Only Villains Do That

We had to pass through a cell block to get where we were going, which meant sticking to the center of the path out of reach of the arms extended through the bars at us. Those cells were overcrowded to an extent that would’ve resulted in human rights complaints on Earth. Well…parts of Earth. All these men had been crammed in there like livestock and while I could understand their cage-rattling fury at it, they helpfully went out of their way to remind me that I had good reason to lack sympathy for these individuals in particular.

Oh, they recognized me, all right. Lord Seiji was a distinctive figure among the population of Dount, and at least some of these assholes had been diligently trying to kill me last night. At least a handful had apparently thought they’d succeeded. I got even more catcalls than Aster, who was the target of no end of invective simply for being a woman in view of this bunch of thugs. I glanced at her a couple of times, but her expression was just wry.

No matter how many times I was reminded, it always came as something of a shock, just how used to depravity and horror the Dountol were. Especially the women. It occurred to me, now, that the only ones I’d seen actually scared had been guards or gangsters—men accustomed to having at least a measure of power over others. Even the Alley Cats being faced down by Gray’s men had just seemed angry and resigned.

I considered dissuading the men from approaching the bars with a well-placed Windburst or two, but thought better of it. I wasn’t sure how much Captain Norovena knew, but showing off Blessings in front of him probably wasn’t a great idea. Even if he already knew everything, I doubted he’d appreciate me making a mess of his cell block.

Still, that did remind me of something.

“Were you able to arrest any of the Blessed working for Lady Gray?” I asked Norovena as we finally turned a corner onto another hall not lined with open cells. It wasn’t significantly less loud, what with the echoes, but at least we didn’t have to see the bastards as we passed. “I ran into several last night.”

“It was the King’s Guild who did the initial wave of arrests, and they definitely kept custody of any Blessed prisoners. The Guild has facilities and personnel to contain them, which I do not. I have no authority over the Guild; they were courteous enough to notify me that there are Blessed prisoners, which frankly was more than I expected.”

I nodded, thinking ahead. What I needed to find out was what happened to that guy who could cast Null. If he was going to be rambling around my island, I wanted a firm handle on his whereabouts. The trick was in getting this information without betraying why I wanted it. Norovena had just revealed some hidden depths, but rather than deepening trust between us it had made me even more wary of letting him learn too much. Which was particularly dicey as I didn’t even know how much he knew.

Also, apparently he didn’t even have the particulars, which was…problematic. How was I going to get intel out of the King’s Guild? Aster was a pretty low-ranking member, Rhydion wanted something from me but probably didn’t like me all that much, and…that was the entire extent of my contacts there.

My attention was brought back to the present by our arrival. We weren’t that far from the cell block and separated only by distance, not intervening doors, so it remained clamorous enough that Norovena still had to raise his voice, if not as much.

“This is the room,” he stated, nodding at the prison guard standing at attention next to the door. The man saluted without otherwise moving. “I apologize, Lord Seiji, but today of all days I’m not at liberty to attend you in person for the rest of this.”

“I can imagine. No worries, Captain, I believe I can handle this part alone.”

“I think it will go better if you do,” he agreed. “Assuming he agrees to cooperate with you, I can’t just release him into your custody with no more fanfare than that, you understand.”

“Of course, there’s a procedure,” I nodded. “How would you like me to handle this?”

“Unless there’s some further crisis outside the gates, I intend to be here in the Kingsguard headquarters for the immediate future. I’ll send a man to escort you to me when you’re done. If I’m not still in the headquarters, I will be back as soon as I am able. Rest assured I’ll take care of this as soon as possible in any event, my lord; getting this matter settled is a high priority. I will of course leave the disposition of your followers to you, Lord Seiji. I see no harm in them joining you in there, if you feel they will be of use, but if you prefer to leave them on watch in the hall they should be fine. If my opinion is welcome, however, Miss Aster is quite intimidating for someone so pretty.” He gave her a smile which she did not reciprocate. “A show of force never goes amiss with men like that.”

