The day of the meeting approached at a painstakingly slow pace for Cobbin, but when it had finally arrived, he couldn't believe how nervous he was. This is the right thing, he told himself. He figured if he kept repeating it, it might just become true.
He sat with Jaspar in the private meeting room in the council hall, one of the grandest buildings in Arlen. The lavish carved walls could not distract him from what was coming.
“It's time,” Lord Jaspar said, putting away his pocket watch. “Let's get this over with.” Cobbin nodded gravely, and the two stood and left the room. The lounge was connected by a short hallway to the main meeting room. The two entered, approaching their own seats. Lord Ulfet and Lady Ernis were already present. The six seats were arranged in a curve, facing inward from a raised platform to the floor some ten feet below. Chairs were arranged towards the back half of the large room, but those would not be filled today. Today's meeting was to be secretive, unknown to the average citizen of Arlen.
“Where is Lord Reder?” Cobbin asked quietly, noting the other empty seat besides Yamon's.
“Probably meeting with Annet again,” Jaspar said. “He told me he wanted to see one more time before she left the city, despite my warnings.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06eLjCt5F8
“Terrible timing,” Cobbin grumbled. “Not exactly unlike Reder, though. Very well. Let the meeting commence.” He settled inhis chair, which lay at the center of all the others. The servant at the far end of the room pulled open the massive double doors, revealing the figure that stood beyond. A man, his entire body swathed in deep black cloth, synched at the waist, a hood obscuring his face, stood idly studying the artistic carvings on the walls around him. Behind him stood a host of others, robed in simpler black clothes. The man looked to the open doors after they finished opening, then calmly strode inward, clearly taking his time.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FGXhnvYXw
Once he had reached the center of the room, Cobbin said, “State your name, sir.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsXIr4XCIh
A moment of silence. Then, “I am called Zaborav.” The voice of the black-cloaked man was strong, deep, and somewhat... friendly?562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcUuo4OpdD
“And you are the leader of this group,” said Ulfet. “These... Departed Ashes?”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3BD6yXSrB
“Vanquished, my lord, but yes,” he replied. “I am at the head of that organization.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8f7HDFk4uZ
“For such a high position, you don't seem to care much for protection, eh?” Ulfet said with a nervous chuckle, noting that the man had brought no guards into the room with him. Zaborav merely chuckled in response, which seemed to set Ulfet back even more. What man was this to walk about as the leader of a powerful group with no guards to defend him? He was either incredibly arrogant... or more powerful than any of them could begin to guess at.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r800BmNkA
“So...” Zaborav began to pace. “I hear you are desperate, my dear nobles of Arlen. Desperate for salvation in this trying time of yours.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNvq9HVuzl
Cobbin grimaced. What the man said was more or less true, but he hated admitting that they were desperate. “We seek to strike a deal with you and yours,” he said.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqIz3SIih4
“The target?”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwQbNbxssF
“A small city, by the name of Hendel,” Cobbin answered. “Relatively young, small and weak. An easy target for someone with your skills, I'm sure.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkS2qmN9ry
“And what are your skills, exactly?” Ulfet asked before Zaborav could respond. “How do we know that you are capable ofaccomplishing what we will ask of you? For all we know, you've simply taken credit for what others have done.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI8allj7EJ
“Funny you should ask that, Lord Ulfet,” Zaborav said, sidling over to stand below Ulfet's seat. “I would suggest you ask a citizen of Haerst, but.... well, it doesn't exactly exist any more.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uYjBN1y9B
“Haerst?” Lady Ernis said. “That city is one of our greatest trade partners, an incredibly large and wealthy city. They were quite healthy and intact the last I heard.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzwirK5Bn6
“And when was that, Lady Ernis?” Zaborav inquired.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3fxPmyjIx
She hesitated in thought. “I suppose it has been a few months.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ473h5fnyY
“Just long enough to get the job done,” Zaborav said, and Cobbin thought he saw a grin on his shadowed face. “Ask anyone who communicates with messengers, with travelers.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JFl6WooQk
Cobbin turned to Itram. “Is this true?” he asked, quiet enough that Zaborav would not hear. “Has Haerst fallen?”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrQ6DQoXSx
“I would have told you, my lord,” Itram said, “but you have already been so busy worrying over our own city's problems. It seemed unwise to trouble you with the problems of others.”562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIrBsKvVyn
Cobbin sighed and nodded. “Any word on who was responsible?”
