Moon's Artifice (2 page)

‘You need to go,’ Narin urged, kissing her full on the lips and walking her towards the door. ‘Go out the south door, cut down the alley and onto Wyvern’s Walk. I’ll head out into the street and attract the attention of anyone watching.’

‘You’re going to make yourself a target ?’

He forced a smile for her and gestured at his pale grey jacket and trousers. The badge on his breast was the only adornment, but it spoke volumes to every citizen of the Empire ; an upright spear before a yellow sun casting two rays down to the ground. The sun was the Emperor’s own symbol ; coupled with a spear it showed him to be an Investigator of the Lawbringers, the body which technically ruled the streets of the Imperial City.

‘There’s a man injured in the street – injured by my actions. I have to see to him, but I’m an Investigator of the Imperial House so I’m hiding in plain sight.’

He opened the door for her and hugged her tight. ‘Please, Kine, go now. I’ll write to you soon.’ He hesitated and kissed her again, one hand reverentially brushing her belly. ‘I … I don’t have the words for … but I love you. I’m sorry it’s happened this way and …’

The words dried in his throat and he found himself just gaping at Kine, breathing the sweet faint scent of her perfume and feeling her tremble under his hands.

‘I know,’ she said in a small voice, ‘it’s a shock. I’ve put us both in danger with my carelessness.’

He wrapped his arms around her, this time his smile entirely genuine. ‘We were both careless,’ he breathed, lips brushing hers, ‘and still I couldn’t be happier.’

‘What if he finds out ? He will find out, he must ! I cannot get rid of it ; I’d rather die myself than kill our baby.’ There was a sudden fire in her eyes that made Narin hold her even tighter.

‘That won’t happen,’ he said firmly, ‘I need time to think of a plan, but I’d never ask that. I couldn’t …’ He shook his head. ‘We must have a few weeks before he finds out you’re pregnant, no ? So we have a while.’ He released her reluctantly. ‘Now go. I will see you soon, my love, I promise.’

Kine nodded, biting back the tears that threatened and kissing his hand once before she fled. He shut the door behind her and extinguished the lamps before heading back to the window. The man was still unconscious, so Narin stepped over the sill and closed the shutters behind him. He crouched to check the man for a pulse, suddenly afraid he had killed him with the solid wooden shutter.

‘Thank Pity,’ he breathed when at last he felt one, slow but regular.

Narin glanced up at the stars. He wasn’t much for religion, but right now he was more than willing to bow his head, two fingers touched to his forehead, towards the occluded constellation of the Ascendant Goddess, Lady Pity. He cast around at the other stars to get his bearings. Taking a step out from under the eaves of the teahouse to look east, where the nearer Ascendants in the Order of Empress would be visible, it was Lord Thief, not Healer, that he could make out.

Narin looked down at the goshe, trying to think. He had an obligation to help the man no matter what the circumstances, of that he was very aware. His father had been a merchant’s clerk and a timid man, but he’d revered the Lawbringers and Narin had grown up with the oaths hanging on the wall of their home. Long before his parents had died and he’d become a novice to the Palace of Law, Narin had been able to recite them by heart.

‘Thief, eh ? Maybe that’s a better Ascendant to be looking down on this goshe anyway,’ he muttered.

‘In that, you are correct,’ called a deep voice from a way down the street.

Narin yelped and whirled around. His hands moved automatically, bringing his stave up to the guard position before he even saw the threat. The Investigator hesitated as no attack came. All he could see was a bearded man ten yards off, but one who’d appeared silently and now stood in the middle of the street watching him.

‘Who are you ?’ Narin demanded, moving away from the injured man to give himself space if an attack came. The tip of the stave he kept in line with the stranger’s face, but it was the dark corners of the street he was more concerned with.

‘I have many names,’ the stranger said, not moving. ‘I think you’ll be able to guess one at least.’

Narin stopped and gave the man his full attention. He was big, extremely big in fact – a few inches taller than Narin but vastly broader. His face was tanned and weathered ; darker than a local’s, with a long neat beard of black curls that suggested southern origin, House Redearth or somewhere within its hegemony of lesser House-states. The man had long hair drawn back like a nobleman’s and the cut of his white clothes suggested warrior caste, but he wore no sword or pistol – nor was there a badge of House visible on his clothes. Instead, there was only a black spiral embroidered on the left-hand side of his coat, studded with glinting crystals, the pattern continuing seamlessly down an ornate silver vambrace on his arm.