“Mmm…perhaps. On the other hand, you and I have both used the stick liberally since last night. Let’s try the carrot, instead.”

Norovena blinked. “The…carrot?”

Oh, right. Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t seen any of those in Dlemathlys. “It’s…carrots are a sweet root vegetable. Good for the eyesight. It’s a metaphor, Captain, about methods of motivation. Punishment and reward.”

“Ah.” He nodded, his expression clearing. “Well, in the end, it was you who originally got him to change sides mid-battle, my lord. In this case I think it best to trust your judgment. With that, I must beg your leave.”

“Of course, Captain.”

He folded down his hands at me, nodded once more to the door guard, then turned and strode back down the hall toward the cell block.

“All right, ladie—ah, lady and lad,” I said while the guard turned and unlocked the door. “Join me, if you would.”

“Sure y’don’t want me t’mind th’door, me lord?” Nazralind suggested.

What I didn’t want was her standing around unsupervised; I had a bad feeling leaving her outside the warden’s office had already pushed our luck. My first meeting with Nazralind had involved her saving my ass, which I was starting to realize may have left me with an exaggerated perception of her competence. It was worth remembering that she was only here because she and her gang had tried to do more or less what I was doing, failed spectacularly, and gotten chased halfway across the island. Her antics since we’d entered the city had begun to make me worry about what the rest of those girls were up to outside. Hopefully Goose would keep them under a semblance of control…

“I’m sure this gentleman is perfectly able to do his job without your help, Gilden,” I said out loud.

“It’s Gulder, me lord.”

“That’s what I said. C’mon.”

Aster was looking increasingly peeved by our new recruit; I was really going to have to explain everything to her as quickly as could be arranged. At least the two of them followed me into the room without further commentary.

It was no surprise that the “interrogation room” of a medieval prison looked nothing like the interview rooms I’d seen on police dramas. Never having been arrested (in Japan), I didn’t even know how accurate those depictions were, but this… It was just a plain brick room, no table or chairs or anything. There were multiple hooks bolted into the walls at intervals, which I could only discern were for chains to be attached to because two were currently in use, keeping Lamm affixed to the wall. They had generously left him enough room to stand at ease rather than hanging from his wrists or something, but he clearly couldn’t take more than a step away from the far wall. It didn’t look like he’d even be able to sit down.

“The hell is this for?” I demanded as the guard outside shut the door behind us. “What do they think you’re going to do, run out there to your ex-partners and get shanked?”

“I see you haven’t spent much time on the wrong end of the guards’ favor, Lord Seiji,” Lamm answered wryly. “And here I was just thinking what a good sign it was that I was being treated so gently.”

“This is just fucking… Shit, we can’t let him loose, can we?”

“I suspect the Captain and the Warden wouldn’t appreciate that,” Aster agreed. “It’s kind of moot, since we don’t have the keys.”

“I appreciate the thought, anyway,” said Lamm. “Nice to see you again, my lord. You’re not what I expected when they brought me in for another round.”

“I hope you haven’t been handled too roughly.”

He shrugged, causing a rattle of chains. “Helps a lot that I showed up voluntarily and it seems my information’s been useful to the cause. Also, and I’ll admit this surprised me a bit, invoking your name seemed to help. With the rank and file, that is. Made that Captain pretty keenly interested in me, too, but not as…warmly. I gather his affection isn’t as easily bought,” he added with a smirk.

That sounded about right. My earlier caution was validated: just because Norovena found me worth cooperating with didn’t mean he wasn’t going to sniff around after my secrets for his own purposes. Fortunately, this guy didn’t know anything about me that’d be worth telling him.

“I have a question for you, Lamm,” I said.

He grinned, tugging idly at his chains. “A question? Well, now. That’ll be a marked departure from how I’ve spent the day so far.”

