Jaws of Darkness Read online

  JAWS OF DARKNESS

  Harry Turtledove

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2003 by Harry Turtledove

  The Derlavai War

  Into the Darkness

  Darkness Descending

  Through the Darkness

  Rulers of the Darkness

  Jaws of Darkness

  Out of the Darkness

  Dramatis Personae:

  (* shows viewpoint character)

  Algarve

  Almonio Constable in Gromheort

  Ambaldo Colonel of dragonfliers in southern Unkerlant

  Baiardo Mage attached to Plegmund's Brigade

  Balastro Marquis; minister to Zuwayza

  Bembo* Constable in Gromheort

  Carietto Brigadier in Trapani

  Domiziano Captain of dragonfliers in southern Unkerlant

  Ercole Senior lieutenant with Plegmund's Brigade

  Fronesia Woman at court in Trapani

  Frontino Warder in Tricarico

  Gastable Mage in Gromheort

  Gismonda Sabrino's wife in Trapani

  Gradasso Lurcanio's adjutant in Priekule

  Lurcanio Colonel on occupation duty in Priekule

  Mainardo Mezentio's brother; King of Jelgava

  Malindo Scholar in Trapani

  Mezentio King of Algarve

  Oraste Constable in Gromheort

  Orosio Captain of dragonfliers in southern Unkerlant

  Pesaro Constabulary sergeant in Gromheort

  Raniero Mezentio's cousin; King of Grelz

  Sabrino* Colonel of dragonfliers in southern Unkerlant

  Saffa Sketch artist in Tricarico

  Solino General in Durrwangen

  Spinello* Major on leave in Trapani for wound

  Turpino Captain in Wriezen

  Zerbino Captain in Plegmund's Brigade

  Forthweg

  Baldred Slogan writer in Eoforwic

  Brivibas Kaunian in Gromheort; Vanai's grandfather

  Brorda Count of Gromheort

  Ceorl Soldier in Plegmund's Brigade near Hohenroda

  Daukantis Kaunian in Gromheort; Doldasai's father

  Doldasai Kaunian courtesan in Gromheort

  Ealstan* Bookkeeper in Eoforwic; Vanai's husband

  Ethelhelm Half Kaunian band leader in Eoforwic

  Feliksai Kaunian in Gromheort; Doldasai's mother

  Gippias Kaunian robber in Gromheort

  Hengist Sidroc's father; Hestan's brother; in Gromheort

  Hestan Bookkeeper in Gromheort; Ealstan's father

  Leofsig Ealstan's deceased brother

  Nemunas Kaunian refugee leader in Zuwayza

  Penda King of Forthweg

  Pernavai Kaunian in Valmiera; Vatsyunas' wife

  Pybba Pottery magnate in Eoforwic

  Sidroc* Soldier in Plegmund's Brigade near Hohenroda

  Vanai* Kaunian in Eoforwic; Ealstan's wife

  Vatsyunas Kaunian in Valmiera; Pernavai's husband

  Vitols Kaunian refugee leader in Zuwayza

  Werferth Sergeant in Plegmund's Brigade near Hohenroda

  Yadwigai Kaunian girl with Algarvian army in Unkerlant

  Gyongyos

  Arpad Ekrekek (King) of Gyongyos

  Borsos Major; mage in western Unkerlant

  Frigyes Captain in western Unkerlant

  Hevesi Soldier in western Unkerlant

  Horthy Gyongyosian minister to Zuwayza

  Istvan* Sergeant in western Unkerlant

  Kun Corporal in western Unkerlant; minor mage

  Lajos Soldier in western Unkerlant

  Szonyi Soldier in western Unkerlant

  Tivadar Captain in western Unkerlant

  Jelgava

  Ausra Talsu's sister in Skrunda

  Donalitu King of Jelgava; now in exile

  Gailisa Talsu's wife, living in Skrunda

  Kugu Silversmith in Skrunda

  Laitsina Talsu's mother in Skrunda

  Stikliu Friend of Talsu's in Skrunda

  Talsu* Prisoner from Skrunda

  Traku Talsu's father; tailor in Skrunda

  Zverinu Banker in Skrunda

  Kuusamo

  Alkio Theoretical sorcerer; married to Raahe

  Elimaki Pekka's sister

  Ilmarinen Master mage in the Naantali district

  Juhainen One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Leino Mage; Pekka's husband

