Chapter 5: Chapter four

To be a Shadow is to be a servant. It is to toil unseen and uncelebrated. It is to smile to the faces of great men and women, all the while holding a knife to their back. A Shadow brings no glory to themself but brings safety to Inveritus. It is a lifelong obligation, and one not to be taken lightly.

Do you accept this responsibility, and all that it entails?

• Shadows of Inveritus swearing-in ceremony.

 

“Smoking?” Master Vondash asked after Kalissa had finished reporting what had happened in the forest. “You’re sure?”

“No,” Kalissa replied. “It could have been steaming. Maybe even misting. Or it could have been a mirage of some sort, but it looked like some kind of gas was coming off it.”

Vondash nodded. “I think you’ve found something very important. Reports have been coming in that indicate someone recently stole something very valuable from the Silent Tower.”

Kalissa’s eyebrows went up as she put two and two together. “You’re saying that that knife was the Frozen Dagger? Someone stole the Frozen Dagger?”

“I’m not saying anything. But I am inferring from the information that I have available that it is likely, and apparently you have drawn the same conclusion.”

“But that’s insane,” Kalissa said, adjusting her assessment of the man in the brown cloak’s arrogance to suicidally-stupid proportions.

“Not to mention incredibly difficult. I know of two, maybe three people who might make the attempt. Combine that with your observation of this man as a particularly talented forceshaper and I expect the man you saw was a Lhintish thief known as Saladeen Hadon.”

Kalissa nodded. She didn’t know the name, but on reflection the man’s cloak and colouring had been consistent with Lhintish fashion and heritage.

“What’s next?” she asked. “I assume you’ll be sending up a light asking about Yarrls or this Saladeen person passing through nearby towns to figure out where they are taking the Dagger, while having your informants search the city in case they are still in Inveritus?”

“Naturally. The Dagger is massively valuable. Not least because relations with Lhint could be significantly improved by helping them recover one of their most valuable artefacts. Plus, we don’t want the Tower catching up with them here in Inveritus, that’s bound to be messy.”

“I want in on this mission,” Kalissa said. “This is my intel and I’d like to see it through.”

“I thought you might say that,” Vondash said. “Obviously you know I’m not going to send you alone on this for your second mission, but I could be amenable to you going with a more experienced Shadow and assisting.”

“That sounds agreeable sir. Perhaps you’re not such a bastard after all.” Kalissa smiled.

Vondash gave a small chuckle. “Don’t count me out just yet, you haven’t heard my condition. I’ll send a light tonight as soon as it gets dark enough. So, if they’ve left the city, we may have to move as early as tomorrow night. If you want to go on this mission, I want you to identify the shadow you’ll be working with before then. His name is Carlton.”

Kalissa raised an eyebrow at that. She was good and all, but as far as she could tell so were the other Shadows. With them being the main thing standing between Inveritus and invasion, they had to be. She was pretty sure she had no chance at all of tracking one down in a large city in one day from just a name. And, given that Vondash was never that much of a bastard, Kalissa knew he must have more to tell her and was only keeping it to himself in order to mess with her. So, she simply waited, letting the silence drag out between them.

“Fine,” he relented after a few moments. “He’ll be at Slymon Askance’s new exhibition for a good portion of tomorrow. You know, sometimes you really take the fun out of your training.”

Kalissa smiled, that sounded more like the sort of difficult but doable task Vondash would ask of her, so she thanked him for being only moderately bastardly and went on her way.

 

A tall boy was waiting outside her room that night when she returned from dinner. She had spent much of the day at the baths washing the smell of two days up a tree off of her. Then she had stopped by the night market just as it was starting up and bought herself some drugu, a Lhintish dish involving a lot of melted cheese on bread, for dinner. She was just eating the last bite of it when she reached her room at the Academy. As Kalissa was technically a student at the Academy, she lived in the Academy dorms; two long, flat buildings that squatted behind the Academy proper like they were ashamed of not living up to its architectural grandeur. They were lined with small doors that led into small rooms. Kalissa had been living in the same room for a few years now and, if it wasn’t exactly homely, it was at least familiar. What wasn’t familiar, was the boy who was apparently waiting for her.

“Hi,” he said. He smelled of cheap wine and his face was broad and blunt featured.

Kalissa raised an eyebrow at him and finished eating her drugu.

“So, you’re a changeling huh?” he said, stepping closer to her.

Kalissa could see where this was going. Occasionally the very drunk or very stupid came by to see if they could bed a changeling on the theory that she could look like whoever they wanted. She couldn’t, at least not to the extent that she was sure they imagined, and she fancied the idea of playing stand-in for the sexual fantasies of drunk idiots about as much as one would imagine. She decided to nip this encounter in the bud before it got that far.

“I am,” she said matter-of-factly. “Though I feel I should warn you that one of the side-effects of that is that I don’t have human mating organs. Do you know what an ovipositor is?”

The boy seemed to think of somewhere better to be and was quickly on his way there.

