Grand Game 410: Ambushed in the Dark (Patreon)

Day Thirty in Draven’s Reach

All eyes in the room were on me, and along the edges, I sensed the guards jerk into belated movement.

“Back,” the marshal snapped. “Hold your positions.”

Thank you, Elron. Once more, the marshal was showing me more trust than I thought I warranted. “Ready Ghost?”

“I am,” she replied serenely, keeping pace beside me.

“What is the meaning of this?” Carnien demanded shrilly as I advanced on the councilors with naked blade in hand. Lorn and Stormhammer, perhaps knowing me better, said nothing, but they, too, looked concerned.

Reaching the oak council table, I didn’t stop and instead leaped atop it while Ghost flowed around. “I’ve had just enough of this nonsense,” I said, strolling leisurely across the table. “Elron and I didn’t work so hard to replace one tinpot dictator with another.”

Stopping in front of Carnien, I held the tip of ebonheart at his throat.

“What are you doing?” he cried stridently. “You can’t threaten me, it’s illegal!”

“Of course I can,” I replied lightly. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not from New Haven, nor am I bound by its laws.” Ghost completed her half-circuit around the table, and coming to a halt behind the councilor, rested her head atop his shoulder.

Carnien shrieked. “Lorn! Stormhammer!” he gasped. “You can’t let him do this. Help me!”

Orc and dwarf stayed silent.

I smiled. “No one is coming to rescue you, Carnien. It’s just you and me.” Leaning forward, I rested an elbow on one knee. “The marshal told me something quite interesting just now. Do you want to know what?”

“No!” he screamed.

“He tells me he thinks you had Sienna killed,” I said, paying him no mind. “And you know what?” I asked, my expression growing colder, “I believe him. Tell me, Carnien, did you murder the high lord?”

“No!” he yelped. “There’s no proof. The marshal himself told you so.”

Ignoring the councilor once more, I turned to Ghost. “Is he telling the truth?” I asked loud enough that even the most hard-of-hearing guard couldn’t fail to hear me.

In an unmistakable gesture of denial, Ghost sat on her haunches and shook her massive head.

“Well, there you go,” I said, turning back to Carnien. “Ghost just read your mind, and she thinks you’re lying.”

“What? No! Impossible,” he sputtered.

I pressed the black blade deeper into his throat. “I want every last detail. Or I promise you, you won’t live to see tomorrow.”

✵ ✵ ✵

Where Ghost’s word alone might not have been enough to convince the skeptics, I knew a confession from Carnien’s own mouth might, which is why I pushed him for the details.

It took some time and a few more salacious revelations of Carnien’s thoughts by Ghost before the new high lord finally cracked and spilled everything.

It made for a gory tale, but in the end, it turned out to be a story as old as time.

Simply put, Carnien had wanted power for himself and, seeing an opportunity, had grasped it, not caring what happened in the process or who got hurt. There was no conspiracy, nor were any possessed involved—as I half-feared there might be—and no treachery beyond his own.

In fact, the only remarkable thing about Carnien’s tale was the assassin he’d employed. He or she was unusually gifted. To sneak into a room full of guards, kill Sienna, and slip back out, all unseen, well… that was no small feat.

I withdrew my blade when the big man finally sputtered to a stop. “You’ve got enough?” I asked the marshal.

“Every man here heard the high lord confess to his misdeeds,” Elron said, raising his voice and playing to the audience as I had. “Didn’t you?”

The soldiers nodded and yelled in affirmation.

The marshal turned back to me. “We have enough,” he confirmed.

“Take him away,” Stormhammer said, throwing Carnien a look of disgust.

Rushing to do the thane’s bidding, two guards dragged the high lord—former high lord now, I expected—away. Jumping off the table, I faced the councilors. “Now what?”

Lorn sighed. “Now, we have a new headache.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Lorn raised a hand, stopping me. “I’m not saying I disapprove of what you’ve done, but sometimes I wish your methods would be… less direct.”

Stormhammer chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know. I quite enjoyed the way Taim handled that buffoon.”

Lorn threw him a look. “You would. But the human families might not once they hear what’s gone on here.” He glanced back at me. “They will have to be informed and another candidate for high lord put forward. And under the circumstances, that might take time.”

I pursed my lips. “Speak plainly, Lorn. What are you saying?”

He sucked in a breath. “Until the council is fully reconstituted, New Haven can’t honor the pledge Stormhammer and I made to you, nor can we discuss the other matters between us. We will have for the new high lord to be appointed.”

“I see,” I muttered. “And how long will that take?”

He shrugged eloquently. “A day? Two? No more than that, I hope. But it really depends on the human families.”

I bowed my head, thinking. Two days I could manage, but no longer than that. Draven would be awaiting me and besides, I was also anxious to return to the Pack. “I’ll wait,” I said finally.

“Thank you,” Lorn said, breathing easier.

“Are you two not forgetting something?” Stormhammer interjected.

Lorn and I turned to him questioningly.

“We may have to await on the human families for the new high lord, but in the meantime—” the thane gestured to Elron—“we have a new First to appoint.”

✵ ✵ ✵

The ceremony confirming Elron as the dark elves’ First was blessedly short. Immediately thereafter, all three councilors were bombarded with requests and queries from the city’s families, and I was left to my own devices.

Not quite ready to return to my room, I took to the streets.

I had no particular destination in mind and instead, with Ghost by my side, wandered aimlessly for hours. We were recognized, of course—at least Ghost was—and to my surprise, we received more grateful nods and smiles than we did glares and muttered oaths.

