Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, 5) (17 page)

“We have to help her.” Xavier took a hasty step toward her.

“They’d report us!” Ruisa punched Xavier to stop him as the servant in blue bore down on the old woman.

In a fit of violence, the servant swung the back of his hand across her face. The force whipped her head around. Her body crumpled. Her cane skittered across the street, and under the feet of the crowd hurrying by.

The servant walked on with a sour look. A lady dressed in the same blue, with a dress that billowed out in a show of tailored excellence, altered her course by three steps in order to avoid the downed woman. Her hem barely brushed the still figure lying in the street. The rich woman neither slowed nor looked down.

Leilius felt a push, only then realizing he’d stopped and was staring at the limp woman lying in the road. The breath was trapped in his chest as unexplainable emotion tugged at him. That could’ve been his nana. It could’ve been her who hadn’t gotten out of the way in time, and had been shoved aside.

“Move!” a gruff man said in the traders’ language.

Without thinking, Leilius turned toward the man and dug two hard punches into his ribs. He brought his elbow across the man’s face, smashing into his jaw and knocking him to the ground.

With defiant eyes, he stared down another man pushing into him, begging him to make a move. When the man didn’t, Leilius shoved Ruisa out of the way and glared at Maggie, daring her to say something, and stopping the flow of people in the street. He bent to the old woman before placing two fingers on her neck. A feeble pulse pushed back.

“C’mon,” he said in Shanti’s hacked-up language. His accent wasn’t great—he hadn’t been learning long—and she probably wouldn’t understand him, but he didn’t care. It felt right. “Me help.”

Her rags moved and twisted as he lifted. Soft whimpers left her lips. She was as light as a bag of bones.

“
Are you okay
?” Leilius asked in the traders’ language.

The woman, head naturally shaking in the way of the old, looked up at him in wonder. Tears rolled and fell down her wrinkled cheeks. “
You must go. You’ll get in trouble
.”

“
Are you hurt
?”

A shaking hand touched her hip, making her wince. “
I don’t think it’s broken…
”

Leilius dug into his pants. He pressed a gold coin to her palm before curling her fingers around it. “
Get yourself healed, get some food, and then get out of the city. The Wanderer is coming
.”

A flash of hope shone in her eyes. Her fist tightened before another tear slipped down her cheek. “
Go
,” she said softly. “
Go. You are not safe here
.”

Leilius patted her hand before grabbing the nearest person. A ruddy-faced woman with thin lips pressed together stared up at him with awe and fear mixed together.

“
Help her home
,” Leilius said in a rough voice he barely recognized as his own. “
See to her
.”

“
Yes, sir
.” The woman called a teenage boy with a flare of defiance in his eyes to her. His brow lowered and his jaw clenched. He gave Leilius that open look Leilius had seen a million times before from the Honor Guard each time S’am taught them something new.

That was when Leilius felt all the eyes on him. A busy street in a large city had stopped to watch Leilius see to an old woman. This was the opposite of all he’d been trained to do.

“Let’s go. Quick.” Leilius tried to slink into the crowd. Instead, it parted for him, allowing him to pass through easily. More eyes were on him now. Curious eyes.

“Hurry!” Leilius yelled behind him, half running now.

“This way.” Xavier swatted him, pushing him right.

“Xavier!” Ruisa called.

“Leilius, wait!”

Leilius tried to stop and turn around, but bodies were all around him. He’d created a huge bog of congestion with his bleeding heart. Hands pushed at his body.

“Ow!” Leilius swam through sweaty chests and bony elbows. He reached the side and flattened himself against a rough wall. The crowd moved slowly and people either tried to peer over their neighbor to see what the hold-up was, or stared ahead lifelessly and stooped, half-dead and complacent.

A curly head followed by Xavier’s face bobbed above the people for a moment. Then again. He was jumping to try and find Leilius.

Taking note of his location and the speed of the crowd, Leilius threaded into the bodies once again, squeezing through cracks and shoving through barriers. “Xavier!” he yelled.

“Here!”

