Shadows in the Smoke - 7 - Sleepless Nights

"While the loyalty of the majority of the people cannot be questioned, there will always be wreckers and saboteurs who seek to put their own selfish needs above those of the people. To deal with these criminals we have the police forces of the Republic. These hardworking Citizens bring justice and order to our streets."

The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

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Each night the Karan Queen and the other two boats would put down their anchors and stop. Apparently it was dangerous to keep rowing their way down the river in the dark. The first night Ester had mused over whether to offer to cast a spell to light the way ahead of them. She'd almost gone to the captain to suggest it, but then reconsidered at the last minute.

It wasn't out of laziness, although she had to admit that, duty aside, the idea of staying up all night holding a spell wasn't very appealing. Rather, the boats already had Adepts on board to help speed them on their way. Or at least the Karan Queen had two, both very polite middle aged men. If it was helpful, or even safe, to use magical light to travel at night then no doubt they'd already be doing it given the number of nobleborn on board.

Still, Ester found it hard to sleep on the boat. Even anchored outside the main flow of the river, it still moved in ways she found disconcerting. It was tolerable while she was awake, but more than distracting when she tried to sleep.

That was why she found herself leaning against the railing, looking out at the quiet shore in the middle of her second night onboard. The night was never completely silent on the boat. As well as the gentle gurgle of the river flowing by, there were always some sailors awake and moving about their business, or on watch.

Ester yawned, trying to stifle the undignified sound. Just because she couldn't sleep didn't mean she wasn't tired. Perhaps she should go back to her tiny little cabin and try to sleep again? It really was late, she was going to be exhausted tomorrow.

It was annoying, maybe she should have tried to buy a tincture to help her sleep before coming. The idea made her want to squirm though. Imagine if the boat hit a rock and she was fast asleep while it started to sink, she might not even wake up! Anyway, it wasn't like she'd had the time to do anything other than pack.

With a quiet huff Ester turned away from the railing. She'd head back down below deck and… She stopped. There was something… she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

With a frown she looked around herself, but there was nothing to see. The shore was still nothing more than a dark smudge behind the swaying reeds. The wooden deck of the boat a shadowed landscape, dimly lit by a few dangling lamps.

There was something she was missing though. Her eyes slid over the gloomy deck, searching between patches of darkness. There was nothing, just the dim form of a sailor keeping watch over the river.

Ester's frown deepened. Hadn't there been another sailor, watching the shore? Maybe he'd needed to go and relieve himself. He was nowhere to be seen, in fact there was nothing else on the deck, just dark patches where the faint, flickering light of lamps didn't reach.

She brought her mind into focus, opening her senses fully. There was something. Something more than the faint magic of the boat's Schemas. The swaying of the lamps made the shadows seem to move as her eyes slid past them. The darkness seemed to be growing in front of her. Maybe a cloud passing across the light?

Only that made no sense.

Clarity grabbed at her.

"Saig." Without thinking Ester snapped a single word.

The shadows fled, blasted away by the fire that erupted around the black-clad form, blade in hand, only feet away from her. A man's agonised shriek tore through the night, cut off less than a second later.

Ester was already staggering back in shock. The brief illumination revealed two other men, masked and dressed head to toe in black. What were they… She didn't have time to think about that!

"Gagnka kel'mar ai'dolox ai'gan diwaien gewaah'fa." One of them shouted the words to a spell as the other leapt towards her, a wickedly long knife held close to his body.

Ester's fire winked out as she yanked her attention towards the other two. Now that she knew they were there, her eyes no longer slid past them. How had she even missed them?

She lurched backwards, away from the man coming at her. He was fast! Unnaturally so.

"Dolox!" A blast of solid air slammed into his stomach, sending him tumbling. There was no time to follow through though. The witch's spell finally came together in a flare of runes and a wall of force shot towards her.

It was nothing compared to what she'd faced before. Ester focused her magic, twisted and felt the spell come apart even as she spoke her own spell.

