Take the body and give me the rest (14 page)

The guard
looked to his fellow and then back at Seth. ‘State your business,
then,’ he said. Not exactly what he was supposed to say.

‘My business is
knowledge, but the way is barred. Step aside,’ Seth said
firmly.

The man looked
again at his fellow guard and they stiffened, ready for action.

‘Disrespect
aside, I am Brother Seth and I have entry for three days. The words
you should have said were, ‘What do you seek?’ And I would have
said, ‘To be the final link in the chain of life,’ Seth said.

Without a
moment’s hesitation, the two men snapped their pikes out of the way
and to attention.

‘Apologies,
Brother Seth; we weren’t expecting such a large party.’

They weren’t
expecting a party of scruffy hard-to-kill-looking Northerners is
what they were really thinking, but Seth just pushed passed the two
men, up the small stone path and up the few small stairs to the
landing in front of the door. The large white double doors swung
open inwards to reveal a large room with ornate decorations,
tables, chairs and tapestries of some family history on the wall.
They were greeted by a small flock of bowing servants in black.
Seth had some idea of how he had to deal with his few day hiatus,
and it started with playing the role of the tired traveller.

‘Have baths
drawn for my new servants here and send for some tailors from the
city as well. We’re tired from the sea travel and these clothes of
mine feel like the only thing holding them together is the salt,’
he said.

The head of the
servants was an old man of around sixty years with a pronounced
stoop and a very cold expression. ‘Welcome, brother, to this place
of learning. We are yours to command.’ With that, he turned and,
talking in a hurried hushed voice to the other servants, then left
the room, seeking to fulfil his new temporary Master’s wishes.

The General had
heard of this place even though he’d never been here. He knew that
each one of these servants and guards was bought and owned by a
different member of The Guild. They may have had different masters
and owners, but someone was still filling their pockets with coins
to find out what they could of the other members who travelled and
stayed here.

The Dark Guild
was only united in its lust for power and desire for more. The
members didn’t feel any sense of kinship with one another. Each was
in his or her own struggle to be, as he said, ‘the last link in the
chain’.

Chapter 17

The warm water
of the bath soothed the stiff muscles in Seth’s body, but he knew
it must have felt even more like heaven to his new companions. They
had been led away by the servants to bathe and be fitted with new
clothes and even arms. They were treated like what they were, the
armed guards of a highly respected brother of the Guild.

Seth let his
mind drift as he laid his wet head against the metal rim of the
clawed bathtub. He was imagining the vaults of this place and what
would be hidden within. What he was seeking hadn’t been uncovered
for untold years, and while he’d been given permission to browse,
he knew that once he made an actual attempt at the prize, the
servants and guards would soon show their true colours.

Seth stood
dripping from the bathtub and then stepped out. Two servants in
their plain black robes quickly dried his naked body with brisk and
impersonal movements, their faces turned away from him as they did
so. The head servant of the stewards ushered two men into the room
before him. They were both dressed in garish and rich clothing with
fabric wrapped around their heads in some form of covering.
Following them were even more slaves, carrying bolts of the same
garish fabrics and the various tools and implements of
tailoring.

‘Something
simple only,’ Seth said, stepping towards them.

One of those
who was smiling broadly seemed crestfallen. ‘Simple yet majestic,
Master,’ he said, regaining his smile.

Seth allowed
himself to smile back. He would be lying if he said he didn’t like
being the centre of attention and the one to control and command
these people just a little.

The tailors soon sensed his personality and attitude as he
picked various dark fabrics: black silk, rich blood reds. The
servants set to work, cutting, sewing, piecing. They put together
an outfit of fitted dark pants, a tailored black shirt that was
wide set across the shoulders and left his arms bare, with the gold
crest of the Guild attached on the breast
.
At his side, he still wore his blades which looked in
place with the
dark outfit. The whole process took hours but Seth tried to conceal
his impatience.

