Passion Play (River of Souls 1)

And if I do not, he will die.

That decided her. “I’ll go,” she said. Her voice came out thick and uncertain. She swallowed hard and tried again. “I’ll go after Lord Dedrick. If nothing else, I can delay him until Lord Kosenmark’s guards fetch him to safety.”

She ran to the practice courtyard. Ault took in her urgent manner with a single intent glance. “Trouble?” he asked. “I heard you sent out the guards.”

“More than trouble,” she said, pulling out a knife at random.

Ault laid a hand over her wrist. “Not that one. Not for what you’re doing.”

She stared at him. “You know?”

“No. And I don’t want to know. But I can guess any number of reasons why you sent out the guards. And why Lord Dedrick was shouting. And why both Ferenz and Gerrit were cursing him roundly. Here, let me help you.”

Under his swift attendance, Ilse soon found herself wearing wrist guards and a mail vest. He strapped one knife sheath around her arm. A second sheath slid into her boots. The knives were longer than she used for practice, and their blades were steel, not wood. Ault nodded when she had done. “Remember your drills,” he said softly.

Ilse took off at a fast run. After all her errands this past winter and spring, she knew the fastest route to Hansenau Square. She hoped she didn’t have to run that far. Just far enough to overtake Lord Dedrick. Just fast enough that she could delay him long enough for the guards to reach Lord Kosenmark first.

Six routes to any room in the pleasure house. With the city, you multiplied that number by a thousand. Her one hope was that only two main streets opened into Hansenau Square. One came from the city’s southeast quadrant. One avenue led directly from the bridge that connected the north and south halves. There might be dozens of alleys, but most ended in courtyards or the back walls of another building.

She sped through the market square, where vendors were closing their stalls. Past the Little University, called that because so many failed scholars lived in the neighborhood. Down a shadowy alleyway and its smelly taverns and wine shops. Someone hailed her, but Ilse did not stop. She slowed only when she came into view of the city patrols at the next square. They might question why she was running, why she had so many weapons about her person.

She ducked down to the footpath beside the river and ran as fast as she could. A stitch burned in her side before she reached the bridge. There ahead, she saw Lord Dedrick, just crossing over. She pounded after him, ignoring the stitch in her side.

He saw her then and took off at a run. Cursing, Ilse chased after him. They led a game through the next mile, he dodging and hiding, she trying to circle around him. But Lord Dedrick was not nearly as winded as she, and he kept ahead of her. The light was failing by this time. If she didn’t overtake him soon, she might lose him in the twilight.

They had come into the counting house district, a few neighborhoods away from Hansenau Square. Tall faceless buildings lined both sides of the empty streets. Ilse slowed, wary and nervous in the silence. Where had Dedrick disappeared?

Then she heard a noise that sent a chill through her.

Metal crashing against metal. A loud voice—the guard captain’s—calling out orders.

The next moment, Dedrick came stumbling around the corner. He sighted Ilse and dragged her back until they were pressed into a narrow alcove beside one doorway. “How many guards did Raul take with him?”

“A squad,” she said.

His face went ashen. “Not enough.”

“Why? Did you see how many Khandarr sent?”

“Twenty. Thirty. It was hard to count.”

“What about the two squads we sent?” That would make twenty guards.

But Dedrick was shaking his head. “I only saw one, and they were on foot.”

Dear gods. It would be a slaughter. “Come with me,” she said. “We have to find the watch.”

“There’s no time,” Dedrick said. “I have a better idea.”

He darted across the street to the next building, where an open stairway climbed its walls to the roof. Ilse hesitated, then climbed after him, wondering what he meant to do. When she reached the roof, she saw that he had sprinted ahead to the building’s edge. There, a walkway led over the streets to the next building.

Dedrick crossed over, with Ilse a few steps behind him. She gave one glance to the skirmish directly below—a seething noisy mass of people that seemed more of a mob than two sets of fighters—then ran to catch up with Dedrick. “That was the main group,” he said in a low voice. “There have to be more. Khandarr wouldn’t leave things to chance.”

It was then she realized that none of the fighters were mounted. “I sent two squads, one mounted. What happened to them?”

“Don’t know. But I have an idea. Quick. Come with me.”

They crossed six more streets. Ahead lay an open area—Hansenau Square. Dedrick swung over the edge and started down a ladder.