The Crimson League (The Herezoth Trilogy) (7 page)

“Hey you,” Sedder greeted Kora. Her jaw nearly dropped to look at him. He was in a shorn brown male’s wig, a different style from the one the day before, and he looked…. He looked nice. Elegant. Longer hair brought out his eyes, and made his cheekbones more pronounced. He drew her aside.

“Don’t forget about that shield you summoned yesterday. Use it if you need it.”

“I will,” said Kora.

“Be careful,” Sedder told her. “And change that bandana, it looks awful.”

“That’s why I came back in here. What do you think? Blue?”

“Brown,” said Sedder. He handed Kora a length of cloth. She had never seen his lips so thin.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “The League knows my limitations. I talked to them yesterday, when you were off with Bennie. Look, Sedder, I’m taking this dead seriously.”

Immediately, Kora regretted her choice of phrasing. A shade of color faded from Sedder’s cheeks, and he said, “You’re the most responsible person I know. I trust you won’t do something stupid, but that doesn’t guarantee…. Just be careful, all right?”

Kora took him by surprise in a loose, one-armed embrace. “You already told me that. I’ll be careful, I promise. But what about you? Take care of yourself. I expect you to be waiting when my group gets to Yangerton.”
             

* * *

Noon had nearly arrived when Kora, Menikas, Lanokas, and Ranler drew within sight of the makeshift base. The elite guard had requisitioned an old farmhouse past the hills, one almost falling apart. The roof was missing shingles and the walls’ brown paint was flaking off, revealing a blackened white coat beneath. “There shouldn’t be many men here,” Menikas whispered. “They’re out looking for Kora. Which is why,” he tossed as an afterthought, “she really shouldn’t be here.”

Lanokas said, “She
is
here, so let it be.”

Kora felt her resolve wane. The crossbow she held ready fell to her side. She knew her voice was weak, but could not strengthen it. “I didn’t ask to come. I was told to. Laskenay told me to, and you agreed.”

Menikas countered, “I agreed too soon. The guards will want nothing more than for you to make their lives easier by paying them a call. You know what they think you are?”

Kora adjusted her bandana. Lanokas glanced worriedly at Ranler, and told his brother, “Let it be. We’ve a job to do. She’s been no liability up to this point, has she?”

If the conversation confused Ranler, or piqued his curiosity, the man kept his reaction to himself. He seemed nothing but anxious to move on, and whispered for the brothers and Kora to follow him.

They crept down low, following the path that gave the most cover, moving through overgrown weeds. The most direct route it was not, but the safest, yes, assuming they met no snakes in the growth; Kora tried not to think about snakes. When they reached the last stretch of land, they were facing the back of the house Zalski’s men had commandeered. The closest wall had a barred door and two square windows, large ones, one of which held broken panes.

“That’s our in,” said Ranler.

They had one last stretch of grass to cross, grass tall enough to hide them if they crawled. Kora went last. She felt awkward clasping a crossbow, forcing herself onward with her elbows, but exhilarated as well. She succeeded in forgetting the snakes; no panic gripped her heart. She found she was alert and thinking clearly, two things she never accomplished when frightened. Maybe, she thought, she was cut out for this work after all.

The going was slow. Ranler led the group, but when they neared the house he let the brothers overtake him, and after what felt like hours the four Leaguesmen reached the broken window. Soundlessly, Lanokas and Menikas took stations on either side of it. Kora was far enough off that glancing up she could see two men in uniform, black uniform, sitting at a table with books, stray pieces of parchment, and two iron candlesticks. Lanokas looked at her and mouthed, “How many?” Kora held up two fingers.

Menikas dared a glance inside; the guardsmen kept to their work, flipping pages, taking the occasional note. After a second he drew back and signaled Lanokas. At Kora’s nod, both nobles peered in as Menikas had done before and waved their hands. The candlesticks lifted off the table and collided, with a sickening thud, with the soldiers’ skulls, giving them no time to cry out. One slumped forward on the table, while the other toppled sideways. The candlesticks dropped with a clang.

