Chapter 10 - Discovering The Truth
"Her Eternal Majesty’s justice is fair, strict and immediate. From the lowest born peasant to the highest ranked noble, all can expect a fair trial and, if found guilty, a just punishment in the Empire. The Imperial Law applies to all equally without fear or favour.”
Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini
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“Ester, you wanted to see me?” She nodded eagerly to the Commander and folded her hands in her lap.
“Yes, thank you Commander. I’ve spoken to the nobles that you suggested. I am not sure there was much to report from those conversations, except that Baron Tutna said that his own investigations had pointed to a district called Clanis Edge.”
“Mmm? Yes. I’m not surprised.” Ester blinked at that.
“Had you not heard that already?”
The Commander sighed. “I don’t think you understand the way this works. When a crime like that is committed against the nobleborn, most of them prefer to deal with matters themselves. That’s why I was surprised that Count Velia wanted you involved at all. It’s unusual. Normally, if someone is robbing the nobleborn, the most you’ll hear about it is that their corpses were found a few days later. It’s an illustration of the Golden Shadows’ skill that that hasn’t happened. Maybe that’s why Count Velia asked for you to look at the case.”
“But…” Ester struggled to find the words. “That is outrageous! What happened to justice? The Undying Queen’s law?”
The Commander gave her a grim smile. “Oh justice generally gets done, just not necessarily by who you might expect.” He threw his hands up into the air. “Come on Ester, don’t be naive. Even in Trevayn the nobleborn have their own guards, their own ways of doing things. The Watch plays a vital role for the Throne, but we have neither the resources nor the inclination to deal with the nobleborns’ problems.”
It was wrong, all wrong.
“If that’s true, then what even is the point of the Watch?” To her distress she was less surprised than she wanted to be by this latest revelation.
“To uphold Her Eternal Majesty’s laws, without fear or favour.” If he’d laughed as he said it, Ester might have tried to hit him. Or burst into tears. She wasn’t sure which.
“But you’re saying that you just let the nobleborn do whatever they want. Just murder people!”
“Look…” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “The world is a complex place.” Ester’s scowl deepened, she hated being patronised. “You know perfectly well that the nobleborn… assist the Throne in its governance. Vass Karan has hundreds of thousands of people living in it. The Watch has 357 members. We could never deal with all crime in the city. It’s not our role.” She folded her arms defiantly, but the Commander continued. “We patrol and we investigate crimes, but where the nobleborn wish to take some of the burden off us… well we can’t complain.”
“But…”
“That’s just the way it is. Maybe it’s different in Trevayn,” his tone made it clear he didn’t think it was, “but you’re in Vass Karan now.” It wasn’t right though. It wasn’t the way things were meant to work. Ester bit her tongue to stop herself from protesting. If things weren’t right then that meant all the more opportunities for her to make them right. She had to believe that. Or else she’d end up old and cynical like the Commander.
“Fine. I’ll…” She could feel herself reverting to the speech patterns of her youth and pulled herself together. “I understand Commander. Since Count Velia does want us to investigate the Golden Shadows, can I at least go to Clanis Edge?” She didn’t quite succeed in keeping the irritation out of her tone.
His eyebrows rose. “That place is a den of organised crime and you aren’t anywhere near ready to go there. No.”
“What, why?” She was a Mage and a member of the Watch. “I need to if I’m going to hunt down the thieves.” She’d only been in any danger before because of being caught by surprise and she’d be going in with her eyes wide open.
“Absolutely not. It’s dangerous, far too dangerous.”
“You think I cannot look after myself?” Ester practically spat the words. “Fine then, send a couple of Watchmen with me.”
“You froze up at the docks. You failed in your last fight because someone threw a sack over your head. Do I think you can go into one of the most dangerous parts of this city and start asking questions about a criminal gang? No I do not. Perhaps you would survive and then what? We would have a riot on our hands from the destruction you caused escaping. You’re not living a story, there are consequences for your actions.”
“But…!”