A boot came down on his foot. Leilius threw an elbow as punishment. He slipped by a man in silk with a big gut and couldn’t resist. Stumbling, he bumped into the man. Leather slid across his fingers as Leilius reached into his pocket. A grunt later, he’d unhooked the purse then staggered into someone else. A lean bag of coin jingled in his palm before he could tuck it away close to his body.

“Here!”

Leilius ducked around a woman in a wool dress and shot out a hand. His fingers clutched threadbare rags covering a heavily muscled body. A fist came down and smashed into Leilius’ forearm.

“Ow! Damn it!” Cradling the injured arm to his chest, he elbowed Xavier.

“Sorry. I didn’t know that was you.” Xavier patted his shoulder. “The girls have gone. I lost them.”

Leilius put his hand to Xavier’s back and applied pressure, trying to get the big lug off to the side. “We won’t find anyone while we’re in the thick of things.”

“You created this, you know. Not that I blame you.” Xavier tried squeezing in between two women, but he didn’t squeeze so well. Instead, he jostled them out of the way. “Sorry.”

“Don’t say anything. You’ll give yourself away.”

“What are you doing, then?”

Leilius gritted his teeth. Suddenly the game where they tried to steal things without talking made a whole lot of sense.

Breathing heavily, they made it to the side then slid along the wall. As they reached a corner, a wave of blistering pain tore through their minds. Like acid poured down his skin, fire and agony blanked out Leilius’ thoughts. He looked down in panic, but all he saw was his clothes, perfectly intact.

“Inkna,” Xavier whispered painfully.

Everyone in the road groaned or cried out and sank to the ground. Children started screaming. Loud wailing sounded up the street in the way they’d come.

“We did this.” Xavier squeezed his eyes shut. “This is what happens when someone defies them.”

Leilius took a deep breath and let the pain consume him. He felt it tear through his body and drip down his middle, becoming a part of him. He gave a moment for total surrender before taking another deep breath, tolerating the agony.

Xavier stared at him with pain-soaked eyes, in the same frame of mind. Sanders’ training had come in handy.

“Let’s go.” Staying low, making sure not to raise any part of him above the cowering crowd, Leilius half crawled around the corner and away from that main street. The crowd immediately thinned and the pain subsided enough to where he was no longer in survival mode. Another deep breath and they were around another corner, into a narrower lane with broken-down shops and shabby buildings.

“That Inkna seemed pretty strong,” Xavier said, lifting a pant leg to check his skin.

“All Inkna seem strong to us. Let’s hope he doesn’t seem strong to S’am.”

“What do they do with female Inkna?” Xavier wondered as they straightened up to the height of those around them. Lowered brows over eyes tight with fear scanned the way ahead as people slowed in their progress. More than one person looked at Leilius and Xavier, clearly wondering what was happening up ahead.

“
Go around
,” Leilius said, shaking his head. He motioned away left in case they didn’t speak the traders’ language. “Inkna.”

A man’s eyes widened briefly. He glanced at the woman next to him, who was staring in shock. The man looped his arm around her shoulders and directed her away, both of them hunching as if they were walking in a hailstorm.

“I think Inkna women are breeders,” Leilius said as he took a small-scaled map out of his pants. He hunched against the wall. “And we probably shouldn’t talk to anyone from now on. These people don’t seem that friendly.”

“Big city.”

“Huh?” Leilius glanced up.

Xavier fished a small brown sack from inside his pants. He jiggled it and grinned. “Big city. People aren’t as friendly. Look what I stole.”

Leilius shook his head. “That was risky. You shouldn’t be trying to rob people. You’ll get caught.”

“You’re just mad because you can’t do two things at once.”

“Oh, you mean like find you in a crowd, make my way to you, rob someone of a bigger bag of coin than that, get us away again, and now plan our day? Yes, Xavier, you are a true marvel.” Leilius shook his head and pointed at their rough location on the map. He traced it back to where the girls separated. “Should we try to find them?”

The grin melted off Xavier’s face. “We planned to separate anyway. We have different tasks. Now is as good a time as any. My only worry is them getting caught. We might need to make sure they get away.”