I looked back at the door. The guard was standing right outside… But the door was decently thick, and it muffled the prison noise even better than the warden’s office had. So long as we didn’t raise our voices excessively, this should provide at least a bit of privacy.

“What made you decide to take my advice and switch sides?” I asked.

Lamm’s grin faded. After a second, he looked away from my eyes, jaw working. “Yeah, well. I… You’re probably gonna laugh.”

“If I find whatever you say next funny, I’ll probably be too surprised to laugh.”

“Hn. Yeah, I guess I could see that.” Suddenly he looked right back at me, his expression steady. “You showed me mercy, Lord Seiji. And that made me really stop and think.”

“I can believe you’re not accustomed to seeing mercy.”

“It wasn’t that.” He shook his head. “I’ve seen it, all right. And usually, seen it immediately punished. That’s the law of the Gutters; only the weak are soft. Someone who gives shit away for nothing is someone who’s about to lose everything they have. Strength is the only thing that matters—that’s the rule Lady Gray lives by, and you better believed she enforced it. The thing is, most of the time she didn’t even have to. It’s just life. There are the people who have power, and use it against others. Then there are the people who try to be…charitable, and whatnot. They’re the ones who get stepped on by the strong. Try to help a beaten enemy, and they’ll just stab you the first chance they get.”

He paused. I waited.

“But you set up that scheme in Cat Alley,” Lamm continued finally, now frowning at me with a faintly quizzical expression as if he couldn’t figure me out. “And then the strategy you used against Lady Gray last night. Not just the pre-laid plan, but what you adapted on the fly that beat her at her own game. You’re definitely not stupid. And…” He finally broke eye contact, flinching at a memory. “You definitely aren’t soft.”

I could recall the sound of Lamm screaming, the sight of the flames consuming him. How little it had moved me.

“No,” I said quietly, “I’m really not.” Not anymore.

“Yeah… It made me think.” He raised his gaze to meet mine again. “Here’s a man who’s powerful. More powerful than Lady Gray, apparently, and also no fool. And you offered mercy. Look, I’m not stupid either, I can see how much my intel has helped your side in this. I know there was strategy in your decision. But I also know that wasn’t all it was; you would’ve taken me to the guards yourself in that case. That’s what I would’ve done. Or Lady Gray. You could have done that, or killed me, and either would’ve been the smarter thing as I understood it. But you decided to do something…kind.”

He winced again, as if expecting to be punished just for using that word. I simply regarded him in continued silence.

“It made me think,” he repeated. “If there’s someone who’s powerful enough that he can afford to be merciful, and decides to do it… Well. Maybe there might be a future with you in charge. That’s the one thing Lady Gray can’t offer, you know. Everything under her is temporary. Her top people have power and make good money, along with everything that comes with it, but it never lasts. As soon as they’re not useful anymore, they’re gone. As soon as they start to look like they even might be successful enough to challenge her… Gone. I never really thought it was an option before, but suddenly… I wanna have a future.”

I glanced at Aster, and caught her giving me a subdued but proud smile. Yeah, it always came back to that, didn’t it? Whenever you can, be kind. Apparently compassion had strategic uses as well as helping to keep the soul relatively intact. Almost as if humans were social animals or something. Who knew?

Slowly, I nodded. “I’m gonna level with you, Lamm. I’m none too sure how much of a future there is for any of us.”

“Well, shit, I know that,” he said, grinning again. “Any fucking day there might be a plague or a bad harvest or a shardhail storm. If you’ve got enemies, eventually one’ll get lucky, or just be better than you. Or, hell, you could slip in a pile of dhawl shit and break your neck on the pavement. I knew a guy who went out like that. Nobody can offer forever, and I’d be seriously rethinking this if you’d tried. But… What do you think, Lord Seiji? Do you think things can be just a little bit less shitty until whatever inevitable thing happens?”

What in the unholy fuck was a shardhail storm? Damn it, Ephemera, why was there always some fresh horror?

