“That’s fair,” Tam whispered. “No need to bargain.”
“Done,” Dred agreed.
“But if the battle is joined and Queensland is lost, then the Handmaiden must be recompensed.” The Speaker stepped forward, indicating Jael. “She will have him as the new Death Knight. The Handmaiden says while she is Death’s lady, this one is his son.”
“I’m nobody’s son,” Jael muttered.
Tam motioned him to silence, as Dred stepped closer to her self-proclaimed champion. “You had no hesitation about risking your life before. Again?”
Something like surprise flashed across his face, then he inclined his head, granting permission. It was a lightning exchange, not enough to weaken her position, but Jael seemed glad she hadn’t disregarded his sovereignty. Dred wasn’t even sure why she’d bothered.
She answered, “Of course, provided he’s alive. If Grigor or Priest takes my territory, Jael could be killed in the fighting.”
“This one always survives,” the Speaker intoned. “The debt will be paid.”
Dred had no idea if that was a prophecy or a prediction, but it sounded like a done deal to her. “Do we shake on it, or sign something?”
The skull face seemed affronted. “Death requires no documentation. You cannot force him to come for you, but the Handmaiden’s word is good. Or do you doubt her?”
Silence stared.
“No. As far as I’m concerned, we’re set. How soon can we start planning?”
The Speaker watched Silence’s signs, then answered, “She will soon send me with instructions.”
She wanted to protest that she was an equal partner, but if she had been able to handle Grigor and Priest on her own, she wouldn’t be in Silence’s boneyard. Nausea rose in her throat, suppressed all this time through sheer will, but the smell was intolerable. Somehow, she didn’t flinch or weaken, kept her gaze sure and strong, until the Speaker dropped his eyes and dipped at the waist, acknowledging her dominance.
I win, you bizarre bastard. Time to go.
“Will the password hold until we reach the edge of your zone?” she asked.
“The men will see you out.”
“Thank you for your time and hospitality,” Tam said as he signed.
Dred guessed he was spelling out the same thing in graceful hand gestures. Silence inclined her wild mane, regal in her visceral madness. So strange, pretending she had any idea about diplomacy or courtly nonsense. My father would’ve forgotten to put on pants if my mother hadn’t reminded him. But Perdition was as much asylum as prison, and when you were standing in somebody else’s delusions, it was both polite and politic to play along.
As promised, the Speaker sent an escort with them all the way out to the access panel. Once they boosted up into the ducts, shivering set in. Entropy was worse than all the stories.
Jael put a hand on her arm, and it horrified her that he felt those tremors. She couldn’t afford for anyone to realize how close to the surface her sensibilities ran. The Dread Queen had to be all determined iron, an ice maiden incapable of disquiet or remorse, or her enemies would eat her alive.
“Thanks for giving me a choice. I don’t understand why, but—”
She substituted bravado for composure. “Step back. Or you’re three seconds away from the death you seem to desire.”
We don’t have a connection, pretty lad. In here, people will gnaw you to the bone if you let them. It might even be me.
He narrowed his eyes. “Not even in your best dreams, love.”
“Let me explain how this plays out. If you don’t remove your hand, Tam has a needle full of poison that will put you to sleep. He has several in fact, so if you shake it off quickly, we’ll jab you again. I’m not positive what you are, but I’m pretty sure you can’t live without your heart.”
A reckless laugh echoed down the ducts. “Poor, foolish queenie. I’ve done it for years.”
10
Sneak Attack
Tam didn’t want to kill the new fish, mostly because it would be a waste of resources. The man might be useful; certainly he’d proven he could fight. He thought Dred was overreacting, but he chose not to countermand her orders. Instead, he watched the two size each other up, then Jael stepped back.
He was smiling. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lay hands upon the queen.”
“Don’t let it happen again,” Dred snarled.
Tam could see that she was unsettled by the visit to Silence’s domain. He would be, too, if he hadn’t seen—and smelled—it many times before, during his surveillance runs. Once, he’d witnessed their Festival of Death, and it had been the most grotesque and macabre spectacle imaginable, with fountains of blood and swords made of bone arming men whose sole aim was to die in a manner pleasing to Death’s Handmaiden. Despite his external calm, Tam suppressed a shiver. This alliance made him uneasy, but it was necessary.
“Let’s head back,” he murmured, revealing none of his misgivings.
Tam knew the route with his eyes closed, but smudges in the dust and smeared palm prints made it fairly obvious, even to the other two. Maintenance tunnels riddled the ship like a honeycomb, and sometimes, he had to avoid other explorers. He motioned to Dred and Jael to step lightly as footfalls rang out in the distance. This convict must be new to the art of stealth, as he banged around, running into walls and stumbling so loud that Tam suspected they could hear him in the Warren.
“That’s not normal,” Dred whispered.
He only nodded. It seemed prudent to find out who this was and from what sector, so he answered in an undertone, “Wait here. Don’t move.”
With quiet approval, he noted how the other two hunkered down into the shadows. Their posture wasn’t perfect, but Jael obviously had some experience in skullduggery. That startled Tam not at all, given the man’s overall predatory air. But some predators could be trained to guard territory, and if that was the case, then Tam definitely had a use for the new fish.
He crept along the metal wall, tracking the thumps and bumps until he was right up behind the other party. At that point, he realized the man’s clumsiness stemmed from injuries, not lack of care, and in the larger sense, it wasn’t a man at all, but one of Katur’s aliens. The creature stumbled again, reeled against the wall, and this time, its limbs wouldn’t hold it. Tam weighed the risks and decided his course; he slipped back to the others without speaking.