| |
Nazrik packed us some bread, a few pastries, and a cheap oil lamp from his stock as a souvenir. We hadn’t decided who would keep it after our little adventure was over, but no one was eager to snatch it up just yet. Our path towards home led near the ruins filled with the vanquished ghouls, but we stayed clear of it. I feared something worse had taken their place after the fire, and it sent shivers down my spine.
It was already late afternoon when we entered Kahlaran’s outskirts, although we had left An Ramash well before dawn.
Nobody stopped us at the gate. The guards just stared at the chariots and incoming travelers in utter boredom, not noting a single detail. Arjun kept a fragment of his word, at least.
“It doesn’t look like anything’s changed,” Ezair said as we passed the first tiny houses.
“It’s not like we left months ago,” I said. “I hope Tamen gives us better news than we’ll give him.”
Ezair ran a finger over the medallion in his neck. “It’s not that bad. At least we got something.”
“Nazrik gave us trinkets and tools, but he didn’t grant our wishes,” Chai said, spurring her horse to catch up to us. “By the way, am I the only one who feels that everything is paler since we left An Ramash?”
I shook my head. I had gotten quite used to this city with its sand-colored walls, and the faint, salty smell of the sea. “It’s more reassuring, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think anything could reassure me.” Ezair slammed his heels against the horse’s side. “We should hurry.”
We made our way to the Velvet Lotus, now acting as our designated headquarters. Ezair tied the horses in the shade and helped me and Chai off the saddles, then suddenly came to a halt and frowned.
“Don’t tell me...”
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, just barged into the brothel. Luckily, the sight of Chai was enough for the guards not to intervene, and judging by the sounds coming from inside, they had enough work already.
Ezair stopped at the pools, in front of a visibly enamored Tamen, sitting cross-legged on a pillow, with a ring of girls gathered around him. The more assertive of them even tried caressing the gold embroidery on his blue silk vest, not to mention the gem hanging from his left ear. And he even had the nerve to enjoy the situation. At least so far.
“I can see you found ways to entertain yourself while we were gone,” Ezair remarked, making the boy blush.
“I... Ummm... I did. They are very nice to chat with,” he said, clearing his throat. “How did things go? Did we get our wish?”
Ezair’s face pulled into a dissatisfied grimace. “In a way. No lightning, but we brought other things. I’d brief you, but you’ve quite a company.”
“Let’s go up to my room,” I said.
“I’m sorry, ladies,” Tamen said to the makeshift harem. “My friends and I are on an important mission.”
“You’ll tell us about it, right? If we ask nicely?” one girl asked.
“You’ll be the first to hear of our adventures,” Tamen replied, backing towards the stairs, then hurried inside the room with an apologetic smile towards us. I just followed him, shaking my head.
Ezair sat down on the edge of the bed, Chai settled at the dressing table, while I leaned against the window, and we all waited for Tamen to debrief us. I hated to shove more responsibilities on him, but our entire success rested on his shoulders.
Tamen cleared his throat again, then pulled out a folded piece of paper and laid it out on the bed.
“I gathered everything I could about the dungeons. From the outside, the place is a fortress, impossible to break in and out of unless we want to fight the entire palace guard. But the good news is, they were built on the ruins of the Old Garden. With any luck, we can use another entrance, walk through the catacombs, and reach the dungeons by a tunnel. The lower floors intertwine with the ruins completely, so there’s got to be a passage, most likely sealed by a wall. Worst-case scenario, we need to break through. I marked the map where we can enter the ruins, in theory.”
“And in practice?” Ezair asked.
“Well, I didn’t go down to check it. And the best I could find were old tomes.”
“Where’s the closest one?”
Tamen handed him the map, while I quickly took stock of what we had, trying to find something that could knock down a wall. Not that we had any, but doing something was better than nothing.
“Has anyone ever been to these ruins?” Ezair asked.
“Surely there was a treasure hunter or adventurer bold enough in the past couple of hundred years,” I said. “You want to ask around?”
“I’d prefer to, but we haven’t got time,” he said. “We just have to grit our teeth and jump into it. I think you and I can handle reconnaissance for now.”
“Can I join you?” Tamen asked, looking at Ezair so wide-eyed I feared his eyeballs were ready to pop out at any moment.
