Take the body and give me the rest Read online

  Seth remembered his total amazement at seeing the city for the first time: the towering walls, the throngs of so many people and absolutely everything for sale. In the North, slavery was legal, as it was here, but in Cravoss it seemed that one in every five was a slave. Slaves came and went through the crowds of people or could be seen following after someone in expensive clothing. Every job that didn’t require much training was being done by a slave. Everything that did require training was tightly controlled by the Guilds, which was why everything was so expensive.

  Seth had come to this city with a purse containing eight silvers and eight coppers, a silver and copper paid for every season while under arms. It wasn’t much in this city, but back home it did well, especially when you had your sleeping and eating taken care off. He thought it would last a few months at least.

  The boarding house they decided on was called the Fellow Traveller, they were told, and looked about as mean and rundown as they could stand. It was made of greyish wooden planks and stood a few stories in the air with a dirt front yard. There were not many windows, and it did not inspire the impression of a sturdy, well-made building, but they reasoned that the meaner and the cheaper a place was, the longer they could stay in the ale . Seth had been given the role of organisation, as it was his big talk which had brought them to the city.

  Back around the fire at the Bloodcrest line, he had often been spinning tales of how they would be received in the city. Four strapping Northerners all blooded, with their shields. They would be given a right welcome.

  The owner of the boarding house was the man by the name Yend. He was as crookedly built as the boarding house he kept. Regular height for a Cravosi, lank black hair and watery eyes, he had a habit of looking around the room as he spoke. That said, he was still an affable host and made all four of the lads very welcome indeed .

  ‘Look at these four fine young lads here,’ he said, speaking to an old woman who sat behind the bar with him. ‘Need a room, boys? How about a beer first?’ Most of these boarding houses had a small bar as well, to keep the guests in at night.

  Seth sized him up. He’d been told it was always money first. ‘We’re interested in the price on two large rooms,’ he said.

  ‘Aye the price, the price. How long you lads staying?’ he asked.

  Erik spoke up from the group. ‘Well, that depends on the price.’

  ‘True indeed, I run a simple house here. We’ll see you right at a silver a week. Each room, plus one bath and meals nightly. How’s that sound?’ he asked.

  To Seth, it sounded much worse than he had been expecting but everything here was proving much more expensive than first reckoned. They shook on the price and turned their backs to the man and sorted out the money.

  ‘All fresh from the levies, right?’ Yend said as they sorted out the coins, pulling them from their boots and hidden pockets in their shirts

  Seth called back distracted, ‘Aye, that’s right.’

  ‘Well, I can recommend a few very nice taverns, if you be liking the female company and having those wages you need to spend.’

  They laughed at that. Griffith spoke up. ‘Just point us in the right direction.’

  Yend pointed them and near drew them a map to a large tavern called the Red Minstrel, which had a sign of a red hooded female fiddler on the signboard and was a decent walk away in a much nicer part of the city. This building was a large wooden one but well-made and welcoming. As they passed through the front doors, they were hit by a trickle of soft music being played by two female fiddlers on a small stage, along with the heat being thrown up by a roaring fire in the room. The room was massive and built so that it was entirely made up of booths lining the walls. Each booth was framed by red velvet curtains that rose to the roof and could be closed, concealing the patrons and tavern girls within. Most were opened with only a few shut tight and giggling conversation heard from within.

  Comparing it now to the Mermaid’s Kiss, Seth could see that this place wasn’t for locals at all. All the regulars had just been waiting for four marks to come wandering in off the streets, a few ales already under their belts and with more money than sense.

  The lads sat down on a row of benches at the bar, which had been polished to a high sheen, as a woman served some drinks without waiting for their order.

  ‘Well, hello boys, planning a big night, are we?’ she asked. She had long blonde hair fashioned into a plait knotted to one side. She wore a leather apron which had been tailored to suit her lines. Her face was attractive but her smile was hard and firm.

  ‘We sure are,’ Ulrik shouted back. ‘First real night off in two years.’

