I didn't want to admit that seeing Garwood in such a state had spooked me, but I couldn't quite get rid of the scent of death and dismay from my nose. I had joked about going to jail before, but seeing it—and realizing I would be absolutely useless to Brynna in there—spurred me to action.
I'd spent the morning in my office—not the one I was used to, but the one I'd been forced into by Coyle—drafting a timeline of events. At my left hand was a list of every merchant who provided goods or services to the castle, where I'd added the dates and locations of fires. On a fresh sheet of parchment, I jotted down each of the fires in sequential order, including their connection to the castle.
Ilara's furrier in Merchant's Quarter was first, followed by the dressmaker. But the next three had been food-related. After that, a couple more fires in that same quadrant, to include a tailor, a fabric importer, and a shoemaker. Then the target had returned to those providing food to the castle, and even the townhouse of a merchant marine. All connected to Ilara, but other than that, no obvious thread.
On the back of the parchment, I jotted down each of the merchants who hadn't been torched yet—still more than I could handle by myself, but a smaller list than before. Tonight, I would narrow my search there, and hope I got lucky.
A soft rap at the door jolted me from the jumbled thoughts. "Enter," I called.
Katarine walked inside, a warm smile on her face. "I got your message. But I also had to pass through two Severian guards on my way in. What's that about?"
"They said something about increased security threats," I said, looking down at my list again. "Odd, considering I'm their captain and should've been the one assigning security details."
"Felix, I'm worried," she said softly. "I've been hearing your name more and more from Ilara's lips, and none of it is good. Tell me you've made progress."
"No, but that's why you're here," I said with a hopeful smile. I briefly told her about my encounter with Ruby, and she agreed it wasn't very promising. "At least I know there's someone in charge. I can keep pulling at that thread."
"She might've been lying to you," Katarine said.
"There was something about that bodyguard," I said. "Guarding the three of them past curfew? Escorting them home? Something's amiss there. And these fires haven't been random. I just can't find a pattern." I slid the paper I'd been working on over to her. "Can you?"
Her brows knitted together as she studied the page. "No, other than they're serving the castle."
"These last five," I pointed to the bottom of the list. "I had guards stationed there, but somehow the fires started anyway." I flipped over the page to show her the remaining vendors. "I'm going to go out tonight and hope one of these goes up in flames."
"Perhaps I can help narrow your search," she said. "Ilara's passed down a new edict, not sure if you've heard."
"No," I said with a shake of my head. "What is it?"
"The Forcadelian merchants will now be wholly dedicated to transporting Forcadelian food to the western ports and returning with…well, with Severian glass." She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "In Ilara's mind, she thinks it's a concession to the merchants for closing the other borders. Severia is still open, she says, so we'll just trade with them."
"That sounds like an utter disaster. Any chance of talking her out of this idiotic scheme?"
"I've been trying, but I'm afraid my sway over her is diminishing. I'm here because there's a chance Ariadna could change her mind, and Ilara isn't dumb enough to draw her wrath. But I've been invited to fewer meetings, been consulted half as much as before. Soon, I might be relegated to sitting in my study and penning letters to my sister."
"I'm probably not far behind you," I said. "What with my babysitters and Coyle taking my guards, I'm surprised I'm still allowed to walk around."
"Then perhaps you should use this new information to your benefit," Katarine said. She flipped through the list I'd given her and pointed to five names on it. "These are the merchants who've agreed to her terms, at least for now." She handed the paper back to me. "The probability is that they'll be next."
"You're amazing, have I told you that lately?" I said with a grin.
"Just find something, Felix," she said, not sharing my levity. "It's already bad enough around here. I don't know what I'd do if you left me, too."
That night, it took me nearly two hours to lose my Severian guards. Sooner or later, I wouldn't be able to leave at all. Much like Ilara's patience, my time was running out.
As sailors, the merchant marines conducted most of their business at sea, and thus didn't have businesses to torch. But they all maintained residences in Sailor's Row, and all within a few blocks of each other. It was convenient, and, I hoped, a good sign for the evening.