Another boy, not quite as tall but significantly more handsome let out a laugh from where he was leaning in his doorway a few rooms down from hers.

“Charming as ever Lissa,” he said in a tone that suggested he was rather pleased with himself. His name was Kelvin and, as far as Kalissa could tell, pleased-with-himself was his default.

“So you were watching that little exchange were you? I’d have thought you would have felt the need to defend my honour or something.”

Kelvin shrugged. “You’ve never struck me as in need of much help in that department. Besides, that would have made what I’m about to ask you rather hypocritical. Want to come in for a drink?”

The look he gave her left no doubt as to what he meant by drink. He had been making overtures for the past few weeks since one day declaring his intentions to bed her outright and then leaving before she could so much as make a witty remark.

“Not really,” she replied. “Why the sudden interest in me anyway? Did you get through every other girl at the Academy?” There were only about fifty women attending the Academy and Kelvin made no secret of his womanizing, so she was only half-joking when she asked this.

Kelvin gave an easy laugh. “No. The way I figure it, as I’m clearly the most impressive male specimen around, I should set myself the task of bedding the most beautiful woman on campus.”

Kalissa’s cheeks felt slightly warm at that despite herself. “And you think that’s me?”

“Nope,” he replied with an easy smile. “I figure you’re sixth just above Erin with the hair and just below Carolina with the legs. But I figure since you’re the strongest girl here and have a reasonable claim to being the smartest, that earns you some bonus points.”

Kalissa wasn’t really sure what to say to that. She opted to roll her eyes and bid him goodnight. If she was honest, she found Kelvin a bit charming and more than a bit handsome, even if he was acutely aware of it. But she needed to focus on work. That’s what was important. She had a mission tomorrow.

Besides, she told herself, I don’t want to be the latest notch in Kelvin’s bedpost.

So, she spent much of her evening altering her appearance to make herself look a little older and a little more like the kind of old-blooded noblewoman that would frequent art openings and society parties. With that done, she crawled into bed and collapsed into a deep sleep.

 

 

The art exhibition was as flashy and snooty as one might expect. Held it the heart of the Merchants District, Slymon had apparently rented the top floor of a silk merchant’s store. Where the merchant was keeping their silks while all this occurred, Kalissa didn’t know, but from the upper-crust crowd milling around outside, she had to assume they were being well-compensated.

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She talked a large man with a moustache into bringing her in on his arm and immediately left him to his own devices and started scoping out the room. Her contact was a man named Carlton, so she could probably rule out the women in the room. It was possible he could be a skard or in disguise but skard were rare enough, and crossdressing disguises unreliable enough, that this seemed reasonably unlikely. If they were going to chase after people in Salitos, they would probably need to do some hard riding to catch up with them. So, Carlton would presumably have to be at least moderately young and fit. But, not too young as he was apparently an experienced shadow. Also, that Vondash had known he would be here for most of the day told her that he was either a serious art lover or was there on business. The latter seemed more likely, but Shadows had tastes and interests like everyone else, so she couldn’t rule out that Carlton might be really into the works of Slymon Askance.

The exhibition itself was titled Celebration of the Three Races and consisted of a lot of bright paintings of what could potentially be humans, delkin and skard but were so abstract that it was hard to tell. Although, how you were meant to tell a skard from any other race since they were shapeshifters without a defined appearance of their own was anybody’s guess.

Like most of Askance’s work, it was designed to stir up conversation and controversy and, wandering around the room, Kalissa could see it was doing just that. The title alone was causing no shortage of debate. For a start, there was significant disagreement as to whether Yarrls were actually human since they apparently had no shapers at all and were the only ones capable of using the Yarrlish practice of tomology. Also, the idea that delkin were one race despite half of them being tall and green and the other half being short, blue-skinned and freakishly strong was something that many people found hard to swallow. Though no one would voice such thoughts in public, as the delkin strongly maintained they were one people and it was of a touchy subject with them. Besides the controversies surrounding the Yarrls and delkin, there were some reports of another race altogether living beyond the High Peaks, but there had never been any substantiated evidence of their existence so that was little more than speculation.

Slymon himself seemed to be enjoying the controversy to no end. A flamboyant, homosexual man, he pranced around the exhibition in his brightly coloured robes and garish makeup, shaking hands and kissing cheeks. Though Kalissa was no expert, much of Inveritus high society appeared to be there, with the obvious exception of Inveritus’s other well-known artist Valiant Sprayberry on account of him and Slymon hating each other.

Kalissa decided to investigate the art-lover angle first on account of it being easier to check. She took a slow walk around the exhibit, talking to people who were looking at the paintings and trying to get a feel for them. Of those who seemed to be taking a genuine interest in the paintings, rather than there to socialize, two were women, three were far too old, one was too young, another was horrendously fat, and yet another was Tobias the art critic. Not that an art critic was a real job, nobody paid him for it, but he was the only son of a wealthy merchant and had taken it upon himself to tell everyone what they should think about every piece of art in Inveritus. And, since a great many people knew and disliked him, he seemed unlikely to be a Shadow.

