The Crow King's Wife (38 page)

“I want my wife and son alive once more and I
want my daughter returned to me. Since the first two are impossible
I will settle for your death and your son as a bargain chip for my
daughter.” Caleb returned coldly as he slowly closed the distance
between him and the terrified woman.

Shade cursed silently as he clubbed the clerk
in the back of the head dropping the woman unconscious to the
ground. “Caleb wait! It would be a better bargain if you used them
both for trade. Surely Derrick would listen better if you had them
both.” Shade said in the loudest voice he dared. He had no doubt
that other guards were already on the way and he had no desire for
anyone beyond the store to know that Caleb wasn’t working
alone.

“I told you to wait in the alley.” Caleb
observed quietly as his sword lashed out once more. The boy erupted
into sobs as his mother crumpled beside the table pulling most of
the fabric down with her as she fell. She hadn’t even tried to step
away, or shield her own throat. Shade noted silently as bile filled
his mouth.

“Momma! Momma!” The boy’s cries rose to
hysterical shrieking as blood began to pool under the woman.

Shade hadn’t had a clear view of the killing
blow, but by the woman’s silence he guessed it was another slit
throat and Kalleria was still in the process of dying a very messy
death before her child’s watching eyes.

“The boy will be enough to get Derrick’s
attention.” Caleb informed him in a monotone voice. He eyed the
child for a long moment before apparently deciding the boy wasn’t
going to do anything stupid. With a nonchalance that made Shade’s
skin crawl Caleb dropped down to a knee and pulled a bolt of fabric
from beside the dying woman’s side. Eyes locked on Kalleria’s face
he wiped his sword free of the blood and then slowly turned his
face to meet the frantic child’s wild eyes. “Stay here by your
mother and help her cross into the Darklands. If you leave her side
I will cut your legs off at the knees.”

The boy cringed back away from Caleb as the
man rose and walked toward the fallen guards. By his size Shade
guessed the child wasn’t more than eight. Judgment wasn’t the best
at that age, and Shade found himself moving to stand between Caleb
and the child just in case the boy mustered enough courage to bolt
for the door. An eight year old child might be fool enough to
believe he could make it to the door before Caleb could stop him,
but Shade knew better. Both of the blows Caleb had struck against
the women had been lightning fast with deadly accuracy. The boy
wouldn’t make it three feet from his mother’s side before Caleb
kept his promise and left the child crippled and bleeding.

Shade’s nausea returned at the thought and he
found himself staring after Caleb in disbelief. He never would have
believed the man could manage such cruelty.
His name is the
Bloody Huntsman you naïve fool
. The thought came from the same
part of his mind that had taunted him in his prison in Glis, and
Shade pushed it aside easily. It was too late to cry about it or
allow shock to settle over him. For the moment he had to focus all
of his concentration on making sure the boy didn’t move.

“Kalleria went through two maid servants a
week. All of them were slaves of course so she disposed of them as
any civilized Rivasan would. If their infractions were minor she
sold them off to a brothel. If they had offended her deeply she had
them thrown into the pits to die in whatever way was fashionable
that week.” Caleb spoke quietly as he shifted the guard’s bodies
with his foot and eyed them critically.

“To the Rivasan slavery is a way of life.”
Shade muttered. He didn’t like the thought of speaking in the
woman’s defense any more than he liked watching Caleb murder her.
“She was raised to treat them that way. Did she deserve to die from
it? Do you feel less pain from Evanell’s death after killing
Kalleria?”

Caleb froze and glanced toward the sound of
his voice with narrowed eyes. “I warned you that I was going to
level this city Shade.
Kevala’drin
as I said. I will have
vengeance for Micah, Honor, Nel, Ryven, and Chalice. Did you
honestly think Derrick would be the only one to die? Amdany burned
and still lies in waste. I will see that Prendington suffers the
same fate. Thousands will die today, just as they did in Amdany.”
His voice was low and filled with promise as he turned his
attention back to the fallen guards. Crouching down he leaned back
on his heels and checked the pulse on the last guard he had
dropped. With a faint smile Caleb slapped the man hard and shook
him until he moaned.

