The Grave thief

Someone gripped Doranei's face and turned it to the light. He growled and pulled back, lifting his tankard to his lips and trying to blow the few remaining bubbles of froth to the other side.

'So what do you reckon, boyo, a quick kicking from my girl to wake you up?'

'So what's 'is story, m'lovely?' Janna asked before Doranei could work out he was being spoken to. 'Why's 'e moping about over some woman? That's not like 'im, not one bit.'

'Long story,' Sebe said coolly, 'and not one that's going to be told here either. He said anything about her to you?'

'Nah, jus' it's a secret.'

'It is, so if he's so drunk he starts to chatter, you put him out. He'll thank you in the morning.'

Doranei raised his head. 'Not drunk.'

Something smacked into the side of his head and the bar fall sideways just before the floor hit him. He tried to take another drink, but his beer had disappeared and its loss seemed to drain his will.

He groaned slowly, then his body went limp.

'So why'd you do that?' Janna said once she'd stopped laughing.

'See the sparrow at the door?'

'That lost puppy that followed you in? 'ard to miss, m'lovely.'

'I brought him here to speak to Doranei. He's been checking out the pubs down by the docks, asking for the Brotherhood.'

'Tsatach's burning arse! Simple, is 'e?' Janna exclaimed.

'Desperate, more like,' Sebe countered with a shrug. 'Anyway, thought I'd let boyo here decide what to do with him, but now I've seen him I don't think he's sober enough.'

He looked down as Doranei flailed around for a few moments before managing to sit up. It took another few seconds for him to realise he hadn't gone blind; he was just staring at the wooden facing of the bar. With an enigmatic grin, the King's Man reached up and clung onto the bar as he pulled himself approximately upright.

'Who hit me?' he murmured.

'I did,' Sebe said with a sigh. 'Gods, Doranei, I've never seen you this bad before.'

'Sebe.' Doranei blinked a few times, his head wavering forward and back as he squinted at his friend. Eventually he gave a stupid grin. 'Beer?'

'Nah, got a sparrow for you to meet.'

'Sparrow?'

Sebe pointed towards the door. Doranei blinked a couple of times to clear his eyes, then tried to take in the newcomer's appearance. He looked like a nobleman, but one who'd spent too many recent nights in haystacks. There were fresh scars on his gaunt face; he looked like he was starving.

The man gave a start as Doranei lurched forward and growled, 'The fuck're you?'

'I- My name is Ortof-Greyl,' he said quickly, as if this information alone would protect him. 'Harn Ortof-Greyl.' He looked at Doranei expectantly.

'Rings a bell.'

Ortof-Greyl waited for Doranei to say more but the King's Man just swayed slightly and smacked his lips together, hoping Janna would take the hint.

'I was… I am a member of the Knights of the Temples,' the man went on after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

'Not sure which, eh? Can see how that'd be a problem.' Doranei gave the man a friendly pat on the shoulder and struggled back onto his seat. He propped himself up on his elbows. 'Want a beer?'

Sebe grinned and pulled over a pair of stools, indicating Ortof-Greyl should sit between the two Brothers. Reluctantly, the man did so.

'Rank?' Doranei growled.

'Major,' the man replied after a slight hesitation.

'Ordained, then.' It wasn't a question, and they all knew the implications. 'Where's that brandy then, woman?'

'It'll be shoved up your arse if you don't ask nicer than that, m'lovely,' Janna replied sweetly.

Doranei dragged his eyes up from the bar, but her bright smile defeated whatever was passing for thought in his head. He turned to Sebe, waved a hand in Janna's general direction and resumed his earlier position, supporting his head on his empty tankard.

With a sigh, Sebe secured a bottle and three thimble-like cups.

'Ordained,' Doranei repeated in a grim voice, staring over the bar. 'Bugger.'

Beside him the major nodded, looking even paler than he had when he'd first entered the pub. 'Some days it feels like fire in my veins. Not for much longer though,' he added, 'not after what I saw in that refugee camp.' He knocked back his first cup of brandy before Doranei had even found his own.

'Your Order won't like that too much,' Sebe said.

'The Order is fractured and lost,' Ortof-Greyl replied sadly. 'General Gort is dead, General Chotech is dead. I heard a week ago that General Diolis was murdered in Aroth. My group is destroyed.'

'Does the Knight-Cardinal know about your plotting against him? He clearing house?' Sebe asked, leaning forward.

'I believe so; someone must have informed on us. Whatever the truth, we are in no position to deliver an army of the Devoted to Lord Isak. We've failed in our duty.'

'Join the fuckin' club,' Doranei growled. A sudden purpose seemed to take hold of him and he downed two shots of brandy before saying anything further.

A look at Sebe told Ortof-Greyl that he didn't know what Doranei was referring to either.

'Took a li'l trip after Scree,' Doranei said while he waited for Janna to refill his cup. 'Went to a monast'ry and talked to a bunch o' priests.'

Sebe gave a gasp as he realised what Doranei was talking about. 'Major, give us a moment please?' he said urgently.

'Fuck off, or I'll gut you like a fish!' Doranei added with a snarl, swinging wildly around towards the major and ending up just inches from his face.

Ortof-Greyl backed off quickly and retreated across the room. Janna gave Doranei a sharp clip around the head and quickly poured a beer that she took over to Ortof-Greyl, earning a grateful look from Sebe.

'So what're we going to do with him then?'

Doranei shrugged. 'Don't owe 'im nothing. Send 'im home.'

'As a spy? He'll need some reassurance that we're there to back him up – and what about the Knight-Cardinal clearing house?

I don't like it; we're probably sending him straight to his death.'

'Fuck 'im.'

Sebe sighed. 'Gods, boy, what's happened to you?'

'Read their history,' Doranei muttered.

'And?'

'Bastards had too many secrets.'

'Oh Gods.'

The Brotherhood had scattered in all directions after the fall of Scree, some pursuing enemy agents, some going after Azaer's disciples. Doranei had caught up with the main part of the Farlan Army and, whilst securing an escort for his king, met the novice who had guided Abbot Doren to Scree. The young novice, Mayel, had eventually told him all about the island monastery dedicated to Vellern, God of Birds, and Jackdaw, the disciple of Azaer who'd pursued them to Scree.

'The king suspected,' Doranei said, to which Sebe nodded. 'Looked back an' thought we'd got the Skull too easy. Bastard minstrel could've taken it, but didn't even try. Mayel told me the Skull weren't the only magic thing they brought, there was a book too, with initials on the cover – a pair o' Vs. I got the monks to show me their book o' days. They said a Farlan knight brought the Skull, but they already had a guilty secret.'

'A pair of Vs? Could still be coincidence.'

Doranei gave a snort and attacked the brandy again. 'Could be. Bloody ain't, though. Monastery's old, but the monks weren't the first there. They found ruins to Hit, and a book o' days with the journal – practically shat themselves when they translated it: in the middle of the night a man came an' told Hit's monks to hide a book.'

'Let me guess,' Sebe said. 'That'd be a man with eyes like sapphires?' He reached for the brandy and swigged straight from the bottle.

'Bloody sapphires. Damn minstrel gave us the Skull and took a hook belonging to Vorizh Vukotic, that mad blood-sucking bastard hisself. An' guess who's gotta ask 'is sister what's in it?'