Chapter 9

I stood by the window, watching as the wretches on the street below dragged themselves to wherever they were going. It was a dull picture, but I found it fascinating. So many people, doing so many pointless things all day long. I’d been watching, thinking about what drove them to do as they did, what justified their struggle ...

I remembered one of my first memories. I must have been four of five, inside the cell, it being all my world. I was afraid of something, maybe insects, maybe the darkness of my bedroom, maybe something else. Hopelessness and Cat’s comforting voice keeping my sanity together are the two things that stand out most when I think of the memory. I believe that was when I realized I didn’t like my life as it was, when I decided to change my life.

The cell meant hopelessness, lack of power, being subject to another’s will. I’d hated those things, and wanted to leave them behind by becoming free. Now, looking at the peasants drudging in these streets, I doubted the reality of freedom was as enjoyable as the idea. These freemen were pathetic. They flinched away from the occasional marching Guardsmen like they were flies avoiding bats. Their backs were bent, their faces pocked. The women looked broken, everything on them sagging. Only children looked ahead or above or ran, everyone else walked at a brisk pace, eyes fixed on the ground.

This was Karanas, the jewel of the high seas. The centre of trade between four continents. Its Prince made the Ashkan emperor appear a beggar, its Guardians were unmatched in sorcery. Its Eight Families were the greatest trading houses of the world, each Lord-Merchant commanding a fleet larger than any any king or queen had ever dreamt of. Yet the free men and women on its streets lived worse than slaves. More than a hundred thousand of them, by some accounts at least, couldn’t even afford to live on land. It was a disgrace.

The only reason the Prince and his Lord-Merchants were so rich were these people. And these people must’ve known that. Without their work, the city would have no industry. The famous shipwrights would produce nothing, the weaver’s shops would close their doors, the ten thousand blacksmiths would cease arming armies on three continents. Without the industry the city would have no gold. Without gold the Prince and his nobility would starve alongside the peasants.

The only possible explanation was profound stupidity or ... maybe these people liked being poor?

It didn’t matter why the peasants lived as they did. I knew I wasn’t going to be carrying goods on my back anytime soon. In my – almost – two decades of life, I’d gotten used to certain luxuries, such as eating when I desired or wearing clean clothes. I was never going to work; I was never going to grovel before a Guardsman or a lord or a prince. And most certainly, no one was going to beat me half to death without any apparent cause – as one rough-faced giant of a man had done to a smaller fellow just moments ago. No, until now, I’d been a slave to circumstance, but I was going to change that.

My plan to punish those complicit in my imprisonment – Qoura, her apprentice, the Prince, and probably the other Guardians – could be ... modified. The murdering part didn’t need to be changed, but the part afterwards, where I’d wander around aimlessly not knowing what to do with my life, would be improved significantly.

With the Prince dead, there would be need for a replacement.

And my decision most certainly didn’t have any thing to do with my observation that women – at least the two I knew – seemed to find power attractive. Nothing at all.

Hanna had come up with a way to help me on my plan, and she’d needed to return to Braka and figure out how to make it work. For some reason too arcane for me to understand, she’d taken Cat with her. Now the sun was slowly disappearing beneath the two-story buildings to the other side of the street, and I was worried they would never return.

I’d never liked being too far from Cathy. Whenever she’d left the chambers of my prison I’d gotten anxious, my mind going to places where logic said it shouldn’t go, my emotions running rampant despite all my efforts at remaining calm. I liked it even less now. All morning and for most of the afternoon, a few suspicions had been filling my brain; interrupting my more coherent thoughts. We were in the middle of the city, if they wanted to, the two women could go the Curia and tell her my location. In fact, Cat had seemed awfully eager to go with Hanna despite all their disagreements. Maybe they believed themselves safe from my power when they were far away, perhaps Cat regretted helping me and hoped to gain a pardon through betrayal. Maybe Curia and her soldiers were already coming for me.

I’d be captured. Qoura would be angry that I’d tired to flee, she’d punish me somehow, and then another, safer prison would be my fate for the rest of my life, however long it may be. What if I was immortal? Sorceresses lived longer than normal people, and the more powerful they were, the closer to immortal they became. I could be looking at imprisonment for the length of my life, or Qoura’s life were she to die sooner than me. It didn’t matter that Cat would never betray me, it didn’t matter that Hanna had no way to know the reach of my power. I was jumping at the shadows in my thoughts, and nothing could calm me.

