Chapter Twelve: Zenith
On the day child's light told me what the other merchants planned to do, I started to have doubts about my own plans with the aristocrats. As long as child's light had kept the merchants' bloodlust from me I could excuse my double-crossing as necessary. Once he told me about them, however, I began to feel I ought to return the favor and tell him about my activities. Unfortunately, it took me hours to realize this, and by then I had had plenty of times to think of reasons not to tell him, the most important of which was that he was likely to expose me as a traitor. I, of course, did not believe myself to be a traitor, but I knew I was likely to be the only one who held that viewpoint.
Once again I stood on the wall with child's light and little spider, waiting for the signal that would start the whole plan in motion. A small army was due to arrive to protect the aristocrats, and although the merchants didn't know this yet, to retake the city. Child's light was in charge of starting a riot in the square we were overlooking to delay the foreign army while others launched an assault on the aristocrats' homes. Little spider was, of course, instrumental in child's light's plans. I was supposed to be in charge of warning anyone and everyone if our plans went to hell. My real plans were a bit sketchy, but the aristocrats had been warned so my only real obligation as I saw it was to give a list of names to chastity once the action started. I was hoping to save as many lives as possible that day, which was why the foreign army was being delayed instead of outright attacked.
"Today will be bloody," little spider said, gesturing with his chin to the east.
"That's superstition," I said, sounding authoritative but not feeling very confident.
"It's a spectacular sunrise, even if it is inauspicious," child's light said.
"I don't trust in auspices. How you interpret them is rarely how they ought to be interpreted. Better simply to think ahead and let hindsight be your interpreter."
Little spider smirked at me. "You would ignore the signs even if the gods themselves came down to interpret them for you."
I smirked back. "And you would let the bowel movements of reptiles tell you how to run your life."
Child's light stepped in, even though there was no real need. "We already know blood will be shed this day. Let us just hope it is not ours."
I suddenly felt chill, even though it was a balmy day already. I was afraid to speak my mind, so instead I said, "If it all goes to hell you and I meet at west's house tonight, right?"
Child's light nodded. "It won't go to hell," he said, although that wasn't what I needed reassurance about.
"Just stay alive."
"Thanks for your concern," little spider cut in, obviously annoyed at being left out of the conversation.
My sardonic mask felt uncomfortable, but I didn't want either of them to see how truly frightened I was for their lives. "We know you'll be fine, spider. You always are." And he probably would be. But child's light was going to be a hunted man after tonight, I had seen to that.
Before little spider or child's light could contradict me, we saw the candle being placed in the upper window of the home at the corner of the road. Time to move.
I now have two prisoners and not a clue what to do with either of them. The immortal I guess I'll turn back over to Rji at the park, but I still don't know what to do with the Frenchman, and the immortal is proving to be a difficult prisoner to keep.
"Why do we have to leave? I thought you wanted a confrontation," Pao says.
"I want a private confrontation, and I think we've done enough damage to Lucia's property as it is. Besides, there's more than one enemy that knows we're here."
Lucia, to my surprise, agrees with me. "Aiar's right. It's better to meet in neutral territory, especially when you can't properly defend your territory." I thought she'd resent me calling all the shots and (seemingly) assuming she and her student would go along with it.
"What are we going to do with them?" Frank asks, gesturing at the prisoners. He's been questioning all my ideas, but I can't quite figure out why. Maybe Tiresias' words are coming back to him, or maybe it was Radha calling me a murderer, or both.
I shrug. "Take them with."
Pao still isn't satisfied. "But we're just going to go someplace else to meet them. Why not save ourselves the trouble and let them come here? They can't plan an attack any quicker than we can plan a defense."
Before I can say anything, Lucia defends me again. "If we stay in one place for too long, we make ourselves vulnerable to a wider variety of tricks and traps than if we move. We won't know when they're coming if we stay. It won't take Radha too long to find her way back to Rji, and then they'll be able to attack us at their leisure. A prearranged time and place give us both the same amount of time to scout it out and prepare for the other to scout it out, as well. They can still lay a trap, but it's more difficult and they don't know if it's watched."
