The Grim Company (29 page)

They didn’t seem so far-fetched now.

Where Dorminia slumped in a chaotic mass of buildings shoved together so haphazardly that they seemed likely to collapse in a shower of grey stone, Thelassa was a soaring testament to the vision of the most skilled architects of the Age of Strife. Delicate towers reached for the clouds, framing wide avenues of white marble that gleamed in the morning sun. Lining the flawless streets were trees and shrubbery cultivated into wondrous shapes: griffins and unicorns and other beasts that were said to have roamed the world before the Godswar. Now the forests north and west of the Trine held nothing but scattered game, and even they were beginning to disappear.

‘It’s like a dream,’ he whispered, awestruck. He despised Salazar more than ever then, for his grey city and the grim, tyrannical rule that bled the life from his subjects. Here, in this place, was proof that humanity was not beyond redemption.

‘Get your hands off me, you pox-ridden whore,’ snarled an angry voice, and he turned to see Three-Finger being prodded along the ramp connecting the ship to the docking platform where he waited.

‘You’re alive!’ Cole exclaimed. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. The other man looked up and grunted in acknowledgment. Others survivors from the
Redemption
began to emerge onto the deck, but before he could identify individual faces a firm hand took hold of his arm and pulled him around.

He gasped. The grip was ridiculously strong and unnaturally cold. The hand withdrew almost immediately, but it left a burning pain where it had touched his flesh. He looked up into the face of the pale woman who had addressed him when he had first regained consciousness aboard
The Lady’s Luck
. Cole had come to understand she was the ship’s captain.

‘You will accompany me to the White Lady,’ she said. ‘Please do not try to escape. You would not get far and the consequences would be unpleasant.’

Cole rubbed at his arm. The woman’s touch had left him feeling slightly nauseous. ‘I’m on your side,’ he said reproachfully. ‘I despise Salazar. Nothing would please me more than to see him brought down.’

The captain stared back at him with a blank expression. ‘That is for my mistress to judge. Keep close to me. The palace is not far.’

Cole did as he was ordered, trailing the captain as they passed down a broad promenade lined with oak and elm; at an intersection they branched off to the right, cutting through the shadow of a pair of large humanoid statues with the heads of bulls.

The sense of wonder that had filled him on seeing the city for the first time had turned to awe. He inhaled deeply, marvelling at the myriad floral scents that filled his nostrils instead of the stench of human effluence that permeated the Grey City.

How have they managed it? A city the size of Dorminia, yet it smells like a garden.

They passed men and women who glanced at them curiously. Rather than the scowls that were a permanent feature of most Dorminians, the faces of these Thelassans wore content expressions. One man smiled, bowing slightly to the captain of
The Lady’s Luck
. Cole noticed other women like her, pale as ghosts and with eyes that seemed to lack any hint of colour. All of them wore the long white robes of their order.

He glanced up often as they walked, admiring the towers that rose majestically into the sky. They were tall, thin structures, rendering the Obelisk an ugly and stunted thing in comparison. He concluded that they must belong to the nobility and ruling classes. However, unlike Dorminia, where the Noble Quarter was strictly sequestered from the rest of the city, here small residences and towers stood side by side. Even the humblest buildings were attractively designed, constructed from the white marble that comprised the vast majority of Thelassa’s buildings.

They passed close to a modest estate with angelic effigies smiling beatifically down upon them. For a moment Cole thought he heard the sounds of crying from within. The captain quickened her step and they were soon out of range.

Eventually they approached the centre of the city. The passing crowds thinned and in their place stood Sumnian warriors wearing leather vests and carrying swords, spears and other weapons of war. Cole couldn’t help but stare at the soldiers, who were blacker of skin than even the darkest Gharzian merchants that sometimes visited Dorminia.

There were hundreds of them. They patrolled the streets with furrowed brows, clearly impatient to see to some action – a direct contrast to the placid Thelassans, who kept their distance. The woman who had guarded his cabin back on
The Lady’s Luck
noticed his confusion.

‘You are surprised to see so many foreigners here. These Sumnians are my mistress’s hired swords. They are unmatched in the arts of war. Dorminia has no hope of withstanding them.’

