Red Hood's Revenge (21 page)

“I hope Father Uf’uyan was able to comfort your friend,” said Yasar, eyeing Roudette. She had pulled her robe back over her cape, but she moved like a warrior, not a leper. He was already moving toward the tunnel, no doubt to find Uf’uyan and try to learn what had blocked his attempt to spy on their conversation.

“I’m afraid she’s not one for comfort,” said Talia.

Snow glanced at Talia, who nodded. Snow smiled and followed Yasar back through the doorway.

She returned a short time later, a second, slightly battered mouse resting in her pouch with Uf’uyan. Snow stopped at the entrance to dip her hands in the water and wash her face. Transformation was a complex spell. Casting it twice in such short time was enough to bring her headache back in full force. She noticed the others watching her and forced a smile. “So where exactly would we find the raikh’s mansion?”

The heat made the pain even worse as she made her way out of the temple. She pulled her hood up to block the sun. The streets were noticeably less crowded than before.

“We’ll want to sneak in soon, if we can,” Talia said, leading them away. “Midday is the hottest part of the day. It’s a time of quiet, a time to enjoy a meal and a cool drink.”

The most obvious sign of wealth in the northern quarter was the abundance of water. The people here used water for decoration the way others used gold. Water fell past windows in tiny falls; it misted from grand fountains of black marble; it gleamed with reflected sunlight in long pools.

Humans and fairies alike hurried through the streets. A lamassu strode past, brown wings tucked back against her bull-shaped body. She barely seemed to notice the humans who backed aside, clearing a path for her.

“Do you think she’ll mind if I run up and pluck a feather?” Snow asked. “I’ve never seen a lamassu in real life, and I’d—”

“No.” Talia waited for the lamassu to pass, then pointed to a fresh pile in the street. “If you want a souvenir, you can take some of what she left behind.”

Snow made a face. Already a human boy was rushing out with a shovel to take care of the mess.

The raikh’s mansion sat on the end of its own road, surrounded by a stone wall. Men with curved swords stood unmoving at the gate, shaded only by the mulberry trees that grew alongside the road. Armor of overlapping metal rectangles, each the size of a playing card, covered the men from shoulder to mid-thigh.

The wall was little taller than the guards, topped by iron spikes. The mansion beyond was pure Arathean, with no sharp angles anywhere to be seen. The stone blocks fit together so cleanly the entire building appeared to have been cut from a single piece of orange sandstone.

The broad central structure was three stories, with a narrow tower in the back that rose twice as high. Secondary wings stretched forward from either side like arms reaching to encircle all who approached.

A small, circular balcony jutted out from the center of the building. Windows were thin but plentiful. Snow saw no glass, so it might have been possible to sneak in that way, if not for the difficulties of scaling the walls in the middle of the day.

“Rajil will have more men inside the doors,” Talia said.

“Human guards are the least of your worries.” Roudette pointed through the gate at the long, oval pool in front of the building. “Water nymphs. Three of them. They can’t stray too far from their fountain, but if they catch you, they’ll drag you under and drown you.”

By now, the two guards at the front gate were starting to pay attention to them. Talia stepped to the side of the road, into the thin shade of what smelled like a bath-house. “There will be guards around back as well, and the grounds don’t offer much in the way of concealment.”

“Where’s the garden?” Snow asked.

“Atop the central roof.” Talia cupped her eyes against the sun. “If you move back, you’ll be able to see the green of the trees peeking out over the walls on the roof.”

“Could Snow’s magic get us in?” Danielle asked. “What if you transformed us into birds?”

Snow laughed. “Have you ever flown before, Princess? Even if Roudette takes off that filthy cape long enough for me to cast the spell, it takes a long time to master wings. One wrong move and you’ll dash your brains against a wall.” She peered at the mansion, squinting until she discerned the ripple of fairy magic. “There are magical protections as well.”

“I was afraid of this.” Talia started back down the street, away from the mansion.

“Afraid of
what
?” Snow demanded. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up.”

Talia reached the intersection and glanced about, brows low. “When I was in Jahrasima, my . . . friends introduced me to other ways into various buildings. I was hoping to avoid them, but the sewers—”

“Arathea has sewers?” Danielle asked.