“Only rumors. I've heard some say they suspect it was Ophens' handiwork, but considering the state they're in...”
“Right, right. So it must have been someone else, and here comes this man, claiming it was he...”
“I see no reason why it was not him, my lord.”
Cobbin grunted in acknowledgement. “He speaks the truth, so far as I can tell,” he said to the other nobles.
“Proof enough for you?” Zaborav said, spreading his hands wide. “I and those with me are the assassins of nations. The Vanquished Ashes. And if you pay the right price, my dear nobles, my skills are yours to command.” The mysterious man gave an exaggerated bow.562Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBapJQNw2k
This was it, then. The moment Cobbin had been looking for. The man before him was terrifying... but also filled him with hope. The Vanquished Ashes could be the salvation of Arlen... and that was worth any price.
“What price do you ask, Zaborav?” Cobbin asked, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
“Only your best, my lord,” Zaborav said, standing straight and holding his hands behind his back. “Make me an offer I cannot refuse, and we shall see what we can do for you... and your city.”
Cobbin hummed in thought. Why so cryptic? Most men in a position like this would have an asking price ready. Why make the nobles decide how much his services are worth? “Allow my fellow nobles and I time to discuss,” he said, “and we shall get back to you. You may wait in the antechamber. We'll send for you again when we are ready.”
Zaborav chuckled quietly, turning to exit the room. “Don't be too long,” he said casually.
Cobbin shivered as he stood. He couldn't help but be unnerved by the man. Zaborav was apparently capable of astonishing feats of internal destruction, yet behaved with such a flippant manner. The two didn't seem right to mix in Cobbin's opinion.
The four nobles of Arlen gathered in the room behind the courtroom, a small table arranged with chairs for each of them. When they were all sitting, Cobbin spoke first, saying, “Remember, my friends, the future of our city is at stake. Let us do as he asks, and give our best.”
“Of course,” Ulfet said. “I have twenty thousand marks with me, ready to go.”
“I can't say I like the scenario,” Ernis said, “but I am willing to sacrifice, to make sure this goes through. I have twenty-five thousand to give.”
“I'll give all I brought,” Cobbin said. “Thirty thousand marks.” They all retrieved bags filled to bursting with coins from various places on their persons, laying them on the table. “Seventy thousand total so far. What about you, Jaspar?”
Jaspar say in his chair, staring intently at his steepled fingers. “Is this truly the only way?” he asked softly, never moving his eyes.
“Come now, Jaspar,” Ulfet said. “There's no time to consider now.”
“This is the only way,” Ernis said. “We've tried everything else.”
Jaspar took a deep breath. “Very well,” he said, voice filled with resignation. “Take it.” He drew forth a bag of coins from his pockets. “Fifty thousand marks. But I cannot stay... The whole business makes me sick.”
“We are saving our city!” Ulfet said. “Thousands of lives are to be saved if we succeed!”
“And how many will be lost?” Jaspar said as he stood. “The people of Hendel... they'll be even more helpless than our own people would be. I can't bear to be here while this all takes place. Forgive me.” He strode to the rear door and let himself out. Before the door could shut, a servant stepped in, carrying two more bags. He said they were from Reder and Yamon, containing another thirty thousand marks each. Cobbin added them to the pile.
“Shall we finish this?” Ernis said. “Surely this is enough.”
Cobbin hesitated, staring after Jaspar. Is he right? Are we doing the wrong thing, taking out another city?
No. It was too late to turn back now.
“Yes, let us go,” he said.
Together, they reentered the courtroom and had Zaborav called back in. “Will Lord Jaspar not be rejoining our discussion?” he asked.
“I am afraid not,” Cobbin said. “He was feeling rather... sick.”
“Sorry to hear... Well, what have we come to?” Zaborav rocked back and forth on his toes eagerly.
The nobles had their bags of money handed to their master servants to carry down to Zaborav, and as they walked, Cobbin said, “A hundred and eighty thousand marks.”
“A fine sum indeed,” Zaborav said, inspecting the contents of the bags as they were delivered to him. He beckoned one of hisfollowers from the antechamber in to take the bags of money. “You are gracious to me, nobles of Arlen.”
“So we have a deal, then?” Ernis said. “You will take out Hendel?”
“Well, you see, I'm afraid I can't do that...”
Cobbin's stomach sank. “And why exactly not?”
