Triple Strength

308. The Long Game: Tabitha

Two days later, we were waiting for a meeting with Londstrider. We were all here except Umreti, who was on danger watch and Lee, who was organising her own people. It was mid-morning, and we were in a half-filled warehouse. It was two stories high, with windows letting light in from the second story. Shadows came from the light hitting the stacks of crates. Some of the weatherboards were also cracked, letting in additional light. It was fairly run down, and the goods in the crates were cheap goods.

“I have never been in one,” I said when Wiremu asked me about the Radiant Sanctuaries. “I am not sure why. They just never felt right to me.”

“Do many people go?” he asked.

“All the important people. Some others.”

“What is with the spike towers and no windows?”

“Spike tower, singular, and I don’t know.”

“No, Spike Towers, plural. The second spike is drilled down into the ground. In fact, the building is the same underground as it is above. Mirrored, you might say.” Wiremu said.

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“You have never been curious?”

“To be honest, I have always actively avoided it and was seriously uncomfortable around the priests.” I thought about it and said, “I only got an affinity a couple of weeks before I left. I wonder if my Shadows always reacted against the light even before the affinity became a thing.”

“I would suspect so,” Wiremu said. “Does Nystad mean light?”

“The empire of light? Not in any language I know. As far as I know, Nystad was the name of the first emperor.”

“He had a light affinity?”

“Yes.”

“As have all the emperors after him?”

“... Yes, but they were not always the eldest.”

“That is strange when you consider it, is it not?” Wiremu asked.

“Yes. With affinities being so rare and not guaranteed. However, having one family with four generations of light affinity users consecutively is part of the reason they claim they are entitled to rule.”

“And I bet it has something to do with these Sanctuaries,” Wiremu said.

“The official story is the sanctuaries are the emperor's gift to the people.”

“Because emperors who promote slavery are so benevolent,” Wiremu said. “Are there a lot of these Sanctuaries?”

“Every major city.”

“Smaller cities and towns?”

“Roving priests and their guards visit regularly.”

“Interesting. I want to visit a Sanctuary,” Wiremu said.

“Go for it. Tell me all about it afterwards.” I had no desire to visit; in fact, I felt some revulsion at the thought.

“The Sanctuaries are irrelevant to your goal,” Longstrider said as he strode into the room, followed by Snake and an average-looking man I had not seen since I arrived. I had memories of him, though. This was Longstrider’s chief enforcer, Merciful Matt. He was of average height and weight. He looked unremarkable, although I noticed a new scar visible above the collar of his jacket.

“Longstrider, Snake, Matt,” I greeted them. “Ruku, Wiremu and Modrica, this is Matt, Longstrider’s Chief Enforcer, also known on the streets as Merciful Matt. He is known for putting people out of their misery.”

“More like they beg for mercy,” Matt said with an unsettling half-smile.

“Modrica here is my chief enforcer, known on the streets as Modrica the Merciless.”

Longstrider raised an eyebrow at that, and Modrica and Matt sized each other up.

“Why are the Sanctuaries irrelevant?” Wiremu asked.

“Because they have nothing to do with slavery. That is your goal, right?” Lonstrider said. “Besides, I am pretty sure the Sanctuaries are part of the Kingdom’s goal in inciting this war. Do you want to get involved in the war?”

“Not particularly,” Wiremu said.

“Then ignore the Sanctuaries. There is enough trouble to be had making a profit from freeing slaves and dodging Inquisitors.” Longstrider turned to look at me, “Or are you here to get involved with the war… Countess Auditor?”

“Now you are just clutching at straws, trying to get information out of me. I know your tricks,” I replied.

“I am impressed. I thought one of you would react to that and give it away. Stone-faced, the lot of you.”

“It will take much more than some random false accusation,” I said.

“Not convinced it is false. There are a lot of rumours circulating.”

