The Study of Fire (The Study Chronicles: Valek’s Adventures #3)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

C ursing, Valek took the report from her and scanned the page. “And she doesn’t have the clout to order him to stop.”

“Her and her partner could sabotage the efforts.”

“That would certainly work, but the general needs to know he’s on thin ice.”

“Ha. Ha.” Kenda deadpanned. “Should I assign a couple more agents to aid them?”

“No. I think this is the perfect mission for our new seconds-in-command.”

Now her laugh was genuine. “Good luck with that.”

“Anything else?”

“Star is still sulking. It’s nineteen days before the cold season starts. It’s not looking good for you.”

“There is still plenty of time.”

Valek left his office with Kenda. They parted ways as she headed to the hexagon that housed his corps. He went in search of Ari and Janco, hoping to catch them before they left for dinner.

Ari opened the door when Valek knocked, inviting him into their two-bedroom suite. The large common room held a couch, a couple comfy chairs, a table and chairs, and two desks. Doors on opposite sides of the room led to the bedrooms. Through the open doorways, Valek immediately recognized who occupied which bedroom. Ari’s bed had been made with military precision. Janco’s wasn’t. The same could be said of their desks.

“I hope you have some good news,” Janco said. He sat on the couch, juggling three knives.

“What would you consider good news?” Valek asked.

“A mission. An exercise with the puppy dogs. Anything other than lectures and studying.”

“You’re in luck. I’ve a mission for the two of you.”

Ari straightened with interest. Janco whooped and threw his knives higher into the air.

“Where to?” Janco asked.

“MD-1.”

“Ha. Ha. Right. Where are we really going?”

“MD-1, to stop General Kitvivan from hunting snow cats.”

The weapons clattered to the floor. “Ow!” Janco sucked on a fingertip. “I’ll pass. I’m not that bored.”

“Details?” Ari asked.

Valek explained about the cages and Kelia’s follow up report.

“How do we stop the general?” Ari asked.

“I suggest after the hunt is an utter failure, you introduce yourselves to General Kitvivan and let him know the Commander is extremely unhappy.”

Janco perked up. “Ooohhh, thinly veiled threats. I like.” Then he shuddered and wrapped his arms around his torso. “But I don’t like the cold, and we might get stuck until the warming season when the snow melts.”

“Which is why you’re leaving tomorrow. Take the horses and lots of warm layers. Our seamstress, Dilana, can help kit you out with the proper clothing,” Valek said.

“I’m assuming you expect us to leave at dawn.” Another shudder.

“Stop moping, Janco,” Ari cajoled. “We get to threaten a general and sabotage his hunt.”

“Sabotage is always fun,” Janco agreed. “Is Maren coming with us?” His voice held a hopeful tone.

“No. The Commander has another mission for her.”

Janco slumped. “Boo.”

“I’ll bring your paperwork to the stables at dawn,” Valek said.

“Paperwork?” Ari asked.

“You can’t expect the general to trust that you’re my new seconds-in-command without a missive from the Commander. The generals have been reluctant to trust anyone since the incident with the magicians.”

“Magicians, pah ,” Janco spat.

“Just curious. Are there missions we can pass on?” Ari asked.

“It will depend on the reason. It has to be a damn good one and not something like Janco hating sand or the cold or mornings or magic.”

“In my opinion, they are all excellent reasons.” Janco huffed.

“Good to know,” Ari said.

Valek left them to pack and get ready for the mission. When he reached his office, his door was slightly ajar. He had locked it, but hadn’t engaged the other two, more complex locks because he’d known he wouldn’t be gone long. Pulling out his cloud-kissed dagger, he eased the door wider. The lemon scent of cleaning solution hit him before he spotted Brede wiping dust from a pile of books on his conference table. A large rolling cart filled with brooms, feather dusters, and buckets sat nearby.

“How did you get in here?” Valek demanded.

The young man jumped a foot and let out a screech. He pressed the rag to his chest. “Uh…with…a key.”

“Who gave you the key?”

