Ghost in the Storm (The Ghosts) (2 page)

"The are an unpleasant folk," said Halfdan, cutting himself another slice of cheese. "The Istarish slavers' brotherhood dominates the Cyrican sea, selling slaves in the markets of New Kyre and Cyrica and the free cities. But war between the Empire and Istarinmul would profit no one, and both the Emperor and the Padishah know this. So Rezir Shahan comes to present himself to the Emperor as Lord Ambassador." 

"Rezir Shahan," said Caina, frowning. "I'm sure I've heard that name before." 

"I want to see the special ships," said Nicolai. 

"Perhaps later," said Tanya. "Soon we will go to Malarae with Master Basil. Then you will travel upon a ship."

"I've never seen a ship," said Nicolai. "Mother would read about them in the Moroaica's books. But I've never seen a real ship." 

A shiver of agony went over Tanya's expression, and she looked from Nicolai to Ark and back again. It was not hard for Caina to decipher that glance. 

Tanya wanted Nicolai to have a younger brother or sister.

"I'll take Nicolai to see the ships," said Caina. 

Tanya blinked. "You will?"

"A walk would do me good," said Caina. "And Nicolai does want to see the harbor."

"And I suspect Rezir Shahan's entry into the city will be quite splendid," said Halfdan. "The Istarish do love their pomp and ceremony."

Ark snorted. "So does Lord Governor Corbould, to hear Hiram speak of him." 

"It will be no trouble," said Caina. "And you'd prefer some peace and quiet for a morning, no doubt."

"A good idea," said Halfdan. "Come, daughter. Walk with me a moment. I have an errand you can do while you're out and about."

Caina frowned, but followed Halfdan as he strolled to the hearth. 

"It's warmer here," said Halfdan. "And we are less likely to be overheard." 

"What errand did you have in mind?" said Caina.

"I want you to take a look at Rezir Shahan," said Halfdan.

"That's it?" said Caina. "Just look at him?"

"Just look at him," said Halfdan. "Our lord emir is not a good man. He ranks high among the slavers' brotherhood, and has many friends in Istarinmul's College of Alchemists. He..."

Caina blinked. "That's why I remember his name. I saw him in Lord Haeron's ledgers."

"Aye," said Halfdan. "Rezir sold slaves to Haeron Icaraeus, and bought slaves from Naelon Icaraeus. You remember those slavers we killed in the Vytaagi swamps? Those were Rezir's men. He is a powerful man in Istarinmul, and a cousin of the Padishah. So I wonder..."

"Why he would serve as an ambassador," said Caina.

Halfdan nodded. "He is up to something, I'm sure of it. Some plan, some stratagem. Else he would not have become the ambassador. Whether his plot is aimed at the Empire, or some enemy within Istarinmul, I know not. But I intend to find out."

Caina frowned. "If there's any danger, I should go alone, and leave Nicolai here."

"No, there's no danger," said Halfdan. "Rezir will have an honor guard of three hundred men with him. Not enough to make serious trouble. Lord Governor Corbould will meet him in the Great Market with his own honor guard, and they'll process to the Citadel. Crowds of commoners always gather to watch the pomp and pageantry of these ceremonies. No one will notice one woman and a small boy. You have a knack, my dear, for observation. So I'd like to see what you can observe about our new ambassador. Then you can walk to the harbor and let Nicolai see the ships." He snorted. "Though the boy will likely take it into his head that he wants to be a sailor, and break his poor mother's heart." 

Caina shrugged. "Why not? He spent most of his life locked away. Perhaps he wants to see the world."

"For now," said Halfdan, "you can take him to see the ships, while you look at Rezir Shahan." 

"It will be done," said Caina. 

She crossed back to the table and sat across from Nicolai.

"You want to see a real ship?" said Caina.

Nicolai nodded, wide-eyed. 

Caina smiled. "Well, if your mother will allow it, I think I will take you to see a dozen ships." 

Ark smiled. "He could use a holiday."

"And I think his mother and father could use some time to themselves," said Caina.

