‘We leave in the morning. You are to give a full account of the uprising here to the Emperor himself at Khlystburg. I failed him once by letting Felgenhauer slip through my grasp. You’ – she pointed at Silverdust with her fork – ‘will appear at the Imperial Court even if I have to chain you and drag you before the Emperor on a leash.’
There will be no leashes, Envoy. I will present myself to the Emperor willingly.
Envoy de Vries shook her head and began to eat. Silverdust said nothing more, lost to his thoughts, imagining how he might kill the Emperor before his courtiers.
‘I’m looking for a man called Tikhoveter,’ said Marek to the barkeeper. They had left the Watcher’s Wait shortly after Kimi, and Marek had led them from tavern to tavern since. Steiner was pleasantly muddled by the ale and stole kisses from Kristofine whenever his father wasn’t looking. They were sitting in the snug in a dimly lit tavern called the Silvered Palm while Steiner’s father spoke to the man at the bar.
‘Don’t you think it strange … Hoy! Stop that,’ said Kristofine. She moved away from where Steiner had been nuzzling her neck. ‘Strange? What’s strange?’
‘Don’t you think it’s strange that your father wanted to come ashore for something decent to eat and yet all he does is drink with the locals and chat with them about an old friend of his?’
Steiner shrugged. ‘What’s strange is that we don’t just leave him to it and book that room. Get ourselves some of that privacy you were speaking about back on the ship …’
Kristofine half-smiled, half-pouted, then shook her head. ‘I need you to think with your head, not your britches. What’s your father up to?’
‘I’m not one to sit around guessing. Why don’t we just ask him? Here he comes.’
Marek’s expression was serious as he took a seat in the snug. He stared into the bottom of his mug for a moment, then flicked his gaze up to Steiner.
‘What?’
‘Are you going to tell us who this Tikhoveter is then? You’ve been talking about him with just about everyone else here. Why not us?’
Marek snorted a laugh. ‘You’ve always been one to speak your mind, but those three mugs of ale have really loosened your tongue.’
‘He has a point, Marek,’ said Kristofine, her tone placating. ‘He’s curious. I’m curious. Who is it you’re looking for?’
‘I knew a man once. Not a Vigilant, but a man who could hear whispers on the wind and send words of his own. A messenger of sorts.’
‘Whispers on the wind,’ said Steiner with a frown. ‘That’s a trick of the wind school. You’re talking about someone from Academy Vozdukha.’
‘That’s who I’m looking for, but it’s been years since I was here and I’ve no way of knowing if he’s still alive or which side he’s on.’
‘Sides?’ Kristofine rolled her eyes. ‘What sides?’
‘There’s the Empire,’ said Marek. ‘And then there’s everyone else.’
Steiner stood up from the table. ‘I want to meet this old friend of yours. I’m going to need all the information I can get if I’m going to keep my promise to Kimi.’
‘I don’t understand how you’re supposed to protect the Yamali people when we’re on the other side of the continent,’ said Kristofine.
‘I’m hoping that if I create a big enough distraction in the west the Emperor will be too busy to send troops to the east.’ Steiner threw back the last of his ale. ‘What do we do now?’
‘I managed to get an old address.’ Marek eased out of his chair and didn’t look hopeful. ‘We’ll have to hope Tikhoveter still lives there.’
It was just starting to rain as they stepped outside the tavern and a deep chill settled over Virag, numbing Steiner’s fingers. Kristofine huddled close to him and he flashed her a smile and squeezed her waist.
‘So you’re a lusty drunk then?’ she said with a smile of her own.
‘Better that than maudlin or violent, I suppose.’ Steiner chuckled. Marek walked ahead, keeping a keen eye out for Imperial soldiers.
‘Can I ask you something?’ said Kristofine. Something was clearly on her mind from the way she chewed at her lip. ‘About the island, I mean?’
‘Of course.’
‘When you destroyed the Ashen Torment it set the cinderwraiths free.’
‘That’s right. They were no longer bound to the island, free to pass on to the afterlife.’
‘So why didn’t Silverdust go with them?’ Steiner thought on that for a moment as they walked the streets of Virag, following Marek in the rain.
‘He said he was going to stay on at Vladibogdan.’ Steiner thought of the strange Vigilant and his mirror mask. ‘He was going to stay there and lie for me, buy me time before the Empire found out what happened on the island.’
‘Will it work?’
‘Who knows?’ said Steiner, his mouth twisting unhappily. ‘The Empire has powers I can’t begin to guess at. Will the lies of one Vigilant make a difference? I hope so. Strange old thing that he is.’
‘You miss him?’ she asked, as the rain continued to fall.
‘I can’t say I really knew him, but I owe that old ghost a lot. I can’t say I’m happy that we left him on Vladibogdan now that I think about it.’
Marek pressed on through streets that grew more narrow and winding with each mile. The rain and the cold were sobering and Steiner grew tired and irritated in equal measure.
‘Slow down, old man,’ he growled, but Marek didn’t hear him.
‘Are we avoiding the main roads so we don’t get caught?’ asked Kristofine when they reached an abandoned alley thick with shadows and refuse.
‘Not exactly,’ said Marek, stopping outside a narrow townhouse with a battered front door. He beat the wood with a scarred fist and looked over his shoulder. ‘Keep an eye out for soldiers. The Empire might be watching this place.’
No answer came from inside the townhouse. No sound of muffled surprise, no holler or shout that they should wait a moment.
‘Not a promising start,’ said Steiner, taking shelter at the side of the street.
‘Come on, you old bastard,’ said Marek.
‘We should go,’ said Kristofine, her eyes darting to the end of the street. Steiner saw her then for the tavern-keeper’s daughter that she was. He felt a pang of guilt for dragging her into the chaos of his life. Marek opened his mouth to speak as the door creaked open. A woman peeked through the narrow gap between door and frame. She had a serious look on her deeply lined face that changed to a scowl as she realised there were three of them.
‘Well? Are you just going to stand there?’
‘I’m here for Tikhoveter,’ said Marek so quietly the rain near drowned out the words. The diminutive woman looked from Steiner to Kristofine. Her scowl deepened and she opened the door. ‘You’d best come in.’
The townhouse was a place of dark wood panelling and darker shadows. The candles remained unlit and the fireplaces held no cheer. The only light emanated from the lantern the