Fimbulwinter (Daniel Black) (30 page)

make. She shivered slightly in the cold air of the cellar, and that was far

warmer than outside.

I remembered suddenly the way a life of backbreaking labor and

limited food prematurely ages people from the Third World. If she looked

thirty to my eyes, she couldn’t really be older than… what, twenty-five?

Maybe less.

“Why did Captain Rain send you, instead of one of his men?” I asked.

“He has to account for his men,” she answered. “But the Baron

wouldn’t think to wonder what a camp follower is up to. You didn’t seem the

kind to be insulted by speaking with a woman, and… well, even if you blame

the company for what happened I thought you probably wouldn’t take it out on

me.”

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I sighed. “You’re right about that. No, I understand the Captain’s

position. You realize I’m not sure we can hold the town at this point?”

She nodded. “Should we start collecting wagons, lord wizard?”

I considered that.

“No. Too much chance of drawing attention. Tell the Captain I advise

him to sit tight and gather supplies. Once the Baron is dealt with we can

negotiate a contract, and then take stock of the situation. If we do pull out we’ll

use magical transport, like how we got here.”

She heaved a sigh of relief, and only then did I realize how tense

she’d been.

“Thank you, milord! You have no idea how good it will be to have an

employer who knows what he’s about. The company won’t let you down.”

“It will be good to have some professional backup,” I told her. “Now

you’d better get back before it gets dark. I’m not sure what all is in the town

right now-”

“Ungols,” she interrupted. “Maybe the same pack we saw on the way

here. They took the river gate and ate their fill, then vanished. Markus thinks

they’re just lurking somewhere inside the walls, waiting until they get hungry

again.”

“Yeah, I was afraid of that. Do you have an escort?”

She nodded. “I hired a couple of laborers. They were planning to go

house to house selling pilfered supplies, and they’ve got cudgels.”

Something about the way she said that sounded odd. “You really think

a couple of townsmen with clubs can fight off an ungol?”

“I think,” she said wearily. “That they’re both loaded down with

goods to sell, and I can run much faster than they can.”

Okay then. Someone has a good instinct for zombie apocalypse rules.

“Fair enough. Good luck, then. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She left, and I turned to the rest of the group.

“Oskar. You and the girls saved my ass out there. Thank you. If we

can’t hold the town, there’s a place for you and your family with my group.”

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He nodded gravely. “That’s good to hear, milord. This business with

the Baron doesn’t seem like to help with that, but it’s a fight he started.

Damned shame he couldn’t wait till the new wall was done.”

“It is,” I agreed. “I’m afraid the whole town’s going to pay the price. I

can’t let this go, but I don’t think his men will follow me once I finish it. I

suppose I could try to leave enough of them alive to hold the town, but they

haven’t been doing well with that so far.”

He shook his head. “Wouldn’t ask you to go that far, milord. Me and

mine, we’re with you. But I hope you’re not going to ask my little militia to go

up against the Baron’s men?”

“No, a pitched battle isn’t the way to go here. I doubt your men would

do well against soldiers even if they’re willing to try, and that would probably

get the girls killed. I’ll need to be more subtle than that. So, what do we

know?”

The men exchanged glances.

“Miss Cerise is being held at the temple,” Gronir said. “There’s a

bunch of men at arms guarding the place now, and at least a couple of knights. I

snuck down there to see if I could get her out, but they’ve got the place locked

up tight.”

“That’s not good,” I said grimly. “Holger must be trying to force her

to swear to this Riven Covenants thing. I hope she’s been holding out.”

“Covenants, milord?” Hroldir asked.

I sighed. It was time to come clean.

“Cerise is a witch,” I told him. “The scary kind that uses black magic

to steal power from sacrifices. She’s been sacrificing monsters for power and

using it to kill more monsters. The priest here has a way to enslave her with

magic, but he has to torture her into submitting to it.”

There was a stir at that, and some of Oskar’s men looked uncertain.

Old Hroldir frowned.

“That girl won’t break easy, but you’d best hurry.”

“Ah, milord?” Oskar said hesitantly. “Not to question your judgment,

but I’ve seen that girl fight. You do have some kinda leash on her, right? Not…

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torture, but something?”

“Oh, he bound them with sex magic,” Tina said brightly. “I’m so

jealous, I hope he does me an Beri soon.”

I facepalmed.

The sad thing was, the men seemed to buy it. A couple of them nodded

seriously, and I saw more than one speculative expression.

“Tina!” Beri hissed. “Don’t go blabbing when the menfolk are

talking.”

“Ahem. I’ll keep that in mind, Tina. Leaving aside the details, I’m

confident Cerise and Avilla are both loyal. But Cerise is a reckless girl, and

she’s risking her soul if she pushes her magic too far. So do come to me if you

ever have concerns about that, and I’ll take care of it. Now, what about

Avilla?”

“The Baron took her to the keep,” Oskar said. “Poor girl was

practically in tears. I asked around, and found a chambermaid who worked

there until a few months ago. Boy, go ahead and bring in Daria.”

The chambermaid wasn’t much to look at. Probably early twenties,

with a scraggly mop of brown hair and a face covered with acne scars. Her

clothes were as rough as any other commoner I’d seed in this land, but unlike

Vasha her dress fell to her calves and she had a cloak on over it. She looked

around nervously as one of Oskar’s sons escorted her down the steps, and her

eyes went wide when she saw me.

“The wizard!” She breathed. “But they said you were dead.”

“I got better,” I said mildly. “You know the layout of the keep, right?”

