Chapter 21: The Man With Nicer Shoes

There was pandemonium in the courtyard, with soldiers running all over the place, and one of them ran in a complete circle and ended up standing in the same spot he started in. The miners huddled under their blankets, staring at the broodmother with wide eyes.

"How many soldiers does Draven have with him?" Kai asked.

"Fifty," Brekk said. "Fifty knights, all dressed in black. They don’t talk, they don’t sleep, and I’ve never seen one of them smile."

"Great," Kai said. "How long until they get through the gate?"

"About ten minutes," Brekk said.

"Alright," Kai said. "Everyone, listen up."

They all turned to look at him: Mira, Dagna, Garrick, Elowen, Brekk, two dozen soldiers, and all forty exhausted miners. Even the broodmother turned her huge eyeless head towards him.

Kai had done this a hundred times before, with too many problems and everyone looking at him like he knew what to do, and he never did.

"The miners are going to the barracks with their blankets over their heads," Kai said. "If anyone asks, they have a sickness and it’s contagious. Nobody is going to check on someone with a contagious sickness."

"I’ll take them," Dagna said, shifting Tam higher on her shoulder, and Garrick followed her out.

"And the priest," Kai said, pointing at Father Oswin, who was still on the ground with his mouth hanging open. "Get him somewhere he can’t scream."

"We have a pantry by the kitchens," Brekk said.

"I know where the pantry is," Kai said. "I’ve prayed in that pantry."

Two soldiers picked up Father Oswin by his arms and legs and carried him away.

"Elowen, you’re still the inquisitor," Kai said. "Tell the truth, just carefully."

"Mira, keep your hood up and your head down," Kai said. "You’re still the scribe."

"And Brekk," Kai said, turning to him. "You’re the captain. You’re going to welcome him, smile, and tell him everything is fine."

"Is everything fine?" Brekk asked.

"No," Kai said. "That’s why you have to smile."

[That leaves you and her]

Kai looked up at the broodmother, and she looked down at him with her mouth open and her ring of teeth turning slowly, like a dog wagging its tail.

"She needs to go back down there," Kai said.

"Then tell her to," Mira said.

"I can’t use Minor Voice again," Kai said. "Tobin will break his hip."

"Go home," Kai said, patting her cold, slimy head. "Back down your hole. Go away."

The broodmother purred happily and didn’t move an inch.

"Then I’ll have to hide her," Kai whispered. "I have Lesser Glamour. I can make her look like a pile of ore, and nobody questions a pile of ore in a mine."

[Lesser Glamour makes one person look like another person]

"She’s a follower," Kai whispered. "Followers are people."

[No. She is not]

Kai closed his eyes and imagined a pile of ore, black and boring, and he tried very hard not to think of anything white, or tall, or with long hair.

"Lesser Glamour," Kai whispered.

Warmth traveled out of his hand and over the broodmother. When Kai opened his eyes, a woman in a white robe and veil was lying across the courtyard, stretching from the edge of the pit almost all the way to the barracks. Her long black hair was spread out over the stones, and she was propped up on one elbow, smiling down at him. She was about sixty feet long, and she was Sister Kaia, just a much bigger version of her.

"Oh, shit," Kai said.

[The spell remembers]

Every soldier in the courtyard stopped running, and Brekk gasped and stared up at the giant nun.

"She’s beautiful," Brekk whispered.

"She’s a monster," Mira said.

"She’s both," Brekk said, choking on the word.

[Faith update. Hallard Brekk: 22%. Status: Confused (Heartbroken) (Again).]

The horn blew again, and this time they could hear the gate grinding open.

"Okay, new plan," Kai said. "She’s a nun, and nuns like to pray. We have a chapel underground."

"We don’t have a chapel underground," Brekk said.

"We do now," Kai said.

"Down," Kai said, pointing at the pit with both hands. "Go pray, Sister. Down there."

The giant Sister Kaia reached out and patted him on the head with one of her fingers, and Kai went flat on his back.

"Ow," Kai said.

[She likes you]

Kai lay on the stones until he came up with a plan, and it wasn’t a good plan, but it was all he had.

"Minor Light," Kai said, pointing at himself.

The orb appeared in his hand, and just like every time before, it went exactly where he wasn’t pointing. It circled around him, flew over the edge of the pit, and disappeared into the darkness below.