“The other guards will be here any minute
Caleb. We should take the boy and go.” Shade whispered as he
glanced toward the door. He was rather amazed that the guards
hadn’t already arrived and was grateful for the distraction of
worrying over them. He didn’t want to dwell on the city burning or
think of how many innocent lives would be claimed if Caleb did
manage to succeed in his vengeance. Zoey might be able to free the
Delvay and Arovan prisoners, but Prendington was quite obviously
slaver town and there would be countless people chained in the
lower parts of the city with no hope of escape.

“You should have stayed in the alley.” Caleb
observed sourly as he slapped the guard again and drew him to his
feet. “Wake up or I will slit your throat and find another
messenger.” Caleb growled as the guard’s eyes flickered feebly. The
man tried to rally at Caleb’s words and his eyes fluttered open
several more times before he managed to keep them open. “Good.”
Caleb nodded with approval as he shoved the man against a wall. “In
about two minutes I’m going to shove you out of that door.” Caleb
informed him as he pointed casually toward the only exit the store
offered as far as Shade could tell. “You are going to inform
everyone outside that if they move toward this building I will kill
your Lord’s son. If they set fire to the building, I will kill your
lord’s son. If they stare too long at the building, well you get
the picture. Once you have ensured everyone outside is going to
behave you are going to run your little ass off to reach your lord
before I get annoyed with waiting on you. You will tell him the
Bloody Huntsman has come and has his son. You will inform him that
if he wants his child back alive he will bring me my daughter alive
and well. Are we clear?”

The guard’s face paled drastically at the
words Bloody Huntsman, but to the man’s credit he managed a firm
nod as Caleb released his grip on the man’s tunic. “Lord Derrick
will bring the entire damn city down on your head, fool.” The guard
muttered with a disgusted shake of his head. “Might bring your girl
to you, but only long enough for her to watch you die.”

Shade expected Caleb to kill the man for his
words, but to his amazement Caleb simply smiled and nodded. “No
doubt he will try that. My daughter’s name is Syrah. Lord Derrick
should know her by sight. Now be a good little bitch and to your
master with my words.” With a sharp nod toward the door he took
another step back from the guard and glanced toward the boy who was
still sobbing quietly over his mother’s body.

“What makes you think he won’t just go
straight to the guard’s barracks and summon the entire city guard
here?” Shade asked softly.

“Derrick will want to deal with me
personally. He isn’t fond of me at all.” Caleb said with a sigh.
With a quick glance out the window he leaned back against the wall
and closed his eyes. Pain lit his face for a breath as he slowly
opened his eyes and stared down at the black sword gripped tightly
in his right hand. “Once I have Syrah.” Caleb whispered as he
slowly pried his fingers free of his sword with his left hand. The
blade clattered to the floor at his feet and Caleb took a ragged
breath as he massaged his hand and glared at the sword.

Shade’s eyes moved from the sword to Caleb
and then settled once more on the sword. “It’s sentient?” he asked
softly. The only sentient weapons he had ever heard of were in
stories that seemed too fanciful to believe, but he couldn’t
explain Caleb’s behavior any other way.

Caleb nodded once and folded his arms across
his chest without bothering to retrieve his sword from the floor.
“Ryvenken the Keeper.” He whispered with a trace of hatred edging
his words.

“The Blade of Secrets?” Shade gasped in
disbelief. The sword was only mentioned in the oldest of stories,
but he remembered each reference clearly. Ryvenken supposedly fed
on souls and knowledge. It was written that for every warrior that
had wielded the blade Ryvenken held a thousand secrets. It was also
said that anyone who bonded with the blade could draw on those
secrets and use whatever skills or magic it held.

“None other.” Caleb agreed in a dull voice.
He glanced out the window again and then looked to the boy. For
just a moment a flicker of remorse crossed his features then he was
looking out the window once more.

“How long have you been bonded with it?”
Shade asked quietly. Everything was falling into place now; If
Caleb had been bonded with Ryvenken for years than the sword likely
had a very firm hold on his mind. Artifacts as old as that sword
were dangerous and it took a very strong mage to maintain control
over such things. Caleb had said himself that he wasn’t strong in
arcane power. The cold murder he had witnessed earlier as well as
the Blight’s fear of Caleb could be explained away easily if the
sword were the dominate of the two. Sentient weapons were not
renowned in stories for their honor or compassion.

