Chapter 19
The gentle swell of waves lapping against the ship no more helped calm Sollvar than reading distracted his thoughts. Anxiety at what awaited refused to let him concentrate, so he reluctantly closed the book.
Their destination was in view, anyway.
Others were also unable to find relaxation for different reasons: Irnskar heaved violently over the side. Standing, he took a moment to ensure his balance before raising the bottle for another deep swig.
'Do you think the drink might be making it worse?' asked Sollvar.
Irnskar started to shake his head, before deciding that wasn’t a good idea. 'No. Tried without it. Just as sick. So if I'm going to be sick, I may as well enjoy it.'
Sollvar shook his head and approached the man. Not too close. 'I'd have thought a... professional soldier would be hardened to such things as sea travel.'
'You can say mercenary, I don't mind. And on land I'm perfectly steady. It's just that on the oceans, well, there's a reason I'm a mercenary rather than a pirate.'
'It's not as though there's much rocking of the boat even. Glyphs let her glide across the waves. It used to be a lot worse.'
'So did my sickness. And you want to watch that: you're slipping into representative mode. We're investigating, remember, not selling.'
'Sorry,' said Sollvar. 'Habit.'
'Well, unless glyphs have been invented to help seasickness, I don't see them being of much use to me.'
'They make the trip shorter, don't they? You're like everyone, wanting glyphs to do every little thing, rather than being amazed at what they already do.'
'Dear fates, a zealot,' Irnskar looked on despairingly.
Sollvar smiled. 'Yes, Froki has said similar on occasion.'
'Froki?'
'My wife.'
'She in Idstil?'
'Yes,' said Sollvar. 'I'm hoping we can get back for my daughter's birthday in a few days. I’d arranged things so I'd be there, then this came up.'
'This shouldn't take more than an hour or two, and we can be back on board and set sail.' The thought gave him pause, and he took another swig. 'We should be back in time.'
'Assuming all goes well.' He couldn't suppress his anxiety over their mission.
'Of course it will. I'm here. I thought zealots were fearless and convinced things must go their way.'
'I'm zealous about glyphs. Not this kind of thing.'
'So you really believe,' said Irnskar.
'That glyphs can make the world a better place? Absolutely. I'm confident they've already proved that.'
'There's plenty without jobs who might disagree.'
'It's hard over the short term. Change always is. It'll take time to adapt to the new way of doing things, but roles can be found for everyone, and eventually the world will be better for everyone. At all levels, not just the rich the Society cater for.'
Irnskar grinned, and Sollvar gave a sheepish smile at realising how vehement he sounded.
'Never studied glyphs yourself?' asked Irnskar.
'Injured my hand when I was young,' said Sollvar. He held up his right hand, clenching it to show the couple of fingers which wouldn’t bend. 'Couldn't even write for a while. They won't let you study glyphs if you can't inscribe them.'
'Sorry.'
'It's okay. I have a role that lets me be part of things.'
'And now you have a new one,' said Irnskar. 'And you're feeling out of your depth.'
'It shows?'
'Only to a trained professional,' said Irnskar.
'I am, as you say, a representative. I haven't got a clue what I'm doing.'
'You're doing fine. We've gotten this far, haven't we?'
'Which could well be a distraction,' said Sollvar.
'There's something suspicious going on.'
Sollvar shrugged, glancing at the bottle in Irnskar's hand. 'Should you be drinking if we might encounter trouble?'
'There's little chance of trouble. We're just visiting the mercenaries' broker. They don't all hang out there. At most there'll be one or two for show. With my men along we shouldn't have a problem. And I’m reasonably sober. It hasn’t stayed down long enough to affect me.'
They'd brought a handful of guards as support, despite Irnskar's assertions there wouldn't be a problem. It offered some comfort.
As the shore approached, Irnskar sealed the bottle and went to put it in his cabin, picking his way with care.
They docked without trouble, and hired a glyph-powered carriage which held them all.
The journey was a bit rougher than he was used to, Aemyr having no paving. The mud roads in Thulvus were wider than the streets in most cities, at least in part to allow room for the greater number of horse-drawn vehicles, and people on horseback, a rare sight elsewhere. The horses brought with them – and left behind – an aroma which fought and merged with that from the ocean, leaving Sollvar breathing through his mouth until they left the busier streets.
They stopped a short way from the offices, and approached on foot, a couple of guards taking a circuitous route.
The escort offered comfort, even if Sollvar felt conspicuous in their midst. Maybe he should have sent Irnskar on this errand alone. But it was his responsibility, and the way Tifnar had been overseeing things ever more closely he was glad to get away from Idstil for a while.
The number of pedestrians slowed to a trickle as they came into sight of their destination, and the ordinariness of the street put him at ease. He'd imagined it situated in a rough part of the city. The respectability of the neighbourhood should make it less likely that mercenaries would be hanging around.
His relaxation lasted until Irnskar slowed their approach. Almost at a crawl, Irnskar glanced around and signalled two of his men ahead. They advanced, alert with hands on hilts. One approached the shop, the other the alley entrance just beyond.
