David Dalglish - A Dance of Ghosts

“You reach too far,” she said. “The king will call his armies from across Neldar. Lord Stern Blackwater in Angelport will hear of this, and he’ll prepare his own mercenaries. Even the temple to Ashhur will not stand for your enslavement.”

“King Vaelor could summon soldiers,” Muzien said, and he was close again, lurking, a cat playing with a mouse. “The priests might stumble out of their temple, hopeless to discover what is happening underneath their noses. Yes, even Stern might head north to protect his fellow members of the Trifect. But do you know what all those require, Alyssa?”

She felt his hand grab her face and turn it hard to the left. The skin was scaly and hot to the touch. It felt like the hand of a monster, and she whimpered at the pain it caused in her neck.

“What?” she asked as the silence lingered.

“Bravery, and I sense none of it in this forsaken place.”

He let her go, and she heard footsteps as he moved away, toward the door, she guessed.

“Tomorrow, I announce my presence to the city,” Muzien said. “My time of meetings and games will be over. This is your only chance, Alyssa; now give me your answer. Will you pay for protection against my might, or must I bury you like all others who have dared oppose me?”

She should do it, she knew. When Thren Felhorn had united the thief guilds, they’d been near impossible to destroy, and this elf seemed superior to Thren in every way … even in arrogance. It’d be so easy, too. All she had to do was whisper those simple words “I will” and she’d be in his pocket, no different from anyone else in the Trifect. No different from the other thief guilds or even their cowardly, infantile king.

No different …

“I never bowed to Thren,” she said. “I never bowed to the guilds nor the pressures of my title. I won’t bow to you, Muzien. Threaten me all you wish, but I’m tired of hiding in my home, trembling like a child.”

She thought he might react in anger, or even kill her, but instead, he laughed.

“Curious,” he said. “Daverik assured me the Gemcroft family would readily accept, yet that seemed counter to everything I knew about you, my dear Alyssa. It is good to know that my opinion of you was more accurate than that of a lowly priest.”

Priest? thought Alyssa. Daverik? What nonsense is this?

“You have your answer,” she said, doing her best to sit up straight and control the quiver in her voice. “Now leave me be.”

Muzien tsk ed at her from across the room.

“You’re making a mistake, Alyssa. No one must die needlessly, but then again, needless death has always been the mark of your house. As you humans like to say, ‘It is your funeral.’”

Something heavy landed in her lap atop the blankets, and she felt it with her fingers. The bronze bell the servants kept at the foot of her bed.

“You may summon your guards now,” Muzien said, and she could imagine him standing before her, so smug, so certain of himself. “It will be the last time they ever have warning.”

She heard footsteps, the sound of her door opening, followed by the shattering of a window in a distant room. Despite her hatred of it, she shook the bell with both hands, shook until she heard her door opening, heard the heavy boots of her guards rushing in. But one person, one whose footsteps were silent, arrived before any guard could.

“What happened?” asked Zusa, voice hovering just beside her.

“Muzien was here,” she said. “He wanted my allegiance.”

“What did you tell him?”

Soldiers were coming into the room now, and she felt their presence like a suffocating blanket. Still naked, she clutched her blankets tightly to her to preserve some modicum of modesty.

“Get those men out of here,” she said. “I need to dress.”

The grumblings of the guards were obviously unhappy, but they reluctantly obeyed. Once they were gone, she heard a closet opening, followed by a sharp inhalation of air.

The body, thought Alyssa.

“Muzien told me he killed Sally,” she said.

“He did,” was all Zusa said. The closet door shut, and a moment later, a simple, lengthy shift dropped into her hands.

“Dress,” Zusa said. “But talk while doing it. What was your answer to the Darkhand?”

Alyssa lifted her arms, let Zusa begin to slide the shift over her head.

“I told him no,” she said.

“You did?” Zusa said, and she sounded surprised. “But I thought you were willing to let this all go? When we spoke earlier…”

“I know what I said,” snapped Alyssa, far harsher than she meant. “But damn it, Zusa, is this what I’ve become? Cowering in my room, wallowing in self-pity because a sick little boy took away my eyes? All I want is for Nathaniel to become something great. Something amazing. It won’t happen this way, though. My anger and sorrow once made this entire city tremble with fear. I thought to learn from that, to humble myself … but the world will only see it as weakness, not strength. So then, let’s be the strength they understand.”

The shift on, Alyssa reached out a hand until she felt Zusa’s face press against it.

“Are your blades still mine to command?” she asked.

“Now and forever,” Zusa said.

“Then find this Daverik. Muzien spoke his name, and said he was a priest. Somehow, it seems he is involved with the Sun Guild’s arrival.”

It took little skill to sense Zusa’s sudden unease.

“I know who he is,” she said. “Forgive me, Alyssa. I should have killed him months ago. The faceless woman who attacked you was loyal to him as well.”

“Can you find him?”

“If he is in the temple, he is beyond me. I have already failed once to take his life in his sacred home. But if he is nearby, perhaps aware of Muzien’s plan…”

The door opened, and Alyssa heard her mother gasp.

“My dear, are you all right?” she asked.

Alyssa took Zusa’s hand, squeezed it tight.

“Go do what needs to be done,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

Being left alone with Melody was hardly a pleasant thought, but she needed Zusa out and about, ensuring the safety of her home. No doubt the woman was already itching to do so, at least to discover how Muzien made it past their guards.

Zusa’s lips pressed against her hand, and then she was gone. Alyssa remained in the center of her bed, and she felt it give as Melody sat at the foot.

“You poor thing,” her mother said. “You must have been so frightened.”

Alyssa laughed at the absurdity as she put back in her eyes.

“I was,” she said. “But for once, I think I feel like myself again. We have much to do tomorrow, and I hope you will help me as you’ve always promised.”

“Of course,” Melody said. “Whatever you need of me, I will do. I take it this has to do with that … elf ’s visit?”

“In a way,” Alyssa said, scratching at her neck. Something about the fabric of her shift made her skin itch. Yet it seemed the blankets bothered her as well, and with the way her heart was racing in her chest, she wondered if she were about to suffer a panic attack. It was odd how calm she felt, as if her body were simply betraying her, or perhaps better understanding how to properly react than even she did. This would change everything, she knew. Stepping back out of the shadows and into the light with a target painted across her forehead … it’d been so long since she had the courage. Could she do so again?

“Did he tell you what he wanted?” Melody asked. Something about the way she asked put Alyssa on edge. It was as if she were asking a question to which she already knew the answer. Or perhaps it was only the flurry of panic she was fighting down.