Lanokas jumped through the window. The others followed. Kora noticed, with mixed emotion, that the guardsmen’s chests were rising and falling evenly. Would the League finish them off? Would Menikas order Kora to? She couldn’t, she
wouldn’t
…. But what if the men…?

“They might come to,” Ranler barked. “Tie them up.” Lanokas had ten feet of rope at his side and cut off some stretches for Kora, who tied the man still sitting in his chair. She bound his wrists, praying the task might be a sign no one would kill him. Why trouble with rope and knots if they meant to slit his throat?

Kora moved on to his ankles; one was missing. An elite guardsman with a wooden leg? No wonder he was here and not part of the hunt. She tied his ankle to the false limb and then his upper body to the chair back. To look at him made her nauseated, but she could not pull her ey
es away.

She studied his face. H
e had thick gray hair, matted with blood where the candlestick
had
struck him above the temple, and a silver goatee that looked dull against his uniform’s fresh black dye. He had seen some action in his day
, as
scars peppered his right cheek and ran down his arm.

In the meantime, Menikas had helped Ranler hoist the other man back up, so Lanokas could bind him. They had only just finished when another guardsman entered, attracted by the noise.

Kora could tell at once why he was one of the elite guard. He held his sword ready and reacted immediately when Ranler shot an arrow, dodging the projectile by flying straight up. He hovered for a second, taking in the scene.

Kora aimed the crossbow she had lugged through the fields. The guardsman, who was twice her size, lunged at her from six feet up before the brothers’ magic hurled him back against a bookshelf, the only one present. The piece of furniture collapsed, sending planks of wood and piles of tomes crashing down on him. Menikas guarded the door while the others dug the soldier out. When they reached him, Ranler felt his neck for a pulse.

“No need to tie up this one. We can use his sword, though,” and the thief pulled the blade from the pile.

The head of the League said, “I’ll search the house, with Ranler, make sure there’s no one else. You two stay here and find out what Zalski’s after. We’ll knock along the wall when we head back.”

Kora scanned the room she stood in, her companions’ footsteps ringing in her ears. The place was completely derelict. Rot had set into the floorboards, and two wooden posts that supported the ceiling had splits and grooves. The only furniture beside the table and chairs was the wreckage of what used to be the shelf.

Lanokas went through the pile of books, while Kora set eyes on the table. She set down her crossbow and grabbed the parchment one of the guards had been writing on. It was a list of places in the area, most of which had substantial collections of antiques: the Hogarane Museum, the Duke of Hornsby’s old vacation home, a number of little shops scattered throughout the village. Some had lines drawn through them, wet lines. Kora started when her gaze fell across the word “riverbank” printed in a plain, masculine script. Someone had struck it through.

She said, “Whatever they’re after, it’s old. It looks like they’re doing a pretty thorough search.”

“Look at these books,” said Lanokas. He held up random tomes he had not yet examined, reading the titles as he went. “
A History of Sorcery
.
Spellbooks of the Ancients
.
The Book of the Book: the Librette Oscure
.” His face went dark. “Zalski can’t be…. Not the
Librette
!”

“What are you talking about?”

“
The Librette Oscure
. The most famous spellbook ever written. A dark sorcerer, a Hansrelto, composed it centuries ago. Tell me you’ve heard….”

“I’ve heard of Hansrelto’s revolt. Just not the book.”

“Rumor says it has the worst spells known to man, but no one’s sure. It disappeared after his revolt, or before, to be more accurate. He took no chance of his enemy taking it. If Zalski gets his hands on it….”

“He’d be unstoppable, utterly unstoppable.” Kora grabbed
The Book of the Book
from Lanokas. It was a leather-bound tome. “We should take this,” she said. “And you should keep your hands free.”

Kora leafed though the manuscript, placing it on the table. The ink was faded, hardly legible. Then she found a page with the corner turned down.

“They marked this section, look….”

“Read it.”

“‘Before his revolt, Hansrelto is believed not only to have hidden his book, but to have placed a powerful enchantment over it, so that only one worthy of its secrets would discover it. If legend holds true, the
Librette Oscure
alters its shape and form, waiting in disguise for its future rightful owner, who alone will recognize it for what it is.’”

