Clumsy, Pounce commented as he jumped onto the coverlet. But it did save your life.
My lord raised his eyebrows at Pounce. "Your friend here almost got mage-scorched. He commented freely as the mages worked. I still don't know why he didn't heal you himself."
Pounce sniffed and came to curl up on my belly. It is not permitted, he said at last. My hands shook as I petted him. I don't think it was all from being weak, but I was not about to get sloppy with him in front of my lord.
"Then don't quibble with those who can do it, that's my advice," my lord told him. "Next time I'll let them scorch you."
"Goodwin's ear?" I asked. "Someone cut the top off it."
"The mages cannot create flesh to replace what was lost," my lord explained. "She says she doesn't mind. Now. Where was I? Fourth. Pearl and her fellow conspirators are on their way to Corus for trial. I say no reason to keep her in a bed here when she could recover just as well in Outwalls Prison. Her trial will begin as soon as you and Goodwin can give evidence. Fifth. Goodwin says to tell you that the Finers are home, and very angry they are. I believe the King will permit them to appoint the new officials of the Silversmith's Guild."
I stared at Lord Gershom. He grinned like an old wolf over a fresh kill. "Oh, yes. There will be changes here, and trials. Quiet ones, but the Goldsmith's Guild and the Silversmith's Guild have much to answer for."
"Sir Lionel?" I asked.
"In Corus, meeting with the Lord High Magistrate." Lord Gershom rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "You know how things are, Beka. He belongs to one of the most powerful families in the realm, and the King's brother is his father-in-law. He will never hold another Crown position, and he will never leave his family's holdings again. Knowing his father, I think there will be all manner of humiliations there, but they will be private ones."
Lord Gershom inspected some old knife scars on my hand. "It will be a hard winter, Beka, but it could have been far worse. There are King's Awards waiting for you, Goodwin, Nestor, and Sergeant Axman, and commendations for all the Dogs who took part in this."
King's Awards. I sank back in my pillows. It was a medal – a medal, and a purse. Only a handful of Dogs ever got them. And the only reason I was in a position to get one was because Tunstall got his legs broken.
"Achoo?" I asked, starting up from my bed.
"She is quite well and on a walk at the moment," my lord said. "Pounce has been able to keep her from worrying too much. All you need do is heal. Then we can go home." He took both of my hands in his firm grip. "Mithros bless us, I knew that Goodwin and you are good, but you went so far beyond what I expected, and so quickly!"
I shook my head. "I know, my lord, but much of it was the gods' own luck. Surely Goodwin is saying the same. Look how some coves we met in a riot were gamblers and connected to Port Caynn's Rogue – no, Hanse was even at the heart of the ring, providing the silver and encouraging her to do her worst. Goodwin's tie to Master Finer goes back years. It was all luck, and her guiding us to stay with Hanse and his friends, and connect the right links to make the chain."
My lord grinned. "She says it in nearly those same words, though she gives you more credit. But I tell both of you this. It took two of the cleverest Dogs in Corus to connect those links. You did it before disaster came not only to us, but to the Yamani Islands."
I stared at him, and he smoothed his mustache. "We took the ship she planned to use for her escape, once we had Jurji and Zolaika to question. Pearl's colesmith and his people were aboard already, with stamps for Yamani coins."
I made the Sign on my chest.
"Undersell what you have done if you must, and I know you will," Lord Gershom told me. "But you and Goodwin did far better here than even I expected, and I will not be forgetting it."
I smiled sleepily at him. "I have the very best of teachers, my lord." I might not have spoken so boldly, had I not been getting tired all over again. "I started with you, didn't I?" I fear very much that I went to sleep before his eyes.
When I woke again, it was dark outside the windows. Fresh candles burned on the desk, but my lord had capped the inkstand and put the papers away. That always meant he had finished for the night.
On the table beside my bed was a bowl of soup, the pitcher of barley water and my cup, and two soft rolls. I was strong enough both to sit up and to eat for myself. I even used the chamber pot tucked behind a screen. Seemingly I hadn't needed one before. Mage healings always dry me out.