Except, of course, having power over the two would-be betrayers. It finally occurred to me after the sun had set that it was possible my power could reach over distances a lot longer than I’d assumed. I knew Cat’s light, and Hanna’s as well.

It was a matter of minutes for me to open my third eye once I made the decision. Here, in the middle of the city, with so many people around, the dreamscape’s twisted reality was awash with the light of a thousand stars. I could focus on each individual spark, but most were strangers and looked identical to the rest. Their lives had a seductive allure, calling to something within me. Slowly, I willed myself away from the attractions and focused on finding my quarry. I searched for Hanna’s soul – in case my searching proved to be somehow fatal, I didn’t want anything bad happening to Cat – and found it easily. She was close to Cat, and moving towards me. I could find no sign of soldiers near them. They were alone, still loyal.

My experiment confirmed something I’d been wondering about. The lights representing people were identical for most purposes. The only way for me to find and affect particular individuals was to know their ... faces ... no ... their presence in the real world, or to know where their bodies were. I needed to know a stranger’s exact location to kill her.

I observed the two familiar lights creeping closer until they were on the same narrow street as the inn, and then snapped out of the trance. Opening my eyes and walking to the window.

Two figures, clutching each other, were moving towards the inn’s entrance. Despite their concealed faces, I recognized the clothing.

I was sitting standing by the window when they entered the room, both looking tired. Cat was hunched over, sweat glistening on her face. Hanna showed no physical signs of exhaustion, but she went for her bed as soon as her cloak was off. The smell of sweat started permeating throughout the room.

“You two need to wash.”

Catherine looked at Hanna, then, she turned around and left, slamming the door behind her. Hanna didn’t react. There was no love lost between these two. Why had Cat been so eager to go with her?

“Do you know who rules Karanas?” Hanna asked. The question surprised me. I’d not thought it possible she saw me as stupid.

“Mahmut is the prince of the city right now.” Anger tinted my voice involuntarily.

She shook her head. “Some people think that, yes. Others, they consider Qoura, or one of the other Guardians, the ruler of the city. Neither side is wrong. The Prince has all the gold, and his gold gives him the Guard. Qoura is a sorceress, perhaps the greatest sorcerer to ever live, her power is the terror of her name.”

Ah, she didn’t think I was stupid. I just mistook a rhetorical question for a literal one. A pretty stupid move, all things considered.

Hanna continued, “There is a third person, none see him as the ruler of Karanas. All would agree though, that he rules Braka. The king of thugs, murderers, assassins, whores, and everyone else the Prince doesn’t command. He has no sorcery, but people still fear his name. Five dozen of the city Guard have been killed by his men in the last two days.”

Interesting information to have, but I couldn’t see her point. I shrugged, motioning her to go on with my eyes.

“He’s terrifying, perhaps the third most powerful person man in the city. The only reason anyone obeys him is that to do otherwise leads to a knife in your throat.” She laid back on the bed, her posture smug. “You can pay an exorbitant amount of money to sleep with one of Yayim’s special whores. They live in his compound, his pretties, given as gifts to loyal retainers and sometimes sold to men with enough money. It’s not unusual for young men of the Families to hire one for the day.”

She smirked. “Kill Yayim and show everyone that your magic is as scary as his knives. With a little bit of smart manoeuvring, you can subjugate his entire organization in one stroke.”

I protested, “You admit that he is, at best, the third powerful man in this city. How would it help me achieve my goal to replace the man? It would only paint a target on my back and show everyone wanting me dead where I am. I’d told you what I need, and it involves me knowing where the sorceresses are, not them knowing my location.” I tried to keep my tone calm, her theatrics were irritating.

“This morning, Guardsmen found the ship we left last night and searched it from top to bottom.”

I’d commanded the ship to stand down before leaving it, the Guard shouldn’t have had any reason to pay it an attention.

She continued, “They may not know where you are right now, but you leave a trail a blind man can follow. Consider. The third most powerful man in the city has contacts within the court you do not.” Her point was a fair one.

“Can you deal with the thugs guarding Yayim and then kill him?” she asked.

I didn’t know the answer to that, a shrug was all I could give.

She didn’t say anything else, so I decided to find out if there was another one of those spirit things like the ship somewhere nearby, hopefully, one that could move.

I closed my eyes, controlled my breathing, and opened my third eye for the second time that night. A door opened and Cat spoke moments before the transition, but I never heard the words. Everything was turning black and world ceased to exist.