“No.” He slammed his hand down on the table with a loud crack. Ester flinched away from it, fury burning through her veins. Who did he think he was?! She was a Mage, not some girl to be told off by him! She’d come here hoping to make the world a better place and all he wanted was for her to parade around on patrol and occasionally analyse things for him. It was infuriating and it wasn’t fair. “You work for me for as long as Her Eternal Majesty requires it and you will obey my orders. Is that understood?”
Ester hesitated and then nodded coldly. “I understand. May I go.”
The Commander sank back into his chair and vaguely waved at the door, leaving her to stalk out, rage bubbling in her.
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Etroan was not looking forward to this morning’s training session. He’d heard from Cino that the Mage, no Lady Mazar, she did have a name after all, had been in an unspeakably foul mood when she went on patrol with him the day before. It didn’t seem to fit, he’d be the last to say he knew her well. But she’d sulked her way through the last few scowling, and muttering as she ran. But then most youths sulked and she mostly seemed like a cheerful young lady.
He sighed when he saw her approaching,. He had no desire to face up to an angry Mage, but a deal was a deal. At least she was punctual, he could appreciate that in a trainee. Or a high-up for that matter.
“Good morning my lady.” Etroan bowed low, lower than he usually did. She might never have done more than sulk, but he’d no desire to try to push his luck about that.
“Sergeant.” Yep. She was in a snit. He could see she was trying to hide it, but failing miserably. If she was a proper trainee he’d just shout at her until she got over it. He shied away from that particular idea every time it popped up. Despite that, he found himself thinking about it quite a lot.
“Alright… Let’s start with running again. You still need to work on that.” She looked actively mutinous for a moment and then set out. She had improved. It was true, but she was still slow. He could only assume Mages spent all their time thinking and reading books rather than doing honest exercise or a proper days work with their hands.
Slowly she made her way round the training ground. There was certainly none of the enthusiasm that had been there at the start of the first session. Instead, each time she passed him she shot him a slightly more mutinous glare.
Etroan could feel himself turning red as she kept up her frankly unacceptable pace. He’d never put up with this from one of the trainees! She passed him again, a scowl on her face and anger flared in him. With an effort of will he just stopped himself from comparing her to a fucking snail and threatening to have her cleaning the privies if she didn’t speed up. “My lady, please, you must try as hard as you can.” He didn’t quail under the glare she sent at him, but it was a close run thing.
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Abiel stepped aside for Aliana, letting her look the iron-wrought door over. The runes on it were enough of a sign that it needed her skillset. Behind them Ruben had finished tying up the guard and was pouring a tincture down his throat.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It had taken a couple of weeks before they’d felt willing to do much of anything. Admittedly that couple of weeks was spent discretely enjoying the rather large payment Thucer had given them. Even after all that happened, that had felt like a lot of money. However, stealing that Schema from House Velia had ranked in at least the top five most frightening moments of his life. Count Velia’s hunters had, of course, descended into Vass Karan’s less salubrious districts searching for them, but Abiel and his crew had played that game before. Most likely some of those hunters wouldn’t be returning. Not his work, Vass Karan could be dangerous for their kind. Regardless none of them had come near to finding him. Having the street around him disappear in blinding explosions because Ruben had upset a Mage on the other hand, that had been unpleasantly new.
Still, a Great House had rather more resources than most and Abiel was going to be looking over his shoulder for quite a while to come. It had actually been something of a relief when he’d heard that Savate was setting his pet Mage to personally find them. He’d much rather have the Watch hunting him than House Velia. Even better that it was her. Terrifying as fighting that girl might have been, she was green as grass. Even better, there was no way that Savate would risk sending her out hunting them by herself and, even if he did, she’d never find them.
“Got it.” Aliana’s voice broke Abiel’s introspection as she stepped aside looking pleased with herself. “It’s like they were barely trying. Wards in iron. Do they have to have someone come and renew them every month?”
“Great.” He pulled out his picks and got to work on the door. At least Aliana seemed to have gotten over their encounter with the Mage quite quickly. Now she seemed determined to come up with new tactics to handle the girl. Whatever helped her sleep he supposed. He had no intention of ever meeting Ester Mazar again if he could help it. Which was a pity when he thought about it. She really was quite pretty, a bit too earnest looking maybe. He preferred a bit more edge to a girl, but if the world was a different place…
He shrugged to himself and focused on the lock. After a few moments it clicked open. Not all that hard at all. It was like they wanted him to rob them. Well, ignoring the guards and warded door anyway.