  Linna Serving woman in the Naantali district

  Olavin Banker; Elimaki's husband

  Parainen One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Pekka* Magein the Naantali district; Leino's wife

  Piilis Theoretical sorcerer

  Raahe Theoretical sorcerer; married to Alkio

  Renavall One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Siuntio Master mage in the Naantali district

  Uto Pekka and Leino's son

  Vihti Sorcerer in Naantali district

  Lagoas

  Brinco Grandmaster Pinhiero's secretary in Setubal

  Fernao* Mageon duty in Kuusamo

  Janira Cornelu's lady friend in Setubal

  Pinhiero Grandmaster of Lagoan Guild of Mages

  Vitor King of Lagoas

  Ortah

  Ahinadab King of Ortah

  Hadadezer Ortaho minister to Zuwayza

  Sibiu

  Balio Fisherman running eatery in Setubal; Janira's father

  Brindza Cornelu's daughter in Tirgoviste town

  Burebistu King of Sibiu

  Cornelu* Commander; leviathan-rider in Setubal

  Costache Cornelu's wife in Tirgoviste town

  Unkerlant

  Addanz Archmage of Unkerlant

  Ascovind Collaborator in Duchy of Grelz

  Gandiluz Soldier contacting irregulars in Grelz

  Garivald* Irregular fighter west of Herborn

  Gundioc Captain in southern Unkerlant

  Gurmun General of behemoths at Durrwangen bulge

  Kiun Soldier in Leudast's company

  Kyot Swemmel's deceased twin brother

  Leudast* Sergeant in Sulingen

  Merovec Major; Marshal Rathar's adjutant

  Munderic Irregular leader west of Herborn

  Obilot Irregular fighter west of Herborn

  Rathar* Marshal of Unkerlant traveling to Cottbus

  Razalic Irregular in forest west of Herborn

  Recared Lieutenant in Sulingen

  Sadoc Irregular fighter west of Herborn; would-bemage

  Swemmel King of Unkerlant

  Tantris Soldier contacting irregulars in Grelz

  Vatran General in southern Unkerlant

  Werbel Soldier in Sulingen

  Ysolt Cook in Durrwangen

  Valmiera

  Amatu Noble returned from Valmiera

  Bauska Krasta's maidservant in Priekule

  Gainibu King of Valmiera

  Gedominu Skarnu and Merkela's son

  Krasta* Marchioness in Priekule; Skarnu's sister

  Lauzdonu Noble returned from Valmiera

  Merkela Underground fighter; Skarnu's wife

  Palasta Mage in Erzvilkas

  Raunu Sergeant and irregular near Pavilosta

  Skarnu* Marquis; fighter in Ventspils; Krasta's brother

  Terbatu Marquis in Priekule

  Valnu Viscount in Priekule

  Zarasai Underground fighter; a nom deguerre

  Yanina

  Iskakis Yaninan minister to Zuwayza

  Zuwayza

  Hajjaj* Foreign minister of Zuwayza

  Ikhshid General in Bishah

  Kolthoum Hajjaj's senior wife
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  Qutuz Hajjaj's secretary in Bishah

  Shazli King of Zuwayza

  Tewfik Hajjaj's majordomo

  Qutuz Hajjaj's secretary in Bishah

  One

  Ealstan added up a long column of figures. The young bookkeeper let out a sigh of relief when the answer turned out to be what he’d expected. Bearing the ledger into his employer’s private office, he told Pybba, “Those Algarvians are going to make us rich.”

  “Good,” the pottery magnate rumbled. “We’ll give ‘em some of their silver back, too, and not the way they expect.” Pybba wasn’t only the biggest pottery maker in Eoforwic—and, for that matter, in all of Forthweg. He was also one of the leaders in the underground struggle against the Algarvian invaders who occupied his kingdom.

  “What do you suppose they want with fifty thousand Style Seventeen sugar bowls?” Ealstan asked. The question had bothered him ever since an Algarvian colonel marched in to place the order.

