Patch chugged the wake juice, managing not to stagger into passers-by through crafty use of his patch because he could not see his steps past the ginormous jug. The small blue lights circled and blinked in a pattern unfamiliar to Lapis; she needed to prod him into telling her about its inner workings, so she would know the difference between danger and his using the helpful navigation set-up to clamber up stairs.
Rin walked to her other side, hands shoved into his pockets, despondent. He did not even attempt a lift or two on the way, which concerned her. Of course, urchins, like the Grey and Stone Streets in general, had fallen into complacency during Sir Armarandos’s tenure. He was a good man with the best interest of Jiy and its residents at heart, and that did not include harassing street kids. Few nobles in Gall’s court could say the same, and his dread over who might take the knight’s place and the likelihood of increased abuses soured the air about him.
She thought to peek in at the Lells first, see if Copper was around, then head to Fyor’s place. The rats knew the address, and Rin promised to guide them. She expected the bright stalls to seem shadowy despite the midday sun, the atmosphere coated with the concern, anger and helplessness of the worried people who manned them. Instead, stall owners and customers clustered around the square where the Fools and Ghouls bonfire had begun to take shape, focused on a mobile platform and the guards atop it.
Ex-guards.
Fyor and Copper, both dressed in Grey Streets’ everyday attire of long pants covering heavy boots, laced overshirt falling to the thighs, hair combed but not gelled. Their calmness confused her, and from the heated questions of the crowd, they did not appreciate it, either. Patch ran the back of his hand over his mouth and guided them to the spot where the Lells rats had gathered.
All watched, grim, and Gabby had her face buried in Lyet’s shoulder, shaking. Rin went to them and wrapped his arms around them, and all the kids inched closer to him; they needed reassurance, one she wished she could provide, but she knew, never make empty vows. Trust hung on that.
“How can you promise that?” one man yelled, to a good deal of assent.
“The guards Knight Seeza released are good, hard-working men and women who want the best for Jiy,” Fyor said. “We haven’t changed our desire to work for the good of the people.”
“Knight Seeza?” Patch muttered. Lapis’s chest chilled.
Would the woman come after them?
“We don’t know that,” another called.
“Yes you do,” Patch shouted. The entirety of the crowd whipped about to stare at him, and Lapis wanted to strangle him for conscripting their attention. Instead she folded her arms across her chest and stood confidently in support, an act, but hopefully no one saw through the façade.
“All of you remember Jiy before Armarandos,” he said, anger tinging his tone as he waved his jug at them. “The harassment, the petty arrests, the murders hidden by the Pit because the guards knew they could get away with it.
“You want to know why they got rid of him? Because that clean-up interfered with noble illegal activities. That’s right, he cared enough about Jiy to go after them, too.” He glared at Fyor. “They made Seeza a fucking knight?”
He nodded, and she had the impression he struggled to respond to Patch’s venom without adding flames to the hatred fire. Considering her partner’s notorious dislike of the guard, she understood the caution, but he was digging Seeza into the Pit, and if the released guardsmen gave him the means, he would take advantage.
“So what?” someone asked, resentful.
“Remember those hunters after Lanth? The ones that attacked her with tech here, at the Lells? Same night Seeza released them and took their tech for herself. Does she sound like someone who gives a shit about protecting the Grey Streets? She’s from a rich Gall-supporting family who bought her way into the guard to cover their illicit affairs. Don’t expect anyone working under her to do a damn thing other than keep the illegal tech smuggling viable for their noble overlords.
“If you want anything resembling what the guard was, you’re going to need to look elsewhere. If Fyor and his people want to help, let them.”
“That’s just an invitation for the syndicates to take over,” another man snarled. “The guards quit all at once. They didn’t care about us, or they wouldn’t have.”
Lapis did not recognize him as a customer or as a merchant. He dressed in typical, low-end fabrics, but he wore the shiny black, pointed shoes well-off syndicate shanks liked, and his brown hair feathered around the side of his head, not a popular fashion in Jiy, though she had seen several palace guards at eastern guardhouses who styled their locks that way.