And that left no one who seemed to be genuinely interested in the art. Which left Kalissa with the theory that Carlton was there for work. This had always been more likely, but it also made things a lot more difficult. The place was such a hotbed of gossip that practically anyone could be there to gather intelligence. Here, a group of Salitian noblemen drank in the corner and talked about goings on at home. There, a pair of businessmen were discussing the finer points of a deal. Someone looked to be trying to sweet-talk the minister for trade in one corner and a seemingly endless supply of fops and dandies were practically lining up to tell anyone who would listen all the juiciest gossip. In fact, just a few feet away one of those fops was looking incredibly pleased with himself as Slymon tittered at some secret he had just told him and batted his arm playfully.

Kalissa’s eyes widened.

Slymon.

Oh, that was interesting. Artist wasn’t a usual cover for a Shadow—mostly Shadows working within the city were given fake roles within the already swollen bureaucracy of Inveritus government—but it certainly had its advantages. A man like Slymon would have access to all sorts of important people, and he could get away with almost any kind of suspicious behaviour on account of being an eccentric artist. If she was right, it was a fantastic cover.

Now all she had to do was test the theory.

She sidled over to Slymon, waited for a break between idiots, nudged him with an elbow and whispered, “Carlton.”

Slymon did a double take. It lasted less than a second, but it was enough. Kalissa knew she was right.

“Hmm?” Carlton asked, feigning indifference. “Did you say something darling?”

Now that she was sure, Kalissa felt confident in using an official identification phrase. She nodded, leaned in and said, “The brighter the light, the longer the shadow.”

“And Inveritus is the brightest light of all,” he responded automatically. “Can this wait until after the exhibition?”

“Of course,” Kalissa said. “Adjective Noun tonight.”

Carlton nodded. “Agreed.” Then he turned away from Kalissa, pranced up to the mustachioed man she had gotten in with and embraced him, announcing, “Ermond darling you’re looking fantastic.”

Kalissa slipped out quietly.

 

 

When Carlton met her at the bar that night, he was unrecognizable. Gone were the colourful robes, makeup and and flamboyant prancing. In their place was an utterly forgettable man wearing gray and moving quietly. Kalissa had changed into the all-purpose outfit of a tight, black coat thick enough to double as light armour, and a pair of dark trousers. She had also altered her appearance back to that of her usual self.

“You’re looking different,” Carlton said, his voice much gruffer than it was when he was playing Slymon Askance.

“You’re one to talk,” Kalissa remarked. “That’s serious dedication to a cover. Slymon has been a big name since I can remember.”

Carlton nodded. “Fifteen years. Still, the life of a Shadow is one of service. Speaking of which, what can I do for you?”

Kalissa smirked. “Master Vondash said I had to identify you in order to accompany you on a mission to track down the Frozen Dagger. Once I realized who you were, I was just curious to see how much was cover and how much was real. Buy you a drink?”

Carlton shrugged. “Sure. And to answer your question, it’s pretty much all cover.”

“You mean you’re not…?”

“A homosexual?” Carlton asked. “No, I am. I may be committed to a life of service, but I doubt even the most devout Shadow would agree to a life of sex with men if they weren’t that way inclined. I also like art and am a passable painter. The rest is all made up by the Shadows. The name, the life, the mannerisms.”

Kalissa got a barmaid’s attention and ordered two glasses of a reasonably good, but relatively inexpensive, Lhintish wine. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

Carlton shrugged again. “We all serve in our own way.”

Their drinks arrived and Carlton drank about half of his in one go. Kalissa took a more restrained sip.

“Don’t you find it a bit offensive though?” she asked. “That you’re a homosexual and you have to play into all the worst stereotypes?”

Carlton shook his head. “You’ve been paying too much attention to the more foolish professors at the Academy. Slymon likes men and he’s like that. That he’s fictional is neither here nor there. There are real men just like him. Carlton likes men and he is—” he gestured at himself. “-like this. You, I assume, like men as well, and you’re a different person altogether. Who a man shares his bed with doesn’t define him, any more than it defines you.”

Kalissa’s cheeks heated up a little. She felt like she had just said something very foolish. It was a feeling she wasn’t accustomed to and not one she liked.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

Carlton shrugged a third time and Kalissa began to think it was his go-to form of non-verbal communication. “If we had to apologize every time we didn’t think of something, I expect we’d do little else.”

That got a smile from Kalissa and she raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

And they did. Then they found other things to drink to. Carlton loosened up a little after a couple of drinks and Kalissa found him to be quite entertaining. They had worked up a fairly pleasant drunk when a messenger summoned them both to see Master Vondash.

“I hope Vondash doesn’t want us to go tonight,” Carlton confided. “I think I might be sick on my horse if I have to ride now.”

“Me too,” Kalissa agreed.

But he did. And they were.

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