In the House of Five Dragons
26. Numbers
“In the days since the battle of Njorn Pass, Alterran pacts have fallen out of favor. Instead, the knights of VEIL focus on feats of personal strength and valor. The costs of an ill-considered or hasty Alterran pact are too high.”
— From After Njorn Pass, by Alexander Ferro
After the evening’s work — which was a shorter task now that Rikard’s wounds no longer required bandages — Thainna made her way down the hill to the gate. It was not yet full dark. The horizon was still stained the deep violet of a rich woman’s tabba. A fat gibbous moon hung low over the city. Karl was on guard duty under the command of a stocky Star Court knight at the wall that closed all of the Mazrem estate.
“Hae, Thainna!” Karl called. He waved to her. “Where are you going tonight?”
“Just down to the temple of Surma.”
“Do you need an escort? The crowd’s thinned a bit, but there are still a lot of people.”
He gestured to the road that ran outside the gates. The throng lingered outside. A middle-aged father carried his daughter on his shoulders and pointed at the tall wall, still too high for the young girl to see over. A group of girls in the plain tabbae of students sang an awkwardly rhyming song in praise of Lord-Captain Mazrem. A hundred other people milled aimlessly, content simply to wait on the fringes of history.
Thainna shook her head. “I think I’ll be safe enough.”
Though she didn’t think anyone in the peaceful crowd posed much of a threat to a girl born and raised in the Rows, the company would have been nice. But Thainna didn’t want a Mazrem guard following her into a meeting with an Eye of the House of Five Dragons.
“Will you be out long?” asked Karl.
“Hae. I’ve got to walk out to the temples and back.”
“Why are you going out so late? Is everything alright?” Karl asked, sounding worried. “Is there something wrong with Captain Mazrem?”
“No, nothing like that. I just ran out of medicine and I need to get some more before morning,” Thainna lied quickly.
“But walking? Do you want me to call you a horse or a chariot?”
Thainna considered, but shook her head. She didn’t want either Bastil or Lady Mazrem to learn of her journey.
“Alright. I’ll tell Commander Sirrus to expect you later,” Karl told her. “They’ll open the gates for you.”
“Thanks, Karl.”
He held the gate open long enough for Thainna to slip through. The iron clanged shut behind her before anyone else could try to get in.
Summer tottered and tipped on the cusp of autumn, giving the night a crisp edge. More candles and flowers, dried and fresh, portraits and rolled-up paper prayers lined the walls of the Mazrem estate.
Just like the monument to Rikard in Mazrem Square, Thainna realized. They wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see them.
Dormaen was bright and lively, the early evening full of revelers and travelers. Some recognized Thainna’s costume and nodded respectfully, but most paid her no mind. For the first time Thainna could remember, she actually enjoyed walking through the city. Her feet felt fine and she wasn’t hungry.
Unhindered by her old jealousies, Thainna found herself admiring the expensive tabbae of the other Everstone residents and the delicious smells of cooking food. It was like walking through a play, a vast stage set out just for her. None of it was real, of course — Thainna herself was only acting the part of a foster — but it was still fun.
Beyond the Everstones, Dormaen’s citizens dressed less richly, but the sense of summer and celebration was no less. Merchants with carts full of portraits and carved soapstone busts of Rikard Mazrem were closing up shop for the evening, but still managed to call in a few last-moment customers. Flower vendors and chandlers stayed open longer, selling to those bound for the Everstones or Mazrem Square.
The night wore on and the crowds lessened as Thainna made her way out into the temple district. Only a few beggars lingered among the blue columns of the Surmaen temple. Even those were being gathered up and hurried away by a pair of soldiers. The armored men paused to wave at Thainna as she climbed the steps.
Inside, a priest dressed in a dark blue tabba appeared.
“Mana Vahn,” he greeted her in clipped tones. “Mana Narissa is waiting for you.”