“Uh…Kenda.” He pulled out a leather tie from underneath his shirt. Two keys hung like a pendant. “She said to guard these with my life. I swear they will never leave my person. Uh…except when I need to unlock this door or the one to your apartment.” Brede tucked them back under his shirt.

Valek drew in a deep breath to steady his emotions. He imagined Kenda and the Commander sharing a conspiratorial smirk. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m cleaning. It’s going to take me months to organize this mess.”

“Oh no. You’re not to move a thing. You can dust, sweep, scrub, whatever, but every book, file, and rock is to remain in its place. Understand?”

“But—”

“Understand?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“Good. And that cobweb stays.” Valek pointed to the window. Two new silk-wrapped bugs hung in its strands. Mr. Spider had a successful night.

Brede moved closer to inspect the web. “Wow. That’s a huge bat spider. Not to worry, though, his bite isn’t venomous. Well, not to humans.”

Curious. “How do you know?”

“As a member of the housekeeping staff, I’ve encountered all manner of critters that need to be evicted. I’ve found it advantageous to learn which ones are dangerous to us.”

Valek’s agents learned what creatures to avoid when on missions, but he never considered that information would help the housekeepers. “Did someone teach you?”

Brede’s short burst of laughter implied the negative. “I found a couple books in the library. My colleagues thought I was weird.” He shrugged.

Was. Past tense. “And now?”

“They’re more accepting since Saril broke out in a fever last season. The medic couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. But I recognized the tiny discolored welt on the back of her hand as a bite from a pink teacup spider.”

“Impressive.”

Another shrug. “Now I’m the designated critter ejector. Or DCE for short.”

Valek couldn’t resist asking, “Ejector?”

“I’m not gonna kill them.” He sounded horrified at the notion. “They have the right to live. I capture them and rehome them.”

So basically, Brede wouldn’t harm a fly, and he was now working for Valek, who had harmed much more than flies. Lovely. In his imagination, the Commander and Kenda clinked their glasses and lifted them in a salute to Valek.

Suppressing a sigh, Valek decided to trust Kenda in her choice of housekeeper. “All right. You can clean my office in the evenings, and my apartment either in the afternoons or the mornings, but not both. You need time off.”

“I’ll take the mornings off,” he said.

“Then follow me. I need to introduce you to the soldiers that guard the door to the Commander’s and my suites.”

Brede trotted at Valek’s heels.

Lieutenant Millicent and Sergeant Dagon were on duty. They straightened to attention when they spotted Valek. At least they had stopped saluting him. He introduced Brede.

“Spread the word to your colleagues that he’s allowed entry.”

“And my cart,” Brede added.

“And his cart of cleaning supplies.”

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

Valek led the young man into his suite of rooms and gave him the tour. “No need to bother with the two other rooms off the living area, I use them for storage. But I’d like to keep this one”—he gestured to Yelena’s old room—“clean and ready in case I have guests.”

Brede poked his head in and sniffed. “Will do.” Then he glanced around the living room. “You have so many books, perhaps I could arrange?—”

“They stay on the floor. Everything remains in place.”

He nodded despite the unhappy purse of his lips.

They climbed the stairs to the second floor. Valek pointed to the right. “I use the sitting area for storage.”

To the left of the sitting room was a long hallway. The doorway to his carving room was closest to them. His boots crunched on the rock dust that had drifted onto the floor like snow when he strode inside. Piles of the gray rocks he used for his carvings littered the area. Toward the back was his table full of tools, his grinding wheel, and a half dozen finished statues.

“I don’t normally let anyone in here, but the dust gets everywhere and should be cleaned up.”

“No problem.” Brede picked up a black frog statue and inspected it. The stone had streaks of silver though it and Valek had used bits of amber for the frog’s eyes. “This is fantastic. Did you carve it?”

“Yes. Carving helps focus my mind when I’m working on a difficult problem.”

“I know, right? When I’m scrubbing a floor, my mind is free to think about other things.”

