They were both very young for mercenaries, so it was easy to claim they were new to the job and therefore ignorant of many of the customs and knowledge of the craft. As it was quite usual to get in through the route of messenger, especially in war-torn areas, their stories were credible and easy to sustain.
Without the benefits of being royalty, the harsh realities of life were proving difficult to get used to, even here, only a stone’s throw from home. For Rowan, one of the hardest things was being constantly jostled by the crowd. As a crown prince of a royal House, his person was inviolate, and no one could touch it other than members of his family or personal staff. Here, he was nothing but a common mercenary, and one not used to standing up to the crowd.
Surprisingly, Astrin was both better at standing up to the jostling and less concerned by it. He left Rowan sitting at a table, glowering at everyone in what they were soon to discover was a dangerous way, and went to the bar to get drinks and information.
Another disadvantage of having to travel incognito was that they were not able to use Rowan’s credit card. Ragnor had made arrangements for sufficient cash, in both Gabriel and Michael currency, to be made available to them at Maratebo, as well as with a Gabriel agent in Port Home, who was ostensibly their contact for the completion of a mission.
Rowan rubbed his face, feeling dirty and sore. He tried to find Astrin in the crowd, but it was impossible. He really needed to learn not to panic every time Astrin left his sight. Astrin was not a child, and no longer weak and ill. He was a man and probably far more capable out here than Rowan. He knew, sort of, that Astrin was not in danger––at least until they had rescued the adults. But still….
“You got a problem, mate?”
Rowan was jerked forcibly out of his contemplation when a large man dressed in leather trousers and vest sat down across the table from him and glared. Alarmed, Rowan stared at the man.
“Sorry?”
“You will be, kid, if you don’t have a reasonable explanation for why you were staring at me.”
“I wasn’t staring at you.”
The man leaned across the table and smiled pleasantly, showing very white teeth in a face like polished ebony. “That is not a good explanation. Tell me why I shouldn’t take out my knife and gut you like a salmon?”
“Because I haven’t done anything to you.”
“That’s never stopped me before.”
Rowan glanced around uneasily, but no one was looking in their direction. In fact, he thought, there were a number of people who were very pointedly
not
looking in their direction.
“I don’t know what you want, but I don’t have anything. My friend and I are just having a quiet drink, not bothering anyone, so why don’t you just go away and leave us alone?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” the man said, the roughness in his voice sweetened with cloying honey. “You
are
bothering me. You were staring at me, whether you meant to or not. The look on your face bothered me… so I was obliged to come over and wipe it off. Now that I’m here, I can hardly turn and walk away, can I?”
“I don’t see why not. What are you going to do? Shoot me? Stab me? Here in the middle of a crowded bar? Just leave me alone.”
The man scowled. “Trust me, pretty boy, your kind do nothing for me. I’d be happy to watch you bleed out your life at my feet right now.”
“What do you mean, ‘my kind’?”
“Gabriel whore,” he spat.
“Whore? I’m no whore!” Rowan was angry now, and he half stood up, leaning across the table. The man seemed alarmed at first, although he recovered quickly and his hand went to his hip.
Quite suddenly, something came over Rowan, taking him by surprise. It felt as if his mind expanded, and he saw the world in a very different way. Everything was in shades of black and white. Stunned, Rowan stared into the man’s eyes as everything slowed to a stop around them. Acting on an unfamiliar impulse, he got to his feet and slipped a hidden knife out of his boot. Walking around the table, hiding the knife from anyone else in the bar, he pressed it hard enough against the man’s side for him to feel and have no doubt what it was.
Color and movement flowed back into the room as Rowan leaned close to the man’s ear. “What was it you called me again?”
The man turned his head with great care and stared at Rowan, who smiled at him just as pleasantly as he had done a few minutes before.
“What the hell? How did you…?”
“I don’t think you should be worrying about
how
I did it. I think you should be worrying about what I’m going to do
next
.” Rowan underlined his words by pressing the knife harder into the man’s side. Hard enough to draw blood.