"Spiëkk." Her magic grabbed a block of wood from the deck and slammed it straight into the back of the man's head.

He dropped like a stone. Now for the other one.

It took Ester a moment to find him in the dark. He wasn't where her blast of air had left him. Somehow he was back on his feet. But not running towards her. As she began to cast he leapt straight over the side of the boat and into the water with a splash.

Ester let the spell fade away and rushed back to the railing. She could hear splashing in the water, but she couldn't make anything out. She couldn't let him escape though. Who knew what these men were doing, trying to sneak onto the boat in the middle of the night? She couldn't imagine normal thieves would have taken the risk. Not to mention the amount of magic they were using, no normal thieves would have had that. It was too hard to see though, the night was almost as good a shield as their magic had been.

Great Spirits! Ester could have kicked herself. She was a Mage. Why was she straining her eyes trying to see in the dark?

"Taalsoi." At her word magic came together in a spiral of runes and suddenly the river was bathed in unnaturally bright light.

The shore was perhaps a hundred paces of reed strewn shallows away from them and in the harsh glow of her spell it was easy to see the small rowing boat with two men in it. One man was frantically pulling for the shore, the other was sat in the stern facing backwards.

Ester only had a moment to take that in before magic flared around him. In a flash the flurry of light and runes came together, straight into a dazzling ball of fire.

Ester winced and instinctively ducked, letting her light spell go, as the fire blasted towards her. "Dachaid." She tore it apart with an effort of will. That had been strong, for a witch. He could have set the whole boat on fire, killed the Ambassador and everyone on board! She couldn't even swim! She needed to put a stop to this now, or he'd reach the shore and then he could just take potshots at the boat all night if he wanted to.

"Vlidisch ai'gränn jel'vatn." Without thinking Ester intoned the words of another spell, focusing her will between the sky and the rowing boat.

Her magic came together as smoothly as it ever had. She felt the witch's magic scrabbling ineffectually at her spell. Then it was too late for him. The night sky split as blinding light connected the sky and the little rowing boat. A moment later the crack of thunder rolled across her.

The silence that followed soon broke down into chaos as sailors and passengers charged up onto the deck, half of them clutching weapons they'd obtained from Spirits only knew where.

A couple of burly sailors came charging towards Ester, registered who she was and then shied away, doing an impressive job of pretending they'd never even seen her. The rest swarmed across the deck, hunting for threats. Moments later the captain emerged from the raised part at the back of the boat cursing and shouting as he tried to bring order to the situation.

She needed to make herself useful too, she couldn't just stand there like an idiot. One of the three men had jumped off the boat and the one she'd burnt was certainly dead, but that left the third. Hopefully he'd only been knocked out.

Ester strode towards the shouting gaggle of sailors that surrounded him. At least they'd have a prisoner who could explain what was going on. The sailors were so worked up they didn't even notice her behind them.

"Excuse me." She went onto her tiptoes, straining to look past them. None of them even acknowledged her. "Excuse me!"

The closest sailor jumped, looked behind him and blanched.

"Milady." He tried to bow at the same time as he grabbed the man closest to him and pulled him out of her way.

"Thank you, goodman." Did you call a sailor a goodman or did they have some kind of nautical title? Would they get as worked up about it as Lord Nemsu? It didn't matter. Ester stepped forward into the tight gaggle.

She barely noticed the sailors shifting away to give her space. The black-clad man was where she'd expected. But he was lying there in a thick pool of blood, a dagger buried in his throat.

Ester's stomach churned at the sight and she had to quickly turn away, bringing herself face to face with the captain. How had such a big man got behind her without her noticing? He'd stopped shouting at least.

"My lady." He seemed to struggle with himself for a second. "Were you on deck? Please could you tell me what just happened." His voice sounded strained.

Ester was still reeling from what had just happened. She'd killed people. They weren't the first people she'd killed, but they'd barely been able to fight back. Had they even been what she thought they were? No, that was ridiculous, they'd snuck onto the boat in the middle of the night. And this one made no sense. She'd hit him in the head. How had he ended up with a dagger in his throat?

