Adamant finished his speech, about the opening of a small free Hospital for the Poor and Needy, and the crowd applauded loudly. Adamant then formally declared the,hospital open, cut a length of ribbon that served no purpose Hawk could make out, and got cheered again. Hawk decided he’d never understand politics. A large and muscular heckler pushed his way to the front of the crowd, accompanied by two mercenaries in full chain mail. He started in-suiting Adamant, loudly and obscenely. The crowd stirred. unhappily but did nothing, intimidated by the two mercenaries. Adamant’s mercenaries were hesitant about going into the crowd themselves, for fear of starting a panic. Hawk and Fisher looked at each other, and drew their weapons. The fight lasted less than a minute, and the heckler was left on his own, looking a lot less imposing, and staring unhappily at Fisher’s sword-point hovering before his eyes.
“If I were you,” said Hawk, “I’d leave now. Otherwise, Fisher will show you her party trick. And we haven’t really got the time to clean up the blood afterwards.”
The heckler looked at the two dead men at his feet, swallowed hard, and disappeared back into the crowd. They let him go, being more interested in putting questions to Adamant while they had the chance. Most of their questions concerned sewers, or the lack of them, but on the whole the crowd was good-natured. Seeing one of Hardcastle’s men put to flight had put them almost into a party mood. Adamant answered their questions clearly and concisely, with just enough wit to keep the crowd amused without dampening the fire he was trying to build in them.
Hawk leaned against a nearby wall and surveyed the scene before him. Everything seemed quiet. The crowd was friendly, and there was no sign of any more of Hardcastle’s men. Hawk nodded, satisfied, and seized the chance for a short rest. The campaign trail so far had been hard and tiring, and there was still a lot of territory to cover. He looked round to see how the others were taking the strain.
Fisher looked calm and collected, but then, it took a lot to get to Fisher. Adamant was in his element and had never looked better. Dannielle, on the other hand, had found an overturned crate to sit on. Her face was pale and drawn, her shoulders were slumped with tiredness, and her hands were shaking. Hawk frowned. Villiers had said she was ill.... He decided to keep an eye on her. If she didn’t find her second wind soon, he’d have Fisher escort her home. The last thing Adamant needed was something else to worry about. Dannielle would be safe enough with Fisher, and maybe a couple of mercenaries, just to be on the safe side. He looked round for Medley, to tell him what he intended, and felt a sudden chill as he realised there was no sign of him. He turned quickly to Fisher, who smiled briefly.
“Don’t panic; he’s just popped into the inn across the road for a swift drink. He’ll be back before we have to move on. You’re getting old, Hawk, missing things like that.”
“Right,” said Hawk. “This election is putting years on me.”
The inn wasn’t much to look at, even by High Steppes standards. Inside, the lights were dim enough to keep everything vague and indistinct. Most of the patrons preferred it that way, but then, they weren’t much to look at either. It was that kind of neighborhood. Medley didn’t give a damn. This was where he’d first met his lady love, and it would always be a special place to him. He nodded to the indifferent bartender behind the stained wooden bar, and moved quickly on to the private booths at the back of the inn. She was there, waiting for him, just as she’d promised. As always, just the sight of her was enough to make his heart beat faster. He sat down beside her, and his hands reached out and found hers. They sat staring into each other’s eyes for a long moment, and it seemed to Medley that he’d never been so happy.
“I can’t stay long,” he said finally. “Now, what’s so important that I had to come here today? You know I’m always glad to see you, but with Adamant’s people just outside ...”
She smiled, and squeezed his hands. “I know, I’m sorry. But I had to see you. I didn’t know when I’d be able to get away again. How’s your campaign going?”
“Fine, fine. Look, I can’t stay long, or they’ll come looking for me. And we can’t afford to be seen even talking together.”
“I know. They wouldn’t understand. They’d stop us from seeing each other.”
“I wouldn’t let them,” said Medley. “There’s nothing in the world I value more than you.”
“You say the nicest things.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Stefan,” said Roxanne.
