A Song of Shadows and Starlight

CHAPTER 4- FAYE's POV

                          
                         CHAPTER 4- FAYE

I missed the morning training session with Overseer Pradcliff. We do arms training in the morning in the cobble square outside, practicing religiously with the shining, brass revolvers only The Black School and high-ranking members of the stadtwatch are permitted to carry. My brother, as the bone collector, carried two slung into his belt.
I'm already the best shot in The Black School, but I didn't dare miss our morning worship. Every day without fail, every soldier in The Black School gather in the amphitheater.
Worship lasts forty minutes, where we kneel and pray and chant. Our cries, designed to ward off the Unhallowed One's and their treacherous teachings, echo around The Black School. They lie in The Void, the afterlife realm of the Isle's, and are said to appear to 'people of interest and fate'. They're Gods, who use magic and divine sorcery to bend and trick people to his will. Magic and witchcraft are condemned here in The Black School, and the Abbey have disavowed him as the primary source of all magic in this world. While many people of power in the Order do condemn him, should he appear to one, it means that your life is directly tied into the business of the Isles in ways you can't yet fathom. Whatever is decreed by the Unhallowed One's must be followed less the Isles fall into chaos. Despite this acceptance, the High Overseer has a special hatred for anything he cannot control.
And so, determined to keep The Unhallowed One from meddling with the fates of Surcon's citizens, I chant as loud as everyone else.

Once worship is over, we eat in the mess. I go in with Metias and take my usual seat beside him and and a few from my troop.
"Enjoy the interrogations yesterday Kohler?" they tease. "Rumour has it you let Metias do the heavy lifting for you. Think of the poor man's knuckles."
They laugh and with exaggerated care, cradle Metias' knuckles, which are stained a deep red from his torture of the spy yesterday.
"We thought you would've been the best interrogator in this place, Kohler." Jesper mocks. "You have such dainty hands."
I meet Metias' eyes and scowl, and he tells Jes to knock it off. I'm not in the mood to revisit that horror.
"Perhaps Kohler the prodigy isn't quite the prodigy The Black School thinks she is." a voice snarls behind me. Breanna, flanked by Leander and Vasco, two thugs who practically worship her.
"I can show you how much of a prodigy I am right now if you want to me." I shoot back, stepping out of my seat. Breanna stares at me disdainfully and laughs.
"In your state, I'd be sending you to the infirmary in a bodybag. But go ahead, start something. I'll finish it."
Standing up now, I realise she's right. My body is aching in pain from yesterday's traning, and no matter how much of a snake Breanna is, she's here for a reason just like the rest of us.
"Cool it Faye," Metias pleads. "Not worth a fight here with a Commander watching."
My fists bunch. As much as I know he's right, it doesn't make punching that smug smile off her face any less appealing.
"Let's just go Köhler, she's not worth being disciplined for" says Jesper, tugging at my tunic sleeve. "It's time for combat training anyway c'mon"
I reluctantly turn and step out onto the training square. Some scim-fighting might help clear my head.
The afternoon passes in a flurry of fighting, running and brutal fitness work in the heat.

Finally, I end up alone in my room again, collapsed on my tiny cot.
The others had gone out to grab some food and perhaps sneak down to the port for an evening of pleasure in The Golden Cat. Metias said he'd call, but night is quickly enveloping the School and the rooms are still empty.
Just as I think about getting up and getting food by myself, a frantic knock rings out.
"Faye, stop batting your eyelashes and get out here." It's Metias. I frown, he sounds quite panicked.
"C'mon would you," he murmurs. He looks agitated.
I grab my dress tunic off the hook and pull it down over my body.

"What's wrong Metias, you're weirding me out."
He looks over at me, startled.
"Metias what's wrong. Why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"
Metias stops walking suddenly and I crash into his broad back.
"Faye, it's your brother"
No. No, no, no.
"I'm sorry, he's been killed. He was murdered by councilman Albrecht's house during a delivery."
Not Elias. Please, anyone but Elias I plead silently. He's all I have left.
I sag into Metias' embrace. His warm, powerful arms wrap around me, pulling me into him. He smells of exotic fruit and spice and rain.
"The High Overseer is waiting to escort you to the crime scene Faye." Metias says, untangling himself. We walk down to the gates of The Black School in silence, where Overseer Pradcliff is standing with his personal guard.
"Ms Köhler," he nods. "The carriage please."
I wipe my eyes, and all of a sudden I'm embarrassed by my reaction. What kind of mask breaks down like that in the middle of the courtyard?
"Commander, Sir." I salute, straightening my back. I will not allow him to see my weakness, not a shred of it.
I sit into the carriage, and a guard steps in after me. I don't recognise him, but the red trident encircling his mask marks him as one of the High Overseer's guard.
Metias sits down beside me and wraps his hand comfortingly around my own.
I say nothing as the carriage rumbles and begins to descend into Surcon. I stare out the window in silence. The landscape quickly changes from sand and the menacing stone of The Black School to wet cobblestone and the dull, murky grey of Surcon's inner-city. Councilman Albrecht's house is in the Ruby District, one of the wealthier upper-class. Luckily, we don't have to pass through The Narrows to reach the emerald districts, the roughest part of Surcon. The Narrows formed when the plague began to spread around Surcon a few years ago. The Rudshore Financial District, before a business district where the bankers and traders of Surcon bargained and traded and invested. Now it's ruined remains are only home to squatters, criminals or people too poor to live anywhere else. From there, the city couldn't cope with the plague, and the ruin spread until it now envelopes Drapers Ward and the Port District too. The Narrows now belongs to the gangs of Surcon, all fighting over whatever scraps of land they can.

