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The threat given to the boy had taken a toll on Gallet, in so much as she could hardly believe that she would have killed the boy had he not done what she demanded. As soon as she was sure he would do as she asked she fled into an adjacent alley; the swell of her own emotion nearly overcoming the focus gained from battle.
Kanton’s keep was raised far back into the mountainside, pulled up and shaped from the earth in the same way as the town square had been. Though the town had sprawled outward to accommodate the demands of a growing population, Gallet was now headed into the most defensible part of the city. The city guard held to a defined patrol pattern however, and their guard posts were easily avoided. Any who stumbled on her path would suffer death, she couldn’t afford the city guard rallying on her position. Her plan was relying on Kayne to draw the bulk of the army back to defend the Lord’s manor – she couldn’t afford the city guard raising their own alarm foiling her ruse.
She didn’t know how long it would take for Kayne to reach his captain. He was likely to be at the northern gate able to receive messengers from his archer in the city and the patrols combing the forest. She had certainly over compensated, scaring the boy the way she did, but she had to be sure her threats were taken seriously. In the end, the encounter was a silver lining to her eminent death; she had saved another child from the hands of the Order.
A wall surrounded the inner city and another the keep itself. Watchmen stood at the parapets of first portal with the keep wall holding a retractable metal gate. For the captain of the company to act on her ploy she had to make him believe there were fifty men waiting inside for him. An impossible task for a lone woman but until the day she had come face to face with the Son of Order, she had never met another gate keeper with as many gate affinities as she had.
Many had an affinity for a single gate – and those gates could be focused and honed to do incredible tasks. The root-gates for example, used to raise the keep directly from the mountain, came from keepers with only one affinity. Having multiple affinities was extremely rare and when discovered the Order would swiftly take them to join in their cause and be showered in riches for their loyalty or to meet the hangman’s noose. Gallet never let on the true extent of her power but would never have given into the allure of riches anyway, her thirst for vengeance ran too deep. The position of Head Mistress came with the discovery of her cadre of street orphans so long ago. She claimed a modest crown-gate affinity and was never questioned again.
As the night went on she would have the luxury of darkness as the moon dipped behind the mountain, casting a shadow over the whole city well before morning’s light touched the eastern horizon. Time was precious however; Venara needed Gallet to watch over her, just as when they were children.
Her right shoulder was swollen and nearly immovable now, she would have to leave her root gate open to retain any ability to use the limb. The task ahead would tax her to the point of irrevocable exhaustion, but it was now or never. She moved out of the last shadow as the guardsman turned to pace back towards the far opening in the wall.
With her root-gate opened, her legs swelled with increased strength. She leapt up the side of the wall, it’s smooth surface had no hand or foot holds but her upward momentum was sufficient to reach the ledge. She landed in a crouch and ran bent forward, her height obscured by the merlons along the wall. The guardsman recognized the footfalls behind him just in time to turn and see sword flash from scabbard. His head landed with a plop even before his body had completely turned to face her. A stool sat at the far end where he would sit between patrols. Against the battlements lay a large wooden crossbow.
Adrenaline fueled Gallet and her instincts took over. The crossbow had no string, but used a coiled wire spring drawn taunt by a hand crank. It was a heavy weapon meant for sieges not infantry and taking it with her would cost her more time and energy than she was willing to spend on it. Her root infused strength let her pull the cocking mechanism back without the need for the crank; she grabbed one of the oversized bolts from the quiver at her side, checking the fletching, before steadying herself on the wall.
The bolt was poorly crafted and the arrow would veer. She opened her Pineal-gate and saw the missed trajectory of the bolt before she fired. It was an easy enough matter to compensate for the poor craftsmanship if you had the ability to peer into the future. Gallet’s shot took the man across the battlement in the chest and he fell with a grunt. She left the crossbow, sneaking down the battlements staircase unseen.
Within this wall the upper crust of Kanton’s citizens resided. All the buildings were pulled from the ground by root-keeper architects and their ornamented rooftops showed that the people who had built it were not just powerful keepers, but artisans as well; something that had been lost to Kanton since the Order began its occupation.
No building was shaped the same; the city itself was organized in perfect harmony of space and structure. The wide streets gave plenty of room for drawn carriages while leaving room for the pedestrians. The main street held three story homes, their stone the color of granite as if the keepers had pulled the soul of the mountain from the ground to give birth to these masterpieces. The only single story building in the inner ring of the city was a grand hall. A wide dome was carved with ornate ridges and at the front supported by two pillars was the crest of Kanton facing the street. Gallet hesitated as she saw it for it looked much the way she always imagined it should have as a child, when the inner city was filled past capacity and refugees took shelter in the grand hall.
She slid easily through the city, knowing its every inch having survived the harsh life of a street orphan. It wasn’t just the grand hall that looked cleaner – the streets seemed to shine in the moon light. It was hard to believe that since becoming Head Mistress, living blocks away in the outer city, she had not been able to return to the streets she had grown up on.
She frequently stopped in a shadow before crossing the path of a patrol. The upper class were much less likely to be out past curfew, but the majority of guards found their way to the inner city streets to keep up appearances. Even with the number of guards on patrol, Gallet avoided them easily. The nobles enjoyed the increased patrols and the guardsmen took the inner city postings to avoid duty near the commons where they were much more likely to encounter trouble.
Turning the corner she saw the gates to the keep were closed, as they were every night after curfew. A door was carved into the stone to the left of the gate and candle light flickered from within. A guardsman leaned against the gate facing away from Gallet talking to someone on the other side. She crept closer trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“… a day off in two weeks! And I haven’t heard anyone else who has neither!”
“Aye, he’s been a prickly bastard since that last group of dignitaries was through here. ‘course, it’s a good thing you got this route tonight, otherwise I’d be boots-up-asleep!”
“That’s not a half bad idea if you do say so Hace. You’ve got a deck of cards up there haven’t ya?”
Gallet could see clearly enough that the man behind the gate was rubbing his chin, contemplating the implications. “I ‘spose I do at that, but tired or no I ain’t one to go derelict of duty just cause the Lord’s lost his oats.”
“Hace, there’s a full company of the Order’s solders at the outer city walls.” He said, rolling his eyes.
“And a damn Daeva’s wings flying about. I’ll not sit about and have One of Chaos sneak up and slit my throat just so you and I can play cards on duty, Red.” Hace said.
“Oh come on, Hace!” he said, drawing out the syllables “I’ve got money this time!”
“You still owe me from last time—” Red made to reply but Hace just kept on, “and I ain’t takin’ them paper marks neither!” Red gave him flat stare before looking side to side and pulling a pouch from his side and tossing it in his hand. The clang of metal on metal was obvious to Gallet’s ears then Hace said: “Well why didn’t you say so?”
Hace disappeared from the gate and Gallet jumped from the shadows, knowing it was her only chance to get inside the walls.
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