“Yes, lord wizard,” she said nervously. “Worked there for six years,

until the steward got it in his head I was the one stealing the silverware.”

“Hmm. What have you been doing since? I don’t imagine anyone else

in town would hire you after that.”

“I, ah… I get by, milord. But what does a great wizard lord want with

a nobody like me?”

So she was the one doing the stealing, and she’d managed to hide

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enough of her gains to live on. At least for a bit. Well, it wasn’t my business.

“I need to know where the Baron would keep a woman that he’s

kidnapped, and plans to have his way with.”

She blinked in surprise.

“He didn’t. Miss Goldenhair of the vast bosoms?”

“He did,” I said tightly.

“Hel take the lackwitted son of a poxy goat,” she spat. “Aren’t the

monsters enough trouble for him?”

“Do you have an answer for me?” I asked.

She hesitated.

“I do, lord. But… am I going to be cursed or beaten if I ask for

payment? I’m not too greedy, but if I’m to betray my lord to you…”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yes? You want silver? Gold?”

She shook her head. “Protection, lord wizard. A place in your

household. Then it won’t be my lord I’m betraying, will it?”

I didn’t say anything for a long moment. She licked her lips, and

shuffled nervously. But she held her silence.

“Daria,” I said slowly. “In my land, we consider that there are two

kinds of thief. There’s the kind that steals from everyone around her for her

own benefit, and there’s the kind who spies and steals for her lord or her clan.

The second kind are respected, and the best ones get treated like knights. But

the first kind? They’re scum, because no one can ever trust them.”

“Which kind of thief are you, Daria?”

She took a step back, her mouth opening to deny the charge, but

something in my expression stopped her. She studied me thoughtfully for a long

moment, and hung her head.

“Truly, lord wizard?” she said softly. “I’ve never heard of a place

like that.”

“Truly,” I said.

“I’ve never had a family, not since I was a little girl. Or a lord who

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bothered to notice my existence, or anything else to belong to. But they say a

man will march into hell and back for the respect of his brothers. I figure a

woman is no different. I can be the second kind for you, milord.”

“Then we have a deal, and I’ll trust you until you give me a reason not

to. Assuming you have good information for me.”

“The fourth floor,” she replied. “On the north face of the keep. That’s

where he keeps his little conquests…”

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Chapter 13

The sun was nearing the horizon as I made my way through the empty

streets of Lanrest towards Baron Stein’s keep. The three-story buildings that

crowded the town cast the narrow streets into shadow, and the gloom in the

alleyways was already near-impenetrable. Here and there a furtive band of

townspeople scurried for shelter, clutching at improvised weapons and eying

the shadows nervously.

It was snowing again, in sporadic flurries that presaged the impending

arrival of another snowstorm. The cold pierced the rough homespun weave of

my borrowed clothes easily, and I found myself wishing I’d taken the time to

spin warmth enchantments on everything instead of just my cloak. But I was on

a deadline.

Twice now I’d come across huge bloody stains in the snow that

covered the street. A third of the town had been reduced to a maze of smashed

and burned-out buildings in the goblin raid, and now everything was falling

apart. My route took me across half the town, but not once did I see a soldier.

Even the plaza around the Baron’s keep was largely deserted. A

group of refugees huddled miserably among the stalls of what had once been a

small open-air market, tending fires that burned scavenged wood. But the keep

was buttoned up tight, with no sign of guards or sentries outside.

That would make my job easier. No doubt there were men peering out

arrow slits somewhere up there, but they wouldn’t have a very clear view. One

more peasant wandering through the snow wasn’t likely to draw much

attention.

I started across the plaza as if I were simply headed for one of the

streets on the opposite side, and waited for a snow flurry. One came as I was

passing fairly near to the keep, reducing visibility to a few dozen feet. I turned

and sprinted for it.

I fetched up against the grey stone of the fort’s wall just as the snow

cleared again. Naturally there weren’t any ground-floor windows or arrow

slits, so no one inside would be able to see me now. I glanced around to get my

bearings, and began to circle the keep.

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According to Daria the baron had a habit of kidnapping pretty

commoners to serve in his bedchambers, but he tended to follow a regular

pattern with them. A normal girl would spend the afternoon being prettied up

by his servants while they talked up his amazing sexual prowess and fed her a

line about how she’d inevitably submit eventually so she might as well not

resist at all. It sounded hackneyed to me, but I suppose that would actually

work with a lot of impressionable young peasant girls.

Avilla’s treatment had likely been a lot harsher. They had to suspect

that she was more dangerous than she looked, considering her association with

me and Cerise. But the Baron must be busy as hell trying to salvage something

from his disintegrating fief, so with any luck he hadn’t had time to get down to

business yet. Daria said he normally retired around sunset, so I might still be

in time to stop the inevitable.

I paused to lean against the wall and wrestle my emotions back under

control. Knowing that Avilla of all people was going to be raped by some

medieval asshole because I was too fucking careless to protect her properly…

But an enraged rampage would probably get her killed. I had to play

this smart. For Avilla, and Cerise, and all the other people who were counting

on me. No more mistakes.

Another flurry of snow hit, along with a sudden blast of wind. I

negated half my weight with a careful, continuous application of force magic,

and started up the side of the tower.

The keep was generations old, and the primitive mortar holding the

weathered stones together was badly eroded. There were plenty of handholds,

and I’d done a bit of recreational rock climbing in my day. Nothing serious, but

the weight reduction made it a lot easier.

The cold stone soon had me wishing for gloves. But my healing