Page 20 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 20- NATHON

I was completely unused to plants. In Audra, the climate prevented the majority of them from growing. Our trees almost always appeared dead, only sparse silver leaves adorned their thin white branches. There were so many flowers here, their pungent scent bleeding through the air. I wondered what these flowers could do, if any of them could be mixed into a concoction to put someone to sleep, to soothe an ache, to stop someone breathing.

I was well versed in the art of poisons. I had learnt all about them as a child. But poisonous plants were difficult to grow and hardly an inconspicuous feature of any public garden.

I moved Northward, around the building, further and further ahead.

At some point, the gardens stopped at a large golden fence with several spikes at the top.

Yes, that fence would be highly difficult to scale.

But I was the Bird of Death. I could fly.

I discarded the golden monstrosity around my shoulders, it would attract far too much attention. I scaled the wall adjacent to the fence, it was largely flat, but there were enough small indentations in it for me to climb. Once I was high enough, I perched one foot in between two spiked fence railings and did the same with the other. Then quickly, while my delicate balance remained, jumped down, silently.

I had heard rumours about these places. I had even asked one of the guards in Audra’s draining centre about it once. But before he had been able to go into too much detail, another man had stopped him, called him away on some task.

Task. It was no task. It was an attempt to silence him.

I wanted to see for myself.

Vasara’s drainage centre was the largest in Athlion. After all, they were the ruling Kingdom, but this was also where the drainings had started, where they had been invented. If Loria had done something like this, gone to a restricted area of the Palace, I would have intimidated her into never doing it again. But Loria was not used to this, the shadows were still a source of darkness for her, not a familiar ally.

I stayed crouched for a few seconds, before rising, and slowly, keeping to those shadows and moved further into the wing. The closer I got, the more I could make out the faint sounds of crying. I was on a walkway, the right of which was a courtyard and to the left, the room where the crying was coming from.

A hand yanked me backward, throwing me off balance. My eyes widened at the realisation someone had managed to approach me. They pulled me into a crevice, a smaller walkway off to the side of the main one. Their gloved hand was over my mouth, a dagger pressed against my left jugular vein. Their hand was small, not wide enough to cover my jaw, and their frame was short. Their voice only just reached my ear.

“Don’t move.”

Killing someone here would be far from ideal. My presence here was supposed to have gone unnoticed. I’d have to turn the tide. Easy enough.

“Please, please don’t.” I decided to feign distress. Perhaps she'd feel inclined to release me out of pity. That would be useful.

At that, the figure slammed their other hand against my lower abdomen.

“What are you doi—" I said, genuinely confused.

The hand travelled down to my hips and gripped around the hilt of one of my daggers. They swiftly drew it from my belt and directed the sharp end at my lower stomach.

“I know…what this is.”

Yes, I’d been right about my suspicions. It was a woman.

“You have far too many of these to be the kind of man who begs for your life in these situations.”

I gritted my teeth in irritation. I had miscalculated. But more than that, a Noxstone blade was now poised at my abdomen. All it would take was one wrong breath for my guts to be all over the floor.

But this woman, she was holding the blade with a steady hand, she had enough control to stop it from shredding my skin.

She had held one of these before.

“And yet…” I said, noticing the vexation in my tone. “You still decided to put me in it.”

“I didn’t really have a choice, since you’re drawing so much attention to yourself.”

“Get these weapons away from me, now, or you won’t like what I do next.”

In response she pressed both weapons against me harder.

“No. What you will do, is leave. Your visit can be arranged for another day.”

“Oh no. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You know.” She tapped the hilt of the Noxstone dagger with her finger. “I’ve killed someone with one of these before. I hadn’t really planned on doing it again, but if I have to, I will.”

I’d been right about that too.

“Congratulations, but I agree it doesn’t feel very pleasant, does it?”

“Why are you making this difficult?” She leant in closer to my face. “Just go. I have no desire to kill you, but you are in my way.”

“Yes, and you’re in mine.”

“I was here first.”

“Really?” I said sarcastically. I went to tilt my head, which caused the blade to nick at my neck, a small drop of blood spilling from the cut.

“It’s only polite for you to leave, isn’t it,” she sounded angry.

“Ahhh yes. Spying, the number one tenet of which is…politeness.”

“I’m getting tired of this.”

“Agreed.”

With both blades in a lethal position at my body, preventing me from moving forwards or backwards, I grabbed both of the woman’s wrists, and with as much force as I could, crouched, and flipped her over my right shoulder. The Noxstone blade cut up and through my clothing, leaving a line of my torso exposed. I was just able to back away before that became my own flesh.