  Pybba’s broad shoulders went up and down in a shrug. “Powers below eat the redheads, whatever it is.” His eyes flicked down to the bottom of the column. He nodded. “That’s not a bad pile of change, eh? Why don’t you go on home now? Your wife’ll be waiting for you, I expect.”

  “Aye, she will. Thanks.” Ealstan was glad to have leave to head for his flat.

  Pybba showed no sign of going anywhere. His bushy beard was shot with gray, but he went home later and came to work earlier than anybody he employed. “Go on,” he growled now. “Get out of here, before I change my mind.”

  Odds were, he wasn’t joking. Ealstan set the ledger on his own slanted worktable, then got out while the getting was good. Twilight spread gloom across Eoforwic, though the occupied capital of the Kingdom of Forthweg seemed sad and gray and gloomy enough even at midday.

  A couple of tall, lean Algarvian constables swaggered past Ealstan. Their arrogant stride made them stand out as much as their coppery hair and their short tunics and pleated kilts. Forthwegian men wore knee-length tunics like Ealstan’s; Forthwegian women wore loose tunics that reached their ankles. Men and women alike were stocky and swarthy, with dark hair and eyes and strong noses.

  Some of the people on the street were almost certainly of Kaunian blood, too. But most of the Kaunians left alive in Eoforwic these days were sorcer-ously disguised to look like their Forthwegian neighbors. The Algarvians hated Kaunians as ancient enemies, and sacrificed them in droves to use their life energy to fuel potent sorceries in their war against Unkerlant to the west. Few Forthwegians cared what happened to their blond neighbors.

  Ealstan was one of those few. Vanai, his wife, was a Kaunian. She was also the one who’d devised the sorcery that let her folk masquerade as Forthwegians. These days, she went by Thelberge, a Forthwegian name. Her own would have been plenty to betray her.

  Not so long after winter yielded to spring, she would have their first child. Ealstan frowned a little as he walked along, wondering if the baby would need a spell cast over it every few hours for years to come. He hoped not. Some half-breed children looked altogether Forthwegian.

  After a few paces, his frown deepened. Since she’d got pregnant, Vanai’s protective spell hadn’t been holding as long as it did before she found herself with child. If it happened to wear off while she was away from the flat…

  His fingers writhed in an apotropaic sign. “Powers above, prevent it,” he said softly. They had so far. He had to hope they would keep on doing it. Vanai was careful. She knew the risk, too, of course. But she couldn’t see the illusion that fooled everyone else. The greatest danger lay there. She couldn’t see it stop fooling people, either.

  Such worries dogged Ealstan about every other night on the way home. They made him walk faster, a lump of dread in his throat, as if an Algarvian constable were about to lay hold of him for being a Kaunian. His laugh held no mirth. He wasn’t a Kaunian. To the Algarvians, he was that even more suspicious creature, a Kaunian-lover. But being a Kaunian-lover didn’t show.

  Here was his own street. Here was his own block. Here was his block of flats, a dingy building in a bad part of town. He and Vanai had stayed here ever since coming to Eoforwic from Gromheort and her village of Oyngestun in the east.

  He went up the stairs into the cramped, dark lobby. He paused there, at the brass bank of post boxes, to see if anyone had sent him a letter. His family back in Gromheort knew where he lived. He didn’t think Vanai had any living family, not any more.

  She has me, he thought, and hurried up the stairs to his flat. The narrow stairway had a familiar reek: stale cabbage and stale piss. Sometimes it disgusted him. But he’d lived here long enough that sometimes, as tonight, it just felt homey.

  Back when he and Vanai first moved in, before she’d crafted the spell that let her look like a Forthwegian, she’d stayed holed up in the flat all the time, like a trapped animal. They’d worked out a coded knock, to let her know it was safe to unbar the door and let him in. He still used it, more from habit than from any other reason.

  He knocked and waited. When Vanai didn’t come to the door, he knocked again, louder this time. She fell asleep a lot more easily than she had before she got pregnant.

  When she still didn’t come, he knocked once more, louder still. He frowned and took from his belt pouch the long brass key that could work the latch from the outside. If the door was barred, of course, working the latch wouldn’t matter one way or the other. He turned the key and pushed at the door, not expecting to be able to get in. But it swung open.