Interesting. Valek longed to ask what things but refrained.

Brede scanned the area. “Where are the pretty black rocks?”

“All around you.” He picked up a small grey rock and sat down before the grinding wheel. He pumped the pedal with his foot a few times to set it spinning. Once it was fast enough, he pressed the rock to the whirling wheel for a few minutes. Then Valek blew the dust off and handed it to Brede. “See?”

“Wow. Look at that transformation! Like a caterpillar into a butterfly.”

Valek’s thoughts immediately went to Yelena and her transformation from a victim to a powerful Soulfinder. “Exactly.”

After a brief stop in Valek’s bedroom, they returned to the lower level. Brede moved closer to inspect the weapons displayed on the wall.

“Be careful. They’re still sharp, but they are secure.”

“This dagger is dirty.” He recoiled. “Is that blood on the blade?”

“Yes. Don’t bother trying to clean it off. Actually, don’t worry about the weapons at all. I oil them and keep them in good working condition.”

“Why? They’re useless.”

“These weapons have served me well. I’m not going to allow them to rust or dull with age.” And they were far from useless. Only Valek knew how to release them from the wall.

With the tour over, Valek handed Brede two more keys for his necklace. “There’s three locks on my office door.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“There’s sensitive information in my office. And I have a number of enemies that would love to ambush me.”

Brede paled. “Is it safe for me to be there at night?”

Good question. “I’ll wait for you before I leave. And you can lock the door while you’re inside cleaning. Do you know how to defend yourself?”

More color leaked from Brede’s round face. “Uh…I took that self-defense class all the kids living in the castle had to take.”

“You should attend a refresher course. Ask Kenda, she’ll find you an instructor.”

“Uh…yes, sir.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

Ah hell. Valek had spooked him. “Come on, I’ll escort you back.”

When they returned, Brede immediately picked up his rag and attacked a layer of dust on a book cover.

“I know this place needs a great deal of work,” Valek said. “Don’t spend hours and hours here. A few hours each night is fine.”

“But it’s filthy! You can’t live like this.”

Valek laughed. “I can and have. I’ve spent weeks living in a bog for a mission. I think I can handle dust and dirt for a few more days.”

“All right. What about the candles?”

“Candles?”

“You said not to move anything, but most of these are used.”

“You can replace the candles, add oil to the lanterns, and fill the inkwells. Just make sure you leave the window open a crack for Mr. Spider before you leave.”

He nodded. “That makes sense.”

“What does?”

“That one predator would help another.”

* * *

Valek paused when he entered the Commander’s suite. A chess set sat on the table between the couches. Ten years ago, Valek had carved it for Ambrose. The board, with its black and red squares, had been the hardest part to construct, while the pieces had been easier. Valek had transformed his gray rocks into the black side’s pieces. Even after all this time, the silver still glittered in the lantern light. The red side’s pieces were created from Lozen granite, a rare rock found only in the Soul Mountains. The granite had red diamond-shaped flecks mixed with the black and, once polished, the red metamorphosed into an eye-catching sparkle.

Valek hadn’t seen the set in a long time. They used to play chess every night, but had stopped a few years ago because they knew each other’s strategy so well, the game often ended in a stalemate.

Ambrose handed Valek a glass of whiskey as he settled on the opposite couch. “I thought I’d teach my advisers how to play chess.”

“That’s a great idea.” He swallowed a large gulp of the smoky flavored alcohol. It warmed him from the inside out.

“It’s been so long since I’ve played I need some practice.”

Valek grinned. “Don’t want to get trounced by a beginner?”

Ambrose gave him a flat look and moved a pawn. “Your move.”

Ah right. Valek moved a pawn, and after a few more exchanges, they fell back into their old rhythm as if they had never stopped.

At one point, Ambrose asked, “Have you heard from MD-1?”

“Yes. My agents have confirmed the general is hunting snow cats.” He braced for Ambrose’s anger.

