Chapter 17 #2
“No one’s wearing anyone as a coat.” Tobias shook aside his frustration, looking Raphael in the eyes. “The Savior gave an order, and they will obey it, begrudgingly or not.”
The door swung open, slamming against the opposite wall. Tobias staggered from his seat alongside Enzo and Raphael, all three men upright and readied.
Isa stood in the doorway.
“Fuck,” Raphael said.
“You.” Isa pointed a sharp finger at Tobias. “Where is She?”
Tobias squared his shoulders, towering over the holder. “Anything you have to say to Her, you can say to me.”
“Is that so? Then allow me to make good on the promise I made the day you arrived.”
A dagger flicked into their hand. Tobias didn’t see where it came from; Isa wore no scabbards or sleeves, and for a moment he wondered if they had their own brand of magic on their side. Tobias raised his hands, speaking in a low, placating tone. “Set it down.”
“I made myself clear.” Isa inched toward him. “My staff would not be put at risk.”
“And we’ve upheld that arrangement.”
“There are palace servants swarming my establishment.”
Another step forward. Raphael, Enzo, and Tobias paced back as Isa came closer.
“You knew they were coming,” Tobias said. “Her Holiness informed you.”
Isa let out a scoff. “And I informed Her I would allow no such thing.”
“It wasn’t a negotiation. Her word is law.”
“If I have to hear one more thing about Her fucking word—”
“You mind your tone when speaking of The Holy Savior of Thessen,” Raphael spat.
“Do I look of Thessian blood to you?” Using their dagger, they gestured to their Outlandian tattoos. “My allegiance is to my workers and no one else, certainly no queen without a crown.”
Profanities filled Tobias’s mouth, begging for release. Raphael stepped forward, speaking with a level of self-restraint Tobias certainly couldn’t manage. “Crown or none, you live here, on Her land.”
Isa stalked toward them, steadfast and fearless, and their gall emboldened Tobias.
Lowering his hands, he came in close. “These servants are trained in all matters of care. They will earn their keep until we’re able to relocate them.
” He looked down at Isa, fighting the venom that threatened to spill from his lips.
“We have given you nearly all our coin as a gesture of good faith.”
“Your coin is paltry. An insult given the danger you place upon my staff.”
“We are paying their way,” Tobias said. “If we could spare any more—”
“You think coin can keep my workers safe?” Isa hissed. “Can fend off the sovereign’s soldiers? You think coin—?”
“I have coin.”
Tobias and Isa froze, then turned to the man who had upended their dispute. Enzo stood at ease beside his wooden chair, not even a hint of distress in his slate gaze.
“You have coin?” Tobias said.
“Pah! Of course I have.” Enzo furrowed his brow, judgment written across his face. “I tell you, the sovereign’s soldiers, they take people’s coin. You pay, they leave. It is what soldiers do. Not in Kovahr, but in lands of tyrants.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Raphael said.
Enzo flashed him a pointed look. “The soldiers take much coin, and I kill much soldiers.” He turned to Isa. “I give to you, and you stop with this noise, yes?”
Isa started. “Noise?”
“No talk.” Enzo shouldered past Tobias and Isa. “We go.”
Enzo marched from the room, leaving behind a befuddled Isa, their mouth agape. “Where the hell is he going?”
Tobias didn’t respond, clamoring into the hallway. Enzo was proudly clomping down the corridor, nodding at passing courtesans before rounding into a distant chamber. Tobias followed him inside. “Enzo, we’ve already given Isa a sizeable . . .”
Several naked men were clustered together, sucking and humping in a tangled mass of limbs.
Raphael and Isa were quick to join Tobias, and upon the holder’s arrival, the men sprang upright and dispersed, their bare asses vanishing down the corridor.
Enzo paid them no mind and tossed the newly free mattress to the floor, revealing a large wooden trunk beneath the bed frame.
Isa pushed Tobias aside. “If this is some clever diversion, trust that I’ve seen it all.”
Enzo unlatched and opened the trunk, revealing a giant pool of shimmering gold. For a fleeting moment the chamber went still, all eyes pointed at the bountiful treasure in reverence.
Tobias broke the silence, murmuring under his breath, “Fucking shit.”
Raphael spun toward Enzo. “You stole that?”
“I do not steal,” Enzo said. “Soldiers steal.”
“But you stole it from the soldiers.”
“No, no, you are confuse. Soldiers steal, I kill soldiers, then I give to this angry person.” Enzo elbowed Isa in the ribs. “It is good, yes?”
Isa was silent, dagger still clenched in their fist, though the fire in their gaze had died. They stared at the gold intently, pondering it. Hope flickered in Tobias’s chest. This was his opportunity.
