Monstrum, p.18
Monstrum, page 18
The thief regarded her with icy disdain, heedless of the blade. “You stole that talisman from the emperor. I’ve been hunting it for nearly a year. I’m surprised you would return to the scene of the crime, but—”
“What’s he yammering on about?” Nazafareen asked Darius, who shrugged. “The globe belonged to a daēva who kidnapped a young girl. We just took it from him today. Or yesterday. Whatever day it is.”
Katsu blinked in confusion. He appeared about to reply when Megaera came bursting through the door, Herodotus blinking owlishly at her heels. She took in the scene and stepped forward, staff raised to crack skulls. “We heard fighting. What’s the Stygian doing here?”
“He tried to steal the globe,” Nazafareen said.
“Steal it back,” Katsu said tightly. “Did you know there is a bounty of thirty thousand yi on that talisman?”
Herodotus’s eyebrows shot up to his forehead. “Thirty thousand yi?” he repeated faintly. Ink-stained fingers tugged at his beard. “Why, that would be fifty-two thousand drachmas, or eighty thousand siglos, if one were in Samarqand. That is to say, a fortune!”
The commotion drew the Chione’s watch, who poked his head in.
“Trouble?” he asked.
Nazafareen hesitated, then shook her head. She wasn’t ready to reveal what they’d found to the crew. “A minor disagreement. Let him up,” she told Darius, who eased his knees from Katsu’s arms and backed away, though he looked wary.
The Marakai shrugged and withdrew.
“Talk,” she said to the Stygian. “And no evasions this time. What is this bounty?”
Katsu wiped the smear of blood from his throat and sat heavily on the bunk. They listened in silence as he related how he’d gone to Delphi in search of the talisman and been arrested outside the palace of the Archon Basileus, when he fought off a rival who thought Katsu had found the globe and hoped to seize it for himself. How he spent months in the Polemarch’s dungeons, with no hope of release. He told the story without a shred of self-pity. That more than anything made Nazafareen believe he spoke the truth.
“Someone bought my way out,” Katsu said finally. “I’ve no idea who. When I find out, I will have to repay the debt.” His gaze fell on the talisman. “I returned to Tjanjin intending to start the search anew. Perhaps there was a clue I overlooked the first time. The bounty still stands. If I won it….” He trailed off. “Well, there it is. You have it all now. And you say you took it from a Vatra?” White teeth flashed. “Really, where did you find it?”
“Do you know of a man named Nicodemus?” Nazafareen asked.
“Of course. He’s an advisor to the emperor.” Katsu’s eyes widened. His hand curled into a fist and thumped the bunk. “It makes sense. The talisman vanished the day before the Greek ambassador left for Delphi, so he was the obvious culprit. But Nicodemus must have framed him and taken it for himself.”
“What else do you know about him?” Darius asked.
“The courtiers call him the Traveler. No one knows where he came from—some say Delphi, some Samarqand, others the lands across the White Sea—but he supposedly has great skill at deciphering talismans and he’s helped the emperor identify the uses of many in his collection that were previously unknown.”
“He’s a Vatra,” Nazafareen said grimly. “This we know for certain.”
“The Vatras forged all the talismans in the world,” Herodotus put in. “When they were vanquished, the art was lost. But Nicodemus might have an innate understanding of them.”
“The emperor is obsessed with talismans,” Katsu said. “Collecting them is his passion. Some can be used by mortals, but others require power to work. He buys anything and everything. To be honest, I think half the objects down there are clever fakes. Until Nicodemus came along, he had no one to curate his collection. The emperor values him highly.”
“So the emperor wouldn’t hand him over?” Megaera asked. “For any reason?”
Katsu laughed. “Without absolute proof, he’d never believe a word against Nicodemus. The whole court fears his influence.”
“We have a problem then,” Nazafareen said, rubbing her stump. “A big one.”
“Oh, for the Gods’ sake, just tell him,” Megaera burst out. “It can’t get any worse.”
