Ibryen

Chapter 11-1

Chapter 11Some instinct stopped Jeyan from reaching for her knife as she saw the three soldiers. Instead, she casually pulled her ragged jacket about her to ensure it remained out of sight. A picture of what must have happened formed in her mind in an instant. It was almost certain that those purging the city knew two dogs had played a part in the killing of Hagen. Even though she had seen people frantically fleeing the scene as she herself had fled, there would have been plenty present who would willingly have provided that information later. That, and the fact that it had been a lone assassin. So although small packs of death-pit dogs were not all that uncommon, and despite the mayhem that those two had wrought to this trio’s comrades, whoever was in charge had had wit enough at least to consider the possibility that perhaps the tower was occupied by more than them alone. He’d also had sufficient sense not to risk any more men on those narrow stairs.

She began to tremble again — a mixture of genuine terror and blazing fury at having allowed herself to be trapped. Her eyes flickered across the three men and their levelled swords. A sudden dash, low and fast between them and she could be away.

Perhaps.

But the men were watching her both intently and calmly, as though whatever she chose to do, they were a match for it. As well they might be, probably mistaking her for a scrawny youth. And they kept moving — as did their swords — not in a jerky and tense manner, betraying alarm, but almost relaxed. Gaps came and went, but the scrutiny never faltered.

She couldn’t do it! There was too much rubble and tangled foliage on the ground for her to risk scrambling between them, she told herself, but part of her knew that the moment for action had simply slipped from her and her fury flared anew.

But she had other resources, and when she spoke she lowered her voice slightly and slurred her words to make them difficult to understand. If they thought her a youth, so much the better, and it would be useful if they thought she was simple; heaven knew, there were enough such in the Ennerhald. She did not have to fake the tremor in her voice.

‘Have they gone? Have you killed them?’

‘What?’ said the nearest soldier, a large man wearing an insignia on his uniform that marked him out as some kind of leader. He leaned forward as he spoke, but did not lower his blade.

‘Have they gone? Have you killed them?’ she repeated. ‘The dogs.’ She made her eyes vacant and let her mouth drop open. ‘They chased me in here.’ She pointed shakily up the stairs and began to gabble. ‘I’d to go right to the top. I nearly fell through a hole in the floor. They ran off when you came. I heard a lot of noise. I was frightened.’

The men’s demeanour changed perceptibly, and they exchanged knowing glances, though they came no closer, nor conspicuously lessened their guard.

‘What would they be chasing a half-wit like you for?’ asked the leader.

‘For the bones probably,’ one of the others interjected, a stocky individual with broken and discoloured teeth that made him look peculiarly repellent. ‘There’s no meat on it.’

The others laughed unpleasantly.

‘You can’t get meat here, sirs,’ Jeyan started off again. ‘Not meat. I have to beg to eat, sirs. In the streets. The Guards allow it. I don’t bother anyone. But I’ve never had meat for a long time. People don’t give you meat — not fresh anyway. Sometimes there’s some around the stalls and at the back of the shops, when they can’t sell it. It’s not nice, but...’

‘Shut up,’ said the leader irritably. ‘Don’t speak unless you’re told to.’

‘No sir, I won’t. I won’t.’ She looked around anxiously. ‘Did you kill them? I heard a lot of noise. They were death-pit dogs, you know. When they bite you, they...’

‘I told you to shut up!’

Jeyan cowered, hands twitching to her head and face.

There was a brief consultation between the soldiers. ‘Is there anyone else up there?’ one of them asked. Jeyan shook her head dumbly. ‘Are you sure?’ She nodded.

There was more consultation. ‘Finish the damn thing off and let’s get out of here. They’re a pox, these people. This place needs a real cleaning out, it’s a cesspit.’

‘Maybe, but sooner you than me. It’s a big place and I wouldn’t fancy working round the pits. We’d better take this one in with the rest of the rubbish we’ve found down here; there’s no saying who’s checking up on us today. Let the officers sort out who’s who.’

‘Can I go now?’ Jeyan intervened.

The leader sheathed his sword and stepped towards her, his hand drawn back to strike her. She cowered again. He relented at the last moment and seized her arm instead.

‘You can go to the Citadel with the rest of your friends,’ he said, yanking her towards the doorway.

Jeyan dug her heels in and began wriggling fearfully. ‘No, no!’ she cried. ‘Have you killed them? I’m not going outside unless you’ve killed them. They chased me. They’re death-pit dogs. They’re...’ The soldier swore and tightened his grip about her arm. ‘You’re hurting. You’re hurting. Are they dead? Are they dead?’

The other soldiers were laughing at their comrade’s plight and, for a moment, Jeyan thought that he was going to lose his temper and start beating her. She lessened her struggling and began leaning on him.

‘Thump it for pity’s sake, and let’s get off.’

‘Yes, and you can carry it,’ retorted Jeyan’s assailant, transferring his anger to his adviser. ‘Come on, damn you,’ he said, returning to Jeyan. ‘It’s all right. We killed the dogs. They’re not there any more.’

‘Where are they?’

‘They’re outside. Come on.’ The last remark was accompanied by a violent jerk that pulled Jeyan off her feet. The others sheathed their swords and, still laughing, followed them out into the sunlight.

‘Where are they?’ Jeyan demanded, looking round anxiously. She began resisting again.

The leader stopped and made a pantomime of looking around. ‘Oh dear, they mustn’t have been as dead as we thought,’ he intoned to the increasing mirth of his friends. ‘Now come on!’ He swung his hand at Jeyan’s head, but in partly releasing her to do this she slipped away from him slightly and the blow barely caught her. She tumbled to the ground however, howling, thinking frantically how she could elude her captors now that she was out in the open.