She fell silent. The same heavy footsteps that had earlier faded now sounded again down the hall, mixed with crisp knocks.

Menikas announced upon his entry, “We found nothing. Well, no
one
. We picked up a list of names, and I recognize some. They’re all dead.”

“How about here?” asked Ranler.

Lanokas told his brother, “Zalski’s after the
Librette
.”

Menikas turned white. “He can’t be.”

“Wilhem said this was something big.”

“Come on,” said Kora. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Should we leave an arrow?” asked Lanokas. “Let them know to whom they owe the pleasure?”

Menikas shook his head. “Keep Zalski guessing. Let that pinprick of doubt bore into him.”

“I like it,” said Ranler. He maneuvered his way through the window, followed by the brothers. Kora took up her crossbow. She handed
The Book of the Book
to Lanokas and was about to climb through after him when something stirred at he
r back and she whirled around.

T
he man with the peg leg, the man she had tied, was coming to. They stared at each other, his eyes dull but horribly alert. Shivering, Kora slipped through the square-shaped hole in the wall and joined her fellow Leaguesmen.

445

CHAPTER FOUR

Of Cards and Cage

It was dark by the time Kora’s group reached Yangerton. They lodged their horses at an inn with stables, an inn they planned to leave thereafter, in the heart of the city. Kora had never heard of people abandoning their mounts that way, but then, she had never come this far north. She had never ventured into a city larger than Hogarane, if Hogarane could be called a city, and Yangerton was home to hundreds of thousands. At any rate, the League’s request did not startle the innkeeper. He was happy to take their money, from what Kora could make out through the establishment’s grungy window. She still needed false papers, so she waited outside, fascinated by the throngs of passersby and the narrow, winding streets wedged between walls of stone that were buildings of a height she had never contemplated.

A different side of Yangerton greeted Kora when her group rejoined her. As they left downtown she saw no cottages like she expected; the people took rooms in long brick structures that were four stories tall, covered with shuttered windows, and all looked exactly the same, at least to Kora’s unstudied eye. None were in the best of conditions, but she gazed at them with longing, hoping to spend the night indoors and on a mattress. Cobblestones paved the busy streets, which were worn down and so filthy they were not a far cry from the dirt roads back at home.

To keep the Leaguesmen in sight was a battle in itself. More than once the area’s sheer congestion blocked them from Kora’s view, and if not for the sacks they carried she might have lost her companions completely. She kept a hand on top her wig, afraid it might come loose if she were jostled, but the throng had its merits. The two soldiers who crossed her path never noticed her. In fact, Kora doubted they distinguished any individual from another.

After several twists and turns and doublings back, Menikas and his brother entered one of the lodging houses. Ranler slunk back to wait for Kora, who was less than thrilled to speak with him.

“Is this where we’re staying?” she asked.

“I took rooms here years ago, under an alias. It ended up being the perfect place for us.”

So Ranler used to stash loot here. Why else would he need an alias? Kora looked at him, suppressing her disgust, then passed into a corridor covered with a dirt-packed rug. Plain wooden doors lined both sides of the wall.

“Is this where we stay? Normally, I mean?”

“When we’re in Yangerton. It’s hard to avoid Podrar, if you understand.”

They went up a staircase with a rickety handrail. The second floor’s hall looked identical to the first. The brothers stood before the third door on the right.

Ranler had secured for the resistance a three-room living space. The main room, where the entrance was, had gray carpet in much better condition than the rugs outside. A fireplace and brick chimney were set in the far wall, unused, near a small circular table. Doors stood closed to the right and left. The other Leaguesmen were sitting in mismatched chairs and stools or on the floor. They had changed into fresh clothes and washed, doing away with their disguises. Laskenay was wearing a dress for the first time since Kora met her, a simple white frock with long, flowing sleeves. She looked more elegant—and more out of place—than ever. Sedder jumped up when Kora entered, but his reaction was nothing to Bendelof’s.

“Thank goodness!” she cried, nearly toppling her stool. “It was getting so late!”

“What did you find?” asked Laskenay. Her voice was quiet, as though she were conscious of the adjoining lodgings.