A touch of color appeared in Tanya's cheeks.

"All right," said Tanya. "Just be back by sundown."

"I will," said Caina.

She rose, as did Nicolai, a wide smile on his face, but Tanya started to reach for him.

"You're not sure about this, are you?" said Ark. 

Nicolai turned an imploring look toward his mother. 

"No. You can go," said Tanya. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And if the Balarigar cannot keep you safe, then who can?" 

###

An hour later, Caina walked hand in hand with Nicolai along the Avenue of Governors, the main street connecting the Plaza of the Tower to the Great Market. Traffic flowed around them. Ox-drawn carts carried goods to the shops and merchants of the Plaza of the Tower. Hawkers cried out from the booths and workshops lining the street, selling their wares. Women hurried back and forth, carrying jars of water from Marsis's public aqueducts. Gulls wheeled overhead in the blue sky, and the air smelled of sweat and smoke and horse dung and salt. 

It was a beautiful day.

Nicolai looked at everything. This was all new to him. He had been raised by his mother in the dungeons below Black Angel Tower, his death intended to fuel Jadriga's monstrous sorcery. Caina looked at the dark shape of Black Angel Tower, rising from the Citadel atop its crag, and her mouth tightened into a hard line. Well, Jadriga was dead, and Nicolai would live...

"What's wrong?"

Nicolai looked up at her, concerned. 

"Nothing," said Caina.

"You were frowning," said Nicolai.

"Well, I was upset," said Caina.

"Did I do something wrong?" said Nicolai.

"I was upset," said Caina, "because I haven't gotten you a piece of candy yet." That wiped the concern from Nicolai's face. "But don't tell your mother."

They stopped at a confectioner's shop, not far from the Plaza of the Tower, and Caina bought a pair of hard candies. They were expensive, but Caina had the coin. Sweeter than she would have liked, but Caina preferred simpler food. 

Nicolai devoured his. 

"Can I have another?" said Nicolai as they returned to the Avenue of Governors.

"No," said Caina, "you'll rot your teeth."

"And Mother won't really get mad at you," said Nicolai.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because she says you are the Balarigar and you kept the Moroaica from hurting me," said Nicolai. "And Father says you are very clever and you stopped a bad man from burning thousands of people." 

"You shouldn't say such things," said Caina.

"Why not?" said Nicolai. "They're true, aren't they?"

They were. But Caina did not like this "Balarigar" business, this legend that had grown in the retelling. She was no demonslayer, only a woman of flesh and blood. Her victories had been such near things. Maglarion could have thrown her from that tower, rather than trying to kill her with plagueblood. Kalastus could have burned her to ashes. And if Jadriga could have twisted Caina into a monster. 

"Because," said Caina at last. She picked up Nicolai and whispered into his ear. "Because the Ghosts have to stay secret, so we can do good. Can you help keep my secret?" 

Nicolai smiled. "I'll keep your secret." He hesitated. "Since I'm keeping your secret, can I have another candy?"

Caina rolled her eyes. "Maybe on the way back."

###

Crowds packed the Great Market.

Of course, the Great Market was always packed. The wealthy merchants and high nobles preferred to buy their goods from the shops of the Plaza of the Tower. But the commoners of Marsis shopped at the Great Market. Booths and stalls filled the vast square, and warehouses lined the nearby streets. Marsis was the Empire's chief port on the western sea, and items from half the civilized world found their way to the Great Market.

But today, it was packed for a different reason. 

A century of Legionaries waited in the center of the Market, grim and solemn in plate armor and crimson cloaks. The banners of the Empire and House Maraeus flapped overhead. Corbould Maraeus, the Lord Governor of Marsis, sat upon his horse before the Legionaries, clad in black ceremonial armor. He was in his later fifties, lean and fit, with the arrogant expression of a lord of high Nighmarian birth. 

"Who's that?" said Nicolai.

"The Lord Governor," said Caina. A ring of Legionaries kept the crowds at bay. She heard the roll of distant drums, and saw a mass of horsemen entering the Market. 

