Chaos Bound (22 page)

Fowler shook his head. ‘She has not.’

I had, but didn’t correct him. The Apertor Elixir was what the Witch Hunters took to connect to the ley-lines. It was a method regarded by the church as being more in line with their doctrine, rather than dirtying their hands with common salt. I'd taken it twice, neither times with much choice. The elixir had allowed me to connect to the ley-lines in an all-consuming rush of power. The effect didn’t last long, but was enough to leave you craving. I had kept my distance from asking around on the black market for more. I had an addictive personality. Hard liquor, dice, expensive shoes… Another vice was the last thing I needed.

The Mayor raised a finger. ‘Excuse me, but I would like to bring up a related matter, and that is of the increase in darkcraft attacks within the city.’

Brackett thumped the table with his fists, his wrinkly jowls wobbling as he nodded with approval. ‘Hear, hear. A disgrace, it is. ‘

Fowler sat down and exchanged a meaningful glance with Daveron, while Brackett busied himself with cleaning an ear with his pinkie. I wondered what the Mayor was up to, and watched apprehensively as he heaved himself to his feet. Straightening his coat, then took a deep breath. ‘I have it on good authority that this woman on trial is one of the major conspirators of the rising use of darkcraft and so-called street justice we see in Applecross.’

‘Lord Mayor.’ Fowler looked like he was choosing his words with care. ‘What evidence do you have of an uprising of darkcraft users and, more importantly, what has it got to do with this trial?’

The Mayor puffed out his chest. ‘Have you forgotten the fire that raged through Applecross, started by a beast summoned from the Hell Pit, just this last season? Darkcraft users have plagued the city for generations and they must be stopped, once and for all, before their filth begins to infect the noble houses of this city.’ The Mayor punctuated his points by thumping a fist into his meaty palm.

‘I can assure you, Lord Mayor, I wasn’t the one who called forth hellspawn to destroy the city.’ I stared pointedly at Fowler.

‘Do you have something to propose here, Lord Mayor?’ Fowler ignored my accusing look. ‘Or are you just making unpleasant conversation?’

The Mayor’s fleshy chin jutted out. ‘I propose to reinstate the
De heretico comburendo
.’

‘The burning of heretics?’ Brackett stopped cleaning his ear, looking surprised. ‘You talk of ancient laws.’

‘What exactly are you suggesting, Lord Mayor?’ Daveron asked dryly. ‘That we round up all witches and warlocks and burn them at the stake?’

‘You talk of old, barbaric times,’ Fowler said. ‘People will not tolerate seeing their mothers and daughters killed. We bring justice, swift, yes; some might say brutal…but it is a righteous justice and we must be careful in dispensing it.’

The Mayor passed a hand over his sweaty forehead. ‘Darkcraft users are a dangerous force that we cannot afford to ignore. It is time for us to act.’

My left foot had gone to sleep. I cleared my throat and rotated my ankle, trying to get the blood flowing again. ‘Can I say something in my defence here?’

Something struck the side of my face, and stars sparkled in my vision. I rubbed my stinging ear and turned to glare at the Regulator who’d cuffed me. He stared back, unimpressed, and I turned back to scowl at the table of Grigori.

‘No,’ Brackett growled. ‘Wait your turn.’

‘We need to look back,’ the Mayor said, anxious to steer the conversation back to his topic. ‘Look back to see what history taught us on the craft. I propose we declare all witchcraft illegal through courts of city law, then appoint the Order of Guides as an ecclesiastical policing body with extended powers.’

‘It sounds like political suicide, Lord Mayor,’ Fowler said bluntly. ‘Harken City is viewed as a progressive city. To try and pass such a relic of a law would be viewed as an attempt to return to the dark days.’

‘You’re not listening to me.’ The Mayor’s cheeks flushed a dark plum colour. ‘This is about what is right and what is wrong. All forms of the craft should become an ecclesiastical offence, not just darkcraft. Offenders will be tried and executed by the Order of Guides, with the Council of Ten’s blessing.’

The Grigori murmured among themselves, while the Mayor sat straight on his stool, glaring at me. I tried to ignore him, tried to keep my poker face in play. This was the man who wanted to destroy Blackgoat Watch. Of course, if I was honest, this was Gideon’s bloody fault. He had been the one who had taken the exorcism job in the first place, then told the Mayor. But while it was Gideon’s fault, he was family, and I had to stand by him. I had to back him up. After all, we all make rotten mistakes at some point in our lives.