“Zalski wants the
Librette
,” said Menikas. Lanokas tossed the tome he had stolen to Laskenay.

“That’s not good,” she said, flipping
The Book of the Book
to examine both covers. “That isn’t good at all.”

Lanokas echoed her general opinion. “From what I know, Hansrelto lived in this area, between Yangerton and Hogarane. Chances are the book never left. It’s somewhere, and it’s disguised.”

“We’re talking about a spellbook, then?” said Sedder.

Neslan looked confused. “How would a book be disguised?”

“Read the page with the folded tip,” said Kora. Laskenay read the passage about the book’s enchantment aloud. A horrified silence followed.

“We’ll never find it,” said Kansten. “It’s impossible.”

Neslan said, “At least I can’t see Zalski getting his hands on it either.”

Bendelof disagreed. “It’s waiting for a rightful owner, that’s what Laskenay just read. This Hansrelto, he was a dark sorcerer, right? Spent his time gaining power. He sounds a lot like Zalski. This enchantment could bring Zalski the book.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Laskenay. “The enchantment may change the book’s appearance, but it’s still a book at the core. An inanimate object. It has no control over who finds it. Zalski seems to think the book’s in Hogarane, do we know why?”

“There was nothing to say for sure,” said Kora. “Maybe he’s starting there because it’s smaller. Rule out the village before trying Yangerton….”

“That sounds like him,” said Lanokas. “Methodical. Thorough. There was even a list of places to search, some marked as cleared.” He pulled it from his pocket. Kora was surprised; he had snatched it from the base without her seeing. “The elites have at least another week of searching.”

Laskenay nodded. “If he’s taking Hogarane then we’ll take Yangerton, and pray the
Librette
’s here. My guess is it would seem an older object, something from Hansrelto’s time, maybe with a marking to reveal its true identity. Ranler, you’re from this city. Where should we go?”

Ranler thought for a moment. “There’s a couple of museums,” he said. “They’ll be difficult to search, though.”

Menikas caught his eye. “You’ll take those, with a few of your old friends.”

“And antique shops, hundreds. Some fortunetellers have really old wares too. I know of one for certain, a man named Markulas near the outskirts, but people like that would recognize the
Librette
.”

Laskenay said, “We can’t take chances. Zalski will learn of the raid. He’ll guess what we’re up to and send the guard here, to look for us. They’ll know the kinds of places we’ll
be searching. We have a week. T
o be safe, I’d say five days. How many people can we call on to help, Menikas?”

“There are eighty here besides the nine of us, but they’re intercepting those jewel and weapons shipments. With the intelligence gathering that entails, they need everyone they can get, but I’ll go to Galisan tomorrow.”

“Who?” said Kora.

“The man in charge of the weapons operation,” said Menikas. “He can spare twenty people, I should think.”

“That’s something,” said Laskenay. “Listen, Menikas and I should discuss all this. Those who came with me, head back to the rooms across the street. We’re too crowded here. Menikas will join you later.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Neslan. “I’m exhausted.” He, Kansten, and Bendelof left.

“You have other rooms?” asked Kora.

Menikas said, “Galisan got them. Zalski still doesn’t know he’s connected with us. He can show his face where most of us would be arrested on sight.”

“How do you afford all this?”

Lanokas said, “More than one of us are nobles, remember? We didn’t leave Podrar empty-handed.”

“There’s a wash basin and fresh water in that room,” said Laskenay, pointing to the right, “if anyone cares to freshen up.”

“Ladies first,” Lanokas told Kora. Sedder had lagged behind, but he motioned her to the washroom as the League’s two heads shut themselves away through the opposite door. When Kora stepped out, Ranler took her place. Sedder pulled her aside, speaking low so that Lanokas would not overhear.

“Today went well?” he asked.

Kora tried not to think about the dead man, or the scarred and legless man she had tied up. “As well as it could have.”

“Did you change your mind about all this? You don’t have to be here. Listen, I stopped by my cottage on the way out of Hogarane to grab that money….”