Narin blinked and looked again at the vambrace. Suddenly the stave felt like lead in his hands. Unable to help himself he glanced up at the constellation directly above.

‘Do not worry, the stars still shine without me,’ the Ascendant God standing before him said in a level tone. ‘You have more pressing concerns right now.’

‘I … ah … Lord Shield ?’

The God inclined his head. ‘Investigator.’

‘But … why … ?’ Narin stopped and turned back to the unconscious man with dread slithering down his spine. ‘Ah, who is … ? Oh Empress, have mercy !’

‘Investigator,’ Shield said sternly, ‘don’t be so foolish. My Brother-under-Knight would be most displeased in his servant.’

Narin turned cautiously around. The street remained dark and empty. ‘Is … ah, is Lord Lawbringer here too ?’

‘No, nor any other. That is a man at your feet, just a man.’ Shield took a step forward, head slightly tilted to one side as though listening to a voice on the wind. ‘You have inconvenienced me, Investigator.’

‘What ? Ah, I mean, I’m sorry, Lord Shield.’ Narin gaped for a moment, then checked himself and dropped to one knee. ‘I did not realise.’

‘Clearly.’

Head bowed, Narin waited. The cool night air prickled on his exposed neck and he started to feel terribly vulnerable. Just as he was about to ask what he’d done, Shield made up the ground between them in the blink of an eye. Gasping, Narin fell back, barely keeping a grip on his stave as he scrambled to recover himself.

‘That man was a thief, I believe,’ Shield said distantly, eyes fixed on the black-clad goshe.

Another blurring movement brought him to the man’s side and he knelt, touching one finger to the man’s injured temple and a second over a closed eye. The God bowed his head in concentration and Narin saw pale light glow from his half-shut eyes. It lasted just a few moments then Shield withdrew his hand and straightened, giving Narin an appraising look.

‘A thief of what, however, I do not know,’ Shield continued eventually. ‘I had hoped the rat would return to its lair to lick its wounds, but then you got in the way, Investigator.’

‘You threw him from the roof ?’ Narin asked in astonishment. It had to be a miracle the man was even alive after such a fall – that he would be able to walk home even less likely.

Shield tilted his head to look at the damaged roof. ‘He is hardier than he appears,’ the God said by way of reply. ‘Unfortunately, only in body.’

‘But he’s alive ; you can still question him when he wakes !’

Lord Shield gave him a look that froze him to the spot. ‘Your intervention has precluded that.’

‘You can’t heal his injuries ?’

The God turned to the goshe. He reached out again and brushed his fingers over the man’s head injury, then tapped twice against his chest. ‘Some. Not everything can be undone.’

He stood and gazed down at Narin, who had recovered himself and knelt again. Shield’s stare was unblinking. Narin flinched under the intense scrutiny, though there was no anger in that look. If the God felt any emotion, he betrayed nothing.

‘This is a problem for you, Investigator,’ Shield added gravely.

Narin’s guts went cold. ‘My … my apologies, Lord Shield, I thought he was spying on me.’

‘Why would he spy on you ?’

‘I, ah, I do not know.’

A massive hand reached down and took hold of Narin’s tunic. Shield lifted him to his feet with no appreciable effort, his expression grave. ‘I choose to forget you lied to me there. Try again.’

Narin gaped – his mind blank until a tiny light flickered in the recesses of Shield’s eyes and startled him into life again. ‘I’m sorry, Lord – I meant only to protect another.’

‘I can keep a secret, unless you think to protect them from me ?’

‘No ! No, of course not. I was meeting someone ; she ah, she gave me some news.’

Shield bared his teeth in what Narin hoped was a grin. ‘Husband found out ?’

The Investigator’s heart gave a lurch. For the hundredth time he wanted to rap his knuckles against his forehead.

What sort of a fool falls in love with a noblewoman ? A married noblewoman ? A married noblewoman of House Wyvern, second only to its cousin House Dragon in its obsession with honour ?

‘Close enough. How did you … ?’ he asked weakly.

‘I still remember mortal life.’

Narin lowered his eyes. Lord Shield, carried dying into the heavens by his lord, the Ascendant God Knight, to serve him there as he had in life.