  “Van—?” he began, but checked himself. He tried again, calling, “Thelberge? Are you there, sweetheart?”

  No answer. The flat was quiet and dark, no lamps lit, as if nobody’d been inside since well before the sun went down. Fighting back alarm, Ealstan hurried into the bedchamber. Vanai wasn’t lying there sound asleep. She wasn’t sitting on the pot, which she also needed to do more than she had before quickening.

  He’d already seen she wasn’t in the front room or the kitchen. He went back there anyway. “Thelberge?” Fear made his voice quaver.

  Only silence answered. Little by little, Ealstan realized he hadn’t known what fear meant. Now he did.

  My neighbors, he thought wildly. Maybe my neighbors know something. Trouble was, he hardly knew his neighbors. For one thing, they kept coming and going—this block of flats wasn’t the sort of place where people settled down to live out the rest of their lives. And, for another, because of who and what Vanai was, she and Ealstan hadn’t gone out of their way to make friends. If anything, they’d gone out of their way to keep to themselves.

  But he had to try. Thinking about the alternative … Ealstan didn’t want to, he wouldn’t, think about the alternative. Imagining Vanai in Algarvian hands … He shook his head. He wouldn ‘t think about that.

  He knocked on the door to the next-door flat closer to the stairs. Silence. He knocked again. “Go away,” someone inside said—a woman’s voice.

  “I’m your neighbor,” Ealstan began, “and I’d like to ask you—”

  “Go away,” she said again, “or else I start screaming.”

  “Powers below eat you,” he muttered under his breath, but he went away, to the flat on the other side of his. Wondering what would go wrong now, he knocked on the door there.

  This time, at least, it opened. A gray-bearded man stood in the doorway. His narrow eyes had all the warmth of chips of ice. “What do you want, kid?” he demanded. “Whatever it is, make it snappy.”

  “I don’t mean to bother you,” Ealstan said, “but have you seen my wife today? She was supposed to be home when I got back, and she’s not. She’s expecting a baby, so I’m worried.”

  “Haven’t seen her.” His neighbor shook his head. “Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. He sounded as if he never wanted to see Ealstan again. And when he slammed the door, Ealstan had to jump back in a hurry to keep from getting his nose flattened.

  He stood in the hallway cursing softly, wondering whether even
to bother knocking on the door across the hall from his. At last, with a sort of despairing shrug, he did. “Who is it?” came from inside: another woman’s voice.

  “Ealstan, your neighbor from across the hall,” he answered, wondering if she’d open the door.

  To his surprise, she did. She was somewhere in her late thirties—which, to Ealstan’s nineteen, made her seem almost grandmotherly, though little by little he realized she wasn’t really bad looking. She eyed him with frank appraisal. “Well, hello, Ealstan from across the hall,” she said when she was through, and breathed brandy fumes into his face. “I’m Ebbe. What can I do for you, dear? Want to borrow a cup of olive oil? You should have knocked a long time ago.”

  Did that mean what it sounded like? Ealstan had more urgent things to worry about. “I don’t mean to bother you—” he began, as he had to his other neighbor.

  “Oh, you’re not bothering me at all,” Ebbe broke in. Aye, she’d been drinking brandy, all right.

  Rather desperately, Ealstan plunged ahead: “Have you seen my wife today? She should have been waiting for me when I got home, but she isn’t. I’m worried—she’s expecting a baby.”

  “No, darling, I haven’t seen a soul today—till you” Ebbe answered. “But why don’t you come on in anyway? If she’s not there, maybe I’ll do.”

  Ealstan fled. Back inside his own flat, he barred the door as if all the Algarvians in Forthweg were after him. He wondered if Ebbe would come knocking in turn. To his vast relief, she didn’t.

  But that relief quickly passed. The Algarvians in Forthweg weren’t after him. They were after Vanai—and he was horribly afraid they had her.

  He ate barley bread and olive oil and salted, garlic-tangy almonds for supper, washing the food down with harsh red wine. Then, instead of talking and laughing and probably making love with Vanai, he spent the longest, loneliest, most miserable night he’d ever passed. He might have slept a little. On the other hand, he might not have, too.