Still, I had to laugh. “Well, damn. Usually I have to explain that part, Lamm; you’re the first one to beat me to it. Yes, that is the deal. I’m gonna keep picking fights with bigger and bigger assholes until there are either no assholes left or I lose one, and I think we both know which’ll happen first. But until then, what I offer the people who’ll stand with me is a place in an organization where we show some goddamn fucking decency to each other, and get a chance to hit back at those who’ve wronged us. It’s not much, but this is Ephemera. I really don’t think anybody on this world is going to get anything better than that.”

“Yeah…yeah, I think you’re right,” he agreed.

“So!” I said more briskly. “Here’s the situation, Lamm. Captain Norovena appreciates your assistance and is inclined to keep you safe and provided for in exchange for it.”

He nodded warily. “But?”

“But, this operation has drawn in some of the smaller Clans, who are sticking their stupid fingers into everything and trying to play politics. Some of them seem to want to make a big, messy example out of you.”

Lamm looked resigned. “Yeah, that sounds like Clan Aelthwyn all right.”

“It’s actually not them,” I said. “I don’t think the Archlord even knows about you.”

“What would be the point of that?” Aster demanded. “I mean, the Archlord is a sadist and hates lowborn, everybody knows that. But smaller Clans are usually more careful about dealing with commoners. What would they gain by turning on somebody who took a risk to take their side?”

“They’re nobles, they are,” said Nazralind in her obviously fake rasp. “There ain’t necessarily reasons, or at least not good ‘uns. It’s just fer his Lordship’s attention.”

“They want senpai to notice them,” I explained.

Lamm’s eyebrows drew together. “Who?”

“Never mind. The point is, depending on how this pans out, you might end up safe, or possibly sent to the gallows for no particular reason. Norovena would rather you stay alive and able to continue offering him intelligence.”

“So he wants me to join you,” Lamm finished.

“You’re impressively quick on the uptake.”

He frowned, lowered his eyes, then shook his head before meeting my gaze again. “Norovena already told me about this.”

I felt a prickle on the back of my neck. “Oh?”

Lamm’s shoulders shifted as he drew in a breath. “He offered me a reward to join up with you, and keep him…appraised of anything interesting you did or said.”

“That shifty son of a bitch,” Aster hissed.

“No…” I heaved a sigh. “No, let’s not get offended, people. That’s pretty much par for the course. Norovena is an ally of convenience, not our friend. And this is a pretty smart thing to do in his position. No need to take it personally. But you told me instead of going along with it,” I added, studying Lamm’s eyes.

He nodded once. “Same question, same answer. A Kingsguard captain knows all about bribes, but he doesn’t have a future to offer me, either. On the other hand, he’s accidentally given me something I can use to increase my value to you, Lord Seiji. Long as you’ve got me around, you can use me to feed him whatever information you want him to know, and nothing else.”

“I see,” I mused. Of course, that left the obvious question: could I trust him? The answer to that was an unequivocal “fuck no,” preceded by derisive laughter. Still… This, I figured, was enough to buy Lamm the opportunity to earn trust. And in the meantime, I could keep a close eye on him, maintain tight control over what information he passed along. Yeah, this would work.

Still. I’d been planning, when I stepped into this room, to take the opportunity of this moment of privacy to bring Aster up to speed on who Nazralind was, as well as inform Lamm of the Dark Lord angle. But considering Norovena had arranged it specifically such that I couldn’t just walk out of here with him, and would have to leave Lamm in his custody a while longer… Oh, yeah, now I could see why he had set it up that way. He’d be able to get his first report from his double agent on whatever I’d said in this meeting before handing the man off to me.

This was definitely not the moment for any big, dangerous revelations.

“Then it seems we have an arrangement.” I smiled, and Lamm immediately looked wary, for which I couldn’t blame him. “Welcome to the team.”