Pounce watched me from the foot of the bed, where he and a freshly bathed and combed Achoo lay. You won't limp for long, he said. The wound on your hip was the worst. Once it is healed completely, you will walk normally. It will give you pain now and then, though. The cut was a deep one.
"Achoo, kemari" I said. She scrambled up the bed to flop down beside me. Right away she began to wash my face.
"We managed without you," I told Pounce. "Achoo better than me, but we managed."
Did you doubt it? Pounce asked. I did not.
"I wish you could have chosen a quieter time for the lesson," I grumbled. "One of those long winter freezes, say, when no one goes out and nothing happens."
Pounce walked up and rubbed his face against my hand. I wish I could have chosen such a time, as well.
"Has Dale Rowan left any messages for me?" I asked. I hoped that he had, though I looked less than lovely right now.
He has not, Pounce replied.
Mayhap he doesn't know where I am, I thought. Or the bank sent him off for work. Or he heard about my jolly, ugly walk through the sewer.
"It's nothing," I told Pounce.
Liar, he said.
I got up again, to help myself to my lord's pen and ink and to find my journal in my pack. I thought it would be a sorry thing, soaked through and unreadable, but while it is much wrinkled, every word is there.
"Pounce?" I asked.
How will your descendants know what you have undergone without me? he asked, curling up by my pillow. I could do that much for you.
I kissed him on the head, which I know he hates, and began to write about Thursday the twentieth.
Monday, September 24, 247
Guards House
Two of the clock in the afternoon.
Goodwin found me as I had fallen asleep, with my journal, pen, and inkwell all around me. At least I'd had the wisdom to stopper the inkwell.
I woke to Achoo's "Whuff!" and Goodwin standing beside my bed, hands on hips. "Why didn't you put this aside, looby?" she asked, pointing to the things on the bed.
"I thought I'd just rest my eyes. I didn't know I was going to sleep," I explained. I struggled out from under the covers. "Can I take Achoo out? She must be fit to burst."
It was still raining, but light was coming in.
"I took her for a walk when I woke and again at noon," Goodwin said.
"Noon?" I squeaked.
She was not attending. "Cooper, I ought to break your skull and cook what's in it like an egg. Do you know how many things you did wrong? You have to remember your backup from the beginning, not trust that it will catch up to you! You're getting too old to forget!" Her heart wasn't in it, though. I could tell because she was petting Pounce.
I bowed my head. "Do you want to box my ears?" I asked meekly.
She gave me a light buffet on the shoulder. "I'm too stiff to box your ears. If you feel well enough, we have a cart and guards. We can go to Serenity's and pack. My lord says if we do, we will leave for home tomorrow."
I scrambled out of bed and looked for my things. Goodwin pointed. While I slept, someone had draped a clean uniform and underthings on a chair.
"Your old uniform is ruined," Goodwin told me as she carried Pounce over to the window by the desk. She stood with her back to me, looking outside as I dressed. "I went through the pockets, but – Beka, I'm sorry. Your fire opal cracked to pieces when it dried. Seemingly they do that if you get them wet."
I froze. I love that stone. It came from my first
hunt. But what could I do, or say?
These things happen as the gods will, Pounce remarked from his seat on the bed.
"I doubt the gods were watching our frolic in the sewer," I replied.
"Don't blaspheme, Cooper," Goodwin told me. "I found a little pouch and set the pieces in that. It's in your pocket." She leaned her forehead against the windowpane. "I have to say, I'm feeling like that stone. I didn't even get to see Tom when I got to Corus."
"I'm sorry, Goodwin. I know you were missing him," I told her. She was showing a softer side to me. I didn't understand why, but I felt as if I should do something. I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.
She covered my hand with hers. "We've seen a thing or two, Cooper." Her voice was quiet. "Older Dogs call a time like this a hard season. I've had too many of them."
Goodwin patted my hand and let hers drop. I took that as a signal to take mine away. We stood there a moment yet, until the sight of a flock of pigeons wheeling across the sky made my eyes burn.
"Jurji killed Slapper," I said. Then I remembered that I'd told her before. "I brought him here to die."
