The floor gave way and we both fell into darkness.
‘A trapdoor,’ I said, looking up at the opening above us. How very embarrassing it was to fall through it – to fall for it.
‘It could have been worse,’ Leana grunted. ‘You could have landed on the stone floor instead of falling on me.’
We found ourselves in a room on the ground floor. It was a crude cage of sorts, albeit the metal mesh was only on one side – the rest of the room was made from thick panels of wood. There wasn’t much to be seen, the place was dusty and we were in the company of two rats. Testing the mesh got us nowhere; it seemed firm, but there was a lock.
‘Do you have a pick?’ I asked.
Leana reached down to her belt and handed over a pin. ‘This do?’
‘I’ll see.’ The lock possessed an impressive mechanism but I pushed my fingers through the mesh of the cage and manoeuvred the pin into the key mechanism. It wouldn’t take me too long – when training for the Sun Chamber we often spent many hours working on the various types of locks found throughout Vispasia. This one was a particularly common variety, a cheap but usually effective lock, and remembering how its insides functioned it only took a few moments before there was a click.
‘There we go.’ Handing the pick back to Leana, I grinned and pushed the cage door open.
As soon as we set foot outside, there was the sound of people approaching. We were on our guard as the door to a room opened, revealing two figures silhouetted by the cresset light behind. Short swords glimmered in their hands.
‘Stay where you are,’ they cautioned.
Leana showed them her own weapon. ‘Two of them, two of us,’ she sneered.
‘I’m happy with those odds,’ I added.
‘All right,’ a figure said. ‘We don’t want no blood this afternoon.’
‘A man after my own heart,’ I replied.
‘Lay your weapons down,’ the man grunted.
‘And you,’ Leana snapped. ‘Put down your swords.’
‘What’s going on down there?’ a more aggressive voice shouted, possibly their boss.
‘Now look, this is not a particularly pleasant welcome,’ I called out, hoping to defuse the situation. ‘Is this how simple guests are treated in Tryum these days?’
‘Who the hell is talking like that?’ The figures parted revealing another slightly shorter man.
‘If we had some proper light down here you might be able to see who,’ I replied.
‘Listen to the rich boy speak,’ the man said. ‘He’s got a lovely voice, don’t he? Shame to lose a tongue like that. Ruin a handsome face. We could sell him as a whore and make a lot of money.’
‘You would die trying,’ Leana interrupted.
‘Easy, lads. I like women from where she comes from. Atrewe, ain’t that so? I’d remember that accent a mile off. You’re a long way from home, black lady.’
Leana didn’t move but I figured it was only a matter of time and while I had no issue in principle with this man being erased from the city, I hoped to Polla she would not kill anyone, not when we needed answers instead of corpses.
‘Thoughtful people, you Atrewens – could kill you in the morning and write a poem about it in the afternoon,’ the man continued admiringly. ‘You don’t talk as much as we do in case the spirits hear you, ain’t that so? I spent some time there in my younger days, when I was stealing ships around the coast. Good days they were. Atrewe is a big place. You come all the way here with a man like him?’
‘Get to the point or I will open your stomach and leave you to the rats.’
There was a silence in which he assessed us.
‘Rich man, what’s your name?’ he called out.
‘Lucan Drakenfeld, officer of the Sun Chamber, newly stationed in Tryum. This is Leana, my peace mediator.’
He snorted. ‘Man with a sense of humour. I like that.’
‘It helps to pass the time.’
Another figure emerged and stood alongside the others, blocking what little light there was and probably our only exit too.
‘Is this the home of the Snake Kings?’ I asked.
‘One of them.’
‘Good. Are you their chief ?’
‘One of them.’
‘That’s a start,’ I replied.
‘Shouldn’t we be asking the questions, since you’ve fallen through our trapdoor?’
‘You just asked a question right there.’
The shorter man stepped closer. ‘You talk far too glibly for my liking. Tongues that quick are best removed. What’re you doing here?’
‘We’re looking for someone, an actor named Drullus.’
‘Drullus.’ He turned to his colleagues and said, ‘I’ve never heard of a Drullus. Have any of you heard of a Drullus?’
‘No,’ came the reply, all well rehearsed, and all of this pitched to steer me towards bribing them.
‘Let’s get to the point. How much do you want?’ I asked.
‘A thousand pecullas.’
For them to request so much meant that Drullus must have paid them something near that figure to keep his whereabouts quiet. It was a lot of money, more than a year’s earnings for most people – and certainly more than anyone in Plutum would probably see in their lives. All of this begged the question of how an actor could possibly get his hands on that much cash. Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if he had friends in high places…
‘What would we get for a thousand pecullas?’ I demanded.
‘A specific location. Whether you find Drullus there or not, we can’t say.’
My eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness. The leader’s face was broad, though without an ounce of fat, and his eyes narrow. He was certainly a good head shorter than me, though he looked nimble, as if he knew how to fight and flee.
Leana was outraged. ‘A man came to you for protection, for shelter, and you’re willing to sell him out? Where’s your honour?’
He grunted. ‘I’m running a business here. What’s honour got to do with it?’
‘I’m a member of the Sun Chamber pursuing an investigation. You could be held accountable for withholding information,’ I told him.
‘My gang might say otherwise.’
‘You realize I could bring an army to this place – you’ve heard of the Sun Legion, haven’t you? Five thousand of the finest and highest-paid soldiers in all of Vispasia could come straight to Tryum and wipe the Snake Kings from the collective memory of the city.’
‘That would mean you had to get out first,’ he sneered.
‘Your trapdoor and lock didn’t hold us. Are you sure you like your chances against an angry Atrewen warrior and myself, a trained officer of the Sun Chamber?’
He paused considering.
Leana took a step closer to him and whispered, ‘I will kill your men quickly, but before I send you into the afterlife I will first skin you with breath still in your body.’
He grunted a laugh.
‘She means it,’ I assured him. ‘She’s killed a few people already today. However, the other option is that I pay one hundred pecullas and have the money delivered here before noon tomorrow. You get your money, I get my information. And I promise that no harm will come to your client.’
‘Five hundred.’
‘One hundred pecullas.’
‘Three,’ he bargained, ‘and the offer of a network of good men should you need it.’
I waited in silence, considering that I’d have to request authorization for a bribery receipt later to recover the money. How I hated administration. However, having a network such as the Snake Kings to hand was worth the effort.
‘Three,’ I agreed. ‘Delivered here before noon tomorrow.’ I offered my hand and forearm and he shook it.
The tension in the room seemed to vanish.