Retribution (Drakenfeld 2) (25 page)

It transpired that, because I had been accusing the military of firing an arrow at me, blaming them for something unproven, one of the senior officers had taken exception to the statement – and decided to dispense his own style of street justice.

That man, along with the others who had been named, was promptly executed. They were beheaded with no trial or ceremony in one of the cells deep under the palace. All of their bodies were then dumped into the river further away from the city. Their names were to be forgotten, expunged from the military records. The matter had been dealt with.

The queen, Leana explained, claimed there was no need to thank her, and she could only apologize for what had occurred.

All of this I discovered three days after the incident, and before breakfast.

During those lost days, I had been laid out in a comfortable bedchamber, wearing only my trousers, and covered with a thin sheet. My surroundings were plain – a red-brick roof and walls, an empty wood-burner, a couple of cressets, and some sweet-smelling incense. My cloak and boots had been placed on a table by my side.

The first thing I did on finding out what had happened was to apologize for the fact that Leana had killed three of the queen’s men. I felt guilt that my initial accusations, with no proof, had set them on this path. My apology was not accepted. The queen declared, through Sulma Tan, that she would make a point of showing what would happen if anyone else tried to interfere with the investigation. It was important to set standards. The severed hand of one of the soldiers was retained and had been nailed to the door of the barracks as a warning to the others.

Solving these murders, Sulma Tan said, was the queen’s main priority.

I was simply glad I was not her enemy.

By a quirk of fate, it turned out that it was the physician, Carlon, who had helped to reset my broken arm and patch up my wounds.

He visited again to see how I was coming along. He pottered into the room dressed in his brown shirt, though he wore no leather apron this time – something I took as a promising sign. After he greeted me he glanced at me with a great deal of curiosity.

‘Thank you for looking after me,’ I said.

‘Well, we’ve worked together already,’ he replied, ‘so it seemed like the honourable thing to do! We don’t want one of my apprentices tinkering with you – they can be a bit wild at times, and treat the place like a butcher’s shop. Besides, I’ve been dealing with too many corpses of late, so it was nice to have fresh meat, so to speak. Anyway I am glad to have been involved as you have proven quite an interesting specimen.’

‘How so?’ I asked.

‘Your wounds have healed up rather . . . quickly.’

‘Have they?’ Only then did I look along the muscles of my torso, surprised to find it
relatively
scar-free. The bruises were yellow-brown, and not dark at all. I flexed my arm, which still ached, but it was nothing compared with what it should have been, considering the beating I had taken.

‘Splendidly so, it seems.
Ridiculously
so, others might claim. I would like to take some of the credit for the recovery, however it would be dishonest. Your chest, stomach, face and shoulders were all cut and bruised heavily when you first arrived on that table.’ He gestured behind. ‘Your wounds were caused by blunt instruments rather than anything neat and sharp, so you were quite a battered mess. And I expected things to look rather serious for another twenty days at least. In all honesty, I half expected you to die. But as you can see for yourself, you have not. And your wounds, well . . . they have healed as if we are on day fifteen already.’

‘But it has only been three days?’ I asked, more concerned with how much time I had lost on the investigation.

‘Three indeed,’ Carlon declared. ‘You are quite the mystery.’

‘I need to get back to work,’ I said, pushing myself up, but Carlon eased me back down again. Despite my having regained some energy, the physician’s strong arms easily had me resting again.

‘One more day at least,’ Carlon said. ‘Sulma Tan is very worried about you and wishes that you rest so you make a proper recovery.’

‘Worried?’ It was unlikely that the second secretary had the time to worry about me.

‘You were close to death, Officer Drakenfeld. We should be more cautious until I’m satisfied you’re healed. At least enough before you go gallivanting about the city.’

‘Tomorrow then. I have a lot of matters that I must see to.’

‘Your recovery has been impressive. You’ve not taken any suspicious elixirs, have you?’ Carlon asked, as he inspected me again, checking underneath a bandage on my shoulder.

‘Not unless you count the wine I consumed on the night before I was beaten.’

‘The queen does serve a lovely drop, so it’s said. But no – I do not think it was the wine. Think on, if you can, about anything you may have taken.’

‘Honestly, Carlon, I don’t think there’s been a single thing.’

‘Then this remains most intriguing. First Sulma Tan suggests we have corpses that seem to resist staying properly dead. Now you are healing so remarkably. Perhaps there is some strange magical property about this palace. Alas, I think not, judging by those soldiers who were executed here. No magic could have saved them.’

‘Yes, I would rather such brutal justice wasn’t done in my name,’ I commented. ‘These aren’t the hallmarks of a civilized society as the queen is keen on demonstrating.’

‘No, but it is an efficient one. However, I do agree with you. We could do with as many soldiers as possible staying alive, given the current political climate.’ He stopped and raised a hand to his chin. ‘Anyhow, we still have the issue about your healing and the lively corpses. I wonder if there is anything in common between you all?’

‘I hope not,’ I replied.

‘Well, think on, Drakenfeld! I’ll leave you be now. Do rest, even though the gods are on your side right now. The gods change their minds as often as the weather.’

Smiling, Carlon exited the room. Only then did I notice Leana had taken up residence on a chair in the corner of the room. Her sheathed sword was hung up over the back of it. Her boots were raised upon the foot of my bed and she simply nodded her acknowledgement that I was alive.

There was something that niggled about what Carlon had said. There was, of course, one thing I had in common with the corpses; but it was something that I didn’t wish to share with anyone of his stature just yet.