  ‘Well, we’ll see you right. How did you hear about our humble tavern?’ she asked.

  Seth spoke words he’d later regret: ‘Yend at our boarding house sent us down.’

  ‘Oh, Yend, he’s such a dear man, knows people and their tastes, he does.’

  The music continued and Seth found his gaze lingering on one of the girls playing the fiddle. She was a little older than he, but only by a few years. She played with a deft and practised hand while she smiled and laughed. Her hair was also in a blonde plait down one side, but she wore men’s pants and a leather tunic, much in the style of many musicians he’d seen. She looked sweet, her face reminding him of someone he knew back home.

  A woman in a low cut red dress soon approached Erik, who was on the outside of the group, and started talking to him. She was soon laughing at his jests and talk, though Seth had never known him to be a funny man. Another lady started to talk to Ulrik and then Griffith. Soon, they were the centre of female attention in the bar. It was a change from two years sleeping on the hard ground, amongst so many soldiers in training, having these women with easy laugher, tight dresses, hands touching them, seemingly very interested in these four Northern boys.

  The fiddler girl had finished playing and was sitting at the edge of one of the booths, not talking to anyone. Seth kept looking at her and willing himself to go and talk to her. He imagined what he would say and kept trying to push himself. He noticed that all of his lads had disappeared upstairs with the women, but that’s what he’d expected. One of the women still left standing around took his hand and said, ‘Come along upstairs.’ He did think about it—two years in the levies is a long time—but she wasn’t half as cute as the fiddler girl.

  ‘No thanks, love,’ he said nicely but got an ugly expression in return. He took back his hand and walked over to the girl sitting at the booth. Up close she looked even sweeter with her soft blonde hair in a plait and a cute determined-looking face.

  ‘You play very well,’ Seth said.

  She looked startled from her daydream.

  ‘Sorry if I scared you,’ he said with a small laugh.

  ‘Oh no, it’s okay, I’m just surprised, no one ever talks to me in here,’ she said.

  He laughed. ‘Most men rather sex to talking’ he said, not knowing if he was saying too much.

  She smiled back. ‘That’s true enough. Why are you different soldier boy?’

  ‘Oh, it’s only my first night here; I need to get warmed up,’ he said.

  She laughed back. ‘Be careful: this city eats boys like you up nightly.’

  ‘I’ve fought in battles and survived; I’m sure I can survive your city,’ he said.

  The girl finished her small glass of beer and headed back to the stage to continue playing. Seth slowly finished his own and waited for his friends to re-join him. After another five or so songs, he was starting to get worried. It was probably nothing—just getting their money’s worth, thought Seth. The woman behind the bar looked at him when he walked up to order another. ‘Oh, your friends are out the back waiting for you; they look ready to leave.’ She pointed to a passage at the side of the bar.

  Muttering, ‘Shit,’ Seth ran around the corner, up the passage, through the unlocked back door and into the rear alley. The moment he was through the door, he felt something solid connect with his skull a
nd all went black.

  Seth was woken by big hands shaking him awake.

  ‘Seth, are you okay?’ It was Erik. He had a huge black eye and a split lip.

  ‘Fucking hell, forget me. Are you okay?’ Seth replied, standing up.

  ‘Oh, it was all shit. Those girls must have drugged our drink. I remember having fun with one and then going black. I woke up out here with a group of burly fuckers going to work on me.’

  ‘What a night! Hey?’ He looked around. Erik, Ulrik and Griffith were all there but all very worse for wear. Seth touched his hand to the back of his head and came away with blood on his finger tips.

  ‘So we’ve been robbed, I’m guessing,’ Seth said.

  ‘Oh, yeah, that was the point of it all, I’d say,’ Erik replied.

  ‘So what’s the plan now?’ said Ulrik.

  ‘We’ve not only been robbed we’ve been disrespected, what do you think we do? We walk back in the front door and start smashing teeth out until we get back our wages, then we clean ourselves up and apply for the watch tomorrow.’ Seth said.

