The fifth day in Larkos brought with it an emissary from the slaving guild. He was a huge man, as fat as he was tall, and he was certainly tall. He waddled into the tavern surrounded by guards who were no doubt needed to protect his obvious wealth. The man wore gemstone rings on every finger and had a variety of piercings all over his face, each ring and stud sporting a hefty jewel. The fat man announced himself as Orkus Uon, ambassador and messenger of Somolous Tain, the head of the slaving guild. Elaina despised those who traded in flesh, but she couldn’t afford to make any enemies among the Council of Thirteen so agreed to hear Orkus out.
The slaving guild were unique amidst the others, in that Larkos wasn’t their only place of operation. They had holdings in almost every major city in the known world, except those that outlawed slavery, and the connections and manpower they could give to Elaina eclipsed those of any of the other guilds. But Orkus didn’t offer to help win the pirate’s war so much as make veiled threats over what would happen if Elaina picked any of the other guilds. The slavers could make for excellent allies, but they could also make for very dangerous enemies. Despite the threat, Elaina couldn’t bring herself to take help from those who peddled flesh.
On the sixth day, an emissary from the Blades walked through the tavern door. The boy was tall and slim with a bald head, and had a slight chubbiness that suggested he hadn’t yet finished his growth. He greeted Elaina warmly and informed her that the Queen of Blades had requested her presence. Elaina grinned at the boy and stayed in her seat, determined to make him wait while she finished her breakfast and ale. The Queen of Blades had turned her away once, and Elaina would be damned before she went running just because the bitch had changed her tune. Rather than show frustration at the delay, the emissary stood by and waited patiently.
When Elaina finally decided it was time to meet the leader of the Blades she called for her four remaining crew and sent them on their errands. Pavel would meet with the Clerics again – they paid good coin to hear sermons from a travelling priest of their golden god, and though Elaina hated to admit it, they needed the bits. She sent Alfer to the gate district to meet with the Scarred Men and broker an audience with the Scarred Man, and she had Pollick sitting on the docks to watch the ships sail in. The man had the sharpest eyes of the lot of them, and Elaina needed to know the moment anyone they knew sailed into port.
The Blades emissary had two horses waiting outside the tavern and bid Elaina mount one as he easily swung his arse up onto the other. Elaina followed suit, and before long they were moving through the streets of Larkos at a canter, heading ever more steadily towards the central district where the Queen of Blades held court.
When they arrived at the same gate Elaina had so recently been turned away from, the young emissary leapt off his horse to exchange words with the guards. Elaina didn’t hear what was said, but there seemed little to no argument and this time the gates opened for her, revealing the central district for the first time.
Elaina wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the central district wasn’t it. The streets were empty and clean, and most of the place appeared to be open land given over to green gardens of grass or cobbled squares built around central podiums. Of buildings she saw little other than warehouses, a few houses, and a lot of temples built tall and proud to a variety of gods. Elaina even recognised one dedicated to Rin. It was hard to miss the spectacle floating on its very own saltwater lake – to build a shrine to the sea goddess upon solid land would be an insult the bitch would likely take personally.
In the centre of the district – and indeed the centre of the city – stood the great guild hall, the meeting place of the Council of Thirteen. Elaina found herself staring up at the giant building in wonder. It was larger than the grandest temple she’d ever seen and its curved walls were supported by many stone struts, almost like legs, that peeled away from the building to plunge into the ground. At the far end, a single tower rose even higher into the sky. The tip of it was flat, and Elaina wagered the view from that point was spectacular. When viewed from a distance the great guild hall looked much like a scorpion, poised and ready to strike at the unwary. She wondered what it looked like on the inside, what sort of treasures were hidden within, ripe for a bit of plundering.
The emissary turned them away, towards a smaller structure built all of white marble. A wall surrounded the grounds of this new building, and a number of guards patrolled leisurely around the outside of that wall. As they passed through an open gate, Elaina saw the grounds were festooned with small gardens, pools of still water, and odd bird-feeding devices. Never having paid too much attention to birds, Elaina could only name a few, and there were many more she couldn’t hope to identify here. Some bathed in pools while others fed, and even more flew around the building or rested upon the white stone.
Another boy, not quite as tall but obviously of a similar age and also with a bald head, rushed out of the building and took hold of the emissary’s horse. Elaina leapt down from her mount and the boy led both horses back out the way they’d come.
“This way, Captain Black,” the emissary said with a smile. “I believe the Queen will see you right away.”
“I should hope so,” Elaina said, following the lad through the arch that led into the building. “Already been turned away once, eh.”
Inside, the building was white and spotless. Green plants as tall as Elaina grew in pots near almost every wall, and those not adorned with the vegetation sported benches, a few of which were occupied with folk looking so serene it sent shivers up and down Elaina’s spine. A number of doorways led off to rooms on each side of the hall, and at the far end there was a pool with ten people lounging about in its crystal blue waters. The place seemed more like an upmarket pleasure house, the type a person might find in Sarth, than the hall of one of the most prestigious guilds in Larkos.
“So where is she?” Elaina said, eager to hear what the Queen of Blades had to say and just as eager to be away from the place.
“I will let her know you have arrived, Captain Black,” the emissary said. “Please wait just a short while.”
Elaina snorted, trying to give the impression she didn’t care. She’d never felt at home in places like this, and she included the whole city in that sentiment. The Blacks were all born to be aboard a ship, and surrounded by wood holding back water was where Elaina would always be most comfortable. She loved cities like Larkos for the freedom and distractions they offered, but she loved them in small doses.
“Captain Black,” said a voice that passed through Elaina like the tingle she got from a good finger of rum.
Elaina turned to find a tall woman in a green dress that hugged her figure and left nothing, not even the knives sewn into the fabric, to the imagination. Where some women might wear a fur about their shoulders, this one wore a wreath of blades all shining and, Elaina wagered, razor sharp. Even the woman’s jewellery was shaped in the fashion of little knives. Elaina wondered how many people would die if she took to a dance in a crowded room.
Yet it wasn’t the vast amount of weaponry – including a long, slender sword buckled around her waist as well as all the knives – that convinced Elaina this was the Queen of Blades. It was her face. Elaina had only ever met one Drurr before, but the man had left an impression – and so did this woman. She was beautiful – not just the type of beautiful that turns heads, but the type that breaks hearts with a mere glance. Elaina felt a strange sorrow simply from looking at the Queen of Blades, and she knew that if she could just get closer to the woman, if she could just earn her approval, that sorrow would turn to unbridled joy. At a closer look, the Queen of Blades’ face was distinctly Drurr. Her skin was too pale and too tight across her cheeks and nose, and her mouth was too wide and contained too many teeth. Her eyes were beyond dark; they held no colour at all, only bottomless black. Her hair cascaded down her back over the wreath of blades, and seemed to change colour as Elaina stared; one moment it was almost as dark as her own, and the next it was a shining red like freshly spilled blood.