The woman rolled forwards and landed in a crouched position with her back towards me. She stood, her fists clenched by her side. She turned to face me.

Only I couldn’t see her.

A dark red cloak, almost black, covered the top half of her face. It trailed down to her calves, which were covered in brown pants, the same shade as her boots, and the waistcoat covering her white blouse. The only part of her I could see, was the bottom half of her pale face, and her mouth, which was parted, and open, letting out deep breaths.

“So that’s how it is,” she whispered.

“How it was always going to be. I did warn you.”

“And I you.” She raised her right hand, which had somehow managed to keep a hold of my Noxstone blade.

“That’s mine. I’m going to need it back.”

“I think you have enough, don’t you?” She used the dagger to point to my collection.

“Tsk, aren’t you afraid?”

“I’m afraid that you might never stop talking.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re right. That’s truly a horrifying concept.”

“Are you trying to get us both killed?” she hissed quietly.

“No, no, just you.”

I lunged forwards, closing the distance between us, drawing two of my own daggers out as I did. I threw one at her, she dodged it. By the time she had regained her balance, I was next to her.

I directed the other at her neck. She used mine to block its path. I pulled another out with my left hand and made a swipe for her stomach. She jumped back and spun around with her leg raised, striking me in the face with her boot.

I tasted blood in my mouth.

I grabbed her leg before she could withdraw it and lifted it, shoving her to the ground. I crouched over her, raising my dagger over her face, but she shifted to the side and wrapped her leg around my torso, flipping me over.

She was on top of my thighs. I abruptly sat up and aimed again. She grabbed my arm with both her hands and pressed her foot against my torso, using the momentum to get up and distance herself from me.

She raised her own hand and attacked me again. I undercut her movement and wrapped the whole of my right arm around her neck, squeezing tightly. Her body grew more limp. I could hear her wheezing, just a few more seconds and…

She grabbed another knife from under her cloak and swung it at my ribcage with her left hand. I had no choice but to dodge, and as I did, she spun out of my chokehold.

I swung, she ducked. As she came back up, I elbowed her in the throat. She staggered back, choking. I took advantage of her state and attacked again. She clutched my wrist, lifted it up, and spun underneath my arm to the side.

“It’s hardly a fight if you keep dodging.”

“Do you expe…” She coughed, her voice still strained.

“What? I can’t quite hear you?” I held my hand to my ear.

She scowled and ran towards me, going for my face with her blade. I crossed my arms in front of me and blocked the movement, staring down at her, or her upturned lip, at least.

She used her other hand to punch my diaphragm. That was uncomfortable. My breath caught in my throat. She used the momentary distraction to strike again, swinging from my right to left, trying to slit my throat. I ducked, and on getting up, shoved into her side, disarming her.

She raised her fist to hit me in the jaw, I gripped it and squeezed hard. I could hear a grunt of pain escape her lips. She pushed at my right shoulder with her left hand, trying to get away, but it didn’t work.

I squeezed harder, her bones made a cracking sound. She fell to her knees, a strangled yell escaping her lips. I kneed her in the face. She dropped to the ground, her hands behind her, gasping as her weight was taken on her right one.

She kicked out again. I caught her foot and pulled her closer and wrapped my hands around her neck.

“If you could die quietly, I’d be most grateful.”

Her left hand grabbed my own, trying to remove them from her throat. Her right, suddenly slashed down, into my left arm. She had picked her knife off the floor.

She had cut my bicep deeply. I squeezed her throat tighter with my right hand while grabbing her wrist with my left.

“Now that wasn’t very…polite.””

She headbutted me, hard. My grip loosened ever so slightly, but it was enough for her to pull away from it.

She crawled backwards and stood unsteadily, the knife in her hands. While I was still on the ground she came for me. I stood quickly and grabbed her outstretched arm, pulling her down and behind me, as I turned and kneed her in the face again.

She landed on the ground, flat on her stomach. I pinned her down with my knees on her back before she could get up.

“Regretting anything now?”

“Do you ever… shut up?” She managed to say against the paving stones.

She reached behind her and for my hips again, grabbing one of my daggers, and slitting across the thigh pinning her down.

As I was distracted, she rolled out from under me, lying on her back to my side. She struck still lying flat. I gripped her arm.

“Give up. You won’t win this fight.”

“So, it’s…” She coughed again “A fight now, is it?” Blood that had come from my blows to her face trickled down her chin.