“All right, kid, let’s be calm. Put the knife down and I’ll just walk away.”
“That would be wise, but before you do, I’d like you to tell me something.” The man’s eyes widened in surprise, but no one could have been more surprised than Rowan when he saw, behind the eyes, two tunnels. Without knowing what he was doing, he followed the tunnels into a spiraling maze that he traveled in the blink of an eye. At the end of the tunnel was a gauzy curtain, through which Rowan pushed without hesitation. The man stiffened.
“What do you know about the Heart of the South?”
“It’s the stronghold of my House, where the royal family lives.”
“What’s the best way to get in there?”
“There is no way in, unless you’re invited.”
“How do we get invited?”
“The only way in is if you’re in the service of the House.”
“And how would we achieve that?”
“I’m a sailor, I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been inside.”
“All right. What’s the best way of getting there?”
“There’s a train from Port Home to Agavi. It’s a town just outside the walls. There are buses too. Or you can rent a car or bike at the Port. It’s easy enough to get there.”
“How long will it take us?”
“Nine or ten hours on the train, longer by bus or car.”
“Will we have to go through any checkpoints? Provide identification?”
“All citizens of House Michael have identity cards. Visitors from other Houses are expected to get papers from their port of exit, to produce on demand.”
“Where do I get those papers?”
“At the port exchange.”
“What do I need to do to get them?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never needed them. Travel between Port Home and Maratebo is free.”
“Thank you very much for being so helpful.” Rowan relaxed and blinked his eyes, realizing suddenly that he had a bad headache. He had no idea what had possessed him to ask such dangerous questions to a complete, and not very friendly, stranger.
The man licked his lips. “So what do you say, eh? You put the knife down, nice and slow, and I walk away.”
Rowan was confused. The man had gone back to the last conversation, as if the one in the middle had never happened. Trying not to show how shaken he was, Rowan shook his head. “I think I’d prefer if you got up really slowly and walked away.
Then
I’ll put the knife away.”
“What did you do, kid? No one can move that fast. Did you bend time or stop it? That’s a powerful ability you have, a handy one for a mercenary. I might have some business to put your way if you’re sticking around for a couple of days.”
Rowan looked at him thoughtfully, all sorts of things speeding through his mind. He shook his head. “We have to be in Port Home by the end of the day. We have a job to cash in, and it’s a good payer.”
“Well… if you come back here after, I’ll sort you out with something good.” He bent closer, becoming conspiratorial. “There’s going to be a war, and that’ll mean plenty of lucrative work for a smart kid like you. Look me up the next time you’re in port, and we’ll do business.”
Stunned, Rowan nodded. Giving him a bright smile and a wink, the man got up and walked away without a glance over his shoulder.
What just happened?
Rowan sat down again. He was shaking. Ability? Was that what it was? Were his abilities kicking in at last? And if so… what the hell were they? What did he do? How could he do it again?
He was still stunned when Astrin appeared, carefully carrying two glasses and trying not to spill the whole of the contents when he was jostled. With a grin of triumph, he set down a mostly full glass on the table in front of Rowan.
“Well, that was an adventure. You had it easy.”
Rowan laughed. “Have I got something to tell you!”
Astrin grinned. “Me too. Apparently we have to get papers from the port exchange before we go to Port Home.”
“I know. And there’s a train from Port Home that will take us straight to the Heart of the South in about nine hours. And when we get back, we’ve got jobs in the ‘war’ that’s about to start.”
“How did you…? I thought I had…? What war?”
“You tell me.”
“Seriously… what happened? I had to work hard to get that information.”
“How did you do it?”
“I cornered a guy and manipulated his mind and emotions, making him want to tell me. Why? How did you do it?”
“I’ve no idea. I think I stopped time, or something, then kind of got inside his head and dug out the information. He didn’t remember it afterward, but he seemed to like the fact I had a knife in his ribs without him seeing me put it there, and he even suggested that someone with my abilities might make a good living during the war that’s about to start.”