“I would love to help you, but see, I'm already under contract.”
“So help us when you are through,” Ernis said. “I'm sure there is plenty of time.”
“Again, my lady, I would love to,” Zaborav said. Several of his followers entered the room, brushing past the servants that stood at the doors. “But as I said, I cannot.”
“Stop being so obtuse, man!” Ulfet shouted, pounding his fist on the desk before his seat. “Tell us what this is all about! And if you are not going to help us, kindly return our funds!”
“I'm sorry, my dear nobles,” Zaborav said, “but you have been... outbid.”
Cobbin heard the door behind him click, then a hand grasped Cobbin by the back of the head and smashed it into his desk. Someone grabbed his hands and began to bind them with ropes to his seat. When his head cleared, he looked and found that Ernis and Ulfet had suffered the same, forms dressed entirely in black standing behind them with long, thin swords at theirwaists. They stood still and silent, arms behind their back, as though awaiting an order. Cobbin sat, glaring at Zaborav.
By the gods...
“Guards!” Ulfet called. “Guards! Assassins in the court!”
Zaborav started walking up to the raised platform, his stride as easy as ever. “I'm afraid they're all dead by now, Lord Cobbin. You left so few in the courthouse. A simple matter to get rid of them. That little ruse with Yamon's death threat was more effective than I expected.” He began to ascend the stairs. “All told, though, you have put together a worthy effort,” he said, “but I regret to inform you that Hendel pays better.”
We were their target all along.
“It's rather astonishing, really, what a bunch of simple country folk can scrape together once they put their mind to it. Two hundred thousand marks. Can you believe that?”
Two hundred thousand!? We would be hard pressed to come up with that kind of money and keep on functioning...
Zaborav started to ascend the stairs up to the platform. He reached the top and stood before Cobbin, looking down on the noble. “I thought you'd be able to beat them out, though, honestly. But, I suppose, it saves me time. I mean, I've already spent so much time and many resources working on your city. Collapsing your mines, taking out your trade partners, sowing discord. This has probably been one of my most complex jobs, actually. Now all that's left is to cut off the head of the proverbial chicken.”
“It won't work,” Cobbin spat. “There are lords who aren't here for you to kill.”
“Jaspar, Reder, and Yamon? All dead by now, most likely. I've sent men to intercept Jaspar, I've planted men in Yamon's manor, and Reder... well, it was easy for Annet to kill him when he tried to visit her one last time.”
“You monster,” Lady Ernis said, pure hatred on her face.
Zaborav put a hand to his chest in mock surprise. “Me, a monster? My lady, I believe you were just about to pay me a hundred and eighty thousand marks to do just this to some other city.”
Cobbin's anger slipped, and he slouched in his seat. Jaspar was right...
“Well then, I think we're done here,” Zaborav said, turning to go back down the steps. “Next on the list of things to do: set fire to the city! Once that's done, the job will be more or less complete.” He looked back up at each of the nobles when hereached the bottom of the stair. “Wait for the blazes to get going. Once the screaming starts, execute them.”
Cobbin's head was once more slammed to the desk, and he heard a blade being drawn behind him.
I've failed, he thought. I tried everything to make it better, and it all just got worse...
“I'm sorry,” he said. “So sorry... I was just trying to help.”
“We don't blame you, Cobbin,” Ernis said. She sounded as though she were holding back sobs. “None of us could have stopped this. How could we have known?”
Dear gods, he prayed, let my family be safe...
It didn't take long for the flames outside to start. The sounds of panic grew quickly, and soon, sounds of pure terror flowed in. Cobbin grimaced at the sound of his citizens' homes being destroyed.
Then a voice, not too distant. “Cobbin!”
Marylin.
“Daddy!?”
Syra!
Cobbin jerked violently against the ropes and the hand that bound him. “That's my family!!” he shouted. “Let me go!!!” But neither the hands nor the rope gave way. “Let me go, curse you...!” He sobbed heavily, his tears dripping to the desk.
The voices soon disappeared. Why would they come in? The front of the building was likely engulfed in fire by now. It was too dangerous to go looking any further.
He was going to die. They all were.
Cobbin closed his eyes, resigned.
Let my family be safe, he prayed one last time. They do not deserve this fate. I, however...
The three men holding the nobles decided it was time.
Three lives were taken as three swords fell.
And with them fell the great city of Arlen.
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