So Darius and Herodotus quickly explained why they had come to Tjanjin. The Stygian gave a low whistle.
“What will you do now?” he asked.
“Find a way into the palace,” Nazafareen said, her jaw setting. “And get Meb back ourselves.”
Megaera gave a firm nod and poked Herodotus, who looked up from his scroll. “What? Oh yes, certainly. Get her back ourselves. That’s what Kallisto would want, I’m sure.”
“Agreed,” Darius said, blue eyes glittering. “The question is how.”
They all stared at Katsu. He scrubbed a hand through his wispy beard.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “It’s heavily guarded. And the soldiers are trained to use spell dust. Even with a Danai, you don’t stand a chance. Besides which, the palace is huge. The part you saw is the tip of the iceberg. Most of it lies underground, dug into the mountain. Even if you managed to get inside, a search could take days.”
“What if we offered to trade the globe for Meb?” Megaera asked.
“The emperor will simply take it from you, and likely have you arrested. He’s not an evil man—I’m certain he doesn’t know what Nicodemus truly is—but he is the emperor. In Tjanjin, that makes him a godlike figure. It would humiliate him to be forced to negotiate. His pride would not allow it.”
“What does the globe do?” Darius asked.
Katsu shook his head. “No idea.”
There was a long, despondent silence.
“May I see it?” Herodotus asked diffidently. “I have made a small study of talismans. Perhaps I can discover its purpose.”
Nazafareen gave him the globe. He turned it this way and that, eyes bright with curiosity, then examined the runes on the base for several long minutes.
“Ah,” he said at last. “It is the language of the Vatras.”
“Can you read it?” Nazafareen asked eagerly.
“Not all, but some.” He pointed to the runes. “This means summon or call, and the other means search. I don’t know that one, but this is air, and that water….and warm wind, I think.”
“Give it to me,” Darius said.
Nazafareen felt him seek the calm of the Nexus. Then he wove fine, probing strands of air and water into the globe. Nothing happened. Darius gave a long sigh and the runes glowed blue.
“Not warm wind,” Herodotus cried. “Breath! Oh, I should have seen that. Now look for something. Hold the image in your mind.”
Darius closed his eyes and the view inside the globe changed. It soared across the White Sea and entered a great, dark forest. Greenery blurred past, faster and faster. Finally, the view slowed and fixed on a clearing. Ranks of Danai filled it from edge to edge. Delilah stood on a spur of rock, flanked by Tethys and six other Danai women with ageless faces. She drew her sword and raised it into the air. Five hundred bows were raised in answer.
“The Matrium,” Darius murmured in wonder. “She’s reached them.”
They watched for a while more but couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. Darius released the flows and the runes faded, the view inside settling into clear blue skies this time.
“Use it to find Meb,” Megaera urged.
Darius activated the globe again but instead of a rapid transformation, the view changed sluggishly, almost reluctantly, settling on roiling fog. He made a noise of frustration.
“What’s wrong with it?” Nazafareen asked, poking at the glass until Darius lightly slapped her hand away.
“Kallisto could never see the girl’s face in her visions,” Herodotus said after a moment. “She might be warded. But perhaps we could try the Vatra?”
Darius nodded. This time, the change was instantaneous—perhaps because he was so close by. An elderly man sat on a throne. He had a very long mustache that reached nearly to his lap. Beside him stood Nicodemus. The view closed in on the Vatra’s face and Nazafareen saw him clearly for the first time. He was staring straight ahead with the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. The Vatra had a webbing of fine lines at the corners of his eyes, which were a blue so dark as to appear almost black. He looked somewhere in his middle years, healthy and strong. Yet there was something about the way the flesh sat on his bones—as though a different man lurked just beneath the surface and this vitality was recently acquired, like new boots that didn’t fit quite right.
The emperor appeared to be speaking to someone out of sight. He did not seem pleased.
“Do you think the captains are in there?” Megaera whispered.
Nazafareen realized they’d all fallen silent—eavesdroppers who feared getting caught.
