Chapter 59 Two Dead Scarlets
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Two Dead Scarlets
The minutes Nissa spent sneaking back into Etherstone Apothecary were the longest of Auria’s life.
What if the dragonborn was caught, captured, killed?
It would be Auria’s fault. She should’ve been the one to creep through the alley entrance, and yet she knew that if it came down to the heat of the moment, Nissa would be able to defend herself, to do what needed to be done—to take two red lives and save one blue.
Auria would falter under fire. She was many things, but she was not brave.
I’m in the wrong job, she thought miserably, searching the street for a good vantage point. Maybe I’ll resign. Go back to the courts, to prosecution.
The prospect gave her a sense of relief, but also preemptive regret. She couldn’t bear to hang up the silver without any meaningful busts under her belt, to admit that her mothers were right, and she was too sensitive for this work.
She was settling into position behind a chimney on a rooftop across the street from the apothecary when her wand tip cracked.
“Et vocos, Auria Marriosan.” Nissa’s voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible.
“Here,” Auria replied, matching the volume, establishing contact.
The sound inside the shop was distant, tinny, a little crackled and weak, but a male voice was in the middle of talking.
There was only one man inside that apothecary: Filan Ferrow.
Auria had been right to suspect him.
“—need to keep the Apoth alive, otherwise the boy will never return.”
Auria’s cantering heartbeat steadied. Ila was safe for now—providing her grandson stayed in line.
“What of…the two Blood…?” came a female voice, even more distant, and Auria had to strain to pick out each word. Many syllables dropped out of earshot entirely. Ferrow must have been talking to her through his own wand, and the sound was hard to parse through all the degrees of separation.
“Both dead,” Ferrow said gruffly. “What shall I do with the bodies?”
“Skewer…and eat…like kebabs, for all I care. Ask the Apo…where…her grandson.”
Who was this woman?
The Whitewing leader? The elusive figure sequestered in the drophouse?
Ferrow grunted at his captive, “You say Relar is north with the scarlets. Where?”
Apoth Zamorin made a whimpering noise. “They went to Bellandry on foot from Lunes. Got stuck in Almere for a few days—last I heard they were in Flarence. Please, don’t hurt him, he—”
“Enough,” Ferrow snapped. Then, dropping his tone in deference to the woman on the other end of the wand line, “What’s your order?”
“Not worth…hassle of pursuing to Bellandry. Thanks to…mishap in Hamren, there’s a warrant…arrest. The second you enter a portari gate, the Vergard will…on your tail. Better to wait for…scarlets in Lunes, assuming…cross back over the border on foot.”
“Understood. I’ll make my way there and—”
“No. Stay with the Apoth. If we kill…boy has no reason to return. I’ll go to Lunes myself.”
The line to the leader went dead.
A few moments later, the sound on the end of Nissa’s wand changed subtly from the echoey quiet of a storeroom to the birdsong in the alley behind the apothecary.
“What do you think?” Nissa asked Auria.
Auria lay back on the snow-flecked roof tiles, letting the miraculous sun wash over her face.
A dawndove cooed in the nearby chimney pot, and the velvine from earlier had joined her.
She thought, and she thought, and she thought some more, but Nissa didn’t push her for an answer until she was ready to give it.
Perhaps the most patience the dragonborn moron has ever shown. Auria chuckled, surprised to find that her inner voice was accompanied by a subtle undertow of affection.
Finally, she spoke into her willow wand tip.
“I think the bracelet now carries evidence of Ferrow murdering two Bloodmoons—but if I contact Karvas right now, he’s going to send someone else down here to make the arrest. The scarlets aren’t my patch.
And what if the Silvercloaks he sends fumble?
Aren’t subtle enough? Apoth Zamorin is essentially a hostage.
Ferrow would take her life before we took him in. ”
“So what are you saying?”
“That this is a lot bigger than a lone Whitewing murdering two Bloodmoons.”
A long, strange pause. “Hells, Marriosan. You want to go to Lunes, don’t you?”
“I want to go to Lunes,” Auria confirmed, a small swell of prideful purpose inflating her lungs. “The leader might be there, as well as Saints know how many other Whitewing foot soldiers. We could take so many more down.”
Nissa let out a low, admiring whistle. “Karvas won’t like it. He could block the whole thing.”
“Do you think Jebat could send backup without Karvas’s knowledge?”
Months ago, she had told her new mentor that all she wanted was to do good. And he’d replied: I consider it my duty not to let the likes of Vel Karvas stand in your way.
Despite the peril of the situation, Nissa laughed. “The high and mighty Auria Marriosan, plotting behind her captain’s back?”
Auria huffed. “Now isn’t the time to—”
“The Apoth’s life is secure, for now, which means it’s the perfect time to mock you.”
“Nissa, I’m serious. Is this the right call?”
Another pause, Nissa weighing her words like an apothecary measuring ingredients on a scale.
“Killoran once told me that you should only gamble if you can accept the worst possible outcome. Could you accept the outcome of being disciplined again? Another inquest, another opportunity for the captain to have you disgraced and thrown off the force for insubordination?”
What was more important to Auria?
Doing good, or subordinating?
Doing good, or following the rules?
Doing good, or achieving her lifelong dream?
Surely, surely, it was doing good.
It had to be, otherwise what was the rest of it for?
Before she could talk herself out of it, she let the line to Nissa drop, and then spoke clearly into her wand, “Et vocos, Tenébo Jebat.”
“Marriosan?” came the accented male voice. “It’s early.”
Auria dimly registered that most day shift detectives would not yet be at their desks. She’d lived a thousand lives, become a whole new person since her own shift started the previous night.
“I know.” She stripped the apology from her tone. “I need to request backup. The Whitewings are planning an assault on the Bloodmoons in Lunes, and I want to bring them all down at once.”