Rag was floundering. ‘Yeah, can you show me the way out? I need to be off. My uncle’s waiting for me.’
The woman stared intently like she was hunting for the lies and could see them plain as the nose on Rag’s face.
Then they stood there, just looking at one another. All at once Rag’s nerve gave out. She was trapped in here, weren’t nowhere to go, nor nothing to say that would see her free of this.
A tear welled in one eye then began to trickle down her cheek. If she’d have planned it — if she’d have wanted to cry, put on an act — she’d never have managed, but this was real. She was in the shit and she knew it.
‘Why don’t you tell me why you’re really here,’ the woman said looking into her like only the truth would do.
Rag couldn’t see that she had much choice about it.
SIXTEEN
The girl was lying to her. During Kaira’s many years teaching young acolytes in the Temple of Autumn there had been times when girls in her care had tried to fool her, to make excuses, to rely on their feigned naivety. Kaira could see deception now in the eyes of this girl.
Young and simply dressed, she had looked innocuous enough handing out food in the courtyard. But Kaira had watched as she crept into the barrack room, had followed her as she entered Captain Garret’s study chamber. This was no lost waif. There was something going on here and Kaira wanted to know what.
‘Ain’t got nothing to tell,’ insisted the girl, lifting a hand to wipe away a tear. Was it a real tear or part of an act? Kaira guessed the latter.
‘Maybe I should just call the Greencoats. Have them deal with you.’
‘No,’ said the girl, too quickly. Clearly she’d had run-ins with the Greencoats before.
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
‘There’s … just no need. I have to go, my uncle will be waiting.’ She seemed desperate, like a cornered animal. Her eyes darted to left and right but there was nowhere to escape.
‘Who is your uncle?’
The girl paused. Thinking fast, devising her story. Kaira let her think a while.
‘He … he works in the palace.’
‘Where in the palace?’
‘Kitchens.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘F … Henrik,’ she said, mouth twitching at her error.
‘F-Henrik,’ repeated Kaira, finding herself enjoying this a little too much. ‘Come on then. We’ll go and see him together.’
‘No.’
The girl stood rooted to the spot, another tear starting down her face. As much as she was putting on a brave show, she obviously knew the game was up. The girl was scared, exposed — Kaira felt a sudden pang of guilt that she was enjoying watching her squirm.
‘Sit down.’ Kaira gestured to a chair beside Garret’s desk.
The girl obeyed, watching Kaira warily, as though she might attack at any minute. Kaira remained standing, thus reinforcing who was in control here.
‘What’s your name?’ Kaira asked.
Another pause.
‘Rag,’ the girl replied.
‘Rag?’
‘Yeah, Rag. Am I lying about that too?’
Kaira guessed from the girl’s sudden anger that she wasn’t.
‘All right, Rag. My name is Kaira. And I know you’re not lost, so you may as well tell me exactly what you’re doing here.’
Rag looked up defiantly, angry that Kaira had doubted her when she was actually telling the truth.
‘I don’t have to tell you shit,’ she said, sloughing off her pretence of innocence. ‘Go get the fucking Greencoats. I don’t care. Nothing they’ll do to me will be worse than …’
Rag looked as though she had said too much, said something she didn’t want Kaira to know. Was this girl in trouble? It roused Kaira’s natural instinct to protect the weak, but she had to be careful — the girl could well be stronger than she made out. If Rag really was in trouble it was Kaira’s duty to help, but the last thing she wanted was to be made a fool of.
‘Worse than what?’ Kaira said gently. ‘Has someone threatened you? Are you in danger?’
That brought a wry smile to Rag’s face. ‘What do you care? I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Let’s just keep it that way.’
‘If someone wants to harm you, I can protect you from them.’
Rag gave a little laugh. ‘Lady, you can’t do shit. No one can protect me from them. And who says I want protecting anyway?’
Kaira looked into those fierce little eyes. Despite her protestations it was obvious Rag really did want someone to protect her. Behind that brave face there was a sadness, a defencelessness.
‘We all need protecting, in our own way, even if some of us can’t admit it.’
Rag just shook her head and stared down at her lap.
‘Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?’ Kaira asked gently. Rag shook her head but the tears were coming now. Kaira tried giving her a smile. ‘You can trust me. You can tell me the truth. I promise no harm will come to you.’
‘I can trust you?’ said Rag. ‘How do you know you can trust me?’
Good question.
‘Let’s say that, on occasion, I like to put faith in people. I let them try to make the right choices.’ Her memory flashed back to that day weeks before, when Merrick had taken up his sword and freed a warehouse full of slaves. He had done that because Kaira’s faith in him had led him to make the right choice.
‘How has that worked out for you so far?’ Rag asked.
Kaira shrugged. ‘Let’s just say I’ve had mixed results.’
Rag was frowning, as though weighing up whether Kaira could be worth confiding in. Eventually she made her decision.
‘I’m just here to find someone,’ she said. ‘That’s all. Nothing serious or nothing.’
‘Who were you sent to find?’
Rag paused, as though holding onto her one final bit of information, as though giving up this last thing would leave her completely vulnerable.
‘Bloke by the name of Merrick Ryder,’ she said with a sigh.
Kaira stopped breathing.
There could only be one reason Rag was here for Merrick. This girl had been sent by the Guild, most likely Palien himself, eager for his revenge. But Kaira had to be sure.
‘Tell me, Rag. Who sent you to find this man?’
‘Just …’ Rag couldn’t answer. She had already said too much.
‘I thought we were going to trust one another. I promised no harm would come to you, and I will keep that promise. In return you have to tell me who sent you.’
‘It was … Look, it’s nobody you’d know. Nobody important.’
‘Someone asked you to break into the barracks of the Sentinels and they’re not important? They sound important to me, Rag.’
‘It was a man I know.’
‘His name?’
Rag shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, opened her mouth to speak then thought better of it, shook her head, then sighed.
‘His name is Friedrik.’
Kaira felt disappointed. She’d been hoping it was Palien. Hoping it was the Guild, but it was most likely just someone Merrick owed money to.
‘What does this Friedrik want with Merrick Ryder?’
Rag looked guiltier than ever. ‘Don’t rightly know. But Friedrik’s one of the fellas what runs the pickers and pinchers and the rest, so it can’t be for anything good.’
‘The pickers and pinchers?’ said Kaira.
‘Yeah,’ said Rag, as though Kaira were somehow dense for not understanding. ‘You know … the Guild.’ She whispered her final words as though someone might be listening.
All Kaira could do was stare.
The Guild.
This must be him — this was the man Kaira had been hunting, the man she had been sent from the Temple of Autumn to track down and bring to justice. And her one link to him was a girl off the streets.
‘What you staring at?’ demanded Rag.
Kaira realised her eyes had been locked on Rag all the while.
‘Nothing,’ she replied. And it was nothing. Her mission for the Temple of Autumn was long past; she had turned her back on all that. She had a new life and she was no longer beholden to the Shieldmaidens and the Matron Mother.