The Grigori fell silent. Then Fowler cleared his throat and addressed the Mayor in a cool tone. ‘We understand your frustration, Lord Mayor. But the Order has already garnered a bloodthirsty reputation within the city. The original creed of the Order was to help cleave the path for the virtuous. To weed out evil, in all its forms. We swore to bring the light of the One True God to the citizens, but in doing so, we also brought fear through violence. It is something we are hoping to change.’

‘This city needs a firm hand to guide those who might be swallowed by the darkness,’ the Mayor argued.

Fowler nodded. ‘True. But I would remind you that there is good in this city, Lord Mayor, even in Applecross. The Order of Guides has not lost sight of its mission to shine light on the path leading out of this darkness. In consideration of this, the court has decided that mercy will be shown to Lady Blackgoat today.’

‘Why should she receive mercy, after all she’s done?’ the Mayor demanded. ‘She came into my home and performed an exorcism, without my approval.’

‘Which is not, strictly speaking, an illegal act,’ Fowler said smoothly. ‘Exorcisms are considered one of the church-sanctioned spells. Lady Blackgoat is a well-known figure in Applecross, and it will show good will from the Order of Guides to release her.’

‘This is outrageous,’ the Mayor spluttered. ‘Thanks to this woman, and her employer, I've become a laughing stock, someone who can’t keep his own household under control.’

‘Please understand, Lord Mayor,’ Fowler said. ‘We are trying to soften our public image. We need to preserve what good will we have left, and mercy is the most direct path. We are not a perfect brotherhood of justice. We have our flaws, our limitations. But one thing we need to remember is our basic principle. That we are here to serve the citizens of Harken. We are here to protect them from evil. That line might blur sometimes, but we will try our best to stay the path.’

The Mayor bared his teeth at the Grigori. ‘You suggest blasphemy, to turn a blind eye against the crimes she committed.’

‘It is a stretch to call an exorcism a crime, Lord Mayor,’ Daveron spoke up. ‘And rumour has it your wife employed the exorcists in the first place.’

‘We would suggest some tolerance, Lord Mayor.’ Fowler’s voice was soothing. ‘We should view this as an opportunity to show a benevolent face to the public.’

I couldn’t believe Fowler was saying these things; couldn’t believe he was arguing for me. It was almost like he believed what he was saying. I knew I wanted to. The other Grigori were nodding their heads in agreement and it occurred to me I could be witnessing a change among the Grigori in their approach to craftusers in the city. Fowler’s speech sparked a small hope inside of me: a hope that, if the Grigori knew how to embrace mercy, that maybe they could bestow some on Roman.

‘As a show of good faith,’ Fowler was saying. ‘Lady Blackgoat has offered her services to the Order of Guides for a season, to see if she would enjoy the life of a revered Witch Hunter.’

I winced, hearing the other shoe well and truly drop. It was the sucker punch to the guts I'd been expecting, the poke in the eye I'd been waiting for. Seth had said he’d arrange for someone at the trial to be on my side. What were the chances that Seth had approached Fowler and they’d hammered out this little deal together? I just felt relief this wasn’t some clever ruse to get me to spill my guts about Roman. Fowler hadn’t even gone near the subject, for which I was grateful.

‘A female Witch Hunter, eh? Haven’t had one of them here in a long time.’ Brackett squinted at me. ‘Has she got the taste for witch blood?’

‘Her benefactor claimed she did not,’ Fowler said.

‘Are you seriously going to let her go?’ The Mayor looked like he was about to have a stroke.

‘In light of the evidence, and her pending contract with the Order, the charges against Lora Blackgoat shall be dropped,’ Fowler said.

‘She used darkcraft to murder a man at an influential citizen’s home,’ the Mayor roared. ‘The report says she performed a hex that ripped through his chest. Do you really think she is not a threat to our society in light of her actions?’

‘A terrible crime,’ Fowler agreed. ‘No-one will argue against you. But the defendant has confessed regret at her actions.’

‘Has she?’

Suddenly, all eyes were on me. I blinked at Fowler, startled out of my thoughts. ‘Sorry, what?’

Brackett waved a hand in an irritated gesture. ‘Have you regrets for soiling your soul in the use of darkcraft?’

My hands inched their way into my armpits. ‘Regrets? I've got plenty.’

‘Yes, but do you specifically regret your crimes?’

I thought of all the things I'd done in my life that weren’t quite legal. ‘I can assure you, I wish things had gone a different way.’