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"My lady?" The captain reached out and then pulled his hand book before he touched her.

Someone, presumably one of the Adepts, shouted a spell and a moment later the shadows were banished as the deck was bathed in bright light.

"Oh." Ester gave herself a shake. "I'm sorry captain, I was just…" She trailed off, the image of the man's wide, dead eyes coming back to her. "There were men, concealing themselves with some sort of spell, they had climbed onto the boat and tried to attack me."

"They w…" The captain was cut off by shouts from the crew. He glanced at Ester and then ran over to the other end of the deck.

She followed just in time to hear him return to cursing profusely. Despite her best efforts she couldn't see past another crowd of agitated crowd of sailors though.

"What is it? What happened?" Ester craned her neck to see past them.

It took a little while but eventually the captain pushed his way back out. His face even grimmer than before.

"That was Thocero. He was one of the crewman on watch tonight, his throat had been cut and his body pushed into a corner." Ester's stomach clenched. She'd had no idea he'd even been hurt.

"Spirits preserve him. I am sorry, Captain."

"Aye. We get bandits sometimes, in the more isolated stretches of the Karan, but not many that would be stupid enough to try for a boat this size. It doesn't make any sense." He paused and then shouted at one of the sailors, even though they were easily close enough to hear. "Fetch the Lord Ambassador immediately. Sir Jahangir too." He turned back to Ester and moderated his tone with a visible effort. "There must have been others. No one would have tried to board the boat by themselves."

"Yes, there were four I think. At least that's how many I saw. I knocked out the… the dead one there." She still couldn't see how he'd ended up dead though. "Another of them tried to attack me and I burnt him."

"You used fire?!" The captain clamped his lips together for a second before continuing in a calmer tone. "Where is he?"

Ester looked around and then pointed, trying her best not to let her her disquiet at the sight show. She'd faced worse. She'd seen worse. That thought didn't seem to help.

"Great Spirits." The captain stared for a few long seconds at the unrecognisable, twisted, black shape lying in a wider ring of deck, warped and dark from the brief, intense heat. "I…" He seemed lost for words. "What about the other two?"

"One of them was in a rowing boat, I think he was their escape route. The other one dived off the side rather than fight me."

"I'm not bloody surprised." Ester wasn't sure she was meant to have heard the captain mumble that. "So they're on shore?"

"I'm not sure…" She felt her face heat slightly. "At least one of them was a reasonably strong witch. They threw a fireball at me." At the sight of the captain's wince Ester hurried on. "So I dispelled it and hit their boat with lightning. I suppose they might have swum to the shore, but I couldn't see."

"You hit their boat with lightning?"

"Yes, I thought if they were throwing fireballs at me they might set your boat on fire so I wanted to put a stop to it."

"I… see. Well you certainly seem to have done that, my lady." The captain shifted sideways, angling away from her slightly, and ran his hand across his brow. "Thank you for your help tonight. I… I must see to my crew."

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The next hour or so saw chaos on the boat's deck as what felt like every passenger came up to see what the commotion was about, while sailors ran around them. Of course the Ambassador was there too after the captain's summons, moving from person to person for quiet conversations.

Ester quickly retreated to her cabin. Exhaustion was grinding its way through her and she didn't want to face more gawking stares as people heard what had happened. However, when she lay down on the narrow bed she found she couldn't sleep.

She wasn't sure if it was the energy still coursing through her after the fight or the way those bodies kept drifting back into her mind's eye.

Ester couldn't have said how long she lay there in her shift, but she was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of a knock on the door.

With a frustrated growl she sat up, banged her head on the ceiling, and then lay back down again.

"Milady?"

For a moment Ester pondered telling whoever it was to go away. But no, it might be important.

"One minute please!" She hurriedly pulled a dress on over her shift, thankful that she hadn't chosen to bring some of the fancier ones she now owned. Once she'd donned her shoes and thought there was at least a fair chance she was decent she pulled the door open. "Yes?"