Cameron Hardcastle strode steadily and purposefully through the High Steppes, and the people lined the streets to watch him pass. Armed mercenaries surrounded him at all times, making sure the crowds kept a respectful distance. There was scattered applause from the onlookers, but little cheering. The bunting he’d ordered put up hung limply on the still air, and although his people had handed out Conservative flags and banners by the dozen well in advance, he could only see a few being waved. If it hadn’t been for his followers singing campaign songs as they marched, the streets would have been embarrassingly quiet. Hardcastle smiled tightly. That would change soon enough. It always did, once he started to speak.
Jillian hurried quietly along beside him, eyes downcast as always. Hardcastle would just as happily have left her behind, but that was politically unacceptable. A strong marriage and a stable family were central tenets of Conservative thinking, so he had to show off his own wife in public. It was expected of him. She wouldn’t disgrace him. She wouldn’t dare.
The sorcereer Wulf walked a few paces behind them, disguised as one of the mercenaries. He couldn’t afford to be recognised in public as Hardcastle’s sorcerer. Firstly, it would have upset the crowds. They tended to distrust magic, and everyone associated with it. Usually with good reason. Secondly, his support was illegal. And thirdly, he would have made too tempting a target. A great many people would have liked a chance at him. But he couldn’t let Hardcastle walk the streets unprotected, for the same reason. Even more people would have liked to see Councillor Hardcastle dead. So the great sorcerer Wulf tramped the streets of Haven in Hardcastle’s shadow, sweating profusely under a mercenary’s chain mail. Besides, he had to be there. Hardcastle couldn’t make his speeches without him.
Hardcastle himself was in a surprisingly good mood. His speeches had all gone down very well and, according to first reports, his mercenaries were winning practically every encounter with Adamant’s. He reached the platform his people had prepared for him, and climbed the steps onto the stage. Jillian came and stood silently at his side, smiling blankly at the crowd. The campaign song came to an end, and the crowd cheered him, one eye warily watching the mercenaries. Hardcastle lifted his hands for quiet, and silence fell quickly across the packed street. He began to speak, and the crowd’s attention became fixed and rapt. A wave of euphoria and commitment swept over them, and soon they were stamping and shouting, and cheering at the end of every sentence. By the end of the speech the crowd was his, to a man. He could have ordered them naked and unarmed into battle, and they would have gone. Hardcastle smiled out over the cheering crowd, relishing the power he had over them.
There was a slight disturbance to one side, as someone pushed their way through the crowd towards him. Hardcastle tensed, and then relaxed a little as he recognised Roxanne. He gestured quickly for her to join him on the platform.
“I was beginning to wonder where you were,” he said quietly, still smiling at the crowd.
“Just taking care of business,” said Roxanne.
“I suppose I might as well make use of you while you’re here.” Hardcastle nodded graciously to her, as though he’d been expecting her, and then held up his hands for quiet again. The crowd was silent in a moment. “My friends, may I present to you the latest addition to our ranks, the renowned warrior, Roxanne! I’m sure you all know her fine reputation!”
He paused for a cheer that didn’t come. The crowd stirred uneasily. “Oh, great,” said an anonymous voice. “Someone send for the fire brigade now, while there’s still time.”
One of the mercenaries moved in quickly to shut him up with a mailed fist to the kidneys, but the damage had been done. The mood of the crowd had been broken. Most of the people there had heard of Roxanne, and while they were undoubtedly impressed, they were also extremely worried. If not downright scared. Her reputation had preceded her. She looked out over the crowd with a raised eyebrow, but had enough sense not to smile. Wulf glared surreptitiously about him, testing the feel of the crowd, and didn’t like what he found. The euphoria of a moment before had vanished, as though it had never been. Wulf shrugged. There would be other times. He moved in close beside the platform and looked up at Hardcastle.
“I think we should be leaving now, Cameron. And in the future it might be wise to keep Roxanne in the background.”
Hardcastle nodded curtly. He turned to give the order to leave, and at that moment the crowd went mad. Suddenly everyone was screaming and shouting and kicking out . in all directions, and then scattering as fast as their legs would carry them. Hardcastle stared blankly about him, angry and confused, and then he saw the rats moving among the crowd. Hundreds of rats, in all shapes and sizes, many still sleek and shining with slime from the sewers. They scurried this way and that, mad with rage, sinking fangs and claws into anything that came within range. Hardcastle’s hands clenched into fists and his face reddened. There was only one way so many rats could have appeared in one place at one time, and that was by magic. A sorcerer must have teleported them into the crowd. Adamant’s sorcerer ...