‘There you have it,’ Fowler said swiftly. ‘Lady Blackgoat’s tenure will commence at a mutually agreed upon time and she will be welcomed into the organisation with open arms.’

‘I've heard just about enough.’ The Mayor heaved himself to his feet. ‘Will you support me when I present the
De heretico comburendo
to the Council of Ten, or not?’

Fowler adjusted the sleeves on his robe. ‘You will find none here who will support that insanity, Lord Mayor. You would do well to consider what may happen if the Order revokes it’s backing for you, should you prove yourself unstable.’

‘You will regret not assisting me,’ the Mayor spat. ‘Your inaction here reveals your true nature: weak and pathetic.’

‘We ask you to think carefully about what you’re saying,’ Daveron said evenly.

‘This was a waste of my time.’ The Mayor strode to the door, heading directly for the two Regulators, as if he could walk through them. They stepped aside at the last minute, and the Mayor left the room in a cloud of self-righteous rage.

‘That wasn’t so bad, was it,’ Fowler said. I turned to face him with a sullen scowl and Fowler just smiled back. ‘Welcome to the Order of Guides, Lora.’

By the time I walked back across the Harken River and found transport, it was near noon. I knew I needed to get home before Roman went looking for me; I hoped he hadn’t already. Blackgoat Watch was on my way, though, and I wanted to warn Gideon about what had happened at the trial. If Mayor Corelli couldn’t get me hung up by my toenails, he’d no doubt double his efforts to run Blackgoat into the ground. By the time I got to Abraham’s Alley, I had worked myself into quite a dark mood, mulling over Fowler’s tricky move.

Inside Blackgoat, Crowhurst was lounging at the base of the staircase, carving an apple with a throwing dagger. ‘How’d it go?’ he asked.

‘I got screwed.’

‘Sounds painful.’ Crowhurst flipped a piece of apple into his mouth. ‘I heard about the deal Gideon struck with the Order. Will you go through with it?’

‘What?’ I barked.

Crowhurst stopped chewing. ‘You didn’t know?’

I counted to ten before answering. ‘I suppose it makes sense the old goat would be involved.’

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this deal. It was a temporary gig. But the Order thought I was a Witch Hunter. What would happen to me if they knew I was nephilim? After all, Fowler knew, and some of the Regulator’s as well. How long could I keep my secret?

‘If you’ll excuse me, I've got to see a goat about a job,’ I said.

Crowhurst shuffled over and I limped past him and up the stairs, knocking on Gideon’s office door before entering. The old goat sat behind his desk, looking frazzled amidst an office that was buried under piles of paper. Gideon’s fez was tilted at a crazy angle, and the small room held the smell of sweat and panic. I flopped down on one of the visitor chairs, my eyes trailing over the mess.

‘How goes the audit?’ I decided to play it cool, see if he was going to say anything first about the contract with the Order. Gideon peered at me over his moon-shaped glasses.

‘I heard what happened at your trial,’ he said.

‘How? It just happened.’ I straightened in the chair. ‘What bit did you hear? About the Mayor gate-crashing the trial, and wanting to see me executed on the spot? Or the bit about me being voted the new ‘Employee of the Month’ for the Order?’ Gideon grimaced, and I pointed an accusing finger at him. ‘Somehow, you need to make this right. I can’t work for the Grigori, or have the Lord-Freaking-Mayor gunning for me, as well as every other random lunatic.’

‘I'll do something, I'll do something,’ Gideon assured me.

I slumped back in the chair. ‘Were you in on the arrangement with Fowler? Because you know I don’t play well with others.’

Gideon’s face scrunched. ‘Why are you taking that tone with me? Can’t you see I've got enough stress as it is?’

‘Did you and Seth set the deal up with Fowler?’ I persisted.

‘Yes.’ Gideon threw his hands up. ‘I had some hand in this nefarious deal that sees you tied to the Order for a season. Captain Hallow brokered the deal. But yes, I signed off on it.’ Gideon rubbed his temples, as if he had been hard done by. ‘The contract is temporary, Lora. It will save Blackgoat from financial ruin and will probably saved your life.’

‘How exactly will this deal save Blackgoat?’ I asked.

‘Apparently Blackgoat Watch owes a considerable debt in back taxes. All lies, I can assure you. Captain Hallow negotiated quite a rich amount for your services, and it will see us nearly out of the red.’

‘I'm just your pawn then?’