Corrupted blood lord

Serenna slowed near the end of the market.

Teclos caught up beside her.

The borrowed face had settled perfectly. Gray-streaked hair, a wider jaw, tired eyes, and the same worn brown coat she had used in the tavern. Nothing about her suggested the woman who had stood beneath the moon with blood-red eyes and enough killing intent to silence an entire street.

A vegetable seller waved a bundle of onions at them.

Neither stopped.

"What now?" Teclos asked.

Serenna glanced toward him. "You repaired the amulet. Our agreement is finished."

"You still owe me one answer."

"I remember."

"That wasn’t my question."

She looked ahead again.

The crowd split around a wagon carrying sacks of flour. Teclos moved closer to avoid its wheel. Serenna did the same, and for several steps their shoulders nearly touched.

"I need a room," she said.

"There’s a hunting lodge outside the walls."

"I said a room."

"You didn’t like the lodge?"

"It had one blanket, no water, and something living inside the mattress."

"That was probably a mouse."

"It had too many legs."

Teclos considered that.

"There are inns near the fortress."

"I noticed."

"They ask fewer questions if I send you."

Serenna gave him a sideways look. "Am I meant to be grateful?"

"No. You’re meant to pay."

"I have money."

"Then this should be easy."

They left the market through a narrow street lined with smithies and storage yards. The morning crowd thinned as they approached the fortress district.

Serenna studied everything as they walked.

The guards at each crossing. The position of the towers. Which alleys led downhill and which ended at walls. She rarely looked directly at anything for long, but Teclos noticed the pattern.

"You’re mapping the city," he said.

"I’m walking."

"You’ve checked every roof between here and the market."

"Perhaps I dislike birds."

"Do you?"

"No."

Teclos almost smiled.

A black thread had been tied around the handle of a closed door ahead. It was small enough that most people would mistake it for rubbish caught on a splinter.

Teclos turned into the alley beside it.

Serenna followed without asking.

The passage ended behind an abandoned bathhouse. Teclos knocked against the rear door in a short pattern.

A panel slid open.

Neri’s face appeared.

He looked at Teclos, then at Serenna’s disguise.

"Who’s he?"

"A mercenary."

"He doesn’t look like one."

Serenna leaned slightly toward the opening. "What do I look like?"

Neri inspected her.

"Tired."

"That is accurate."

The boy opened the door.

Teclos entered first. Serenna followed him down the narrow stairs into the cellar.

The old gambling den had changed since Teclos took it.

Most of the bloodstains had been scrubbed from the floor. Shelves now covered two walls, each filled with rolled reports, ledgers, and small wooden boxes marked by district. A large map of the city lay across the central table.

Harven sat behind it with a pen in one hand.

He looked up.

"You’re back."

"Yes."

Harven’s gaze shifted to Serenna.

"And you brought someone."

"She’ll be staying in the city."

"That sounds less like information and more like a warning."

Serenna looked around the cellar. "What is this?"

"A business," Teclos said.

Harven placed his pen down.

"That answer becomes less convincing every time you use it."

Neri moved beside Serenna and looked up at her borrowed face.

"Are you the one from the tavern?"

The cellar went quiet.

Teclos looked at him.

Neri’s expression changed.

"I heard there was a man."

"There were several men," Harven said.

"The one who threw Teclos through the wall."

Serenna turned toward Teclos.

"You told them?"

"I didn’t."

Harven opened another ledger.

"Half the city watched the building fall down."

Neri grinned. "Was it you?"

Serenna considered him.

"Yes."

The boy’s eyes brightened.

Teclos caught the back of his collar before he could ask anything else.

"Go upstairs."

"I only asked one question."

"You were about to ask six more."

Neri looked offended by the accuracy.

Teclos released him, and the boy climbed the stairs slowly enough to hear anything said before the door shut.

Harven waited.

"Do I get a name?"

"Seren," Serenna said.

Teclos looked at her.

She ignored him.

Harven wrote it down.

"Family name?"

"No."

"Place of birth?"

"No."

"Reason for entering the city?"

Serenna looked toward Teclos.

"Is he always like this?"

"He keeps records."

"That didn’t answer me."

"Yes," Harven said. "I am always like this."

Teclos leaned over the map.

"Find Seren a room near mine."

Harven’s pen stopped.

"Near yours?"

"Close enough that I can reach it quickly."

Serenna folded her arms. "I don’t need protection."

"I wasn’t offering it."

Harven looked between them.

Teclos pointed toward the ledger.

"Write something."

Harven lowered his eyes and began writing with unnecessary concentration.

A door opened at the far end of the cellar.

Maela entered with a folded note in one hand. She wore a dark green dress beneath a plain traveling cloak, though the quality of the fabric made the disguise ineffective.

She noticed Serenna immediately.

"Who is this?"

"Seren," Harven said without looking up. "No family name. No place of birth. Apparently a mercenary."

