Once back in my quarters, I seethed with anger at her foolishness. But as the trial approached, I found myself growing more desperate. So I summoned Hom and ordered him to send one of his rat-selves to guide the witch.
No doubt it was futile. I did not see how she could even free herself from the silver pins, let alone storm the Plunder Room.
I blew myself up to my favourite fighting size, which was a head taller than Nessa, and made my preparations. First I brushed my long thick black overcoat – something I would not entrust to a servant – and polished its thirteen bone buttons. The sabre I thrust into my belt; my two favourite newly sharpened blades went into the scabbards on my chest. A third dagger I hid in my coat pocket.
After about half an hour the homunculus scurried out of his hole and clambered up onto the chair to face me. He seemed somewhat breathless, and his brow was flushed with excitement.
‘There is news!’ he exclaimed. ‘The purra escaped and then breached the defences of the Plunder Room. One of the Triumvirate is dead!’
I looked at Hom in astonishment. How had she managed to do such a thing? ‘Where is the witch now?’ I demanded.
‘Gone, master. The murderess fled Valkarky and is heading south. A large band of Oussa has been sent after her with orders to catch her quickly but kill her slowly.’
I was filled with anger. No doubt she had always planned to make her escape. She had used me. I had been a fool to trust her. And why had she not taken the head of the horned god with her? She had claimed it was important to her. No doubt she had lied about that too.
It was time to go and wake up Nessa and her sisters. In less than an hour we had to face the teeth and claws of the Haggenbrood.
As I stepped into the corridor between the two rooms, I suddenly sensed danger and reached for my sabre.
‘Sheathe your blade, mage,’ said a voice that I recognized. ‘Save it for the arena!’
The witch assassin stepped out of the shadows and smiled widely at me, showing her full set of pointed teeth. She was wearing leather straps which crisscrossed her body, and in the attached scabbards she carried her blades. ‘Where is the leather sack?’ she demanded.
‘It is safe,’ I told her.
‘Safe?! Nothing is safe in this city. I opened your most secure vault with ease and took what was mine. What I have done, others can emulate. I have human enemies – witches and mages who serve the Fiend. It is only a matter of time before they follow me here!’
‘Two witches have been here already. They had the sack in their possession when I encountered them. I killed the live one and chopped the dead witch into six pieces. She is somewhat inconvenienced and poses no threat.’
‘Then you have done well, mage. But there will be others. They will never stop. Show me the sack.’
I led her back into the room and handed her the leather bag. She quickly opened it, peered inside and sniffed three times. She did not draw forth the god’s head.
‘Now leave me alone for a few moments. I need to hide this from prying eyes.’
Her words offended me. Had we not made a trade that meant we were allies? I pushed the affront to the back of my mind. The room was sparsely furnished with just a couch, two chairs and a table. There was nowhere the sack could be hidden unless she used magic. I did as she requested and returned five minutes later.
‘Try and find it,’ she said softly.
I tried briefly but without success, using a little of my magic. That did not mean that, given enough time, I could not employ more and discover its whereabouts. But it was well-hidden by her powerful magic. I was impressed.
‘It would not be found easily,’ I admitted. ‘I did not expect to see you again and thought you had deceived me. Reports say that you have escaped the city and are being pursued by the Oussa.’
‘We have a trade. Like you, I always keep my word. I promised to aid you in the arena and, yes, I will fight alongside you. It was easy to lay a false trail. And now to business – when do we face the Haggenbrood?’
‘Within the hour. We need to tell the eldest of the three sisters that you will be replacing her.’
‘Yes, I would like to talk to all three girls – we are humans and alien to this city. I would like to reassure them that all will be well, so I must speak to them alone.’
‘If you wish. It is customary to keep one’s purrai in separate rooms but as a special concession, because of the danger we will soon face, I have allowed them to be together. Come. I will take you to them.’
NESSA
I HAD BEEN doing my best to console Susan and Bryony, but they were scared and tearful. As a result it was a long time before I could bring myself to tell them something of what they faced in the arena. I felt like crying too, but what good would that do? So I bit my bottom lip hard to stop it from trembling and said what had to be said.
‘Once there, we are to be bound to stakes,’ I began. It was better to forewarn them, so that they could prepare themselves.
‘What did you say? We are going to be tied to stakes?’ Susan said, her pretty face twisting in alarm. ‘And watched by an audience of those beasts?’
I nodded. ‘It is the way things are done here. It would be a good idea to keep your eyes tight closed so you don’t have to see what happens. But it won’t be for long – Slither will slay his enemies quickly. You’ve seen how he fights. Then it will be over and you’ll be cut free. Soon we’ll be on our way to our aunt and uncle’s and all will be well. This will just seem like a very bad dream.’
‘All won’t be well if you can’t stay with us, Nessa,’ Bryony said, her voice wobbly with emotion.
‘We can only hope that one day I’ll be free and able to return to you,’ I told them, doing my best to sound confident. ‘Somehow I’ll find a way to escape so that we can be together again, don’t you fear.’
For all my brave words, it seemed likely that we’d all be dead very soon. Even if by some miracle we survived the arena, there would be no safe haven in our aunt and uncle’s house for me. The beast would sell me in the slave market. That’s if he didn’t kill me himself first. I’d seen the way he looked at all three of us. He was finding it increasingly difficult not to sink his teeth into our throats.
I heard footsteps and we all turned towards the door. In walked Slither, but he was not alone. To my astonishment he was accompanied by a human; a tall, fierce woman was by his side. Her body was crisscrossed with leather straps holding sheathed blades, and her skirt was divided and strapped to her thighs. Was this another of the fierce slaves that we’d encountered in the tower? What was she doing here? Why had Slither allowed her to enter his quarters? I wondered.