I settled across the street from one of the larger houses, watching the crescent moon overhead and listening to the water nearby. Every so often, there would be snippets of conversations from the Severian guards, but nothing worth getting up over. Around midnight, I changed positions, visiting the other four houses in turn, finding much the same thing.
I was almost back to the first house when a woman's scream pierced the night. The two Severians on the streets below jumped to their feet and ran toward the sound, and I was in hot pursuit. I wasn't going to get involved, but I didn't trust that the Severians wouldn't make a bad situation worse.
When we arrived at the source of the screaming, a young girl was being held down by four larger men.
"Let the girl go!" the Severian called.
The goons turned, and I frowned. The supposed victim wore a smirk and had no bruises on her. In fact, she wasn't even bound.
"What the—"
All four thugs pulled out large knives and my heart sank into my stomach. It was a trap. I had no love for the Severians, but I couldn't let the citizenry kill a pair of guards. Ilara's wrath would be unending, and she wouldn't stop until every Forcadelian suffered.
So I gathered the edges of the cloak and leapt off the rooftop, landing between the thugs and the guards. I didn't know if the rebels would come after me the way they were going after the Severians, but I hoped, at least, I could buy them some time to get backup.
"What's the big idea?" asked the man in the front. "Thought you were supposed to be on our side?"
"That ain't The Veil?" the girl spat, wiping her mouth and producing a large knife. "That's some imposter. I told you, the real Veil is dead."
"It doesn't matter if I'm the real Veil or not," I said. "You can't go around killing royal guards."
"They're desert-dwelling scum," the girl, clearly the ringleader, snarled. "And you should be ashamed of yourself, protecting them like this."
I held up my sword. I doubted she'd tell me anything, but I still had to try. "Who are you working for?"
The girl snorted then burst into laughter. "I ain't working for nobody."
She didn't strike me as the sort of criminal mastermind who'd come up with something like this, but she certainly seemed to have an ego.
"Awfully complex plot here," I said, although it wasn't really. "You come up with it all on your own?"
"'Course I did," she said. "Boss just said—"
There it is. "Boss?" I smiled. "Who's your boss?"
More voices, footsteps. Perhaps the next patrol was coming around.
"Please, all I need is his name," I said.
"You ain't getting shit from me," the girl said. "Let's go!"
They dashed past me into the main street, and I followed them. If they didn't tell me their boss's name, perhaps they'd lead me to him.
"Stop! Vigilante!"
I spun on my heel, face-to-face with a crowd of Severian soldiers. They'd come to help their fellow soldier, but when they saw me, sheer glee appeared on their faces.
"Look what we have here," the first one—a rat-faced Severian who'd been assigned to me a few times—said. "A vigilante."
They didn't recognize my face under the mask, but they'd surely recognize my voice, so I opted against speaking. I was a few blocks from the water, too far from anywhere to hide. I lacked Brynna's ability to twist herself out of bad situations and I had no backup.
Water it was.
I spun on my heel and took off, surprising them only momentarily.
"Get him!
I ran as hard as my legs would move, but with every step I took, more guards seemed to appear out of nowhere. I prayed to the Mother above that she might clear my path.
My boots clacked against the wood of the docks not a moment too soon, and with a deep breath, I dove head-first into the water. The cold seeped down to my bones, but I kept myself calm as I swam through the murky depths. My fingers made purchase on a barnacle-covered post, so I quietly broached the surface.
"Where'd he go?"
"Are you sure it was a he? I thought The Veil was a woman?"
"Who knows?"
"I know Coyle's going to be furious with us for letting him go."
"The Forcadelian? He won't be around much longer. Maarit's going to fire him as soon as she gets back from the border."
"And not a moment too soon. I'm tired of answering to Forcadelians."
Their footsteps echoed away, but just to be sure, I waited an extra few minutes before pulling myself from the water. Tonight had been a disaster on all fronts, and I could only guess what trouble revealing myself to the guards would cause in the coming days.