Ezair quickly glanced over to Chai, most likely hoping that she wouldn’t notice – but she did.
“Bring him with. I won’t get jealous,” she said, laughing. “I’ve had enough of hiding in ruins for a while.”
Ezair scratched his head under the shawl and shrugged. “After all, it’s your discovery, so you deserve to see what’s down there.”
My forehead creased, looking at both Chai and Ezair. The way they peeked at each other, clandestine like they didn’t want anyone else to notice gripped my stomach.
“I’d like to refresh myself,” I said a bit louder than I intended. “And eat on the way if we’re not going to sleep... Because I guess we’re not.”
“We can’t afford sleep right now, but for the rest, sure,” Ezair replied. He leaned back on the bed for a moment before realizing that “I’d like to refresh myself” meant “get out”, so he got up and grabbed Tamen’s shoulder.
“We’ll figure out where’s the best place to enter these ruins. We’ll be down by the pool.”
“I think I could use a little refreshment, too... I can still smell the desert on me,” Chai said after the boys left.
“Chai, wait... If you’d like, I can bring you with, in the magic shawl. After everything that happened in An Ramash, we all know we would never make it without you.”
She just looked back at me with her usual humble smile. “Don’t worry about it. I prefer chatting with the girls to stumbling around in dust and stone. But good luck to you,” she said, closing the door behind her.
***
I got changed, even pinned my hair up to look more exploration-ready. I had to resort to a linen towel to wipe off the dust and sweat, not to even mention the lingering horse’s scent, even though I’d have preferred a hot tub of water to sink myself in for an hour.
Together with Ezair and Tamen, we walked out into the street and ran straight into the late-afternoon crowd. Some merchant ships had just arrived, sailors already flooding the port, so people were swarming all over the city, fishing for the best deals from over the seas.
Ezair chose some deserted alleyways to get out of the mass, looking at the map from time to time, eventually stopping at a plain clay wall. It looked like an unused warehouse: crates and boxes lay all over the place, creating a pile of rubble, leading to a window. The paint fell off long ago, and there wasn’t a hint of it leading anywhere, much less to the ruins of the Old Garden.
“Are you sure the map’s accurate?” Ezair asked.
Tamen nodded. “It’s not the most up-to-date, but it’s our only chance.”
“I know this place. It has been emptied for years, and if I recall correctly, the front has collapsed in. They just can’t be bothered to clean it up. Chief Hain and I sometimes bet on when it will be torn down. But if this is our best guess...” Ezair stepped on the rickety crates and pulled the wooden shades open. “I can’t see anything in there. It’s pitch black.”
I lit the cheap lantern Nazrik had given us and handed it up to him.
Tamen looked at me utterly surprised.
“What? We’re going underground and you didn’t think I’d bring a lantern?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, then looked back at Ezair. “How long did you wager it would stand?”
“I think we agreed on four years. But it was mostly Chief Hain saying a time, and me guessing if it’ll take longer or not. The loser eventually had to pay for both our drinks until that point. Which, given that we’re talking about Chief Hain, was going to be me.”
I wondered if they’d wait years to find out who won and who paid. But they were mercenaries and alcohol was on the line. I could imagine anything.
Tamen, meanwhile, stroked his head and took a hesitant step closer. “Is it possible that I met your friend at the main well?”
“My friend...” Ezair muttered to himself, leaning through the window. “Blond guy with a disgustingly narcissistic grin?”
“Well, those aren’t the exact words I’d use, but something like that.”
Ezair just grumbled. “Then yes, you probably did.”
“Are you mad at him?”
“They almost killed each other a few days ago, that’s why he’s tied up,” I said.
Tamen blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry. But... If you’re friends, you’ll come around, won’t you?”
“I don’t know,” Ezair said, throwing one leg over the windowsill. “Maybe. It’s up to him. It always is.”
Tamen’s innocence was amusing, but I hoped he was right. Not that I would have minded knocking the Chiefling unconscious a few more times, but I didn’t want this grudge to consume Ezair. I had to believe in that happy ending.
Ezair slid down on the other side, disappearing immediately. I climbed to the window and looked inside, but only the darkness stared back at me. I could see a faint light below, but it was barely visible. Either it was tiny, or it came from much deeper than the floor level.