Maela studied the disguise longer than Harven had.

Serenna met her gaze.

Neither woman spoke for several seconds.

Then Maela placed the note on the table.

"One of Brann’s people brought this from the eastern gate."

Teclos unfolded it.

Two riders had entered shortly after dawn. Both carried merchant papers from northern Tessania, but neither had brought goods. They had rented horses in the next town rather than riding their own and paid in Alvarian silver.

One had asked about the collapse of the Broken Crown.

The other had asked whether a red-eyed man had been seen traveling with an old prisoner.

Serenna read over Teclos’s shoulder.

He had not invited her to.

"They found your trail quickly," she said.

Harven looked at her. "You know who they are?"

"No."

"That sounded like you did."

"It sounded like I can read."

Teclos handed the note to Maela.

"Where are they?"

"The Golden Stag. They rented one room."

"Watched?"

"Since they entered."

"Who have they spoken to?"

"The innkeeper, two stable hands, and a guard near the fortress road. They also sent a boy to the western courier house."

Teclos looked at Harven.

"Do we have anyone there?"

"Three people. None of them can open sealed correspondence without being noticed."

Serenna picked up the note.

"What did the courier look like?"

Maela answered after a brief pause.

"Fifteen or sixteen. Brown hair. Green coat with one brass button missing."

"Did he carry the message openly?"

"No. Inside his boot."

Serenna glanced toward Teclos.

"That wasn’t a casual letter."

"You sound certain."

"People don’t hide invitations in their boots."

Harven pushed his chair back.

"I’ll send Neri."

"No," Teclos and Serenna said at the same time.

They looked at one another.

Maela’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Teclos continued first.

"The riders may recognize him. He was watching the last pair."

"I’ll use someone else," Maela said.

Serenna set the note down.

"The boy has already reached the courier house. By the time you find someone new, the message may be gone."

"What do you suggest?" Teclos asked.

"Go there."

Harven stared at her.

"In the middle of the day?"

"They don’t know this face."

"They know his," Harven said, pointing at Teclos.

Serenna looked toward him.

"Then he waits outside."

Teclos leaned back from the table.

"You seem comfortable giving orders."

"I’m trying to stop you from walking through the front door and killing everyone."

"I wasn’t going to kill everyone."

Harven reached for his tea.

"That is reassuring."

Teclos ignored him.

"The courier house has two entrances," Maela said. "Front on Lantern Street, rear through the stable yard."

"How many guards?" Serenna asked.

"Usually four. More if valuable packages are being held."

"Any mages?"

"One clerk with a wind affinity. Second circle, perhaps third."

Serenna looked toward Teclos.

"I’ll go inside. You cover the rear."

"You don’t know the building."

"I know courier houses."

"From where?"

She gave him a patient look.

"That sounds like your second question."

Teclos held her gaze.

"Fine."

Harven looked up from his ledger.

"What exactly are we doing?"

"Finding out where the message is going," Teclos said.

"And if it has already left?"

"Then we follow it."

Harven nodded slowly.

"That is almost a normal plan."

—

The western courier house occupied a stone building between a carpenter’s yard and a grain warehouse.

Teclos waited in the stable lane behind it.

His hood covered most of his face. Darkness spread thinly beneath the wagons and fences around him, allowing him to sense movement inside the building without pushing far enough to alert a trained mage.

Serenna entered through the front.

Ten minutes passed.

A stable boy crossed the yard carrying a bucket. Two riders arrived with sealed parcels. A clerk opened the rear door, complained about the smell of horse dung, and went back inside.

Then Teclos felt a sharp movement on the upper floor.

A window opened.

A small leather tube dropped into the stable yard.

The boy in the green coat emerged seconds later.

He looked both ways before retrieving it.

Teclos stepped from the shadow behind him.

The boy froze.

"Give me the tube."

His hand moved toward his belt.

Teclos caught his wrist.

A small knife fell into the mud.

"I wasn’t going to use it," the boy said quickly.

"You reached for it."

"I forgot it was there."

"That happens often?"

The boy looked toward the open rear door.

Teclos tightened his grip.

"Who paid you?"

"I don’t know his name."

"What did he look like?"

"Tall. Dark coat. Scar near his mouth."

"That describes half the mercenaries in the city."

"He had a silver tooth."

Better.

"Where were you taking the message?"

"The old bridge outside the western gate."

"To whom?"

"I don’t know. I leave it under the third stone and collect my money tomorrow."

The rear door opened.

Serenna stepped into the yard.

The clerk behind her was asleep on the floor.

Teclos looked at him.

"He’ll wake up," she said.

The boy stared at Serenna.

"Is he dead?"

"No," she said. "You will be if you keep asking useless questions."

Teclos took the leather tube.

It had been sealed with black wax. No crest marked the outside.

Serenna held out her hand.

Teclos gave it to her.

She examined the wax before breaking it.