With a flourish Abiel pulled the door open. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
There unfortunately wasn’t much to see. It seemed that House Cretly was poorer than he’d thought. A couple of locked boxes, some silver candlesticks and a gold statuette of a nude woman. Well made, but he could already tell it was just thin gold plating. Disappointing.
“She’s almost as pretty as you!” Ruben chortled from behind him. Abiel gave him an unimpressed look and picked up one of the boxes. At least he heard the clink of coin inside. Probably better to just take them rather than trying to open them now.
“We’ll take these.” He handed the first box to Aliana and picked up the other. Same as the first. “It’s probably gold in there, or they wouldn’t bother locking it up. But a few hundred crowns at best. No wonder this was so easy.” He tried not to sound too annoyed.
Aliana was quickly putting the boxes into the basket they’d brought with them and then covering them in rolled up sheets. It wouldn’t pass more than a cursory inspection, but if they were subjected to anything more than that then something had gone badly wrong. A quick look over his two comrades and it was time to go. Abiel closed the door behind them and then they removed their masks and headed for the mansion’s back entrance.
The Cretlys didn’t even have any guards to intercept them and at that time in the morning the mansion was silent as the night. But their easy escape didn’t stop the disappointed irritation welling up in Abiel’s belly. A couple of hundred crowns would pay thirty or forty labourers’ wages for a year. It was a ridiculous amount of money for a week’s work. But they weren’t labourers, they had expenses, not least to help them with their trade. Debts too, he shied away from that thought. Ultimately they didn’t want to be living like this for the rest of their lives. If nothing else, their lives wouldn’t be long ones unless they could make enough to get out.
House Velia had been good. What they needed was another score. An even bigger one.
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Sergeant Etroan wasn’t happy to be out on patrol. He’d much rather be back at home with his wife or playing cards in the Watch headquarters, but even seniority and his other responsibilities didn’t save him from occasional patrols.
He was even less happy to find himself jogging towards a commotion. A screaming and jeering crowd surrounded something. He couldn’t see what, but much as he’d prefer not to, he did know his duty. If only that duty could have involved a quiet night and maybe a visit to a tavern.
“Out the way. Out the fucking way!” He shouldered his way through the crowd, using the butt of his spear liberally to shift the people in front of him. Peren and Metie at his side.
He almost stumbled into the middle of the circle, which was already starting to disperse. People generally didn’t want trouble with the law, whether it was the Watch or some noble’s enforcers. Even in this part of Vass Karan. In what had been the centre, a pair of poorly dressed men were stood over a third, who lay sprawled out on the cobbles, surrounded by blood. Fuck.
“Stay right there, in the name of the Watch!” He brandished his spear at the two men who stood there frozen. “Peren, Metie, get them secured. We’ll sort out what’s happened after.”
Both men had wickedly large knives in their hands. Hardly a crime in itself, but the blood on them said it all.
“Put the knives down, then we can sort this out. You can tell us what happened.” He deliberately softened his voice. No need to provoke them. Luckily the men didn’t seem inclined to run or fight. He relaxed ever so slightly, still keeping his spear at the ready. They’d most likely hang for murder, but there was no need to say that to them.
He didn’t have time to react to the scream of anger from behind him before his vision whited out and he staggered forward, almost losing his balance. Blinking stars out of his eyes he whirled round, blindly sweeping his spear in an arc in front of him. It sunk into something and he was rewarded with a scream. He quickly blinked away the stars to see a bearded man writhing on the ground, clutching at his stomach.
Then he had to leap to the side as a huge man swung a butcher’s cleaver through the space where his head had been. He still could barely see.
Etroan scrambled back, trying to create distance so he could bring his spear to bear. But the man was already inside his reach. He only had a split second to decide. Fucking Mage! He dropped his spear and went for his dagger, his head defenceless. With his eyes screwed shut he barely had time to register the crack of the impact.