A plant from the palace?
“The knight superiors released those who supported Armarandos,” Fyor began.
“You expect us to believe that?” the man shouted, spit flying from his lips.
“I do!” Lapis yelled, the need to defend Fyor instant and intense. “Do you all know why there are so many street rats? Gall passed a law that said, unless the parents chose a guardian and that guardian can afford to pay for upkeep, their kids get thrown into the street to fend for themselves. And now he’s pocketing the money that once went to orphanages and religious institutions to help those poor kids. Our taxes aren’t enough to satisfy his greed! Dissolving the guard, putting someone in charge who’ll thin the ranks, means he can direct the money once reserved for guard pay and house upkeep right into his pockets. You can’t be too rich, as a king.”
“Y’all heard me talk on it,” a stall owner said, her harsh voice rising above the whispers and angry mumblings. “M’niece, she’s dead, ‘n her kids ‘re in the streets. She didn’t official say we c’n care fer ‘m, the magister’s sayin’ we can’t.”
Other sellers murmured and nodded, as if they had heard the story before and thought the decision repulsive. The customers frowned, disturbed when they realized the merchants believed the words.
“Just shows, anyone beholden to Gall isn’t going to care about anyone or anything that won’t bring them money and power,” Patch said, his voice carrying to all corners of the square. “Armarandos wasn’t, and they ditched him.”
“So what are we supposed to do?”
Lapis knew him in passing, a chaser who took lesser stakes and did alright, but never brought in enough bits to leave the Grey Streets. She understood the fear underlying his question; not all chasers wanted to look to the underground for work, but if they had no choice, an influx of them would glut the market and make available stakes, and therefore payouts, plummet.
“Hang tight for a day,” Patch said. “Then come back here tonight, right at close. I’ll have an answer for you.”
“Quick turnaround,” Lapis murmured.
“Yeah, well, I think there’s already a plan in place,” he growled in a low tone. “Faelan took the news a lot better than I assumed.” The crowd turned to one another as Fyor and Copper hopped down and headed for them, reassuring those in their way.
“Good thing he’s not here. He’d be dying of shock, you supporting the guard.”
“They’re not guards any longer,” he reminded her.
He chuckled at her disbelieving stare before moving to intercept the ex-guards. Annoyed, she snagged Rin and stuck her lips to his ear. “Take everyone to the Eaves, ask Dalia if she has enough to feed them. Hang tight until tonight.”
“It’s not fair,” Gabby sobbed.
“No, it’s not,” she agreed, setting her hand on her shoulder. Lyet’s hold tightened, and she set her cheek against her hair, the other rat’s pain reflected in her tearing eyes. “But knights prove their strength by overcoming setbacks. Armarandos isn’t one to go meekly. You should know that by now.”
Not one rat believed it. She felt a failure, for not providing enough help that hope could sway them.
The snarly man regarded them with a hooded expression, and a shiver raced up her spine.
“He was really into it before you showed up,” Scand whispered, edging closer to them. “He said the guards are cowards unable to work under a true leader.”
“He means Seeza?” She lifted her lip. “So a plant. Did anyone else seem suspicious?”
“No. Just a bunch of unhappy Grey Streets people. If you want, I can stick around, listen.”
Lykas slipped his arm around the rat’s neck and smacked his chest with his other hand. “We will,” he said.
“Consider this ‘Keeper duty. I’ll pay you when you get back to the Eaves. And just listen, don’t get involved, report.” She gave Gabby a last squeeze before heading for the upset chaser, who glared at Patch, Fyor and Copper. He snapped his attention to her when she approached, and she raised a hand to show she held no weapon.
“Patch has a job for you, if you’re interested.”
He regarded her, his brown gaze sharp and steady. “Like?”
“We’re staking the outspoken one who thinks Seeza’s a leader. Bring back any info to the Eaves, we’ll pay five silver.” His eyes bugged at the unexpected offer.
