Steenshal, just after midnight. This part of the district was dominated by warehouses great and small, their giant doors firmly closed and locked. A half-moon cast what little light there was, as well as a handful of street lamps flickering in the shadows. Once an hour a Watch patrol ambled by, billy clubs hanging from their wrists by straps.
Fenn stood in an alleyway, hidden in the shadows as a pair of brownspikes walked past and around a corner. "They been paid off?" he asked Kalen, standing behind his left shoulder.
"Probably," came the reply. "But not by us, or the fellows we be going after. There is a new Captain for the Steenshal squad, and the word is he don't look kindly on his men taking backhanders. Saints and Prophets know how long before he has an 'accident,' but until then his men are playing it quiet."
"There's no need for petty bribery." Garlet came up behind Fenn's right shoulder. He pointed at a two-story building across the street from them. "That's the target. Word has been passed down from the Prefects office that the Watch is to keep its distance - Lord Hiran pulled some strings. The brownspikes have enough on their slate, so they leave it be. Which is where you come in."
"Something in there you want?" Fenn asked.
"More like someone...in a plural sense of the word. And there is the guard."
A door opened and a man stepped out holding a lantern. He walked around the building, turning a corner, reappearing on the other side a few minutes later. He went back inside and closed the door.
"That building once belonged to a fairly successful lake trader,"said Garlet. "Six months ago he died. His heirs had little interest in keeping up the business and sold the place to a man acting as a front for the Thorny Guard. As far as the Watch is concerned, it belongs to a rope merchant connected to the Irlians, who uses it as a storehouse and office. The sort of place no one would look twice at."
"They aren't selling rope, I take it?"
"Slaving." Alyana came right behind Fenn. "Ruaadian's for the most part. There were revolts in the Empire last summer and thousands were taken, prisoner. The generals who crushed the rebels sell their captives to any with the coin to pay, and a good many have passed through Galadorn the past year. That building is a collection point where they are kept until a ship arrives from offworld. They are taken from this world of Eduri and sold to new masters on faraway worlds. None will ever see their homes again."
"It's a profitable enterprise for the Irlian's," said Garlet. "The Thornies provide security and keep the prettiest faces for their brothels. We are going to put a stop to it. And that is where you come in, Fenn. You are going to get us inside."
Fenn looked at the building again. Solid brick with a slate roof. The windows were closed and shuttered and likely barred as well. "Only way in is the front door,"he said. "You'd lose men and the noise would draw the Watch."
"I have eyes,"said Garlet. "A new shipment arrived a few days ago, and we have word of a ship arriving soon from one of the outer worlds to take them away. We aim to liberate those poor wretches...and take the man watching over them."
"His name is Boshendo," said Alyana. "A vile piece of work. We must have him alive."
"All right. How should I do this?"
All three chuckled at the question. "I have no idea,"said Garlet. "That is up to you. You wanted to help. Prove yourself useful. Get us in that house without anyone noticing. Or walk away, free and clear. No one will strike you down for it."
"I doubt that," Fenn shot back. He looked at the house again. "How often does that watchman do his round?"
"Every half hour,"said Kalen. "Or thereabouts."
"Hmm." Fenn rubbed his chin. "All right. Wait here. I'll get you in."
"Kalen goes with you," said Garlet. "To watch your back."
Or stab it, Fenn thought to himself. "Stay close," he told the big headbreaker.
They stepped out of the alley and crossed the street, moving into the shadows cast by the left side of the building. Fenn pressed back against the wall and kept still. Kalen came up beside him, and to his credit, the big man moved quietly. Time passed, then they heard the door to the building bang open. The guard stepped out, yawning and rubbing his chin, the lantern clenched in his hand. He turned towards the right and went around the corner.
Fenn and Kalen headed up as well, pacing the guard on the other side of the building. They reached the back end, where a large cargo door stood closed and barred, just as a splashing sound echoed faintly off the walls. Fenn peered around and saw the guard with his back to them twenty feet away, the lantern set next to his foot. He pissed against a rubbish heap piled in the street, sighing loudly with relief.
Fenn moved quickly, drawing a dagger as he went. He came up behind the guard and pressed the blade against his throat. "Finish your business," he whispered in the man's ear, "and be quiet!"
The guard grunted, a final squirt splashing across the pile. "Do you know who owns this place?" he said.
"Wouldn't be here otherwise," said Kalen, approaching the man from the left. He reached into his coat and pulled out a red strip of cloth, which he tied about his face so that only his eyes were visible.
The guard's eyes widened. "Bugger me backward," he hissed. "Lookit, I don't want no trouble..."
"Then answer me plain and true," Fenn said, glancing at Kalen and shaking his head in disapproval at such theatrics. Very unprofessional in his view. "How many men waiting on the other side of the door?"
"Just...just the one. Kelby is his name..."
"You have a key to the lock?"
"No..that be with Kelby. I say a password to open the door..."