“Ezair?”
There was no reply. My heart surged from the sudden wave of fear striking me, forcing me to unwittingly climb through the window into the unknown darkness. “Ezair!”
There was no hole or crevice that could have swallowed him, only a surprisingly well-constructed marble slide that swept me off my feet, pulling me down to the abyss.
After quite a slide, I landed on a bunch of furs. I feared they were carcasses of small animals that happened to fall down, but I didn’t smell rot or decay. Someone had left these pelts to cushion the fall – which meant we walked into a trap.
The light was dim, so I could barely make out the silhouette of three men with large wooden sticks in their hands, standing over an unconscious fourth. As I tried to stand up, one of them turned to me.
“There’s a lot of traffic today. I’d never thought to see you again, young miss.”
I jumped up, grabbing an empty bottle laying nearby. “How do you know me? And what did you do to Ezair?”
“The young chap?” the man asked, pointing at the unconscious body on the floor. “Don’t worry, he’s just sleeping the slide off. Where’s the fiery little witch?”
As the man walked closer, I recognized his face. This was the same guy who tried snatching me off the streets.
“Don’t worry, she’s right behind.”
“Behind? Doubt it. Above, maybe.” He looked at his companions and cocked his head towards me. One of them approached, swinging the crude stick as if he was holding a sword. “Do you think she can do magic before we knock her out?”
I burst forward towards Ezair, but the man grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, making me fell on my knees.
“What do you want?” I hissed with gritted teeth.
“What do we want? You fell down here without a word.”
“You miss the greeting? Well, a nice evening for the gentlemen.”
Tamen, of course, chose that exact moment to slide down and confuse them even more.
“How many more are there?” my captor asked.
“Oh, plenty. You’ve met my friend, Chai. She’ll be looking for us.”
The kidnapper rubbed his chin and looked at the other two, then back at me. “I’m not quite convinced, but we’d be better off taking you to Adeet. He’ll deal with that friend of yours. Now, will you come peacefully, or do we need to clobber you like your friend?”
“Seriously, what’s your problem? Apart from that we happened upon your nook by sheer chance.”
“This is our nook, miss. We don’t like strangers falling on our heads. So, how are we doing this?”
If I could have killed him with a look, the guy would’ve been a steaming pile of ashes by now. “I’ll walk.”
They herded us down a narrow passage that ended in a vast corridor, or more precisely, a street covered by massive collapsed buildings from both sides and above. Our feet trod on stones that must have been thousands of years old, while the people of Kahlaran, sixty feet above us, knew nothing of this.
There was a path of lamps, torches, and colorful stained-glass lanterns on the walls turning the entire journey into a magical trance. Some buildings remained almost intact, while they had fitted others with newly built adobe walls. There was a myriad of brightly colored tents strung between, and sometimes across, the ruined buildings. It was a city under the city, a glimpse into the past, and it fascinated me even in my worn-out state.
“Okay, I take it back. It’s more than a nook. Did you know this was here?” I said, looking at Tamen, but he just shook his head.
They led us to a large circular building, somehow less weathered than the others. It had been some kind of tower back in the day, reaching for the sky, but now all that remained was a tilted stone shaft with sharp edges at the top, gnawing at a small hole in the ceiling above. Beggars rested at the base, and several more were walking among the tents.
The magic of discovery had slowly worn off, and fear crept into its place. My mind was looking for the right words to talk us out of this situation. Not just to let us go free, but to allow us to wander around, or at least show us to the dungeons.
The tower didn’t have a proper door, only a curtain separating it from the square. They were about to push us through when I heard a familiar snort.
“You said that last week, Adeet,” Irshan beamed.
There was no mistake. I could recognize the deep rumbling voice of the Two-Headed Vipers elder chief even had I not met him a few days ago. It was our best chance, and even if I was wrong our situation couldn’t have been worse, so I took a deep breath and shouted with all my lungs. “Irshan!”
There was a creaking sound as a pair of chairs slid back on the floor, then Irshan pushed the curtains apart, sticking his grey head out. “Lass? What are you doing here?”
“It’s all a huge misunderstanding. We just came here looking for a way to the ruins, but never even suspected someone was living here. Thank every god we ran into you.”