"Why don't you meet them there, Aiar, and we'll find somewhere safe to lay low?" Frank asks.
That's harder to answer. "You're safer with me," I say simply, hoping he won't argue. It would be true under normal circumstances, but my main concern is that I don't want them captured and used against me.
Frank opens his mouth to argue the point, but Ben of all people intercedes. "We should stay together." Pao nods emphatically, but her primary concern is protecting me, while Ben's more worried about losing me all over again.
"Come on," I say, gathering the last of the sniper's equipment. I don't want to get into this argument, especially not right now. Lucia, Christian, Pao, and Ben follow me without question, so Frank has no choice but to follow. Pao and Ben have taken charge of the sniper, which at the moment means keeping him awake long enough to get to the car. Pao keeps her gun out just in case he's faking how much pain he's in. Lucia and I take care of the struggling immortal, whose name I believe is Diya. He hasn't said a word to us except a few curses, but I'm not in the mood for banter anyway.
As we move to the cars, I glance around for watchful eyes. The thought that Army Intelligence might be targeting me is much more disconcerting than the mob. The mob may have eyes and ears just about everywhere, but the Army has some hefty technology on their side that I don't exactly have the time or resources to evade in present company. On my own it wouldn't be a problem, but in addition to my significant entourage I have two prisoners to worry about.
Wishing I had time to get on a computer, I wonder if I should waste my time, thoughts, and cell phone minutes on finding out who really hired that sniper. But in all probability it is a moot point. Although, I have to wonder if this is somehow connected to Tiresias. It's not his MO to just show up once. I may have thrown him temporarily by leaving New York, but it's unlikely. If he did send a hit man after me he's probably testing my limits, or maybe just seeing what I'll do, or if I'd actually get shot. Tiresias has no interest in me dead, but I'm sure he'd enjoy playing mind or spy games with me. But that's assuming his appearance has nothing to do with Rji, which is contradicted by his timing. Again I'm back to what interest he might have in Rji.
I know that at one point, Rji and Tiresias were sworn enemies. When I first heard it I thought it might be misinformation, but investigation proved they did in fact have a dispute over a potential immortal which resulted in a feud. One of Tiresias' students killed one of Rji's soon thereafter, and the two would have declared all out war if it hadn't been for an Inquisition. Tiresias left for Tunis to help the Turks and Rji for Shanghai for some financial reason or another and the two had no contact for years, although some of their students had encounters. I haven't kept the best of tabs on Tiresias, but I usually have an idea of where in the world Rji is. Beyond that, information on her is a bit dangerous to seek. She, like me, does favors for the Watchers in exchange for privacy, and I've never wanted to risk anyone's life to spy on her directly. I keep up with the rumors, so I have a working knowledge of who she encounters and allies herself with, but that sort of information is often fourth or fifth hand at best, making it unreliable and outdated.
So it is possible she and Tiresias are working together. It is also possible Tiresias is gunning for Rji and is using me as a human shield or bait or a distraction or something. I need to trust my instincts, but the problem is my instincts are telling me it's none of the above, and that I'm missing something in their whole dynamic. I'm not sure where the sniper fits in, or even if he does. I have a lot of enemies, some that I don't even know about. What could I be missing, exactly? Well, that stop sign, but who's counting? If it's not in front of my nose, I'd probably have to dig to find it, and I don't have time for digging. I still really need sleep, but that doesn't look like happening any time soon.