  ‘Seth, fuck this place. Let’s just go home. I hate this city. I couldn’t live here, no way,’ Griffith said.

  ‘Really? You all feel that way?’ Seth asked.

  ‘Yeah, Seth, it’s true. We’re going to pack our shit up and head out home. You going to come?’ said Eric.

  ‘Let’s go back to the boarding house and see what happens. I reckon this Yend was in on it, sending us in there,’ Seth said.

  They staggered their injured bodies back across town, muttering and cursing as they went. Soon they sighted the grey planks of the Fellow Traveller and went in. Yend was behind the counter and, on seeing them, his face got a very concerned look.

  ‘Oh boys, boys, what’s happened?’ he asked.

  ‘Well, they knew we were heavy with coin and they lighten our burden,’ said Seth bitingly.

  ‘Ah, bitches, I never knew it was a bad sort of place. The bartender woman always seemed so nice,’ he said. ‘What will you do now lads? Your rooms are fully paid for the week, so no hurry there.’

  ‘We’re thinking of heading back home and sooner rather than later,’ said Erik.

  ‘Well, if you do I’ll refund you at half a silver and one copper,’ he said in a helpful way.

  ‘So we’ll have paid a half silver for a single night and one pint,’ Seth said.

  ‘Oh, I’m just trying to help. Stay the week if you will. But what are you planning to do that’s so important?’ Yend asked.

  ‘We’re here to join the city watch or the city levies, or maybe even the King’s Guard,’ said Ulrik.

  Yend looked shocked. ‘But you’re just boys and from the North. They won’t take you.’

  ‘But we’ve been battle blooded and we have the red shields of two years to prove it,’ Seth said proudly.

  ‘In Cravoss, it’s all about who your father is and his father—not what you’ve done but who you are,’ Yend said sadly.

  ‘That would be fucking right,’ said Erik.

  The lads left the city that very evening with their half silver refund between the three of them. Seth, who had luckily paid for a whole room himself through largess, intended to stay for the week and at least try his luck in the guard and the levies.

  ‘Good on you boy,’ said Yend. ‘Don’t let fate cast you down. Here, I know someone from the watch, a good man who could help you in getting in. You go help yourself to a bath and when you come out fresh and clean, I’ll have him here and introduce you.’

  Seth was still wary of him but was finding it hard to distrust the constantly smiling man. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

  The water of the bath was warm at least, filled into the large metal tub by the old lady who drifted around the boarding house. He thought of the fiddler girl and thought she must have known what was going to befall him. Well, she did warn him, after a fashion. He washed the blood from his hair and winced when the water touched the wound. It was minor, though. He dried himself and got changed back into his clothes.

  In the main room, standing at the bar laughing with Yend, was indeed a member of the city guard. Seth felt a little leap of hope within him. The man had around four score name days to him and was a serious looking man, but laughing so freely with Yend that his face was near to red.

  ‘Oh, here he is. This is the one I told you about, Captain,’ Yend said in a friendly introduction, waving Seth over.

  Seth reached out to shake the man’s hand as Yend continued. ‘Here’s the one who owes me two weeks rent and refuses to pay it, tells me he’ll kill me, scares the life out of me, he does.’

  As Seth’s hand reached the Captain’s, it was wrenched violently behind his back and, like a magic trick, he felt the metal cuffs that had been on the Captain’s belt go around his wrist. ‘Is that true, you big Northern bastard? You have to pay your way in Cravoss. You’re right, Yend, this big one will fetch a nice price, I reckon. Usual cut,’ he said, pushing Seth out of the door and through the city towards the debt slave market.

  Chapter 6

  No plan now; no plan was needed. Sure, he didn’t have his sword because he’d had to give it in at the city gate and couldn’t get it back without leaving, but he didn’t need a weapon to choke the life out of the old bastard. He’d never planned to kill a man before, but this one had had him sent down as a debtor when it was a lie; he’d had him sold as chattel, after having him and his friends beaten and robbed. Worst, he knew where Seth was from and had heard him and the boys talking of families and home. He’d proved that he’d be only too quick to sell that information. If it wasn’t for the family, Seth could probably just give him a beating, but now he had no choice.