In my trouser pocket, the ring was still safely in its envelope.

‘Leana.’ I waved for her to come closer.

She pushed herself up from her chair and came over to my side.

‘You heard what Carlon was saying,’ I whispered. ‘You don’t suppose the bishop’s jewel could be doing this, do you?’

‘Doing what?’ she asked.

‘The recovery.
My
recovery. Perhaps there is something about this stone that helps
healing
? That whoever is close to it seems to absorb its properties?’

Leana leaned back, surprised at what I’d said. To be honest, I was surprised myself that I’d muttered such a thing.

‘Really?’ she said. ‘Magic? After all you have to say on the subject?’

‘Not magic, no,’ I replied. ‘Anyway, I’m open-minded to all possibilities, so long as we can apply some sort of logic. Say this ring – this item – did have particular medical properties? Perhaps this stone, one that few people know about, has other uses?’

‘Spirits save us, now you are imagining things.’ Leana turned back to the chair. ‘You have lost your senses in the attack. A head wound. Rest. You will feel better soon.’

‘You’re probably right.’ Smiling awkwardly, I lay back on my pillow and closed my eyes.

But I could think of little else other than my rapid recovery. In my travels I had come across stories of various substances that could affect the health of a person, but I rarely believed them. Going by logic, if a poison could very quickly remove life from someone, surely it was possible that an opposite substance could also heal, that it could give life?

It was frustrating to have to lie about for another day. I was eager to get back to work, but occasionally a dull ache would throb through my body, reminding me of what had happened. It made the need to discover the true nature of this stone all the more pressing.

Someone knocked on the door. I nodded to Leana who strode up and opened it. Nambu Sorghatan entered the room wearing a simple black hooded robe, with no ornamentation at all.

‘Hello,’ she said.

‘Good morning,’ I said. ‘Or is it afternoon?’

‘Afternoon.’ She stepped close to the side of my bed. ‘You should have stayed in the manuscript hall.’

I gave a quiet laugh, but despite the apparent rapid recovery, it still hurt to do so. ‘You’re probably right.’

‘She
is
right,’ Leana called from the corner of the room.

‘It’s a good thing you’ve got her,’ Nambu said. ‘She saved your life, you know?’

‘I know.’

‘If it hadn’t been for her, you’d have been a corpse. Like those on that list you’d only just been reading.’

‘I appreciate your clarity, Nambu,’ I muttered, staring up at the ceiling once again.

‘It is not the first time I have saved him,’ Leana said. ‘It is why I teach the sword lessons, not him. He thinks too much about the positions.’

‘She’s right.’ I grinned at Leana. ‘She just about earns her wages.’

‘I only save you so I keep getting paid.’

‘I trust you’ve been occupied while I’ve been lying here,’ I said to Nambu.

‘Yes. Leana’s been teaching me to defend myself for the last three days solidly. I probably ache just as much as you do.’

‘Well, maybe not quite as much,’ I said. ‘Still, I’m healing.’

The girl’s face revealed some concern, but I waited for her to speak.

‘There’s something you should know,’ Nambu said.

‘What is it?’

‘Well, two things. First, a letter came for you. You should read that first.’ She reached into her pocket, picked out a small tube and handed it over. ‘It arrived for you last night, but you weren’t awake to receive it.’

Thanking her, I opened the tube and read the message, which was in Kotonese.

‘Naval Exports,’ I muttered. A company registered in the name of Grendor of the Cape. This was promising indeed.

‘You mentioned there were two things?’ I said.

‘Yes.’ Nambu hesitated.

‘Go on.’

‘Another body has been found.’

I pushed myself upright, ignoring the pain that flared across my torso. ‘Who?’

‘A woman this time. I don’t know all the details, Sulma Tan has them. She said I shouldn’t tell you until tomorrow because you needed to rest, but seeing as you’re awake you should at least know about it.’

‘Absolutely I should.’ I eased my legs over the side and gently lowered myself onto the floor. The entire movement felt like I was trying to remember how to stand for the very first time. Eyes scrunched in agony, I used the bed for leverage. Looking up properly, I headed across the room towards the table, on which my boots and the rest of my clothes were piled.

‘Do you need help putting those on?’ Leana gestured to a clean shirt and cloak. My Sun Chamber brooch, a little dented by my beating, lay on top.

‘If it isn’t too much trouble,’ I said.

‘First I save your life,’ she said, getting out of her chair. ‘Then I must dress you.’

‘I notice you don’t seem quite as concerned as the others do about the fact that I have to heal,’ I commented. ‘Aren’t you going to try to stop me as well?’

Leana shrugged. ‘You have been lying around long enough. We have much to do.’

Sulma Tan looked up from her desk as we entered. Her chamber was large, thirty-foot square, lined with polished wooden shelves. On them stood various objects of art, a scattering of scrolls and ledgers. An opaque, yellow-glass skylight above permitted daylight into the room, directly onto her desk, which faced the door. She was dressed casually in a simple white shirt, and with her dark hair pinned up. Her skin glimmered in the gentle light.

She immediately stood and came to greet us. I shambled towards her, with Leana’s support.

‘You should be resting but now you want to know who the victim is?’

‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ I replied.

‘Who told you?’

I tilted my head towards Nambu.

Sulma Tan brought over a small stool, and one other chair. ‘Please, Princess, take my seat – it has more cushioning.’