A group of men arrived with buckets. They went along the line doling out ladles of brackish water and small hunks of stale black bread.
Ten minutes later, the chain-gang was on the move, shuffling out of the building with encouragement provided by the whips of the overseer’s deputies. They were herded to the gangplank of a ship of the line, then led below decks.
The ship’s hull was fitted with benches, port and starboard. Each bench seated two men. They were beaten into them and their wrists shackled to the great oars that projected from slits cut into the hull. Their ankles were chained to sturdy rings set in the floor. Kinsel found himself next to an elderly
looking, bone-thin man with broken teeth. When they were all in place, the overseer appeared.
‘As this is your first time,’ he announced, ‘we’ll begin nice and easy. Get your hands on those oars!’
A drummer began to pound out a rhythmic beat.
Kinsel took hold of the oar, and felt a tear forming in the corner of his eye.
Night had fallen on the city.
In a quiet residential street in an unremarkable quarter of Valdarr, a carriage was discreetly parked in the shadow of an overhanging tree. The carriage was defended by elaborate counter-eavesdropping charms, and its driver had been sent on a meaningless errand.
Inside the carriage, behind drawn blinds, two people were deep in conversation.
‘We’ll go through it again,’ Devlor Bastorran insisted.
‘If we must,’ Aphri Kordenza replied wearily, ‘but I understood the first three times. I’m not stupid, you know.’
‘I need to be sure you’re clear on every detail. This is an extremely risky operation.’
‘We’re used to risky situations. Trust me.’
‘Get this one wrong and it’ll not only go badly for me, it’ll go
very
badly for you. Both of you. Get it right and you’ll have everything you want.’
‘You’ll arrange to have our condition made permanent?’
‘That’s what we agreed.’
‘And you’ll pay for it?’
‘I said I would.’
‘Soon?’
‘Yes, yes,
yes
! You have my word. Now can we please run over it again? Good. What time do you have be there?’
‘A little before midnight.’
‘Right. Allowing enough time to get in, do what you have to and get away. You’ve
got
to be out of there before the chimes. Understood?’
‘Perfectly.’
‘The room has two ways in. You’ve no need to worry about the entrance inside the house. The one you’re concerned with is the emergency exit. You get into that through the door in the alley at the rear of the building. It’s the only door there, and besides it’ll have a guard stationed outside.’
‘And I’m to kill him.’
‘Yes, and don’t botch it. Leave him alive and we’re both finished. Because you’re going to approach him with this.’ He held up a rolled parchment bearing a red wax stamp. ‘My personal seal. This will win his confidence and allow you to get near enough to do the job. What two things must you be sure to do at this point?’
‘Kill him conventionally with a blade; no magic. And get the seal back.’
‘That’s vital. Leave it at the scene and it’s our death warrant.’ He slipped a hand into his tunic pocket. ‘Then you use this key to open the door. Drag the guard’s body inside and lock the door behind you.’
‘And that’s when I separate from Aphrim.’
‘Right. You leave him to guard the entrance in case anybody else comes along. That’s very unlikely because there are only a couple of copies of these keys, but I want to cover every eventuality. So, you’re in the building. What next?’
‘I go up the flight of stairs and there’s another door.’
‘Which you open with
this
key.’ He dangled it in front of the meld. ‘Do it quietly. When you’re through that door
you’ll find yourself in a small curtained alcove. Beyond the curtain is his private study. The outer door, the one that leads to the rest of the house, is going to be locked, so you won’t be disturbed. Chances are he’ll be working at his desk, and that has its back to the alcove. So you should be able to approach without him knowing, providing you’re stealthy enough.’
‘I do stealth very well.’
‘If he isn’t at his desk, you’ll still have the element of surprise. But should he see you coming and put up a fight, don’t assume he’ll be easy to take.’
‘I’ll be prepared for that.’
‘I can’t emphasise enough that he has to be dealt with just like the guard; no hint of magic. When you’ve done the deed, mess the study up a bit. Make it look as though there’s been a fight, assuming there hasn’t, of course. Then smash the door you came through, from the far side. It’s got to look as though someone’s battered their way in,
not
used a key. His study’s in a fairly remote part of the house and it’s wood-panelled, so you’re all right making a certain amount of noise, but don’t overdo it. Oh, and make sure the lock’s turned when you break the door. If somebody notices it’s unlocked
and
broken, that’s going to give it away. Tell me what happens next.’
‘Down the stairs to Aphrim, and we do the same to the door there; smash it.’
‘That could be the most dangerous point. If somebody should walk past, or you attract attention breaking the door-’
‘We’ll kill them.’
‘Yes. It’s important nobody gives your description. Obviously that would ruin the plan. But again, no magic.’
‘You can count on it.’
‘I hope so. I wouldn’t want a repetition of the brawl you had with Caldason and that woman.’
‘That wasn’t of our choosing. They were following us.’
‘And that’s worrying. If they followed you from my HQ they’ll suspect we’re connected.’
‘Doesn’t do them any good though, does it? Who are they going to tell who’d believe them? Anyway, by then Caldason’s going to have a lot more to worry about.’
‘I suppose so. Here.’ He handed over the keys and the seal. ‘And I want them back, as we arranged.’
‘Of course.’
‘One other thing. If you were thinking of using them to try a little blackmail on me, forget it. Not only would you not get the reward, I’d have every paladin in the city out looking for you. With orders to kill on sight.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it. Once this job’s done, Aphrim and I are going to be out of your hair forever.’
That was exactly what Devlor Bastorran had in mind.
A reception was being held at Ivak Bastorran’s palatial town house.
The guest list was select and the hospitality lavish. Many of Bhealfa’s most influential families were represented, and there was more than a smattering of the great and good from Gath Tampoor who were stationed in the colony. A small orchestra played in the mansion’s ballroom, and couples in the latest imported fashions had taken to the floor.
In an adjoining reception room, Ivak and Devlor Bastorran, resplendent in their dress uniforms, greeted guests, a trickle of whom were still arriving, despite the lateness of the hour.
‘It was an excellent idea of yours,’ Ivak said, ‘to honour Laffon like this.’
‘I see it as politic, uncle. Now that the CIS has been given the go-ahead to operate outside Gath Tampoor proper, he’s likely to be an even more powerful man. He certainly seems