Chapter 8 - The Red Rain
Saurin did not wait for the crossbows to click.
He grabbed Vesna by the waist, throwing her behind the heavy oak dais as the first bolt shattered the gold-framed painting on the wall behind them. In the same fluid motion, his silver-hilted saber cleared its scabbard with a high, ringing whistle.
"Vuk! Stay!" Saurin roared over the chaos.
The dog didn't need the command. He remained crouched over Vesna, his massive body shielding her as bolts splintered the wood above their heads.
From the high vaulted balcony above the gallery, a sharp whistle pierced the air.
"Vosa! For the harbor!" a voice shouted from the rafters.
Before Drazza’s men could turn their weapons toward the roof, the heavy iron chandeliers were cut from their chains. Three hundred pounds of burning iron and brass crashed down onto the center aisle, raining fire, wax, and heavy metal directly onto the frontline of Drazza mercenaries.
Saurin moved like a gale through the smoke.
His saber was a blinding streak of silver in the orange firelight. He caught the first mercenary through the throat before the man could re-cock his weapon, spun around his falling body, and drove his heavy boot into the chest of a second, sending him crashing into Lord Drazza’s side table.
The gallery had turned into an inferno of shattered glass, screaming nobles, and the roar of black-powder pistols.
Saurin’s deep-water sailors—men who had slipped into the house disguised as wine porters three hours ago—drew short cutlasses from beneath their aprons and fell upon the Drazza line from behind.
Lord Drazza, his gold coat scorched with black powder, scrambled toward the side exit, dragging his daughter by her silk sleeve. "Casian! Get the gate open!"
Casian was already moving toward the small door behind the tapestry, a short iron dagger drawn from his sleeve. But as he reached the brass handle, a dark shape launched itself across the polished floor.
Vuk didn't bark. He took Casian by the shoulder from behind, sixty pounds of muscle and old vengeance driving the major domo hard into the stone wall.
Casian screamed, dropping his knife as the dog’s heavy jaws clamped around his arm. "Get it off me! Get it off!"
Saurin stepped out of the smoke, his saber dripping red, his face spattered with ash and blood. He looked down at the man who had managed his house for thirty years.
"Call your men off, Drazza!" Saurin bellowed, his voice cutting through the roar of the fire like a foghorn.
Lord Drazza stopped at the edge of the side door. He turned, his face pale as grease, his pistol trembling as he raised it toward Saurin’s chest. "I will see you in hell, Vosa!"
Before Drazza could pull the trigger, Vesna stepped out from behind the dais.
She wasn't holding a weapon. She was holding the heavy iron candlestick she had taken from the head table. With a sharp, desperate swing, she brought the two-foot bar of brass down onto the back of Drazza’s knee.
The bone cracked with a sickening snap.
Drazza screamed, his leg giving way as he collapsed onto the blood-slicked marble. The pistol flew from his hand, skidding across the floor straight to Saurin’s boots.
Zora Drazza dropped to her knees, raising her hands in immediate surrender, her expensive silk gown ruined by the ash falling from the ceiling. "Don't... please! It was my father! I knew nothing of the poison!"
Saurin didn't even look at her. He kicked the pistol away, stepped over Lord Drazza’s writhing form, and stopped before Casian, who was weeping in the dog’s grip.
"Vuk," Vesna called out softly, her voice steady despite the smoke filling her lungs. "Release."
The dog let go instantly. He backed away two paces, his teeth stained crimson, his chest heavy with breath, and stood beside Vesna, his eyes never leaving the traitor.
Saurin raised his sword, the point hovering an inch from Casian’s throat.
"Give me one reason," Saurin whispered, "why I should not let this blade find the rest of Radu’s debt."
Casian looked up, his eyes wild with terror, blood dripping from his sleeve onto his silk waistcoat. "I... I carried you when you were four years old, Saurin... I brought you your father's ring when he died..."
"And you sold my brother for three ports," Saurin said flatly.
He did not drive the blade home. Instead, he turned his wrist, striking Casian across the temple with the heavy brass pommel of his saber. The major domo went limp, collapsing face-first into the pool of spilled wine on the floor.
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Saurin turned to his harbor captain, who was standing near the shattered doors with ten bleeding mercenaries bound in heavy rope.
"Take Drazza, his daughter, and Casian to the harbor cells," Saurin ordered, wiping his blade on a silk napkin from the table. "Hand them over to the High Magistrate at dawn. Tell him the Vosa family has cleared its debts."