“Can they hear us?” she mouthed at Herodotus, who shrugged.
“I doubt it,” he replied in a normal tone that made them all jump. “If we can’t hear them, it stands to reason they can’t hear us.”
“I suppose,” she said. “Darius, can you make it so we see the whole room?”
“I’ll try,” he replied.
An instant later, the view jerked backwards as though tied to a string and hovered above the palace.
“Too far,” he muttered to himself. “Gently, now.”
It swooped in nauseating jerks back into the throne room, but this time he managed to hold it some distance away. Captain Mafuone and Captain Kasaika were indeed there, and both women scowled deeply.
“Told you,” Katsu murmured.
Nazafareen barely noticed the dozens of black-armored guards, the simpering courtiers and haughty purple-robed alchemists filling the chamber. She only had eyes for the emperor and the Vatra beside him, who leaned over every now and then to whisper in the emperor’s ear.
“That bastard,” she said. “Go closer to the Vatra. Maybe we can read his lips or something.”
Darius appeared to be gaining control of the talisman, for he managed it fairly smoothly. The view again closed on Nicodemus’s face. Suddenly, he turned and looked straight at the globe, eyes narrowing. Darius hastily pulled back again but the audience appeared to be at an end. The emperor gave a peremptory wave of his hand. Captain Mafuone and Captain Kasaika stalked out of the chamber with stiff backs.
Nicodemus turned away and gave the emperor a low bow. He made some sort of flowery speech. The emperor nodded and the Vatra withdrew through a door behind the throne. The globe pursed him along a corridor and down a long flight of steps that wound into the mountain. All of them leaned over it, hardly breathing, as he entered a series of dimly lit galleries with objects displayed on pedestals and inside glass cases, though he strode past too quickly to tell what they were. At last, Nicodemus reached a door standing partly ajar. He stared at it for a moment, then threw it open. The color drained from his face. A flash of rage contorted his features. The room beyond was empty.
Meb crouched behind one of the dusty glass cases. She was in a huge room with a high ceiling and every tiny sound seemed to echo and amplify itself. She breathed through her mouth, perfectly still, pretending she was just another one of the curious objects on display.
She could hear Nicodemus cursing nearby. It had been a very close thing. He’d left her in the room and said he had business to attend to, but would return shortly. Meb had played along. He was big and strong and she’d seen him work fire.
When he’d taken her knife away and locked the door behind him, she knew. Nicodemus was a liar. She couldn’t imagine what he really wanted her for and didn’t want to find out. She just wanted to go back to the Asperta. So she’d picked the lock with a fishbone. She always kept a few in her pocket. They were useful for all sorts of things. Digging dirt out from her toenails, for example, or scraps of kelp from her teeth.
But she’d never picked a lock before and it took a long time. Her hands were shaking so badly at the end she almost gave up. But she understood the basic idea of tumblers because Captain Kasaika kept a strongbox in her cabin and Meb had watched her open it a hundred times. So she’d kept at it and finally she heard a click and the door cracked open. She’d made it to the end of the corridor when she heard footsteps coming. So Meb ducked behind the glass case and saw him walk by, close enough to touch.
“Meb!”
She squeezed her eyes shut. The voice drew closer. He’d entered the gallery.
“Come on out! I won’t hurt you.”
She didn’t know what he was, but it wasn’t human and it couldn’t be daēva. Maybe he was one of them alchemists. The cook said they did magic with spell dust.
His footsteps grew closer. Then they stopped. “Your parents are waiting!”
The silence stretched out.
“I know you’re here somewhere.” His voice changed. It wasn’t so friendly-sounding anymore. “You’ll never find your way out, Meb. I know every inch of this place. It’s dangerous down here. And if I have to hunt you down, I’ll be angry.”
And then the footsteps passed. She counted to one hundred and crept out of her hiding place. Strange masks peered at her from the cases, alongside bits of jewelry and daggers and other queer relics. Meb dimly sensed power lurking inside some of them, but she had no idea what they did or how to use them.