“Lanth,” Patch called. “We’re going to Fished Out.”
She waved a hand in acknowledgment.
“I’ll take it,” he whispered. She nodded; he did not seem as if he had a choice. Well, hunger drove many in the Grey and Stone Streets.
“Since we don’t know how long you’ll need to trail him, we’re providing bits for expenses. With those shiny shoes, I’m betting his income is not from the Grey Streets, so you might cross the river before you get any info.”
He blinked, then dropped his gaze, shame brightening his cheeks as he realized she guessed his predicament. “Yeah.”
She dumped all the bits she had on her in his palm; her partner had more than enough to cover her meal at Fished Out. “Ask Dachs or Rin if we’re around. If not, hang out. We’ll be by soon enough.” The hair on her arm prickled, and she looked at Scand and Lykas, who pushed close.
“Do we get expenses?” Scand asked.
“No. Lells is your home base.”
Their mouths dropped open in outrage at the unfairness of it as the chaser prudently whisked away, and she pivoted, leaving their complaints to fall into the dust. She passed near enough to the shouty man she had an intimate view of his scathing glare directed at her. Upset him, had they? Too bad, he should have chosen his sides more wisely. She wove into the crowd to place bodies between them and hastened to catch her partner and the two ex-guards.
The crowd kept them apart longer than she liked, but she finally reached the men just as a space cleared around them.
“You knew this was coming,” Patch said in an undertone as she slipped her arms around his and hugged tight.
“We simply didn’t know when,” Fyor said under his breath before he smiled and reassured another merchant who hastened up. The throng of worried people continued to pester him and Copper, many with legitimate questions concerning any help the ex-guards might offer, until they reached the food establishment. Then Patch shooed them away, and Lapis selected the most secluded table while her partner retrieved the meal.
Fyor rubbed at his eyes before lounging back. “Are you alright?” she asked quietly.
“No, but the embarrassment and anger will pass,” he said. “I had a pension—it’s gone now, and that infuriates me more.”
“They took your pension?”
“Anyone who put money into retirement with the guard had it confiscated and their pensions erased. Some were on the verge of leaving, and the palace will wish they had not instigated them. Revenge is on their minds and their fury will burn long over this.”
“Copper?”
He shrugged. “They targeted anyone who might have a passin’ loyalty to Armarandos. I’m pissed, but that’s just a motivator.”
“I admit, I don’t want a return of the guard to what it was,” Lapis said. “I get shafted on too many stakes as is.”
“It’s a concern,” Fyor admitted. “And why Lord Adrastos and Armarandos wished for me to speak with you. Strangely, they planned for this. I thought their proposal ludicrous, but they have enough wealth to do it—and I’ve heard Lord Krios approves.”
She raised an eyebrow at that. Having the approval of the heir to the Jilvayna throne meant something. Had he mentioned this to Faelan? That would explain his calmer acceptance of the release, even if the concern about Sir Armarandos’s potential arrest worried him.
“After the Tree Streets Guardhouse, Adrastos expected some sort of retaliation against Armarandos, and when Diros popped up in his nosing about, he decided it was only a matter of time. So he talked to Krios. They purchased several buildings in the western districts and started renovating them into community service houses.”
“Community service house.” Lapis produced a quirky grin. “That sounds like Krios.”
Copper shook his head. “Lady, I must admit, I was shocked to find out you know him.”
“He was one of the first people to hold me after I was born,” she said. Both men appeared stunned at that. “My father was his best friend, and he often visited. I got to meet a lot of strange yet important people through them.”
“Like who?”
“Veritiate Deathknell Jarosa.”
Copper’s wide-eyed shock elicited a chuckle from Patch as he set a tray heaped high with skewers on the table. He shuffled back in and returned with bottled water for them. “I’m even surprised at who she’s met,” he intimated as he dumped himself in the chair next to her and slammed his jug on the table, shaking it. She steadied the rocking surface and glared at him, which earned her a kiss upside the head.
