Coldmaker(48)

She scraped a sharp fingernail in a long line down my back. Pain flared.

‘Skin so soft.’ She talked in the same bored tones. ‘You’ll learn truth in pain. Pain will cleanse you. Praise be to the Vicaress.’

I closed my eyes and tried to prepare myself as I heard the gentle swish of the taskmaster’s whip being unravelled. I thought I heard more than one tail swinging through the air, waiting to carve into me. My breath stopped in my chest.

‘You will leave here with a valuable lesson for all your people, little Jadan,’ she droned.

‘Wait!’ Cam’s voice called, and I nearly collapsed with relief. My eyes shot open, but I didn’t take my forehead off the wall.

‘He’s with me.’ Cam’s voice was calm, but authoritative, like someone used to being obeyed.

Yet she didn’t move. ‘Stand back, please,’ she said calmly. ‘This Jadan needs to be taught a lesson. It’s the Crier’s way.’

Cam begun waving his hands, growing animated. ‘No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t. It was my fault. Look, here’s my crest. I’m from House Tavor.’

‘Move aside, please.’ Her voice was frustratingly composed. ‘This is not your business. Out of the alley would be best.’

‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Cam’s voice took on an authoritative edge that I hadn’t heard before. ‘Look. Tavor.’

‘I don’t care what House you’re from. This is the Crier’s work. And He has the highest House of all.’ I heard her lick her lips. ‘I’ll ask you one more time, please.’

This was the point at which I knew things in Paphos had become really bad. A High Noble would normally only have to clear his throat and the taskmasters would stand at attention. But Shilah’s stunt had poisoned the natural order, and discipline had begun to overrule status.

‘Spout didn’t do anything wrong,’ Cam said. He sounded almost frantic now, and I could tell he was worried. ‘Here, I just spent most of my Cold, but I have a little left. Take this for your troubles.’

She didn’t reach out her hand, but simply looked at him impassibly. ‘You shouldn’t try to bribe a taskmaster, little Noble. It’s quite frowned upon.’

‘Look, if that’s not enough, I’ll bring you more—’

‘Bribing is not the Crier’s way,’ she said calmly.

My heart leaped to my throat. Cam wasn’t going to be able to save me with words or Cold. I was going to get all the tails and more. Probably the Procession.

‘If you stay there,’ the taskmaster said, ‘your pretty shirt might get stained.’

‘Eyes above! Why won’t you listen to me?’ He was shouting now. ‘He’s on an errand with me, you daft, stupid—’

I heard the crack before I felt it. Fire erupted across my back and my whole body went stiff. I clenched my teeth as tightly as I could, as pain blossomed through me. I nearly tumbled to the ground.

‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP!’ Cam screamed, followed by a crash that sounded like wood, with a chink of metal spilling after.

‘The Crier’s will,’ the taskmaster commanded. ‘Let him take his punishment.’

‘LEAVE HIM ALONE!’

I felt blood ooze down my back. I squirmed beneath the throbbing. Another crack, and the pain was something out of a nightmare.

‘PLEASE! STOP!’ Cam’s voice broke.

‘The Crier’s will.’

Tears came to my eyes and I stared at the brick through a watery veil. The second lash had been worse than the first, and I didn’t think she planned on stopping.

The whip swished through the air behind me, and I braced myself. But then something soft pressed against my body before the next crack. A howl of pain swelled through the alleyway, but surprisingly, it hadn’t come from me.

‘Oh. Oh no,’ I heard her say, followed by the sound of her feet racing away.

The soft something was still pressed against my back, and I distinctly heard whimpering behind my ear before the pressure lifted.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I turned to find Cam on his knees, eyes scrunched in pain. I stepped around him and saw the deep trail of red against his sun-shirt. And next to him was a decorated wooden box with one of its sides split, gears and guts spilling out.

Suddenly the pain in my back didn’t feel so intense. A High Noble had just taken a lashing. For a Jadan. For me.

‘Cam,’ I said, kneeling down. ‘Are you okay?’

Cam sucked in deep breaths, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.

‘I—’

Cam brought a hand around to his back, his face aghast. ‘You live through this every day?’

I gulped, giving a nod. ‘Yes – but are you okay?’

‘This isn’t right.’ Cam’s face grew hard, and for the first time, I saw the boy beneath. Cam was different from the rest. He cared, he truly did. ‘This shouldn’t be. This shouldn’t happen to you.’

I looked around, gathering my bearings. It was only half a bell’s walk back to my barracks and I had just enough salve left to soothe a virgin whipping.

‘She’ll get what’s coming to her,’ Cam said, his breathing still fast and full of pain. ‘I promise.’

I lowered my hand, helping him to his feet. I couldn’t imagine what it would cost him to get his fancy sun-shirt cleaned of all that blood. And I didn’t want to think about the artefact he’d dropped to save me.