It was actually the closest thing I’d had to a fair fight for years.

But still nowhere near close enough.

“What is it you’re willing to die for? Mmmm?” I leant in closer to her.

She got up and pressed her thumb deep into my left eyeball.

“Agh.” I jerked my head back, clutching my face. She released her arm and stood. I followed. Now we were facing each other, blood trickling from several areas, bruised ribs, jaws, limbs, and tracheas.

But she was still alive. I hadn’t expected that. This was becoming infuriating.

“Listen. I don’t have the time for this. I did want to avoid cleaning up your blood, but at this rate the time it will take me to do that will be shorter than the time it takes to kill you.”

“Is that…" Her voice was barely understandable, raspy with the damage near choking her to death twice had done. “Is that…a com…pliment?”

“It’s meant to be a threat.”

“Well, come on then.” She raised her hands defiantly. “At least I know that…. if…I….” Her voice continued to crack. “Lose…you’ll.” She coughed. “Have…to get away wi…with…cleaning u…up the mess.” She gestured all around us. “With…them here…good luck wi…” She gasped for air. “With…that.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve cleaned up far more disgusting and inconvenient messes.”

“Prou…d…of that…huh?”

No, not proud.

Good at it though.

I hadn’t planned on killing anyone tonight, but since this woman was intent on my own demise, I had to retaliate.

I drew my sword out this time. This would cut right through her neck in…

“No…no please.” An unrecognisable voice was coming down the hallway.

I looked at the woman. Although I couldn’t see her eyes, I knew she was looking directly at me too.

“Please…I…I can’t, not tonight,” the voice pleaded again.

“Stop whining,” another man said, gripping tightly onto the slim arm of the Vessel, I presumed.

“No…no…I’m too tired, I won’t be…I can’t.”

They were drawing closer. Before I could truly understand or fathom what I was seeing, fingers clasped around my wrist, drawing me deeper into the crevice.

The woman yanked me towards her and pushed me behind her, pressing her entire right arm across my torso.

“What do you—"

“Please be quiet,” she whispered. There was something in her voice, an insistent desperation, that actually made me stop talking.

“No…I…I…” The voice of the man grew weaker. The woman slightly turned her head around the corner to watch what was going on, I did the same.

The man was barely walking, more like being dragged along by the other. His feet scraped against the stones.

The cloaked woman’s breathing quickened. Her chest rose and fell rapidly next to mine.

“Parthias…oi, Parthias,” the overseer shouted. “Help me out here, will you. This one’s being a pain in my ass.”

Another overseer emerged from the large room I had been looking at before being ambushed. “That hardly narrows this lot down,” Parthias laughed at his own joke.

“Hurry up seven-eight-five, we don’t have all night. I need my beauty sleep.” He laughed at his own joke again.

“I can’t…I…” the Vessel protested.

The woman’s hand curled into a fist over my torso.

The Vessel collapsed to the ground, blood leaking from his ears.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Parthias said, kicking him with his boot.

“Another one? That’s five this week,” the other overseer said.

“Yeah…we really need a new batch. The current one is starting to run its course.”

Five. Five Vessels dead in a week. What were they doing to these people?

“What are we going to tell the Prince?”

“Nothing, for now. We’ll tell the other one.”

“Huh?”

“You know who I mean.”

“Oh right. Yeah. Sounds good. I don’t fancy getting blamed for this.”

“Nothing to blame us for. This ain’t our fault, Gidos.”

“What do I do with him?” Gidos awaited instruction.

“The same you do with the rest and hurry up about it.”

“Someone needs to take his place.”

“Oh…oh yeah. Ummm, take fifty-four.”

“The ginger?”

“Got lots of them.”

“The pretty one?”

“Yeah, her,” Parthias confirmed.

The woman next to me made a quiet noise of disgust. I couldn’t say I disagreed with her reaction.

“Ohhhh yeah. Ha, shame she’s one of them.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind draining her in a different way, if you know what I mean.”

They both laughed.

They were standing there, laughing, making crude jokes about a woman, over a dead man’s body.

I was hardly the person to preach about morality and ethics, but even to me, this was revolting.

“Alright, I’ll do it now.”

Gidos lifted up the man’s limp body. “Good thing he doesn’t weigh anything.”

“You’ve always liked them skinny,” Parthias remarked.

“Oh, fuck off.”

Parthias laughed and stepped back into the room, while Gidos walked away, whistling.

The woman immediately tried to move away from me, but before she could, I pulled her clenched fist, still resting on my chest, towards me.