"Slapper came here on his own," Goodwin told me. "He didn't want you going out of his sight. And speaking of going – " She looked at the door. Achoo sat there, scratching at it lightly. "You take her this time, so finish dressing. I'll help you pack. I want to return home to my man."
I was tugging my boots on when Goodwin said abruptly, "You did good Dog work, those days I was gone. Nestor told me. I'm proud of you."
I could feel myself turning red. "I only did as I figured you would have done," I replied.
"That makes me prouder yet. Enough sentiment, now. Take your hound out."
"Achoo, tumit," I called. We trotted outside, Achoo leading me to the proper door to the open air. "Who's in charge, eh?" I asked her as we returned.
I will not fill in the little here-and-there details of Achoo doing the necessary in the gutter, or of our return to Serenity's. I packed half of my things. I took a halt to rest and used it to inspect the contents of the bag where Goodwin had placed what she'd found in my pockets. One of the pieces made me go all over goose bumps. Had Goodwin looked closely at them? Did she know among the shards of fire opal was Pearl's magicked tooth?
I stared at it for quite some time. Then I stowed pieces and tooth in the little bag. They all marked lessons in my life. I didn't want to forget them. After, because I wanted sommat beautiful, I got my small jewel box and took out the bracelet and necklace given to me by Dale.
As if handling them had summoned him, a maid announced that he was here. If I wanted to see him, Serenity would allow him to come to my room. The mot laughed as I hurried to make myself presentable. She helped me to brush out my hair. Then she went to send him up to me.
For a long moment he stood inside my open door, his hands clasped behind him, gazing at me as I sat on the bed. I didn't know what to say. I felt as if the shadows of sewer filth lay all over my skin.
At last he came over and kissed me. His mouth lingered only for a moment. The touch of his hand on my cheek was cool. He smiled, then took a chair as Achoo danced over to him. "You've made quite the mark on our poor little town," he said, his voice teasing. "I heard you arrested the Rogue single-handed!"
I waved that off. "You shouldn't believe all you hear. More than a hundred of us was in it."
"Still, even being part of it is quite the feat for a young Dog, isn't it, Achoo?" She leaned against him so he could scratch her ears. He looked up at me as he did so, his eyes bright and questioning. They are wonderful eyes. "Nestor says his Dogs have a nickname for you now. Bloodhound."
I shook my head. "That's just folly."
He noticed Pounce sitting on the bed next to me. "Who's this? You never mentioned a cat. Here, puss." He held out his fingers. Pounce looked at him, then away. It was a deliberate snub.
"Is she shy?" Dale asked me. "Whenever did you have time to get a cat?" He seemed like his usual friendly self, but it wasn't quite right. He was chatting. I don't like chatting.
"Pounce has been with me for years." I glanced at Pounce, who still would not look at Dale. "He just doesn't know you."
Dale saw my open trunk. "So you're returning to Corus?"
I nodded. "Me and Goodwin, we're done here."
"You learned all you were supposed to?" Dale asked, smiling at me. "The Pells have promised to leave you be?"
I laughed. I'd near forgotten the reasons we'd told everyone why we were in Port Caynn. "The Pells are done, and we learned plenty," I said. "We're curst stuffed with learning." I looked at my hands. "So, what will you do now? I hear that there'll be some ruction with the masters of your guild."
"Oh, the Crown magistrates are all over them, going through the books and money boxes. That's naught to do with me." Dale shrugged. "They questioned us couriers under truth spell three days ago, to see if we knew anything. The ones who passed, we're still doing guild business."
That startled me. "But if the Crown is looking into the guild's affairs, how can they do business?"
"Honest gold and honest letters of credit still have to move, Beka," he said, as if I were a slow student at my lessons. "I'm off to Port Legann tomorrow with a full pouch."
"Oh." I don't know why I was disappointed. After all, I was going to Corus. The someday I had pushed from my thoughts before had come. Mayhap we could go to his rooms tonight – save I was tiring again, and it would be a long walk there and back. "Do you think, when your work brings you Corus way, you might visit?" I asked. "I'd like that."
Dale looked rueful and sweet at the same time. "Beka, we enjoyed ourselves, didn't we?"
