Deus Necros

The Bastos gate carried them directly into the Imperial Capital.

Ludwig had visited the city several times, though every previous journey had been consumed by palace corridors, political meetings and urgent demands. He remembered guards, the Emperor and whichever disaster had brought him there. The city surrounding those obligations had barely registered.

The gate opened into a broad transit plaza crowded despite the early hour. Voices rolled across the stone beneath the rattle of carriages and the ringing of distant bells. Horses stamped beside the arrival lanes, magical signs hung above rows of shops, and children slipped through gaps between adults already late for something. Warm bread scented the air from one direction, spiced meat from another, while a furious merchant near the gate argued that his chickens should be taxed as cargo rather than passengers.

Ludwig remained beside the arrival platform long enough for Celine to look back at him.

”What do you think?”

”It’s loud,” he said.

”You’ve fought inside active sieges.”

”That noise has a purpose. This is thousands of people attempting to live in the same place while shouting about chickens.”

Celine smiled. ”Welcome to the capital.”

They entered the crowd. Ludwig quickly discovered that he liked its noise. People were hurrying toward shops, workplaces, meals and private appointments. The city had no alarm bell ringing above it, and nothing enormous was trying to crawl over the walls.

Celine had visited since returning to the Empire, so the capital no longer shocked her. Even so, her gaze occasionally lingered on familiar streets changed by centuries of construction. Some roads still followed the paths she remembered, though newer buildings had replaced nearly everything along them. Statues honored people born generations after she disappeared, old districts had expanded over former fields and several narrow streets vanished beneath broad avenues.

Ludwig noticed whenever she slowed, but he allowed her to move on without questioning every silence.

Their first destination happened by accident. They passed a restaurant with open windows, and the smell from its kitchen made Ludwig stop.

”Food?” he suggested. ”That seems like an acceptable beginning.”

Celine glanced toward the crowded tables. ”We ate before leaving Bastos.”

”That was several hours ago, and this smells better.”

”You don’t need to eat several times a day.”

”I enjoy eating. Need has very little to do with it.”

She remembered his attempt at fishing and smiled. ”At least this food won’t require three hours of waiting beside a river.”

”Exactly. Civilization has improved the process.”

The restaurant offered wooden tables, too many chairs and none of the heraldry likely to make the staff recognize them. Ludwig chose a meal involving enough roasted meat to concern Celine. She ordered something smaller and requested wine despite the early hour.

He raised an eyebrow when the bottle arrived.

Celine caught the look. ”If you have an objection, say it.”

”I’m surprised you ordered wine before midday.”

”I’m immortal. Conventional drinking hours have lost some of their authority.”

”That is an awful justification.” Ludwig held out his cup. ”Pour me some.”

Their meal turned into an argument about whether Ludwig’s inability to gain weight had permanently damaged his standards. He insisted that physical consequences were a poor way to judge food. Celine accused him of treating every meal as a contest against the kitchen.

They left without choosing their next destination, and the lack of a plan gradually became the best part of the day.

They wandered through the commercial districts, stopping wherever something caught their attention. Celine bought a pair of earrings from a jeweler who recognized her only after accepting payment. The woman tried to return the money, apologized repeatedly and appeared close to fainting when Celine refused both.

Ludwig found a stall selling miniature magical animals folded from paper. He spent several minutes making a bear and dragon fight across the counter until the paper dragon caught fire.

Celine pulled him away before the stall owner could decide whether to charge for the damage. ”You were about to buy those.”

”The bear was winning.”

”The bear was burning.”

”It was winning aggressively. The fire made its attack more convincing.”

”You’ve crossed half the world and fought creatures that called themselves gods, yet two pieces of folded paper managed to occupy you for ten minutes.”

”That proves they were well made.”

Their next mistake was entering a gambling hall.

Celine watched Ludwig closely and found no sign of cheating. He won because he could sit across from another player without blinking, shifting or revealing the slightest reaction to his cards. The skill made everyone at the table despise him.

One man endured four rounds before setting down his cards. ”Could you stop staring at me like that?”

”We’re playing against each other,” Ludwig said. ”Where else am I supposed to look?”

”You haven’t blinked once since you sat down.”