‘Of course, I’m sorry. Ah, why have I inconvenienced you, Lord Shield ? Surely he will wake still ?’

‘He will wake.’

‘Can’t you interrogate him then ? He won’t be able to lie to you either.’

Again the distant light flashed, white-green in the blackness of the Ascendant God’s pupils, and Narin felt it like tiny claws brushing his mind. He winced at the sensation and Shield released him. Narin sagged with relief and staggered back a step before catching his balance.

‘It would be of no use,’ Shield said slowly. ‘Tell me, Investigator, your oaths – you have a duty to any you harm or place in danger, no ?’

Narin’s mouth fell open as the memory of his father’s stitched wall-hanging appeared in his memory. The words were etched into his heart ; the first he’d learned to read, long before Narin could fully understand what they stood for.

‘I – yes.’

‘Then you bear a duty to this man and a debt to me for your interference.’ Shield gestured to the goshe on the ground. ‘You will make amends.’

‘How ?’ Narin asked in a hoarse whisper.

‘You will investigate,’ Shield said simply. ‘This man carries secrets with him, secrets he cannot now tell. You will find them out or you will die in the attempt, do you understand me ?’

Narin found himself unable to speak. Only a tiny wheeze escaped his throat. The moments ticked by, the crisp salty air caressed his cheek and still he did not reply. With an effort he managed to nod, realising his hands were shaking as he did so.

‘Good. Once you know this man’s secrets, you will answer me this – who is the moon ?’

Narin blinked. ‘Who … ?’

The words died in his throat as Shield vanished from sight. Narin reeled as though struck around the head, black stars bursting before his eyes. The night seemed to have twisted and snapped like a hungry creature, enveloping the Ascendant God and leaving no sign he had even been there before.

A voice echoed down the empty street. He didn’t hear the words, but it stirred him into action all the same. An Investigator of the Imperial House he might be, but Narin still didn’t want to have to answer any questions about why he was out here all alone with an injured goshe.

‘Who is the moon ? What in Lady Pity’s name does that mean ?’ Narin muttered in disbelief. ‘What have I got myself into ?’

He looked around at the dark, still streets. The faint scent of wood smoke mingled with the ever-present salty tang of the sea. The breeze was light, brushing unhurried across his cheek. He stared at the empty cobbled ground where Lord Shield had stood and tried to work out what had happened. Foreboding was a cold weight in his gut, despite the mild night air.

The city seemed to stop around him, silent and harmonious while he alone struggled. For a man used to solitude, Narin suddenly felt more alone than ever before. The weight of all he’d learned tonight pressed down as though the light of the stars themselves had him snared in a web. Narin bowed his head and closed his eyes briefly. Kine’s smiling face came easily into his mind ; her dark skin fading into the shadows, her beauty like a fire’s warmth against his skin.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the unconscious man. The goshe was dark-haired and tanned of skin, with scars on his face and faint stubble on his cheeks. What House he belonged to, Narin couldn’t tell. The Imperial City included districts ruled by each of the ten Great Houses – once just extended noble families, now synonymous with the nations they ruled. Public thoroughfares under the rule of the Lawbringers cut through each district, but beyond those the Emperor’s law was always in competition with the Great House who claimed sovereignty there.

‘You’re obviously not House Dragon or any House under it,’ Narin said to the goshe, ‘but looking at you I can’t fit your heritage to any House I know.’

The Imperial City had spent five hundred years under the stewardship of House Dragon, a hegemony that ruled its own nation and those of the lesser Houses under it. Thickset, black-skinned Dragons were a common sight on these streets, as were their lesser cousins, House Wyvern, to which Kine belonged. The other states within Dragon’s domain maintained less of a presence in the Imperial City, but Narin had seen enough of each to at least know a Darkcloud citizen from a Smoke. Beyond that, there were so many shades and tints of skin and eyes in the city that most were as impossible to discern as the dark Dragons or near-albino Leviathans were obvious.

‘So what do I do now ?’ he asked the man at his feet. Narin shook his head in disbelief and almost smiled. ‘I’ve no idea – what would Lawbringer Rhe do ? What would Enchei do ?’

That last thought seemed to trigger something inside him and he stirred into action. ‘Enchei’d just deal with it as though nothing strange had happened,’ he said with a sigh as he knelt and hauled the goshe into a seating position.