Rubbing my eyes, I pull up to the office building I've decided we can use for a safe house for the next few hours. Maybe it'll give me a chance to get some sleep. We're going to have to be creative to get the sniper and the immortal in without rousing suspicion, but aside from that we should be alright. I don't own the building this time, but I indirectly own one of the businesses that leases here, and I've called ahead to request use of some of their offices. I'm pretty confident that my financial dealings are hidden well enough that until I set foot here, no one could have connected me to this place or even the business I'm imposing on. The CIA tolerates a lot from me, but I sincerely doubt they'd turn a blind eye if they knew how many American identities I had or how many companies I held significant stock in. I'm not really worried about the CIA investigating me for this sort of thing, but I know the Feds have, are, and will. This is the sort of thing the FBI would love to have on me. They've been trying to get the CIA to "share" me with them for years. And if the FBI and the CIA can't find it, the military doesn't stand a chance. What they could find, unfortunately, is my car with a satellite.
It had been years since Tiresias had painted Rome red, and I was finally heading back to Italy. I had been in Germany, but my daughter Liesl had died, so it was time for a new location. My tendency would have been to go on a pilgrimage back to my fatherland, but I was supposed to be avoiding old habits to stay away from depression, so on a whim I chose Tuscany.
Three weeks from the last "real" civilization I ditched the road to avoid other travelers, despite the delay of trailblazing. I was just starting to enjoy the woods and the mountains and being on my own when I felt another immortal approaching and my horse threw a shoe. Cursing my horrid luck, I considered hiding, but I didn't want to turn my horse loose yet. I untied my bow from under the blanket that covered most of my saddlebags and equipment and had to remember where my quiver was.
I had just fitted an arrow when I heard approaching hoof beats from behind me. Twisting around in the saddle to get a shot, I realized whoever was behind me probably wasn't actually following me, or I would have been aware of them sooner. But unless they were a horrible woodsman, whoever it was had to know they were following someone else's tracks at this point. Why else leave the road?
She came through the trees at the perfect location for me to fire a warning shot and string another arrow. She drew her sword and issued a challenge.
"I am Liùsaidh NicCoinnich! Tulach Ard!"
I rolled my eyes and shot my second arrow. I didn't know if she thought my warning shot was a miss or if I would be honorable or something and fight her blade to blade. She fell from her horse with a satisfying grunt. I drew a third arrow and guided my horse towards her with my legs. Her horse didn't seem to mind and was wandering off in search of grass. I hadn't killed her, but she wasn't going to be swinging that sword at me in the next five minutes.
"So," I said in German, hoping she spoke enough, because I hadn't been in her neck of the woods, well, ever, and had no idea if I knew her language well enough for mutual understanding. "Liùsaidh NicCoinnich, is this how you greet all of our kind, or has someone been spreading lies about me again?"
She fingered the arrow in her chest gingerly and tried to sit up. It didn't work and she glared at me as she lay back down. "You're supposed to identify yourself, too." Her German was heavily accented but otherwise fine.
"Sorry, I don't give my name out to random challengers. Does that mean you don't know who I am or do, but don't want to give anything away?" I could tell she didn't actually know who I was, but I was curious to see how she would react.
She squirmed, still trying to dig up the courage to try sitting up again. "I just found your trail while hunting. Come on, stop toying with me, if you're going to kill me, kill me." I had to give her full marks for bravery.
I relaxed my bowstring but didn't put the arrow back in the quiver. "I'm not going to kill you. You mind telling me why you want to kill me?"
She shrugged, which was stupid because the next thing she did was wince in pain. Before the pain subsided, she grabbed the arrow shaft and yanked it out. Luckily for her, the point stayed on. Gasping, she rolled over on her stomach while the worst of it passed. I edged my horse away in case she picked up her sword.
I thought she had forgotten what I had asked, but as she was sitting up she said, "I was just preempting the inevitable. I never met one of us who didn't want a fight."
"So who was your teacher? Did you have to fight them, too?"
She made a noise in her throat. "That's different."
"Don't say never unless you mean never," I said, putting my arrow away. "You ought to go find your horse." I was going to have to pull my horse's other shoes, because he had twisted his pretty good when it came off.
She cursed in Gaelic and looked in her horse's direction, but turned to me again as she stood up. "Wait, you're not just leaving, are you?"