The tired-looking, middle aged man bowed low to her, showing the balding top of his head. "Milady, my apologies for disturbing your rest, I have been sent by Lord Hatami, he requests your presence at your convenience."

For a brief, churlish moment Ester considered replying that it would be convenient to speak to him in the morning once she'd had some sleep. But no, that would be foolish. The man was probably almost as tired as she was and it wasn't like she had anything better to do anyway.

"Of course," she resisted the urge to sigh. "Take me to him at once."

It didn't take long for the servant to lead her to the Ambassador's cabin, weaving through the narrow spaces between crates and hammocks containing sleeping sailors. He knocked on a much grander door than Ester's and then waited.

A few seconds later the Ambassador opened it. He looked tired, there were bags under his eyes and his posture was just a bit less upright than when Ester had first met him

"Ah, Lady Mazar. Thank you for coming so quickly, I appreciate it. Do come in." Despite his obvious weariness he still sounded alert.

Ester briefly hesitated. She was being invited into a high ranking lord's room, in the middle of the night, by herself. Then she dismissed the thought. She was a Mage. Those rules didn't apply to her and anyway the Ambassador was an official on Imperial business. It was hardly improper for him to want to speak to her after what had just happened.

"Thank you, my lord." She stepped inside, looking around. His room was much nicer than hers, it took up perhaps half the width of the boat and was several paces long too. As well as his bed it held several chests, a pair of armchairs and a writing desk. She couldn't help the slight pang of jealousy. However, it was hardly surprising that he had such a nice room. He was a count, ranking with the heads of Great Houses, as well as the leader of their delegation.

"Please, sit down Lady Mazar, I shall try to make this quick."

Ester nodded and deposited herself in one of the armchairs. "Thank you, Lord Hatami."

She did her best to fight off her tiredness and sit upright, looking as alert as any apprentice in the Academy, although she wasn't quite sure she pulled it off.

Lord Hatami took the other seat, lowering himself into it rather more gingerly. "Again, my apologies for dragging you out of bed, but I wanted to hear your own account of what happened. The captain told me what you told him, but details are often lost in the retelling and the man was clearly somewhat distressed." He gave her a wry smile. "Perhaps unsurprising in the circumstances."

"You want to know what happened, my lord? Of course." It felt almost strange, having such a powerful man being keen to hear what she said, listening to her with an intent look in his eyes like that. The closest she could think of to it was some of the Inquisitors who'd interrogated her about Duke Marcini, but they hadn't been quite as polite. "Let me gather my thoughts."

Ester took a few seconds to think, organising the events into a proper report, the way she would have at the Academy.

"It started when I was struggling to sleep because of the motion of the boat. I was on the deck, looking out towards the shore…" Ester quickly ran through what had happened, making sure to emphasise key points. As she spoke, Lord Hatami leant forward, nodding and making encouraging noises at all the appropriate moments.

"… and then I headed back to my room." Ester took a deep breath as the words finished spilling out of her.

Lord Hatami didn't say anything at first, seemingly lost in thought, for a few seconds. "That is concerning. Not your actions of course." He gave her a wan smile. "I am very glad we had you on the boat. Now, I do not wish to spread fear among our delegation, so I have simply said that these were foolish bandits who chose the wrong target and ran straight into a Mage. However, I think you deserve to know the truth given you fought them off. I believe these were assassins. Very expensive ones at that."

Ester's eyebrows rose at that. It wasn't a surprise, but it was still disturbing.

"That… makes sense, my lord, but are you sure? Why would someone send assassins here?"

"Am I sure? Well I cannot be entirely certain, of course. However, I have never heard of bandits that use illusions to conceal themselves like that and think they might be able to win a magical duel with a Mage. No," he shook his head. "These were looking for a specific target and you foiled them. As for why, there are many possibilities. Perhaps someone has an enemy among the delegation and thinks they are vulnerable out here."

