Fallen Blade 04 - Blade Reforged (25 page)

I looked at the swords and thought about that. They carried the most powerful enchantments
I’d ever known, and yet they were invisible to magesight, showing no hint of
spell-light for the simple reason that Namara had willed it so. Divine magic broke
all the rules. The gods knew no limits, a fact that I was increasingly coming to believe
was a major flaw in the system. Look at the way they had murdered Justice.

“All right,” I said, pushing that thought aside. “I guess I can see why a divine oath
might play out differently. But how did the Kitsune get drawn in? She wasn’t at the
temple when the Son’s forces attacked. That’s for damned sure.”

“Oh, but she was, just not on the side of Namara. She was the first Blade to take
service with the Son. How he got her to do it, I’ve no idea. You can’t threaten her.
She’d have to care about her life a whole lot more than she does to make that work.
But I’m getting off course here. You know enough of the backstory now for me to jump
forward a bit, to my appointment as Heaven’s Shade this winter.”

“Son of a bitch!” It was probably a good thing I didn’t have any swords just then,
or I might have ended up cutting our conversation short, and there were still things
to learn, whether I decided to help Devin or not.

Devin winced. “I take it you know what that means, then.”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’re in charge of all of the Blades who went over to the Son and
formed the Shadow of Heaven.” I looked to see if Devin was wearing a ring of office
as the head of the Hand of Heaven did, but couldn’t see one in the dark. “He must
have been pretty desperate if he replaced Kelos with you.”

Devin laughed at that, a surprisingly genuine sound, if bitter. “You might have a
point there, though not the one you think you do. Nuriko joined the Son’s forces before
the fall of the temple, though not
long
before, if I’m reading my tea leaves right. For a while at least, she
was
the Shadow of Heaven. When the rest of us came on board, she wasn’t thrilled that
the Son handed the reins over to Kelos, but she seemed willing to let it pass. Mostly,
I think, because their agendas were in alignment and she had a lot more than casual
influence over Kelos.”

“Are you implying what I think you’re implying?” I asked.

“Yeah, they were lovers, had been for the better part of a century if I’m not reading
the cues all wrong. But it was a weird sort of love, if you could even call it that,
more like an extension of their never-ending arguing and dueling displaced into another
realm.”

“Dueling?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, not really, but it was a hell of a lot more serious than any sparring I’ve
ever seen. They drew blood all the time, and I never saw either of them pull a blow.
If they hadn’t been so evenly matched, I’m pretty sure one of them would have killed
the other.”

“But, you digress,” I said.

“Only because you asked. The point I was aiming for was that when Kelos pulled his
rabbit run, Nuriko expected to be named to replace him. She had a good case, too.
She was the senior Blade by far, and the best of us in a fight. But after whatever
happened with Kelos, the Son really didn’t trust her. He wanted someone more…biddable.”

And Devin didn’t like it one bit that the Son felt he fit the bill, if I was any judge
of a onetime old friend’s tones. Good.

Devin rolled his head to look at me. “You didn’t take the opportunity to twist the
knife there. Are you going soft on me in your old age or something?”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Nope. You seemed to be doing such a good job of cutting
yourself up on your own that I didn’t want to get in the way. Carry on.”

“Thanks. The Kitsune was not happy at being passed over. Especially not for ‘Kelos’s
puppy,’ as she called me.”

“That had to hurt.” Again, good.

Devin shrugged. “Less than you might think. After all, I spent my entire Blade career
as the Kingslayer’s shadow. I’m used to the shit that comes with being seen as the
lesser. Nuriko, however, was not, and she threw a fit about my being named Heaven’s
Shade. The Son actually seemed a little bit frightened of her. I’m not sure whether
that’s because she maybe didn’t take the same oath the rest of us did, or the
fact that she’s deeply crazy, or what. Whatever the reason, the Son decided he needed
to get her out of Heaven’s Reach and far away from him. So he sent her here to play
nanny to Thauvik.”

I had a sudden realization. “This has something to do with Thauvik being one of the
risen, doesn’t it? It’s the Son that arranged for him to fall to the curse, and Ashvik
and Sumey, too, isn’t it?”