Ludwig blinked deliberately. ”Did that improve the experience?”

The man collected his remaining money and left.

Celine laughed hard enough to nearly spill her drink. They stayed until Ludwig had won an amount large enough to make the manager unusually attentive, then she decided they should leave before the establishment developed a permanent policy against him.

”I followed every rule,” Ludwig protested as they returned to the street.

”I know. You were also enjoying how uncomfortable everyone became.”

”That isn’t forbidden.”

”It will be if you stay another hour.”

He considered the accusation and smiled. ”Fair.”

They spent the winnings in nearby shops. Celine purchased several things Ludwig could not identify, while Ludwig found nothing useful and seemed pleased by the freedom of that decision.

He eventually bought a small brass device after the shopkeeper claimed it could predict rain. Inside its glass case, a mechanical frog climbed a ladder whenever the air grew humid.

Celine stared at the clear sky and then at Ludwig. ”You can detect magic, curses, souls, death and hostile intent. Why do you need a machine that predicts rain?”

”It has a tiny frog inside.” He tilted the case toward her as the mechanism moved one brass leg. ”Look at it.”

Her laughter provided all the justification the purchase required.

The hours disappeared more quickly than either of them noticed. They had arrived shortly after morning, yet the sun had already begun sinking by the time Ludwig checked the nearest clock tower.

He frowned at it. ”That cannot be right.”

Celine followed his gaze. ”We have been here most of the day.”

”It hasn’t felt that long.”

”When did you last lose track of time?”

Ludwig searched his memory and found only battles measured in seconds, journeys measured in days and deadlines attached to terrible consequences. Time had always been something he watched because letting it run out meant someone died.

”I don’t remember,” he admitted.

Celine’s expression softened, and she continued walking without pressing him.

They ate again near sunset and found another attraction before leaving the central district. Weighted rings had to be thrown around small enchanted figures moving along rails, and Ludwig grew irritated after missing his first attempt.

Celine landed her ring cleanly around a target’s neck.

He demanded another round. She won that one as well.

”This game is rigged,” Ludwig said as the attendant reset the targets.

Celine accepted her second prize from a teenage boy struggling to hide his amusement. ”Do you believe it was rigged specifically for me?”

”That would explain your success.”

”Skill would also explain it.”

”I considered that possibility and rejected it.”

By the third round, Ludwig was studying the targets with enough intensity to terrify the boy running the attraction. Celine caught his sleeve and dragged him away before he began examining the mechanism.

The capital changed as night settled over it. Magical lamps awakened above the streets, restaurants spilled warm light across the walkways and musicians claimed corners near the plazas. The workers who filled the city during the day gave way to people who had no intention of returning home early.

Celine grew quieter as they walked. After several minutes, she turned down a narrow street and nodded for Ludwig to follow.

”Where are we going?” he asked.

”Somewhere. You survived an entire day without a plan, so I thought we could continue the experiment.”

”That sounds suspiciously familiar.”

”I learned from you.”

She led him away from the central districts, toward parts of the capital where the streets narrowed and the stone grew older. Sections of the original outer wall had been absorbed into newer construction over the centuries. Some towers served as guard posts, while others had become storage buildings or public observation platforms.

Celine ignored the obvious entrances and followed an older side road toward a long flight of stairs.

Ludwig looked toward the top. ”You brought me here to exercise.”

”You don’t get tired.”

”The principle remains rude.”

They climbed beyond an area open to ordinary traffic and followed a narrow path along the old wall. Celine moved with growing confidence until a house appeared where she expected an open passage.

She stopped and frowned at it.

Ludwig studied the building. ”Was there a problem with this house when you lived here?”

”There was no house.”

”How long ago are you remembering?”

Celine gave him a flat look. ”Seven hundred years.”

”That allowed plenty of time for construction.”

”Thank you, Ludwig. I had begun suspecting the house appeared by magic yesterday.”

He smiled while she searched for another route.

The next path still existed, though barely. It ran behind two newer buildings and climbed toward an old watch section overlooking the lands beyond the capital’s original wall.

The moon was already high when they reached the top. And right there was a scene Celine waited Seven Hundred years to see again.