
stomach and tried to push aside how lethal Jimmy considered the man.
'Are you are the one known as The Hermit?'

The Hermit nodded, beckoning
Jakob be seated next to him. Jakob felt the urge to refuse the
request but given the undue attention he was causing himself he
begrudgingly settled himself on the uncomfortable cage floor once
again.

'I have a few brief questions to
ask you.'

The Hermit beckoned that he
continue, though he seemed on guard.

'What is your relationship with
Jimmy?'

He shook his head sadly at that,
pointing at his mouth.

'He told me you couldn't speak, I
just wanted to catch you out.' Jakob couldn't think why he'd just
said that to someone so dangerous.

The Hermit saw the funny side of
it, exhaling from his nose in what must have been his version of a
laugh.

'Are you on Jimmy's side? He
seems undecided as to where your loyalties lie.'

A nod at that. Jakob couldn't
tell whether it was in recognition of Jimmy's distrust or an
admission of loyalty. He found it hard to believe that this man had
the purest of intentions at heart.

'Are you on my side?'

The Hermit shrugged, indicating
that he didn't know which 'side' Jakob was on. This response wasn't
exactly filling him with confidence, he assumed that being with Jimmy
would preclude any issues, if this man was telling the truth that is.

'Are we going to have a problem
with you?'

Again the words seemed to come
out of nowhere, as if oblivious to Jimmy's warnings and spurred on by
Jakob's dislike of the man.

A shake of the head, was that a
touch of sadness he saw there? For some reason Jakob was finding it
harder to tell.

'Do you know where they have
taken Ella?'

A guard rapped the bars between
where they sat with his spear. 'No talking,' he grunted.

Questions would have to be
answered later.

S
he stared up
at the night sky as if seeing it for the first time. The clouds
gathered in strange forms obscuring the stars from sight. They were
perched on a strange cliff overlooking an indeterminable landscape,
she had no idea why he had brought her here.

'This was my home,' the stranger
said, looking out amongst the desolate rock and clearly seeing
something entirely different.

Ella strained her eyes but the
darkness offered her no clue as to what he was talking about. 'I see
no houses.'

A bitter-sweet laugh rang in her
head in response. 'There have been no houses in a very long time. Nor
was there ever any abode that you would consider a structure fit to
live within. I felt that I should show you this locale all the same,
regard it as a symbolic gesture.'

The wind whipped around her feet,
threatening to catch her off balance, in response the stranger waved
his hand vaguely and it stilled into nothingness.

'Who are you?' she asked.

He turned to face her, the odd
contours of his face impossible to read in the poor light. 'I am
known as El-Vador to those few that have ever seen me. Though that
title is simply what I am called by the unfortunate inhabitants of
these remnants, not who I am. Who I am is what I shall be attempting
to show you in our travels together. What is your name?'

She had heard Jimmy speak briefly
of some terrible and powerful creature, whatever this was that had
taken her from Urial had also known Jimmy. Had this common bond
between them been the reason for his apprehending her?

'My name is Ella. Why have you
taken me here?' she asked.

El-Vador stifled a sigh, as if
trying to be patient with her. 'I suppose that is the next logical
question and I shouldn't belittle you for it, to cut to the heart of
the matter in such direct language is a most human aspect. I find
your language difficult to articulate my thoughts with in such a
fashion, there's a multitudinous lexicon provided to each individual
yet they seem to regard me as positively incoherent should I engage
them with more than the very basics of their own speech. This would
be an aside to you and one close to baffling you as any given others
have been so I shall attempt your directness. You are probably
curious as to my relationship with your friend and my reasons for not
having him join us, are you not?'