“Yes. The Son has great power over the risen. Well, some of them anyway. I don’t know
why or how, maybe it comes from Shan. He can make them do what he wants. If he’s close
or if they’re far gone with the curse, he doesn’t even have to speak to them, he can
move them around with his mind. Make them stay or go, attack or defend, whatever he
wants. But his power fades with distance, and the more of their own mind that they
have left the more they can shake off his will. With someone like Thauvik, who’s still
very nearly human, the Son pretty much has to be in the same room to pull those strings
directly.”

“So what good does sending Nuriko here do him?”

“Even when he can’t control one of the risen by will, he can cause them great pain
or kill them outright from a great distance. If he has one of his agents in place,
he can send orders through the agent and enforce them with the threat of punishment
or death. It only works up to a point though. He can’t shut down the blood madness
that comes with the curse, or the desire to pass it along to others. He can only limit
it. That’s why I stabbed Sumey back when I was playing her minder. I thought she was
about to bite me and I panicked.”

“But the swords of the goddess wouldn’t slay her for you.”

“No. That magic seems to have left me when I…left her service.” Devin drew a ragged
breath. “I had thought it was the swords that changed, but then it worked for you.”

Triss lifted his head from his conversation with Zass again. “Why were you trying
to put Sumey on the throne if Thauvik was also under the control of the Son of Heaven?”

“I wasn’t. Or, at least not right away, though it turned out
she had different plans that she hid from both me and the Son. I was just supposed
to keep her busy and ready to take over should something go too wrong with Thauvik.
The Son likes to have an heir in place and ready to assume the reins of power. He
temporarily loses control over his risen as they transition from something that can
pass for human into more obvious members of the restless dead. It’s an inevitable
decay and he seems to have had some practice at managing it.”

“How many thrones does the Son have under his thumb?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Even now that I’m the Son of Heaven’s personal Shade he doesn’t tell
me much. Of course, he hasn’t had many chances. I’ve been in the role for less than
half a year and I’ve been here much of that time, thanks to the Kitsune and your would-be
queen.”

“Are we finally getting to the point then?” I asked.

“Yes. When the Son sent Nuriko to ride herd on Thauvik, he gave her very specific
orders for what he wanted. She followed them pretty well, too, at least until the
day of the Council of Jade. I don’t know exactly what went wrong then, whether it
was simply the opportunity the Kitsune had been waiting for, or if Maylien’s challenge
to Thauvik’s authority pushed him into a true blood frenzy, or if the stars lined
up wrong. But since then, she’s been playing Thauvik for her own goals instead of
the Son’s. I was sent here to bring things back under control, but neither Thauvik
nor Nuriko listens to a word I say. She’s had him under her complete control, right
down to arranging all the security in the palace for her convenience.”

“Don’t you have the Son’s proxy for punishing Thauvik?” asked Triss.

“I thought I did, but Nuriko’s done something that blocks the Son’s powers there.
I would have expected that to violate her oath to the Son and bring some terrible
consequences down on her head, but she seems to have slipped free of her own geas
as well.”

“So, there
is
a way out of your oath,” I said, sitting forward.

“Don’t think that hasn’t occurred to—” Devin’s voice broke off in a whimper and his
hand went to his forehead. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck!” For several seconds his breathing came
heavy and rough, then it slowed again. “Yeah, no. I don’t think the Kitsune operates
under the same rules the rest of us do. Maybe it’s the structure of her oath. Maybe
it’s the crazy. Whatever the reason, that particular door doesn’t open for me.”

“It really seems like the Son doesn’t trust you to keep your word to his god. Sensible
of him.”

“Fuck you, Aral. I knew I was going to regret not chopping your damned head off.”

“It’s never too late. You’re still armed with the weapons of the last master you betrayed,
and I’ve got nothing but a couple of knives to defend myself.”

“What did happen to your swords, Aral? Did you pawn them to buy booze?”

I suppressed the flash of rage and the snarling response Devin was so obviously fishing
for and smiled sweetly instead. “I returned them to the goddess in her tomb. If I
wasn’t going to serve Justice any longer, then I had no right to carry her swords.”
And, that, I could see, drew blood. “But we weren’t talking about me. We were talking
about you and your problems. Do go on.”