Irshan’s eyes fell onto Ezair. “You just had to drop your bracelet, Aspis, didn’t you? Look at these poor bastards, they can’t even recognize your face. Put that poor boy down.”
“I... I didn’t know...” the guy carrying Ezair muttered.
“Bollocks you didn’t, you absolute knobhead!” Irshan said, picking up Ezair’s limp body.
It was terrifying to see how easily he put Ezair back on his feet, holding him by the shoulder, even shaking him a little. “Now, lad, time to wake. You looked tougher a few days ago. I can’t even see a bruise.”
Another man appeared behind the mercenary chief, just as tall, but thinner and much darker in tone. His skin was almost black, contrasting with the whites of his eyes.
“Is there a problem, Chief Irshan?”
“Adeet, these three just fell down a shaft,” my unsuccessful kidnapper said, taking a step back as Irshan turned towards him. “I thought we’d better bring them here, just in case.”
“Heh. You can rest easy, Adeet. My brats won’t hurt you,” Irshan said.
His brats. It was usually a slur, but he said it so kindly that I almost burst into tears. I wanted to run over and hug him, but I didn’t know how he would react.
Instead, I turned to Adeet, trying to support Ezair as he slowly found his balance again. “I’m sorry for intruding like this.”
“If Chief Irshan stands by you, you need not. Tell me your name.”
“Can’t we do this inside?” Irshan said. “I’m old, Adeet, and lounging about is getting tiring, especially since I’m dry as a corkscrew.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, walking back inside immediately.
Adeet just shrugged. “As you wish. Come. The rest of you may go now.”
We helped Ezair through the doorway, sitting him on the first crate we found. The room wasn’t extensive; the stairs were a patchwork of the original steps and mish-mash fixes added recently, just like the ceiling above. The ground floor was probably a meeting room—judging by the large circular table—, so I guessed Adeet lived somewhere higher up.
Ezair finally woke up, rubbing the back of his head with a painful groan.
“Please, forgive my associates, young man. They are a little brash,” Adeet said.
“Wha—” He cried out softly, his features twisting into a painful scowl. “Where are we? Ch.. chief?”
Irshan put his elbows on the table and propped his jaw against his fists. “Your house, Adeet. You answer the boy.”
“As you wish,” Adeet said, turning to Ezair. “You are in the Ancestral Land, Viper of Irshan. Where I come from, they call me Adetola. I speak for those here.”
“None of the records mention the ruins are settled,” Tamen said, frowning. It was funny how collected he was back at the Lotus, but now this “minor” issue bugged him enough for it to show on his face.
“Records are written by officials, magisters, and other nobles. They rarely remember my kind, just as they don’t count the rats under every stone.”
“Rats don’t steal rings off people’s fingers,” Irshan said, with a sarcastic grin. “Adeet is a Mixer. A botch alchemist.”
“I have told you when we first met not to call me that, Chief Irshan.”
“And I’m telling you every time that you should be proud of that, not ashamed. It’s a badge, Adeet.”
“Which title are we talking about?” I said, tired of cocking my head between the two. “The botch or the Mixer?”
“Both,” Adeet said. “I have studied my craft under a great tutor in Hanat, my homeland. When I moved here, however, that tutelage was disregarded by the Khalarani alchemist guild, just like Chief Irshan’s military. They branded me a dabbler not because I lack knowledge, but because that knowledge came from elsewhere.”
Adeet spoke in a very formal dialect, but knowing he was a foreigner I admired his effort to even bother and learn any seir at all. I was much more surprised Irshan wasn’t born here either, but in his age, none could spot the difference.
“What does an alchemist do?” I asked. “I mean, I’m guessing you’re not like those amateurs trying to sell me a wonder cure-all, or a love potion, or drinks that could turn someone into a marmoset.”
The man chuckled in a deep, rumbling voice.
“I hope I’m not. Are you truly interested?”
“Yes. Now even more.”
Adeet grinned, letting his teeth flash between his dark lips. “I am a scholar of mater. A craftsman, looking for the tiniest speck that builds everything, and when I find it, I twist it just enough to create something else. I assume you have seen the lanterns outside.”
It sounded like a prelude to a long speech, but I nodded. “We did.”