"What is it?"
"Ho...honeysuckle."
"Seriously?"
"I swear on my mother's womb!"
"How many men in the building?"Kalen asked, his voice muffled by the mask.
"Answer him," Fenn said, "Or he'll gut you here and now."
"Nine...ten when I be there,"said the guard, knees shaking. "They be upstairs with the goods."
"And Boshendo?" asked Kalen.
The man licked dry lips. "Upstairs,"he said. "Spiking one of the girls. Don't tell no one I said so..."
"No worries," said Fenn. "You get to walk way from this. Sorry about the headache." He slammed the pommel of the dagger against the man's skull, dropping him without a word into the rubbish heap. He then picked up the lantern.
They went back around the building. Fenn looked at Kalen. "The mask is a bit much," he said.
"We be the Red Shadows. People expect it. Have to keep up appearances."
"You want to be an actor," Fenn muttered, "join the stage."
They came back to the front of the building. Fenn motioned for Kalen to stay back, then glanced across the street. He approached the door and saw a slot in it at eye level. He raised the lantern so that was right in front and knocked twice.
"Honeysuckle," he said through the slot.
"What the hell?" came a voice from inside. "That you, Macca? Pull the bloody light away, damn your eyes!"
"It's me, Kelby," Fenn said, doing his best to mimic the guard voice. "Honeysuckle, I say! Open the door."
"Yeah, yeah, give me a moment..." The lock clicked and the door pulled open. "Almost blinded me there," said Kelby, looking outside. "Hey, who are you..."
Fenn swung the lantern against the man's head, cracking the copper frame and glass and blowing out the candle inside. Kelby dropped without a word, blood streaming from a cut on his scalp. He stepped inside, pulling a pistol from inside his coat. Kalen followed after, stepping over the body and waving at those across the street. The Red Shadows came over, twelve in all, all wearing red bandannas below their eyes, save for Garlet, who wore a featureless leather mask dyed blood red.
"Kelby, what's the racket?" A man came into the entrance hallway, holding a half-full mug of ale in his hand. "Shite! We're breached..."
Fenn shot the man in the face, dropping him without another word. The sound echoed through the house, followed by shouts of alarm.
"Quickly!" Garlet ordered. "Take them down!"
In they went, down the hallway to a central room that once had been a storehouse of some sort. Six men were seated at a table, the remnants of a meal scattered about it. They rose up, shouting curses as they pulled guns and blades. Shots rang out - Fenn ducked aside as a ball struck the wall near him. He holstered his spent pistol and drew his short sword, even as the Red Shadows rushed in for the kill. Steel clashed, and two of the Thornies went down with stab wounds. A third kicked the table over, taking shelter behind with the others.
"Kalen!" Garlet shouted, pulling a pair of curved knives from his belt. "You and Fenn head upstairs. Take Boshendo – alive!" He vaulted over the table, moving nimbly despite his bulk and cut down one of the Thornies on the other side, his blades moving in a blur of steel and blood.
"This way!" Kalen grabbed Fenn and pointed at a set of stairs at the back of the room. Fenn nodded and ran towards them, running up two at a time, drawing his sword. At the top, he was met by a screaming Thorny brandishing a cleaver. The man raised his weapon for a swing, intent on splitting Fenn's skull open. Fenn surged forward, stabbing the Thorny in the gut, using his momentum to shove the fellow up against the wall. He yanked blade free, blood staining it to the hilt.
A door opened and another Thorny emerged, holding a blunderbuss. "Eat this!" he shouted, taking aim at Fenn.
Kalen appeared at the top of the steps, hurling a dagger at the man. The blade struck him in the eye. He stumbled back and fell, his finger reflexively pulling the trigger when he hit the ground, the gun blowing a hole in the ceiling and filling the narrow corridor with acrid white smoke.
"Thanks,” Fenn said.
"No worries,” Kalen answered.
Both men moved down the hallway. There were two doors, one on either side. Fenn opened the one on the right, and was greeted with the side of perhaps ten young men, bound hand and foot to long poles running across the floor and embedded in the walls on either side. Bowls of thin gruel sat by their faces, suggesting they had been forced to eat like animals. From the stench, none was ever unchained to relieve themselves. They looked at him with eyes wide with fear.
"Fenn!" Kalen called over, standing by the other door. Fenn turned away and approached, looking into another room set up much the first, only here there were young women chained up.
"Look,"said Kalen, pointing at one of the poles. An empty set of manacles could be seen at one end. "One of 'em is missing."
Fenn looked around. "There," he said, pointing at a door on the other side of the room.
Kalen went first, drawing another dagger from his belt. He pushed the door open, armed tensed for a throw. The room inside was bare, save for a pile of blankets on the floor and a guttering lamp placed in one corner, the flame almost out. Sitting in the blankets was a naked woman whose knees were pulled up to her chest. Her face was a mass of bruises and welts mingled with an expression of horror. She rocked and forth, eyes wide with shock.