The scenery changes again noticeably and soon we're in the Ruby District. The grey stone and red-brick gradually transforms into finer and cleaner white-stone. My brother stayed here, in one of Albrecht's smaller apartments, which sprawl out over his estate. Stadtwatch and private guards patrol the streets as we slide to a stop outside Albrecht's mansion.
Ramsey is waiting at the gates.
"Faye," he nods. Your brother, Elias, has been killed. It looks like he was assassinated."
I look into his eyes and there isn't a speck of sympathy or understanding in his pale, ice-cold  eyes. I feel numb, like I've been punched across the face. Another confirmation of Elias' death. His lack of remorse surprises me, Elias was one of his most gifted soldiers, he trained him.
What was I expecting? This was a man who interrogated and disciplined me not even twenty-four hours (thirteen hours and forty-four minutes to be exact) until I could hardly move. No, this is expected. I don't need pity right now, I need strength. I need revenge.

"Walk with me Faye."
I force myself to move, and follow him into the mansion, Metias by my side.
High Overseer Ramsey's eyes narrow.
"Mr Reed. You can accompany my guard back to The Black School, there is no further need for your company."
"But Command-."
Ramsey turns and punches Metias in the jaw so hard he falls backwards into the guards arms.
"I won't ask again," he says coldly. "Leave us."
Metias grudgingly shoves the guard off him, and climbs into the carriage. I give him one last look before following Ramsey into the house.
I can do this on my own. I am Faye Kohler, and will act like it.
"You have an interesting history in The Black School," Ramsey says "You're in my office more times than I can remember, but you're still one of the best graduates the School has seen. Rather like myself, if I remember correctly."


His small talk is uneasing me. The High Overseer is normally a ruthless, evil bastard. Maybe he is feeling the death of Elias. He was one of his most successful graduates after all. The most successful since I had arrived.
We've crossed out of Albrecht's house and are standing just outside it. His lavish garden continues for a few feet, before being swallowed by cobbles.
I feel slightly sick as I follow the trail of blood up to a bodybag lying on the stone. My boots crunch over shattered shards of glass as I follow Ramsey to the motionless body. Two stadtwatch guards stand nearby.
The bag is unzipped and I can see Elias' lifeless face. His close-cropped brown hair is wild and unruly, and his eyes have been closed. I'll never see those gold flecks again.
"Tell me what might have happened here Skull. Think of it as a sort of graduation test, so think carefully."
I try to gather and organise myself. I tear my gaze away from Elias and stare around the crime scene.
"Suspect fled through that window above," I say, pointing to the shattered window.
"Judging from the scattered glass shards, it looks like whoever it was was in a hurry and wasn't afraid of hurting himself in the process. They also survived a two-story fall and still had the strength to flee into the city. Impressive."
I spot the knife dug into the grooves of the red-brick house overlooking the garden.
"That's how he survived the fall. That knife looks like one of a pair. See the blood patterns on the hilt, seems like it was pressed into a fabric, perhaps a sleeve fold."
"Good work Kohler, we found the other knife buried in the wall upstairs. What happened next?"
My eyes follow the trail of blood that stains the grass.
"The person was badly injured and bleeding heavily, must have lost a lot of blood."
The blood is pooled up in a large patch, staining the cobbles crimson.
"This must have been where he was stopped. He was probably sizing up the situation and realised he couldn't escape for long with the injuries. This pool is from the assailant bleeding, not the victim."
The victim. Elias.
"Then a fight happened. From the position of the gun, it looks like it was knocked out of Elias' hand at the start. Interesting. The assailant is ambidextrous."
"Tell me about the victim. What happened to him."
I force myself to look at Elias.
"A broken neck," I say immediately. "See the head is bent back at an awkward angle. It was done as he was incapacitated, there's no way Elias would allow such a clean break. But there isn't any signs of rope-burns or cables used to bind the victim."
"Very good," Ramsey purs. "We haven't yet figured out he immobilised the victim, but he is clearly a skilled combatant."
"Yes. He disarmed and immobilised Elias, before breaking his neck, snapping his spinal column. He would have died instantly. Not before he was tortured for what could have been hours. How had no one heard his screams?
The trail of blood leads into the city. He probably disappeared into the back-alleys, he'll have changed directions, got into puddles, he won't have touched any walls. He's smart, he won't have given us anything to track."
"What makes you think we won't find his body later?"
"If you haven't found him yet, you never will."

"Good work Kohler. I'll see you out front in a few minutes, the crime documenters are arriving soon,"
He spares Elias one last glance as he walks out.
"What a waste of a good soldier." He says, before leaving me alone with Elias.
I crouch down and run my hand over his face. He looks surprisingly peaceful. Tan, not pale like I assumed. I'm almost expecting his eyes to open, a smirk to break out over his features. Dried blood flakes off onto my skin. When I try to brush them off, they stick to my skin. I don't know if this is what sets off my anger. My hands start shaking so hard I have to press them against Elias' tunic to steady them. I'm supposed to be analysing a crime scene... but I can't concentrate.
"You should have taken me with you." I whisper to him
'You promised you'd never leave me, you promised' 
I lean my head into his chest and cry. In my head, I make a silent promise to my brother's killer.
I will hunt you down. I will scour the street of Surcon for you. Seach every district and alley in the Isles if I have to. I will trick and deceive you, lie and steal, torture and murder until you're tempted out of whatever back-alley you inhabit. I will use every trick, every skill, every ruthless thing I've learned, and I will kill you. I make you this promise.
Your life is mine, and nowhere in Surcon can hide you from me.

My time with him ends too soon, and before I know it I'm back in the carriage heading back to The Black School. Trapped, every cobble we bounce over leading me further and further away from my brother. Away from the only family I had left, and now he's gone too.