Chapter Thirty-One -- The Destroyer's Gold
Throughout the morning, Danka sped past bewildered peasants as they lined the roads, staring at the gap in the distant mountainside where the cathedral used to be. They were so shocked by the disaster that no one bothered to take a close look at the slim feminine-looking guard galloping past them on one of the most expensive horses in Central Europe. The Bishop's horse was an excellent ride, fast but very controllable, even for an incompetent rider like herself. In fact, the ride seemed almost too good, more like she was floating through air than bouncing around on a living animal.
Danka didn't stop again until noon, when she came up to a stream with a patch of grass next to it. She'd let the horse drink and graze while she adjusted her clothing and examined the contents of the Bishop's saddlebag. It was heavy; full of coded messages, a Christian Bible, dried meat, preserved fruit, and Turkish delight, and... gold coins. Danka couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were several coin-purses containing more than 300 coins. For the first time in her life, Danka was wealthy.
She moved the Bishop's possessions to the guard's saddlebag and discarded the one from the Church. She removed a fine saddle-blanket with Church emblems from the horse and folded it. Her trip suddenly became much more complicated, because not only was she worried about escaping, she also was worried about safeguarding her fortune. 300 gold coins. What could she do with all that money? She'd buy land, lots of it, and put a nice house right in the center. She'd buy a library of books, and have a garden, and hire servants and guards. She'd spend long relaxing summers sitting under her fruit trees, sleeping, reading, and eating fruit. She'd bathe every day in her own heated tub. She'd never bother to wear any clothing when the weather was nice. She'd enjoy her body and her male servants would be available to pleasure her whenever she wanted. And during the winter, she'd wear the finest dresses and sit in the front row of church and go to fine parties with the wives of guild masters and city councilmen.
She decided to continue riding west, in spite of the risk from riding in broad daylight. She wanted to start her new life as soon as possible, but she also wanted to return to Rika Chorna before news of the avalanche reached the eastern capital. She stopped only long enough to let the horse graze and rest. The meat and candy were enough to keep her going, and she supplemented the preserved food with pieces of fresh fruit taken from orchards. Her plan was to return to Rika Chorna just long enough to retrieve her bucket from the safe-house, obtain a couple of different disguises, and then continue towards Novo Sumy Ris and the pass.
Four days later, Danka returned to Rika Chorna in the late afternoon. Both she and her mount were covered with dust from the lengthy trip. She entered the outskirts of the city and saluted a group of guards who returned her salute. She was very nervous the guards would more closely examine her and discover that she was a woman and that her horse was far more expensive than one normally issued to a guardsman. The Ancients continued to protect her, however. The men were distracted trying to extort an extra silver coin from a farmer attempting to bring a wagon of produce to the market square. When she moved past the checkpoint, Danka reflected on the irony of the situation. Those guards were worried about a single silver coin. Had they more closely examined her, they would have been rewarded with a haul of 300 gold pieces.
As she moved through the city, the stallion drew the attention of anyone with knowledge of horses. Even exhausted and dirty, the animal was too flashy, a liability for a person who needed to stay anonymous. Danka realized she'd have to somehow get rid of him, preferably by selling him. But, how on earth could she find a buyer for the Bishop's horse in Rika Chorna? She'd have to somehow take him to the western valley before selling him, but she realized there was not a chance she'd ever make it. She already had drawn too much attention to herself and people would be watching to see when she left the city. The horse would undoubtedly be stolen, probably with her being murdered as part of the bargain, as soon as she resumed her journey.
The doubts about the horse expanded to doubts about the gold. To use the gold, she knew she'd have to somehow smuggle it over the pass and then find a safe location where, as a single woman, she could anonymously purchase property and avoid being cheated or double-crossed. She had to worry about being recognized almost anywhere she went in the western valley. It was possible she could buy land in Hórkustk Ris province if she could travel that far, but she'd have to cobble together small parcels purchased from homesteaders, an action that was sure to draw attention from the Royal Guards and the curiosity of the Grand Duke's informants. She arrived at the terrible realization that, although she was wealthy, it didn't matter. Her circumstances would not allow her to enjoy that wealth. So, what was the point of attempting to transport all that gold? She'd be risking her life over nothing.
She arrived at the safe-house and announced her presence with those thoughts still on her mind. Zánktia answered the door, dressed in her nun's habit. She was shocked to see Danka dressed as a provincial guard, but that shock quickly became irritation when she realized Danka had shown up at the safe-house with the Bishop's horse.