“They didn’t get caught.” Leilius straightened and slipped the map back in his baggy clothes. “You don’t know Maggie. Seriously. That woman is crazy. No wonder she came up with that exploding thing—she is probably going insane after all these years without a proper way of working out her violence. Can you imagine what S’am would be like if she was a stay-at-home wife?”

“Maggie wasn’t married.”

“Exactly. She didn’t even have a man to distract her. No, she’ll be fine, trust me.”

Xavier rolled back on his heels as he looked down at his toes. “I hope they’re together.”

Leilius thought of Ruisa and Alena. Ruisa might be able to handle being alone as she had been through the Shadow Lands. She at least had some experience. Alena, though…

“I do too,” he said.

“
A
re they in
?” Rohnan asked, facing the gate, watching the various comings and goings.

Shanti kept her eyes closed, her face pointing at the dying sun, lightly monitoring the most inexperienced members of their group. She barely connected with Xavier and Leilius, their minds whirling with determination. Ruisa and Maggie revealed a completely different swirl of emotions. Fear, anxiety, and worry pulsed out of them.

“Something has gone wrong.” Shanti prevented herself from tensing up. It wouldn’t help the situation. She needed all her focus to maintain an extremely light mental touch within those walls. If even one Inkna got a whiff of her power, the whole city would clamp down.

She found Alena away from the others, drifting out to the east of the city. It felt like she was alternating between fear, uncertainty, and steadfastness.

“Whatever triggered the compassion from Leilius acted as a catalyst. The group remained stationary for a moment, and then drifted apart. Each of them holds some kind of fear.” Shanti considered using a fraction more power in order to lay a supportive blanket over Alena’s mind. It would help her confidence and decision-making, but too much and she might grow too adventurous. In that city,
adventurous
might get her killed. “There are three groups now. Alena is on her own.”

Kallon stiffened. “Do we go in after them?”

Shanti shook her head and repeated her calming technique, trying to keep Kallon’s turbulent emotions from building on her own uncertainty. “We will wait and see what they do. Judging by the feel of them, they aren’t in immediate danger.”

“Here comes the coach.” Sonson straightened enough to move toward the hedge near the road.

“Did you see why they stop?” Mela asked. “I not watch.”

“They were adjusting their baggage, I believe.” Sonson took out a knife. “Does anyone want to walk around the city as a noble?”

“Yes.” Mela laughed. “Why not?”

“You would stick out,” Tanna said offhandedly.

“I wouldn’t even know how a noble from this place might walk?” Denessa said as she fingered a knife.

“That is an idea.” Shanti lifted until she could just see over the hedge. Well-bred horses walked up the lane, pulling a gorgeous coach with all the finery and embellishments that money had to offer. “That will be a Graygual. No one else would have that much wealth in this place.”

“Well, then, using their clothes or not, I say we kill them.” Sonson took out another knife, one for each hand. “I’d hate not to pay them back for what they did to my people.”

“Cayan has always wanted to dress me like a doll. Maybe I’ll see if the way of life fits me…” Shanti pushed forward, excitement at the prospect of actually doing something surging within her. “The question is, even if we wear those clothes, won’t the Graygual still notice us?”

“Maybe. We can work that out later.” Sonson peered over the hedge.

Shanti moved in beside him, careful to keep her body away from the dead holes in the foliage. “I can’t condone killing those who have not killed, no matter where they came from.”

“Then we’ll take their money, their horses, and their clothes,” Denessa said. “They can sit in the cold, naked and tied up, until we can figure out what to do with them.”

“Good compromise.” Shanti took out her knives and moved along the hedge. When the others had taken their positions near one or more gaping holes from dying plants, they waited.

The coach ambled along the way. The driver stared straight ahead with a stiff back and arms. He was playing a part, even though no one could see him from inside the closed carriage behind him.

Shanti felt the minds inside, not at all surprised to feel a
Gifted
among them. She met Sonson’s eyes after the discovery, making sure he had reached the same conclusion. His nod was slight as the coach came up alongside the empty farmhouse. It didn’t slow, and the mind within didn’t reach out to search. They were comfortable in their superiority.

