no one would follow him if they knew the truth. Well, she and Maul and Sanook and Aemond had all known the truth. Hadn’t they followed him?
“Kal…” Maul lifted one weak hand about an inch off the ground, reaching for her. “Kal…”
Sanook and Aemond were dead. Now Maul would join them. Kal didn’t feel very lively herself. Sure, they’d followed Rez. She clamped down on that thought at once, angry with herself for even thinking it. The Cause was true and just. When she told the others, they would follow.
“What is it, Maul?”
“Kill…that weasel Thorne…for me…would you?”
The light went out of his eyes. A final breath rose from his lips and Maul was still. Standing over him, leaning on a length of broken spear, Kal hung her head and wept.
***
She wanted to bury them. She couldn’t do so. Even if she could stand without the crutch, it would take her hours to find the bodies in this mess of corpses and blood. The sky was lightening in the east. She had to be on her way.
Kal hobbled away from the road, picking her way carefully cross country until she came to a felled sapling. Letting herself sink slowly to the ground, she took out her dagger – the only one remaining – and set to work fashioning a splint. Torn strips from her clothing served to fix the splint in place.
Finished, Kal sat for a long time with her splinted, broken leg extended before her. She was tired, more tired than she had ever been. Pain and sorrow weighed her down and she wanted to just lie down in the dry grass and let herself slide away into forgetful sleep.
It was hard to believe they were gone. She’d fought with those men before. Especially Maul and Sanook. She and Maul and the Shadowman had been with Rez from the beginning. Now she was all that was left. The only one who knew the truth.
Five years.
She’d barely been older than Shel when a darkly handsome man with unruly brown hair and a roguish wit found her in the scullery of an inn off the Western Road. He had seen something in her even then, and he had asked her to join his Cause.
At first it was just the five of them. Kal, Maul, Sanook and Aemond, and the leader: Rez. Charming, clever Rez. Arrogant, infuriating Rez. Five against the world.
Their group had grown, become a gang. It had nearly become an army. Kal had been amazed at first by the number of people willing to join them, especially given the fact that Rez was lying to them. So many, disaffected, disenfranchised, despondent. In the Great and Glorious Golden Empire of the Long Summer, who knew there were so many disgruntled, unhappy people?
They had joined for the chance at better lives. Many had been on the verge of selling their souls to make ends meet. It was shocking, how many flocked to join the most daring gang in all the land. The brash, unbelievable gang that stole the most valuable prizes in the empire. The Soul Thieves. All a lie.
Would they have stayed if they knew the truth?
For Kal, it had never been a choice. When Rez told her his plans, she had known she would follow him to the end. Because he was right. The Golden Empire was a lie, too. It was a greater lie than any Rez had ever dreamed up. If their gang of soul thieves wasn’thing but a smokescreen for their leader’s true purpose, what was the empire?
Rez was right: it had to be stopped. The emperor had to be brought down. The rebellion must rise.
She had always expected him to spill the secret. One day, she knew, Rez would have to tell the others. Kal never knew where the money came from, or the food. Rez told the others he could sell the souls they lifted from fat merchants and wealthy nobles, but Kal knew better. Rez and the Shadowmen divvied up those souls and absorbed them, growing in power against the day they would have to face the ultimate battle. But the gang never hungered, never wanted. Where did the funds come from? Did it matter?
Five years, and Kal had never doubted Rez’s Cause. But what about the others? When
“Kal…” Maul lifted one weak hand about an inch off the ground, reaching for her. “Kal…”
Sanook and Aemond were dead. Now Maul would join them. Kal didn’t feel very lively herself. Sure, they’d followed Rez. She clamped down on that thought at once, angry with herself for even thinking it. The Cause was true and just. When she told the others, they would follow.
“What is it, Maul?”
“Kill…that weasel Thorne…for me…would you?”
The light went out of his eyes. A final breath rose from his lips and Maul was still. Standing over him, leaning on a length of broken spear, Kal hung her head and wept.
***
She wanted to bury them. She couldn’t do so. Even if she could stand without the crutch, it would take her hours to find the bodies in this mess of corpses and blood. The sky was lightening in the east. She had to be on her way.
Kal hobbled away from the road, picking her way carefully cross country until she came to a felled sapling. Letting herself sink slowly to the ground, she took out her dagger – the only one remaining – and set to work fashioning a splint. Torn strips from her clothing served to fix the splint in place.
Finished, Kal sat for a long time with her splinted, broken leg extended before her. She was tired, more tired than she had ever been. Pain and sorrow weighed her down and she wanted to just lie down in the dry grass and let herself slide away into forgetful sleep.
It was hard to believe they were gone. She’d fought with those men before. Especially Maul and Sanook. She and Maul and the Shadowman had been with Rez from the beginning. Now she was all that was left. The only one who knew the truth.
Five years.
She’d barely been older than Shel when a darkly handsome man with unruly brown hair and a roguish wit found her in the scullery of an inn off the Western Road. He had seen something in her even then, and he had asked her to join his Cause.
At first it was just the five of them. Kal, Maul, Sanook and Aemond, and the leader: Rez. Charming, clever Rez. Arrogant, infuriating Rez. Five against the world.
Their group had grown, become a gang. It had nearly become an army. Kal had been amazed at first by the number of people willing to join them, especially given the fact that Rez was lying to them. So many, disaffected, disenfranchised, despondent. In the Great and Glorious Golden Empire of the Long Summer, who knew there were so many disgruntled, unhappy people?
They had joined for the chance at better lives. Many had been on the verge of selling their souls to make ends meet. It was shocking, how many flocked to join the most daring gang in all the land. The brash, unbelievable gang that stole the most valuable prizes in the empire. The Soul Thieves. All a lie.
Would they have stayed if they knew the truth?
For Kal, it had never been a choice. When Rez told her his plans, she had known she would follow him to the end. Because he was right. The Golden Empire was a lie, too. It was a greater lie than any Rez had ever dreamed up. If their gang of soul thieves wasn’thing but a smokescreen for their leader’s true purpose, what was the empire?
Rez was right: it had to be stopped. The emperor had to be brought down. The rebellion must rise.
She had always expected him to spill the secret. One day, she knew, Rez would have to tell the others. Kal never knew where the money came from, or the food. Rez told the others he could sell the souls they lifted from fat merchants and wealthy nobles, but Kal knew better. Rez and the Shadowmen divvied up those souls and absorbed them, growing in power against the day they would have to face the ultimate battle. But the gang never hungered, never wanted. Where did the funds come from? Did it matter?
Five years, and Kal had never doubted Rez’s Cause. But what about the others? When
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