“Jarosa was my hero as a kid,” she said. “And that hasn’t changed.”
“She knows Adrastos and Armarandos well,” Fyor said. “Better than I imagined. Having the veritiate deathknell on your side is quite the accomplishment. The Meint do not lightly give their favor, especially since so many trust them because of the medical help they provide.”
She grinned. “Have you met her?”
“I spoke with her briefly after the Lells incident with the Black Hats. Most back down when confronted with an angry Armarandos, but she shoved herself in his face. Truthfully, I think she kept him in check better than the rest of us by turning the tables and forcing him to keep her from raging through the streets.”
“Never expect her to give way to anyone,” Lapis said. Patch just laughed, and she poked at him before selecting a skewer. “Gabby says she fills a room with her presence, and that intimidates men. She’s right.”
“Some men,” Patch agreed. She pursed her lips. True enough, but Faelan, Midir and Vaar were not average men, and neither was he.
“I must admit, I never realized how deeply involved Adrastos was with Krios’s activities.” Fyor’s whisper did not drift beyond the table. “I thought he lunched with him to tweak Gall’s temper. But no.”
“Krios would never sup with anyone he didn’t trust,” Lapis said. “Especially after the murder of my parents. How much do you know about my brother?”
“Enough.”
“I take it they want him involved.”
“They both believe employing your brother’s people as workers in the community centers will provide a cover they don’t currently have.”
“I suppose.” She glanced at Patch, but he paid more attention to shoving skewers down his gullet and guzzling wake juice, which, she noted, he refilled. Wonderful. He would seek restrooms or back alleys the entire afternoon.
“And you? Do you work for your brother?”
“Conscripted due to familial ties. Initially, I just wanted to kill the traitor who murdered my family. But circumstances turned weird.” Patch chuckled, and she smacked his arm. Her life since Faelan’s arrival had turned into a circus of odd adventures.
“Murdered?” Copper asked, eyebrows knitting in concern.
“Yeah. My parents and my four other siblings. The traitor deserves nothing but death.”
“It will come,” Patch promised, but his tone reminded her he expected Perben’s demise to be at his hand, not hers. Copper’s grimness at the news flipped her to panic over revealing too much information.
“How much of this community center stuff are you going to share?” Lapis needed the conversation to redirect. She should never have mentioned it and fought the prick of tears behind her eyes. She did not hide the reaction well; Patch settled his hand on her back and kept it there.
“We want people to know they’re coming. I’m not certain how long it will take to officially open.”
“Even if the buildings aren’t ready, start providing services,” she said. “Set up tarps or tents or something, conduct business. That would prove your sincerity and provide a consistent experience. What, exactly, will they do?”
“We’ll take the place of the guard when it comes to stakes. The fees for placing them funded the guardhouses, so there will be a source of income. If lower-end merchants want patrols, again, they can make payments to us rather than the houses, and we’ll do the same work. The average citizen can’t appreciate how pissed the magisters on the west side of the river are right now. The palace already cut funding to them, and their primary source of income are fines. If the guards are gone, there’s no one to arrest criminals and bring them before a court, and therefore no one to fine.”
“How many did they release?”
“Nearly seventy percent of the force,” he said, running a hand over his hair in agitation. “And almost all of them from the west side of the Wrain. After word spread that they knighted Seeza and placed her in charge, the rest left, probably due to misogyny. The houses in wealthier communities dislike women in the guard, and their loss of personnel would stem from that. Unfortunately, Seeza lacks the experience and the backbone to manage her position, and the women who do no longer work for the guard.” He laughed with sour disgust. “They didn’t tell her they were bestowing knighthood on her and granting her the guard. She was in bed sleeping off a hangover after attending a premiere last night. When she finally arrived, even the knight superiors had left, and no one from her family was present. There was no ceremony, just a passing of a badge by one of the throne couriers.”
Lapis felt inexplicably sorry for the woman, even though she dreaded the mischief she might inflict on her.
