The Brat's Final Gambit

As soon as Maerillus’s home came into view, Niam and Davin sped up until they were in front of the old servant that had led them to Kreeth’s meeting place. Niam walked close behind him much of the way. Ever since they had chanced across Mayor Braun, Niam had wanted to see if he was able to sense whether or not Kreeth’s sorcery remained on his victims. If Braun had been telling the truth and had indeed stopped using the dark art, Niam had still sensed it surrounding the man like a faintly unpleasant odor.

“Stop him,” he told Davin quietly. “I don’t think it will waken him if you are gentle, and I need him standing still for a few moments so I can test an idea.” Davin placed his hands gently on each of the man’s shoulders. “There,” he said once the man was still. Niam stepped in close to the man.

Nothing.

Well . . . maybe something.

No. It was just gas.

“Something crawled up in you and died, did it?” Davin complained beside him, and then asked, “What are you trying to do?”

“I thought if I got close enough maybe I could sense the sorcery used on him,” Niam told him as the servant shuffled forward again.

“Are you trying to use your abilities?”

Niam looked at Davin as if he had just asked him if water were wet. “I was standing close to him, wasn’t I?”

“I mean use your abilities,” Davin said, explaining, “We all have abilities that just come to us and stay. Like Maerillus. He’s got to think about being seen to allow someone to see him from a distance. He’s got to think about making one of us hard to see when we’re near him. I’m quicker and stronger without having to think about it. But if I want to do something truly amazing, I’ve got to tap into the source of my powers.”

Niam felt his eyes widen, and he hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I never thought to try it out. I just assumed it was different with me.”

Niam felt like an idiot. The obvious had been there right in front of him all of this time and he hadn’t connected the fact that his friends had been developing some control over their abilities to his own situation.

Niam knew he had to try out his idea, so he caught up with the servant and had Davin stop the poor fellow again. Standing on the lawn by the servants’ wing of the Sartor manor, Niam raised his hands and slowly moved them around the man. All he felt was the crisp bite of the early morning air. He dropped his hands and looked at them like a blacksmith looked at a broken tool. Proximity wasn’t going to work. Nor was trying to check by using his hands and focusing on using his sense of touch. Maybe there was a reason he couldn’t sense the sorcery he had seen with his own eyes worked on this man.

“Maybe I can only tell if someone has used it,” Niam said to himself, but then shook his head. “No, because I can feel it after someone has used it and the person isn’t around anymore.”

“That means you ought to be able to sense it on him,” Davin said.

Niam just stood there letting thoughts run though his mind, then rejecting each one as it came. Davin shifted his stance, and the noise he made drew Niam out of his inner ramblings. “I just don’t think it’s going to work,” Niam said at last. He was about to tell Davin that he would try later, his stomach began to rumble, and then the answer occurred to him.

“I think I’ve figured it out,” he told Davin.

Niam realized that he ought to stick to past experiences as his guide. Sorcery made him feel ill. When he had known that Kreeth was ahead of them as they followed Sartor’s servant, the feeling had been like a stomachache that had moved outside of his body. No sooner had the thought occurred to him than Niam slowly became aware of an aching sense of wrongness in front of him. He felt a smile slowly spread across his face. If he shifted his sense of sickness outside of his body, maybe he might be able to control the headaches and sour stomachs that sorcery always caused him. It also meant he might be able to become aware of a sorcerer before one ever got close to him. Niam looked over at Davin. With the smile still on his lips, he said,“ I figured it out.”

Davin sat there for one long moment, the gave Niam an impatient prompt, “AND?”

Niam looked up. “Oh, yeah. He, um, has it. There’s an imprint of Kreeth’s sorcery on him. It’s very faint, but I can feel it. I almost have to imagine I’m two places at once—or at least, the part of me that gets sick around sorcery is. That’s how I feel it. Or a part of me that’s there and not there at the same time feels it.”

Davin just made a face. “Way too complicated for me.”

Niam raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders. “Welcome to my world. Now I need to do this,” he said, and reached up to grab the old man’s shoulder. He shook him gently, and loudly said, “Hey! You sleepwalking or something? Hey! Wake up!”

The man they had followed looked around, dazed, as consciousness returned to his eyes. “I—I must have just . . .,” he began to stutter, then looked around realizing he had no idea what was happening or why he was standing outside.

“It’s okay, sir,” Niam said jovially. “My uncle used to sleepwalk sometimes, too.”

As the old servant attempted to gather his wits, he mumbled, “Um, yes. Well then. I haven’t—” but had to stop as he began swaying on his feet.

“Oh my,” Niam cried in alarm. “Davin!” Niam moved in to steady the man by grabbing an arm.

Davin got ahold of him by the other side. “You must have really been sleeping hard,” he said, playing along.

“Good thing we came by,” Niam said, helping keep the man upright. “We’re running an errand for Lord Joachim’s butler.”