As they put on the finishing touches, Seth was joined in the
room by Grimm, Flint, Stone and Goldie
.
They strolled into the room tall and proud, looking now very much
like fighting men and not servants or slaves. They were scrubbed
and cleaned, in outfits of dark leather armour and even swords from
the armoury. The head servant approached Seth quietly and spoke
softly to him. ‘Just a question of your sponsor, brother? Whose
ledger will I scribe these costs?’ Seth almost laughed. He need not
have worried about saving a few coins at all.

There were only
a select few in the Guild, who were allowed here, and he had to
pick the name carefully; they hadn’t told Minsetta a name. Seth
cast in his mind and reached out for Stephan’s contacts and stories
of other members. He knew a name but knew it was just rumour for
Stephan. Still, he’d try.

Seth whispered
back, ‘Why, it’s Luthor,’ he said.

The servant
didn’t understand. ‘Who, sir?’

Seth tried
again ‘The Duke of Twin Waters.’

The head
servant was truly stunned. He almost stuttered. ‘Yes, Brother,
thank you,’ he said. Seth had no idea who this duke was, only that
he was some shadowy figure high in the Guild, who Stephan hated and
slightly feared.

Seth turned to
Goldie and passed a few silvers coin into his rough hand. ‘Take
Grimm and get some proper dinner and wine for us all; it will be a
late night,’ he said.

The head
servant overheard. ‘No need, Brother Seth. Our kitchen can provide
all you will need.’

Seth wasn’t
planning on trusting any food, wine or even the water in this
place. Goldie had already left the room with Grimm in tow. ‘I have
a sensitive stomach and prefer to provide my own food,’ he said.
‘Now show me to the library.’

For two days
and nights, Seth had been in the main library room of the manor
house and had even slept in there with the men in watches of two,
keeping someone always on guard. The library rooms were an
impressive sight. The entrance formed by double doors as grand as
the manor’s main entrance. The room itself had a large ceiling with
elaborate embossed patterns decorating the ceiling where a large
crystal candelabrum hung. In the middle of the side wall was a
large empty fireplace with walls and walls of leather-bound books
on either side. One side housed identical volumes of the same size
and the other hundreds and hundreds of various volumes collected
from the world over in different sizes, shapes and languages. The
room also held many tables and desks for study and scribing. Seth
could imagine a time hundreds of years ago when this place had been
a centre of learning for the growing guild. Now it was deadly quiet
with only the sound of the incessant turn of the pages as Seth
slowly worked through book after book.

He worked his
way through the recollections, mostly, and was surprised not only
by how many there were but how many by the same people. One brother
must have written a dozen volumes’ worth describing in rich detail
his own life and all the lives of those he had come to take. Seth
could see that by the very act of describing it in words, his
recollection of the events and the power to embody it became
complete. By writing what he had absorbed, the brother had been
able to take it in fully. No wonder this place was filled with so
many books, the brothers wrote them for selfish reasons.

Seth was biding
his time, reading the public volumes and letting the house, as he
thought of it, grow used to him, his men and his eccentric ways. He
was yet to eat a meal in the place and every day he would send the
men to wander the house and see if they could locate something of
where this secret volume might be.

Seth was
sitting in a chair with light from the candelabra shinning down,
when Goldie sat next to him and spoke. ‘I know where it is,’ he
said.

Seth stopped
reading and smiled up at him. ‘I knew one of you would find it.
Tell me first how you know, then where.’

‘We’ve not
eaten a meal in this place, yet they still cook. The servants cook
for themselves, yes, I know, but servants eat in the kitchen or
servants’ quarters. Yet a few times a day I see that old one taking
plates of food to the south wing. Someone is there guarding
something,’ he said.

It made sense
to Seth. They wouldn’t leave it unguarded. ‘Let’s get moving now
then,’ he said.

Goldie motioned
to Grimm with a quick nod of the head, and he slowly roused Flint
and Stone from where they slept soundly on the floor, spare clothes
tucked under their heads. As soon they were standing around him,
Seth pulled his rapier out and they all did the same with their
broadswords.

