Chapter Twenty-Three

[cityofthehand]

<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>

---

Chapter Twenty-Three


Maira rose before first light with the sky the same color as the dark blue ashes Shadow had covered his hands with. She sat in bed a long time, staring between the shutter slats and wondering what to do. Three days remained but each seemed an impossible length of time, longer than even the winged races lived. She honestly could not assure herself she would live and the thought rattled her deeply.

The sky lightened and Maira thought, Well, that’s one less sunrise to get through, that’s something. Too restless to return to sleep, she dressed herself in complete silence and snuck into the sitting room. Naran lay curled up on the couch with a long arm draping over the edge. Long legs and feet peeked under the too-short blanket. She smiled fondly at him and crouched down at his side.

“Naran,” she whispered. He stirred with a groan and didn’t open his eyes. She called his name again but didn’t touch him. Who knew what a spooked sorcerer might do when half awake. She called once more and he cracked open one sleepy, squinting brown eye.

“Maira? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m going out.”

This woke him futher. He raised his head. “Out?”

“It’s almost sun up. I’m going to the early market to get a few things. I didn’t want you to get worried if you woke up and saw I was gone.”

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll come with you.”

“No. Sleep. You need the rest. The agents’ll follow me. You want anything?”

“Food would be nice. I’ve got money in my pockets, take it,” he told her, pointing to the green coat draped over the chair beside him. He laid back down and curled in closer to get his feet under the insufficient blanket. A sorcerer’s fire burned in the fireplace but didn’t throw enough heat to ward off the chill in the house. Maira returned to her bedroom, gathered up the top blanket and carried it to him. She draped the thick quilt over his sleeping form and he gave a grumbled groan of thanks as he relaxed and stretched his legs out.

Despite her curiosity she didn’t rummage through his green coat. She had her own money to buy food. Taking it from him seemed wrong.

She put on her boots and went out to where the Red Hand agents sat by their fire put. She told them her plans and they nodded in acknowledgment then went back to looking bored and cold. She walked away and scanned the area for the Asna’isi agents. She spotted them easily. Fullblood, obvious Asna’isi now replaced the Rok and human-passing agents. Shadow no longer cared about stealth, apparently. A half dozen of them perched in a tall tree like monstrously oversized birds. She walked up to it and craned her neck back. She searched the faces and wing colors of the agents for any she recognized but found none.

She raised her hand and gestured for one of them to come down. She kept quiet for the sake of those around the safehouse still sleeping. The agents traded looks and whispered. Then a dark-skinned agent in partial armor jumped from a high branch and spread gold tipped green wings to land so softly that not even the beaded braids in their messy bun stirred.

“Is there a problem?” the agent asked in Domainish with a High accent that somehow lacked Graymere’s smooth, poetic finesse.

“No. I’m going to the early market, the one by the Archways. Come with me, please.”

“You are not required to ask. We will stay with you wherever you go. It is safer to stay here. We will bring whatever you need.”

“I can get things for myself, thank you. You’re not my servants.”

“Of course. We will remain with you,” the agent assured her and turned.

“Wait, I didn’t just mean follow me. You, walk with me. I want to ask you some things. Is that all right?”

The agent bowed, head dipped in assent and then turned to the other agents to apprise them of the situation. They talked in their own language and Maira waited patiently, pretending to count the coins she drew out of her pockets. The agent returned and told her, “You will not need those. Lord Shadow instructed us to pay for whatever you need from his own accounts.”

“That’s very generous of him but I can buy my own food. I’m sure he’s got better things to pay for. Like your wages,” she said. The agent met her with a blank affect and she couldn’t tell if she just wasn’t funny or the agent was that humorless. “What are you called?”

“Agent Third Rank Icefall. I take the second neutral.”

“Just Icefall? No family name or anything?”

“The Asna’isi do not name family groupings. Blood lineages are unimportant. Only community achievement and individual honor matter.”

“I didn’t know that. Thank you for explaining it to me. I hope it wasn’t offensive to ask.”

“You respectfully sought knowledge you did not have. That is acceptable,” Icefall replied. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

“You know what these marks mean, don’t you?” She held up her hands and Icefall looked closely, getting eir fill before ey raised eir gaze to look.

“Yes. Did Lord Shadow not explain these marks to you?”

