Matt Forbeck - Marked for Death

“I will hold conference with Justicar Kandler,” Mardak said. “I hope to have a plan before nightfall. Until then, go back to your lives.”

“For as long as you can,” Kandler heard Temmah murmur.

The crowd dispersed, and the people walked away with their heads held low. Many of them wept. Those holding Norra carried her to her home.

Burch signaled that he would take Esprл home and wait with her. Kandler nodded his approval.

“Shall we?” Mardak asked.

Kandler led the way, Shawda’s remains still wrapped tightly in his cloak. Mardak followed close on his heels, with Rislinto-a burly man with a bushy, red beard and a blacksmith’s arms-right behind. Temmah lagged along at the end, rubbing his eyes as he trotted to keep up.

When they arrived at Mardak’s house, Kandler waited for Mardak to open the door. “You wish to bring the body into my house?” the older man asked, his hand on the door’s handle.

“You’d rather I unwrap her out here?”

Mardak hesitated a moment more, then opened the door.

Inside, Kandler strode over to the dining room table and lay his burden down. He unwrapped the cloak and arranged the pieces of Shawda’s body on the table.

“Do you have to do this here?” Mardak asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Your children are grown,” Kandler replied. “Your boy has already seen her-at least one part-and my table isn’t nearly big enough.”

“But my wife-”

“Doesn’t have a problem with it,” a feminine voice from the other room finished. “We must do everything we can to help catch the villain behind this.” The men looked at each other for a moment before Priscinta continued. “But I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t bother to come in for a look.”

Mardak smiled softly. Temmah’s eyes stopped tearing.

Kandler waited for a moment, then spoke. “Shawda was the third of our people to go missing. Her husband reported her gone eight days ago. She was there next to him when he lay down that night. The next morning she was gone.”

“You questioned him thoroughly?” Mardak asked.

Kandler ignored the implication that he didn’t know his job. He knew Mardak was looking for someone to blame for all this, and he was determined not to get into another row about it. “She’d been having trouble sleeping. She was disturbed by the other two people missing at that point. It’s possible she went out for a walk, despite the warnings.”

“How long has she been dead?” Rislinto asked.

“It’s impossible to tell. If she was killed in the Mournland… well, bodies don’t decay in there.”

“But we’re not in the Mournland,” Mardak said. “How do you know she was killed there?”

“I don’t.”

“What do you know, justicar?”

“Let’s not start this again, lads,” Rislinto said. “We’ve more important matters to consider.”

Kandler nodded. After a moment, Mardak shrugged and looked away.

Kandler continued, “Given the number of insects I found under Shawda’s body parts, I’d guess she’s been lying along the ridge for less than a day.”

Kandler reached over and brushed the hair off the dead woman’s face. Although she looked peaceful now, he could hear her soul crying out to him for justice. “There wasn’t any blood there. She was probably killed someplace else and dumped along the ridge. Whether she was killed yesterday or days ago, I don’t know.”

“That’s not much help,” said Mardak.

“What does this mean for the others?” Rislinto asked, interrupting Mardak’s attempt to get a rise out of Kandler.

“They’re dead for sure,” Temmah said, his voice but a whisper. “All of them.”

“Not for sure,” Kandler said as he rewrapped Shawda’s remains. “But I wouldn’t expect them home soon.”

“So what do we do?” Rislinto asked.

“The same,” said Kandler. “We warn everyone to stay inside at night. We keep the round-the-clock watch on the perimeter of town. And while it’s still daylight, we should start searching the rim.” He turned to look down at Temmah.

The dwarf turned a pale shade of green but steeled himself to the task. “I’m on it,” he said as he thrust his long-bearded jaw forward. “I’ll draw off some of the extra guards, and we’ll scour the east ridge from end to end.”

“What else can we do?” asked Mardak, having mastered his frustration for the moment.

Kandler looked up at the rail of a man. “Tell people to stay indoors as much as possible. You two,” he said, glancing at both of them, “you’re lucky your children aren’t missing too. What kind of fools go out near the mists at night?”

“They’re teenagers,” Rislinto said with half a grin. “There’s no controlling them.”

“If your daughter hadn’t tempted my son-” Mardak began.

Kandler cut him off. “Don’t finish that thought. Done is done. Give them both a stern warning and leave it at that. No use fighting old battles.”

Rislinto shuffled uneasily.

Mardak lowered his head. “I apologize, old friend,” he said. “That was beneath me.”

“Then you think too highly of yourself,” Rislinto said as he smiled and clapped Mardak on the back. The casual blow could have knocked the taller man over, but Mardak braced for it. Rislinto turned toward Kandler again. “I’ll have a talk with my daughter.”

“And I with my son,” said Mardak.

“If they don’t listen,” said Rislinto, “I’ve a new set of chains in my shop to lock them in.”

“Joke if you like,” Kandler said, “but you’ve had worse ideas.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

“What about yourself?” Rislinto asked. “What is your plan?”

Kandler hoisted up the bundle on the table once again and started for the door. “Someone,” he said, “has to take care of our dead.”

Kandler bid the two men farewell and walked home. He avoided the main square, cutting between houses and through yards so people wouldn’t see him and try to stop him. Luck was with him, and he was soon home. He set the bundle down on his front porch and washed at the pump before stepping inside.

Half in shadow, Esprл sat in a rough wooden chair at the shabby dining table in the dimly lit main room. The light poking in through the glassless windows was as pale as her porcelain skin, but her wavy, golden hair sparkled. Like torchlight on gold, Kandler thought. She was weeping, her face buried in her arms piled on the table’s worn top.

As Kandler shut the door, Esprл looked up, her face puffy and red and her blue eyes shining with grief. She waited for him to step within arms’ reach and then launched herself into his embrace. She wrapped herself around his chest, and he reached down to hold her and stroke her hair.

“Was it really Shawda?” she asked.

“Yes,” Kandler whispered, and Esprл began sobbing once more. Kandler looked over at Burch, who sat silent and still in the darkest corner of the room, and nodded his thanks.

The shifter unfolded himself and padded forward to pat Esprл on the back. “She’s seen a lot of death. Too much.”

“We all have,” said Kandler. “It’ll be all right,” he whispered, although he didn’t know how. He found tears welling in his own eyes, and he clamped down on them, willing them away. His stepdaughter needed him to be strong now, and he’d sworn long ago never to disappoint her in that way. He kissed her on the top of her head.

“No bad dreams last night?” Kandler asked Esprл. The girl shook her head against his chest. “Do you always remember them?”

Esprл nodded, then the tears overwhelmed her again, and she pressed her face against Kandler’s shirt to weep.

Three sharp knocks rattled the front door.