‘Waiting’s
over. Most of this house is asleep, but we put the number of guards
at six at least that we know of and servants around ten. I think
only the guards will fight, but if Goldie is right there may be
more at the door. You ready to get bloody?’ he whispered.

Grimm whispered
back for all four of them. ‘We’ve just been waiting for you.’

Seth led the
way through the manor house, the point of his drawn rapier cutting
through the dark and silence of the house. Behind him, his men
walked with weapons also drawn, quietly stalking up the darkened
corridors. They moved with much stealth for men of their size. He
could feel the deadly purpose and cold reserve coming off them all.
Seth led them to the wing of the house where the food was being
taken every day. Stepping through an archway, they came out into a
large receiving room of sorts. At the end of the room was a pair of
vast double doors, made of thick oak. Clearly another kind of
master bedroom with this as a salon. Seth had been expecting a
fight in this very room.

He could see
even in the dark that the floorboards were worn in the areas on
both sides of the doors. During the daylight hours, surely two
guardsmen stood here.

He looked back
at the men and shrugged. ‘They might be on the inside with it.’

The doors were
large carved oak wooden things, but they were still doors inside of
a house, and the lock and handle looked only so strong. They stood
before the doors in preparation.

‘Flint, do you
think you can go through this?’ Seth whispered.

He saw a flash
of teeth in the darkness. ‘Like paper.’

‘Okay, the plan
is Flint goes through this double door shoulder first, and we
moments later. There could be two men or twenty, but I’d rather
have the element of surprise.’

They moved out
of the way and let Flint take four big steps backward, looked at
the door, then up at Seth. ‘With a cry, Boss?’

Seth almost
chuckled. ‘Yeah, with a cry, why not. The whole house will hear
this door crying anyway.’

With an
impossibly loud bellow that rang through the house, Flint ran at
the double door with as much speed as he could and hit the magic
spot joining the two doors with his huge, muscled and armoured
shoulder. The doors were flung apart with a giant crash and rip of
wood and metal. Flint maintained a staggering run into the
candlelit room, followed closely by the rest of the band, who, also
screaming, rushed into the room, swords ready.

There were two guards on the other side of the doors who were
hit with the rebounding slab of oak. Grimm slashed roughly at one’s
throat, as the guard knelt stunned and bloody from the face, the
sword slid through his windpipe
,
sending him to the floor clutching the wound and gurgling to a slow
painful death on the floor. The other had gotten his arms up and
was engaged with Goldie in a brief scrap. In moments, Goldie had
his sword buried in the man’s stomach to the hilt.

Four more
guards came rushing out of the darkness within. Their swords were
drawn, but the guards seemed dazed and bewildered. No doubt they
had been dozing or fully asleep before Flint’s cry had woken them.
Seth leapt forward and plunged his rapier into a charging guard’s
chest. Then he was pushed aside as Flint, Goldie, Stone and Grimm
attacked in force. They weren’t trained soldiers but sailors handy
with blades. Anger, rage and bloodlust were their advantages as
they hacked, screamed and lunged at the guardsmen. Soon they stood
in the darkened room with only the sound of their own panting
breath and the faint ring of swords clashing still sounding in
their ears.

‘Goldie, go see
about some more light in this place. Flint, Stone, Grimm, guard the
door. The rest will be coming in a few minutes,’ Seth said, walking
into the darkness of the large room.

Soon, Goldie
had managed to light a fire and some lanterns and the room fully
came into view. It was a messy bedroom of large proportions. Around
the room in a sort of semicircle, the guards had stood facing
inwards. In the middle of the room was a tattered bed and, sitting
up on it and looking at Seth, was an old woman from the Southern
Desert. Her dark skin was lined with creases and her long hair of
matted locks was white as bone. She didn’t make a move or sound,
but had simply watched them as they had killed the men guarding
her. Seth could see on her bed there were thick iron manacles and
her wrists held the permanent scars of someone often chained. He’d
seen that enough in the slave cages. So not guarding to protect
her, but guarding against her escape. A prisoner of the Guild.