"That was the general idea. Look, just head back to the road. Hopefully yours is the last path I cross before the pass." I talked a good line, but I could tell by the look in her eye I wasn't going to get rid of her that easily. At least it was a friendly look instead of a murderous look. That wasn't something I saw very often.
"You're just going to get rid of me, just like that?" She looked doubtful, as if she couldn't decide if I were being naïve or conniving.
"I just want to be left alone," I said, surprising myself with the truth and the emotion I let show.
Liùsaidh didn't buy it. She bent down and picked up her sword, not really threateningly but demonstrating her distrust. "Nothing's that simple."
I sighed and put my bow across my shoulder. "Look, your horse is getting harder to catch. Just go on your way, alright?" I didn't wait for her to answer and turned my horse back around to be on my way. She didn't answer and took off after her horse.
I knew I hadn't seen the end of her, and I was unlikely to be able to loose her in the time it took for her to catch her horse. If I had been on foot it would have been easy, but I didn't want to shake her bad enough to abandon my horse. Sure enough, I hadn't been on my way an hour when I heard hooves behind me again. I considered fitting an arrow again, but thought better of it. Liùsaidh trotted up behind me, this time without sword in hand.
"Can't you just mind your own business?" I called over my shoulder.
"There's often meaning in a chance meeting in a wild," she said. "Who are you, anyway? I barely felt you were there until I saw you."
"I'm called Frauke. And a chance meeting in the wild is just a chance meeting and exactly the sort of thing I avoid." She moved her horse alongside mine, but it was rather difficult for her to stay that close because of the trees.
"You're called Frauke?" Damn, she picked up on that particular subtlety. "I see. Why are you so antisocial? And why don't you want to kill me? Isn't that a dangerous attitude to have?"
I had peaked her curiosity. A curse on the young! They never leave well enough alone. "Why are you so interested? You've escaped with your life, be grateful and go."
She laughed, surprising me. "That's no so great a feat if you had no intention of taking my life at all! I've just never met one of us who was so… weird."
"Weird? Pfft. You've been spending too much time on the continent." I nudged my horse away from hers, trying to avoid getting drawn into this conversation. "Look, just go, okay? Forget you met me and you'll be better off."
"Oh so this whole misanthropy is a noble thing, is it? People are just better off without you, and you're being considerate by avoiding them. That's reasonable."
"Some people are better off without me. Just go home. You're a little young to be challenging every immortal you run across in the wide world."
I knew I shouldn't have brought up age, but somehow I just couldn't help myself. Sure enough, she was incensed. "Young! How the hell do you know how old or young I am? You know, age doesn't mean a damn thing except that you're older."
I shrugged. Since it didn't look like I was going to be able to get rid of her, I might as well tend to my horse's shoes sooner rather than waiting for nightfall. Reining my horse to a halt, I dismounted and started poking around in my equipment for pliers. Liùsaidh halted as well and asked what I was looking for.
"My horse threw a shoe," I said, indicating his left front with a nod of my head.
She dismounted as well and bent to look, although making sure she could keep an eye on me at the same time. "Came off clean at least. Didn't you pick it up?"
I shook my head. "He twisted it pretty good and I haven't got an anvil."
She ran her hand along his leg and I realized she had quite a bit of experience with animals. I found my pliers and started on his other shoes while she held my horse (unnecessarily) and spoke to him in Gaelic. When I was on the last shoe, she switched back to German. "Where are you headed, anyway?"
I snorted. "That's your business less than my name is. Surely you have something better to do than annoy me?"
She considered me for a moment. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll leave when you give me good reason to."
Sunset just isn't the same anymore. You have to get pretty damn far from civilization before night is actually dark. Mussel Rock Park is definitely not far enough away. But the ocean pounds the rocks pretty hard, so at least you can't hear the city.
Lucia leads the way down to the beach and towards the rock with Frank and Pao not far behind. Frank wanted to stay behind with the sniper, but when Pao and Ben flat out refused to be left behind I didn't even have to talk him out of it. I imagine the sniper probably won't be where we left him in a few hours, but at the moment I just don't care. Ben stays ahead of me but close while Christian and I bring up the rear with Diya. I don't trust Diya enough to untie his legs, but I've at least given him enough leeway so he can walk. I'm not planning on keeping him much longer, anyway.