Norovena was as good as his word, which I suspected he scrupulously would be under any circumstance in which I could check. He’d sent a second guard to stand outside the interrogation room door; as soon as I knocked to be let out, the man escorted us back through the prison and then the barracks to the Captain.

He was not in his office, but in the busy front area of the Kingsguard headquarters from which he could direct traffic. And there was still a great deal of that; with the operation against Lady Gray theoretically still ongoing and the brutal persecution of the Gutters ongoing very much in actuality, harried-looking soldiers, clerks, bureaucrats, and the odd priest or noble were rushing hither and yon through the corridors, many clearly demanding a slice of the Captain’s time.

I shot a warning look back at my two companions as we approached him. Aster’s expression was politely blank. I wasn’t really worried about her; she’d grown up knowing the importance of minding her manners around people of higher rank, even and in fact especially those who were actively plotting to do her harm. Nazralind was another matter. She had apparently grown up never having to mind her manners around anyone, and I didn’t yet have a handle on how much discretion hard living had taught her since then. I had, however, noticed that she shared at least some of my own difficulty in keeping a shut mouth. I was a little concerned she might express displeasure at the Captain’s scheming right to his face.

Catching my eye, she winked at me over her big fake beard. That…wasn’t exactly ideal, but as reassurance went… Well, it would have to do.

“Good, then get them back here,” Norovena was curtly ordering a man in Kingsguard armor. “The rest aren’t to let up until we are so ordered by the Clans, but right now I need that squad reinforcing the prison. Make sure they’re outfitted with crossbows before they report to the Warden.”

“Sir!” The man saluted and dashed off.

Spotting me, Norovena turned and immediately strode over, to the visible disappointment of two more men approaching him, but apparently they didn’t think themselves important enough to press, simply hovering about in the near distance and waiting for an opportunity.

“Ah, Lord Seiji. How did it go?”

“He took some persuading,” I said, putting on a self-satisfied little smile. “Poor chap seems to’ve had a rather hard day. I believe I have him on board, however. It’s all about making the most…palatable offer.”

“Yes, that’s always the way with men like that,” he agreed, matching my smile perfectly, the scheming bastard. “Splendid news, my lord. If you will kindly remain in the vicinity, I’ll finalize the arrangements as quickly as possible. Best we get this matter squared away before it becomes more complicated.”

“Very good, Captain. Just point me to a place to stand that’s out of the way.”

“I’ll be impressed if you can find one,” he grimaced, flicking a look around the busy front hall of the barracks. “Never fear, my lord, it’s for common soldiers to get out of your way, not the other way round.”

I spotted a well-dressed blond man in nearby consultation with a priest and some kind of clerk; the highborn glanced up at Norovena’s last comment and smirked before returning his attention to his own conversation.

Christ, I was learning to hate nobles. Nazralind and her girls were cool, but I urgently wanted to line up the rest of them end-to-end across the island and then go down the row smacking them each in the face with a shovel.

“Captain!” A man I recognized dashed up, wearing a worried frown. This was the fellow who’d arrested me back when Yoshi’s party had picked a fight in the street. Lieutenant something-or-other. I knew he was Blessed with Magic; he’d cast Windburst at Flaethwyn, which had been immensely satisfying to see. “Sorry, sir, but you said to report if… Well, there’s another one.”

“Oh, Goddess send me patience,” Norovena growled. “Of all the bloody… Which station was it this time?”

“Here, sir, at headquarters.”

“What? Here? Tell me you’re joking.”

“Sir, it’s me, Lieutenant Vanori,” he replied grimly. “The man you’re always insisting has no sense of humor.”

“Hell’s fucking revels, I’ll take that over whoever’s sick sense of humor this is.” Norovena rubbed at his forehead, momentarily obscuring his scowl, and I was struck by the change in his demeanor. He was a tightly controlled man usually; even his anger was directed and precise, as when he’d intervened with his men who’d tried to assault that girl earlier. This was the most openly disturbed I’d ever seen him.