A rush of irritation had Shanti rising just a little, ready to engage. As the horses passed, she plowed through the foliage and
wrenched
the horses’ minds. Their eyes rolled before they screamed. Hooves flashed out as Shadow and Shumas burst from the side.

The driver recoiled, half cowering. A moment later he reached toward his feet, coming back with an ornate blade.

“That’s enough for me,” Shanti said. She threw her knife. The blade stuck in his gut as Denessa jumped up onto his bench. She raked her knife across his throat and pushed him out of the way. She grabbed the reins and pulled back to steady them while Sonson ripped open the coach door. A hard blast of mental power
singed
him before filtering through their merge. The power was sucked in and fought, Sonson easily putting down the attack.

A moment later, two men and a woman were torn from the coach interior. They wore stern expressions and more wealth than Shanti had ever seen on a person.

“
Bandits don’t fare well in this part of the land
,” the lady said with an air of superiority.

It took Shanti a moment to realize she was speaking in the traders’ dialect.

“Neither do Graygual,”
Shanti said in the woman’s native tongue.

The woman sneered and haughtily looked at the man standing beside her. “
They learn a new language and think they can rule the land.
”

“You are not afraid of dying?”
Shanti asked, walking closer.

The woman sniffed, refusing to look directly at any of her captors.
“Why, because you have a wilder among you?”
She laughed. “
You have already committed yourself to a public hanging. Do you also want your family, your children, your friends, and your entire town burnt alive?”
The woman sneered before finally meeting Shanti’s gaze. Her face froze as she formed her next word. Her body became rigid and all the blood drained from her face.

“
You have already killed my family, my friends, and burnt my entire town. And, as I am sure you know by now, we are not wilders.”
Rage boiled within Shanti, who realized that this was one of the social elite among the Graygual. She had thrown lavish parties for officers to celebrate their victories. She had probably dined at the same table as the Hunter, and maybe even bowed and gushed over meeting Xandre. She was filth, and disgusting, but she didn’t have blood on her hands. Not directly.

“You are right, though. I am not going to kill you.”
Shanti slowly put away her blade. “
But I am going to strip you of everything you hold dear. And no, I am not so stupid as to think you care for anything that breathes.”

She glanced at Sonson. “Do as we planned. Take their money, clothes, and horses. Tie them up and put them in the farmer’s house. I imagine he’ll come back before we leave. If not…maybe he never will. We’ll just have to hope he can read.”

“Why is that?” Sonson asked.

She frowned at him. “Because we’re going to leave a note.” Shanti ran her hand along the horse to quiet him before looking over the coach. At the opened door, she saw the lush leather seats and the dead Inkna in the corner. At the back, she fingered the locked trunk before tracing along its seams. “Let’s see what’s in this.”

“What are you thinking?” Kallon asked.

“Besides the wealth in this carriage that will be distributed to the poor people in this land?” She grinned, standing back and looking at the carriage again. “This is an entry ticket right to the highest officer of this city. The question is, how can we best use it to our advantage?”

* * *

“
W
ait
!” Ruisa yanked on Maggie’s arm and dragged her to the ground. Crouching behind three barrels outside an inn, she retrieved the map from the pouch tied around her neck. “We need to get our bearings.”

Maggie, breathing heavily from exertion, hunkered down beside Ruisa.

“Alena’s not an idiot,” Ruisa said, tapping the rear gate. “She’ll know to head there.”

“She’s never been in a big city before. She’ll probably get lost.”

“You haven’t either. What makes you better than her?”

“I’m with you.” Maggie wiped her hair off her forehead. “But you’re right. There’s nothing for it now. There’s no way we’re going to figure out which way she ran.”

“Bloody Inkna,” Ruisa murmured, looking over the barrel at the back door of the inn. A small engraved wooden sign read,
Honey Beaver.
“Oh ew, this isn’t an inn
.
It’s a brothel.”

