Rattus Rex

Chapter 50 - Deception (1)

Heston sat for a while longer and stewed over his ale, brooding as if he had just lost a fortune in a devastating gambling debt, and was thinking on the kind of bet he’d have to make in order to recover his losses. When he was almost finished with his first serving, a man bumped into his chair.

Apologizing with a half-hearted mumble, the man soon moved on, leaving only a key behind in Heston’s pocket. Finishing his drink, without being too obvious about it, Heston gave the room a quick glance before deciding no one was paying attention to him, and got up.

He walked past some half-drunk townsfolk, up the stairs beside the counter, and arrived on the first floor. Passing the door the innkeeper had assigned him, he made it down the row of portals until he arrived at the last on the right, where he knocked three times—pausing briefly between the second and third knock.

There was a moment of silence, then the door was silently opened to a crack. Within, Heston saw the distinct gleam of an eye, staring out at him with suspicion.

“Who are you?” A hoarse croak came from within.

“I’m here to deal with your pest problem,” Heston responded, as he had been instructed to.

“Who sent you?” The eye narrowed, suspicion lingering.

“The master of Glokwin.” Heston said, sighing slightly with irritation at having to go through this charade. The estate of Glokwin was a minor holding of general Firande; something only few people knew of.

The door swung violently inward, and a bony hand reached out to grasp Heston by the collar and drag him inside, quickly slamming the portal behind them. Staggering to regain his balance, Heston turned around to face a small man with a strangely canine face—cheeks sagging, eyes drooping, and a perpetual chewing motion to his scowl.

Before Heston could give him a piece of his mind—about being dragged into rooms in a over-the-top and suspicious manner—the man fell onto his knees before him, staring up with obvious fear marring his features.

“Tell me your going to get me out of here! Please!”

“I—” Heston furrowed his brow and kicked the man off his leg, backing two paces, “That’s the point of me being here. Is something wrong?”

“It’s mad… It’s all mad,” the man held his head, body shaking like a leaf, “They killed them… one by one… you know?”

“Know what? What are you talking about, man?”

“The Undergrowth…” he hissed, teeth bared, “They took most of my men, one by one. Left a note each time, reminding me to bring the goods. They’re mad!”

“Wait… they killed your people? Why didn’t they just kill you and take it?” Heston only realized how the man probably was not in the best state of mind to answer that question.

“I’ve got it locked away with a life lock,” the man said, “I die, the item is lost. Please, let me give it to them—I just want this to be over with!”

“Be patient!” Heston growled, grabbing the man by the collar, “Tell me why they started killing your men.”

“Because we kept delaying—waiting for you!”

Heston put the man down and sighed. From what the general had said, the Undergrowth was a ruthless organization with little scruples or patience. It made sense that they would take exception to waiting; but to think they would immediately resort to murder… This was worse than he thought.

“Well, we’re here now. Have they made any demands of you?”

“They’ve set a time for tomorrow at midnight. They said it was our last chance…”

Heston nodded and said, “Alright. It’s not a lot of time, but it is within expectations. What’s the location?”

“I don’t know,” the man wailed, “They’ll only tell us two hours before we have to set off.”

Thinking fast, Heston paced back and forth for a bit, before he turned to the man and said, “Then we do this: tomorrow, as soon as you know the location, you’ll send messengers down all major roads, bearing the message that you will soon be wrapping up your work here, and be available for business elsewhere.”

“But.. Why?”

“You’ll add a date on which you might arrive in other locations, following this scheme,” Heston took out a note from his inner pocket and handed it to the man, who received it with shaking hands, “I need you to memorize it an burn it right here.”

The man nodded with understanding, eyes scanning the document. Then he walked over to a nearby candle and turned the parchment into ash.

“That code should give us some forewarning about your heading, after which we use this.” He took out a pouch from his belt and handed it to the man. Opening it, the man revealed the contents as an assembly of pebbles.

“Drop one every 500 paces, and it will allow our magi to lead us right to you. Until we’re in position, you just have to keep them busy.”

“Wait… You’re not coming?” The man looked up, his eyes now strangely reminiscent of a puppy’s.

“No,” Heston said, shaking his head, “I have to leave tomorrow morning, or I’ll blow my cover. I’ll be there when they come for you—you have my word.”