She crept from shadow to shadow. He was lying again. There was a way out. The same way they’d come in, if she could find it.
You’re Meb the Shark, she thought, biting her lip hard to keep from crying. If he does catch you, he’ll regret it. And when Captain Kasaika finds out, she’ll chop him up for fish bait.
But in her heart Meb knew better.
She dropped to her knees again and started crawling.
18
Megaera’s Even Stupider Plan
“Clever girl,” Nazafareen whispered, as they watched Nico stalk through a long gallery chock-a-block with objects of all shapes and sizes. “It looks like she’s escaped him somehow.” She turned to Katsu. “Where is he?”
“That is the emperor’s talisman collection,” Katsu replied. “But it’s a labyrinth down there.”
“We have to help her,” Nazafareen said at once. “And you have to get us inside.”
Katsu laughed. “It’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
“This thing is.”
Nazafareen sighed. “What if we give you the globe?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t want to part with it. It’s obviously invaluable. But Meb is more valuable.”
Katsu shifted uneasily. “So you really think she has some kind of special power?”
“Yes. I do. And this Vatra certainly does.” Nazafareen stared at Katsu with reproach. “Even if she’s not the talisman, I wouldn’t leave her to him.”
The Stygian thought for a moment. “When the globe was first stolen, I tried to discover if someone from outside the palace could have gotten in. I’m friends with some of the imperial guards and we discussed it over a few cups of wine. In the end, we decided it couldn’t be done. That the culprit had to be someone on the inside. And indeed it was.”
“Get to the point,” Megaera growled.
“The entrances to the palace are heavily guarded at all times. But there’s an ancient system of aqueducts beneath the grounds. The largest ones carry the water for the aquarium.”
“Keep talking,” Darius said.
Katsu scratched his beard. “I suppose a person could swim through one of the aqueducts. But they don’t really lead anywhere.”
Darius nodded slowly. “I could use earth to punch a hole into the talisman collection, once we were beneath it.”
“It’s…conceivable,” Katsu said doubtfully. “Of course, there are iron bars over the outlets. And the only one large enough to fit into runs from the shark pool.”
“Sharks?” Megaera murmured. “What is a shark?”
“A fish with big teeth,” Katsu replied. “Very big.”
“Leave the sharks to me,” Nazafareen said carelessly. “I am not afraid of fish.”
Katsu smiled. “You haven’t seen one yet.”
Herodotus paused in his scribbling and looked up. “I never learned to swim,” he said with regret. “But perhaps you could tie me to Megaera? She wouldn’t mind, would you, dear?”
The Maenad patted his hand absently. “Of course not. And it’s a fine plan. Truly well thought out.” Her eyes glimmered with amusement. “But I have another proposal. It’s a lot simpler.” She leaned forward. “How about you just set me on fire?”
19
Suncups for Julia
Time was a peculiar thing, Culach thought.
Once it had held meaning. A day, a week, a year. These were real and measurable. But since the coming of the ice, it seemed to have ground to a halt. He slept and woke, and made love to Mina, and ate when he felt hungry, but he couldn’t say how long it had been since that day in the stables when Victor found Eirik’s diamond.
Mina kept him apprised of what was going on in the keep, which turned out to be not much. She barely saw Galen anymore. Apparently, he was Victor’s mole, digging a tunnel to the outside. Victor himself had withdrawn to Eirik’s study. The other Dessarians played dice and took turns guarding the mortal women from Delphi, but they were getting restless.
Earlier, Culach had gone to the stables to visit with Ragnhildur. She emitted a doleful cry when she saw him. He’d inspected her claws with his fingers and offered her a potato, which she wouldn’t deign to touch. But he knew she must be starving. The mounts needed meat. They needed to hunt.
After Mina, Ragnhildur was the one creature Culach would trade his life for. Eirik had given him the abbadax on his thirteenth birthday—one of the few acts of generosity towards his son—and they’d been together since, through hunts and battles and long, glorious flights over the sea. They didn’t need words to understand each other, though he often spoke to her anyway.