“Falion? I know Falion,” the gentleman grumbled, becoming more alert as they talked. With a shake of his head he looked around, awake for the first time. “What’s going on here? What’s this about Falion?”

“I’d rather not say.” Niam dropped his voice and told the man, “It’s rather embarrassing. A visitor at Lord Joachim’s residence lost his wife’s Sapphire necklace in a bit of a bet. He overheard his wife telling Betsy at the trade conference where she had purchased it, and wants to know if Betsy remembers so he can buy a replacement.”

“Yes,” Davin jumped in. “We were wondering how we were going to find Betsy when we came across you. Good thing, too.”

Niam said, “That’s right. Falion told us this only because there’s a man’s newlywed happiness on the line, if you know what I mean.”

“Utmost discretion,” Davin told him soberly.

“Absolute secrecy,” Niam echoed.

“I’m sure you’ll understand, sir,” Davin said, confidingly.

“When we saw you, I told my friend, ‘this fellow’s the man to help us.’”

“Right,” Davin said.

“You will help us, won’t you?” Niam asked. “A man should never suffer an upset household because of a gentleman’s wager.”

By now, they were almost at the Sartor manor, and the servant muttered in a sleepy voice, “I suppose not.”

“Good!” Niam said. “Then you’ll just point us the way, and we’ll let you get back to bed, sir!”

The door to Betsy’s room opened after the fifth knock. Davin fiddled with his fingers nervously as the young maid stuck her head out and eyed the two of them through groggy eyes. Davin was immediately struck by why Maerillus had been so attracted to her. She had a petite, lithe frame and skin so pale it reminded Davin of alabaster. A scarf held her thick blond hair back, which showed off two large, luminous blue eyes. There was something young about them, a quality not of youth, but of the kind of perpetual youth that remained with some women no matter how old they were. Davin could easily imagine how any man might lose himself in her sweetly innocent gaze. Maerillus never seemed to be able to shut up about how her hair, casually pulled back, left him breathless.

The girl’s eyes, however, were ringed with swollen, red circles and appeared deeply recessed from prolonged sickness. As she opened her door wider, Davin became aware that her cheeks held an unhealthy blush.

Niam cleared his throat nervously. Davin knew that sound very well. Pretty girls always made Niam act . . . well . . . bizarre. Normally, around girls he just made a joke nobody found amusing and wandered off after a long, drawn out, and uncomfortable silence. The sound of Niam’s discomfort brought Davin out of his reverie. When he realized he was gaping at Betsy, he felt ashamed of himself. “Can we talk to you?” Davin blurted out almost too quickly.

Betsy looked at the two of them, and Davin caught a flicker of recognition flash across her face. She looked as if she were about to say something important; but as soon as the look was there, it was gone. Another expression replaced it that seemed alien and definitely out of place on the girl that had just answered the door.

“Oh my,” she said, slowly running her eyes appraisingly up and down the two of them. “I’m sure we could find you a place in here.”

Davin shot Niam a warning glance as Betsy stepped back to invite them in. As she did so, she allowed the robe she wore to fall open enough to partially reveal a soft swell of a breast. She rested herself slightly on one foot, and Davin couldn’t help but notice her bare knee stuck out and that he had a clear view of the soft, smooth skin of her inner thigh. Davin quickly looked up and noticed Betsy watching him with a wicked smile. Her lips were parted suggestively and she touched her upper lip with the tip of her tongue. The air in the room suddenly seemed to drop. As Davin exhaled, he noticed his breath as a misty vapor in the air. Niam elbowed Davin, and they both raised their eyebrows. Everything that happened next happened within the space of a few seconds.

As Davin walked into the room, he gave Betsy as wide a berth as possible. Behind him, Niam followed. Davin heard him stop and then let out a surprised noise. Betsy shrieked without warning. Her eyes narrowed into slits and her mouth contorted into a silent snarl of rage. Niam pushed Davin aside and lunged forward. “Grab her!” he cried out in alarm.

Davin spun completely around and nearly stopped short by what he saw. Betsy crouched down with her fingers clenched in fists of rage. Her eyes blazed with hatred so deep that they now held an almost reptilian savagery. Niam struggled to keep her hands from raking his arms with her fingernails while she cursed and spat obscenities. “You could have had me,” she hissed. “You could have rutted with me like hogs in a sty! I hate you! I hate you! You’re both eunuchs. Piss on you both!”

What shocked Davin the most was that the voice he heard was not the voice of the girl he had known before. The hackles on the back of his neck stood up. The air in the room was now frigid. Davin took ahold of her arms, and Betsy broke Niam’s grip and knocked Davin back with a powerful swipe of her arm.

Davin sprung toward her and slipped behind her writhing form.

