Raven vanished on us. Even Goblin could find no trace. Feather
and Whisper worked on our prisoners till each was drained, and got
nothing on our old friend. I concluded that Raven had used an
assumed name when dealing with them.
Why hadn’t he used one down in the Buskin? Folly? Pride?
As I recall, Raven had too much of that.
Raven was not his real name, any more than Croaker is mine. But
that was the name we knew him by the year he served with us. None
of us, unless maybe the Captain, knew his real one. He had been a
man of substance once, in Opal. That I knew. He and the Limper
became bitter enemies when the Limper used his wife and her lovers
to do him out of his rights and titles. That I knew. But not who he
was before he became a soldier of the Black Company.
I dreaded telling the Captain what we had found. He was fond of
Raven. Like brothers, the two of them. The Captain, I think, was
hurt when Raven deserted. He would be hurt more deeply when he
learned what his friend had done in Juniper.
Whisper called us in to announce the results of the
interrogations. She said roughly, “We did not exactly score a
triumph, gentlemen. All but a couple of those men were dabblers. We
knocked the fight out of them at Charm. But we did learn that the
black castle has been buying corpses. Its denizens even buy live
bodies. Two of our captives have sold to them. Raising money for
the Rebel.”
The idea of trading in corpses was repellent, but not especially
wicked. I wondered what use the black castle people had for
them.
Whisper continued, “They were not responsible for the raid
on the Catacombs. In fact, they are of no interest to us.
We’re turning them over to the Custodians to do with as they
please. You gentlemen will now go out into the city and resume
digging.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Elmo said.
“Somewhere in Juniper there is someone who is feeding the
black castle. Find him. The Lady wants him.”
Raven, I thought. Had to be Raven. Just had to be. We had to
find that son-of-a-bitch, yes. And get him out of town or dead.
You have to understand what the Company means. For us, it is
father, mother, family. We are men with nothing else. Raven getting
caught would kill the family, figuratively and literally. The Lady
would disband what remained of the outfit after she’d mauled
us for not turning Raven in back when.
I told Whisper: “It might help if we knew what we’re
dealing with. It’s hard to take something serious when nobody
tells you anything. What’s the point of the exercise? That
castle is damned bizarre, I grant you. But why should we
care?”
Whisper seemed to think about it. For several seconds her eyes
were blank. She had taken the matter to higher authority. She was
in communion with the Lady. When she returned, she said, “The
black castle has its roots in the Barrowland.”
That got our attention. I croaked, “What?”
“The black castle is the Dominator’s escape hole.
When it reaches a certain size and certain set of circumstances,
the creatures who live there, who are his creatures, heart and
soul, will conjur him out of the Great Barrow. Here.”
Several men snorted in disbelief. It did seem far-fetched, for
all the weirdness and sorceries we have seen.
Whisper said, “He foresaw his defeat by the White Rose,
though not his betrayal by the Lady. Even before the Domination
fell, he started preparing his return. He sent a faithful follower
here with the seed of the black castle. Something went wrong. He
never planned to spend so long waiting. Maybe he did not know of
Juniper’s preoccupation with preserving the dead. What are
they waiting for? A ship that will carry them to
paradise?”
“Roughly,” I agreed. “I studied it, but the
whole business is still monkey chatter to me. Go on. The Dominator
is going to pop out on us here?”
“Not if we can stop him. But we may have gotten here too
late. This man. If we don’t take him soon, it will be too
late. The portal is almost ready to open.”
I looked at Elmo. He looked at me. Oh boy, I thought. If Raven
knew what he was doing . . . I still
couldn’t get upset. He did it for Darling. He couldn’t
have known he was doing the Dominator’s work. He had that
much conscience. He would have found another
way . . . What the hell was he going to do with
so much money?
We had to find him. That was all there was to it. Whatever we
did from now on, our main goal, for the sake of the Company, had to
be to warn him off.
I glanced at Elmo. He agreed. From this moment forward we would
be fighting for the survival of the outfit. Somewhere, somehow,
Raven must have smelled trouble. Goblin looked under every rock in
the Buskin, watched every alley, practically lived in the Iron
Lily, and still found a big bunch of nothing. Time ground past.
Warmer weather threatened. And we became ever more panicky.