The giant nun’s head turned to follow it, because she hunted by light, so to everyone in the courtyard, it looked like a sixty-foot nun crawling over the edge of the pit on her hands and knees, chasing a tiny light into the dark.

[Faith update. Follower: Unknown (Broodmother). Faith: 7%. Status: Hunting.]

[Your light will fade in ten minutes. She will be waiting for you at the bottom. I believe she thinks you are playing with her]

"I’ll worry about that later," Kai whispered.

[That leaves one problem. You. Your glamour is still on her, so you cannot use another one]

Kai looked down at his dirty fisherman’s vest, knowing that his face was on every wanted poster from here to the city, and the gate was almost open. He grabbed the closest soldier’s dented helmet, which was two sizes too big, picked up a spear, and went to stand next to Brekk.

"Are you serious?" Mira whispered from under her hood.

[You have the helmet on backwards]

Kai took the helmet off and put it back on the right way, and it slid down over his nose.

"That’s better," Kai said.

[No. It is not]

The gate opened, and fifty knights in black armor rode through on black horses. Not one of them looked left or right or made a sound, and between the two lines rode a single man on a white horse.

Lord Castor Draven didn’t look the way Kai expected, because he was a thin man in his fifties with silver hair slicked back from a handsome face, a gray coat embroidered with silver, rings on most of his fingers, and black leather shoes polished to a shine.

[He has nicer shoes than you]

"I know," Kai whispered.

Draven got off his horse and walked across the courtyard, and every man he passed stood at attention. He stopped in front of Brekk and looked him up and down.

"Captain," Draven said with a smile. "You look terrible."

"It’s been a long night, my lord," Brekk said, forcing a smile of his own.

"So it appears," Draven said, glancing at the deep gouges in the stone where something had dragged itself across the courtyard.

He walked over to Elowen and bowed his head slightly.

"Sister Inquisitor, it’s a pleasure," Draven said. "I wasn’t aware the church had sent anyone."

"They did not send me," Elowen said.

Her sword stayed dark, and Draven kept smiling, but something changed in his eyes.

"Then why are you at my mine?" Draven asked.

"I was searching for something that did not belong here," Elowen said. "I found it."

"Did you?" Draven asked quietly. "And what did you find?"

Elowen gripped her sword tighter but didn’t answer, because she had no loopholes left. Draven smiled and turned towards the pit.

"I have been traveling all night, and I would like to see my brood," Draven said. "And I would like to see her as well."

Kai stepped forward to stall him, and Brekk panicked and slapped him on the back.

"This is one of my best men, my lord!" Brekk said.

Kai’s helmet flew off his head, bounced across the stones, and came to a stop at Draven’s feet. Everyone went still as Draven looked down at the helmet, then up at Kai’s face, and his smile grew wider.

"Well," Draven said. "I know that face. I have it on a poster in my study."

[You got hit again]

"I know," Kai whispered.

Behind him, Mira flinched at the sound of Draven’s voice, and her hood fell back. Draven’s eyes went straight to her silver hair.

"Lady Mira Vallen," Draven said with a chuckle. "I paid a lot of money to get rid of you."

Mira didn’t move a muscle, and she just stood there staring at the man who had hanged her father, with her fists clenched at her sides.

All fifty knights drew their swords at once, but Draven raised one ringed hand, and they put them away again. Then he looked slowly around the courtyard, at the pile of broken chains by the lift, the trail of dropped blankets leading to the barracks, and the captain who couldn’t meet his eyes, and he started to clap.

[He is reading the courtyard]

"He’s doing what I do," Kai whispered.

"You stole my miners," Draven said. "You let my monster go. You turned the church’s inquisitor, and probably my captain too." He glanced at Brekk, who was staring at the ground. "And you did all of it in one night without a single plan that worked."

"I had plans," Kai said. "They just didn’t work."

Draven laughed, and it was a real laugh.

"Do you know how long I’ve been trying to find someone like you?" Draven asked. "Gods are a business, Mr. Mercer. People believe, and the church charges them for it. The Radiant Church has had a hold on faith for three hundred years, and I’ve been paying their prices my whole life." He took a step towards Kai. "And then you show up with your own customers."

"Followers," Kai said.

"Customers," Draven said. "I would like to invest in you."

Kai just stared at him, and behind him, he heard Elowen gasp, and when he turned around, her sword was out of its sheath and completely dark.

[Kai. He is serious]