“I need to get my hands on her for just a minute,” Niam panted as he struggled with her, trying to keep her from raking his eyes with her fingertips.

While her attention was directed toward Niam, Davin quickly closed with her, wrapping his arms around her and pinning her against her own bed. Beneath him, Betsy bucked and twisted violently. Her strength was incredible. “Mount me!” she spat. “Go on! Take it! I know you want it!” Betsy gyrated beneath Davin’s weight. He ignored the feel of her body slipping against his. As Niam closed his hands around her again, she taunted him. “You can close your eyes and think of your sister,” she crooned. “I know your brother liked it,” she said viciously.

Niam’s eyes were shut tightly as he concentrated. Betsy’s body began shaking, and she cried out in terror like a wounded animal. “No! No! Stop that! Pull this sow’s robe up and—”

Suddenly she froze. Niam bore all of his weight against her as he forced her down into the fabric of the mattress. Betsy held her head back and let out a silent howl of agony.

Without warning, her arms shot out straight, where they remained, stiff and trembling. Davin felt an immediate release of pressure in the air as Betsy’s body went limp and still. The temperature in the room quickly returned to normal.

Niam let go of her and stood up straight, looking around as if he was afraid something was going to leap out from the shadows. Davin continued to hold onto her, but her body remained motionless.

“You can let go of her now,” Niam told him, exhausted from the ordeal.

Warily, Davin unwound his arms from her prone form. “WHAT was THAT all about?” he asked, nearly dumbstruck.

Niam shook his head. “I could sense Kreeth’s sorcery when she opened the door. But Davin, there was something else there.”

Davin watched as his friend spoke. Niam began shaking visibly. “What do you mean something else?”

With some effort, Niam swallowed, gathering himself before going on. “At first it was like the door in Kreeth’s basement—only instead of seeing the flows of power at work, I felt them. With Betsy it was much stronger than with the old guy. When I got next to her, I felt…”

“What?” Davin asked softly.

Niam looked up at him and there was fear in his eyes. “Recognized,” he whispered. “I didn’t even know what I was doing until I was holding onto her.” Niam stopped to wipe a trickle of sweat from his brow before it trailed down from his hairline into his eyes. “This is hard to explain, but I knew that I had to unhook whatever it was that was bound to Betsy. That’s what I did.”

“Will she be okay?” Davin asked, worried.

“I hope so,” Niam said. Then a look of revulsion spread across his face. “This was bad, what he did to her. Terrible.”

Davin knew that what Niam had experienced must have been indescribable. “That looked almost like you . . . well, you know . . . like it was a demon.”

Niam nodded his head. “It felt like that, too. But this wasn’t an exorcism. It was something else. As soon as I separated the presence I felt from Kreeth’s sorcery, the thing was snapped away—like cutting a tight rope. The sorcery was the rope.”

On the mattress, Betsy began to stir. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around, confused. “What’s happened to me,” she asked in a tired, weak voice as she noticed two young men looking down at her with obvious concern in their eyes.

“We were worried about you,” Davin started to explain, but then thought better of it and added, “Well, Maerillus was the one who was really concerned. So we came over to check on you.”

Betsy’s eyes lit up at the mention of Maerillus. “Where is he? Why isn’t he here?”

“Don’t you remember?” Davin asked.

“Remember what?” she asked, an edge of fear creeping into her voice.

“He’s recovering at Lord Joachim’s estate.”

Betsy struggled weakly to sit up. Tears began welling in her eyes. “What’s going on? What’s happened?’

“He’s okay,” Niam told her as he sat on the opposite side of the bed. “He just injured his leg is all.”

“I feel terrible,” she said.

Davin could tell this wasn’t going the way he would have wanted it to go. Betsy was so frightened that her voice cracked. “Betsy,” he said gently, “we’re going to start over. We think you’ve been sick with the nods. What do you remember?”

Betsy pulled her robe around her body and tucked her legs in tightly. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and Davin’s heart ached to see her so frail. She looked lost and alone.

“I remember—not much. Work. I remember going to town. I remember—” And here she stopped as Davin watched the memory of something unpleasant cross her face.

Softly, Betsy began to cry. “I was somewhere in the woods. I remember that awful man. He . . . he . . . I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just don’t remember much of what happened.”

Niam placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. A lot of people have had bad experiences because of him.”

“That’s right,” Davin said. “You’re not alone.”

Betsy wiped her nose. “You promise?”

“Absolutely,” Niam told her.

“Will you come with us?” Davin asked softly.

Betsy looked up uncertainly. “Where?”

“Where you can rest and get better,” Niam said.

Betsy looked up at both of them and tried very hard to give them a brave smile. Holding out an arm, she asked, “Can you help me?”

“Absolutely,” Davin said, helping her up. As they walked her to Guias Sartor’s office to request a carriage, Davin wondered how he was going to keep out of trouble with Lord Joachim now.