The Orphans' Promise (16 page)

Usually, a guard would have stopped the Zü from leaving so quickly after someone else had left, but the jelenis, despite being elite soldiers, weren’t suicidal. The guards could have easily killed the fanatic, with some help from their dogs, but punishment for interfering with the cult would quickly follow. One day or another, they would see another Zü sent their way with a poisoned dagger in his hand and revenge in his eyes.

The Züu didn’t grant any importance to personal interests. Only those of the cult counted. It was this devotion to the brotherhood that made them so powerful. To attack one of them was the same as defying all of the messengers, and one did not defy them without consequences.

The killer swept his gaze around the exit, and easily found his prey. He rushed after them, doing his best to conceal his red tunic underneath a novice’s robe, exactly as Rey had done.

“Let’s go,” the actor said.

Léti followed him without a word. Determined, her hand clenching her fishermen’s knife, the same one she had used on Ji’s cliffs. The same blind rage she had felt then masked all her other emotions. Why did Grigán have to be right? Why were the Züu so amoral, dishonorable, deceitful, and cruel?

How many crimes had this one committed? Did he have the blood of other heirs on his hands? Yes, at least indirectly.

They had never really planned out what would happen next, at least not explicitly. Grigán had simply let on that he would be in charge of neutralizing any danger. That seemed like a rather vague assertion. Watching the assassin deftly move through the crowd, Léti knew very well what they could do with the killer.
Every fox finds its bear.
This red fox was about to feel her sharp claws.

The crowd thinned out as they moved along. Trying to be discreet, the Zü stretched the distance between himself and Corenn. Léti and Rey did the same, grinding their teeth as they watched the Zü from behind.

The Loreliens, who were used to street fights, cleared the way for this strange procession. Given the spectacle of a foreign couple followed by two Züu and a murderous-looking woman, the onlookers preferred to scatter.

Soon they made it to their rendezvous point: Enfel the Barber’s dead end. Grigán and Corenn turned resolutely to walk down the alley, probably to the Zü’s surprise. Léti and Rey followed them.

It wasn’t really a dead end; it had even once been a common road in the city’s past. It had been renamed after the condemnation
of the Western Door of the old city’s fortifications. Not a single cart or mule driver passed through here anymore, and the majority of the shops had closed down a long time ago. The street was deserted and cast in shadow from the multistory buildings that surrounded it.

Corenn and Grigán did an about-face once they had almost reached the end of the street. The Zü tried to hide behind an enormous façade beam of a building. It was only then that the assassin finally perceived Rey and Léti.

Rey’s disguise must have made him do a double take. First he thought he had reinforcements, but his opinion quickly changed when he saw a young woman with a knife in her hand. Despite the tunic and robe, this was clearly no ally.

“You shouldn’t have followed us,” Corenn declared, stepping forward. “Leave.”

The Zü looked at the four strangers that surrounded him, making eye contact with each of them, uncertain how to proceed. He had failed in his mission. It was the first time. And it would be the last.

“Leave,” the Mother repeated. “We won’t try anything. Léti, let him pass.”

Rey moved a little to the side to let the Zü pass. But Léti didn’t move an inch. She pointed her blade at the Zü, a gesture that would have seemed ridiculous to her just two moons ago. The handle felt at home in her hand now, and she stood her ground.

Grigán ordered, more sternly than Corenn, “Let him by, Léti.”

The young woman snapped out of it and took three steps to the side, without taking her eyes off the killer. She returned his murderous stare with the same intensity. She no longer felt fear.

The Zü didn’t either. He had failed. The only way to win back the Goddess’s favor was to do so dramatically.

He was surrounded by four enemies, and he knew he had to kill them all.

He slowly turned to leave, as these impious idiots expected him to. Then threw himself at the young woman, brandishing his poisoned dagger. Something chimed against the wall next to him, and he turned his head by reflex. The instant after, cold steel invaded his throat. He put his hands to his neck and found a bubbling stream. He tried in vain to contain it and fell to the ground, drowning in his own blood.

Léti watched the Zü’s agony in disgust. From his first step, she knew what he was planning, and she had prepared herself.

Rey had reacted instantly, but his dagger, thrown too quickly, had missed its target. Léti saw the killer jump toward her, turn his head, and easily sliced her blade across his throat, drawing a dark line on his neck.

The blood escaping from his wound was pooling, and the man couldn’t stop panting, grimacing in pain. Léti turned around and felt her stomach heave. She vomited painfully.

Corenn led the group toward the exit, and Grigán joined them shortly after. By the time they exited the alley, the panting had stopped and an intense silence settled over them.

“Let’s get out of here,” he ordered as he sheathed his sword. “Even if no one likes the Züu, I have no desire to explain myself to the militia. It’s already a sordid-enough affair.”

Léti cried on Rey’s shoulder the whole way.

They couldn’t speak freely in front of Raji. The little smuggler had been waiting for them impatiently at Bellec’s inn, worrying more than anything about his business’s health. The Lorelien
wouldn’t rest easy until his unwelcome guests had left his warehouse for good. He hoped their next destination was far, far away.