“Let's get back to freeing slaves,” Wiremu said. “I have some ideas about raiding for a supply of Monster Cores in the city supply, but I need more information about the security.”

Longstrider just raised an eyebrow.

Wiremu continued, “The easiest for us would be to tunnel under the street to the lowest corner of the saferoom and drill a small hole through the Spiritual metal and see what is behind it. The edges and corners are usually least protected by enchantments. Then, there are several options depending on what we find. Are there any seismic detectors?”

Longstrider just looked at him silently for a while. I assume casually tunnelling under a hard-packed street was giving him something to think about. He is totally going to double-cross us.

“Yes, there are,” he said eventually. “There is also a ground scan enchantment that they run once a day. Behind the Spiritual Metal, and by the way, I haven't been able to find out what it is made of, there is a layer of flammable liquid. The level is checked regularly, and of course, heat will make the whole thing burst into flame. Then, there are layers to protect the inside from damage of all sorts of types.”

“External penetration is unlikely without being discovered,” Wiremu said.

“Yes.”

“Who has legal access and how?”

“You won’t get in and back out without being detected, and even if you do the weekly inspection will discover the theft. Then the city goes into lockdown, and the place is swarmed with troopers and trackers. That does not make for good business,” Longstrider said. “In fact, I will lose a lot of people if they sweep the town.”

Wiremu looked like he was going to say something when Longstrider continued, “What I don’t think you understand is that removing slavery from the empire is not a sudden thing. It will be a slow, gradual process taking decades, possibly centuries. We have a good money-making scheme, which I think will work despite those who will not make it through alive or unharmed. The risks are large, but the payments can be mitigated with quality information, and that promises to be a gold mine if we do it right. What we must avoid is the attention of the empire. If we don’t, this whole thing dies here.”

“Along with most of us,” said Matt.

“There will be no big heist,” Longstrider said, “Slow and without drawing attention is how it will proceed.”

“Some slaves will need to get out of the empire, and some will want to,” I said.

“We have ways already worked out with Lee to the Free Republic. We also have ways into the kingdom, but the war may disrupt that.” Longstrider said.

“I hope they are better than how you shoved me onto the first caravan that came through,” I said.

“I have much more reliable contacts now. Your journey worked out OK in the end,” he replied.

“Warren died,” I said flatly, and I may have pulsed my Intimidating Aura a bit at that. I still missed my brother.

Longstrider dipped his head in acknowledgement of that. That is all the apology I am going to get. At the end of the day, it was not his fault, and I had made mistakes that cost lives. A lot of lives. The bloody Bards are still singing about it.

“Here are two Monster cores to get you started,” Wiremu said.

“It is part of our starting funds for you. We expect the coin plus interest,” I added.

Just then, three of Umreti’s hornets arrived at one of the cracks in the weatherboard and worked their way in. Everybody in the room sensed them.

“Golden Hornets,” Matt muttered, and he and Snake drew weapons.

They flew straight to Modrica, landed on her arms and shoulders, and crawled around.

I saw Longstrider had not drawn a weapon and was looking at us and our lack of reaction. “They belong to you?” He asked Modrica.

“They do,” I replied, knowing Modrica would just ignore him.

“They have been spotted around the city. The Guards are looking for the hive. Nobody wants a hive near the city,” he said.

Modrica just growled, extracted a small piece of paper from each of them, and handed them to me. The Hornets kept crawling over her. Matt and Snake did not put down their weapons.

I read the papers, “We have a problem. Cooper is about to raid our warehouse with five squads geared with monster-killing weapons.”

“She is probably looking for the hive, and you brought many strange creatures into the city,” Longstrider said. “She is probably wary of the Dire Bear getting loose.”

“Or she is going to kill it anyway,” Wiremu said.

“As long as the hive is not there, she will probably leave after searching,” Longstrider said.

“No, she won’t. She will know straight away things are not right,” I said.

“The hive is not there, right?” Longstrider asked.

“No, but neither is the Dire bear.”