The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)(27)

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I RAN BACK to Daretana and found a crowd of fellow soldiers and Sublimes waiting outside of Stephinos’s post station. Stephinos made a show of sitting out front on the ground, and when asked he’d only say, “I’d damned well tell you all if I knew something worth telling.”

We waited for hours in the muggy air, milling about uselessly. We watched as scribe-hawks sailed overhead—homing birds the Apoths had designed to carry messages long distances—but none came to us, probably because we were already so close to Talagray. No one gave us any duties, nor shouted at us for our aimless loitering. Everyone knew the whole day would change when word arrived.

Then, close to evening, it came: two riders, both in Legion black, mounted atop league-horses—the giant steeds altered to cross huge amounts of land in mere hours. The first rider, a woman, stopped at Stephinos’s station; the other, a man, kept going, probably to carry word to the towns beyond.

Everyone hurried to water the messenger’s horse and bring her whatever she needed, but all she asked for was a box to stand on. She clambered aboard it and addressed the crowd, shouting, “The leviathan has been felled.”

So stern was her face, though, that no one cheered.

“It was felled to the south,” she continued. “Just east of the town of Sapfir. It has created a gap in the walls just over a league wide.”

A gasp rippled through us. To begin with, Sapfir was near to Talagray, which meant the leviathan had come close to destroying the largest city in the Outer Rim. But far worse was the breach: a gap over a league wide was much larger than any in recent memory.

“As such,” said the messenger, “all Legionnaires and Engineers from the ten neighboring cantons will be redirected to Talagray. Daretana will need to expedite their movement as much as possible. You should prepare for a large influx of imperial troops.”

The muttering rose among the crowd.

Then the messenger pulled a piece of parchment from her pocket and glanced at it. “Lastly—is anyone here familiar with Iudex Investigator…ah, Immunis Anagosa Dolabra?”

The muttering went dead quiet. All eyes slowly turned to look at me.

I raised my hand. “Uh…I am, ma’am.”

“Please tell her she is directed to remain in place and prepare for the arrival of Commander-Prificto Desmi Vashta,” she said, “of the Imperial Legion. She will be here by tomorrow evening to brief her. That is all!”

Then she mounted her horse and rode off for the next canton.



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“WELL,” SAID ANA when I told her the news. “That’s a pretty big goddamn surprise, isn’t it!” She grinned.

“Apologies, ma’am, but I can’t find much to smile about at this moment,” I said.

“Oh, you’ve always got to smile a little, Din,” said Ana. “Even during, you know, the abysmally fucking awful times.” She cocked her head. “A commander-prificto! That’s a high rank indeed…and she’s coming here for me, personally, during a crisis. Something’s amiss.”

“I had assumed the same, ma’am. But what, I can’t imagine.”

“Hm.” She sat back in her short stuffed chair, her eyes blindfolded. “Din—you only have the one Iudex coat, don’t you?”

“Ah—yes, ma’am?”

“And your boots. They’re a bit shit, aren’t they? Not to insult you, but…”

“They’re not as fine as some boots, ma’am,” I said curtly. “But they’re what I can afford.”

“Right…I think you’re going to need to buy some new clothes, Din. Several coats and new boots, certainly.” She stood, walked to one desk, and opened a drawer. “Here.” She slid out a small bag of talint coins. “A present for you, given your performance during the Blas murder. Try and get that done before nightfall. Then shower, pack, and be ready.”

“Thank you, but—ready for what, ma’am?”

“A very serious conversation,” she said. “About something very bad. And then, I think, a departure. But to where, I’m not yet sure.”



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I WAITED AT the post station, dressed in my fine new blue coat and my shiny black boots. None of my apparel had been broken in yet—the coat chafed my armpits, and the boots pinched my toes—so I kept pacing, hands behind my back.

Then I heard the sound of horses’ hooves and peered into the darkness. Two riders emerged from the wet night, both covered in black cloaks, their helmets painted black as well. They slowed to a halt at the post station and dismounted. Stephinos took their horses, exchanged a quick word with them, then pointed to me.

I stood up straight, hands behind my back, face purged of emotion. I’d never spoken to anyone above the rank of captain before—except for Ana, who hardly seemed to count. I had especially never spoken to an elite officer in the Legion, the most demanding and honored of all the Iyalets. I shoved my breast forward at them, ensuring they’d see all my heralds: the flower and the bar, denoting me assistant investigator; and the eye set within a box, indicating I was also an engraver.

The commander-prificto approached me first. I didn’t need to see the heralds on her ebony cloak to identify her as such: a glance at her gray face indicated many alterations, and her dark, serious eyes suggested someone who had seen no shortage of horrors in her time. She was a tall woman, shoulders broad, jaw set. Slight twitch to her step, suggesting some chronic tweak in her back. Her helm was ornate, engraved with letters in Old Khanum: the emperor’s declaration founding the Legion so many centuries ago. A fine piece of artistry. I wondered if she wore it in such critical moments to command the greatest respect.