The flash of light was visible even through his eyelids. Without hesitation he opened them, already stabbing frantically. His attacker went down gasping and clutching at bloody wounds and Etroan dived for his spear. He came up panting, ready for anything and knowing he was going to suffer for that dive in the morning. It seemed it was over though. Two men lay on the ground, one already dead, he must have stabbed him through the heart. The other was still writhing and moaning, but judging by the amount of blood he wouldn’t be long for this world.
Etroan looked away. He’d killed enough people over his life, but he was never going to become comfortable with it. It had been him or them. That was all there was to be said about it.
With a shudder he turned his attention to the others. Peren had both the men with knives kneeling with their hands behind their heads leaving Metie to come and check on him.
The younger Watchman glanced contemptuously down at Etroan’s attackers. He’d never had as much of a problem with killing as some. A good enough man, but cold sometimes. Even a bit frightening, not that Etroan would ever admit that out loud.
“You alright Sarge?” He looked Etroan over. “Looks like our lady Mage does good work, I don’t think you’re even scratched. I wonder if she’d do something like that for me?” He leered at him. “I could make it worth her while.” Etroan wasn’t sure how the man could even think like that at a time like this and if she ever heard he’d spoken like that… Great Spirits, he probably owed her his life now too. For fuck’s sake.
“Watch your tongue when you speak about her Metie.” The rebuke didn’t seem to affect the younger man at all, instead a slow smile growing across his face.
“You know sarge, you’re looking pretty sparkly right now.” With a grimace Etroan looked down. It was those flashes again. All over his breastplate. He did his best to shrug the comment off as easily as Metie had ignored his.
“Just a thing it does. It’ll fade soon enough.”
“Come on now sarge, don’t be so quick to dismiss it. It looks good on you.” Metie looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Peren! Have a look at the sar… Sergeant Sparkles here.”
Fuck. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Etroan just knew the name was going to stick. She might have saved his life, but he still knew deep down in his gut that getting involved with Mages and nobleborn was a bad idea.
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Ester lay in bed staring up into the darkness. Despite it being the middle of the night sleep was nowhere near her grasp. Instead all there was was a bubbling mix of frustration and anger.
The Golden Shadows had struck again, casually strolling into some baronet’s mansion and stealing well over 1,000 crowns from him before disappearing without trace. She’d gone and spoken to him of course, but the young man had had nothing helpful to say about the robbery, just going on about his family’s wealth and how much they’d lost. Neither had his mother. Useless.
She’d have more mental energy for sympathy if they weren’t all so… so… she shied away from the words she’d heard the Watchmen using when they thought she couldn’t hear. So bloody arrogant. She didn’t care how rich they were or who they knew! With a growl she rolled over and clutched the rough pillow to her cheek.
Commander Savate was hardly any better. It was like he didn’t really care about catching the thieves. He was happy for her to talk to nobles about them, but he wouldn’t let her do anything more than that. Too dangerous. Too much chance of causing problems. She didn’t have enough experience. It was just excuses. If she’d been a man he’d have let her, she was sure. If she’d been a man she probably wouldn’t even be here!
Sergeant Etroan wasn’t helping either. He’d promised to teach her how to fight, but he just made her run until she was a sweaty mess, with vague promises of more soon. The whole thing was just awkward too. She could tell he wanted to shout at her, which hardly made her feel better about it, and then he’d cringe and speak as if she was going to have him whipped. She’d been so excited when she started and now it was all like some kind of bad joke. Maybe she was the joke?
No! She wasn’t going to accept that. She’d worked twice as hard as most of the apprentices to even be here. She wasn’t going to let some… some… crappy city get her down. She’d show them, she’d show them all. Commander Savate might be able to tell her what to do for the Watch, but she didn’t belong to him. He couldn’t tell her what to do in her free time. She was a Chartered Mage, not his ward! If she wanted to go and investigate the Golden Shadows, she could. She just needed to be clever about it. Yes. Hard work, intelligence and willpower. That was what made a Mage and it was what was going to make her name in Vass Karan. Ester rolled onto her back again and started to plan.