The heirs were impatient to be alone so that they could bring everyone up to speed. Between the Barber’s dead end and the inn, they had had only enough time to exchange a few words, which was certainly not enough to satisfy their curiosity. They were also anxious to console Léti, whose tears were continually streaming down her face. Silence was imperative in the long, narrow tunnel that led to Raji’s farm.

It was with relief that they finally opened the door to their underground lair. Yan and Bowbaq immediately rushed to meet them, even more impatient than their friends. The looks of defeat on the returning heirs’ faces were a bad sign to those who had stayed behind.

Raji finally took leave of his guests, not bothering to say good-bye. Léti burst into tears again, unable to bear the idea that Yan would judge her for her deed. Rey comforted her as much as he could, putting his arm around her shoulders again, just as he had done the whole way back. An innocent gesture, but one that nevertheless plunged Yan into a feeling of deep anxiety.

Under other circumstances, the young Kaulien would have rushed over to console his friend, no matter what the cause of her sadness. Someone had already beat him to it, though, so he looked on silently.

He felt weak in the knees. He turned away from the group to lean against the wall, half-listening to Corenn and Grigán’s story. He didn’t give a thought to announcing his success at the magician’s test. That didn’t mean anything now. He had lost Léti forever. Magic didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered.

When night fell they gathered again for a “Council of the Heirs,” as Corenn liked to call their meetings when they made important decisions or proposed theories about the secret of Ji. A nostalgic wink at the Permanent Council of the Grand House.

The Mother had kept them from opening up the debate immediately upon their return. Grigán’s frustration, Léti’s distress, and Yan’s gloomy mood—which everyone noticed except the person he most hoped would notice—would have greatly altered their ability to think.

Now they were calm and rested enough to broach the questions that had dogged them since day one of this adventure: What to do? Where to go?

Corenn retold in a few words what happened at the Small Palace, adding a few details she had left out in the first telling. She finished by telling the story of the tragic battle with the Zü.

“It’s a shame that the man hadn’t simply given up his search. That would have made things a lot easier, now.”

Léti nodded, with an empty gaze. She took a deep breath and cleared her voice with some difficulty. Her friends gave her their full attention.

“I didn’t want to… I didn’t want to kill him,” she said softly. “I mean, not like that. I regret that. It was so… I was so scared…”

“You reacted exactly as you should have,” Grigán affirmed.

Rey added, “He was the one who attacked you.”

“You did well,” Corenn confirmed. “He was an assassin. You were merely defending yourself. You did well.”

Each one of them gave her words of encouragement, but her eyes glimmered with tears again.

In normal times, Yan would have found the right words. But since seeing Léti under the actor’s arm, he had no more desire. He stayed sullen and silent, which hurt Léti even more.

“He… he seemed to really
suffer…
” she started to say before breaking into tearful sobbing.

The heirs didn’t know how to respond. Disturbed by this emotional display, but powerless to comfort the young woman, they exchanged unsure looks.

After a long silence, Grigán stood up, his face looking grim. He circumvented the rest of the group and grabbed Léti firmly by the shoulders.

“Look at me. Look at me!” he ordered the young woman, who covered her eyes while hiccuping noisily.

The heirs waited, dumbfounded, for what would happen next. Though he was irascible, Grigán was rarely so furious. Yan and Rey even worried that the warrior was about to hit Léti. No, he wouldn’t…

“Look at me! What will you do the next time a Zü tries to kill you? Answer me! What will you do?”

Léti answered despondently, “I don’t know!” Her face covered in tears. “I don’t know…”

“You will strike him!” the warrior screamed. “You will strike him, even if it kills him, even if it hurts him! You will strike him to save your own skin! And your friends! You understand?”

The young woman looked at each one of her companions, all the people who had protected her, defended her, rescued her. Her gaze fell on Yan’s face. The young man had already risked his life for her. He didn’t love her, and yet he was ready to sacrifice himself for her! Shouldn’t she learn something from that? Her remorse: Was it anything more than a new form of selfishness?

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes,” she said with a whimper.

“Good! When you strike someone with a sword or any blade, it hurts! Inevitably! But he was the one who forced you to do it!
Him!
Does learning to fight still seem like fun to you?”

“No,” Léti, whose tears had dried up, responded. “I mean yes; I still want to learn.”

This calmed the warrior, who said, “Good, a session full of exercises on hurting people first thing tomorrow! And I don’t want to hear any more of this… senselessness!”

“All right,” Léti responded, lifting up her head.

The warrior’s lecture had shocked her enough to shake her out of her pity. Enough for her to find a new motivation.

“And it would do you well to join us as well, Bowbaq,” Grigán added, encouraged by his success. “One of these days, you’ll come across someone who isn’t scared of your size.”

The giant reminded them, “I don’t want to kill. Defend myself, yes, but not kill.”

“Fine, whatever you want! You should learn how to knock someone out; at least then you could get away!”

The warrior sat back down before anyone could respond, very content with himself. Blowing off some steam had done him good, and he told himself he should resort to this type of solution more often.

The others looked at him, surprised. Before them was a new Grigán. The atmosphere was still heavy from his shouting.

“As for me, I would like to be able to kill several of them all at once,” Rey said, flatly. “Can you teach me that?”

Everyone laughed at the joke, and the heavy air in the room dissipated.