"You fool! What are you doing? Move that animal away from here, immediately!"
"But, what do you want me to do with him?"
Zánktia thought for a moment, before telling Danka to take the horse to a rendezvous spot behind the city's church. She'd send a guard to take charge of the horse, disguise him, and get him out of Rika Chorna. Danka was enormously relieved when the contact met her and took away the Bishop's fine stallion and exchanged him for another black horse. The new horse was much more ordinary in appearance, but looked like a nice, dependable animal. Danka moved her saddlebag to the second horse. She didn't bother moving the Bishop's saddle.
Danka knew that she should have been upset, because she had just been horribly cheated by her co-conspirators. The Bishop's stallion was worth far more the horse she had been given. However, she was more relieved than anything else. Both she and the Bishop's stallion were much better off being separated. She did not have the means to take proper care of such a fine horse and she couldn't use him or sell him without drawing attention. She had exchanged a horse she couldn't use for one she could use. She returned to the safe-house with her new mount and led him into an adjacent stable.
Danka unloaded her saddlebag and took off her guard uniform. With Zánktia available to help her, she settled into a tub of warm water and finally was able to bathe and properly wash and re-braid her dust-filled hair. Zánktia offered her a nun's habit, but Danka refused it. When Zánktia objected, Danka grabbed a worker's dress for herself and insisted on putting it on.
Zánktia sent out messengers to gather the conspiracy's members while Danka ate. Still dressed in the simple garment of a city working-woman, Danka gathered her companions around the dining table to summarize the Bishop's pilgrimage and what she knew about how it ended. From what she had seen, the plot to assassinate the Bishop had succeeded beyond the conspirators' wildest hopes. The entire True Believers' hierarchy had been wiped out and their most sacred shrine completely destroyed. When her audience asked how she managed to trick the guards watching over the horses, Danka replied:
"I didn't trick them at all. They tricked themselves. When they looked in my direction, they didn't see me. What they saw was their own drunken fantasy. With the help of the Ancients, all I had to do was play along."
Zánktia asked about Enockt and the men who were working with him. Danka responded that she wasn't sure if Enockt survived the blast, but it was for sure at least one of the men setting the fuses did not. She ran past him while escaping, but when she returned to see what had happened to the church, she observed the spot where he had been stationed had completely fallen away during the landslide.
Danka had not yet mentioned anything about Enockt's willingness to sacrifice her as part of the assassination. Resentment against him burned inside her, but if he was dead it didn't matter. Even if he was still alive, she wouldn't benefit by telling anyone about the betrayal before directly confronting him. She was more interested in leaving Rika Chorna. She insisted her debt to Enockt was paid and she had no further obligations.
"I'm sure a dead Bishop and a dead heir are worth far more than a dead nymph squad-leader."
The conspirators exchanged glances with each other, as though they were bewildered and offended. Zánktia coldly looked at Danka and spoke on behalf of her companions:
"What are you talking about, with this nonsense of debt? There is no debt, and you're not going anywhere without our orders. You're Path in Life is to serve the Duchy, by serving us."
"You mean... I'm not free to leave?"
"Of course not free to leave. What made you think you're free to leave? That's why I don't understand why you put on a worker's dress. You need to change back into your nun's habit because you're going back to the convent in Novo Sókukt Tók. You'll wait there until we can reassign you."
Danka was speechless. She felt she was going to be ill. After everything she had endured, her only reward would be to go back to pretending to be a True Believers' nun. She realized the group did not see her as one of them. She was nothing more than their servant. A useful servant, but a servant with no rights and no purpose in life apart from following orders and collecting information.
Before she had the chance to think of a response, a look-out excitedly showed up with the news Enockt had just entered Rika Chorna and was on his way to the house. Everyone quickly dropped their conversation with Danka. Enockt, the planner of the assassination, would have much more to say about his victory. The distraction gave Danka time to go to the storeroom where weapons were kept and pick up a goose-egg bomb. She pulled off the protective covering, thus arming the device so it would explode if she threw or dropped it. She waited in the passage entrance while the others gathered around the outer door.
Enockt entered, still wearing the worker's clothing he had on the last time Danka saw him. The others excitedly saluted him and whistled to celebrate his victory. He froze and his smile vanished when Danka stepped out of the doorway, casually holding a bomb in her hand.