Raven vanished on us. Even Goblin could find no trace. Feather
and Whisper worked on our prisoners till each was drained, and got
nothing on our old friend. I concluded that Raven had used an
assumed name when dealing with them.
Why hadn’t he used one down in the Buskin? Folly? Pride?
As I recall, Raven had too much of that.
Raven was not his real name, any more than Croaker is mine. But
that was the name we knew him by the year he served with us. None
of us, unless maybe the Captain, knew his real one. He had been a
man of substance once, in Opal. That I knew. He and the Limper
became bitter enemies when the Limper used his wife and her lovers
to do him out of his rights and titles. That I knew. But not who he
was before he became a soldier of the Black Company.
I dreaded telling the Captain what we had found. He was fond of
Raven. Like brothers, the two of them. The Captain, I think, was
hurt when Raven deserted. He would be hurt more deeply when he
learned what his friend had done in Juniper.
Whisper called us in to announce the results of the
interrogations. She said roughly, “We did not exactly score a
triumph, gentlemen. All but a couple of those men were dabblers. We
knocked the fight out of them at Charm. But we did learn that the
black castle has been buying corpses. Its denizens even buy live
bodies. Two of our captives have sold to them. Raising money for
the Rebel.”
The idea of trading in corpses was repellent, but not especially
wicked. I wondered what use the black castle people had for
them.
Whisper continued, “They were not responsible for the raid
on the Catacombs. In fact, they are of no interest to us.
We’re turning them over to the Custodians to do with as they
please. You gentlemen will now go out into the city and resume
digging.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Elmo said.
“Somewhere in Juniper there is someone who is feeding the
black castle. Find him. The Lady wants him.”
Raven, I thought. Had to be Raven. Just had to be. We had to
find that son-of-a-bitch, yes. And get him out of town or dead.
You have to understand what the Company means. For us, it is
father, mother, family. We are men with nothing else. Raven getting
caught would kill the family, figuratively and literally. The Lady
would disband what remained of the outfit after she’d mauled
us for not turning Raven in back when.
I told Whisper: “It might help if we knew what we’re
dealing with. It’s hard to take something serious when nobody
tells you anything. What’s the point of the exercise? That
castle is damned bizarre, I grant you. But why should we
care?”
Whisper seemed to think about it. For several seconds her eyes
were blank. She had taken the matter to higher authority. She was
in communion with the Lady. When she returned, she said, “The
black castle has its roots in the Barrowland.”
That got our attention. I croaked, “What?”
“The black castle is the Dominator’s escape hole.
When it reaches a certain size and certain set of circumstances,
the creatures who live there, who are his creatures, heart and
soul, will conjur him out of the Great Barrow. Here.”
Several men snorted in disbelief. It did seem far-fetched, for
all the weirdness and sorceries we have seen.
Whisper said, “He foresaw his defeat by the White Rose,
though not his betrayal by the Lady. Even before the Domination
fell, he started preparing his return. He sent a faithful follower
here with the seed of the black castle. Something went wrong. He
never planned to spend so long waiting. Maybe he did not know of
Juniper’s preoccupation with preserving the dead. What are
they waiting for? A ship that will carry them to
paradise?”
“Roughly,” I agreed. “I studied it, but the
whole business is still monkey chatter to me. Go on. The Dominator
is going to pop out on us here?”
“Not if we can stop him. But we may have gotten here too
late. This man. If we don’t take him soon, it will be too
late. The portal is almost ready to open.”
I looked at Elmo. He looked at me. Oh boy, I thought. If Raven
knew what he was doing . . . I still
couldn’t get upset. He did it for Darling. He couldn’t
have known he was doing the Dominator’s work. He had that
much conscience. He would have found another
way . . . What the hell was he going to do with
so much money?
We had to find him. That was all there was to it. Whatever we
did from now on, our main goal, for the sake of the Company, had to
be to warn him off.
I glanced at Elmo. He agreed. From this moment forward we would
be fighting for the survival of the outfit. Somewhere, somehow,
Raven must have smelled trouble. Goblin looked under every rock in
the Buskin, watched every alley, practically lived in the Iron
Lily, and still found a big bunch of nothing. Time ground past.
Warmer weather threatened. And we became ever more panicky.