Kushiel's Mercy

the few items of clothing I’d brought on my flight lay the rest. My sword and dagger, my rhinoceros-hide sword-belt, shiny with wear. A purse with nothing in it but a polished stone with a hole in the middle that I carried for luck and remembrance. My eyes stung. “Kratos, my friend, it seems I’m not who I thought I was.”
    “Oh?” Kratos rubbed his stubbled chin. “Who are you, then?”
    “Imriel,” I said, withdrawing the vambraces Dorelei had given me, engraved with the image of the Black Boar of the Cullach Gorrym. A golden torc. “Imriel nó Montrève de la Courcel.”
    Kratos stared. “Has he lost his wits?” he asked Sunjata.
    “No,” Sunjata said. “Found them.”
    I stood and drew my sword. It rang faintly. It was a well-tempered blade, longer and heavier than anything Leander Maignard had owned. I moved softly through the first few forms of the hours. “Sunjata, how much of Leander’s attire must I wear to preserve the semblance?”
    “At a guess?” He shrugged. “The more you can manage, the better. Once someone’s seen you as Leander, they won’t unsee you, not unless you remove everything of his. But I wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.”
    “All right.” I sheathed the blade. Kratos was still gaping at me. “Is that why you came back?” I asked Sunjata. “For this moment?”
    “Yes,” he said quietly. “I owed you that much.”
    I nodded. “You should go now, Sunjata. I’m going to have to act quickly. And I’ll need Captain Deimos’ ship. Can you arrange passage back to Carthage elsewhere?”
    “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Yes, there are ships carrying information and supplies between old Carthage and new. It should be no trouble.”
    “Good.” I turned to Kratos. “My friend, you ought to go with him. I’ll give you money to book passage to Cythera from thence.” I smiled. “I suspect my lady mother will find you a joy and a delight the likes of which she hasn’t known since a clever and fearless fellow named Canis was in her service.”
    Kratos closed his mouth with an audible click, then blinked a few times. “Why are you dismissing me, my lord?” he asked in bewilderment.
    I laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been a better ally than I could ever have dreamed.
    I ask for no more. The risks I’ve taken thus far are nothing compared to the ones I mean to take.”
    “Huh.” Kratos scratched his chin again. “That’s some well-sounding noble folly, my lord.
    You prepared to risk yon golden-haired princess’ life for it?”
    I hesitated.
    “Didn’t think so.” A complacent smile spread over his homely features. “By all the gods, why shouldn’t I stay? Whoever you are, you’re an interesting fellow. What do you need me to do?”
    “You’re sure of this?” I asked in a hard voice.
    Kratos’ heavy shoulders moved in a shrug. “I said it, didn’t I?”
    I paced the room, thinking. “More than anything, I need a way out of the palace that’s lightly guarded. Do you reckon you might find one?”
    He laughed. “Oh, aye! I reckon.”
    I closed my eyes briefly, thinking back on that day in the slave-market. The Aragonian boy with the curly hair and the stricken face. So much depended on this: his life, the lives of so many others. Not just mine, not just Sidonie’s. More than the fate of even Terre d’Ange hung in the balance. Blessed Elua had guided my hand—or Leander’s—the day I’d chosen Kratos. And he was right. If I didn’t want to bring this all crashing down on our heads, I couldn’t afford to be soft-hearted.
    “My thanks, Kratos,” I said. An unexpected yawn overtook me. “I need to take a few hours of sleep. Will you wake me around midday?”
    “Will you explain all this when I do?” he retorted.
    “I will,” I promised.
    With that, I took to my own chamber and fell onto the bed, exhausted in mind and body alike. I fell asleep almost instantly and slept like the dead until Kratos shook me awake. It felt like no time at all had passed, but the room was filled with afternoon sunlight.
    “It’s later than I asked,” I commented, shaking myself awake.
    “Aye.” Kratos’ face was grave. “I reckoned you needed it. And the eunuch saved you some time. He explained it all to me.” He gave a short, wondering laugh. “Never thought to find myself living something out of a bard’s tale.”
    “No?” I rubbed my eyes. “Well, let’s just hope we live to hear the end of it, my friend.”
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