“I—” The man looked lost, abandoned. With buckling knees, he sat down on the bedding and looked into the far distance. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“You must,” Heston said, kneeling down before the man and trying to impose upon him the same kind of weight that the general had done, “We cannot fail.”

—————

Waiting in a nearby alleyway, the lady Mina lazily fanned her face, as she looked upon the approaching shadow, coming from the inn’s stable. The small stature slowly expanded, until it took on its full adolescent shape. Yellow eyes peered out from beneath a dirty cap, which he soon removed and threw off to the side.

Her master—the idea of it still filling her with both excitement and dread—stepped out into the semblance of light flashing her a silvery grin.

“Well?” She said, snapping her fan shut, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Halifax eyed her with a strange gleam in his eye. She shuddered beneath his unearthly gaze.

“No, the saddlebags on that horse only contained standard supplies for travel,” he admitted while shaking his hair, which he had allowed to grow long over the past five years. After being thrown out of his home, he had rarely worn a cowl in front of the family leaders, as he had done in the beginning, although he still wore different faces when it suited him.

It left the very distinguishing white lock above his right eye—which now had become a line, running from his forehead to the back of his head, where he tied it with a piece of black string—utterly exposed.

At first, lady Mina had thought it a sign of carelessness, once she had learned of who he really was. Now, however, she understood it as both a sign of favor and a warning. A favor, shown only to his closest allies, so that they might have a way of recognizing him in spite of his many disguises; and a warning that they knew too much to ever be allowed to back out of his influence.

They would all either live with him, or die if they crossed him.

Stomping the ground, and shaking his hand—where a distinct red mark on his hand implied a set of teeth had recently found purchase there—Halifax said, “And that horse of his has a rather nasty temper… What was its name again… Spit? I’m pretty sure it remembers me, the damn beast.”

Suppressing a chuckle, lady Mina hid her smile behind her fan. Seeing this, Halifax eyed her suspiciously and asked, “What of you, Minera? Did you succeed?”

Straightening, she gave a graceful nod. “Of course. He is marked by my shadow, as per your instructions.”

“So, what’s he doing now?”

“He has entered a room at the inn, and I sense another presence with him there. Presumably, it’s that pathetic little man they’ve got fronting this operation. Do you want me to listen in on what they’re saying?”

Halifax shook his head. “No, that’ll just waste your shadow. Keep it submerged for now; I’m sure Heston is going to lead us straight to their camp. Once there, it’ll be a lot more useful in gathering information. I’ve also left a little present of my own in those saddlebags which might come in handy, but let’s keep our options open for now.”

“Understood, Master,” she said, tilting her head.

“Exciting, isn’t it?” He grinned, looking back over his shoulder at the inn, “Our opponents are ever so careful, enough so that our usual little tricks doesn’t work at all. I’m sure Firande instructed my brother to excruciating detail… That man is more meticulous than a monk in a tavern.”

“Then why did you even waste time trying ?” She said, unable to stop her curiosity. Master Halifax was strangely private at times about his thoughts, but he was often willing to share much of the madness behind his method.

“Because,” he said, looking at her with a gaze that made her mouth dry, “Only fools think themselves infallible, but only an i***t think others incapable of foolishness.”

“It’s strange to hear wisdom come out of the mouth of a fourteen-year-old,” she remarked, knowing she was approaching thin ice. Though she had tried to pry out information on how he had become the way he was, despite his seemingly fortunate upbringing, he was always quick to shut her down.

“Oh Minera,” Halifax chuckled as he put on the waistcoat she had prepared for him, “You must be close to figuring out how to kill me, if you’re bringing that up in the open…”

“No! I just—” Inside her, where Halifax’s powers fueled the darkness that would otherwise consume her, she felt the influence he had over him—the hold she could never break. She was enslaved to this monster for the rest of her life. Indeed, she had become a monster herself just to survive.

He looked at her, expectantly. His yellow eyes bored into hers, and she thought he could see all the ugliness that was inside her. He could see it, and he understood it. He understood it and he accepted it.

I just want you to rely on me, she thought, but did not say. She knew that speaking such words would only arouse his suspicion. Finally, she simply looked down.

“In any case,” he said, sweeping past her, “Have they all arrived?”

“Yes. They’re waiting as instructed.”

“Good.” His teeth flashed in the afternoon light of day, stretched into a wide grin, “Let’s go see some old faces”