Asunder: A Gathering of Chaos by Cameron Hopkin (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

in New Gaia the Mother’s Hands have heard of your fame.” It was a bald-faced lie, but after listening to him speak, she felt that ego-stroking was the surest way to assuage him. It was buried in every word he said if one simply knew what to listen for. Sure enough, his frown eased ever so slightly at her words. He still gripped his little shard-spitter tightly, though.

“I know my own limits better than those who tell stories of me,” he said dismissively. “Have you never met a back-country rube that thinks you Weavers can bring back the dead? Everyone likes a fable, but we should not begin to believe them about ourselves. In my business, it is a deadly mistake.”

“But is it a mistake?” she murmured. “I beg your indulgence, Master Kojan. I am inexperienced in such matters. Will you tell me, please, the reasons why abducting this man is impossible? Perhaps if we understood it better.” Get him thinking on the problem.

He took a deep breath as if to sigh but checked himself. “I will tell you, and then you will leave. You were not invited here, Madam.” He gave her a severe look, and she ducked her head as if chastened. “Now, then. Firstly,” he said in his sing-song tone, raising one thumb as if to count, “is the matter of the boy’s inherent prowess, which I believe you heard. Secondly, there is the matter of Council security. There are no less than four guards that attend the lad at all times – and I do mean all times. If he steps into the jakes, they wait at the door. They are outside his door at all times, in shifts. They hear everything and admit no one without clearance. He is given whatever he wants, but in no sense is he trusted. He is always watched.”

“Four men is not so many for a professional such as yourself,” interjected Renna quietly.

He nodded at her, too caught up in his thoughts to notice the obvious flattery. “To be sure. I could handle four guards in my sleep – though generally there is more wiggle room between them and the target. No, the greater issue is that the boys he spends his time with are guarded as well – they are sons of the Council members. Rich, careless, loud – they require constant minding so that the fights they pick and messes they make don’t get out of hand.

“Guyrin – the chaos wielder – is their favorite plaything. He can get away with anything and scare everybody, so they like him. I looked into it when I stole the Evenstar Emerald from the Regnard family; their son is a constant companion of his. There are never fewer than two of those rich little brats with this Guyrin fellow, and each one is accompanied by his own squad of guards. So it’s not four guards to worry about, it’s a dozen or more. A touch more complicated, yes? He’s never alone, and experienced killers are always within calling distance.” He smoothed his moustaches thoughtfully. The dangling hanks of straight black hair looked ridiculous. Renna wanted to cut them off. “It’s a knotty problem. Perhaps…” he trailed off.

Gamarron and Renna exchanged glances. The savage seemed intrigued. How nice to work with someone that isn’t a complete idiot for once. He was a man who knew when to stay silent and let unforeseen events work for him. “Perhaps?” he prompted the thief.

Kojan snapped out of his reverie with a shake of the head. “Beyond all that, there is still the issue of willingness. Guyrin appears to enjoy the excesses he is allowed. Women troop in and out of his rooms on a regular basis. He drinks heavily and consumes great quantities of hallucinogenic fungi. If he rises before the afternoon, it is a remarkable occurrence. He never seems upset by his captivity – he is making the most of it, from a certain point of view. I do not judge that he would leave willingly.”

“We are suggesting an abduction,” ventured Renna with a shrug. “Willingness need not be a necessary component.”

“It most definitely is a necessary component,” the little man said.

‘Is,’ he says, thought Renna, not ‘would be.’ Excellent.

“Think it through, Madam Hand. Let’s suppose for a moment that you get him away from his little friends and all their excellent guards – you knock him over the head and carry him away. What happens when he wakes up? You are now in the company of a man whom you have removed from all his creature comforts, and this man can make any of his thoughts or desires reality. He does not know you and does not like you. You have given him a splitting headache, and, by the by, if he gets too upset, he may explode and vaporize anything within a square kilometer. Under what circumstances do you leave that room alive?” He threw up his hands as if discarding the entire train of thought. “He is a chaos wielder. He is not safe.” He moved toward the door, obviously intending to terminate the discussion.

“We Hands of Gaia have ways of gaining compliance from even the most resistant of minds, Master Kojan. That’s a solvable problem. But how would you get him alone? If you had to?” She asked the question thoughtfully, as if she were mulling it over herself. He stopped and turned to her.

“I do not know, Madam. That is rather the point.” He turned back toward the door.

“Surely those other boys have things to do besides go drinking with this Guyrin fellow? If I know anything about rich lordlings, it’s that they are connoisseurs of distraction.” She looked at the ceiling and rubbed her chin as if deep in thought. I’m not asking you, I’m just thinking out loud. Think with me. Let it challenge you.

He had his hand on the latch, and this time he did sigh. “Of course,” he said impatiently, “but they take turns with