Plague of Shadows Page 5

  Kira stood. “There may come a time when you don’t have a choice.” She pulled a ring from her finger. “Use this to get into the Warrens if you need to.”

  Amarysia took the ring and followed Kira to the door.

  “I guess we in the Warrens truly are on our own. I can’t expect Dakaran to honor his father’s word and look into the disappearances.” Kira pulled her hood back over her head, covering her bonnet. “I wish you well,” she said as she cracked the door and peeked into the corridor. Turning, she offered a sweeping bow. “Until we meet again . . . hussy.” She slipped through the crack in the door, letting the latch click shut behind her.

  Amarysia locked the door and walked back to her bed, spinning Kira’s ring, a single emerald surrounded by rubies, in her hand as she did. She was too agitated to sleep now. She fastened the ring to one of her favorite gold necklaces for safekeeping. It was too big and gaudy to wear on her finger as Kira did, but she wanted to make sure she had it at all times.

  Chapter 6 | Kira

  KIRA CREPT DOWN THE hall, relieved to be out of that room. She didn’t think she could have taken another minute of Amarysia sobbing over Ayrion. She glanced down at her right hand and the High Guard ring Ayrion had given her in case of an emergency. Her own eyes started to burn. Stop it! There was nothing more annoying than watching someone cry. Unless, of course, she was the one making them do it. She smiled.

  She rounded the corner and headed down one of the rarely used service stairwells to the first floor. She knew her way around the palace, having spent a good deal of time there as a teen with Ayrion and Dakaran. She had told the hussy that she had snuck in through a secret entrance, but in truth, she had pretty much walked in.

  The Warrens had several of their members working inside the palace as maids, cooks, stable hands, and even groundskeepers. A way to keep their ears open to the latest happenings, most importantly to know when and where another raid might occur. She prided herself on the ingenuity of the idea and wondered why no past chieftains had thought to do the same.

  Once outside, she made her way across the courtyard to the stables where Heflin, one of the stablemen on duty, was grooming her horse. His knowledge of horses had helped him become the most recent Warrens member to garner a position inside the palace walls.

  “That was quick,” Heflin said, dropping the horse brush in a pocket on the front of his leather apron. He held the reins out as she approached.

  She took the straps. “Wasn’t much to say.”

  He chuckled.

  “What?”

  “I still can’t get used to seeing you in a . . . a dress.”

  Kira glanced at her maid’s outfit and sneered. “It’s not a dress, you nitwit. It’s a costume. Now, where’s my jacket?”

  “I put it in your saddlebag. I wouldn’t wear it, though, until you’re over the bridge. I have this,” he said, holding out a long cloak.

  Kira took it with a snort and wrapped it around her shoulders. Does he think I’m an idiot? She placed her left foot in the stirrup and swung herself over. The horse tossed its head, and she instinctively grabbed the reins. She didn’t like horses, preferring instead to walk or run. Horses were too bulky to take through confined spaces like the Maze. But she had no desire to make the trip to the Warrens on foot at this hour.

  With a flick of the reins, the mare left the stables in the direction of the upper courtyard, its hooves echoing off the stone. The noise grated on her as she bounced stiffly in the saddle.

  The south bailey was empty this time of night, apart from a few well-placed guards. They watched her as she passed. She crossed the bridge spanning the Shemoa River, and the guards on duty there merely nodded. They didn’t appear as concerned with keeping people from leaving the palace as they did with stopping those trying to enter. Earlier, she had been forced to climb off her horse and submit to an inspection before the guards had let her in.

  Her legs prickled in the frigid air, like a hundred tiny needles were being stuck through the skin. The evening breeze coming in off the bay was relentless. Why women wore dresses was beyond her. They were so constrictive. She had to hike hers almost past her knees to sit comfortably in the saddle, which left her legs bare to the open air. Next time, she was going to have to bring a pair of long stockings.

  She turned down the second street on her right and found Po waiting right where she’d left him.