“You know about these places?” I asked her.

“Get off me.” She shoved me hard. I didn’t move much. “What, you don’t?” Her voice was monotonous with sceptical disbelief.

It was highly disconcerting to have a conversation with someone whose face was not visible. I reached for her hood. She gripped my hand with hers.

“Stop.”

“How do you even see through that?”

She didn’t answer.

“Look.” She began coughing again, her damaged vocal cords fading in and out of use. She clutched at her throat. I crossed my arms across my chest, impatiently.

She pressed her other hand against the wall, which was bruised and bloodied at my having crushed it earlier. She sounded breathless. I’d been so close. So damn close.

I could get rid of her now. Easily. She was wounded, she was tired. But her reaction to the scene we had just witnessed had been far too interesting.

And I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted her blood on my hands.

I waited for her to speak.

After taking a few deep breaths and clearing her throat she said,“We need to leave now. They’re going to be back with the other Vessel within minutes. These drainings occur.” She swallowed, trying to regain her voice again. “All day and all night. The guards will probably change” – another cough– “at the hour, and it will be much harder for us to get out while that’s happening.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I beg to differ.”

“You can beg all you like. I’m not telling you.” Her head was down, looking to the side. “I’m coming back here, the night after next. You come back another time,” she commanded.

“What if I feel like showing up that night?”

She huffed out a bitter laugh, which sounded more like a wheeze. “Desperate for a second round, are you?”

“The first was rather fun, don’t you think?”

Ignoring my comment, she stepped closer, pointing at my chest and spoke. “If you tell anyone, or even hint to anybody you saw me here, I will kill you.”

“Will you now? And how do you plan on doing that?”

“As quickly as possible.”

“I think you’ll find that rather difficult. I’m not someone who can just disappear without people noticing.” I gestured to myself.

She looked at me up and down. “Noticing is far less dangerous to me than you running your mouth, which you clearly enjoy doing far too much.”

This woman was testing my patience. I moved closer to her. “Nobody…and I mean nobody , threatens me, and there’s a good reason for that. What I do, and what I say about what I’ve seen will not depend in any way, on your welfare, or your ultimatums.”

“Nobody huh?” She quietly laughed under her breath. “So be it.”

She pressed something to my chest. It was the Noxstone dagger she had stolen from me earlier.

“Perhaps you could educate me as to what goes on in these places?” I said as she pulled her hand away.

“I’m sure you’re fully capable of doing that yourself.”

She stood back.

“Who –" I began to ask.

“No.” She stopped me “No questions.” Her voice cracked again. “N…no answers either. I wasn’t here, you weren’t here. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. That’s the way it stays.”

I squinted. “I will find out anyway.”

She smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine smile, more one of disgust. The blood from our fight was smeared across her pale round lips.

“I don’t think so.” Her lips went back into a straight line.

Then without warning, she turned and disappeared into the darkness. Into the shadows.

I waited for a few minutes and left, finding my way back to the fence and scaling the wall, which was now considerably harder to do with my wounds. I mentally thanked myself for not getting rid of the golden abomination that was my newly acquired coat as soon as I entered the Palace gates. It now concealed my wounds and torn clothing.

I stumbled back into the Palace. If anyone asked, my cover for my gait would be having spent the night at the Solar Inn, and returning here drunk.

On returning to my room, I removed my coat and clothing. The cut on my thigh was deep, but the gash on my arm was much deeper, and was still bleeding. I was used to treating my own wounds. Still, I hadn’t anticipated I would have to tend to some so early during my stay here.

I could feel a bruise forming across my jaw already. Brilliant. Her kick had been hard.

But that would be easy enough to cover up.

Fortunately, a full jug of wine lay in my room. I tore at the fabric of my pants which were no longer usable, and doused them in the alcohol, pressing them to my thigh and arm. I bit down hard on my lip at the pain. I had to press down on the wound on my bicep for a good while before the bleeding stopped.

I’d have to stitch this one.

I took the bandages, thread and needle, out of the packs I had brought with me, and began to sew through the wound, taking a few gulps of the wine before I started.

“Fuck!” I silently exclaimed. This was considerably uncomfortable. I had long since grown accustomed to pain of this level, and worse.

But still, though no tears formed in my eyes, sweat beaded at my temples, and the muscles in my core shuddered each time the needle was inserted into my skin.

After thirty minutes or so it was done.

And as the first few hours of the next day were already underway, I drifted off in my seat, dreaming of a red cloak, men with red hair, and red blood dripping out of people’s ears.