“If you look close enough, you see past the differences and catch a glimpse at a universal similarity. Take the phosphorus burning in the lamps, for example. If you crush it down again and again, until but the smallest particle remains, you realize it is a matter of how rather than what. You spot the pattern and redraw it, leading the powder to burn differently. To create those colorful, brilliant, and impossible lights.”
Irshan shook his head. “Don’t worry, lass, I’ve been listening to it for twenty years, but I still haven’t figured out a word. It doesn’t help that Adeet learned to speak seir from some greased-up dandy noble brat, while I did on a ship from a half-drunk asshole.”
“Well, it’s not entirely foreign for me. We do things like that at home, but we have ways to rearrange the specks into something else. How do you manage that?”
“I goad them till they rearrange each other. The world is like people. Not even specks can collide with each other and just continue on their course. If you know which specks to collide, everything is a matter of imagination.”
“So, in practice...?”
“You can’t speak practice. But I can show you if you have the time.”
Before I could say yes in my carried-away state, Irshan’s fist slammed down on the table.
“Hold up. You speak like our business is done, but I’m still not convinced I can trust you enough to delay payment for two weeks.”
“Right,” I said, a bit shaken from the loud bang. “We have our own business, too. It’s not much, just a bit of wandering around, searching for a certain... passage.”
I looked at Ezair to help me out a bit.
“We need a tunnel connecting this place to the dungeons,” he said. “Is there such a thing here?”
“Oh, there is,” Adeet replied, flashing his white teeth again. “But it leads to a room under guard day and night.”
“It’s still easier than knocking on the front door,” I said.
“That may be true, but neither of those things is wise.”
I looked at Ezair again, because I didn’t know how much he wanted to tell them. Adeet was sympathetic, but still, we were underground in a previously unknown city of beggars. One could never be too careful.
“Wisdom wasn’t our aim, to begin with.” Ezair shrugged. “But a couple of guards are no problem, you can bet on that.”
“I might just do that.
Ezair’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I have the feeling you’re implicating something?”
“Because I am. It is quite simple,” Adeet began, but given his explanations so far, that was a bad sign. “The palace is full of riches. So many, in fact, that they can’t account for all, thus we can take without them noticing.”
“Stealing? From the palace? That’s bold,” Tamen chirped in from the corner.
“For us alone, maybe,” Adeet said. “Following the wake of someone bolder; that’s another question.”
We were at it again. Getting off this lifestyle was harder than I thought, but at least this time we weren’t the thieves. Just the distraction, which was only slightly better.
“We know the drill,” I said.
“Wonderful,” Adeet said. “Chief Irshan, will you show patience if I assist your... brats?”
Irshan leaned back in the chair, drumming on the table with his fingers.
“You’ll get my patience, Adeet. But if you put them in more danger than what they sign up for, you know how it ends.”
“I do.”
“Someone should fill me in. What’s the deal with you two?” I asked.
“Adeet needs ingredients for what he’s doing,” Irshan said, turning the chair around and resting his arms against the back, facing me. “Ingredients we provide, which he pays for with interest. But when soldiers run around, you can imagine how much of Adeet’s concoctions sell.”
“Just because he’s not recognized as a real alchemist?”
“Just? The others said you were a merchant, lass. How many people would buy anything from you if Charta branded you untrustworthy?”
“That depends on how much I’m willing to lower the prices. After they try my handiwork, they’ll come back.”
“That’s nice if you sell perfumes, lass. With medicines, only the desperate take the gamble. Also, the guild made it against the law for dabblers to sell their stuff in broad daylight. The bottom line is, he hasn’t paid for the last shipment. I came to deal with this.”
The cogs in my head immediately started spinning, so much so that it must have caught Ezair’s attention, as he raised an eyebrow at me. “What is it?”
“I... I might know something that can help. Long term. But I’m not sure we should get tangled up in this...”
“We are tangled up already,” Ezair said. “I doubt anything can get more complicated.”
“Those are some big words, boy.” Irshan stood up, grabbing Ezair by the shoulder and dragging him towards the exit. “I rarely get involved in your affairs, but the girl drank the Blood of the Desert without fainting, so she’s practically family. Let the mixers talk, while you tell me about the mess you’re in.”