“How much trouble is she going to cause?” Patch asked.
“However much she’s ordered to,” he responded. “And we still don’t have a clear idea who directs her, though Adrastos believes Diros has a hand in her decisions. Perhaps, but he’s not the court architect he dreams he is. I think there is another involved.”
Her partner lifted his lip at that. “So why butcher the guard now?”
“I think, perhaps, the Lady is correct, that Gall is diverting funds into his own pocket. The purpose is murky, but there are whispers among the higher-ranking guards at the palace about his desperation in acquiring more tech. He needs to divert funding to do so and has no care who it harms.”
Fyor sounded like a resentful rebel. Lapis bit into a skewer to hide her smile.
“I’m in charge of getting the centers in the Grey and Stone Streets functional,” he continued. “Any chaser support will help. If the communities realize placing stakes with us produces the same results, it won’t matter that no one mans the guardhouses.”
“How many guards remain at the Lells?”
“No one.”
Lapis hissed through her teeth.
“They released everyone who manned a Grey or Stone Streets guardhouse,” he intimated. “They claimed association with ex-superior Nevid caused the discharges, but since he and his family fled to Tavyk to avoid punishment for tech smuggling, their influence is non-existent. No, the knight superiors targeted those they perceived as loyal to Armarandos, and since there is no one to take our place, couriers retrieved the lock boxes and the houses stand empty.”
“Lanth’s right; you’re going to need to get those centers up within the next few days,” Patch said. “Whether the buildings are ready or not. Provide a same-old experience, do nothing differently. That should calm people down enough to listen. Are you going to get the stakes and registers?”
He nodded. “From as many houses as we can. I doubt Seeza will care. She has more pressing problems.”
“Who’s in charge of the other districts?”
“Kayrol took the Vale, Neidor chose the Meadows and Orchards, Branna the Docks and the Shells.” A ghostly smile lit his lips. “I’ve word Sewri promised to snag all the registers in Blossom. I trust he’ll do so.”
“He will,” Patch agreed drily.
Lapis knew the names but had not met the three ex-guard superiors. Her partner did not voice a protest, so he either knew them, or trusted Armarandos to select competent individuals to direct the centers.
“The eastern houses are more problematic. Some are empty because the knight superiors diverted the guards to man the entry gates, likely because the throne can’t lose the monies the traders bring. But most retain a single employee to keep them barely functional until their superiors can hire more men. That’s because the bulk of the Kells Gates guard walked off the yard. I believe you know Linden?” Lapis nodded. “He said that Seeza began interfering with their work days ago, demanding their superior let several wagons into the city without inspection. The guard found her and the wagon drivers suspicious, so the superior told her he needed permission to stray from the regulations; the permission came with his dismissal papers. So they left, and the Kells scrambled to fill those positions, but with little interest. Now they have even more to deal with.”
“Who will they get to fill the positions?” Patch asked. “Guards aren’t the highest paid in Jiy, and where’s the glamor in patrolling a rich merchant’s store? If the average citizen realizes the releases are unfounded, there will be fewer applying, except those who see an opportunity to skim fines and fees. Why would you sign up if your job might evaporate because of knightly whims?”
“Armarandos was attempting to change that culture,” Fyor said. “He wanted the guard to rise above the perception they only worked as glorified sentries for the wealthy.”
“Change it up, get pushback,” Patch said.
“Yes, but this is a damn stupid way to do it,” Fyor grumbled.
Patch glanced up; Linden and Yedin wandered their way, both looking far jollier than Lapis would have expected, considering the ex-guard just lost his job. Wondering why the farmer accompanied his friend, she waved her hand at the table, and they snagged chairs from an empty one to join them.
Linden retrieved a packet of papers from his shiny leather courier satchel and handed them to Fyor, who accepted them with a small but sincere smile. “Things are going fast,” he said. “Faster than I’d thought.”
The ex-guard raised an eyebrow at what he read. “Jo Ban is here?”