  “That was quick, Red.”

  “Not quick enough,” she said, directing him into a small alley on the left, where she planned on changing outfits. She wasn’t about to show up in the Warrens wearing an apron. She hopped off her horse and grabbed her clothes from the saddlebag. Her teeth were already starting to chatter. “Tell me if you see anyone coming.” She quickly untied the apron and stuffed it in the saddlebag, then unbuttoned her dress and let it drop on the ground at her feet.

  Her hands shook as she pulled on her top and yanked up her breeches. The cold leather caused her to yelp. Lastly, she flung on her red overcoat and walked around to where Po was sitting on his horse, keeping an eye on the road.

  “Where’s my sword?”

  He unhooked it from his saddle and handed it down to her.

  She strapped it around her waist. “Don’t think I didn’t catch you peeking,” she said, trying to sound annoyed.

  Po coughed. “I did no such thing.”

  She smiled, finding his embarrassment amusing. Po had been in love with her since he was old enough to even know what it meant. When he’d first arrived in Wildfire—the street tribe she had run as a kid before joining the Warrens—she had taken him under her wing. He was six years her junior, not that age would have stopped her. If she wanted something, she took it. But as much as Po wanted their relationship to move beyond the bounds of friendship, she just couldn’t see him as anything more than a little brother. Not that she hadn’t tried. And as many times as she had told him to find someone else, he never did.

  She swung up on her horse, and they headed south around Bayside. They made it as far as Flint Street when a man rode out of one of the nearby alleys. She reached for her sword, but before she had it halfway drawn, the man pulled back his hood. It was Kerson.

  “Chief, we have news.”

  Kira stopped her horse and let the big man move alongside. “What news?”

  “More kidnappers have been spotted.”

  Finally! she thought. “Where?”

  “South, near the water.”

  “Take me there.”

  Po turned. “Red, shouldn’t we let the others handle it? There’s no need for the chief to go lurking through the streets at night.”

  What he meant was there’s no need for ‘you’ to go. Po was protective of her, sometimes too protective, and Kira wasn’t about to lose this advantage. She had made a promise to Ayri. Reevie had been missing for weeks and was most likely dead, but the last thing she’d told Ayri was that she would find him.

  She looked at Kerson. “Well, what are you waiting for? You heard my orders. Take me there.”

  Kerson glanced at Po, then shrugged and turned his horse around. Kira had been surprised by Kerson’s loyalty. Ever since she had spared his life during the Right of Oktar, he had remained faithful to her wishes. She hadn’t honestly expected him to stay true to his word, even with the severe ramifications, but he had. In fact, besides Po, he was turning out to be one of the only other members she actually trusted.

  They continued south around Bayside, Kerson’s enormous frame in the lead. His horse seemed to be having a difficult time. And no wonder. The animal was far too small, leaving Kerson’s feet to scrape the ground as they went.

  The star-filled sky added light to the road ahead. The streets were all but vacant. They passed a few stragglers on King’s Way, undoubtedly making their way home from one of the local taverns, but the farther south they rode, the fewer people they saw. They passed a couple of patrollers making their rounds, but even their presence had vanished by the time they reached
the north side of the shipping district.

  In the past, the kidnappers had been seen moving their freight by water, so as they continued south around the boatyards, Kira kept waiting for Kerson to turn in, but he never did.

  “Where are we going?” Kira called ahead.

  Kerson slowed, letting her catch up. “They were spotted moving along the Tansian River just west of the Maze. They appeared to be heading southwest toward the abandoned warehouse district.”

  The warehouse district? She couldn’t help but note the irony. If the kidnappers had taken Reevie, they would have marched him right past his former home in the Granary. Where better to hide a boat than a set of docks no longer in use?

  They continued around the northern shipyard. The brothels seemed to be the only buildings with lights on in the windows, calling weary sailors after a long and lonely voyage at sea. Those lights typically stayed on all night.

