The Autumn Republic (7 page)

Bo, she realized, was in the throes of that very same war.

Nila climbed to her feet. Bo was cresting the next hill, moving farther away. She opened her third eye but could no longer spot the moving shadow of light in the Else. Bo was hidden as well, veiled in whatever trick he’d spoken of earlier.

She closed her third eye and stumbled after him, feeling her way in the dark.

She caught up to him a quarter of a mile and a twisted ankle later, limping up to where he crouched in the long grass. She could feel the intensity as he stared into the darkness like a cave lion stalking its prey. Without turning his head, he whispered, “What is it?”

“I should stay with you.”

A hesitation. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Whoever he is, he’s coming right at us. Don’t touch the Else – I’m going to trip him with earth and bind him with air, but my sorcery will be obscured from any Knacked that might be watching. You don’t know how to do any of that, so stay here until I have him.”

Nila hunkered down next to Bo, her knees wet from the grass. From the way Bo was facing, she guessed that the spy was traveling in the gully between two hills. She couldn’t see a thing, however, and waited for Bo to make his move.

She didn’t have to wait long. His arms suddenly came up, two shadows in the night, and she thought she saw a spark when his fingers danced. There was a cry in the gully beneath them that was cut dramatically short, and Bo leapt to his feet. “Come on!” They stumbled down the hill and Bo threw himself forward. “Hold still, damn it. You’re not going anywhere.” Several muffled grunts followed and then the area was suddenly lit by the beam of a dull light not unlike a bull’s-eye lantern. It originated from Bo’s shoulder and revealed Bo struggling with a small figure.

“It’s only a boy!” Nila said before she could stop herself. Could they have caught the wrong person? Just some innocent messenger, or maybe even a drummer boy who’d decided to run away from the camp?

Bo gave her a dirty look and flipped the boy onto his back. Hands and legs bound by invisible sorcery, the boy thrashed on the ground like an earthbound fish. He couldn’t have been more than twelve, with a narrow nose and long brown hair tied back behind his head. He wore a plain black uniform with matching kneesocks, boots, and jacket.

Bo stood up, one finger pointed at the boy as if he were pinning a fly to the ground beneath him, and seemed content to let the boy tire himself out for several minutes.

Nila stepped up beside Bo. “He’s just a boy,” she whispered in his ear.

“I know that.”

“Are you going to torture him?”

“If I must.”

“You were a boy once too.”

“And I had to learn when to grow up.”

The coldness in his words shocked her. “Let me at him first.”

He blinked at her several times before gesturing to the boy magnanimously. “Be my guest.”

“Give me an extra pair of gloves.”

Pulling on the gloves, she knelt next to the boy and held them up to Bo’s light. “Do you know what these are?”

The boy nodded fearfully.

“You’ve the unfortunate luck to fall into the hands of two Privileged. Answer our questions truthfully and we’ll let you go. Lie to us, and we’ll take turns scouring the flesh from your bones so that there is nothing left of you but a charred shell come morning. I can make certain that no one will hear your screams.” She leaned in close to his face. “And no one will help you. Do you understand?”

The boy’s mouth worked, but no sound came forth.

Nila glanced over her shoulder at Bo. “Sorry,” Bo muttered. One finger twitched.

“Let’s try that again,” Nila said. “Do you understand?”

“Yes!” the boy gasped. “I do!”

“Good. What is your name?”

“Folkrot.”

“Unfortunate name,” Bo muttered just loud enough for Nila to hear.

She compressed her lips in a hard line to stifle a laugh. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’ve run off from my unit.” The words had barely left his mouth when Bo’s fingers twitched and Folkrot gave a terrified squeal. “I’m sorry! I mean, I’m delivering a message.”

Nila tried to keep her composure. Could Bo really sense if he was lying? Or was he testing the boy? “For whom?” she asked.

“General Hilanska.”

“Where were you taking it?”

“To the Kez lines. I’m meant to be there by morning.”

“And what kind of message are you delivering?”

“I don’t know! It’s a sealed letter. I’m not allowed to open it.” Another squeal, and Folkrot writhed from some unseen twisting of sorcery. “I swear to you it’s true!”

Nila slapped Bo’s leg and the boy instantly stopped moving. “Where is the letter?”

“Under my shirt.”

Nila bent forward and undid the front of the boy’s jacket, then lifted his shirt. Strapped to his white belly just below his ribs was a leather satchel. She removed it and handed it to Bo.

Bo stepped away from her and the boy and opened the letter. He stared at it for several minutes before beckoning Nila over.

“It’s coded,” Bo said. “Damn it. It doesn’t help us.” He walked around in a circle for a moment before stopping. “The Wings of Adom employ several code breakers. They’ve fought in just about every country in the world. Their camp isn’t far. We can get there by late morning if we walk all night.”