“Four years aside from my stay in the Blight
prison. Ryvenken and I were sadly not on speaking terms at that
point. I wanted to save Arovan, Ryvenken wanted it to burn.” Caleb
said calmly and shrugged once. He smiled faintly and turned away
from the window. “Return Syrah to Jala or Valor. They will see that
she is taken to my family in Arovan.” The words held an undeniable
farewell to them, but there was no trace of concern in his voice.
Caleb fully planned to face the entire military force of
Prendington alone and didn’t even have a bead of sweat on his face
at the thought.

Swallowing heavily Shade watched as Caleb
reclaimed his sword and moved toward the boy. Wisps of Shadow rose
from him as the illusion faded from his skin and clothes. The dull
grey of the chainmail turned to polished black and Shade stared
hard at the outline of skulls engraved across the chest. Nestled in
the center of it all emblazoned in polished silver was the symbol
for the Divine of fear. Shade was likely considered a heathen by
most religious orders, but even he knew what the skulls on the
armor represented. For a follower of Fear each skull was a symbol
of a conquered fear, and by the number of skulls on Caleb’s armor
he had to be a fully anointed priest.

“So Zoey was wrong about the druidic path I
see.” Shade mumbled as he met Caleb’s gaze. The man’s features had
sharpened beyond what Shade was accustomed to with high cheek bones
and canted eyes that seemed more catlike than human. Small black
runes dotted the pale flesh across his cheekbones and seemed to
writhe just under the skin when Shade tried to examine them closer.
The man before him had the same white-tipped grey hair and pale
grey eyes of Caleb Faulklin, but overall he was as different from
what Shade knew of his friend as the previous illusion had been.
This man seemed beyond Elder Blood. He looked like more like one of
the Divine.

The thunder of hoof beats was rising outside.
Derrick was here and Shade knew they didn’t have much time left to
talk. Caleb glanced once toward the door and then smiled at Shade.
“When you describe yourself do you simply use the word Pilot or are
there other details about you that should be mentioned as well?”
Caleb asked and even his voice seemed to have changed. It was still
low and even but it held a bit of music to it such as Shade had
come to expect from the Fae.

“Many more, but I somehow doubt I hold as
many cards as you do my friend.” Shade whispered trying to keep the
awe from his voice. “Is this another illusion Caleb?” he asked as
he watched Caleb lift the sobbing boy gently from his mother’s
corpse. Part of him was praying it was illusion and that Caleb had
just chosen it to unnerve Derrick. The other part was silently
hoping the man really did have Divine blood, maybe then he would
have a chance of surviving.

“This is me in all of my unholy glory,
Shade.” Caleb returned quietly and bowed his head respectfully to
Shade before turning for the door. “I will send Syrah in to you.
Hide her and stick to the plan.” He ordered as he pulled the door
open.

Bright sunlight poured into the store and
seemed to settle on the dead woman by his feet. Shade stared at her
for barely a breath and then moved as quickly as he could to the
window. The street beyond was filled with armored men and horses.
Near the center of the group was a finely dressed man mounted on a
blue grey horse that seemed to tower over the other animals
present. It didn’t take much for Shade to guess his identity. Only
Derrick Rivasa would show up to face the Bloody Huntsman without a
trace of armor on. The presence of the furiously glaring little
girl seated before him confirmed his suspicion and Shade found
himself studying the child more than the man. She was delicate in
build with grey eyes that looked too large for her fragile face.
Her long hair seemed black until the sun glinted off of it, then it
took on a deep blue hue. The dress she wore was barely worthy of
the title dress and looked to be little more than rags from what
Shade could tell, but the child sat as proudly as any queen. The
scowl faded from her face as her eyes found Caleb and a smile
tugged at her lips. It was the last reaction Shade had expected to
see from the child. According to Finn the girl was barely six, any
other child of that age would have been wailing for their father to
save them. Syrah Faulklin didn’t look the slightest bit inclined to
wail however. Her chin tilted upward and her smile slowly widened
into a look of pure satisfaction. With more dignity than most
adults could muster in a situation such as hers Syrah nodded to her
father and remained silent.