Mana Vahn? He recognized Thainna and must have been aware of her deception. The Crest’s deception. She followed the priest into a room much like the one in which she had received Narissa’s original instructions.
“Wait here.”
Thainna nodded. The priest glowered and slammed the door shut behind him. Thainna wondered what was twisting his tabba. That she was late? That was the House’s fault, not hers.
It was just as well that there was no chair in the barren stone room. Thainna didn’t feel like sitting. She paced as she silently berated Narissa and the Crest for their ludicrous demands. Without the sun outside and ticking time away only by her angry steps, Thainna had no idea how long Narissa kept her waiting. More than a few minutes.
When the priestess finally burst into the room, her long hair was unbound and damp. Narissa wore her tabba only half closed. The fine cloth whipped and snapped with her quick stride. Narissa closed the door with a surprisingly loud crack and bolted it behind her.
“What in the bloody blazes are you doing here?”
“What? You called me here!” said Thainna.
“This morning! You were supposed to be here this morning, Talon,” Narissa said. She swiftly composed herself and finished sashing her tabba closed.
“I was busy.”
Thainna put her hands on her hips and stared back defiantly. This was not her fault and she would not be so easily cowed.
“Busy doing the job the Crest gave me,” she said. “Rikard was in meetings all day and I have to stay with him.”
“Your first loyalty is to the House of Five Dragons, child.”
“This is stupid! It’s just a meeting, an update. I’m only late because I was doing what you told me to in the first place!”
Narissa turned away, wringing her slender hands. She took a deep breath and faced Thainna again. “You don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t!”
“The Crest, in his kindness, had arranged for you to see Thain today. But you failed to arrive when expected.”
“What?”
Thainna’s self-righteous anger drained away and left her deflated, hollow. Thain? And she missed him to stay with Rikard… Thainna flushed hotly with sudden anger at Rikard for keeping her, talking about Thain when she could have been with her brother.
“Arliss told us how familiar you’ve become with the great Captain Mazrem. The Crest grew concerned that you might have forgotten which man holds your loyalty.” Narissa had Thainna on the defense and knew it. The Eye looked down at the girl. “He was very angry.”
Thainna’s knees turned to cold, prickling water. “Is… is Thain…? Did the Crest hurt him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can I still see him? Where is he? Is he here, in… in the fostral? He’s sick. He needs care!”
“I have sent notice to the Crest that you finally arrived. If you please him, perhaps he’ll let you see your brother. What have you to tell us?”
“I… I don’t know. I already told Arliss everything!”
“Tell us more about what Captain Mazrem can do. Can he only hear thoughts or can he see into them, as well? Can he sense those not yet formed into words?”
“Hae. He’s answered questions I haven’t even figured out how to ask. He picks up on vaguer things, like feelings. And… and he saw Thain’s face when I was thinking about him, at least well enough to tell that we look alike.”
“Do you believe his abilities have compromised your position?”
“I… I don’t think so. Rikard knows there’s something strange about me, but I don’t think he really cares. He’s focused on his own problems.”
“What problems are those?”
Thainna hesitated before she answered. She didn’t like spilling Rikard’s secrets, but were they really secrets? It was only Rikard’s inability to communicate that made them so. Thainna’s persistence had earned her that information. Why didn’t Laurael and Gaius know? But it didn’t matter — Thainna had to tell Narissa. The Crest had Thain.
“Rikard has trouble just speaking to people,” Thainna reported unhappily. “He gets confused and then violent. He attacked some people. He’s hit a few, but Rikard also said that he’s hurt them in different ways, like General Darius. The same way he reads others — reaching, he calls it — he seems to be able to turn it around somehow and use it offensively. Rikard did that to me when we first met in the Rows.”
“What was it like?” asked Narissa.
She doesn’t care if I’m alright, just how it felt to have my mind carved open.