  They crossed the bridge leading over the Tansian, where the river widened into the bay, and took Mora into the old warehouse district. They tied their horses off behind a deserted building near the inner wall and went the rest of the way on foot. Kira was glad to finally be off her beast. Her backside was sore from the constant bludgeoning it had taken in the saddle. She rubbed at the tender area but stopped when she caught both men watching.

  Fog as thick as porridge slithered in off the bay, forcing them to keep a cautious eye on where they placed their feet. The roads this far south had holes large enough to get lost in.

  So far, Kira hadn’t heard the first hint of anyone being there besides them. Were they too late? Maybe the kidnappers had taken another route. This was the first time since Ayri’s departure that the kidnappers had been spotted. She was going to be upset if they lost them again.

  She felt like she was walking through a graveyard, and the crumbling buildings were tombstones marking the place where the bustle of life had once been, a remembrance to a thriving community now forgotten.

  They were nearing the outer wall that separated the warehouses from the docks when Kerson signaled for them to stop. They moved forward to the edge of the building and peeked around the corner. Up ahead, three individuals stood watch at the gate, peering out at the bay. Kira couldn’t see who they were.

  One of the three took a step back as a patch of fog opened, giving Kira a clear look at her face. It was Gwen, one of her best trackers, which meant the other two were probably Griff and Preece. The three seemed to do everything together.

  Gwen was taller than Kira, well built with short brown hair and watchful eyes. She was quiet as a mouse and had a nose like a bloodhound. Turning, she spotted Kira and the others and waved them over.

  Kira reached the gateway and looked out at the empty docks. “Where are they?”

  “We followed them here,” Gwen said. Griff and Preece nodded in turn. “They had a boat waiting.” She pointed off to the right. “They took it north up the coast.”

  “Then why are you standing here?” Kira asked.

  Gwen huffed. “’Cause Griff said we were to wait for instructions.”

  Griff cleared his throat. “I thought it’d be best if we waited for you.” He was the taller of the two men and stronger built. But having thick arms to swing a blade wasn’t everything. You needed a head filled with something besides sap.

  “I’ve already given instructions!” Kira hissed. “Brainless! From now on, I’m leaving Gwen in charge. And if I find that either of you has given her a hard time about it, I’ll castrate the both of you.”

  Both Griff and Preece nodded. “Yes, Chief.”

  “Now move! We need to catch up with that boat.”

  The six of them ran down the levee toward the abandoned docks below. They kept a longboat there at all times, mostly used for raiding the larger cargo ships coming back from Briston. Briston ships tended to have a fair supply of root vegetables and herbs, not to mention apples from some of the best orchards in Aldor.

  Kira stepped into the boat, trying to hide the shaking in her legs. She had always feared water, and not just because she couldn’t swim. There was very little that frightened her, but floating on top of something when she couldn’t see what was underneath did.

  She slipped and grabbed Preece on her way to the bow. Preece wasn’t much taller than Gwen, and nearly as slender, but he was handy with a sword and light on his feet. He caught her, holding on to her jacket until she found her place at the front. Gwen took a seat next to her while Po sat at the back with Preece, leaving Kerson and Griff in the middle with the oars.

  “Hurry,” Kira said, coaxing the men to pick up their speed. Her knuckles were white where she gripped the edge of the boat.

  Griff, as tall as he was, looked like a stalk of wheat when sitting next to Kerson. Then again, a rock troll might not have fared much better. It took entirely far too long for the two to find their rhythm. Kerson’s heavy strokes had the boat nearly spinning in circles as Griff struggled to keep up. It took Po counting out the beat before they got it. Once they did, the boat lurched forward through the waves.

  Other than having a couple of white sails floating farther out in the deep, which they spotted as the patches of fog came and went, the bay seemed to be devoid of life. They passed a number of ships anchored against the north docks, their cargo either already offloaded or waiting for first light. She could see a couple of the Watch walking the decks. Those who happened to see their boat stopped and waited for them to row on by before continuing their rounds. The last of the big schooners shrank into the distance as their boat moved up the coast.

