Retribution (Drakenfeld 2) (46 page)

‘I will give you my word I will do my very best to argue her case for freedom – that’s all you can hope for, given the circumstances. The queen will listen only to her own conscience. But I
will
try.’

‘Aye,’ he breathed.

Sojun listed four names, only one of which I recognized. Brell the eunuch. The figure who stood beside the queen every day, who shadowed her in her court and offered vague witticisms and scowling expressions. Sojun told me that, because the queen never trusted being surrounded by people who remembered the old days, she preferred the company of the young. Brell had been in her employment for two years. He would have known through his association with the queen when certain people would be in the city and their movements. And he was in a position to acquire addresses. In fact, he would have been the perfect informant. All of this explained just how it was possible to run rings round the authorities, and to capture some of the most important people in the city.

There was simply no single murderer.

I wrote down the names and their potential whereabouts. All of them were to be found in the wealthier prefecture. In hushed tones in the corridor I instructed a soldier to gather together a group of armed guards, with Sulma Tan’s permission, and the raids of their properties began in earnest.

‘I was the only one in the group who hadn’t been affected by whatever went on on that island,’ Sojun grunted. ‘As I said, wasn’t my battle. Did what I did because of Elliah.’

‘And what did you do for her? Did you do the torturing? Did you inflict any wounds. Did
you
cut up the bishop?’

‘No. I did none of that.’ A sigh and a distant gaze. Sojun drew his knees to his chest, rattling his chains. ‘We used the cellar underneath the stables, where I did my metal work. And metal work was all I did during the act. Didn’t do any killing myself. The stables are out of the way. Noises are to be expected at all hours. We’d get complaints all the time, since it was a good location, but no one would notice a little more activity. The noises I made drowned out whatever screams there were, but those victims were usually unconscious and, as I said, we were in the cellars. It’s quiet in there. No one can hear you. Get knocked out and you might never be found until a client wants his horses back. I didn’t ask what they did at the time. Didn’t really want to know. Not my business. But I understood, right? I knew what those kids had all gone through. Knew what needed to be done. If I could help them do that, help them sort their heads out in this way, then I considered it a good thing. And you never know – by removing this scum from the city, the ringleaders of this kind of operation might prevent more of the same from happening. That was our justice – it was done to help people there. Astran knows that island isn’t on any map.’

The question of
why now
still lingered, but the solution was simple enough: ‘You only started doing it now because you discovered the bishop would be leaving soon. That’s what started it all.’

He gave a nod.

‘How come his body had been dismembered, while the others weren’t?’

‘Have you ever killed a man? Well they hadn’t. They were scared. Didn’t know what to do. They messed it up.’

‘So once you had killed him, that started the momentum. You had to go on.’

‘The rest wanted to take ’em out as quickly as possible and then get out of the city. We were all in this as
one
– and weren’t going to rest until we’d finished. We had learned movement, behaviours. We conferred. We plotted. You don’t do a thing like this on a whim.’

Sojun went on to say that the activity on Evum need not be restricted to the past. It was very likely it was
still
happening and that the Sun Chamber should do something about it.

I had my doubts we could do something. Though unethical, there was nothing within the legal framework to prohibit children from working, no matter how poor the conditions. As for abuse, however, though many of us might be clear on rights and wrongs, the law did not always support the matter. The law was a blunt hammer, not a fine scalpel. Yet again my investigations were taking me deep into uncharted waters.

‘How come no one came to the authorities to report what had gone on there,’ I said, ‘on Evum? It’s possible that help could have been found eventually.’

A shake of the head, and his words were not bitter, simply sad. ‘You think anyone would give a shit? The island doesn’t exist, as far as the authorities are concerned. It isn’t on a map. We couldn’t get there to free others. You think someone’s going to believe people like us against the likes of Grendor of the Cape, or that Lydia Marinus woman? She was the worst, of course. She stole children through her orphanages. Vanishing them. Bet it still goes on. We heard that she educated children.’ He gave an emotionless laugh. ‘I wonder if she teaches them about morals? But anyway. You tell a soldier, he doesn’t care. You crawl to the politicians, you beg outside of their houses for a moment of their time, and they give you a hollow look. Tell you to stop wasting their time. They’re not going to bring change – only action is.’

‘What about the queen? Brell, the eunuch – he was close to the queen. I’m sure he could have said something about what was going on there. She might have even listened to him and sent an investigative team?’

‘No.’ Sojun shook his head and gave a sigh. ‘You don’t get it, do you? There’s ways of justice. Some things have to be done right. Done in person. To release the ghosts that follow Elliah around day and night. Brell wasn’t going to tell the queen. He more than any other wanted to bring about its end himself. Ask him how he became a eunuch – and watch his face. That’ll tell you far more than I can about what it means to him.’

‘This sounds more like revenge than justice.’

‘I’m telling you, officer. There was no other way to do what’s right by those kids. You might think badly of me, but I know in here,’ he thumped his wide chest, ‘that I done the right thing.’

The guard slammed the door firmly and slid the bolt across.

‘How many soldiers can be spared?’ I asked Sulma Tan as we turned our backs on the cells. Cressets lined the corridors, and there was no one else nearby save one guard deeper into the gloom.

‘In reality?’ she replied. ‘None. But we can make allowances.’

‘If there’s activity on Evum even now, there is likely to be protection. We may need some good warriors.’

‘Most of them are reinforcing the borders as we speak. That’s why there are so few guards around the palace now.’

‘You must have some in the city you can spare?’