“I don’t know exactly,” Thainna answered. “I don’t remember much, really. Rikard only told me about it later. There was some pain and… I don’t know the words to describe it. Just wildness in my head. It scattered my thoughts, but he was trying to strangle me. When he attacked Darius the same way, the general didn’t seem to realize what was going on, either.”
“Do you think it’s useful?” asked Narissa.
“I… I guess so. As useful as any weapon.”
“Do you think these attacks constitute sufficiently embarrassing occurrences to hold over Captain Mazrem?”
“I don’t know. One of them was against General Hern and another against General Darius, but no one’s done anything about them. I think it’s embarrassing, but Lady Mazrem’s kept everything under control.”
Narissa stood silently at the door, nodding thoughtfully to herself. Thainna waited nervously. Was it enough? She wanted to see Thain. It was just a stupid, silly mistake that had kept her away that morning… Thainna rocked up onto her toes and back. The leather of her sandals squeaked loudly in the small room.
Narissa raised her eyebrows at Thainna and the young Talon stopped moving.
“I will speak to the Crest,” said Narissa at last.
“I’m here and I’ve given my report. Can… may I see Thain now?”
“That decision belongs to the Crest. Wait here.”
Narissa left her alone in the cell again. Without her anger to occupy Thainna, the minutes crept by, as slow and cold and vast as glaciers. She looked out the window, but the narrow street outside remained dark and silent.
The night crept onward. A pair of black-robed priests of Saerus marched down the road. They droned a deep prayer to the death-god, but the thick glass of the window muffled their words and turned them into a thin, spiteful buzz like that of a trapped fly. When they were gone, Thainna was almost disappointed. They left her alone again, waiting.
Thainna sat in the corner furthest from the door, pulling her knees up to her chest and hoping the Crest hadn’t hurt Thain. No, he would never bloody his own hands. He would have somebody else do it. Some Talon or Flame, and they would follow their orders, even if it meant beating a sick boy. The price of disobedience was too high…
The door abruptly thumped open, startling Thainna. Narissa had returned, followed by a pair of large Lyncean men not wearing priestly blue. They dragged a third, smaller shape between them. Thainna jumped to her feet.
“Thain!”
He raised his thin white face, a pale moon rising amid the midnight of his captor’s black clothes. “Thainna?”
Thain could not see well in the darkened room and stumbled. Thainna dashed to her twin and the two men dumped him into her arms. She struggled to remain upright, staggered back a step and then sank to her knees on the hard floor. Thainna cradled Thain against her chest. He looked up at her.
“Thainna!” he said and smiled at her with thin, cracked lips. He brushed his fingers through her hair. Thainna realized that she had forgotten to braid it that morning. “You look pretty.”
“I look like a drowned squirrel,” she told him, choking through her tight throat. “I always do.”
“No, you look really good. Healthy. You’ve put on some weight.” Thain’s voice grew softer, more frightened. “Thainna, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Narissa and her two thugs hung back. They barred the door but otherwise let Thainna have a private moment with her brother. She swallowed hard and gently stroked Thain’s bony shoulder. He still wore the papery blue-white tabba of the fostral.
He must be so cold.
“I got a… a bloodmark about a week ago. The Crest sent me to go put reins on Rikard Mazrem. I… They took you to hold over me, to keep me on task. I’m so sorry!”
Thain gasped. “A bloodmark? For Rikard Mazrem? Really?”
“Hae.”
“You’re getting important, aren’t you?” Thain said with a coughing, halting laugh. He touched Thainna’s cheek. “I’m really proud, but I… I hope it’s going well. I don’t want to stay there forever. Believe it or not, I actually miss the fostral!”
“There? Where did they take you, Thain?”
“Does it matter? I can’t leave until you’re done.”
He twisted to look back at the other House agents and Thainna saw a series of deep scratches on the back of his shoulder. Nail marks? What were they doing to him?
“Do you think you’ll be long?” Thain asked in a small voice.
“I… I don’t know. I’m trying.”
