Paul Kemp: The Hammer and the Blade

"Honor the deal, devil," Nix said, backing up until he bumped into Egil.

The devil did not even glance at them. Carrying Rakon, who screamed helplessly, the devil strode for the open door that led into the manse.

The old woman abased herself before the devil as he approached.

"Scion of the Thyss, welcome."

The devil neither paused nor acknowledged her. His girth barely fit through the doorway, but he squeezed through and inside, Rakon still screaming plaintively.

Nix knew where the devil was taking Rakon: to the hall of doors he'd seen in his dreams, a place of horror.

"It's worst the first time," the old woman called after Rakon. "It's easier after that. Take heart."

Rakon's screams were desperate. Nix endured them only by reminding himself of the generations of women who'd uttered similar screams as a result of the scheming of Rakon and his sires.

Egil shifted on his feet. "I don't know if that was the right thing to do."

Nix stared at the open door, the darkness beyond. "I don't know either. But death seemed… too neat an end for him. We both saw what'd been done here. If it was the wrong thing to do, it was my wrong thing."

"No," Egil said thoughtfully. "I'm with you. If it was wrong, then it's our wrong and we both own it."

"Well enough."

"We should go," Egil said.

"Aye."

Nix kneeled and looked into Rusilla's pale face, her intense green eyes. Her hands spasmed, probably some aftereffect of the drug her brother had been giving her.

"Can you hear me?" he asked her. "Do you know what I just did? Was it the right thing?"

They stared at one another a long while.

"The drugs, Nix," Egil said. "She can't answer."

Then her lips moved. She made no sound and he wasn't sure if the movement was intentional. He stared at her, willing her to mouth again what he thought he'd seen. She did and he read her lips.

Applause, Nix.

For a moment, he could think of nothing to say, then he stood and said, "I've been waiting for those."

Nix and Egil bound their wounds as best they could. They'd need to see a priestess of Orella when they returned to Dur Follin, maybe visit the Low Bazaar to procure a healing elixir or ten. But before leaving, they approached the old woman, Rusilla and Merelda's mother. She remained by the door, and at their approach hid her face behind the wall of her wrinkled, veiny hands. She rocked back and forth, muttering to herself.

"Is she… lost?" Nix asked.

"I think maybe," Egil said sadly.

"It's worse the first time," she muttered repeatedly. "Always worse the first time."

"Grandma…" Nix said.

She looked up between the gaps in her fingers. "Don't hurt me. Don't hurt an old woman."

At first Nix felt a surge of scorn, but it gave way to pity when he thought of Mamabird, thought of the pulsing doors of his dreams, the blood and screams, and what the poor woman must have endured in her youth.

"We won't hurt you, grandma."

"Of course we won't," Egil said. "You've been hurt enough."

She looked up at them, uncomprehending.

Nix kneeled to look into her face. "We're going to Dur Follin and we're taking Rusilla and Merelda. They can make their own lives there, free of… all this. You can come with us, if you wish."

She stared at him as if she didn't understand. Perhaps she didn't. Nix and Egil had destroyed the foundation of her world, as depraved and terrible as it had been.

"Do you hear me, grandma?"

Finally, she said, "This is my home. My son lives here with me. I can't leave. The Pact must be honored."

Nix did not bother to tell her that she no longer had a son, that the Pact was among the most depraved things Nix had ever seen. He looked up at Egil, who shrugged. Nix went to put his hand on the old woman's shoulder but she recoiled and he kept his touch to himself.

"You needn't ever be hurt by man or devil again," he said to her. "Pact or no Pact. Do you understand? Never again."

She looked past him, through him. "We are Norristru and we will honor the Pact. Rakon will honor it, preserve the line. House Thyss will be satisfied. We can rebuild our wealth…"

She went on like that for a time and Nix finally stood, shaking his head. She was what Norristru men had made her. Nix could not unmake her with his words; they had no such magic.

It was time to leave.

Bearing Rusilla and Merelda in their arms, they walked into and out of the Norristru manse. Nix was pleased to get out of the pain-haunted halls. They pretended not to hear Rakon's screams that carried through the cracked plaster on the walls.

The moment they stepped out under open sky, under Minnear's ghostly light, Nix swore.

"What is it?" Egil asked, turning, his free hand on a hammer haft.

Nix looked down at his feet. "I'm fakking barefoot."

Egil chuckled. Nix waited while the priest circled the grounds for a stable. He returned presently with saddled horses. They mounted the horses, Egil with Merelda, Nix with Rusilla. Nix felt awkward with his body pressed against Rusilla's, the smell of her hair in his nose. He reminded himself of recent events and banished all thoughts from his mind but the purest.

They spoke little as they rode away from the manse, heading for Zelchir's Fall, and from there, back to Dur Follin. After an hour of riding, the sisters could speak clearly, though their bodies were still mostly paralyzed by the drugs.

"Will the city be safe for you two?" Nix asked them.

"It's a big city," Merelda said. Her voice was lilting, musical. The sound of it made Nix smile.

"The Lord Mayor will be free of my brother's spells for the first time in years," Rusilla said. "When he realizes my brother had enspelled him…"

"Rakon will never enter Dur Follin again," Merelda said. "Oh, Rose! We're free."

"We are, Mere. At last."

"You will help us get situated when we arrive in the city," Rusilla said to Nix.

Nix chuckled, looked to Egil. "She gives orders like a noblewoman. And this time with her lips instead of her mind."

"Speaking of," Egil said, "how much of this did you plan from the beginning?"

"As much as I could," Rusilla answered.

"And how much of what we did was you and not us?" Egil asked her.

She looked off to the side and smiled, a secretive look. She was striking in profile, a strong jaw and regal nose. "Does it matter?"

"It matters," Nix said.

"Why?" she asked softly.

It mattered because he wanted to be that kind of man, not be made to behave like that kind of man. It mattered because he wanted to believe that the difference between him and Rakon Norristru was a gulf of moral sense, not opportunity and circumstances.

"It just does."

"Aye," Egil answered.

Rusilla was silent a long time. Minnear had vanished from the sky. Finally she said, "I don't know how much was me and how much was you. You have to answer that for yourself."