Inside was a narrow strip of paper covered in symbols.

Teclos recognized none of them.

Serenna did.

Her borrowed face became very still.

"What does it say?"

She read the strip again.

"Your last agents are dead. The escaped thrall remains in Veyron’s city. He has built an information network among the lower districts."

Teclos glanced toward the boy.

He had gone pale.

Serenna continued.

"He may be receiving help from another bloodline."

Harven’s precautions had not been enough.

Someone had seen more than Teclos intended.

"Who is it addressed to?" he asked.

"There’s no name."

"But you know the script."

"Yes."

"Vael’thorr?"

"Not directly. It belongs to one of the houses sworn to them."

Teclos looked toward the western gate.

"When will the message be collected?"

The courier answered immediately.

"After sunset. I was told not to return."

Teclos released his wrist.

"Go home."

The boy did not move.

"Really?"

"Before I change my mind."

He ran.

Serenna watched him disappear through the lane.

"You let him go."

"He delivered messages for coin."

"He knows your face."

"So does half the city."

"He also knows mine."

"He thinks you’re a man."

Her gaze shifted toward him.

"That has not stopped you from becoming a problem."

Teclos took the coded message from her.

"We’ll replace it."

"With what?"

"The truth, mostly."

Serenna looked doubtful.

Teclos continued.

"The agents are dead. I am here. The network exists."

"And the help from another bloodline?"

"Unconfirmed."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You want them to keep wondering."

"I want whoever collects this to carry something worth believing."

Serenna studied him for a moment.

"You’re learning."

"From you?"

"No."

He folded the paper.

For the first time since they entered the yard, Teclos noticed that Serenna still stood close enough for her sleeve to touch his arm. She seemed to notice at the same moment.

Neither moved immediately.

Then the clerk groaned behind them.

Serenna stepped away.

"He’s waking."

Teclos looked toward the sleeping man.

"How hard did you hit him?"

"Not hard."

The clerk rolled onto his side and struck his head against the doorframe.

Teclos looked back at her.

Serenna frowned.

"He moved."

—

They returned to the cellar before midday.

Harven read the copied message twice.

Maela stood across from him with both hands resting on the table.

"They know about the Black Thread," she said.

"They know something exists," Teclos replied. "That is not the same thing."

"They know enough to look."

Harven tapped the message.

"They also think someone from another vampire house is helping you."

Serenna leaned against the wall.

"They don’t know that."

"They wrote it."

"They suspect it. There is a difference."

Maela looked toward her.

"And are they right?"

Serenna’s borrowed face revealed nothing.

"No."

Teclos looked at her but said nothing.

Harven noticed.

He was sensible enough not to comment.

"What are we sending back?" he asked.

Teclos placed a clean strip of paper beside the original.

"The same report, without the last line. Add that I am working for Veyron and rarely leave the fortress district alone."

"That is false."

"That is why we are adding it."

Maela understood.

"You want them watching the wrong part of the city."

"Yes."

"And the collector?"

"We follow him."

Serenna pushed away from the wall.

"I’ll do it."

Teclos looked at her.

"You don’t know the dead drops."

"I don’t need to. I’ll be at the bridge before he arrives."

"You might be recognized."

"Not like this."

"That disguise didn’t stop the last men from noticing you."

"They noticed you. I was simply nearby."

Harven looked between them.

"Should I leave?"

"No," Teclos said.

"Yes," Serenna said.

Harven slowly sat back down.

"I’ll stay."

Maela covered a smile with one hand.

Teclos pointed toward the map.

"The bridge has three roads leading away from it. We need people on all of them."

"I can follow one person," Serenna said.

"And if he meets others?"

"Then I follow more than one."

"That isn’t how following works."

"It is when I do it."

Teclos stared at her.

Serenna met his gaze without blinking.

At last, he looked toward Harven.

"Put watchers on the northern and southern roads. Serenna takes the western trail."

Harven glanced down at his notes.

"Serenna?"

Silence followed.

Teclos realized what he had said.

Serenna’s expression barely changed, but something moved behind the borrowed eyes.

Harven lifted his pen.

"I thought the name was Seren."

"It is," Serenna said.

Teclos leaned over the map.

"He heard wrong."

"I did not," Harven replied.

Maela looked from Teclos to Serenna.

"I’m beginning to understand why that tavern collapsed."

Teclos ignored her.

Serenna did not.

The faintest hint of amusement touched the borrowed face.

It was gone when Teclos looked up.

"Sunset," he said. "No one approaches the collector until we know where he goes."

Harven nodded.

Maela gathered the reports.

Serenna remained near the wall.

As the others left to prepare, Teclos folded the false message and sealed it with black wax.

"You used my name," she said.

"I made a mistake."

"You remembered it."

"That was the mistake."

Serenna looked at him for another moment.

Then she moved toward the stairs.

"Try not to make it again."

Teclos watched her leave.

He suspected she did not mean it.