Cole was inclined to agree. Dorminia’s Augmentors were an elite force, ruthless and deadly, but they were few in number. The Crimson Watch was little more than a collection of thugs and degenerates. Against an army of Sumnians, they would crumble like sand.

‘The palace is close at hand,’ said the captain just ahead of him. ‘You will show humility in the presence of our glorious mistress. Bow down and avert your gaze until you are asked to do otherwise. And do not speak unless you are commanded.’

Cole nodded in response. Yet again fate had intervened to put him on the path to his ultimate destiny. He was certain the White Lady would be impressed by this brave young rebel marching into the palace and pledging his blade to her cause.

He reached down for Magebane, a split second before he remembered, yet again, that it was in the hands of Brodar Kayne.

With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and prepared for an audience with the fabled White Lady of Thelassa.

‘You’ve prostrated yourself for quite long enough.’

He straightened, managing not to wince at the sudden lancing pain in his bruised ribs. His eyes were immediately drawn to the figure upon the ivory throne on the raised dais in the centre of the chamber. Sunlight filtered through a window set high in the arched ceiling directly overhead, bathing her in a radiant glow. His breath caught in his chest.

The White Lady wore an exquisite gown of the palest silk, so translucent he fancied he could see her curves beneath the fabric. Her platinum-blond hair was light enough to appear almost silver and framed a face so perfect the finest sculptors would have wept gazing upon it. Her skin was as flawless as the marble beneath his feet. He stood there, mouth agape, transfixed by her unearthly beauty.

Movement to both sides of the White Lady drew Cole’s attention away from the intoxicating sight. To her left, up on the dais with her, a gigantic black-skinned Sumnian stood with arms folded. To the right of the Magelord, a gangly woman of middling years cleared her throat and looked pensive.

‘Avert your eyes, maggot!’ commanded the massive warrior in an absurdly deep voice. He was head, shoulders and most of a chest taller than Cole, the biggest man the young Shard had ever set eyes on. Pink scars crisscrossed his prodigiously muscled body, which was naked from the waist up. The giant Sumnian carried a golden spear topped by a wickedly curved blade, and he pointed it at Cole before taking a single huge stride onto the first step leading down from the dais.

Cole felt very alone all of a sudden. The giant Sumnian took another step.

‘Enough, General,’ ordered the White Lady. Her voice was soft and perfectly modulated and carried effortlessly across the chamber. ‘Our guest is clearly unfamiliar with our customs.’ She turned her face to Cole and he gasped. Her eyes were a violet hue unlike any he had ever seen before.

‘In Thelassa, a man does not stare at a woman with such lust in his eyes. Not unless she welcomes the attention.’ She glanced at the massive Sumnian beside her, meeting his gaze and holding it for longer than was strictly necessary to make her point. The man’s answering smile was huge and proud. She turned back to Cole. ‘You will learn our ways in time.’

‘Heed the words of the mistress, maggot,’ the Sumnian said, gesturing again with his spear. ‘Or I will tear your eyes from their sockets.’

The White Lady lifted a perfect hand. ‘Thank you, General.’ She turned her gaze back to Cole. ‘I understand you were rescued from a Dorminian ship. What were you doing on the Swell?’

Cole took a deep breath. This was his moment. He needed to make a good impression. ‘We were sent there to mine for magic,’ he said. ‘Most of the men on board were prisoners and had no choice in the matter.’

‘You were one such prisoner?’

He nodded. ‘There were two ships. The
Redemption
and
Red Bounty
. I was on the former.’

‘My captain tells me the ships had become separated. It appears you were fleeing your captors before the Swell capsized you.’

Cole rolled his shoulders. ‘It turns out they’d bitten off more than they could chew with a few of the prisoners.’ He placed his hands together and pushed his palms outwards, giving his fingers a good crack for effect. ‘One in particular. Some men just refuse to be chained.’

The White Lady raised an eyebrow. The gesture was so ridiculously perfect that he couldn’t stop himself from ogling the Magelord with undisguised admiration. The Sumnian general scowled. ‘I warned you, maggot.’

Cole decided he’d had enough of being called a maggot.

‘My name is Davarus Cole,’ he declared. ‘I am the son of Illarius Cole, a hero of great renown. I was eight years old when I witnessed my father murdered by Salazar’s men. I swore that, one day, I would see the bastard dead. I stand before you not as an enemy – but as a friend.’