"I want to see the ships," said Nicolai. 

Caina looked around. The Legionaries had closed off the street to the docks, and crowds of people choked the Great Market. Yet many of the merchant booths and stalls had been closed for the day. And some of the booths had roofs of sturdy wood.

"Here," said Caina, crossing to the nearest booth. She climbed upon a barrel, lifted Nicolai to the roof, and then pulled herself up after him. A few nearby men gawked at her, but most copied her idea and climbed onto booths themselves. From here Nicolai could see the ships, until she took him to the docks for a closer look.

And from here Caina could take a good look at Rezir Shahan. 

"Are those the ships?" said Nicolai, peering at the forest of masts that filled the harbor.

"Aye," said Caina, watching the horsemen enter the Great Market. They moved at a slow, steady pace, drummers beating out a solemn rhythm. Banners of crimson silk floated overhead, adorned with the sword-and-crown sigil of the Padishah of Istarinmul. Most of the horsemen wore elaborate coats of black chain mail and black cuirasses, faces hidden beneath helms wrought in the shape of human skulls. Curved swords and whips made of coiled chains hung from their belts. 

"Who are they?" said Nicolai.

"Immortals," said Caina. "The bodyguards of the Padishah."  Istarinmul's College of Alchemists fed the Immortals a steady diet of sorcerous elixirs, granting them superhuman strength and speed, though the elixirs tended to induce homicidal insanity after a few years of regular use. Yet the Immortals were among the finest soldiers in the world. With them came regular Istarish soldiers, infantry armed with spears and scimitars, clad in shirts of steel scales and spiked steel helmets.

Rezir Shahan himself rode at their head. 

He was a in his middle thirties, clad in ornate gilded armor, the purple cloak flowing from his shoulders a marked contrast to his bronze-skinned face. His horse was a huge, ill-tempered stallion, yet he handled it with easy skill. As he drew closer, Caina saw that he was dark-haired, the line of his jaw shaded with a close-cropped beard. 

He looked...cold. His expression, as he looked over the assembled crowds, was contemptuous.  Caina suspected he was the sort of man who had no qualms about kidnapping women and children and selling them in chains far from their homes. Like the sort of man who had sold Jadriga her victims.

"He looks like a bad man," said Nicolai. 

Caina opened her mouth to answer, and her skin began to crawl.

She frowned in alarm and looked around. She had only been a child of eleven when her father had been murdered with sorcery, when Maglarion had scarred her body and soul with his necromancy. In the nine years since then, that scarring had permitted her to sense presence of arcane forces. 

And right now she sensed the presence of nearby sorcery. 

She looked around, trying to find the source. A short man in a black robe stood near Lord Corbould's horse, his gut spilling over his purple sash. She knew of the man - Quintus Tolius, master magus and preceptor of the Magisterium's Marsis chapter. Yet he remained motionless, his expression bored. He was not casting a spell.

The tingling grew sharper, and Caina realized it came from Rezir himself.

A wind picked up from the harbor, tugging at her hair and skirts. 

She squinted at Rezir, wondering if he had a hidden arcane talent. Then she saw the black ring upon the third finger of his right hand. A massive green crystal rested in the black band, and from a distance it looked like an emerald. But Caina knew that crystal was no gem.

It was a bloodcrystal, a product of necromantic science. And as Rezir rode past her booth, she felt the queasy, clenching sensation that indicated the presence of necromantic sorcery.

Where had Rezir gotten such a thing? He had sold slaves to Haeron Icaraeus. Perhaps Maglarion had fashioned it. 

Caina wondered what the ring did.  

The horsemen reined up, and a blast of trumpets rang out. One of the Istarish soldiers spurred forward, a banner streaming from a lance in his right hand.

"Behold!" he boomed. "He comes! He who is the Emir of the Vale of Fallen Stars! He who is Captain of the Southern Towers! He who is Lord Ambassador to the Empire of Nighmar, and high in the favor of the Most Divine Padishah! Rezir Shahan comes!"