The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)(103)

I beckoned to a porter standing at attention across the courtyard, waving him over.

“We need a meal here,” I told him.

“What might you prefer, sir?” the porter asked.

“Flesh. Beef or fish, preferably, and as recently slaughtered as possible. It doesn’t have to have been cooked, just oiled and salted and sliced thinly.”

Ana paused as she turned the page, a smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “You’re beginning to know me well, boy. But have it brought to my rooms, please. I will need to study this list in a place with a little less stimulation…”

I dropped a few talints into the porter’s hand, and he bowed and trotted off.

Ana began messily piling her papers. “I shall finish my work and find a name. But pursuing this crackler will not be simple. An Apoth like Jolgalgan will have many invisible ways of murdering you, possibly beyond dappleglass. Thus, once I have a name, I shall contact the Apoths to ready a contagion crew.”

Miljin’s face darkened. “A contagion crew…By the Harvester, I never wished to ride out with one of them.”

“We have no choice. I’ll not have you or Din choking on your own blood because Jolgalgan set graft trips in your path.” She stood. “Come to me in the morning, and I will give you your orders. Perhaps we eliminate one of our three mysteries tomorrow. But Miljin…” She lifted her blindfolded face. “Unless I’m mistaken, we do have an hour or so of light left…”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll show the boy a few tricks, ma’am.”

“Very good. Thank you. But one last thing…Din? Come here.”

I did so, extending my arm to her as I was accustomed. Yet her fingers pawed up my shoulder, then to my head, where she plucked out three of my black hairs.

I winced. “Ma’am! What was that fo—”

“Oh, relax,” she said. “I need some black hairs. And my and Miljin’s hair is too pale. Only yours could do.”

“Do for what, ma’am?”

“To keep me alive, of course. For I’m relatively sure someone shall try to poison me as well, and that right soon—yet these shall protect me.” She grinned. “Good night!”



* * *



—

AS THE EVENING grew full dark, Miljin showed me a few ugly little moves of his; not really fighting techniques as much as dirty tricks, ways to hobble or hamper your opponent. My particular favorite was one where, if you had time to identify a thrust, you could deflect the blow and angle your blade in such a manner that you trapped their sword with your crossguard, and they impaled their shoulder upon its point. I did it so well that Miljin had to stop himself from piercing his flesh. “That’s enough of that one, then!” he said, shuddering.

And as he guided me through the movements, I began to see what they had been trying to show me: every gesture, every position, every shift, and every turn seemed to sink into my very bones, engraved in my body and flesh—but the knack was as limited as it was comprehensive, for I could only duplicate those exact movements. If the fight called for something I hadn’t memorized, then I was instantly vulnerable.

“Good,” said Miljin, sweating mightily after a few minutes of sparring. “But don’t let this swell your ego. None of these dirty tricks will do you any good against a twitch, or a crackler. Try and spar with him tomorrow and the fella will rip you apart. Now let us sup, and to bed. There are many ways to an early grave in this canton, and pairing a hungry belly with a tired mind is surely one of them.”

He walked me back to the Iudex tower entrance, the Fisher’s Hook twinkling and glimmering far above.

“Do you think she meant it, sir?” I said. “That someone will try to poison her?”

“At this point, if your immunis claimed all the world were an aplilot and a giant leviathan was about to take a bite out of it, I’d fucking believe her,” he said. He squinted up at the Iudex tower. “In fact, I wonder if she knows the truth of all that’s happened. Or if she even planned to be here.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“An Iudex officer with such a history with the Hazas? Popping up right when Kaygi Haza gets murdered? She knows more than she’s telling. Question is when she tells us.”

“As well as if we survive,” I said. “That question bothers me a bit more now, sir.”

“True,” he said. “But that’s as Talagray is. The fields of these lands are wet with the blood of many officers. And though we keep hoping the Empire grows more civilized, somehow it finds clever new ways to stay savage. Yet you’ve an advantage, Kol.”

“Because of my knack?”

“No. Because Dolabra’s decided to look out for you. Though she’s mad, count yourself lucky to be in her shadow.”

“I’m in danger because I’m in her shadow, sir.”

He laughed. “Suppose that’s a good point!”

We walked on. It was a queer thing, to know I had this knack; but any excitement I had was drowned in dread of all the threats before us. It was all too easy to imagine some shadowy figure lifting a stiletto to my skull and drilling a hole behind my ear, leaving a tiny, trickling spring of dark blood.

Finally we came to the tower entrance.

“It’s a defect as much as it is an advantage, you know,” Miljin said, “or they used to say so.”