Instead, the man appeared thoughtful. “Those cats are wily. They’re almost impossible to capture or kill. Almost.” He tapped a fingernail on his rook. “I’m more concerned about why General Kitvivan thinks he can go against my orders.”

“I’m sending Ari and Janco to handle the situation. I thought it would be a good first mission for my seconds-in-command.”

Ambrose gazed at him with amusement. “While you remain here safe and warm.”

“Exactly. I’m discovering quite a number of benefits to having seconds.”

“Which I’ve been telling you about for years .”

“You have? Funny, I don’t recall—” Valek ducked as a small pillow flew over his head. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. You were right.”

“Nice of you to acknowledge it.” Ambrose put down a second pillow and smoothed the fabric before moving his knight. “Check. When are Ari and Janco leaving?”

“Dawn.” Valek pushed his king to safety.

“Stop by my office and I’ll have their papers ready.” Ambrose slid his bishop forward a few squares. “Check. Anything else of note?”

“Apparently, I have my very own housekeeper.” Nudging his king to the next spot, Valek glanced up. Amusement sparked in Ambrose’s eyes. “I think it’s excessive.”

“I don’t. Check.”

Valek suppressed a sigh. He was running out of places to move his king. “Trevar and Adrik are also leaving on a mission in the morning.” He explained about sending them to figure out Captain Ryda’s puzzle.

“Aren’t they still in training?” Ambrose asked.

“Yes, but Trevar’s time as a baiter for the black market dealers gives him a unique insight into the citizens of Castletown. He’s good at spotting those who could be coaxed into breaking the law.”

“Have them report about the new group of black market dealers. Once they’re feeling secure, I want you to do another raid.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Ambrose moved his queen. “Check-mate.”

* * *

Valek wasn’t a fan of early mornings either, but there was something promising about the gradual arrival of sunlight. Night and shadows were an integral part of his trade. Within them, danger lurked and hunted. Seeing the sunrise after a nighttime op signaled survival.

The castle’s stables, pasture, and training ring occupied the northwest corner of the complex. Ari and Janco had arrived before him. They had saddled their horses and were packing their supplies into leather knapsacks.

Steam puffed from the horses’ nostrils as they stamped in anticipation of an adventure. The crisp air smelled of hay, grain, and that distinctive earthy scent of horse.

Valek handed them their official papers signed by the Commander.

Janco fiddled with the small scroll. “Kinda disappointing. I thought we’d get something…more.”

“More?”

“Yeah. Badges or a special jacket. Something that says, I’m a second-in-command.” Janco puffed out his chest.

Valek snapped his fingers. “I’ve the perfect thing for you.”

“Ooohhh?” He rubbed his hands together. “Do tell!”

“It’s a black cloak with a giant red bullseye on the back.”

Janco’s brows creased in confusion.

Ari laughed. “Nice. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it to him while we’re on the road.” He mounted. “Any last minute instructions?”

“Don’t linger. It’s a nine-day journey each way. I’d like you back home before the blizzards start.”

“Yes, sir.”

Janco hopped up into his saddle with ease. They clicked their tongues, urging their horses toward the east gate. Valek followed, watching until they both disappeared.

After a quick stop for breakfast, Valek returned to his office and paused as the pleasant scent of lemon greeted him. The thick dust that had coated everything except the top of his desk was gone. He hoped Brede hadn’t worked too late into the night to get it all done. At least, everything remained in its place. It might appear that the clutter was haphazard and disorganized, but Valek knew exactly what each pile contained.

Over the next couple of days, Valek barely saw his new housekeeper, but there was plenty of evidence of his presence. New candle sticks waited to be lit each day. His inkpots practically overflowed. And fresh wood was stacked in the bin next to his brazier.

With the days, and especially the nights, becoming colder and colder, Brede had closed the window against the chill. Valek would have admonished him, but Mr. Spider had plenty of bugs in his web. He wondered if Brede had rehomed a few insects, letting them into Valek’s office, hoping Mr. Spider’s web would catch them. Perhaps Brede thought that, if the bugs were outside the castle walls, being eaten by a spider would be a natural death. Unfortunately, Valek had encountered plenty of spider webs in the wild—usually with his face. A shudder rippled up his spine at the memories.

