Burial of hearts the black widow's malice (12 page)

Chapter 7

Tenro was ready, waiting at the
door as I arrived. Today he was dressed according to his class; the finest
white silk shirt, with a perfectly tailored suit and overly polished shoes.

“Good morning Tenro”. I said as I
was admiring the transformation that had taken place overnight.

“Good morning to you too Avis. I
thought I would prepare myself early today, being such an important day as it
is”.

“Sorry if I sound like a fool,
but what is it that makes today important?
”.

“‘Rartonvie
Mystic Brawl’
of course, it is the finest presentation of magick that this land bestows, will
you be attending at all? I suppose you cannot afford the more privileged seats
in the stadium”.

“No I will be attending and I do
hope the seats that we get will be more than rewarding for the purpose”.

“Very well, I do hope you enjoy
it. Now today I have something a little different for you to do instead of
cleaning. I need to enact a little revenge on a friend, turned enemy of mine.
He has decided that although I have given him the upmost generosity, he no
longer wishes to repay me the coin that he owes me, and him being in such a
privileged position, it would be foolish of me to harm him in any way, so this
is where you come in. I have had a key made by the blacksmith, so when he
leaves with his wife, which is always the same time every day, you will sneak
into his home and leave an item for me, then return to me. If he will not give
me the coin, I will take his
heart
”.

I looked shocked at Tenro, at
what he had just suggested me to do. It was such a low blow to try to ruin a
relationship over debt.

“I take it you will do this for
me, or will I have to end my service agreement with you?
”.

“I… will do it”. I said unwillingly,
but not wanting Camerine to lose a client.

Tenro walked away for a moment,
then came back holding onto a bunch of flowers with a note that read:

“Dear Markam,

My greatest
dreams, could not father a thought to the love I felt in your arms; your kiss as
astounding as the moon eclipsed. You have taken my heart and with my words I
give you the key. I Love you Markam”.

I sighed. Looking at the note
Tenro had written, I was about to destroy a relationship.

“Come on then Avis, no time like
the present”.

We walked out from his house,
down the always pristinely maintained path, to just before the ending of the
row of upper class homes. He pointed at the target house, telling me
demandingly what to do; now I can see why his wife died.

We waited
fifteen minutes until the door opened; he summoned his guards to follow him and
his wife around the city, giving me the opportunity to fulfil his request.

I was
affront of the house door, I pushed the key firmly into the hole and with quite
some force I turned it, opening the door, then hurriedly locking it behind me,
just in case they were to return unexpectedly.

 Walking
up the stairs I opened several doors until I found what I was searching for;
the sleeping quarters of Markam and his wife. The bed was enormous, almost
twice that of mine; There was a dressing table littered with perfumes that were
half full; obviously she was quite an undecided lady. The glossed mahogany
wardrobe lined the front wall, built in to provide extra support for the
ceiling above. I placed the flowers upon the edge of the bed, ready for the
upheaval when they both returned, which was sooner than I was expecting.

The
door downstairs gave the familiar sound of keys turning; I rushed into the
bathroom behind me, opening the cracked window, I could not let them see me; I
climbed up, squeezing through the window and into a gap smaller than I ever
thought I could possibly get through. I could hear them walking up the stairs,
discussing the few products they had bought and moaning about what was not available
today. With a scream of anger from the wife, I let go landing with a bounce
atop of the shrubbery below. He yelled in vain that he never met this woman. As
I made my way through the alley back to Tenro, I heard a slap so brutal, it
would have been able to shatter crystal.

Tenro
was stood grinning as I walked towards him, whilst trying to catch my breath.

“Brilliant work”. He said, I did
not feel as though it was. I turned to see Markam and his wife coming out of
their house; the tears rolled down her face, with words of bitter hatred
filling the street for all to hear.

We both walked past; Tenro looked
directly in the eyes of Markam, lifting his eyebrows as if to say ‘you mess
with me again and it will be a lot worse’. What an awful task I have just
undertaken, I have most likely ruined a marriage; I do not even know if they
have any children, but at the least I have broken love in two.

“That will be all for today Avis,
you have done wonders for my self-esteem; here have an extra fifty coin for a job
well done, I may see you later at the stadium,
good day
”.

There were more entertainers in
the centre of the city than usual, obviously trying to feed off from the event
of the day; earning extra coin for their troubles. I was quite intrigued by the
silver human statues; they had formed themselves into groups, merging
themselves to form different objects; often changing to the bewilderment of the
crowds watching. A group of fire breathers blew their flames dangerously close
to the children as they passed, catching and smouldering the hat of a well to
do individual; now that is a mistake they would have hoped would go unnoticed.

An artist was busy at work, drawing upon
multiple thin canvasses, creating the illusion that the ground had distorted
into something completely trivial; whether it was a deep hole, or stairway that
did not exist, his chalk knew no boundaries of creativity.

There
was a sign outside a newly renovated building, inviting all that dare to come
in and to try and find their way back out. Interested, I walked over.