It was difficult to read her expression in the dark, but her initial silence felt awkward. ‘If I spare some soldiers, what will be my excuse? How will I explain why two dozen men have been taken out of the city?’

‘A good point,’ I conceded.

‘We should now tell the queen everything,’ Sulma Tan replied. ‘Her eunuch, Brell, is about to be arrested. Though he does not live near her quarters, she will find out about this in the morning. She will have questions of her own as to why he is being taken, yes.’

‘If we have time to explain, the morning would be an appropriate moment to tell her.’

‘No,’ Sulma Tan said. ‘Tonight. I will tell her tonight. She should know as soon as possible else we risk angering her.’

‘Will you need me there?’

‘Not officially. No, go. Go and sleep. I will make the provisions for soldiers to make the journey across to Evum. They will be ready for us to leave first thing in the morning unless you hear otherwise.’

‘I’m incredibly grateful for all your help,’ I said, pausing to stress the point with sincerity. ‘This case would not have been resolved without your assistance. When I report to the Sun Chamber, and to your queen, I will make sure that you receive the credit you deserve.’

There was a look in her eyes that almost reached happiness, but she was too tired to fully commit herself. ‘This is merely my job.’

I shook my head. ‘You’ve gone beyond what’s required of a station like yours. I’ve been in several large cities of Vispasia and liaised with dozens of administrators and officials. You have been open, clear, informative and helpful. Others would be lucky to show one of those positive qualities.’

‘We have not finished yet. We will have all our answers when we arrive on Evum, and only then. For now, get some rest.’

I continued back through the labyrinthine corridors with Leana. Together we headed back to our quarters, a burning torch lighting our way.

And when we arrived, we saw the sprawled form of Allius Golt.

Blood had pooled next to his head, but it had not come from a blow to his skull. Instead, what had killed Allius Golt was a cut to his throat. The poor man lay on his back, his eyes closed, his sword to one side out of reach. His chair had been knocked over, and the timer he used to measure the evening’s progress had been smashed.

Rightly so, his corpse was not Leana’s first concern. She drew her own blade and tentatively moved towards the open door to our temporary living quarters – rooms that very few people were meant to know about. I immediately followed her inside, fearing the worst for Nambu’s safety.

There we came across another body.

However it was not the princess’s. A man we did not recognize lay face down. Garbed in an all-black outfit, the exact same kind as worn by her other attackers, his brown hair was tied in a tail as long as his arm, and a short sword was protruding from his back.

To one side, sitting on my bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, and with her bright eyes now red with tears, was the young princess. I moved to sit beside her, quickly but without appearing too threatening.

The young girl was clearly disturbed. In fact, she looked as if she was in shock.

‘Are you all right?’ I asked.

She squirmed a nod, then buried her head behind her arms. She began to heave with sobs, so I leaned in and held her close. Leana, meanwhile, checked the other rooms for intruders, leaving us in darkness. She returned promptly and shook her head. The glow of the torchlight lowered towards the corpse as she scrutinized the body.

The hilt of the blade appeared, from this distance, to have once belonged to Nambu. The position of it in the man’s back indicated he had not seen her, because she was probably hiding behind the door as he entered. She had thrust the weapon from a crouching position, upwards into the man’s back. Presumably he had not anticipated that the princess had received some training with a sword and unwittingly he had become her first kill.

Nambu, however, was now beginning to realize what it felt like to take a life with one’s own hands.

Eventually her heaves diminished and she took control of her emotions.

‘I heard a noise outside,’ she said. ‘If it was a fight it was very quick and after a gurgling scream everything went quiet, so I assumed the worst and thought I’d be attacked again, and so I hid there trying to remember everything Leana had taught me.’ She indicated the corner behind the door. ‘When the man came in I . . .’

Now was not the time for me to question just how the hell an intruder could have tracked her all the way down here without being caught.

Her face creased up and I thought we were going to lose her momentarily, but she quickly regained her composure. ‘I stabbed him, just in his weak spot like you said, Leana.’

‘You did good work,’ Leana declared.

‘How can it be good?’ Nambu muttered. ‘He’s dead. Dead because of what I did to him.’

‘Precisely so,’ Leana replied. ‘If you had not killed him then, spirits save you, he could have killed you. You saved your own life. This is a good thing. Even Lucan could not say otherwise.’

‘Leana’s correct,’ I said. But I was not so sure it was strictly the truth that he had come to kill Nambu. Their previous efforts had seemed to be more about capturing her.

‘Remember what this feels like,’ I said.

‘I’m sorry?’ Nambu looked up at me, curious.

‘Remember what this feels like, to have killed someone.’

‘Why would you say that to me?’

‘Because you have done this yourself. Your mother, when she decides to have someone executed, does so at a distance. She is removed from the act of removing a life. These matters are acts of the gods and goddesses, not the business of the mortals. Just remember that, for when it comes to killing someone it is the business of gods you’re messing with. It comes with profound implications.’

‘You will confuse her,’ Leana grunted, before moving away to look over the corpse again.

‘It is an important lesson. One day you will rule this nation. You will have the power to send armies to die in your name, perhaps. You will have political prisoners executed. You will be responsible for killing people, but it will never be from your hand. This is what it is like.’ I gestured towards the corpse. ‘Even though the reason was pure, that was a life you removed.’

‘He speaks too much,’ Leana said. ‘I have killed many people. Hundreds. This is not the business of the gods but real life. I just deal with it, like I would deciding what to eat for supper. It is only profound if you choose for it to be so.’