Valek huffed at the direction his thoughts had gone. As if he didn’t have anything else to do or worry about other than Brede’s moral compass on insects. He settled behind his desk and read through reports.

Nothing worrisome caught his eye, and Valek enjoyed another three-day quiet spell. Normally, Valek would appreciate the downtime, but with Ari, Janco, Trevar, and Adrik on missions, the castle was too quiet.

A report from Trevar and Adrik arrived a week after they’d left. It had taken them several days just to get the baiters to talk to them, and the dealers still didn’t trust them. Everyone was skittish, their nerves frayed. Trevar and Adrik hadn’t found the source of the citizen’s strange behavior. Yet.

He smiled at the dark lines under the word ‘yet.’ Trevar probably worried they’d be taken off the case for lack of results.

They reported that the incidents occurred at random intervals. Some nights two or three people ran amuck, while other nights no one.

Valek considered the information. They’d only been on the case for seven days, not enough time to really know if it was random or not. Then he remembered he had a book on statistical probabilities. Striding to his conference table, he reached his stack of math books. Except, the statistics manual wasn’t on the top where he’d left it.

A quick scan of the spines revealed it to be the fourth one down. The books in this pile had been rearranged in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Valek checked the other piles. They’d all been alphabetized. He didn’t know whether to be upset or impressed.

While technically the books had been moved, they also remained in their proper stacks. Valek could still easily find them. He decided it was a minor infraction and not worth mentioning to Brede.

Reading through the manual, Valek discovered he needed more data in order to establish if there was a pattern. He glanced out the window. If he hurried, he’d be able to catch Captain Ryda before she left for the day.

His suite was empty. Brede must have finished. Valek took the steps to his bedroom two at a time. After a quick check of his security measures, he entered. Stripping off his adviser’s uniform shirt, he opened his closet. In order to not attract attention, he needed a disguise. Perhaps a kitchen uniform, or castle messenger uniform. Either one would work as long as they were in the Commander’s colors of red and black. Even though Castletown was officially in MD-6, it was under the Commander’s jurisdiction.

Valek paused. He had various uniforms tailored to fit him with the colors of all eight military districts. They all hung in his overflowing closet. Except, now they were grouped by color.

Brede.

Granted, finding what he needed was much quicker, but… He sighed, grabbed the messenger uniform and changed. He’d talk to Brede later. Maybe.

* * *

The civilian watch house in Castletown resembled all the watch houses in Ixia. It was a sprawling two-story brick building with jail cells below ground level. The main entrance had a double-wide wooden door that led into a lobby. Uncomfortable chairs ringed the space. A handful of people occupied them. No one smiled, or made eye contact, or moved. They sat in silence, staring into the distance. Creepy.

A long desk blocked the only other doorway, but to get through that one, a person had to get permission from the patrol officer who sat behind the desk.

“I’ve a message for Captain Ryda,” Valek said to the patrol officer.

Without looking up, the man held out a thick hand. “Give it here, I’ll send it back.”

“I’ve orders to give it to her directly.”

“She’s busy.” He twitched his fingers, indicating Valek should hand over the message.

Valek lowered his voice and leaned in. “I have a message from Adviser Valek.”

“Good for you. If you want to wait…” He stabbed a stubby finger at the chairs. “Be my guest.” The patrol officer returned to his work.

Angling his body so the others in the room wouldn’t see, Valek drew his cloud-kissed dagger in one smooth motion and pressed the tip to the officer’s throat. The man froze and finally met Valek’s gaze. He paled.

“I hope you enjoyed your little power trip, Officer, because it’s over. My boss won’t let me take no for an answer. Do you understand?”

“Yeah. But it’s on you if she kicks you out.”

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

The man tipped his head. “Go on.”

Valek returned his weapon to its sheath. All of his disguises had a long, slender, deep pocket, lined with thin leather, on his right hip to hide his dagger. Rounding the desk, Valek kept an eye on the patrol officer. The man ignored him.

