Chapter 22: Last Plans

Paene forced himself to look at the Wall, contemplating the giant hole in it.

His arm was still troubling him, and he still felt weak from severe blood loss. Lito had left him to die when the Carpenter had made his move, and they hadn’t found him for what felt like hours and hours.

Paene had only woken up recently, and had demanded to see the Wall and the city before he did anything else. Crick Hasting probably knew that Paene was awake and active by now, but he had not yet sought him out. Or perhaps he hadn’t found him yet.

Paene had taken the opportunity to question some of the guards on how the takeover had proceeded. The Carpenter was in control, which Paene could only take to mean than that takeover was brutal. The stories had confirmed his suspicion: people had been burned to death inside their homes, guards had been tortured in the city streets in a variety of ways, and other monstrosities.

He put his head in his hands, shaking.

You should be used to this, Paene told himself. And he was, in a way—he had seen disgusting and disturbing acts of violence with Crick often. But he had always told himself that he was letting these things happen for a reason, that the evil of the King Enclosed and his programs was worth it, and that the brutality would stop when Crick took control.

But the Carpenter had used fear, and fear alone to bring the people to his side. And Paene knew, deep down, that fear alone would help him keep it. Only through a continuous campaign against dissenters would prevent the Carpenter from being overthrown.

So what could be done about that? Paene sat by the wreckage of the Wall for a long time, and thought and thought about it.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

“Stay safe, Paene. She’s a wild one. Even chained up… I don’t know, I saw her, fighting our support group during the fight. She killed a lot of people. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I am not in the habit of doing so,” Paene replied.

The jail keeper nodded, and opened the cell to let Paene inside.

The Sunset Knight saw within. She was chained, her arms stretched to the ceiling, just high enough that she couldn’t sit down comfortably. The alternative was to stand, and so stand she did.

“Leave us,” Paene said. “And do not return until I have called for you.”

The jail keeper nodded, and withdrew, leaving Paene Umber and Lito Laeth alone.

She rolled her head around, and looked at him coldly. “Are you here to torture me?”

Paene said nothing, but sat down on the cell floor, his back to the wall. He looked at Lito, expressionless.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” the Sunset Knight said. “Take your revenge. I’m surprised to see you alive, actually.”

“I won’t be fighting any time soon,” Paene said, “the wound has left me quite weak. But my mental faculties remained unchanged. You have nothing to fear from me. I could not torture you, in this state, I suspect.”

“Even a child can wield a knife,” Lito said. “There are a few places were even a gentle amount of pressure can inflict immense pain.”

“I suppose that is true,” Paene said. “But, I say again, that’s not what I’m here for. I want to talk. I want your advice.”

She scoffed. “I don’t believe you. There’s nothing you could say that would make me believe you.”

Paene considered this. “That’s a dangerous position to take,” he said. “But I will ask you regardless. First things first.”

He handed the Sunset Knight a piece of paper—one that he had received from one of the guards shortly after he awoke.

“Can we trust it?”

Lito looked at him. “Why are you asking me?”

“Because Dane was your subordinate, and I believe he became your spy as well. You should be able to tell whether the message was accurate.”

The piece of paper detailed the attack on Invercard—it was sent upriver as fast as possible, apparently. Dane had survived an initial assault, but pleaded with the Sunset Knight to send more troops.

Lito shook her head. “Why would you think this wasn’t an actual plea for help?”

Paene shrugged. “I didn’t become second in command of the Carpenter’s forces because I liked torture or because I was good at it. I don’t like it, and all of my successes were completely unintentional. I notice things. I don’t take anything for granted. And I don’t take this, either.”

“Consider this,” Paene said. “Dane knows that he’s sent down with a paltry sum of forces. He knows that, in all likelihood, the Carpenter will be in command after he leaves. So he sends a message asking for help, to get our troops out of Caeledonia, so that the people can overthrow the Carpenter. He could be pulling our trick on us.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions,” Lito said.

“Not necessarily,” Paene counted them off on his fingers. “I think it’s likely that he does know the situation up here, or has guessed. And I think that it’s a good strategy. The Carpenter is too dependent on fear, and it only works if he can deliver on his promises. If the city was to empty of the Carpenter’s men… the locals would overthrow him.”

“You’re asking me whether you should send forces down?” Lito asked.

Paene looked around, to make sure that the jail keeper hadn’t returned. “Not… exactly,” he said. “I have already decided to send forces down. If the prisoners are going to attack again, I need to send men down to help defend. And if the prisoners are not, and Dane is lying… doing this will still serve my own ends.”

“How?” The Sunset Knight asked. “You just admitted that the Carpenter will, in all probability, be overthrown if you send men out of the city.”

“Yes,” said Paene, “I did.” He waited for Lito Laeth to put the pieces together.

She started to laugh. “You are all so ambitious,” she said. “Your ambition and greed will ruin you all. You betray the Carpenter, the next man down will betray you, and so on. This is pathetic.”

Paene chose his next words carefully, keenly aware of his surroundings. “You have no imagination, Lito. Recall what I have told you: the Carpenter cannot continue to keep the people in thrall by fear alone. He needs to make a gesture to show that he truly does have their best interests at heart. Even if Dane is lying, sending troops down and making a show of it will have a chance at revitalizing the people’s opinion of him.”

“After what you’ve done, I doubt it’s going to work.”

Paene shrugged. “It may not,” he said. “But I’m going to propose it regardless. Crick may agree, he may not—but your advice on this would be appreciated, when we have that discussion. I hope it doesn’t come to torture, I truly do, but we will try to get the truth as to the letter’s veracity out one way or another.”

“And then death?”

“If that is what the Carpenter plans for you… then yes, I suppose so.”

Chapter 22 1,214 | 50,738/50,000

Author’s Note in Comments