The woman to the right of the White Lady looked up suddenly. ‘
Illarius Cole?
’ she said. There was a strange edge to her voice, but her accent was unmistakably that of Dorminia.

The White Lady appeared not to have heard her. ‘I have three thousand Sumnian warriors under the command of brave General Zahn here. My spies in the Grey City provide all the intelligence I could possibly need. What can you offer that I don’t already have?’

Cole frowned. This wasn’t going quite as he had planned.

‘You’re probably not aware,’ he ventured, ‘but I belong to a rather important organization – a rebel group that opposes Salazar at every turn.
The Shards
. Your spies may have heard of us.’

The White Lady said nothing. She turned to the tall woman next to her, who whispered something and then shook her head.

‘It appears not,’ the Magelord said. Cole’s shoulders sagged.

There was a commotion behind him and suddenly
Three-Finger
was brought into the throne room and shoved forwards to stand beside Cole. His scabby face was covered in bruises and a stream of bloody snot dribbled from his right nostril. Clearly he had ignored the captain’s instructions not to attempt an escape.

‘And who is this?’ the White Lady asked.

‘His name’s Three-Finger,’ Cole replied quickly, before the convict had a chance to reply. ‘He’s my henchman.’

Three-Finger shot him an annoyed glance. ‘I’m not your henchman.’

Cole decided to ignore that. ‘Tell her how I saved you all, Three-Finger. Tell them about my plan.’

Three-Finger shrugged. ‘What do you want me to say? They don’t care about us, kid. Once we’re done being questioned they’ll have us both killed.’

The White Lady waved a finger and suddenly Three-Finger floated up into the air, his arms and legs pinned in place. He gasped and cursed as he rotated slowly around. The sight was almost comical.

‘You make a strange pair,’ the Magelord observed. ‘An arrogant youth and a rapist. I’ve always believed one can tell a person’s nature by the company they keep. Now, what to do with you both…’ She tapped a manicured finger against her perfect lips.

General Zahn smiled, revealing a mouth filled with golden teeth. He placed his spear on the floor. ‘Hand them each a blade,’ he pronounced as he straightened. ‘I’ll have at least one new scar to add to my collection before I put them out of their misery.’ He pointed at his massive chest, where knitted flesh formed a tapestry dedicated to countless battles won.

Cole gulped. Three-Finger was a large enough fellow, but General Zahn made even the Urich brothers look like children in comparison. He doubted whether a half-dozen trained soldiers could have overcome this huge Sumnian – with or without a weapon.

‘Wait.’

Everyone looked at the speaker. It was the scholarly woman with whom the White Lady had consulted a moment ago.

‘Forgive me, mistress, but this boy’s father was known to me. I would question him further, with your leave.’

The Magelord nodded her assent. General Zahn looked profoundly disappointed.

‘Tell me, Davarus Cole. What do you remember of your father?’ She was a remarkably plain woman, but there was a quiet strength to her that commanded respect.

‘I know that he was a great man,’ Cole replied proudly. Garrett had not spoken much of his father, probably out of shame that he had never managed to step out from his shadow. ‘He died fighting three Augmentors. Before he passed away he gave me his magical dagger, Magebane. It was his final gift. One day I shall use it to avenge his death.’

All of a sudden he remembered the green quartz crystal Garrett had presented to him when he joined the Shards. He had surrendered that particular gift himself, had hurled the crystal into a fire in a fit of anger. He regretted that now. Garrett wasn’t a great man like his father, but he had done the best he could.

He felt tears threatening. Embarrassment warred with sadness. Perhaps he
had
been unfair to the old merchant. He had the sudden urge to return to Dorminia and put things right between them.

‘And your mother?’ the woman continued, interrupting his moment of weakness.
Get a hold of yourself
, Cole thought.
Heroes don’t cry
.

‘She died giving birth to me.’

Sophia had been the only child of a successful shipwright. She and Cole’s father had met when they were both young. With her unfortunate death, Sophia had left her husband a considerable estate inherited from her own wealthy father. Illarius and young Davarus Cole had lived there alone but for their maid, who had helped raise him during his father’s frequent absences. He had never learned what exactly it was that his father did for a living. Not until the moment of his death.