"Yes, of course," I said. It was the sewer, then.
"Then let's leave it at that. Let's not stretch it out. I've tried to see a friend when she is one place and I am at another." He reached out and took my hand. "Sooner or later it goes bad. I'd prefer our memories to be all happiness, wouldn't you?"
I said naught. I couldn't. Mayhap it wasn't the sewer, after all.
Dale frowned and released my hand. "I made you no promises, did I? We never swore undying – "
I cut him off before our talk did turn sad or ugly. "No, it's all right. I'm still weary from my last days of, of learning, and I'm slow to follow."
"We are friends, then?" Dale asked me, his eyes worried.
I could even muster a smile. "We are friends, still."
Dale rose, came to me, and kissed my cheek. "Gods go with you, Beka, wherever you may be."
"And with you," I said, feeling his lips on my skin for the last time. He turned and left me. Tears fell down my cheeks. I knew, because Achoo jumped on the bed to lick them off.
You let him off easy, Pounce said.
"I have my pride," I snapped. "I won't beg."
It's just as well, Pounce remarked, curling up on my pillow. You're going to be busy. No time for boy-men and their games.
I wanted to say sommat bitter in return, to say it was so much easier when you're a god-cat. Instead I took Achoo down to the garden. We sat by the stream for a while. After much thought, I tossed Pearl's tooth to the sprite that Goodwin says lives in it. I don't need that kind of reminder with me.
I hate it when coves say, "We'll be friends," then go. Still, how would we have managed? Him in Port Caynn, when he is home, me in Corus. Him wanting someone to be his luck at games, me being on duty when he begins to play and weary and cross, like as not, after my watch. And he had yet to be in my bed the nights I woke, screaming or sweating, from some dark dream of Rats, blood, and death.
But I had liked him. He made me laugh. He made me feel grand.
I closed my door and finished packing. I was trying to force myself to go down to the dining room when someone thumped on the door. Ersken stood there with a tray of food. "Goodwin said you might not want to come to supper," he said with a smile. "She and Birch and Serenity are arguing about something the King did ten years ago. Take pity on me."
So Pounce,
Achoo, and I took our meal with Ersken, and carried our leavings down to the kitchen, and went for a walk. Ersken caught me up on more news from Corus. The Dancing Dove was open for business. Rosto had moved there already. Tunstall continued to loathe being kept abed, to the point that he enjoyed the paperwork that Ahuda sent for him to do. Aniki had bought a new sword of which she was amazingly proud, and Kora was suggesting that she and Ersken buy a house.
After Ersken took his leave, I finished writing in my journal all the events that led up to Goodwin and me towing a hobbled Pearl through the sewers. I even caught up the details of the last two days. The record is there, for when I write my official report.
By the time I went to bed, the ache over Dale was less, truly. I was going home.
Tuesday, September 25, 247
Home
Nine of the clock at night.
The trip downriver with my lord was quicker than ours was to Port Caynn. My lord had a royal courier's ship, manned by rowing sailors of the navy. All of us Corus Dogs traveled with him. My lord felt that Port Caynn law should now be left to the thinned ranks of the Port Caynn Dogs and the army. They would also have the army for two years more, while the trainee Dogs of Corus and Blue Harbor alike would go there to help fill their ranks again. All that was needed yet was a new Deputy Provost. Sir Tullus and my lord argued about it through most of the trip. Sir Tullus did not want the post, while my lord insisted no one else would manage the work so well.
"Couldn't you show Sir Tullus your eyes and convince him the gods want him to do it?" I asked Pounce as we lazed in the sun. Achoo was curled up beside me, keeping my mended hip warm.
I will not, Pounce said. I have interfered in enough other lives of late, Beka.
"Those stars you were seeing to," I said.
Those very stars.
"But now you'll stay home?" I asked, trying not to sound as if I begged. "We'll go back to normal, all of us in our places?"
"Not exactly," Goodwin said, crouching down beside me. She spoke quietly. "I want you to know first of all, you and Tunstall. When I was home last, Ahuda said they want her for Evening Watch in Flash District. She won't do it unless she has a replacement. I'm going to take it."