The salt air and the sound of the waves brings back memories I didn't know I had; making Pao put sunscreen on, teaching Paul to fish, hiding from Io in a boat, digging for clams with Murielle. Unpleasant memories threaten to intrude, but I focus on Ben's voice and they recede. I really don't want to do this.
"This is a lovely park," Ben says. "Have you been here before?"
"Just once," I say, "but it was before it was a park."
"That's Mussel Rock?"
"Yeah. We can't get to it without getting wet, but we don't need to."
I glance up and down the beach for Rji and company. I don't feel them yet, which means they're probably not here yet. Rji may know how to hide her presence from other immortals, but I'm quite sure her younger students don't. She probably intends to come late and surround us since she's not here yet. On my own I would prefer the late arrival, as well, but she's probably relying on the capabilities of her accomplices more than I am mine.
Lucia calls back to me. "Here?" She slows down and looks around.
"Pretty much," I shout back. This is about as close to the rock as we can get.
Christian and I deposit Diya in the sand next to Lucia. Pao and Frank are arguing about how vulnerable we are here. They're not even bothering to hide their attraction anymore, although I think the only ones who haven't caught on are Frank and Pao. Lucia moves to my side and speaks to me in Gaelic.
"Haven't changed your mind, have you?"
I shake my head, trying to calm my nerves. "Just protect my children, all right? Whatever happens."
She catches something in my voice that I didn't intend to be there. "What does that mean?"
I take a chance and meet her searching eyes. "I mean I want them to leave here alive. Frank, too, but he chose this, kind of. I made their choice for them. Just protect them. That's all I'm asking."
Lucia nods, her uncertainty appeased. I feel a stab of guilt for manipulating her, but let it go. I have more important things to worry about, like where Rji is. For the first time in millennia my nerves are actually interfering with my instincts. Frank also wants a private word, apparently, so Lucia returns to watching Diya.
"So what's the plan? It's not like you to get this far into a situation without micromanaging what we're each supposed to do."
Pao joins us and nods. "What exactly are you expecting to happen? If you don't tell me otherwise I'm going to assume it's all right for me to shoot if need be."
I frown at them. "No one's doing any fighting if I can help it. Only shoot to defend yourselves, not me or Lucia or even Christian. Understood?"
Pao doesn't look happy, but Frank is more worried about something else. "That's it? No fighting? You can't be serious. This thing is going to come to blows, Aiar."
I don't meet his eye, instead I keep scanning the approaches for signs of Rji et al. Fleetingly I wonder how many Watchers are going to be here tonight, if any. Rji might have scared them off for us, and without a telescopic lens I don't think they could see us without us seeing them, and that's one of their cardinal rules. Of course, even the semi-darkness of night would give them some cover. To Frank I say, "Just cover your own ass, Frank, and protect Pao and Ben. You're here for them, not me."
"We don't need his help," Pao says, annoyed, and that distracts Frank enough so I don't have to pay attention to them anymore.
Just then, I start to feel the presence of other immortals approaching. "Heads up," I say loudly enough for everyone to hear me.
Rji, in the flesh, leads Radha and the three immortals I saw at the warehouse down the beach towards us. They all wear their scabbards openly, like a threat. Rji looks particularly intimidating all in white. It must be for her brother, because I doubt she would ever mourn me. Maybe it's out of respect for my children. Lucia and Christian draw their swords. I restrain them with a gesture, more to draw Rji's attention to myself than because Lucia and Christian need the warning.
Rji's students draw their swords, but Rji doesn't draw hers. My nerves start manifesting themselves in my stomach. I'm not sure why I'm so nervous. It's possibly just concern for my children, but it could be simple anticipation.
Rji stops about ten paces away and her students stop, as well. She bows to me.
"Hello, Aiar."