  “Faster,” she urged. “They’ve got to be here somewhere.” They should have caught up by now. With a boatload of prisoners, they couldn’t have been going all that fast. Had they missed them in between the sailboats?

  The two men picked up speed, and the boat pushed ahead. They followed along the low barrier wall on their right, which kept the water from flooding Bayside and the residents living there.

  The mist thinned as they reached the inlet where the Shemoa poured into the sea. The cliffs on the far side grew as they made their way up the river. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the bridge connecting the palace to Aramoor.

  “Where are they?” she grumbled, doing her best to keep from looking down into the water’s depths.

  “We’ve got to switch,” Griff said, panting like a dog that had chased its tail for the last hour. Po and Preece quickly swapped places with the other two, and the boat started forward once more.

  “There!” Gwen said, pointing to something along the opposite bank. “Do you see it?”

  Kira scanned the far side, finally spotting a small craft moving along the face of the cliff. “That’s got to be them. Row, before we lose them.”

  The other boat was bigger than theirs and packed to the brim. She could see a couple of black-robed individuals mixed in with the rest. Where were they heading? There was nothing out there but water.

  The bridge was just ahead, its massive columns rising up from deep below the water’s surface. It looked even bigger from underneath. As they passed by one of the columns, she craned her neck to see the top. She imagined it collapsing, enormous carriage-sized stones dropping all around them. Shaking her head, she released the terrifying image and turned to see how far the other boat had gone.

  “Stop,” she whispered back to the others. “Stop rowing.”

  The oars came out of the water as everyone turned to see what was happening.

  Kira scanned the other side of the river, but there was no sign of the boat. “Where’d they go?”

  “They were right there,” Gwen said, pointing to a spot along the western shore just shy of the last pier.

  Their boat was being pulled backward in the current now that the oars were no longer moving. Kerson reached out and grabbed one of the footings and maneuvered the craft alongside.

  “What do we do?” Po asked, sweat streaking down his brow.

  Kira didn’t see any other choice
. She pointed to the cliff face. “We need to get over there.”

  Po and Preece started rowing once again.

  “Keep your eyes open,” Kira said, more to Gwen than the others, since she was up at the front with her watching.

  Once on the other side, they slowly rowed along the outer rock. Kira bit her lip in frustration. “How could an entire boat filled with people just vanish?” No sooner had the words escaped her lips than they rounded a small outcropping and found a hidden channel leading into the mountainside. The way the rocks had formed on the outside hid the entrance; no one on the river would have spotted it unless they were directly against the cliff face, risking damage to their boat.

  This has to be it, she thought as she directed them to turn around.

  “Don’t you want to see what’s in there?” Po asked.

  “Absolutely,” she said with a smile. “But not with only the five of you watching my backside. It’s time we wake the clans.”

  Chapter 7 | Kira

  “QUIET DOWN!” Kira shouted at the crowd gathered around the platform in the main assembly chamber. “I can’t hear myself think.” She glanced at Kerson, who was standing just right of the stage, his massive frame stretching his shirt and vest to the point of ripping. “Kerson, kill the next person who opens their mouth without being recognized by the council.”

  Kerson drew his two-handed axe and stepped onto the bottom level of the three-tiered platform so he could see everyone—or more importantly, so everyone could see him. There were five seats, including one for the head of each of the four Warren clans: two on the first level, two on the second, and one at the top, where Kira sat as chief.

  The assembly hall had never been so quiet.

  Every eye nervously watched Kerson as he deliberately scanned the room, looking for someone to kill. Kira smiled. She could have heard her stomach growl. In fact, she did. When was the last time I ate? She pushed the thought aside.

  “Once more for your thick skulls, we have found the kidnappers’ lair, and I intend to lead a company of our finest into their nest and burn them out.”