The arrow hit the guard as he reached for the door, slamming him into it before he slumped, dead. The guard ahead spun, before turning back at the sound of boots. Three heavily armoured men emerged from the alley.
Irnskar shoved Sollvar back an instant before an arrow clawed at the wall near them. Panic seized him as the guard manhandled him away while shouting orders.
'Defensive retreat,' Irnskar called, before shouting. 'Ambush!'
They ran. More mercenaries emerged ahead, as the arrows kept falling. A glance back showed the forward guard holding the mercenaries back as he retreated. An arrow caught him in the leg, sending him stumbling, and the distraction cost his life.
Irnskar pulled Sollvar down an alley before they met the mercenaries ahead of them, and they moved as fast as Sollvar could keep up, the remaining guard in the rear.
Sounds of pursuit hounded them, and steel clashed ahead. The other guards still lived.
Movement on a rooftop barely registered before he was flung against the wall. An arrow growled past his head, catching the guard behind in the thigh. Irnskar kept them moving.
The next missile proved larger than an arrow, as the archer slammed into the alley behind them. Irnskar barely glanced back, dragging Sollvar along an intersecting alley.
Briefly free of immediate danger, he noticed a red patch on Irnskar's left arm, which the mercenary held tight to his side. An arrow? It didn't matter, and he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn’t do much of anything. He hoped the wound wasn't serious, or neither of them would escape. Admittedly that was a vague possibility.
The alley turned back towards the course the previous had taken, with no way but forward left to them. They could only hope to escape the trap before it fully closed. The mercenaries couldn't cover much more ground.
Blades clashed ahead. Irnskar didn't slow, but released his grip on Sollvar as they emerged from the alley.
Sollvar emerged more cautiously, with the occasional glance behind. There was no sign of pursuit. Ahead a few mercenaries had a guard backed against the far side of the street. The other guard lay not far away.
As Sollv
ar took this in, Irnskar crossed the street and took down the nearest couple with precise slashes. The distraction let the cornered guard dispatch the last ambusher, although the effort to pull his sword free indicated he was hurt.
The silence ahead let the footsteps behind crash into his consciousness, and Sollvar ran from the alley with a glimpse of armed men nearly on him. He fled towards his guardians, only to see more armed men approaching from beyond.
Irnskar pointed at the alley opposite the one they'd emerged from, and Sollvar made haste for it as they joined him. He'd gone a good thirty feet along the alley when the clash of swords drew his attention back. He didn't want to run too far ahead unless they were in serious danger. While there'd be little he could do, he wouldn't last long alone if these men were after him.
The pair held the entrance to the alley, although the enemy obviously had numbers.
One of the mercenaries fell. It did little to dissuade the others.
Sollvar glanced back along the alley, seeing only light daytime activity on the street ahead. Turning back found a less welcome sight, as a couple of mercenaries emerged from a side alley between him and his guardians. He hadn't noticed it in his flight. Their attention was on Irnskar and the other guard, and they moved towards them without a glance his way.
Barely thinking as fear tightened its grasp, Sollvar charged. He grabbed a piece of wood from a pile of rubbish in passing. The mercenaries were nearly on the guards while he was still a few strides away, so he roared a warning.
The mercenaries startled, spinning to face the immediate threat. The first one caught the makeshift weapon across his face as it shattered on impact. He fell, leaving Sollvar unarmed against the other one.
Irnskar spun from the battle, stabbing the mercenary before he could move, and quickly dispatching the prone one. This left him vulnerable, and he was turning back when the sword gouged a chunk out of his side, barely deflected by his leather. Stumbling against the wall, he barely blocked the next thrust.
The mercenaries were down to three, and not happy about it, especially with shouts for guards nearby. Sollvar had no way of knowing how soon the local guards would respond. The mercenaries didn't either, and didn't consider the continued battle worth the risk. They fled.
Irnskar and the guard collapsed against the sides of the alley, breathing heavily. Irnskar met Sollvar's gaze, gave a nod, and pushed himself off the wall. 'Let's get clear.'
'We're not waiting for the guards?' asked Sollvar. He was half-dragged by Irnskar, even as he supported him.
'Not without knowing who the mercenaries work for.'
'Our men...'
'Any still alive will be taken care of by the guards,' said Irnskar. 'They're marked as Alliance men, so they won't be treated as criminals.'
Emerging from the other end of the alley to some odd glances, Irnskar wasted no time hailing a carriage and getting them on their way back to the docks.
After a minute to catch their breaths, and as the guards examined their wounds, Sollvar's thoughts grow more coherent.
'Were those the mercenaries we were interested in?'
'Presumably,' said Irnskar.
'They knew we were coming?'
'They knew someone was coming. Probably us.'
'So someone who knew we were coming here is the traitor?'
'Could be. It looks like there's also someone here on our side.'
Sollvar offered a questioning glance.
'We got away,' said Irnskar.
'Barely. We weren't just lucky?'
'They were organised, yet left an exit clear. They had archers in place, but should also have had a couple of men to box us in. And someone killed the archer.'
'Any idea who?' asked Sollvar.
Irnskar shrugged, wincing slightly as he did. 'That's thinking. Let me know if you work anything out.'