“Somewhat. He said other Asna’isi would recognize them.”

“That is true. They are the highest honor he can give you.”

“Has he marked other people before me?”

“Yes. Two.”

Maira stuck her hands in her pocket and looked ahead like she was bored and making polite conversation instead of fishing for information. “Really? So the other two, they were very important people.”

“They were,” ey confirmed, neutrally.

“Why did he mark them? I mean, he only gets to do that so many times, right?”

“Correct. I do not know his specific criteria. In general the lords marks that which is essential to them and without which they could not function effectively.”

Maira stored away the knowledge to sort out later. She waited a little before asking, “Who were they?”

“One was his companion-mate. The other I did not know.”

Maira tried to imagine who Lord Shadow would take to bed of the many who would find him (or at least his wealth and power) highly seductive. She considered that Shadow’s attention might be a simple as love but couldn’t make herself believe it. Even she knew he took risks for her, and if he could effectively hide the enormity of pain he harbored he could rein in his libido. Nor had she sensed any powerful feelings of lust or attraction in that swirling tornado of feelings.

“Are they still marked? What happened to them after he, you know, took them into his dominion?”

“The dominion of his sign,” Icefall corrected, mildly. “I do not know.”

“Oh,” she said, nodding. She let more silence pass and stared into the long shadow her body made with the rising sun at their backs, casting precious little warmth to go with its brightness. “So he marked me because if something happened then…” she trailed off and waited, hoping Icefall would complete the sentence.

Ey stopped in an instant and turned. “Then Lord Shadow would risk losing someone he values greatly and I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening.”

Maira realized then ey wasn’t fooled by this game. “You’re not going to tell me anything useful, are you?”

Icefall broke a smile that thawed eir cold, severe face like the first spring thaw. “Your attempts were valiant, but I will say nothing in betrayal.”

“Come on!” she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation and letting them drop to slap against her thighs. “I’m going in circles trying to figure it out. I’m not anybody’s long lost relative, he’s not in love with me, and I don’t have enough money to be worth his time. I’m common as dirt. So what’s left? Please! Give me something, anything!”

Ey eyeballed her up and down as if appraising a piece of furniture at market. Maira huffed out white clouds in the cold morning air and let Icefall get eir fill. “I will advise Lord Shadow that you are eager to know. I am certain you are not far from obtaining the truth.”

“What truth? He doesn’t have to know you told me. You could give me a clue, a hint, anything. I’d keep it completely secret. I’m great at secrets. Just ask Naran and Captain Walkinghard. Really!” she said and caught up to the agent having to speed up to match eir quicker stride.

“I will say nothing. Do not ask these questions of any others,” Icefall said, eir smile and tone grimmer than before.

“Why?”

“You are obviously trying to extract information. You are relentless, and have a clever tongue. If you did get something from one of my agents, Lord Shadow would punish them severely. Don’t put them in that position.”

Dejected, Maira carried on walking and didn’t bother keeping up with Icefall. Ey could walk to match her pace.

After buying breakfast, she made Icefall carry it all back to the safehouse. The petty little punishment made Icefall smile all the more and Maira didn’t know whether that pleased or angered her.

She woke Naran once in the house. He shuffled like a mindless thing to the stools at the kitchen counter with his eyes half lidded and his hair in disarray. Thick stubble flecked with gray colonized his brown face and gave him a gruff effect. She handed him a spoon and laughed when she had to stop him from spooning hot tea into his mouth rather than clotted cream from the cup. She tore at her braided egg bread and waited for him to further revive.

“I tried to feel out one of the agents this morning,” she said with a sigh. “I thought I was getting somewhere, but Icefall stopped me. Ey said I had a clever tongue, but not to try it again or Lord Shadow would get angry.”

He lifted his head from his food slowly and with a puzzled and alarmed look. “You did what to Icefall?”

“I tried to get some information about the marks.”

“Oh.”

“What did you think I said?”

“Breakfast is excellent! Thanks,” he replied much too quickly. “So, no luck then.”

“That was my only idea. Nothing to do but wait and hope Lord Shadow spills it after all this is over.”

Naran grew flustered and choked on his tea. She gave him a strange look and he shook his head to indicate it wasn’t important. “It’s just three days, then we’ll all get a lot of questions answered,” he commented with a squeaky voice before he coughed to clear it.

