Martin Scott - Thraxas at War

'Tirini and Lisutaris worked magic to make all the guards forget what they were doing while me and Hanama intercepted the wagon and drove off with Herminis.'

'This all sounds crazy. The Guards will be down on you like a bad spell.'

'No they won't. Lisutaris worked out how and when to do it so the Guards' Sorcerers would never be able to find out what happened. She is head of the Sorcerers Guild, after all. Stop interrupting. Everything was going fine and we drove the wagon down to Kushni without anyone spotting us because it's snowing heavily, and then we went to the secret villa, which is a large house just on the edge of Kushni owned by the Palace and which has a secret room lined with Red Elvish Cloth.'

'What?'

'Red Elvish Cloth. It prevents all sorcery from penetrating.'

'I know what it does. I just didn't know there was a secret room full of the stuff in Kushni.'

'Built by a former king for liaisons with his mistress, apparently. It's a secret. That's why it's called the secret villa.'

'How did you know about this place?' I ask.

'Tirini had an affair with Prince Dees-Akan last year. They used to meet there. Tirini made a copy of the keys, also in secret.'

'I get the picture. Go on. No, wait. Is this story going to end with you telling me that Herminis is currently next door in my office?'

'Of course not. How stupid do you think we are? We were going to hide her in the secret villa and then smuggle her out of the city afterwards. So we got to the villa and Tirini met us there and everything would've been okay except when we went into the sorcery-proof room we found an Orcish Sorcerer there.'

An Orcish Sorcerer? Are you sure?'

'Of course I'm sure!'

'What was he doing?'

'Sleeping,' says Makri. 'But he woke up pretty damned quick. He threw this spell at me which knocked me down but I was wearing my spell protection charm which saved me, and then Hanama threw a knife at him which should have pierced his neck except he had some sort of protection as well, and then Tirini used a spell herself and he used one back and there was an explosion and the place caught fire. And this Sorcerer was strong, he kept trying to fire more spells at us with some sort of wand, and Tirini could only just manage to hold him off.'

Makri pauses for breath.

And then?'

'Then I managed to distract his attention by flinging a chair at him and so Tirini managed to knock him down with a spell. Then Hanama kicked him and he fell down and I grabbed the wand and then the place really started blazing badly and we all had to run.'

'What happened to the Sorcerer?'

'Who knows? By this time the roof was coming down. Outside, the whole neighbourhood had heard the commotion and everyone was running around screaming and calling for the fire wagons and the four of us just piled into the wagon and drove here.'

'Four of you?'

'Me, Hanama, Tirini and Herminis.'

'Where did you take Herminis?'

Makri crosses one foot over the other and looks a little awkward.

'She's next door in your office.'

'Goddammit! You said she wasn't!'

'I was going to break it to you gently.'

I march from my bedroom into my office, where I find Hanama, Tirini Snake Smiter and Herminis all looking somewhat the worse for wear.

'Congratulations on a successful mission!' I say, and I mean it to sting. 'Trust the Association of Gentlewomen to bungle anything they set their well-manicured hands to.'

'In fairness to us,' says Makri, bringing up the rear, 'we couldn't really anticipate that there was going to be an Orcish Sorcerer in our safe house. I mean, what are the chances?'

She has a point, I suppose. But they'd have bungled it some other way, enemy Sorcerer or not. I round on Makri.

'What is it with you and my office? Last year you brought that exotic dancer here when the Guards were looking for her.'

'She needed help.'

'She turned out to be a spy for the Brotherhood. And now you've brought this - this - condemned murderer here. It's not like upstairs at the Avenging Axe is a cunning hiding place. Captain Rallee is in and out of here every week. WTiy couldn't you take her somewhere else?'

'Like where?'

'Like Morixa's bakery. There must be somewhere she can hide there. Why drag me into this?'

Herminis, a slender woman of thirty or so, with fair skin and blue eyes, rises to her feet. Despite her months of incarceration, she's not in bad shape. When they lock up a Senator's wife, they give her a private suite and let her keep her own clothes, and have food sent in from home. Probably not such a hard life, till it's time to be hanged.

'I'm very sorry to inconvenience your—' she begins.

I hold up my hand.

'Stop right there. I'm in enough trouble already due to Senators' wives being polite to me. What is it with you people? You think you can just go round being well-mannered all the time?'

Herminis looks confused, and turns towards Makri. Makri's eyes flash with anger.

'Don't abuse this woman. She's been in prison for four months. I brought her here because I thought you might be able to help.'

'You did?'

'Yes. After the fight we weren't thinking too clearly. None of us knew what to do.'

It's rare indeed for Makri ever to admit to anything that might be construed as a failing.

'So you thought you'd drag me into your sorry mess?'

'We're all facing arrest and execution. I thought you might have some ideas.' Makri's voice rises angrily. 'I should have realised you're not capable of helping a friend without going through an endless round of sarcasm, bad temper and insults. Foolish of me, I've experienced it often enough.'

Makri takes Herminis's hand.

'Come on. We'll see if Morixa has any suggestions.'

I bite back the dozen or so bad-tempered, sarcastic insults that spring to mind and march over to the door, blocking their exit.

'Don't go out there. You'll only make it worse. The Guards will be combing the city for you by now.'

I turn to Tirini.

'Can you hide us?'

She shakes her head.

'I'm out of spells. The Orcish Sorcerer was tough.'

Once a Sorcerer uses a spell she can't use it again till she's relearned it. The great Sorcerers can hold quite a few spells in their memory, but any sustained period of action will leave them drained. I take my grimoire from the shelf and hand it to her.

'This is out of date but you'll find something in it. Learn it and use it quick.'

Tirini takes the book and opens it at the index. She's wearing the most expensive-looking fur cloak I've ever seen, a garment so thick and luxurious I'm not even sure what animal it's made from. Northern wolf maybe, or even the rarely seen golden bear. Her hair is bleached brilliant blonde and dragon-scale earrings dangle from her ears. Inconspicuous she's not. I'm praying no one saw them roll up outside in their wagon. At this time of night, with the snow coming down, it's possible they were unobserved.

'Did you stable the horses?'

Makri nods. And the wagon's out of sight.'

I notice that Hanama is bleeding quite badly from a cut on her leg. I hunt in my desk for the remains of the herbs that Chiaraxi the healer left here. I hand her the bundle, along with some water.

'You know how to use these?'

Hanama nods, and starts wetting the herbs and applying the damp mixture to her leg. It should stop the bleeding quickly. For all that she's quite fragile to look at, it will take more than a slashed leg to seriously trouble her.

Tirini Snake Smiter has meanwhile found a spell of hiding. I sit down next to her and read along. I'll add my power to hers. It might be enough to buy us some time. Peeping out from beneath her fur cloak is a delicate pair of silver slippers. Foolishly inappropriate footwear for this weather. She starts speaking the words of the spell. The room becomes colder as the sorcery takes effect. As soon as she's finished I do the same. It will hide Herminis for a while. Not for long, though, when they start turning their full power on the hunt.