Nila didn’t like the idea at all. She was already wet, tired, dirty, and she’d twisted her ankle. A seven-mile walk in the dark sounded horrible. “And the boy?”

“I have to kill him,” Bo said.

“No!”

“We have no choice. We can’t let him go. He’ll run back to Hilanska and tell him the letter was taken. I’ll make it quick.”

“You bloody animal! I will not let you do that.”

“And how will you stop me?” There was a challenge in Bo’s voice.

Nila felt her hands stiffen and thought of the blue flame that had danced over her fingers. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t use sorcery against Bo. He would toss her aside like garbage. “He’s an innocent. I’ll make you kill me first.”

A sour look crossed Bo’s face and he looked from her to the boy as if considering how best to move her out of the way.

“We can take him with us to the Wings’ camp and hand him over to them,” Nila said. “We won’t have to kill him and he won’t be reporting to anyone.”

“I don’t like having a tagalong.”

“You let me bring Jakob.”

“Not here, I didn’t. We left him with Adamat’s family so he wouldn’t be a burden.”

“And we’ll only have this boy until we reach the Wings’ camp. Do you want more blood on your hands?”

Bo stared at his gloves for a moment before giving a curt nod. “Bring him. But we lose him at the Wings’ camp.”

I
t was around seven o’clock in the morning, the tall grass still bathed in dew, when Adamat, Oldrich, and their fifteen soldiers trekked into the Wings of Adom mercenary camp.

The mercenaries were camped around a town called Billishire, not more than thirty miles from the edge of the Black Tar Forest. Their standard of a saint’s halo with gold wings on a red backdrop waved from the steeple of the town’s only church, and the entire camp had been fortified by a hastily built palisade wall and a ditch six feet deep.

Adamat forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, exhaustion weighing him down as the night retreated. He went straight for the first sentry he saw and came up short, letting the man eye him suspiciously for several moments before speaking.

“Inspector Adamat here to see Brigadier Abrax,” he said.

The sentry was a middle-aged man with a fixed bayonet. His red-and-white uniform was clean and pressed, and the gold trim glittered in the early light.

“I’ve no orders regarding you,” the sentry said. He eyed the small troop of soldiers and their trail through the grass that led off into the distance as if not quite sure what to make of them.

“I’m here on behalf of Field Marshal Tamas.”

The sentry’s skepticism deepened. “The field marshal is dead.”

“Is he now?” Adamat asked, giving the man his very best deadpan expression of annoyance. He imagined that it looked like a tired squint. “We’ve walked all night and I have urgent news for the brigadier. I have a letter of introduction from Colonel Etan of the Twelfth Grenadiers of the Adran army.”

The sentry regarded Adamat another moment before looking over Oldrich and his men. The soldiers had shed their grenadier disguises but kept the rifles, and despite not having slept for twenty-four hours, they looked sharp enough to play the part.

“I better escort you in, then,” the sentry said.

For the second time in as many days, Adamat was led into the heart of a military camp. They were handed off to another sentry, and then to a major’s adjutant – a young woman with blond hair and an easy smile – who took them to the church that Adamat had spotted earlier in the center of the town.

The camp was just beginning to stir, cookpots going over the fires and camp laundresses finishing their night’s work. The stillness gradually gave way to the bustle of camp life as the men crawled from their beds.

Adamat caught the sleeve of the adjutant just before they reached the church. “I’m the only one who needs to see the brigadier,” he said. “Is there any chance you could show some hospitality to my escort?”

The adjutant gave a quick nod and beckoned to Oldrich. “Take your men over to the Willow Inn, just past that house there. It serves as the officers’ mess in the evenings, but they’ll be happy to give you breakfast. Tell them that Brigadier Abrax will cover the tab.”

“My thanks,” Adamat said once the soldiers had gone off in search of the inn.

“Of course,” the adjutant said. “We show the same hospitality our brothers-in-arms have shown us. And Field Marshal Tamas has been good to us.”

Adamat wondered how, exactly, Tamas had been paying the Wings of Adom. The newspapers had whispered of bankruptcy in the capital for months.

Inside the church, Adamat was shown to one of the pews, and the adjutant disappeared. He sat quietly with his hands in his lap, examining the stained-glass windows behind the pulpit. The largest window depicted Kresimir floating high above South Pike Mountain, his arms spread over the whole of the Nine. His brothers and sisters gathered at his feet, helping him in the formation of the Nine Nations. Adamat wondered how being at war with Kresimir himself would change the Kresim religion in Adro.

“Inspector?”

The voice brought Adamat out of an uneasy sleep, and he realized he’d been leaning his head on the pew in front of him. He rubbed vigorously at his forehead to remove the red line it likely caused and got to his feet. “Yes?”

“The brigadier has just begun her breakfast. She’s asked you to join her.”