“You haven’t mentioned your abilities before.”
“That’s because I didn’t have any before. I’ve no idea what happened, or how and why it came out right now, but… hell… I think it scared
me
more than it scared him. How do I control it? How do I make it work?”
“Carefully. If they’re anything like mine, you have to put energy in to make it work. If you put too much in, you can end up frying your own brain as well as the person you’re working on.”
“Like you did with the healing?”
Astrin glared at him, then sighed. “Yes… exactly like I did with the healing.”
“But you’re more controlled now?”
“I’m very controlled now. At the time, I had no idea what I could do. The only thought in my head was to stop the brains leaking out of yours.”
“Um. Fine. Let’s not talk any more about that—you’re making me feel queasy.”
“While we’re on the subject, there’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
Rowan panicked. The last thing he wanted to do was
talk.
“Let’s focus on the job at hand. There’ll be time to talk later.” Astrin nodded, dropping his gaze to his glass. “Okay… what do we know? We need to get papers before we leave. Did your guy tell you how to get them, what kind of thing we have to say or produce?”
Astrin shook his head. “No, he was a southerner. He didn’t need them.”
“Mine too. Maybe we need to speak to someone from one of our own Houses.”
“Yeah. I’ll work on it in a bit. But listen….” Astrin had perked up, and his eyes were gleaming again. “I’ve found something very interesting. Apparently, there’s a great deal of unrest in the South at the moment. There’s a growing faction that doesn’t like the direction in which Strebo is steering the House. There are demonstrations all over the Southern Territory, and there’s word that a big demonstration is being planned at the Heart of the South.”
Rowan’s eyes widened. “When?”
“The day after tomorrow, at noon.”
“Do you think that’s what you saw in your vision?”
“Sounds about right.”
“Fabulous. Perfect timing. We’ll get the papers sorted out this afternoon, spend the night here, cross to Port Home first thing in the morning, and get the next train to… what’s the name of that place… Agavi? We should get there in plenty of time to sniff around for a bit and find out what’s going on.”
“Sounds almost too neat.”
“No reason why it shouldn’t be.”
“Okay, then, let’s drink up and see what we can do about those papers.”
“Do you think you can use your ability to get the papers done?”
“Depends on who’s manning the exchange. I may not have to.”
“What do you mean?”
Astrin laughed. “Sometimes you can be quite obtuse, Rowan.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’re what… half a mile from your family’s estate? Our faces have been all over the news lately. I’ve been working hard to screen us, which is not easy, even with my manipulation skills. I’ve a feeling that as soon as we step over the doorstep they’ll recognize you and it won’t be a problem.”
“It might be. It might be a big problem.”
“Why? Surely your own people won’t turn you in, and they won’t refuse you papers.”
“Not if they are my people, but I don’t think we can safely assume anything. They could be Southern sympathizers… there are lots of things that could go wrong.”
“Okay, I’ll strengthen the protection and take control of everyone as soon as we get in there until we assess the situation.”
“Can you do that?”
“It won’t be easy, and it’ll drain me, but I think I can.”
Rowan stared at him, impressed. “What exactly can you do?”
Astrin smiled and glanced up at him coyly, with a look that made Rowan feel hot and prickly and like he suddenly wanted to leave. He took a long drink of his beer while Astrin explained.
L
EARNING
A
BOUT
Y
OURSELVES
“T
HE
HEALING
you know about. I can also make people feel things and, to some extent, influence what they’re thinking. And I can manipulate water.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain. I’ll show you when we get to the dock. Oh, and it seems as if I have the sight too, although that’s something new, so I haven’t come to grips with it yet.”
“Can you talk to people telepathically?”
“Sometimes. It depends if they have the gift too or if I have a particular connection with them. Otherwise all I can do is ‘feel’ what’s in there and… push a little.”