Talia made a face. “Another gift of the fairies. The lake circles Jahrasima, but there are a number of smaller reservoirs below the city. Hundreds of tunnels circulate clean water to the wells. Others carry waste to the edge of town, to be used as fertilizer on the farms.”

“I’m
not
breaking into a mansion smelling like sewage,” Snow said. “Can’t we go in through the wells?”

“Most wells are public.” Talia led them past a brown building that smelled like a bakery. “Even at midday, we’d never get in without being seen. The sewers are hidden away, out of sight. They’ll attract less attention.”

They ducked into an alley between the bakery and a butcher shop. Talia knelt beside a stone grate, the holes carved into the shape of a flower with oval petals around a central circle. The edges were stained a rusty brown.

Roudette wrinkled her nose. “Did I mention one of the gifts of the wolfskin is a strong sense of smell?”

Talia grabbed one side of the grate. “Roudette?”

Roudette growled deep in her chest, but she crouched to grab the other side. Together they wrenched the stone up and moved it to one side.

Snow tried one last time. “How do we know this will lead into the raikh’s mansion? She wouldn’t want a sewer grate within her own home.”

“She’ll have her own well,” Talia said. “The sewers will lead us to the reservoir.”

Snow blanched. “You mean the tunnels are all interconnected? Drinking water and sewage? What about the mist in the church? Please don’t tell me we were being sprayed with—”

“The wells are clean,” Talia assured her. “As pure as fairy magic can make them. The reservoir feeds the sewers, but the flow only goes in one direction. Come on, before someone finds us.”

Snow scowled. “This is the last time I let you plan the break-in.”

 

Talia stood with her feet braced on either side of the hole as she lowered Danielle into the darkness. She leaned forward, catching the edge of the hole with one hand. Danielle was heavier than she had been when she first escaped her stepmother, a result of better food, pregnancy, and the muscle she had gained from her training with Talia. “You should be able to see the bottom. It’s a short drop. Keep your legs bent.”

“I see it.” Danielle released Talia’s wrist, landing with a splash. Squishing footsteps followed.

Talia glanced around, but most people avoided these streets, especially at midday when the heat baked the sewers, filling the back alleys with scents even fairy magic couldn’t suppress. Talia took Snow’s wrist. “You’re always saying you want to learn more about magic. Don’t you want to see how the fairies built this place?”

“Some things I can learn from books.”

Talia lowered Snow into the sewer. This time Danielle was able to help Snow from below, preventing any unnecessary splashing.

Roudette was next, and then Talia grabbed the edge of the hole and swung in. Her feet kicked the far wall. She steadied herself, then dropped, legs going wide to catch the narrow walkways on either side of the sewer.

“We need to pull the grate back into place.” Talia grimaced and stepped into the flowing muck. Her sandals sank into what felt like a muddy stream, though mud had never smelled so foul. She laced her fingers together. “Roudette?”

Roudette put one foot in Talia’s hands and the other on her shoulder. Talia fought for balance as Roudette reached up through the hole. The grate slammed into place, showering them with grit and sand. Roudette jumped back down, splashing them all and earning a curse from Snow.

The only light came from overhead, illuminating a thin slice of the tunnel. Dried mud and worse caked the lower part of the walls. The floor was sunken like an oversized gutter, with narrow ledges on either side. Talia stepped back onto a ledge and dipped a foot into the water, trying to rinse the worst of the slime away, but it was a losing battle.

Snow’s choker brightened, the mirrors like tiny moons. Talia almost preferred the darkness. Patches of yellowed foam covered the water like fungus, broken only by unidentifiable lumps floating past.

“This way,” said Talia. Within a few steps, the sounds from the surface quieted until she could hear nothing but her own breathing and the trickle of the water flowing past.

Roudette sniffed the air. “We’re not alone down here.”

“How can you smell
anything
?” Snow shuddered.