“I hope so. I don’t think I can do this much longer,” she replied and slumped forward, head on her arms with her breakfast plate shoved aside to make room. “What if he never tells me?”

Naran put a hand on her back. She flinched briefly at the surprise and didn’t jump. “Then we’ll find out on our own.”

“We? Once this is all done, you’ll be back to your life. I won’t be your problem anymore.”

“You’re not a problem. Do I make you feel that way?”

“No, but if it wasn’t for all this, you wouldn’t have looked twice at me otherwise. You’re a powerful sorcerer and I’m, well, let’s face it, I’m -”

“Hey!” he said, suddenly offended. She recoiled in surprise. He pushed his breakfast plate away with his food unfinished. A serious gesture indeed. “Anyone who would ignore you is a fool. If I ever just walked past you, I’m a double fool for it. You’re one of the bravest, most intelligent, best people I’ve ever met.”

The compliment sounded so far from truth - even if he wasn’t deliberately lying - she didn’t know how to respond. She mumbled, “Thanks.”

“Maira, I hope you know I think of you as a friend. I want that to continue. Without us having to fight for our lives,” he said and smiled at the last words. She smiled back.

“You might find me boring without all the action. Don’t let the marks fool you. I’m really just a courier with no job and not a lot of money and absolutely no real education.”

He frowned at her like he was suddenly very sad and reached out. Before his hand touched hers, a knock at the door got their attention. Naran got to his feet quickly and gestured for her to stay. She calmly gathered up the breakfast things but eyed the bread knife on the counter and discreetly shifted it to be within easy arm’s reach. Just in case.

When Yena and Kei-zi came through the door Maira stepped away again, like she’d never made the move at all. She went to the sink and pumped the handle in the basin to get water to wash the plates. Yena and Kei-zi came back into the kitchen with Naran. She noticed Yena looking at the couch and Naran’s coat over the chair as though it was a significant detail. Her eyebrows piqued by slight degrees.

“So what happens today?” Maira asked as she ducked into the cabinet under the basin to search for washing soap. She found a bag of flakes that smell of soap scraps and a rag. Good enough.

Yena took a seat on the stool, casually watching. Kei-zi eyed Naran’s leftover breakfast like he was thinking of asking if anyone was going to finish it. “I went to Sister Matsuda again.”

“This early?” Maira asked.

“Those in her business often keeps odd hours.”

“And?”

“She would not give up the identity of the other person. All she would say is she knows the person has power and resources, and would kill to get and keep the device if they had to.”

Maira threw down the rag into the water in disgust at Yena trying to scare her again. “I said no last night. I meant that.”

“It’s not that, lovey,” Kei-zi said, with a gentle frown. “This person sounds like a nasty bit of business. Why risk it? You’re taking this like a real hero but maybe someone else can shoulder the burden a while.”

“Are you forgetting this?” she said and pointed sharply at her face.

“That does not prevent harm, it only imposes penalties for it,” Yena reminded her. The same argument again. Maira rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Only if they’re unwise enough to cross Lord Shadow. Don’t forget, the professor was going to be at the meeting. He must’ve thought he was safe enough.”

“Andaric could handle himself,” Naran added. She shot him an angry look. “It’s not an insult. He could put me to the floor when he wanted. Even I would be wary going to this meeting.”

“Is it a matter of trust?” Yena asked as neutrally as another person would ask about the weather. “We would keep this secret from anyone else in the Red Hand, even our superiors. There would be no chance of a leak.”

“I know, but it’s safe and moving it is too risky. So, please, stop asking.”

Yena nodded, signalling resignation. “If you won’t give us the device, then we’ll need to know as much as we can before it’s handed over.”

“Of course. Anything.”

“Then get your things. We’re going back to the basement,” Kei-zi said. “And you’re coming with us.”

“What do you need me for?”

“We can’t use our usual researchers because that would require letting them in on the details, so you’re going to take their place,” he answered with a grin. “Unless you’d like to reconsider.”

By the end of that day, Maira found herself wishing she could have reconsidered. She had expected to spend a few hours in the Red Hand headquarters basement, but a few hours turned into an entire day. The four of them did not emerge until well after dark. Maira ached from bending over books in such a cramped place. Exhaustion weighed her down though she’d done nothing but sit on her back side.