“Will
you
dare
enter the upside down house? Where all you see is not what you
see”. Said the coin collector as he waved his hand and bowed down.

“Why not, I have time to
waste
”.

“Be careful, for the world may
never
see your face again; that will be five coin please”.

Often carnivals that came to
Malkaretz had similarly advertised venues, but they were portable, so not as
large as this one would be.

I walked up three steps, rounded
at the base, and entered through the door to the right hand side. It was dark
as midnight, but I could see a small light reflecting at the end of the
corridor; like a fantasy with an escape route. I went forward and with a loud
bang, a door slid from behind me blocking the way, causing echoes to follow. It
was now vividly bright. I could see nothing but corridor after corridor, scarce
of any features; this was truly a maze of an astronomical magnitude.

I walked forward, heading towards
the end of the first corridor, hoping to find a turning, but as fast I had
marched forward, what I saw never came to me, I just merely kept walking in a
never-ending parade of illusion. I began to run, but again, nothing. I looked
up to see my body from below; the dirt on my shoes was quite clearly visible, I
will have to clean them later I thought. Now looking down I could see myself
from above, what sort of trickery is this? I suppose nothing is surprising in
this
city. Turning around I began to walk, this time I actually seemed to be moving
to somewhere other than nowhere.

Looking back again, the first
place I was considering to go to had become much closer, yet also had the way I
was walking, how peculiar. Still walking I glanced back; I could see that with
every step forward that I took, no matter how insignificant, I came closer to
what was behind me. Now I knew how this place worked, it was not long before I
was outside, smiling at the coin collector; his face in disbelief that I had
managed to escape so quickly from his
trifling
creation.

The time had quickly passed by
without regard for anyone and it was closing in on mid-day. Camerine was
waiting outside the slaughterhouse, where I should have been really, but there
is always room for a little bit of fun, no matter how rushed I was.

“Hello Camerine, I see you are
here early, did you enjoy everything last night after I left?
”.

“Yes, thank you. Shame though
about all the scrubbing I have had to do this morning and I am not talking
about the pots. So how was Mr Bullwort?
”.

“Let us not go there, I will just
say I did things I am
not
proud of”.

We
walked towards the outskirts of the city, merging our paths into that of many
of the city folk. The stadium was much larger than I was expecting it to be,
reaching up like an entrance to the skies above; accessible only for a nominal
fee of course. There were several entrances on all sides, to help keep the flow
of people moving as best as they possibly could. Stands lined the outside of
the stadium selling all manner of food, creating a wave of never ending carnal
allures. We made our way to the front; pushing through many unorganised people,
whom were stood there, hopelessly counting their coin up, to see if they could
at all afford even the most basic of seats.

“Where are you to be seated?
”.
Said one of the ragged guards, who was collecting entry
fees; his tongue often sliding from one side to another, as fresh meat
walked
by.

“What seats are available?
”.
Camerine said with a quizzical look and a tilt of his
head.

“We have the grand tier, which
judging by your appearance, I am quite certain you cannot afford; so your
options are either the secondary tier at a hundred coin, or the seats for the
underprivileged
at twenty coin”.

“We will have the secondary tier
please; preferably in the corner closest to the grand tier”. I said as I passed
over two hundred coin to the guard”.

“I see,
very
good
, here are your passes; next”.

We walked through one of the many
gilded stone arches that acted as entrances to the stadium and sought out our
seats, which were marked by numbers and symbols

“So, why
did
you pay for
me Avis? You know I could have paid for the seat myself”.

“Well if I cannot treat a friend,
who can I treat?
”.
I said giving him a pat on the
shoulder.

The pink sky had drawn all the
clouds away from above the stadium; as if the gods were watching intently from
above, pinching away any stray clouds as they drifted by. There was chanting
among the crowds, as they became excited for the event(s); cheering for their
favourite individual(s).

“Silence”.

Hecate rose from her seat, her
voice magnified by her power for all to hear.

“May all here present, raise in
thanks that our great games have been possible again this year. You, as
citizens of this city, are the honouree guests and we thank you graciously for
permitting time from your drudgery to be with us today, to witness this
spectacular occasion”.

Hecate lifted up her arms,
embracing the fire within; it erupted, filling the stadium in flumes that rode
on the wings of immense birds, gently caressing the tips of paradises lost,
then shrinking into a single point, exploding in a colourful display of her
royal powers.

Musicians rode out, drawn by the
might of a hundred horses, all as white as the midwinter’s snow, uniformed in
stride and direction they routed their way around the stadium, giving rule unto
their music as it came into the world in faultless harmony. Then came the march
of many. The greatest conjurers of magick this city, possibly even the world,
had ever seen. The wizards of old, held tightly onto their staffs, necromancers
detained death in their clutches, witches rose up in an encirclement of
supremacy and then a loud call was made and all around departed.

The names of all were placed
inside a container; they spiralled within a whirlwind of light, hovering gently
down, waiting to be chosen. Hecate raised up the first two to do battle in the
event.