Jo Ban? The Minq terrboss was in Jiy? Lapis glanced at Patch, and his flabbergasted look made her feel better about being shocked.
“I think Lord Adrastos downplays his support,” Linden said. “But the Minq seem very concerned about the change, so I bet they would discuss it with him anyway. Jo Ban said this was an ill-thought maneuver, and he wonders what else Gall might do to divert metgal into his coffers. He and Shara are at the mansion with other interested parties.”
“How are you doing?” Lapis asked.
He shrugged. “The guard wasn’t my ambition,” he admitted, “so better than most.”
“We farmers are adaptable,” Yedin said.
Lapis had thoughts on that, but she refused to voice them in the current company.
“We’ve been havin’ difficulties at the gates, been buildin’ for a time, but really hit last week,” he continued. “Long lines to get in, and produce is sufferin’ for it. They upped the fees, and some are sayin’, they aren’t goin’ to sell here any longer. There’s an impromptu market settin’ up outside Blossom, and the underground’s helpin’.” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Well, the Minq, anyway. They have their hands in many pots.”
Fyor laughed. “Yes,” he agreed. “But Jo Ban is a unique terrboss, and Shara learned her craft at his knee.”
“I’m surprised that hasn’t spread like wildfire through the Grey and Stone Streets,” Lapis said. “Potential food shortages scare people.”
“Not enough farmers have quit the market here,” Linden said. “But I think they will, once they realize they can sell for a profit out-city. Minq are promisin’ to be go-betweens at all the gates, carryin’ purchases from farmers to the customers for a much smaller fee.”
That would certainly undermine Gall’s money grab. And if he forced the farmers to sell in-city through a decree, their link with the Minq would help them avoid the demand.
Her partner nodded. “The Minq maintain tunnels throughout the city, so viable routes already exist in the districts.”
“Well, can’t stay long,” Linden said, rising. “I have other drop-offs.”
Yedin popped up, then pulled a stack of papers from his jacket pocket. “Lanth, it’s good I saw you. Me and Thyden went fishin’, at a place he’d take Danaea. He got curious, checked the drop they had there. He found these.”
She accepted them and glanced at the top sheet. Coded, but hopefully the pages contained ones that Wrethe and Jhor already broke. Good on him, bringing them to her. “Thank you, Yedin. Are you still planning on coming with me and Patch on a stake?”
He laughed, relieved she asked. “Yes! But maybe once all this dies down.”
She nodded. “How’s Thyden been since Ambercaast?”
“Terrified,” he admitted. “Lookin’ over his shoulder, expectin’ to get jumped. Minq offered to help him in return for the info on Danaea. I think he should take it.”
“He should,” Patch said. “Choose a code name, tell the farmers at that new Blossom market he’s the intermediary between them and the Minq and that he needs a nickname to hide from the palace. Once everyone starts calling him that, he can hide in plain sight.”
“My family’s influential enough, other farmers will go along with that,” Yedin agreed. “My grand-da’s already moanin’ about the fees, and if he leaves the in-city markets, most will follow.”
“Unexpected consequences.” Patch shook his head and sighed, echoing Lapis’s disdain. The unthinking dissolution of the guard looked to have ramifications that the palace never anticipated because they believed the act would only affect the poor. They did not expect the wealthy to experience any inconvenience, and raising fees at the gates indicated they thought no one would protest the increase. How loud might the nobles yell, if their help had to take an entire day to purchase fresh apples for their nightly pies and leave the foray unswept?
Desperation flavored everything that Gall touched. Lapis sank back, the crumbling edges of her life intersecting with the crumbling edges of Jiy, of Jilvayna. How many pieces might break, before it all disintegrated?
Patch slipped his arm about her shoulders and nuzzled her ear; she closed her eyes and savored the soft warmth prickling down her neck. No matter how many bits tumbled away, he stood as her rock, her center, and he would cushion any fall, repair any crack, and while changed, she would be whole.
