Page 60 of Inferno
“That leaves us with very, very few options. It may be that the only thing you can actually do is say goodbye.”
Yorin felt his jaw clench, and he fought the urge to curse at the woman. “Maybe as a last resort,” he said, after taking a moment to settle himself. “But I’m not giving up until we’ve exhausted every other possibility.”
Despite the dire circumstances, that coaxed a slight smile onto Kit’s lips. “You are exactly the sort of human we need on our side,” she said, patting him briefly on the arm. “Now, come with me. We have a crisis team to assemble.” She marched out into the kitchen, then poked her head up the stairs. “Mintesh! Caleon! Get down here,” she yelled. “We’ve got an emergency to deal with!”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ten minutes later, Yorin was rushing along behind Kit and Mintesh, her sister, astonished at how quickly the aging ladies could move. Behind him, Maky, Zandro and Mintesh’s son, Caleon were trotting along, all three of them quiet but watchful.
“Dear gods, there he is,” Kit muttered, coming to an abrupt halt at the edge of the town square. Yorin ran into her, so sudden was her stop, and he apologised automatically.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “We’ve got bigger problems to deal with.” She stood there, surveying the square for a long moment, noting the positions of the guards, the people in the crowd, and the sky overhead.
Oh gods, that was something Yorin hadn’t thought of. Nerik was in a cage whose roof consisted of nothing more than a few metal bars. What if it rained? He’d be killed instantly.
But before he could get much further into his panic, Kit turned to face him. “Right, so here’s the plan,” she said. “We walk over nice and calmly, like we’re just taking in the scenery. We have a little gawk at him, just like everyone else, checking out the new demon. And then, once we’ve seen our fill, we meander all casual like over towards the hospital. By that point, Nerik will have seen you with me, and he’ll know that we’re calling in the cavalry. That gives him a little bit of peace of mind, and hopefully buys us some time without him doing anything stupid. Is that all clear?”
“Yes. Got it,” Yorin agreed. “And then what?”
“And then we round up a few more people to see what we can do about that cage.” That seemed to be as much detail as Kit was willing to give him at the moment, so Yorin obediently followed her across the square, keeping an eye on Nerik as they went. They mixed with the crowd that was loitering around the cage – near it, but not so close as to be in any real danger, as the guards kept reminding people to keep back. Kit made sure they got around in front of it, and for a moment, Nerik turned to look their way. Yorin felt his heart speed up, desperate to see Nerik’s reaction… but with his blank, black face, Yorin couldn’t tell whether he was shocked, or grateful, or angry… It was disconcerting not to be able to read the expression of a man he had known so intimately. But Nerik’s glowing red eyes settled on him for a long moment, and Yorin stepped a little closer to Kit, desperately trying to make the point that he was herewith her, not just coincidentally in the same place. He thought he saw Nerik nod… but a moment later, Nerik was turning away, paying attention to something on the other side of the square.
Yorin followed his gaze, and… “Oh gods, they’ve got a unicorn!” he blurted out, as his eyes landed on the entrance to the military barracks. One of the warriors was attempting to lead a unicorn through the gateway, but the unicorn was being decidedly reluctant to follow, prancing about and tugging on the makeshift halter around its head. A crowd was already gathering to watch, making the unicorn even more skittish.
“Great gods, they’ve actually gone and captured one,” Mintesh muttered. “Poor bastard.”
“It might actually be better for him this way,” Kit said, keeping her voice low. “If we can get Stanley to come and collect him, and prove to the army that they can be tamed, then we might be able to save more of them.”
“Yeah, I think we need to focus on Nerik right now,” Caleon said. He was young, probably several years younger than Yorin, and Yorin had been surprised to learn that he was Mintesh’s son. She must have been fairly advanced in years when she’d had him, based on her greying hair and a generous collection of wrinkles.
“These things are often connected,” Kit said, keeping a close eye on the unicorn. “Maky, see if you can run over there and ask the unicorn what he knows. I assume they’re taking him to the stables out behind the barracks, but it would be as well to know for sure.”
Maky took off, and predictably, no one paid him any mind. To the humans, he was just a dumb animal looking for a wall to pee on, not a spy involved in devious plans to free a captive demon. Well, that was certainly a handy trick, and one that Yorin should keep in mind, in case Zandro might ever be able to help in the same way.
Soon enough, Maky was back again, and he spent a few minutes relaying what he’d learned from the unicorn to Kit.
“Gods above,” Kit muttered, when he’d finished. “Nerik was captured trying to save the unicorn from the warriors.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Yorin said, pulling on his hair in his agitation. “Bloody typical. Rush off to rescue everyone else and forget about his own safety.”
“True enough, but for the moment, what’s done is done,” Kit said. “What we need to see about is what we do next. Come on, let’s get over to the hospital.” She marched off through the crowd, leaving the rest of them to hurry to catch up.
Once they reached the hospital, Kit led them over to the side of the wide entrance doors. She turned to face Yorin, the sternest of scowls on her face, her eyes locked on his. “Listen to me carefully, Yorin. There is a vast underground network of Chalandrians throughout this city, and reaching into many other towns and cities across the country. You are about to see a small fraction of the total. But remember this: If youeverbetrayanyof us, we will kill you.”
“Understood,” Yorin said, taking her words literally. With so many lives on the line, and so many more being killed at the gate every day, he hardly thought that one human life would weigh much on their consciences, regardless of any affection Nerik might hold for him.
“Good. Now, Maky, you go and fetch Forlegard,” Kit instructed the fire-dog. “He’s a blacksmith over on the west side of the river,” she filled Yorin in. “We’re going to need some advice about how to get Nerik out of the cage, so we’re going to need his input.” Maky yipped, wagged his tail, and raced off down the road. “Mintesh, do you remember the way to Beetie’s house?”
Mintesh nodded. “Past the Green Flag pub, turn left, then turn right after the carpenter’s shop.”
“Excellent. Fill her in and bring her here.” Mintesh rushed off, surprisingly fast for her age. But Yorin was beginning to suspect that witches aged differently from humans. Or perhaps the spells the witches were using were deceptive. Maybe they were younger than they appeared to be, and had disguised themselves as old women to avoid people’s notice. Older ladies did tend to be ignored a little, after all.
“Beetie’s another witch,” Kit told Yorin. “And I suspect we’re going to need all the magic we can get. Caleon, you go fetch Tschecee. He could be useful if we end up in a fight with the guards. Take Zandro with you. He can start learning his way around the city.” Caleon nodded, and he and Zandro headed off to the east, up the road past Yorin’s shop.
And that left Yorin alone with Kit.
“Right then,” she said, turning to face him. “Now, you and I are going to go inside and see Gosta. You might be surprised to find out that she is one of us.”
Yorin’s eyes opened wide at the announcement, and then he clamped his jaw shut, lest he say anything he shouldn’t that might be overheard by passersby. He would never have picked the cantankerous old nurse to be a Chalandrian in his wildest dreams!