“Sewer goblins.” Talia kept walking. “Most cities have an entire tribe. The goblins hunt rats and other vermin and keep the sewers from backing up. In exchange for this service, they get to keep whatever treasures might fall through the grates. They’re unpleasant creatures, and very territorial, but I’m told they have an artistic side. One of the merchants yesterday was selling goblin-made sculptures.”

“Made out of what?” Snow asked.

“You don’t want to know.”

Danielle wrinkled her nose. “Are they dangerous?”

“Individually, no.” Talia paused, head cocked as she tried to shut out the sounds of her companions. The sewer lines split off like tree branches grown wild, spreading out to follow every street in Jahrasima. Those splits were the most likely points for an ambush. “Even you would be more than a match for a single sewer goblin.”

“Thanks,” Danielle said dryly.

“The real danger comes after the fight,” Talia said. “Take a single scratch down here, and it’s likely to turn septic. If you don’t get to the sisterhood fast, you could end up losing a limb. The goblins also have the advantage of knowing these sewers better than anyone. Probably even better than the elementals who built them.”

Talia drew a dagger. The sewers were too cramped for swords. The splash of water marked where two tunnels merged up ahead. She studied the darkness, searching for the telltale gold reflections of goblin eyes. The brighter light from Snow’s choker would help her spot them, but it would also be a beacon to the goblins.

“Can’t we talk to them?” Danielle asked. “We’re the ones invading their homes.”

“Exactly,” said Talia. “They believe anything in the sewers belongs to them. Including us. Fortunately, they’re cowards. They’ll attack a lone target, but an armed group should send them running. Probably.”

Roudette readied her hammer as an animal scream filled the tunnel. The cries of sewer goblins reminded Talia a little of cats in heat. Another scream answered far behind them.

“This place just keeps getting better,” said Snow.

Talia hurried forward, but the goblin was gone by the time she reached the other tunnel. Fading splashes marked its retreat. Talia kept walking until she reached a square column of sunlight that marked another grate. She listened for a moment, trying to make sure she hadn’t lost her bearings. Dark stains marked the walls, random lines and smears with no meaning to anyone except the goblins who had drawn them.

“At least they’re running away,” said Danielle.

“Maybe.” Sewer goblins could move through the muck without a sound. The only reason to raise such a racket was to lure their prey after them. “Or else they’re running to fetch reinforcements.”

The mansion was only a short distance away, but movement was slower in the cramped tunnels. The stones of the ledges were slick and occasionally loose. One gave way beneath Talia’s foot, splashing into the water. Without her gifts, she could have easily broken an ankle.

“Stay in the middle of the tunnel,” Talia said, splashing forward. She wouldn’t put it past the goblins to have loosened certain stones deliberately as traps. She paused at another junction, hesitating only a moment before choosing the upstream tunnel. The water flowed more strongly here, meaning she was getting closer to the raikh’s personal reservoir.

Roudette’s hammer scraped the wall as she turned. “More of them coming up behind us. This place is worse than the Fairy Queen’s labyrinth.”

The water was higher here but also cleaner, the smell of human waste less overpowering. Sewer goblins continued to cry out, the sounds echoing all around them. More importantly, their screams blocked out the more subtle noises of their fellow goblins sneaking up the tunnels.

“Should we remind them we’re armed?” Snow asked. “Someone once told me that should be enough to send them running.”

“There are more than I remember.” Talia peeked around another bend in the tunnel. “They’ve never been this bold before.”

Roudette turned around and roared, the sound so unexpected Talia nearly planted a knife in her throat. It was enough to scare the goblins into silence.

“Don’t do that again.” Talia pressed herself against the wall. Up ahead, she heard a faint dripping sound, almost like rain. “The whole point of taking the sewers was to sneak in. The goblins are bad enough, but their cries shouldn’t draw much attention. They shout and fuss every time they find something larger than a rat. But if anyone hears you, we’ll find ourselves climbing right into a group of Rajil’s guards.”

She turned right, and the flow grew strong enough to wash most of the filth from her sandals. Beams of light from overhead marked another sewage grate, this one carved like a sun with nine wavy beams. That sun meant they had crossed beneath the wall and were within the boundaries of the raikh’s home. “We’re close.”