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Until now.

Izzy could be someone like that as well.

If she wanted to.

This was an important point to consider. There was a chance that she would not accept this. I didn’t want to consider it. But she was stubborn and hard-headed, part of what made her a good bounty hunter. The refusal to see reason, to consider risks. She would rush in and ask questions later.

I feared that this could bring danger to her.

The women in my life had all come to bad ends.

I could not let anything happen to Izzy.

I sent out a crow to watch out for her, to be my eyes and report back. She would not like this and I instructed the crow to keep out of sight at all times. Only to report back if there was a sign of imminent danger.

I needed to keep her safe.

Chapter 7

Izzy

Costello insists on coming with me to the Citadel.

He says he has “some business” there, but I strongly suspect he is only coming as some kind of protection. He knows I want to poke around in Council affairs and this worries him. He told me that he was beginning to think my father’s death was part of a much larger, more complicated puzzle involving politics at a higher level. He knows better than to try to warn me off, which is why he has come along for the ride.

The Citadel is situated in the highest part of the capital, a fortress that once housed the supreme leaders of the land. It is now home to the Council.

But the Citadel is filled with all sorts of people and creatures, as it is the seat of power, there are always ploys and plans afoot for some to increase their position and strengthen their hand, to plot against their enemies or seek alliances with others. My father hated coming here, saying it was a nest of vipers.

I remembered my first visit at the age of ten, how I was overwhelmed by the large numbers of people in the street, the noise that seemed to come from everywhere. Cars and trucks were prohibited from entering the Citadel and these were parked outside in the streets of the Capital. Stone steps and thick walls separated the two and it felt like entering another time and place. Women with heavily painted faces and exotic dresses peered from windows and doorways, shadowy figures whispered from alleys about new drugs and guesthouses that would make all our dreams come true.

Like my father, Costello hurried past all of these to get to our lodgings, two rooms at an inn that my father had liked because he knew the owner. It was owned by a retired soldier and his wife who could be trusted not to announce our arrival to the whole world. In the Citadel, information was the most valuable currency.

Costello called the soldier, captain, and after he showed us to our rooms, giving us the keys and mentioning a few places to eat, he came closer and said in a low voice,

“You watch yourselves, all right? Things are afoot in the land.”

I came forward, “What do you mean?”

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes, “This is no place for a little lady,” he said with a snigger. “With all due respect.”

I moved quickly, giving him no time to respond, pushing him against the wall, hard. The idea was not to hurt him but to send a message that he would immediately understand.

“I am not a ‘little lady’,” I said, spitting out the words.

I took my hand off his chest, and he swallowed nervously.

“My apologies,” he said quickly.

I put a hand on his arm to keep him from rushing off as he was intending to do.

“What do you mean with ‘things are afoot?’”

He looked over to Costello, as if to check how much he should say.

“There is talk of a coup on the Council. Tensions have been simmering for a while, there have been incidents and I fear it is threatening to boil over.”

I looked over at Costello who did not like this news either. Whenever there was talk of violence, humans bore the brunt of it, for some reason. We were always made to suffer the consequences of actions taken at higher levels.