The door opened into a buzz of activity. The main room of the building was filled with desks, and file cabinets. The proverbial bullpen. Weapons rested along the back wall. A few patrollers glanced at him and promptly dismissed him as harmless.

Valek wove through the chaos toward the left side, where a hallway led to the offices of the higher ranking officers. Captain Ryda occupied the room at the very end of the hall. The door was ajar, but he knocked.

“If it’s not urgent, go away,” she called.

He poked his head in. “Not urgent, but important.”

“Oh, Adviser Valek. Come on in.” She tucked the long strand of hair that had escaped her bun back behind her ear then gestured to the chair in front of her desk. “Do you have an update for me?”

Her office was a mix of organization and clutter. The desk and conference table were neat with plenty of workspace, but stacks of reports occupied every other flat surface except the floor.

“Sorry. No update, but I need more information.”

“What do you need?”

“Did you map the places where each person was found?”

“No. We didn’t think it was significant. It’s not like a burglary ring or serial murders. At first, it appeared to be just disorderly conduct.” She tapped her fingernails on her desk. “We have all the reports. I could assign a patroller to create a map from them.” Ryda flipped through a chart. “Let me see who I can spare. We’re shorthanded tonight, but I can ask Tivon to stay late.”

“No need. I’ll do it. Are the reports together?”

She glanced up. “Yes, they’re in the FIIK room. I’ll show you.”

Ryda led him back down the hallway, across the bullpen and up a stairway.

“FIIK?” he asked.

They reached a large oval room with various sized tables, chalkboards, and maps on the walls.

“FIIK is an unofficial patrol designation. It means Fuck If I Know . This is where the unsolved cases end up. Every so often a young, ambitious patroller will try to make sense of one of them. And occasionally solve it. A few of the old timers will also revisit certain cold cases and have an epiphany.”

Unfortunately, Valek also had a number of incidents over the years he hadn’t been able to solve. He hadn’t considered bringing in fresh eyes to take a look. Most of them were top secret, but he could have Ari and Janco read through them as part of their training.

Heading to a six-foot long desk, Ryda placed her hands on two stacks of files. “These are the reports you’re looking for. If you clear off the other piles, I’ll grab you a map to mark, a stylus, and some ink. Anything else you need?”

“Do you have colored ink?”

“Yes, what color do you want?”

“All of them.”

She laughed. “All right.” Striding to an oversized cabinet, she gathered the needed supplies.

After he created a workspace, Valek checked the lanterns on the other tables. Two had sufficient oil. The sunlight was fading rapidly so he brought them over and lit the elements. Then he pulled a chair over as Ryda set the requested items down.

“It’s going to be a long night. Did you eat dinner?”

“No.”

“I’ll send something up.”

“Thank you.”

He sorted the files according to the date of the incidents. The first arrest had happened around the beginning of the cooling season. The most recent ones occurred two nights ago. A span of about seven weeks long. Valek had five different color inks, but he could mix a few so he’d have seven. One color for each week. Then he returned to the first week’s cases, marking the locations in yellow ink.

The undertaking was time consuming and monotonous. Sometime during the effort, a steaming meat pie and a mug of ale had been delivered and consumed. Nearing the end of his task, one of the lanterns sputtered and died. He cursed at the delay. Running back to the bullpen, he exchanged the empty one for two lit ones.

“Hey, I need those,” said the only person in the pen.

“So do I. And of the two of us, only you know where the extra oil is stored.” Valek returned to the FIIK room.

He finished the last week of cases using purple ink. Then he set the lanterns on the edges of the map and stood up. Walking around the other tables, Valek waited for the colored dots to fade from his vision. With the extra illumination, he hoped to view the finished map as a single entity.

When enough time passed, he returned to the desk and glanced down. A rainbow of colors filled the map. The incidents had moved through the city during the seven weeks like a wave. And Valek now knew the next area of Castletown in its path.