The Kaiserine's Champion

"Sergeant, release this man," my visitor said. "I'm going to send someone up to collect him. Make sure he's ready by the time they arrive."

The sergeant protested. "With respect, sir, he's the Duke's prisoner. He killed the Duke's Wardens."

The nobleman shook his head. "You're wrong, Sergeant, he is my prisoner. He was arrested and brought here by my Constables, not the Duke's Wardens, who displayed remarkable incompetence by failing to kill him, wouldn't you agree?"

Realization struck me like a lightning bolt. The Noseys were his men. I'd been talking to none other than Otto Thenck, head of the Ministry of State Security and the most feared man in the Empire.

The tired old joke about the Secret Police sprang to mind unbidden. A man limps into his local tavern and collapses over the bar. His face is swollen and his teeth have been kicked out, but he buys drinks for everyone and tells them he's celebrating. Why? they ask. "The Secret Police paid me a visit tonight," he explains, "but they got the wrong address. They wanted the fellow who lives next door." And everyone gets drunk, because they all know it's better to have your teeth kicked out by mistake than taken down into the dark cellars beneath Ministry headquarters, never to be seen again.

Only it wasn't really a joke, it was a true story, and the man responsible for such casual, fear-inspiring brutality stood before me.
 
"But what will I tell the Duke, sir?" the sergeant said, a pleading note in his voice. "He's bound to ask."

"You have prisoners in the other cells, haven't you?"

The sergeant scratched his head, plainly puzzled. "Yes, sir. Petty thieves for the most part. A pair of smugglers, a husband who cut off his unfaithful wife's ears, a forger"

"A forger!" Thenck's scowl made the sergeant flinch. "When was he arrested?"

"Yesterday, sir. Caught passing wooden coins painted silver. Not too clever, sir. It's fifty lashes for him, then a lengthy spell in prison."

"I disagree. Inept as he is, his is the worst crime of all, for he was attempting to undermine the economy of the Empire. I'll respect assassins and even spies, but never forgers. Let me tell you what you will do, Sergeant. You will go to the forger's cell. There, you will bind his arms and legs securely, then gag him and put a hood over his head. When the Duke's men come looking for this prisoner"he pointed at me"you will give them the forger instead. Do you understand?"
 
His tone carried a distinct element of threat, hinting that failure to comply would bring swift and unwelcome retribution. The sergeant swallowed hard. So did I. "Yes, sir," he said weakly.

Thenck nodded, satisfied, and without another word he left the cell and went back down the corridor.

The sergeant sighed with relief. "It seems you have friends in high places, lad," he said quietly. "You know who that was? Otto Thenck! The Magician! You know why they call him that? Because he makes people disappear." He laughed. "Maybe you've escaped the noose, but there are worse deaths than hanging, mark my words. That's something else for you to think about, eh?" He found the key on his ring that unlocked the iron manacles around my wrists and ankles, thus releasing me.

"Thanks," I said, driving my fist into his face as I rose, sending him sprawling. He cried out and rolled onto his back, trying to get up, but my boot quickly put paid to that idea. He howled and rolled in the night soil, clutching his crotch with both hands.