Maggie pushed up to glance at the sign before leaning toward her and the map. “We’ll probably run into the boys if we stay here…”

Ruisa snorted despite the situation. “Probably not Xavier. He has no trouble getting girls. Leilius, though…” She paused to take a deep breath “Okay, I think we should stick to the sidelines. We don’t want anyone recognizing us.”

“Or raping us.”

“Trying to, anyway. I don’t know where we could hide dead bodies.” Ruisa slid her finger over the paper, tracing out a few options. When she found one that might work, she folded the map in half to just show the section she needed to work with, then put it away. Next she took out a mixing vial and a couple of other bottles. “What do you think we should do? Poison the food, or…?”

Maggie looked inside the pouch and checked Ruisa’s stores. She tapped on a clear bottle with a green top. “Just put them to sleep. We need to get hold of some alcohol.”

“The guards will probably have alcohol.”

“I doubt the Graygual would let that sort of behavior fly. Not in this kind of place. There is a lot of money tied up here.”

Ruisa rolled her eyes. “You think the Captain lets that sort of behavior fly? But what will you find in most crow’s nests, hmm? A drop of whisky, that’s what.”

Maggie tilted her head in acknowledgement. “So now we just need better clothes.”

“Or nudity…” Ruisa opened her neckline down to her cleavage and then let the garment hang off her shoulder.

“You’re a virgin, I take it,” Maggie said dryly. “Men aren’t going to want to drink alcohol if you’re offering sex right from the get-go.”

“Well…that’s our whole plan, I thought…”

“We need to party first.” Maggie drummed on the barrel. Then she leaned forward and bumped her forehead against it. “Looks like a brothel might be right up our alley.”

Ruisa’s stomach flip-flopped. She sighed. “Men never have to resort to this kind of thing.”

“Or we could see if we can snatch something from a clothesline. Or steal from a shop. That was my original plan.”

“I wish that had been an inn.” Ruisa put away her map. “C’mon, let’s go see if we can trade for something.”

“Why not just buy it?”

“I don’t know that flashing money around while wearing rags is really the best approach in our situation.” Ruisa stood and moved out from behind the barrel.

“Now I know what Alena was talking about,” Maggie whispered.

“What’s that?”

“She’s the oldest of the Honor Guard, but feels like the youngest half the time. You guys are savvier than the normal army men. They just follow orders and try to stick pointy things in people. You guys…have more skills.”

“And we’re in danger constantly. That’s S’am for you.”

Maggie was silent for a moment as they walked around the building. Then she said, “I wonder if they’ll take a transfer…”

A cart trundled by, hauled by two horses with clearly defined ribs. Passersby hurried along, rarely looking anywhere but directly in front of them. A woman on the opposite side of the street had her child’s hand firmly in her own, hitching up her skirt for speed. Based on her appearance, she was somewhere within the middle class, with enough money to eat and dress herself, but without extravagance. Still she hustled along, clearly not wanting to be out on the street.

“It’s late afternoon,” Ruisa muttered, aware of the bright splotches of sunlight in between the elongated shadows. “I’d understand why people would want to get home after dark in a busy city, but while it’s still bright? Doesn’t make sense.”

Maggie shook her head slowly, a troubled expression on her face. “We had a curfew when the Hunter ruled our city. Maybe that.”

“Did that stop you from looking at each other, though?”

“Mostly, yes. But that was because we didn’t want to give anything away. These people might be strangers. It’s a huge place.”

Butterflies fluttered through Ruisa’s stomach. “Maybe. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Careful to hunch like Leilius would, Ruisa skulked down the sidewalk toward the entrance of the brothel.

“I don’t know that women walk like that,” Maggie whispered.

“I’m acting poor.”

“You look like you’re saddlesore. Girls like you wouldn’t have a horse, which means you’ve been riding something else all night…”

“For an unmarried woman, you sure have a lot of knowledge about this stuff.” Ruisa looked back with a quirked eyebrow.

Maggie shrugged. “A girl has needs.”

Heat rushed to Ruisa’s cheeks as a grin pulled her lips. She shrugged and looked up at the sign. Then the busy street in what looked like a well-kept part of the city. She frowned. “Maybe this
is
an inn.”