The idea of breakfast nearly made Adamat faint. He’d been so incredibly sore and sleep-deprived all night that he hadn’t thought of food, but the very mention of it made his stomach growl as loud as a cave lion.

He was taken across the street to what would have probably been the priest’s house, a two-story building with a brick façade and green shutters, and he was shown into the dining room.

Adamat was surprised to see a familiar face sitting at the head of the table: Lady Winceslav, the owner of the Wings of Adom. She wore the white uniform with gold sash of a Wings brigadier – a formality, if Adamat were to guess. She didn’t have experience of command.

Brigadier Abrax sat at the foot of the table, also wearing white and gold. She stood when Adamat entered. “Inspector.” She regarded him blandly, her stern face unreadable.

“Brigadier,” Adamat said, shaking her hand. “And my lady, I didn’t realize you were here.” This could complicate things. Abrax had a reputation for severity, but Adamat still hoped to cajole her into helping him. Lady Winceslav would stand for no such cajoling.

“Inspector, I’m told that you have word of Tamas.” Winceslav raised a cup of tea to her lips.

Adamat swallowed, noting that he had not been asked to sit. “I’m sorry, my lady, but I do not.”

Winceslav’s face fell. “The adjutant said that you had implied as much.”

“I didn’t mean to mislead,” Adamat said. “I simply said I was here on behalf of Field Marshal Tamas.”

“I see.” Another sip of tea. Still no invitation to sit. “And what orders has the late field marshal given that you still feel pressed to follow through?”

Adamat filed through his memory, looking for an order, whether spoken or written, that Tamas had given before his disappearance into Kez. “Well, none, my lady.”

Winceslav gave a slight sigh. Abrax narrowed her eyes at him. Both remained silent.

“My lady, I…”

“The last time we met,” Winceslav said, “you were investigating me for treachery. I understand you were following orders, but it doesn’t leave us on the best of terms. I hope you have something good to say.”

Lady Winceslav wouldn’t be fooled by any stories that Adamat could spin, and he likely wasn’t going to appeal to her patriotism – she was already doing what she could for her country. What else would work?

Adamat decided on an appeal to her pragmatism. “I arrived in the Adran camp yesterday morning with Privileged Borbador and a squad of Tamas’s Riflejacks with the intent of arresting General Ket on charges of war profiteering and releasing Taniel Two-shot from imprisonment.”

“Two-shot disappeared weeks ago,” Abrax said. “Surely you’d been informed.” She said nothing about the charges against Ket. She didn’t even raise her eyebrow.

“We knew he was accused of murdering several of Ket’s men in self-defense. Nothing after that. Until yesterday, of course. General Hilanska filled us in on the schism in the army, and Taniel’s capture and death at the hands of the Kez.” Adamat had, not for the first time, the uneasy feeling that the lack of news in the capital was not accidental. It was something he’d have to consider more in the future.

Winceslav’s teacup clinked onto her plate. “Did you say Privileged Borbador?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Where is he now?”

“We were separated just before leaving the Adran army.” No need to tell her the specifics about
that
. It would only complicate matters.

“Two-shot isn’t dead,” Abrax said.

“Oh?”

“At least,” Abrax continued, “no one’s seen the body. Before the… event… between Kresimir and Mihali, Taniel was seen carving his way through the Kez army with that savage sorceress of his. My Privileged told me that there was some very interesting sorcery going on.”

Bo would certainly be delighted by that news. But how to get it to him? As far as he knew, the Privileged was in the Kez camp right now – or had been captured and killed by Hilanska. Adamat tried to bring his thoughts back on track. This wasn’t about Two-shot anymore.

“That’s all very interesting,” Winceslav said. She took a bite of a biscuit and chewed and swallowed before going on. “But that doesn’t tell us what you’re here for.”

Adamat’s mouth watered. “My lady, I saw Hilanska’s battle plans when I met with him. I have reason to believe he will attack Ket within the next couple of days. And I don’t think he has any intention of trying to resolve the conflict diplomatically. If the two of them fight, the Kez will only have to sit back and wait until they’ve destroyed each other and this whole campaign will be in ruins.”

“And you have a solution to that?” Abrax asked.

“Yes.”

“Well?”

“I want you to draft all three of Ket’s brigades into the Wings of Adom mercenary company.”

Abrax barked out a laugh. “Absurd.”

Adamat put his hands on the table. “It would end this schism and save the lives of tens of thousands of men.”

“It’s ridiculous. The logistics would be impossible,” Abrax said.

“Not impossible. Just inconvenient.”

“And,” Abrax added, “Ket will have to agree.”

“She will. I know exactly what she wants.”

Abrax opened her mouth, but Winceslav’s raised hand kept her silent.

“Inspector,” Winceslav said. There was a note of interest in her voice. “Please sit down and have breakfast with us. I’m interested in hearing more.”