Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

early and pushed their carts home. The clients and paying customers had sought shelter as well, either spending their coin inside the shops of permanent storefronts or they’d gone home as well. The result for Bennet was that there were few people on the streets with dangling purses, and next to nothing that would pass for marketable information in lieu of daily House dues. He thought he’d rather spend the night huddled in the rain than accept the obligatory beating that often followed a missed dues payment. He wondered now whether he’d made the right decision.

He’d spent much of the night awake and shivering, sleeping seldom, and fitfully when he did nod off. He couldn’t be sure what time it was when he was jolted awake by someone passing near him, “People, plural.” He corrected himself once he’d more fully awakened. He watched them as they passed. They were either unaware of him, or simply ignored him. He’d counted five of them before he realized that he recognized at least three of them. The unmistakable red-haired young man was among them. Bennet recognized him first. “Rukle. That’s his name.” Immediately afterward he recognized the quiet one that sometimes accompanied the red-haired one. A few seconds later he saw the one who had killed his former House father, the same one he’d seen on the Waterfront boardwalk, speaking to a Watch patrol. On that occasion, the Watch captured and arrested three men for selling Apex. Now, there was a whole group of them preparing to enter the warehouse across the walkway where he’d attempted to find shelter. Their posture told him that these Guild people weren’t making a social call. He changed his position and worked circulation back into his legs and gradually shifted the sailcloth so he could cast it off in a single motion and not get tangled in it. He waited until everyone was looking at the warehouse and flung the sailcloth from his shoulders as he bolted away. He didn’t turn around and didn’t even take a breath until he’d rounded a corner. He’d ran the length of three buildings before he even took a glance behind him. There was no one there. He ran for two more buildings and turned west, slowing his pace enough to catch his breath. Less than a minute ago he’d been sleeping and now he was at a full run. He wondered whether what he’d just witnessed might be information valuable enough to cover today’s House dues, then he chastised himself as he realized that the information the House kids provided was passed along to the Guild. They’d hardly need to be kept apprised of their own movements. He slowed his pace and began looking for a new spot where he might find shelter from the weather.

*****

The sudden flurry of movement caught everyone’s attention. Loryn and Balat turned as they each raised their bows, arrows nocked, and drew the slack from their bowstrings. Kinsman’s blades had cleared their sheaths and he’d taken two steps before Spen blocked their view with hands raised. He pressed his palms downward a few times to signal them to calm down and lower their weapons. He quietly spoke the words, “House kid. Waterfront.” and pointed in the general direction of one of the Houses. Several questions entered Kinsman’s mind but he dispersed them with a quick shake of his head. There were too many other immediate concerns that demanded his attention. He turned back to face the warehouse. He clenched his jaw and thought grimly, “We do this quick and clean, then we can move on to the ships”. That’s when the plans they’d made would be sorely tested. He thought, “The fighting will be chaotic enough, with Guild and Wharfsiders battling side by side, but the weather could make it even more difficult to identify who is friend and who is foe.”

The third warehouse went much like the second, except not quite as ‘clean’. One of the men managed to call out and alert the two remaining men. The man that yelled was left to die from several deep, well-placed cuts while the remaining two received a multitude of cuts on their hands and arms as they ineffectually attempted to ward off the incoming blades. One of them was spared much faster than the other. Loryn had a clear shot at the man, and took it. The other probably thought he was fighting valiantly as Rukle toyed with him. Kinsman finally ordered, “Finish him already. You’re wasting time.”

As they trudged eastward through the mud, all the ‘kids’ from the Guild wondered how many of their friends they’d find in the Prison, and worried about how many might have already died there.

Kinsman stopped them before they reached the boardwalk and gathered them in. He raised his voice to be heard over the weather, “Once we’re on the piers, there’ll be no stopping. We kill everyone aboard the three ships and get them loose from their moorings as quickly as we’re able. Mardon and Rigel’s men will decide which ships are kept and which gets sacrificed; and they’ll handle the navigation. Just make sure you’re on the right boats before we’re under sail. Clear the bodies from the decks on the way to the island. That should be the last of our Apex and Lukasi problem. After that, we just need to get into the prison and out with our people. The warehouses were the easy part.” Rukle grinned, “Was all that supposed to make us feel motivated?” Kinsman grinned in return as he blinked against the rain. He replied, “No. That was just to make sure everyone is focused on the tasks ahead.” He turned and began running at an easy pace toward the nearest ship.

Chapter 26

The storm had driven most of the crew members below deck and by now the darkness and the incoming rain had reduced visibility to only a few feet. Rare gusts would