Beside her was the deputy ward, in full formal regalia, tassels on his boots, plumed hat, waistcoat, vest, ruffles and cape. He appeared to be a dandy, a fop,as they used to say,but in truth he was a brutal commander, and the deadliest blade known.
Deputy Ward Richard Coultier was sitting forward on the edge of his chair, using an oily cloth to polish a predark saber of astonishing sharpness.
An even worse sign. The anger of the son of the ward struck like lightning, coming from nowhere without warning, and the saber was his preferred death tool. Once it left the scabbard, it was never returned without first tasting blood.
Anders was somewhat relieved to note the curtain hanging behind them was closed, cutting off any possible view of the ward. At least he wouldn’t have to cope with that today.
Removing his helmet, Anders bowed to the heirs of the ville, low for the son, lower for the Lady, and he damn near kowtowed to the closed curtain.
“My lord and lady, I come to report bad news,” he said in a single breath, the words almost gushing out.
Richard glared, and Amanda dashed aside the chalice, red wine spraying over the floor.
“We know! What happened to them, Lieutenant?” Amanda shrieked. “Where are they! Where? Where?” Her hands formed claws upon the wooden arms of her chair, her expression radiating an insane madness beyond words.
“Milady, we went into the courtyard as soon as the sleep gas was gone,” Anders said, his heart pounding in his chest. His right hand was tucked into his wide leather belt, and surreptitiously fingering a derringer, ready to blow out his brains before becoming a toy for Eugene.
“And?” Richard growled, drumming his manicured nails on the curved arm of the chair.
“And they were gone,” Anders finished lamely. “There was no sign of them.”
“Unacceptable,” Amanda spit “Who led the guards to collect them?”
“Corporal Phinious.”
“Kill him,” Richard commanded, daintily straightening his cape.
“No,” Amanda corrected. “Strip him of all rank and send him to the mines.”
“B-but, my lord!” Anders stammered. “The slaves will kill him with their bare hands!”
A new chalice was given to her. The blonde raised the golden cup and took a sip. “And your point is?” she asked sweetly.
“What I want to know is,” interrupted Richard, “did they escape, or were they rescued?”
“Both actions are unthinkable!”
“Yet one must be true. Either the gas had no effect…”
“Impossible.” She paused. “Or perhaps we have a mutie in the yule. Somebody immune to the vapors who removed their sleeping bodies.”
“Before the guards arrived? Also impossible,” Richard snorted, gripping the sword at his hip. Golden tassels dangled off the pommel and silver threads entwined the scabbard in ornate finery.
“They aren’t inside the tank,” Anders reported.
“We can see through the front window, and there’s nowhere for even a single person to hide.”
“That you know of.”
He admitted this was true.
“So Ryan and his people are free,” Amanda said, handing away her chalice, uncaring of who took it. “Search for them, Lieutenant. Inside the ville and in Detail. Send scouts into the Wheel and an ambassador to the Sons of the Knife. Offer the cold-hearts anything they wish, but those people will be found.”
Reclining backward, Richard said, “Place a reward of freedom and food to the slaves. Interrogate the gaudy sluts and servants, torture thieves, slaughter whole families! But find them, or else find us a way into their locked vehicle!”
“We try our best,” Anders said, avoiding eye contact. “But the doors resist our best thieves, and the metal is proof to saws and acids. May I use explosives?”
“Not yet. What about the windshield?”
“We could probably smash through,” the sec man said, “but then we would still have to get past the grating. It’s made of a predark metal beyond our knowledge. Some sort of super steel.”
“An alloy,” Amanda said softly to herself, “or an althropic composite.”
“My lady?” Anders asked, puzzled.
She waved the matter away.
“Continue in your efforts to gain entrance, Lieutenant,” Richard ordered.
“And bring us success soon, or else you’ll beg to be turned over to Eugene,” Amanda finished in a soft purr. “Do you understand?”