The Ruthless. Peter Newman

to hunt alone.’

      Vasin kept his face neutral.

      ‘Could the great House Sapphire not spare any of its hunters to support you?’

      ‘My High Lord believes they are all needed at home.’

      ‘How are things in your lands?’

      He wanted to just come out and say it: he hadn’t been sent. He’d come alone so that no others would suffer for his actions. ‘Things are quiet. High Lord Yadavendra would tell you this is only the case because we are being so vigilant.’

      ‘Yes, I have heard many tales of how vigilant the Sapphire have become. We had thought your wingless hunters a passing fashion but they seem to have lingered. No tales of battles against demons have reached us, but there are many stories of harassment suffered by any house traders not flying a blue flag. Perhaps you could make sense of them to me, Lord Vasin?’

      ‘Would that I could.’

      ‘Houses Spinel and Jet have their own problems. They have told me so, and I understand. But Houses Opal and Peridot have sent one of their Deathless to our aid, while House Tanzanite has sent three, each with a full flight of hunters at their back. Your house does not reply to my mother’s messages and then sends you alone? Unannounced?’ She looked at him but he could not meet her gaze. ‘This, I do not understand.’

      ‘I’m sorry that my house hasn’t provided proper aid. I’m … I’m going to make it right.’ They locked eyes again. He didn’t say the words out loud. Didn’t need to.

      ‘Go carefully, my friend. But don’t take too long. The other houses are poised to act. If not for the Wild, we’d have done so long before now.’

      ‘Please get them to hold off a little longer. If there is outside intervention, he’ll go to war. My family is proud, I don’t know if they’ll tolerate outside interference.’

      ‘I’m not the Ruby High Lord, just her voice while she’s away. My mother wants Yadavendra gone and as soon as my hands are untied, I intend to see her wishes met.’

      ‘Understood.’

      ‘You mentioned Quiverhive just now,’ said Anuja. ‘Why?’

      ‘I saw it on the way here.’ He relayed the events in as much detail as he could. ‘At first I thought it was simply using the Godroad as a means to kill the Murkers but it was more than that. It was experimenting.’

      ‘Experimenting? Testing the power of the Godroad is more likely. Looking for a way to cross and finding one. By the Thrice Blessed Suns! This changes everything. Our whole society rests on the sanctity of the Godroad.’ Anuja went to take another drink but her cup was empty. She set it down with an angry clink. ‘It must have come when I was hunting at Fourboards.’

      ‘You don’t think that’s a coincidence?’

      ‘No. It’s being tactical, Vasin. I don’t like this at all.’

      ‘Me neither.’

      ‘I think I’m going to bring mother back early. House Ruby needs her wisdom, now more than ever.’

      ‘If it fails, does your mother have a backup vessel?’

      ‘Yes, but it’s not the best match. A grandson. I’d have to play it safe and slow if it came to that. Eight years I’d say, maybe more to get him ready.’

      Vasin wanted to rub his temples, but to do so would smear the paint. A headache was starting. His mother would know what to say. She always knew. But until he could restore her, he was on his own. ‘I think you should wait, I’ll stay as long as you need and support you. We could hunt together.’

      He smiled at her but she didn’t respond in kind. ‘No, we can’t.’ She lifted her gown to reveal bandages and several splints, all conspiring to hold together a shattered leg. ‘The hunt at Fourboards was brutal. There were too many tributes. I and the Deathless from Opal and Peridot flew together, but their hunters were tired from travel, and mine weren’t ready for something on this scale.’ She sighed. ‘Six tributes was a mighty amount of bait and the Wild was hungry. It sent many mouths. More than our hunters could field. I …’

      She fell silent and lowered her head, and the shadows grew darker under her eyes.

      ‘What is it? You can tell me.’

      ‘I haven’t mentioned this to anyone else, I didn’t want to appear weak or like I was making excuses. I’d told myself I was imagining it, but after what you’ve told me about Quiverhive I’m not so sure.’

      ‘Tell me.’

      ‘The thing is, my people got the worst of it.’

      ‘You fought the biggest demon? The biggest group?’

      ‘No. Well, yes, but that isn’t it. The Wild singled us out, came for us above the others. Vasin, they singled me out. When I landed, they came for me, and me alone. It was like they knew I was coming. How can that be?’

      ‘I don’t know, I thought all but strongest of the Wild feared us. Surely they were easy prey for you.’

      ‘We slaughtered them, but they didn’t seem to care.’

      Vasin’s headache got suddenly worse, as if trying to match his sense of foreboding. The odd behaviour described at Anuja’s hunt seemed to chime with Quiverhive’s activity. ‘I think this was another experiment,’ he said. ‘They tested the Godroad, and now they’re testing us.’

       CHAPTER SIX

      Vasin followed the servant, trying to order his mind for what was to come. He was being led to a night gathering of House Ruby’s guests. This would be in part to discuss the business of the hunt, and in part to posture, to politic. It was Vasin’s chance to solidify the quiet work of the last sixteen years, and gain allies against Yadavendra. It was also a chance to fail long before the inevitable confrontation with High Lord Sapphire.

      Nerves flew like angry hunters in his stomach.

      The strangeness of his environment didn’t help. House Ruby was more sparing with its gemslight than he was used to, leaving patches of the narrow corridors dark. He noticed the individual rubies were not all cut to the same size. Some were a few millimetres thicker than others, and some stood slightly taller. You had to look to see them, the differences minor, but to his eyes, the imperfection was telling. The ceilings were too low, too cramped, and he had the absurd sense of them pressing downwards, trapping him.

      Despite the late hour the castle seemed empty as he travelled, and this too disturbed him. A Sapphire castle always had guards at stairwells and key corridors. As much as he hated that – the feeling of always being watched was one of the things that drove him into the sky after all – he also found it reassuring.

      They arrived at a room Vasin had not seen before, and he heard laughter echoing through the arched entrance. The servant waited for it to fade and then sang to announce his arrival and request permission to enter. Vasin felt a brief pang of fear that he would be rejected. Ridiculous, irrational, but in the moment, impossible to ignore. It was soon refuted by Lady Anuja, who gave permission, prompt and clear. The servant showed him inside.

      The room was of a reasonable size, heptagonal, and filled with long, low seats, puffed up with cushions. Each chair was accompanied by a tiny squat table with drinks and small baked treats.

      He saw three Deathless faces turn in his direction, smiles slowly fading from some shared joke.

       Here we go.

      Lady Anuja was sat opposite the doorway, artfully positioned. Her stiffness and discomfort dressed as regal posture, with the cushions carefully constructed around her to support her injured body. All signs of fatigue were gone from her face. ‘Lord Vasin. Ruby-friend. Sit, relax,