The skulk vanished into the night.
Sheroth shook his head and set Kalev on his feet. Then he shuffled past, almost on his knees he had to crouch so low.
“You all right, Vix?”
“Just about.” Vix sat with her head in her hands, her wild white hair sticking out in all directions. When she looked up, she caught Kalev staring at her.
“You’re a changeling,” he said.
“And you’re a fool.” Vix spat blood and dust and wiped her pale mouth.
Kalev shrugged. “Possibly.” He reclaimed his dagger and sheathed it. “But my name is Kalev.”
She glowered at him with her bright amethyst eyes. Kalev knew some changelings didn’t think of themselves in terms of human gender, but he couldn’t make himself think of the pale being in front of him as a “he,” much less an “it.”
“Do you want to tell me what this is about?” Kalev gestured around the warehouse.
Vix shifted her weight uneasily and glanced up at Sheroth. Sheroth shook his heavy head.
“I’ve already saved your life,” Kalev pointed out. “You at least owe me an explanation.”
Vix eyed Sheroth. This time Sheroth only shrugged, the plates that formed its shoulders grating together.
Vix slumped forward, resting her forearms on her knees. “It’s not that complicated. A piece of property was stolen. It was traced to Duke Arisor. I was… hired to get it back. Quietly.”
“Hired?” Kalev arched his brows.
“More or less.” The changeling rubbed a smear of cobweb from her pale forehead.
“And would I be correct in assuming this piece of property is more than just an ugly statuette?”
Vix studied her fingertips a moment before she met Kalev’s gaze. “It’s called the Memory Eye and it’s a magical artifact. Other than that, I don’t know, and I’m dead anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Kalev arched his brow. “Dead?”
“Metaphorically speaking. I hope.” Vix got to her feet, using Sheroth’s arm to steady herself. “I can’t believe I let it get away!” With surprising gentleness, the warforged laid a hand on the changeling’s slim shoulder.
“Do you even know what that was?” asked Kalev.
“It was a skulk. Foul thing.” Vix spat again. “Must have been a mesmerist. That kind can cast an illusion on its victims. A lot of people think they’re shapeshifters, which just makes life more difficult for those of us who truly are.”
Kalev nodded. A lot of people did not like or trust changelings, believing that their ability to change form made them inherently devious.
“But skulks aren’t thieves,” said Kalev. “They’re predators. Why would this one give up the chance for a kill for this… what did you call it? Memory Eye?” Arisor had been involved in some shady dealings, but according to Kalev’s information, he’d never dealt in magical artifacts.
Vix cocked her head toward him. “You know a lot for a sneak thief.”
“So do you,” countered Kalev.
“You never did say what you were doing in the duke’s study.”
“You said you didn’t care.”
Vix waved a hand, acknowledging the point. “Well, thanks for the rescue. Time we were going, Sheroth.”
You’re not getting away that easily, he thought. “We could help each other,” said Kalev with a feigned casualness. “You want to find the Memory Eye. I want to find out why it was stolen by a skulk, and what Duke Arisor was doing with it in the first place.”
“Why?”
“I’m insatiably curious.”
Vix watched him carefully for a moment. “Why should I work with someone who’s lying to me?”
“I’m not. I’m just keeping my own secrets. There’s a difference. I’d think a changeling could understand that,” he added.
Vix glanced up at Sheroth again. Kalev wondered how long the two had traveled together.
“All right,” said Vix. “But I can’t start yet. Meet me at the Arena of Unparalleled Wonder at dawn. I’ll be coming off shift then.”
Kalev straightened up. “You work at the Arena? I didn’t know House Phiarlan hired changelings.”
“Neither do they.” Vix’s form blurred and Kalev again faced the graceful, dark-haired woman.
“We’ll see you at dawn.” Vix picked her way through the ruined doorway and into the alley. Sheroth gave Kalev a hard glower before shambling after the changeling.
Kalev waited until the pair had vanished and nothing remained but the sound of the warforged’s heavy feet. Then, using all the skill he had at moving undetected, Kalev followed.
The Arena of Unparalleled Wonder was House Phiarlan’s greatest theater, and even by Fairhaven standards, an incredible sight. From the alley mouth, Kalev stared at the sparkling edifice. It took up an entire city block and its mass of glittering domes and crystal spires towered over its neighbors. At least one performance was always in progress on one of the dozen public stages or the six or eight private performance spaces. The finest actors and entertainers fought for a chance to play there. And why wouldn’t they? Queen Aurala herself attended the shows at least monthly.
Kalev was not seeing the Arena from its best angle. He was watching one of the many side doors where Vix and Sheroth stood talking. He itched to know what they said, but dared not get closer. At last, Vix touched the warforged’s arm in farewell, and went inside. Sheroth took a post beside the door.
The streets around were busy, as the cream of Fairhaven’s society enjoyed a night’s carousing. The place would have been a pick-pocket’s paradise if not for the sharp-eyed members of the public guard standing on the street corners. Queen Aurala felt that if petty crime ran rampant through her capital, it would reflect badly on her work toward a peaceful, stable realm, and in this at least, her brother the governor shared her opinions.
Kalev considered his situation. He now had more than one mystery on his hands.
Despite Vix’s assumptions, he was not a thief. He had been given the task of finding the skulk that was slaughtering the city aristocracy. Normally, such beasts were relatively easy to track, once you knew what you were looking for, but this one had not been exhibiting normal skulk behavior. Skulks were clever, but not subtle. They worked with none but their own kind, and they were cold killers, interested only in maximizing carnage. But after the third death, it had become clear the targets were not being chosen at random. Each one of the dead had recently provided the queen’s intelligence services with information. Kalev had been in Arisor’s study to search for signs the aristocratic smuggler might have gone into the information trade. Instead, he’d landed in this business with Vix and the Memory Eye.
Kalev fingered the medallion he wore beneath his shirt. Actually finding a skulk was a surprise. He’d expected to find a human trying to make the deaths look like a skulk’s work.
My night for being wrong, he thought. But what did a skulk want with a magical artifact? And could it be coincidence that he and Vix both arrived at Duke Arisor’s study at the same moment? Even if she was only a hired thief, whoever hired her might have more on their mind than retrieving property.
Kalev needed answers, and he did not have time to search the whole Arena for them, never mind the whole city. He made his decision and pulled out his medallion.
The day Kalev joined the Royal Eyes-the secret intelligence service belonging to Queen Aurala-he had been given this badge. The day he had been set on the trail of the skulk, the medallion had been given a spell. It would work only once, Keue Fourthmaster, the Eyes’ quartermaster, told him. So he was not to waste it, or lose it. But for that one time, it would allow Kalev to see what he was looking for, no matter how many barriers stood between him and the target.
The problem was, if Kalev used it at too great a distance, he would not be able to determine the exact location of what he sought, and then the spell would be used up. The further problem was there might yet come a better chance, a greater need to see something. Kalev weighed the medallion in his hand and the decision in his mind.