“We didn’t find anything. So what now?” she asked them as they trudged towards the safehouse. Yena and Kei-zi didn’t seem so tired, but Maira felt indolent and drained all at once.

“We try again tomorrow. Unless you want to give us the device now,” Yena said and she smirked.

Maira smirked back, more amused than annoyed at the challenge.

She expected Yena would keep trying, and she did. The next day and the day after that, prodding bit by bit as they poured over the confidential reports from prefects and spies that worked for the Red Hand. Maira read all about agents who posed as someone else, insinuating themselves into the lives of those relevant to Council interests. The reports left her with a gut churning paranoia. She wondered if somewhere, in the curving tunnels of the archives, were files about her. If Lord Shadow had been interested in her before the professor died, had the Red Hand as well?

She tried not to think about too much, because she did not want go into a hysterical panic and it was too easy to let the claustrophobic surroundings and the uncertainty overwhelm her in the dim light. She pulled her knees up a little further and curled her arms around the large book in her arms and assured herself that whatever Lord Shadow thought, she was not important enough to have been noticed by the Red Hand and that there were not any files on her lurking in the archives here. And when Yena or Kei-zi sent her to retreive another box of loose notes, she did not let herself go searching just to make sure.

On the last night before the meeting, they left at the late hour that was becoming their usual, bundled into their coats against the windy cold of the coming winter and made their way back to the safehouse. Kei-zi and Yena stayed for tea that they drank in a silence mostly born of weariness.

Yena put her cup down and Maira thought she was about to leave, but she sat back and she held her peace a little while longer before saying, out of nothing and nowhere, “You don’t have to go tomorrow. Sister Matsuda hasn’t told anyone who will take Decaran’s place. I can go for you.”

Maira breathed wearily into her own cup. The scent of the spice and steaming tea flooded her nose and mouth when she did. She held the barely sipped tea just to keep her hands warm while the newly lit fire struggled to push back the chill that had taken over the house during the day. “No. I’m still going.”

“You understand the danger, then?”

“You’ve been reminding me for days. How could I forget?”

“We will not be able to stay close to you, and Lord Shadow’s people are too recognizable to even enter the park. You will be on your own.”

Too tired to be more than annoyed, Maira nodded. “I know.”

“So, what’s your plan, then?” Kei-zi asked. “I’m curious to know where you stashed this thing.”

Maira tilted her head. “Huh?”

“The device. You’ve got it hidden. You got a plan for getting it before the meeting or were you going to take them to the hiding place?” Kei-zi asked.

She paused. Between the frantic running and the marathon research sessions, she hadn’t thought about it. For all she wanted to get rid of such a burden, letting it out of her hands frightened her. So long as she had it, she could personally make it safe. Control was it’s own kind of comfort.

She looked sidelong to Naran. Another upside to the device. It gave him a reason to give a damn about her. He said nice things, but Maira wasn’t some naive country girl from some far flung village. She knew how the world worked. They were friends now, but once he was back to his life among sorcerers and rich, powerful friends who wore jewels on their fingers and conversed while laying on silk and satin, he would feel different. It was easy to be friends with someone different when it was just the two of you. In front of your friends and family and community, things changed.

Like a good meal, everything runs out, she thought and held back her sigh. “I’ll take them to the device. That way if they try something before I give it to them, they won’t have the exact location.”

Yena leaned so far forward she was nearly bent double and stretched out her hand, putting it on Maira’s knee. The coolness of it permeated the fabric of her trousers and she swallowed. Her whole body was stilled by the touch, like ripples in a pond suddenly ceasing. “I will only ask one more time. Are you sure? I will go in your place and take this risk for you, you don’t even have to tell me where the device is until the last moment.”

Maira placed her hand on top of Yena’s. Hers seemed rough and clumsy and dirty in comparison, though Yena had her fair share of callouses. “I know. Just stay close as you can and if believe in any gods, put in a good word for me.”

Resigned, Yena leaned back, taking her hand away and stuck it into her jacket pocket. She pulled out three red ribbons of silk and laid them carefully on the table between the couch and the chairs. “I suppose we’re lucky, then. The Pahali have many gods, and you know my mother. She’ll find a way to make a bargain with them all.”

“Thank you,” Maira whispered and she took the red ribbons into her hand.