“Gods but you’re a sanctimonious asshole, and you always have been. Yeah, let’s talk
about my problems, chief of which is that I really need the help of the fucking king
of holier-than-thou. The Kitsune is out of her mind and she’s got mad King Thuavik
half under her thumb. She’s currently trying to get him to declare himself the
Risen King
, and to start slaughtering and converting the masses as the start of some insane
crusade of the restless dead. She’s promised him that she’ll find and murder Maylien
for him just as soon as he gets things underway.”

“That’s completely crazy,” said Triss.

“Yes,” agreed Zass, “that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you. Nuriko has to be stopped,
but we can’t do it without you. She’s a better swordswoman than Devin and a better
mage, and she’s with Thauvik constantly. We can’t beat Nuriko by herself, much less
when she’s backed up by a risen who also happens to be one of the best soldiers and
duelists in the kingdom. He rose through the ranks from petty officer to chief marshal
without any help from his brother, and he’s a damned good fighter. We need your help
to stop the Kitsune.”

“No,” I said.

“No?” asked Devin. “Why the hell not?”

“I don’t like you, I don’t trust you, and I don’t see how my helping you does a damned
bit of good for anything I care about.”

“The Kitsune wants to kill your royal bed warmer. Isn’t that enough?”

“No, as much as I care for Maylien, that’s not enough. I’m pretty sure your plan is
for me to bail your ass out with the Kitsune so you can stab me in the back, kill
Maylien, and put Thauvik back on the throne.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I was hoping for.”

“It’s not going to happen. Nothing is, unless I’m calling the tune.” I pushed myself
to my feet and walked over to look down at Devin. “I might,
might
be convinced to help you out with the Kitsune if it also ends with Thauvik in the
grave, Maylien on the throne, and you headed back to Heaven’s Reach with your tail
between your legs. But nothing short of that is going to move me.”

“I hate you. I really hate you.” Devin glared at me for a long moment and then his
face suddenly twisted in intense pain and he reached for his forehead.

“I think he’s actually considering it,” said Triss.

“Clearly,” said Zass, his voice sad. “Nothing else would hurt him so.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry to see him writhe a bit,” I replied. “He deserves a hell of a
lot worse.”

After a time, the fit passed and Devin rolled over, crawling to the edge of the finished
floor and emptying his stomach into the void below. “I
can’t
agree to help you put Maylien on the throne, or to kill Thauvik,” he rasped. “I
can, probably, lend you my swords to fight the Kitsune, and—oh fuck.” He threw up
over the side again.

Zass went and laid his head on the small of Devin’s back. “What you do with Devin’s
swords before you give them back is up to you, I’m sure. Please, don’t make him say
what that implies.”

“All right,” I said. “I won’t, and maybe I’ll even pull his ass out of the fire, though
it sure won’t be for old times’ sake.” I looked down at Devin, who had rolled onto
his side so he could watch me. “But before I do any of that, and out of sheer idle
curiosity, what happens if I don’t help you?”

“I try to take the Kitsune on my own, and she guts me.”

“You’re sure you can’t just pull a rabbit run of your own?” I asked.

Devin nodded. “Quite sure. I don’t know how Kelos has slipped the leash so thoroughly,
but the oath has certain safeguards built into it. The Son can compel me to return
to him, even from a great distance.”

“Interesting.” I wondered at that. “Why didn’t he simply set it up so he could kill
you at a distance?”

“It’s not personal enough for him, I think. Nor sufficiently frightening.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow.

“We’re Blades, Aral, even if we have left the service of the goddess. Death at a distance
isn’t a big enough threat because none of us is all that scared of dying.”

“Could have fooled me, or am I hallucinating the part where you switched sides to
save your coward’s hide?” Devin blanched. “What? Did I hit a sore spot?”

“You did,” he said, “though not the one you were aiming at.”

“Now I’m confused.”

Devin sighed. “You said I turned my coat to save my skin. That isn’t quite true, and
I don’t want to talk about it. But my skin is in serious need of saving now. Do you
want to know what the Son of Heaven will do to me if I fail, really?”