"You mean like a one of the ganglords? Thucer or someone like him?" That was a frightening idea, that someone would go that far. Of course it could be one of the noble houses too. Ester instinctively shied away from the idea, but Duke Marcini had done far worse…

"Perhaps. Another possibility is that someone wants this delegation to fail."

That made a worrying amount of sense on one level and none at all on another. "Why would the Republic sabotage this when they invited us in the first place?"

Lord Hatami shrugged. "Who can say. I am sure that the Republic has its factions, perhaps one group wants war while another wants peace. Of course it could also have been someone from the Empire who wishes for war with the Republic."

"No," Ester shook her head in denial. "Surely no one of power in the Empire would go against Her Eternal Majesty's word like that?" She hated the fact she had to ask that question rather than making it a statement.

"Every nation has its traitors. Even the Empire." Lord Hatami's lips turned down at the thought. "Regardless, we do not know who sent these men. It is a pity that they are all dead, it would have been useful to have had a prisoner, not that I am cricitising your actions in any way."

"I don't understand what happened though." Ester surprised herself by speaking up, at Lord Hatami's inquisitive look she pressed on. Maybe he'd get it. "The one with the dagger in his throat. I hit him in the head with a block of wood from behind. I don't understand how he ended up with a dagger in his throat. He might have fallen in just the right way I suppose, but it just seems very unlikely.

Lord Hatami leant back and ran his hand through his thinning hair. "With most people I would say they are just being foolish. However, you have more than proven you can keep a level head." Despite everything Ester had to ruthlessly suppress the urge to giggle nervously at that. "Unfortunately it only makes things worse. It may be that our assassin was just very unlucky. However, if you say that is unlikely I will take your word for it my lady. In that case, the possibilities appear to be that either he recovered consciousness and then committed suicide rather than be captured, or someone on this boat was in league with the assassins and made sure he would not have the opportunity to talk. Neither of those fills me with joy."

For a moment he looked so tired that Ester had the mad urge to try to comfort him. "What can we do then?"

"For now, nothing. Except be on our guard. Hopefully you were wrong and the man fell on his own dagger." He sighed and then straightened up. "Now, how are you feeling, my lady? This must have been a difficult evening for you."

Ester felt herself starting to bristle at the concern in his voice, she was as capable as anyone else!

"I am well, my lord. I am just glad that I was able to stop the assassins, whatever their goal."

"Mmm, I do not doubt your courage, Lady Mazar, but I know well enough what it is like to fight for one's life, to kill. These things do not just fade."

With an effort of will Ester made herself relax, he didn't seem to be trying to criticise her. "You have been in battles?"

"Ha," he chuckled, "when I was much younger. It was a long time ago now, but I fought at the Battle of Grathbridge, commanding the 8th Trevayn Horse. I know you are no soldier," Ester felt her irritation raising again at that, "but that does not mean you do not have a warrior's spirit." He laughed again. "It seems you need one with all the trouble you find."

Irritation fled as fast as it had come. Ester felt herself blushing even though he'd barely done more than acknowledge her. Whatever her fantasies, she knew she wasn't a warrior though, not really. She might dream of it, but when she'd had to fight she was terrified.

"Thank you my lord, but you do me too much credit. When I have had to fight I have been so scared I could barely stand at times. I just did what I had to do for the Empire."

Lord Hatami's brown eyes met hers. He didn't laugh or dismiss her. "Of course you were. Everyone is terrified when they face death. I have never been more afraid than when I lined up with my troops at Grathbridge. I barely slept for days afterwards. Great Spirits, I still have nightmares of that battle occasionally. But," his gaze pinned her in place, "what distinguishes the cowards from the heroes, what marks someone like you, my lady, is that they overcome their fear and they do what needs to be done."

"I…" Ester tried to get herself under control. "Thank you, my lord."

"There is nothing to thank me for. I speak only the obvious truth. Now, it is late. Whoever sent these assassins may try again, so please be on your guard and I shall sleep better in the knowledge that we have a powerful Mage on our side."

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