Elron’s soldiers were everywhere, mostly on cleaning duty, clearing debris, and restoring broken structures. The marshal had made light of the opposition they’d face, but judging from the amount of wreckage I witnessed, the fighting in the streets had been intense.

It was the sight of New Haven’s citizens on the streets again that I found the most satisfying, though.

Now that the curfew had been lifted, the ordinary people of the city were enjoying their restored freedom. Meandering through the crowds, I smiled in true pleasure. No matter what came out of the upcoming negotiations with the city’s council, it did not take away from what Ghost and I had achieved. We’d left New Haven a better place.

And that’s about all I can truly hope for these days.

“Deep thoughts, mister?”

Coming to a halt, I glanced over my shoulder. A young human girl—she couldn’t be older than sixteen—was addressing me. Her hands and face were ingrained with enough dirt that I suspected she rarely, if ever, bathed. Her clothes were tattered, and her limbs were undernourished.

A street kid, I thought. Her eyes, though, were bright and gleamed with cunning. A smart one.

“Dangerous that,” the waif continued, a hint of menace underscoring her tone. “Especially on these streets.”

At the girl’s not-so-subtle prompting, I glanced around. Lost in thought, I’d turned down a dark alley. To my eyes, the street was as brightly lit as any other, but to most, it would appear full of shadows, which was why the alley was empty—other than for Ghost, myself, and the girl, of course.

Am I about to be mugged?

I blinked, finding the notion hard to credit. Perhaps I’ve overestimated this one’s intelligence. Even if the waif could take me, there was still Ghost to consider, not to mention the dozens of soldiers within easy shouting distance. She would not succeed, not on her own.

“She’s alone,” Ghost said, anticipating me.

I nodded imperceptibly. “Not today, kid,” I said with a weary smile. “And not me. Find someone else to rob.”

The girl laughed. “I thought players were more perceptive than that. I’m no robber.”

“She’s armed,” Ghost said.

My eyes narrowed, spotting the dagger sheathed along the inside of the girl’s forearm. The shirt she wore covered it, but it could not disguise the telltale bulge entirely. And now that I looked carefully, I saw the girl’s clothes weren’t as worn out as I’d originally assumed.

They’d only been made to look that way.

“Minakawa sent me,” she added when I didn’t immediately respond.

Not a thief. Armed. And disguised to look innocuous.

“You’re an assassin,” I said, connecting the dots.

She beamed. “Bingo.”

Snarling, Ghost stepped forward, placing herself between me and the girl.

“Whoa. Hold on a minute. I’m not here to kill you. Tell your dog to back down.”

Baring her fangs, the pyre wolf let droplets of flaming saliva drip onto the ground.

The assassin gulped. “Really. I’m not,” she protested, her eyes fixed on the sizzling stone underfoot.

“Ease up, Ghost.”

“Why?” she growled back.

“Well, for one, she didn’t refer to you as ‘it,’” I said lightly, then added more seriously, “I don’t think she means us any harm. Not yet.”

Ghost huffed in disdain but did as I asked. Sitting down, she rested her head on her forepaws and watched the girl through an unblinking stare.

I addressed the girl again. “Aren’t you a little too young to be an assassin?”

“I’m twenty,” she replied stiffly.

“Huh. Not young at all.” I folded my arms, drawing further connections. “I take it you’re also the one Carnien hired to murder Sienna?”

“I am,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“How did you do it?”

Her eyes narrowed. “That’s the first thing you want to ask me? Not, why am I here, or why I haven’t killed you yet?”

I snorted. “You couldn’t kill me even if I decided to let you try.”

She grinned. “You’re probably right.”

I frowned. “Then why are you here?”

Her grin broadened. “Oh, so now you want to know?”

My frown deepened. She was beginning to get on my nerves. “Talk,” I growled. “Last chance.”

Her grin faded. “Minakawa paid me to kill you.” Ghost’s ears flickered up. Not missing the wolf’s reaction, the young assassin added hastily, “But I’m not going to. Players are too dangerous to tangle with.”

“So, you didn’t take his money?” I asked skeptically.

Her smile returned. “Oh, I did, but I’m not going through with the job.”

“So you said already. But you still haven’t told me why you’re here.” I paused, a thought occurring. “Please don’t tell me you’ve gone through all the trouble of tracking me down in the hopes of extorting more money?” I threw her a pained look. “Did you think I’d pay you not to kill me?”

She blushed, giving herself away.

I sighed. “I see. Well, you’re not going to get anything from me, so you best run along.”

Ghost lifted her head. “You’re letting her go?”

“I am.”

“But shouldn’t you arrest her or something?” she asked indignantly. “She’s a murderer, and who knows what else!”

I rolled my eyes. “If it’s escaped your attention, so am I at times.”

“What you do is different,” she protested.

“Sometimes, I’m not at all certain it is,” I murmured. “Besides, you’re forgetting I met Sienna. She was about as nice a person as Cilia. I won’t hold her murder against her. And if she has committed any other crimes, really, I don’t want to know about them.”

No matter what the assassin claimed her age to be, she looked entirely too young for me to want her blood on my conscience.

“You’re too soft,” Ghost accused.

I laughed. “I doubt many will agree with you there, Ghost.” Turning my back on the girl—young woman, I corrected—I strode away.

“Wait!” she called suddenly.

Sighing, I swung back around. “What is it now?”

“There’s another reason I sought you out...”

I gestured impatiently with my hand. “Yes? And what is it? Spit it out.”

She shifted uncomfortably and was silent for so long I didn’t think she was going to answer, but just as I thought about leaving again, she spoke.

“The Adjudicator said I should find you.”