Wulf fought his way back to the platform. “We have to get out of here, Cameron! There’s too many of them! There’s nothing I can do!”
Hardcastle nodded stiffly, and signalled for his mercenaries to open a path through the chaos. A blazing anger pulled at his self-control as he descended from the platform, followed by Jillian and Roxanne. One way or another, Adamant would pay for this insult ... whatever it cost.
Hardcastle arrived at his next meeting place to find a crowd already gathered, listening to someone else address them. He brought his people to a halt and gestured to one of his mercenary officers.
“I thought you said you’d cleared the Reformers out of this area.”
“I did, sir. I can’t understand it; my people were most thorough. I left men here with strict instructions not to allow any other speakers. If you’ll excuse me, sir, I’ll go and see what’s happening.”
He gestured quickly to half a dozen of his men. They drew their swords and followed him into the crowd. Wulf stirred suddenly at Hardcastle’s side.
“There’s trouble here, Cameron. Bad trouble.”
Hardcastle smiled grimly. “My people will take care of it.”
“I don’t think so,” said Wulf. “Not this time. There’s a power here, and I don’t like it. It’s old magic; Wild Magic.”
Hardcastle frowned impatiently and turned to glare at him. “What the hell are you talking about, Wulf?”
The sorcerer was staring at the man addressing the crowd, and Hardcastle reluctantly followed his gaze. The man was tall and slender, wrapped in a shabby grey cloak that had seen better days. He was too far away for Hardcastle to hear what he was saying, but there was no denying the impact his words had on the crowd. They couldn’t take their eyes off him. And yet there was none of the shouting and clapping that Hardcastle’s own speeches always elicited. The crowd was almost eerily silent, utterly engrossed with the speaker. Hardcastle suddenly realised the mercenaries he’d sent into the crowd hadn’t come back. He looked quickly about him, but there was no sign of them anywhere. There was a faint whisper of steel on leather as Roxanne drew her sword from its scabbard.
“They’ve been gone too long,” she said quietly. “Want me to go look for them?”
“Not on your own,” said Hardcastle. “Jillian, you stay here with my people. Wulf, you and Roxanne follow me. We’re going to take a closer look at this ... phenomenon.”
He gestured to two of his mercenaries, and they opened up a path through the crowd for him. More mercenaries spread out through the crowd, flanking Hardcastle and his party as they moved. No one in the crowd paid them any attention,. their gaze fixed on the slight grey figure on the platform.
My platform,
thought Hardcastle resentfully. There was still no sign of any of the missing mercenaries.
“I am the Lord of the Gulfs,” said the Grey Veil, his eyes wide and unblinking, his face full of a cold and awful wonder. “He has given me power, power beyond imagining, and he will do the same for you. Only come to him and serve him, and he will make you masters among men. He is ancient and magnificent, older than mankind itself, and his time has come round again.”
Hardcastle frowned, and looked about him. The grey figure was saying nothing new, and on the Street of Gods no one would have given him a second glance. So why was everyone so rapt? Why weren’t there any hecklers in the crowd? He muttered instructions to the nearest mercenary, who nodded and moved quickly through the crowd, passing the instructions on to the other mercenaries. Soon the silence was broken by jeers and insults and catcalls, and the crowd began to stir.
The Grey Veil turned slowly to face the jeers, and some of the mercenaries’ voices faltered. The Veil stopped speaking, and raised his hands above his head. The day suddenly grew dark. Hardcastle looked up and saw the sky was full of angry, swollen clouds, cutting off the daylight and spreading a chill across the crowd. He frowned uncertainly. He would have sworn the sky had been clear only moments before. He looked back at the grey figure, just in time to flinch as lightning cracked down to strike the upraised hands. An eerie blue glow crackled around the Grey Veil’s hands, and then the lightning leapt out into the crowd, striking down each and every one of Hardcastle’s men who’d raised their voices in mockery. The crowd screamed and shrank back as the mercenaries burst into flames and fell dying to the ground. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, but somehow the crowd still held their ground instead of scattering, bound together by the Grey Veil’s will. He slowly lowered his hands, and the sky began to clear.