Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 105: Song of Sorrow

Toren Daen

The mages employed by Bloodstone Elixirs took their time in retrieving those left living in the bowels of the warehouse. I watched numbly from the side with Renea Shorn, both of us silent at what we'd witnessed.

The guards were handling the situation worse outwardly. Some simply couldn't carry the survivors up, their hands and limbs shaking and their steps unsteady from the gruesome nature of what they'd witnessed.

It couldn't have been like this a few weeks ago when Naereni and Karsien scouted the place, I thought. They would've said something.

I wished at that moment that I was more like Arthur Leywin. He had the ability to just sequester his raging emotions away. Make himself apathetic and like stone when he truly needed to. But as I saw the blithe-mottled skin of each person as they were carted up, I forced myself to turn away.

I couldn't force myself into apathy as he could. It was anathema to my very self.

I sensed Naereni's heartfire from the edge of my perception slowly approaching us, but I didn't turn to her. I watched my breath mist on the cool February air instead, trying to find my center.

Nareni managed to weave her way closer silently, slipping through nearby alleyways. But before she could reach us, Renea Shorn turned.

She has sharp senses, I thought.

"The Young Rat, I presume?" she asked. I kept myself facing away from the young mage who was sneaking up from the rear, so I couldn't see her reaction to being discovered.

"That's me!" she said with faux cheer. "But it's very rude to drop in on people's homes without asking for an invitation." Naereni paused. "You're in the Rat's territory, Miss Beaker. It would be smart to tell us what your intentions are."

Miss Beaker? I thought incredulously, finally turning to look at the young woman.

Renea looked unphased by the nickname, except for a slight downturn of her lips. "You claim this entire district for your little group?" she said with skepticism. "Considering what occurred while these people were under your protection, I believe my intentions should remain my own."

Naereni bristled, and I sensed a rising retort. From what I knew, she rarely met someone who would fire right back in verbal spars.

"Bloodstone Elixirs has evicted the Doctrination from East Fiachra," I said tiredly, desperately wanting to avoid a spat between these two strong-willed women. I was already exhausted. "But the people under the warehouse..." My words choked off as images of the torture chambers down below flashed in my mind. Wade's mother and sister were captured there, weren't they? Did they receive that fate, or were they among those strapped to the gurneys being wheeled out?

Naereni's eyes snapped to me from under her mask. "Lord Daen, is it? I might not know you, but if I were in your shoes, I'd leave this woman for–"

"She knows we work together," I said, my shoulders slumping as I turned away. "She's the one who delivered all those gifts to the Cistern a while back. No need to pretend we don't know each other."

Naereni paused, blinked, and then looked at Renea Shorn as if she were some sort of exotic animal. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment another group finally extracted one of the survivors from the warehouse. It was the little girl I'd soothed. She appeared to still be asleep, but her thin, stained form would haunt my nightmares.

Naereni went rigid, then darted toward the guards holding her. I squeezed my eyes shut, turning away as she started to anxiously ask questions of the guards. I could've eavesdropped if I wanted to, but it took too much of my energy.