“It's all right,” Kalen said. “You are safe. We're here to help...”
The women's eyes flickered to the left. Kalen frowned, then turned with a curse, raising the knife to throw.
A man rushed out of the shadows in the dark side of the room. He was big, easily topping Kalen by a good six inches, his face dominated by a heavy brow and jaw. He wore a stained linen shirt and was naked below the waist. He knocked the knife out of Kalen's hand, then knocked Kalen back against the wall, grabbing the man by the throat and raising a massive fist for a pummeling.
“Hey!” Fenn stepped in, pointing his remaining pistol. The man looked over, spitting out curses in some strange heathen tongue. Fenn shot him in the shoulder. The man fell with a howl of pain, clutching his wound.
Kalen pushed away from the wall, rubbing the side of his head. “Thanks,” he mumbled, wagging his jaw back and forth. “Bastard left a ring in these ears.”
“Is this Boshendo?” Fenn asked, drawing his other pistol.
“I'm Boshendo!” the man snarled sitting up, his eyes filled with hate. “And I'll rip your arm off and bugger you with the bloody end.”
“How about you keep that mouth shut...hey!” Fenn cocked the hammer as Boshendo started to stand. “Stay down! Or the next ball goes in your skull!”
Boshendo glared at Fenn, but knelt back down, blood staining the shirt around his wound.
Alyana entered the room, the left side of her face bright red with blood. “Not mine,” said at the shocked looks that greeted here. “But be careful when he head downstairs. It got a bit...messy at the end.”
“Did we lose anyone?” Kalen asked.
“No, Saints be praised.”
“The night is still young.” Garlet entered the room, removing his red mask. The face beneath it was sweaty and flushed. “Alyana, help the others with the prisoners. Masca and Tomm are bringing wagons around the back.” He looked on Boshendo with contempt. “Kalen, Fenn, tie this son of a bitch up.”
Keys for the manacles were found and the prisoners led downstairs. Alyana lay a blanket around the shoulders of Boshendo's victim and escorted her away. Kalen bound Boshendo's arms and legs, ignoring the squawk of pain as his injured shoulder was wrenched. In the alley behind the building, two wagons pulled up by the cargo door. The captives were escorted out, men in one wagon, men in one and women in the other. As soon as they were loaded up, both wagons headed north for the Saint Barelin docks.
“We have boats waiting there,” Garlet explained. “They'll be taken across the lake to Corovaal. That city lost a third of its people in the Rat Plague ten years back and they welcome any newcomers willing to settle and work.”
“They'll still be foreigners,” Fenn pointed out, “The locals won't love for them it.”
“Better that then slavery on another world.”
Fenn heard the wagons clatter outside. “They are gone. We should do the same. But about him?” He pointed at Boshendo.
“Yes,” said Garlet. “What about him?”
Fenn caught an odd tone in the man's voice. “I've done my bit sharp-eyed,” he said. “You wanted to see my worth and here it is.”
That you have,” said Garlet. “But there is one more thing.”
“And what would that be?” Fenn asked.
In response, Garlet pulled a pistol, flipped it about and pressed the butt into Fenn's hand. “Kill Boshendo.”
There was grunt from the bound man on the floor. Fenn looked at him, at the pistol, then at Garlet. “Are you serious? I'm not an assassin!”
“You were a soldier, then a mercenary,” said Garlet. “Or so I've heard. How many men did you kill in battle? How many skags have died from your knives or guns since you came to this fair city? How many did you kill tonight?”
“That different,” Fenn shot back. “The first was war. The second...well that's just life on the shady side. Every skag goes in knowing the risk.”
“We walk the shady side,” said Garlet. “Boshendo here walks in darkness. There are few people in this world who absolutely deserve to die. Boshendo is one of them. He's not just a killer, but one who makes his victims die slow because their pain makes him hard. He rapes mothers in front of their children, then when he gets bored with the mother, makes her watch as he does the same to her little ones. He once forced a father to choose which of his two sons would be killed, then butchered the boy like a hog and cooked the flesh over a fire, then forced the father and brother to eat it for dinner. He...”
“Stop! I get it, he's a monster. But why do I have to send him to Hell?”
“To prove you'll do whatever it takes,” Garlet answered, grim as death. “If you can't kill scum like this when the need arises, then we can't use you. You want our help to find Ella's sister, put Boshendo down. And choose now Fenn, we can't stay here.”
Fenn looked down at the bound man. Boshendo glared back at him, eyes full of hate, without pity or regret.
This is ridiculous. The thoughts bounced about inside his skull. What is this girl to me? She's not my blood. I don't owe her a damn thing. Should have left her in that box and saved me some grief.
But I gave my word.
Fenn cocked the pistol. “To hell with it,” he muttered, raising the pistol and shooting Boshendo in the head.