“I’m not going to Traigland. I can’t go there, I told you yesterday. I don’t know that I fit in here exactly, but it’s better than there, a million times better. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate….”

“As long as that’s how you really feel.”

“It is. It truly is.”

“All right then. I won’t bring it up again. I should probably head off, I think you’re staying here.”

Kora nodded, pulling him into a tight but short embrace. Sedder squeezed her shoulder on his way out. She stared after him, and needed a minute to realize Lanokas had taken his place beside her. She took a deep breath.

“How did I do today?” she asked.

“You did great.”

“I didn’t do much of anything.”

“You did what we told you, without losing your head. That’s more than most of us could say of our first missions.”

“I bet Sedder was worried sick.”

“I saw him jump up when you walked in,” Lanokas admitted. “You’ve known him a long time, you said?”

“Since before I could walk. We’d probably be engaged by now, if these past few years….” She paused. “Do you remember what he said last night? When Laskenay said he was welcome to join the League?”

“Something about you, wasn’t it?” Lanokas looked quizzical for about three seconds, and then his eyes widened, and Kora could sense, with great relief, that he understood her fears for her friend, her guilt on his behalf. He slid over a stool for her and hoisted himself on a second.

“I had Neslan bring Brianna a letter when the League was forming. I could have asked her to join me, couldn’t I? I had to be where I was. But I couldn’t endanger her. Sedder, now…. He happened to be with you when you were flung in the midst of this. You never asked him to stay. He chose not to leave, and that’s not your responsibility. Kora, his being here has its risks, but at least he’s with you.”

“I’ve been trying to tell myself all that. It makes more sense to hear someone else say it. It sounds truer.”

“Sedder’s not a child. He’s older than you are, isn’t he?”

“Two years.”

“He’s here of his own volition, for a slew of reasons. Why are
you
here? How much time would you need to explain that?”

“At least five minutes. Maybe ten.”

“Sedder’s the same way. You think he’s here because of you, and he is. Partly. You think that soldier humiliating him had nothing to do with his decision? The taxes he paid on his parents’ estate?”

“Zalski took three-fourths of what they had.”

“Exactly. That amount, it’s exorbitant. It’s indefensible.”

“Thank you,” said Kora. “Thanks for everything, I’d be losing my mind without someone to talk to.”

“Well, I needed to tell someone who’s not Neslan about Brianna.”

Kora stared at him. “No one else knows? Not your brother?”

“We hadn’t told anyone we planned to marry, remember?”

“It’s been two years since then.”

“It was easier to say nothing. It felt almost natural to talk to you once I got started, though. You weren’t a part of that past.”

At that moment, Laskenay opened the left-hand door. “Can I speak with you, Kora?”

Kora made her way to the other room; she passed Menikas, who joined his brother and shut the door with a wave of his hand. Once inside, the first thing Kora noticed were mattresses propped against the wall. “Thank heavens,” she thought.

“I’ve been talking with Menikas. We have to start searching for that book tomorrow, all of us. The fortuneteller Ranler mentioned, would you start with him? He’s the most distant. You can visit some others as you make your way back.”

“That sounds like a good way to do it,” said Kora, intrigued despite herself. She had never been to a fortuneteller.

“Would you mind going with Kansten?”

All sense of anticipation faded. Kora hoped she looked less surprised, and reluctant, than she felt. “I can do that,” she conceded. “If you need me to.”

“Kansten takes time to warm up to people, and I thought it might benefit you both to spend the day together. I can send you with someone else….”

“No,” said Kora. “We do need to trust each other, and well, we don’t. Not yet we don’t. Thank you for talking to me about this, though.”

Laskenay said, “You’re doing wonderfully, after the way you met us. If you could have seen how petrified you looked in that forest…. I had mixed feelings about you going with Menikas today, but sheltering you would have been a mistake. I hope it wasn’t too much. That was never my intention.”

“It wasn’t,” said Kora. “The raid actually made me see that I have what this takes. Possibly. In some strange way I haven’t yet figured out.”

Laskenay smiled. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“There is one thing,” said Kora. “I have no idea where to find this man you’re sending me to.”

“His name is Markulas.”

* * *