I cleared my throat. “I can see you’re having an even busier day than expected, Captain. We’ll get out of your hair.”

“Wait.” He turned to me with an intent frown. “I think… Lord Seiji, this may be a matter relevant to you specifically. I believe you have an established fondness for the Gutter Rats?”

That cold, hard weight suddenly reappeared in my gut, colder and harder than ever. Suddenly brimming with sick dread in addition to the guilt over what I’d already set in motion in this city. I did not know what was coming, but it was not going to be good.

I made my expression noncommittal, regardless, forcing my mind to focus logically. Instinct prompted me to dissemble, especially given what I’d recently learned about Norovena’s plan to put a spy in my camp, but it would be a mistake to play too innocent. Letting me bring Rats through the gates was the lion’s share of what I’d bribed his men for; of course he’d already know about it.

“I have been specifically generous to a few particular Rats who I’ve used to gather information,” I said, shrugging. “That’s just sound policy for informants, isn’t it? Can’t say I have much of an opinion about the breed in general.”

“Makes sense, my lord. Still, considering… If you’ll indulge me a moment longer, I think this may be something you should see. Vanori, where is it?”

“It was left in front of the service door on the south side, sir. We moved it off the door, obviously, but I left a man keeping an eye on it out there. It’s a kicked hive in here today and I don’t know of a good place to put such a thing at the moment.”

“Good thinking, Lieutenant. My lord, if you would?”

“Lead on,” I said with a deliberately languid gesture, concealing my unease with the skill granted by a lot of recent practice.

He guided us through the halls with notably more urgency than before, which did not make me any less nervous about whatever we were headed toward. It did at least mean there was less time to simmer in the anticipation. In just a few minutes, we reached what I gathered must be a less-used side door, to judge by the relative lack of traffic in this part of the fortress. Norovena yanked it open and strode out, leaving us to follow.

Beyond was an exterior alley behind the guard headquarters. This door opened next to a dead end where the Kingsguard’s complex was built right into the city’s exterior wall; in the other direction the short alleyway led to a small courtyard which even from here I could see was encircled by another wall with a gate leading to the street outside. It would be pretty difficult for anyone unauthorized to get into this space at all, much less carrying…

I heard Aster draw in a sharp breath with a painful-sounding hiss, followed by a half-strangled noise from Nazralind as she forgot to put on her fake voice while trying to repress what sounded like a mingled retch and sob.

Near at hand, a particularly grim-faced Kingsguard was standing over the body.

It was all too familiar—not individually, but the general aspect. Painfully thin, wearing too-loose pants held up by a knotted cord and a too-tight shirt about to be outgrown, both threadbare and dirty. Both stained with blood from the deep wound in the chest. This one was… Bigger than Benit, a year or two older, maybe. Not as big as Gilder.

It was a Gutter Rat. A dead child. A murdered child.

“Do you recognize him, Lord Seiji?” Norovena asked quietly.

I shook my head, for once bereft of words. The Captain let out an angry sigh.

“This is the fifth one today.”

I managed, barely, not to double over. It sure felt like he’d just kicked me in the gut.

“One at each of the wall gatehouses, and now this,” Norovena continued, his face set in a darker glower than I’d ever seen on him. “Someone with exceptional mobility, an unparalleled gift of stealth, and not even the dimmest little spark of humanity has decided to send us a message.”

I didn’t even realize how close I was to melting down completely until it all went away. The Wisdom perk hit me like a falling piano, crushing down emotion and leaving me adrift above it, my perspective wrapped in ice. From within that stark observatory of the mind, I could see it all so clearly.

I had already determined that Captain Norovena’s assessment of Lady Gray was wrong. She wouldn’t flee the city; after what we’d done to her, she would seek revenge above all else, even her own survival. Now, I understood the misconception under which I had been operating. She wouldn’t try to kill me. Not yet.

Not when she knew how to hurt me.