“It’s time for you to go home,” Narissa announced. She nodded to the two huge men and they stalked forward, reaching for Thain.
Thainna did not let go of her twin. “Wait, not yet. Please!”
“It’s time to go,” Narissa repeated.
The Lynceans allowed Thainna a moment to release Thain of her own accord, but she had no intention of letting him go. One of the huge, pale-haired men seized Thainna and yanked her back while the other roughly hauled her twin up. Thain didn’t pull his feet under him quickly enough and cried out weakly in pain as his arm twisted. He struggled to stand.
“Let go of him!” Thainna cried.
She reached for Thain, but the thug who held Thainna jerked her back. She threw herself toward her brother again and the Lyncean threw her easily to the floor. Thainna banged her knees on the floor as her captor helped to drag Thain to the door. She jumped back to her feet, but Thain shook his head.
“Don’t, Thainna! It won’t help me. Do the things that will help.”
Thainna stopped and dropped her outreaching hands. “I’ll take care of this. I’ll have you back home soon, I promise!”
Her twin smiled bravely as he was led away. The door slammed shut behind him. Thainna pressed her cheek against it, listening, but heard nothing on the other side. She closed her eyes and fought back stinging tears.
“I assume that you’ll redouble your efforts to win over Captain Mazrem to the House’s cause,” said Narissa archly.
“The Crest’s cause!” answered Thainna angrily, turning away from the door. “Hae, you’ve delivered your bloody reminder.”
“Good. Do you need anything to further your work?”
“No, you’ve sent me enough drams to kill a horse,” Thainna spat, then considered. “None of the jars were labeled. I recognized the ophellion and cardak, but I have no idea about the rest.”
Narissa gave her a look of mild surprise.
“You don’t know them?” she asked.
“I said I don’t deal in drams.”
The Eye made a small, dismissive gesture. “I also sent you substantial quantities of jession, illak and bluering.”
Thainna knew most of those names, but the last was a mystery. “What’s bluering?”
“It’s an expensive substance. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it.”
“You just acted surprised a minute ago,” Thainna pointed out.
Narissa ignored her. “It’s a stimulant and a rather potent one.”
“Doesn’t that seem a little counterproductive? Don’t you want Rikard dosed into docility?”
“Be sparing in your use of the bluering. Just a little will make him alert but suggestible. The point is to split him and make him willing to do anything for more. Bluering is good for that. It’s the white powder in the green-sealed jar. It will dissolve in almost any drink, but even a little has a strongly sweet flavor. Make sure it will go unnoticed. You know how to use the others?”
“Hae, I think so.”
Narissa opened the cell door and led her into the hall outside. “Work swiftly and deftly, Thainna. Your brother’s safety depends upon good results,” she said, and then vanished down a darkened hallway.
Thainna wasted no time bolting through the temple and out into the sterile silver starlight. She ran down the street until she was out of sight of Surma’s temple. Hiding behind a small curved-roof shrine to Suzukarri, Thainna slumped against the wall and hugged her arms around herself, choking on furious tears.
It didn’t matter what drams Narissa gave her, how low Thainna wore her tabba, what secret she might be able to uncover about Rikard Mazrem. It would never, ever work. The man was proud and upright, otherworldly and erratic. Rikard needed only reach into her mind to find the truth. Against the man who had single-handedly destroyed an entire nation of her ancestors, Thainna had only her fear for protection.
At least I have plenty of that.
Aelos Vahn stared at the open ledger without seeing it. The light of a single candle made the numbers on the page jump and crawl like fleas. He leafed back to his daughter’s column. The work of her young life counted out on a single page — her bid for the Auction, to put her twin on the throne of the House of Five Dragons.
To fix everything.
It was less than a man in the Everstones carried in his wallet. Aelos traced his finger down the line of numbers. So few. What did Thainna think she was going to accomplish? The young always believed that they could change the world, but enough time always turned the young into the old, just like him.