“Combined with our previous payment, this is more gold than many see in their lifetime. A generous offer by anyone’s standards.
” Tobias came in closer, choosing his words with care.
“We both know your staff will be safe as soon as Leila and I have gone, which we plan to do at once. But the servants will stay, and you will be richer for it.”
Isa said nothing, so Tobias took a step closer, a prayer repeating in his mind. “So, it’s settled?”
A second or an hour passed before Isa tucked their dagger away and turned on their heel. “I want you and The Savior gone tomorrow.”
“And the servants?” Tobias prodded.
Isa flicked their wrist toward the trunk. “Have one of them bring this to my study.”
They disappeared from the chamber, not a second glance in Tobias’s direction. Raphael emptied his lungs and Tobias followed suit, releasing the oppressive tension in his chest. His victory was aptly timed, and he nearly smiled, relieved that something, for once, had gone his way.
“See?” Enzo donned his usual gap-toothed grin. “Already I help.”
The afternoon passed in a blur of hurried voices and nervous energy.
Tobias’s mother and sister packed their necessities while Tobias, Delphi, and Raphael strategized negotiations.
Leila met with Enzo in private, blessing him with the gift of shadow walking and teaching him how to wield Her light.
Tobias checked on them a time or two, and between Enzo’s grunts and growls, it appeared he understood Leila’s instructions and embraced his new title as their guide.
With each passing second, Tobias became lighter.
At last, things were falling into place.
It wasn’t long before all seven of them had squeezed around Leila’s and Tobias’s table, cloaks clasped at their throats and satchels hanging over their shoulders.
Enzo looked the most out of place layered in his three fur pelts, prepared for the blast of his homeland’s icy winds.
How strange it was, having Tobias’s mother and sister sitting across from his newest comrades.
They’d only just met Enzo and Delphi and had barely accepted Raphael.
Nothing about the meeting felt natural—especially the fact that all eyes were pointed his way.
“So, are we ready?” Tobias said. “We go to Kovahr. Now.”
“We’re going to Kovahr now?” Naomi glanced between the group. “One blessing and that’s it? We’ve arrived?”
“We’ll have everything we need there, won’t we?” Yucana said. “Surely the palace—”
“Citadel,” Enzo grunted.
Yucana scowled. “Surely the citadel has plenty of food and water, plus warm clothes and blankets.”
“It’s the solution we’ve waited for.” Delphi stroked Leila’s hand beneath the table, and Tobias was surprised when Leila didn’t pull away. Delphi nudged her sister’s shoulder. “The Kovahrian army is seconds away from becoming Your own.”
An ease floated through the space as if, one by one, each person’s greatest fears had been lifted. Leila sat tall, but Tobias couldn’t shake his memories. Not long ago She cried in his arms. How could She be so calm and assured? Was the life of The Savior one of perpetual stoicism?
Would his life as the sovereign be the same?
Unflinching, Leila turned to Enzo. “You can manage it?”
“Is easy peasy,” Enzo said.
Leila nodded, and all but Naomi stood as one, obeying Her command.
Tobias took Delphi’s hand, who took Leila’s, until the entire group was united, ready to embrace the holy light.
A sliver of sunshine bled through the chamber window, illuminating half of the palm print on Enzo’s chest—the blessing that would end their troubles.
“You remember our lesson,” Leila said. “Imagine the citadel. Any place within its grounds, even your chambers, whatever is clearest in your mind’s eye. See yourself there, and it will be so.”
A spark ignited in Tobias’s chest. They would finally be free.
Leila looked to Enzo. “Whenever you’re ready.”
With a grunt of compliance, Enzo lowered his head and closed his eyes. The quiet was stifling, but the energy in the chamber was palpable, bouncing from wall to wall with a flaring heat. Tobias’s heartbeat quickened. Salvation was a featherweight touch away.
Except the silence became long and stilted, and the group remained where they stood.
“Eh . . .” Wrinkling his nose, Enzo opened a single eye. “I feel nothing.”
“It can take time to adjust,” Leila said. “Shadow walking requires deep concentration. Focus your mind’s eye. See the citadel as clear as if it were right in front of you.”
Enzo closed his eyes, pointing his face toward the heavens. Resolve was alive in his fixed jaw. Minutes passed like hours as Enzo appeared to summon every speck of magic within him, but he remained rooted to the brothel floor along with the rest of them.
Naomi glanced among the others, then spoke in a near whisper. “Nothing’s happening.”
“He’s trying to concentrate,” Leila said.
“I am confuse.” Sighing, Enzo dropped his hands. “I do as You say.”
“It’s never taken this long before,” Raphael grumbled.