Cameron Johnston - God of Broken Things

For Natasha

From the shadows of a doorway I watched as Vivienne of House Adair amiddling House of waning influence exited the rear of the buildingafter a midnight tryst with her lover, a married warden captain. Thehood of her cloak was up and her cheeks still flushed as she made herway down the back streets of the Crescent, intent on returning to theOld Town before her own husband became aware she was otherwise engaged.To my magically Gifted senses her unguarded mind radiated the fuzzywarmth of a lust well-satisfied.

If she was still fully human then she could spread her legs for whomevershe liked; it was none of my business. But if she was infested with thesame parasitic creatures that had dominated the traitor Heinreich andalmost succeeded in destroying the city, then that unwitting warden wasa source of information to use against us, and that was most certainlymy business.

She was the least dangerous of the three magi I had marked as likelythreats, an artificer more at home with her arcane apparatus of cogs andcrystals than with battle. As a young and indifferent pyromancer blessedonly with a truly extraordinary memory, her Gift would be weaker thanmine by normal standards, but since Id bathed in the blood of gods someof their potency had seeped into me and it would prove no contest unlessI was foolish. Always a risk of that of course. Viviennes knowledge ofarchitecture and alchemy was what made her dangerous and a likelypartner in bringing down the Templarum Magestus. The Arcanums seers haddivined a number of unknown magi had collaborated in that betrayal andif you needed a magus to circumvent protective wardings andmagic-strengthened stone then an artificer would be the obvious choice.

Those soaring spires at the heart of Setharis had fallen and I washere to ensure that all involved paid a terrible price for theirtreachery.

I stepped out of the shadows to block her path, Hello, Vivienne. Shestarted and loosed a little yelp. Who The blood drained from her faceas she realised who stood before her. Her Gift flew open and drew inmagic, ready to fight even as her mental defences slammed shut. Shestraightened her back and stared me in the eye. Edrin Walker. What areyou doing lurking in the shadows? Up to no good I warrant.

Ah, it never got old hearing my name said like a curse. The stories toldabout what Id done a few months ago had bubbled up like a blockedsewer, and every bit as foul. None of them came close to the truth. Ifumbled a bent roll-up from my pouch to my lips, the last tabac to befound anywhere in the city. Couldnt trouble you for a light could I?

Her lips thinned and the end of my roll-up flared bright for a second,hotter than was necessary a clear warning. I took a long drag and blewout acrid smoke. What do I want? I probed her defences, searching forany hint of wrongness, of anything other. Tell me, Vivienne, are youstill loyal to Setharis?

She swallowed. Her hands trembling as her faade of strength cracked.She had probably leapt to the conclusion that I meant to blackmail herabout her dalliances with men other than her husband. That was the lastthing I cared about.

The cracks in her confidence let my Gift slip in. If Id wanted to Icould have torn her mind open and taken what I wanted. With CouncillorCillians sealed writ giving me leave to do as I wished it wouldnt evenget me killed once people found out. Tempting. So very tempting.

What do you want? she spat. Gold?

Hardly, I replied. I want to know about Heinreich. Tell me what youbuilt for that traitorous cur.

She lurched back, forced to lean a hand on a wall to steady herself,doubled over, throat spasming and threatening to vomit. Her mindcrumpled in on itself, oozing guilt.

Did you think nobody would ever find out? Somebody always talks, evenif you pay them off. Her workshop apprentices had suddenly become flushwith coin and hadnt been shy in spending it. They hadnt spilled theirguts willingly but I can be ever so persuasive.

She choked back a retch. II had no idea. Heinreich was so nice,socharming. How could I ever suspect what he It was not my fault.

I stabbed into her mind, making her gasp with shock, and waited for aresponse to what I was about to say.

Scarrabus.

Nothing. The name evoked no sudden firing of thought and fear. She hadnever heard the name before. Her mind ran clear of those creaturesparasitic taint. She was no traitor, just another dupe.

She mustered enough bravery to look me in the eye again. Are you hereto kill me? If so, just get on with it.

Oh, I wanted to. Hundreds died when the Templarum Magestus was broughtdown, and it couldnt have been done without the help of her and otherslike her. My right hand clenched, itching to dig into her throat and ripit out. Instead I sighed and let my anger drain away. She was hardly thefirst or finest he had fooled. My minds eye flicked back to Eva, herface frozen in shock as somebody she had once considered a friend turnedhis flames on her. Yes, that twisted wretch had fooled the best of us.

I grimaced as I forced my stiff hand to open. Not today. I rakedfingers through my mop of hair. You will drag your sorry arse over toCouncillor Cillian in the morning and detail exactly what you built forthat bastard. Dont dare try to leave the city. My lips twisted into avicious grin that suggested I really hoped shed try. Ive been given awrit that says I can do whatever I sodding want with you. People werealways more than willing to think the worst of me and her ownimagination would supply horrific images of the very worst tortures,personalised just for her. Cillian would roast me over hot coals if Istepped too far over the line however, and others would also likely befar from happy with me, the kind of displeasure that kept assassins inale money.

Vivienne shuddered, then took several deep breaths and calmed as hertraining slid a measure of control back in place. She nodded, and ifanything looked relieved that her dark secret had finally been exposed.

I didnt have time to interrogate her further, not tonight. Go home toyour family. You may yet escape this mess with your hide intact. Iturned to leave.

Im so sorry, she said in a small, tortured voice. Its been eatingme aliveI just, I needed to forget. Just for a while. I was such a foolto resurrect that madman Tannars designs. Those alchemic bombs shouldnever have been built.

The last smoke in this whole sodding city almost fell from my lips.Bombs? Plural? You built more than one? I spun back. What do you

A flare of killing intent sent me diving and rolling. The cobbles whereI had stood erupted into jagged spears of stone that punched Viviennefrom her feet and turned her into a human pincushion. Spikes through herheart and skull gave her a mercifully quick death. She hung suspended inthe air, hot blood steaming down the winter-cold stone that had killedher.

Shite. Tonight was not going to go my way

Nine hours earlier, Id been surrounded by armed men and escorted to theCollegiate of the Arcanum for an urgent meeting with one of mostimportant magi in the city. As usual, important people made you sit onan uncomfortable seat and wait an age for an audience, but at least Iwasnt suffering alone.

After a while the sound of screaming becomes white noise, a buzzingannoyance in the back of your head no worse than a yapping dog or adrunkards droning snore from the straw pallet right next to your own. Iyawned, ignored the two armed wardens flanking me, and shifted on thehard wooden bench as I stared ahead at the iron-bound doors. My eyestraced and re-traced the all-too familiar patterns of glimmering arcanewards worked into the oak. The Forging Room was far from my favouriteplace in the Collegiate, not least because I had been through thisparticular magical rite myself as an initiate. All magi had but nobodyremembers it all, just the agony and the raw-throated screaming. And theneedles, we mustnt forget the needles.