‘They’ll come back,’ she whined. ‘They’ll come back. They’ll tell him what’s happened and he’ll send them back for me. They kill people. He’s taught them to. They always do what he tells them.’

The laughter faded abruptly and the three men looked at one another significantly. ‘Who are you talking about?’ said the leader, bending down and dragging her to her feet. ‘Who’ll send them back?’

‘Don’t hit me, please.’

‘I’ll do more than hit you, you dozy little sod. Just answer my question. Who’ll send the dogs back?’

‘Him!’ Jeyan exclaimed fearfully, pointing. ‘Him. The big man they belong to.’

There was such alarm in her voice that all three spun round in the direction she was pointing as if expecting to see Hagen’s murderer about to fall on them. One partly drew his sword. Jeyan found herself pulled off her feet again. ‘Who’re you talking about?’

‘Him! Him! The one who owns them. They go everywhere with him.’

The questions became urgent. ‘Who is he? Where is he?’

Jeyan shook her head and pointed again, mimicking increasing terror. There was another hasty conference, more serious than the last and with some head-shaking and hesitancy, then the leader decided. ‘Show us.’

Jeyan shook her head violently. ‘I’m afraid,’ she said. The soldier struck her across the face. This time the blow caught her fully and sent her sprawling facedown on the ground. It was a long time since she had been touched by anyone other than the two dogs and she was finding her response to the manhandling she was receiving difficult to contend with without retaliating. Now, for a moment, her face smarting and her ears ringing, a screaming, manic anger threatened to overcome her judgement and she nearly snatched out the knife. She came to herself just as her hand closed about its hilt and managed to release it as, once again, she was dragged to her feet.

‘The one you’ve got to be afraid of is me!’ said the leader. ‘Now take us to this man.’

The reluctance of the others gave itself clearer voice. ‘We should get some help. If this fellow killed Hagen, he’s not going to be some puny little simpleton like this one. And I don’t fancy dealing with those dogs.’

The soldier holding Jeyan gave a snarl of disdain and struck his companion on the chest with the back of his hand. ‘What do you mean, if? A big man and two mad dogs. Who the hell else could it be?’ His manner became more conciliatory. ‘Come on, move yourself. The dogs caught us all by surprise before. They won’t do it again, will they? What do we need help for? One man and two dogs against us!’ The man wavered and the attack was pressed home, this time with a prodding finger. ‘I’m damned if I’m going to hand this prize over to that bastard captain who thought it such a joke to leave us here. “Wait till nightfall,” he says with that sneer of his. And still less am I going to hand it over to those snots in the Guards. We catch the man who killed Hagen, and there’s plenty of good things will be lined up for us. Reward, promotion, soft city duty instead of flogging through the mountains. Whatever we want.’ He concluded by laying a fraternal hand on his companion’s shoulder.

The wilting reservation gradually became a shrug of bravado. ‘You’re right,’ concluded the reluctant soldier, brown teeth smirking. He made to cuff Jeyan. ‘Come on, hero. Show us where this great assassin skulks.’

‘Don’t hit me any more, please,’ Jeyan whined. ‘I’ll show you. But you’ll keep the dogs off me, won’t you? I don’t want the dogs to get me.’

The Teeth affected a pained expression. ‘I don’t mind taking on death-pit dogs and some Ennerhald lunatic, but I don’t want to put up with that whingeing all the way.’

The leader did not reply, but gave Jeyan a telling look and shook her to silence as they set off. After a little while and a few stumbles by Jeyan he tired of holding her arm and let her walk just ahead of him, though he drew his sword and the two others came closer. From time to time, Jeyan stopped and looked around as if thinking where she should go next. In reality however, full of blazing anger and hatred, she was luring them deeper into the Ennerhald. The further they went, the more they would be moving into her own territory, with its many hiding places and secret exits and entrances. Sooner or later they would become careless and then she would be away. With good fortune, a swift stroke would wound the leader to slow down any pursuit. Discreetly she checked her knife.

They continued in silence, moving along the winding, uneven streets and past decaying buildings with blank-eyed windows and crumbling thresholds. Eventually, the strangeness of this long-dead city within a city began to unsettle the three soldiers.

‘This place is giving me the creeps,’ the Teeth said. ‘It feels bad. There’s more places for an ambush here than in the mountains. There could be an army around us and we’d never know.’

His complaint received no sympathetic hearing. ‘Shut up,’ snapped the leader.

‘We should go back. What if killing Hagen was just to lure us into the Ennerhald — the army, that is. A trap.’

A hand caught Jeyan’s arm and the short procession stopped as the leader turned to deal with this query. ‘Then you can bravely cut your way back to the Citadel and raise the alarm, can’t you? Who’s going to lay traps for us, here, you i***t?’

There was little note of banter in his voice as he vented his own growing concern on his subordinate. That’s right, Jeyan thought savagely. Quarrel. Fight amongst yourselves. Give me the least chance to bring one of you down. Surreptitiously she looked around, but there was nowhere immediately by that would serve as an escape route.

‘I was only...’

‘Only what? Thinking? Don’t, it’s bad for you, leave it to me. You just keep your wits about you.’

Jeyan waited for an angry response but nothing happened. The recipient of the abuse merely glowered. Then the leader turned his irritation back to Jeyan and gave her a powerful push in the back. ‘Come on you, move! We haven’t got all day. How much further is it to where this individual lives?’