But maybe she’s not just brave. She must be cunning too, to have survived so long. Maybe she knows more than she’s letting on.
‘Rag, stand up,’ said Kaira.
The girl obeyed. ‘Won’t talk, will he?’ she said.
Kaira shook her head. ‘No, he won’t. He won’t tell me anything. Can you tell me anything, Rag?’
The girl shrugged her shoulders. ‘Don’t know nothing,’ she replied. ‘I’m just Friedrik’s pet. He don’t tell me none of what he gets up to and I only know one of his hideouts and that won’t be much use now he’s not in it. Only thing I ever get to see is people being hurt. Only people I meet in the Guild come and go as they please. Now you’ve got Friedrik I might never see none of them again.’
‘Then I need to get him to talk,’ Kaira said, as much to herself as to the girl. ‘But it can’t be the Greencoats or the Inquisition. It can’t be anyone who might have any links with the Guild.’
Rag looked doubtful, then brightened as though she’d had an idea, but the expression was gone as soon as it arrived.
‘What is it?’ Kaira asked.
‘Well … there might be someone we can trust, but I don’t know how good he’ll be at making Friedrik talk. He might just as likely strangle him as soon as he sets eyes on him.’ A mischievous smile crept onto her face. ‘Friedrik’ll shit himself when he sees him, though.’
THIRTY-SIX
Nobul ached like someone had been using him as a doormat for a month. He had always healed fast, always been able to shake off the hurt, but he was feeling his years now. Nevertheless, he could walk and, at a push, he could fight. That was all that mattered. If the Guild were still after him — and he guessed after his party back at the tavern they most likely were — he’d need to fight soon enough.
As he walked the early morning streets he wasn’t scared, though. Let them bloody come. Let them try to take him back and throw him in another dog pit. He was ready now. They wouldn’t find it so easy to catch Nobul Jacks a second time.
A small part of him wanted them to come. Part of him looked forward to the fight. They’d tried to humiliate him, tried to kill him, but he’d paid them back for that. There were a dozen corpses as testament to it. He’d had his taste of vengeance, but his hunger was not satisfied. If he could remember the way back to that tavern in Northgate he’d most likely have gone right now and killed anyone in there but he’d stumbled out delirious — wandering in a daze. He hadn’t a chance of finding, let alone recognising, the place again.
Not that it mattered. As soon as he got his hands on Anton he’d go to work and no mistake. That little bastard would tell Nobul everything he knew — but most importantly, where he could find Friedrik. Then there’d be a reckoning. That little bastard had been responsible for the death of this son. He’d been the one to order the hit that had seen his son bleeding to death on a rooftop. Without him and his fucking Guild, Markus would still be alive.
Nobul wasn’t done by a long way. Right now though, he needed to get back to the Greencoats, back to Kilgar and let him know what had gone on. He trusted his serjeant; Kilgar was a man of honour, if a bit of a bastard. Better that Nobul had someone watching his back, especially if he was taking on the Guild — there was no reason to be foolish about it. Nobul Jacks might well have been able to handle himself in a brawl, but there was no point being reckless. With the rest of the lads behind him it’d be easier to find those scumbags and take them down.
When Nobul walked into the courtyard of the Greencoat barracks the lads were sat around like none of them had a care in the world. Old Hake was telling Bilgot, Dustin and Edric some tale about the old days. The three of them were listening intently; even fat Bilgot kept his mouth shut as the old fella went on. None of them noticed Nobul at first, and he scanned the courtyard for Anton. The little bastard was nowhere in sight, and as Nobul headed to the main building, Kilgar came out.
The serjeant stopped in front of Nobul, his mouth opening, most likely to ask where in the hells Nobul had been for the past few days, when he noticed the state of Nobul’s face.
‘What the fuck’s happened to you?’ Kilgar asked, though he didn’t look that concerned.
‘Had a run-in with some dogs,’ Nobul replied, in no mood to go into details just yet. ‘Where’s Anton?’
Kilgar shrugged. ‘I was going to ask you the same thing. I’ve not seen him for days.’
Hake had stopped his chatter now and the lads were looking over. ‘What about you lot?’ Nobul asked, turning to them. ‘Anyone seen him?’
The lads just shook their heads. It was clear Nobul was in no mood to be pissed around.
‘You all right?’ Kilgar asked. ‘Do you need some time off?’
Nobul shook his head. ‘I’ve had enough time off.’
‘Good,’ said Kilgar, ‘because you’ve had visitors, just this morning. They’ve brought you something.’
‘Oh aye? Anything good?’
‘Follow me and see for yourself.’
Kilgar turned and led Nobul towards the cells.
Down in the torchlit corridors beneath the barracks Nobul could see two figures waiting up ahead. One was a tall woman who looked familiar, though for the life of him he couldn’t place her. She was broad at the shoulder, the features of her face strong and proud.
The second figure he did recognise, even stood as she was in the shadows. She looked at him, her eyes wide, fearful. That stung him a little bit. Out of everything he’d done back in that tavern, all the death he’d caused, frightening that little girl had been the one thing he’d regretted.
‘You all right?’ he asked Rag.
‘Yeah, you?’ she replied.
‘I’ll live,’ he said.
He wanted to smile, wanted to thank her, wanted to take her in his arms and give her a grateful hug, but he didn’t. Because as Kilgar opened the cell door, Nobul had a feeling he knew what was waiting for him. And this was not a time for thanks and hugs and gratitude.
This was his time for vengeance.
He was sitting on a chair, hands bound behind him, sack over his head. Nobul remembered how it felt to have a sack over his own head, remembered how it struck fear in your guts, how you didn’t know where you were or who was watching or what they were going to do to you next.
‘They brought him in earlier today,’ said Kilgar. ‘The woman’s from the Sentinels. Says this here’s-’
‘Yeah, I’ve got a good idea who this is,’ Nobul said, walking into the cell.
He was excited, almost gleeful. All he’d wanted for the past few days was to get his hands on this bastard, and now he had him. Might as well enjoy it.
Slowly he lifted the sack off Friedrik’s head. When he looked up at Nobul, Friedrik seemed to go through a range of emotions — fear, confusion, recognition and back to fear again. Then he smiled.
‘Wondered when I’d see you again,’ he said.
Nobul just glowered at him.
‘He’s high up in the Guild, by all accounts,’ Kilgar said. ‘Is it who you were expecting?’
‘Yeah, it is,’ Nobul replied.
‘How do you know him?’
‘Let’s say I’ve been lucky enough to have been his guest for the past few days.’
‘Indeed,’ said Friedrik, ‘and what entertaining company you’ve been.’
Nobul took a step forward, his fist clenched, but before he could think where to begin, Kilgar took him by the arm.
‘We need him talking, not dead,’ Kilgar said. ‘The woman, Kaira, said you were the only one she could trust with the job, though to be honest she didn’t sound too sure about it.’
Nobul looked over his shoulder to where Kaira was watching from the corridor. Rag stood beside her, and he reckoned it was more likely the girl had been the one to say this was a job for Nobul.
Was she right? Could he get this bastard talking without killing him first? Only time would tell, he supposed.