  Seth walked through the door of the Fellow Traveller, ready to leap the bar. The old lady stood on the other side, looking off into the room in an idle fashion. She stared at him as if she didn’t recognise him at all.

  ‘Where’s Yend?’ Seth near growled.

  ‘He’s downstairs. Are you one of his boys?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course I am, now lead on,’ he said.

  She showed him around the side of the bar and into the room at the back. There was a large trapdoor which was open and had some very wide stone stairs down it. He walked down casually. He was halfway down when the trapdoor slammed shut above his head, and he heard the old lady slide a bolt.

  The stairs went down a long way and came out into a very large room, given the size of the tavern. The room was entirely made of stone, the rough floor covered with furs and mismatching rugs. The walls couldn’t be seen for wardrobes, piles of clothes and little bits of furniture. Sitting at a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by two ornate high backed chairs, were Yend and the female bartender of the Red Minstrel. They were drinking wine in the early morning and playing cards.

  ‘Well, my two favourite people in Cravoss together. What good fortune for me,’ Seth said, walking up to the table, clenching his fists.

  Yend reached from beneath the table and withdrew a loaded crossbow. ‘No, no, my boy: good fortune for us.’

  They both laughed at him. The bartender looked even meaner in the harsher morning light her features distorted from constant cruel looks and thoughts. ‘You must have known we had more to take from you,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, word is you killed someone very important making your escape from slavery, and his kin will pay dearly to have you back,’ Yend said.

  ‘Now, my lovely old maid upstairs is going to go and fetch them here, so you just sit down and we’ll have them in here by lunchtime.’ Yend motioned that Seth sit, so he did. When he was sitting, the woman came around from the table and tied his hands to the arms of the solid ornate chair.

  ‘Don’t want to be holding this up all day,’ Yend said, lowering the crossbow.

  They soon went back to playing cards and ignoring the very fact that Seth was even there. Meanwhile, the old maid upstairs was slowly making her way across the city to bring the lady Seraphina and the kin
of the General to collect him. Seth knew that he had to summon the creature; that was his only hope of surviving. But he’d never done it himself before and doubted that Yend would let him get away with chanting and singing as he sat tied down. He needed it here now, not slowly appearing through the rift.

  Seth cast his mind through the General’s memories of all the times he had summoned the creature. He’d called it to kill at least two score people in his study room, some on a remote battlefield, one old General in a command tent when he was young, but never without the words. Sometimes he’d done it fast and Seth focused on those times. Then he found a piece of knowledge from a book, diaries of another in the General’s order. He found that the order had a name for itself, and its members called themselves the Dark Guild. The members often kept journals that had been passed down through the members; one entry going hundreds of years back wrote about calling the creature with mind alone, of holding it back until it was almost there and then letting it in.

  Without knowing why, Seth knew he could do it. He could almost feel the creature just waiting outside somewhere, ready to rush in. Looking at Yend and the woman whose name he didn’t even know, he could feel the hunger start to rise up inside of him. He wanted to feel the teeth tear into them, feel the blood and the warm flesh in his mouth. His revenge on Yend felt petty compared to the growing hunger.

  ‘What’s your name?’ Seth asked, looking at her.

  She looked at him like he was shit on her boot. ‘Why?’

  ‘I should know your name if I’m going to kill you,’ he said coldly, willing himself to be cold.

  They both laughed at him again. ‘It’s Josephine.’

  He had already begun the chant in his mind. His eyes looked at the ceiling and went out of focus. He used the hunger growing in his stomach as a centre and focused on the call. He felt the power of the chant growing and felt a connection; he was connected with something. He could feel a line of power running out of him and pulling hard, showing something the way into this land. The air in the room seemed to lessen and grow thin, but it didn’t darken or change. Seth felt the moment when the creature was there, just on the other side of vision, unseen but ready.