Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. My thoughts spun in circles as I tried to decide among my several unpleasant options.
The harsh hee haa of the tinker’s donkey startled a thought into me. “Are you headed to Severen, Tinker?”
“More through than to,” he said. “But yes.”
“I just remembered a letter I need to send. If I gave it to you, could you deliver it to a certain inn?”
He nodded slowly. “I could,” he said. “Given that you’ll be needing paper and ink. . . .” He smiled, waving the package again.
I grimaced. “I will, Tinker. But how much will the lot of this cost me?”
He looked at the accumulated items. “Salt and box: four bits. Knife: fifteen bits. Paper, pens, and ink: eighteen bits. Tinderbox: three bits.”
“And the delivery,” I said.
“An urgent delivery,” the tinker said with a bit of a smile. “To a lady, unless I mistake the look on your face.”
I nodded.
“Right,” he rubbed his chin. “Ordinarily, I’d push for about thirty-five then have a nice leisurely dicker where you bargain me down to thirty.”
The price was reasonable, especially considering how hard it was to find good paper. Still, it was a full third of the money the Maer had given me. We would need that money for food, lodging, and other supplies.
But before I could say anything, the tinker continued. “Now I can tell that’s too much for your comfort,” he said. “And I hope you don’t think me too forward in saying this, but that is a rather fine cloak you’re wearing. I’m always willing to make a fellow a trade.”
I pulled my lovely burgundy cloak around me self-consciously. “I suppose I’d be willing to give it up,” I said, not having to fake the regret in my voice. “But that will leave me with no cloak at all. What will I do when it rains?”
“No trouble there,” the tinker said. He pulled a bundle of cloth out of a pack and held it up for me to see. It had been black once upon a time, but long use and many washings had faded it to a dark greenish color.
“It’s a little tatty,” I said, reaching out to finger a fraying seam.
“It’s just broken in, that’s all,” he said easily, spreading it across my shoulders. “Good fit. Good color for you, brings out your eyes. Besides, you don’t want to be looking too well-off, what with those bandits on the road.”
I sighed. “What will you give me in trade?” I asked, handing my beautiful cloak over to him. “That cloak’s not a month old, mind you, and it’s never even seen a drop of rain.”
The tinker ran his hands over my beautiful cloak. “It’s got all sorts of little pockets!” he said admiringly. “That’s just lovely!”
I fingered the thinning cloth of the tinker’s cloak. “If you’ll throw in needle and thread, I’ll trade you my cloak for the lot of it,” I said with sudden inspiration. “Plus I’ll give you an iron penny, a copper penny, and a silver penny.”
I grinned. It was a pittance. But that’s what tinkers in stories ask for when they trade some fabulous piece of magic to an unsuspecting widow’s son when he’s off to make his fortune in the world.
The tinker threw his head back and laughed. “I was about to suggest that very thing,” he said. Then he tossed my cloak over his arm and shook my hand firmly.
I fished around in my purse and handed over an iron drab, two Vintish half-pennies, and, much to my pleasant surprise, an Aturan hard penny. The last was lucky for me as it was only worth a fraction of a Vintish silver round. I emptied the dozen pockets of my burgundy cloak into my travelsack and collected my new possessions from the tinker.
Then I wrote a quick letter to Denna, explaining that my patron had sent me away unexpectedly. I apologized for the rash things I’d said, and told her I would meet with her as soon as I was back in Severen. I would have liked more time to compose it. I would have liked to give a more subtle apology, a more detailed explanation, but the tinker had finished packing away my beautiful cloak and was obviously eager to be on his way again.
Not having any sealing wax to secure the letter, I used a trick I’d invented while writing notes on the Maer’s behalf. I folded the piece of paper against itself, then tucked it together in such a way that it would be necessary to tear the paper in order to unfold it again.
I handed it to the tinker. “It goes to a pretty, dark-haired woman by the name of Denna. She’s staying at the Four Tapers in Severen-Low.”
“That reminds me,” he exclaimed as he tucked my letter into a pocket. “Candles.” He reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a handful of fat tallow tapers. “Everyone needs candles.”
Funny thing was, I could use some, though not for the reasons he thought.
“I’ve also got some rubbing wax for your boots,” he continued, rooting through his bundles. “We get fierce rain this time of year.”
I held up my hands, laughing. “I’ll give you a bit for four candles, but I can’t afford any more. If this keeps up I’ll have to buy your donkey just to carry the lot with me.”
“Suit yourself,” he said with an easy shrug. “Pleasure doing business with you, young sir.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
Tinder
THE SUN WAS STARTING to set by the time we found a good place to camp on the second night. Dedan went foraging for firewood. Marten began cutting up carrots and potatoes and sent Hespe to fill the cookpot with water. I used Marten’s small spade to dig a pit for our fire.
Without being asked, Tempi picked up a branch and used his sword to shave thin strips of dry wood to use for tinder. Unsheathed, his sword still didn’t seem terribly impressive. But given how easily it was peeling away paper-thin strips of wood, it must have been sharp as a shaving razor.
I finished lining the pit with stones. Wordlessly, Tempi handed me a handful of tinder.
I nodded. “Would you like to use my knife?” I asked, hoping to draw him into a bit of a conversation. I’d barely shared a dozen words with him in the last two days.
Tempi’s pale grey eyes looked at the knife on my belt, then back at his sword. He shook his head, fidgeting nervously.
“Isn’t it bad for the edge?” I asked.
The mercenary shrugged, avoiding my eye.
I began to lay the fire, and that was when I made my first mistake.
As I’ve said, there was a chill in the air, and we were all of us tired. So rather than spend half an hour slowly nursing a spark into a decent campfire, I arranged twigs around Tempi’s tinder, then stacked progressively bigger sticks around it, making a tightly packed cluster of wood.
Dedan returned with another armload of firewood just as I was finishing. “Lovely,” he groused, quiet enough he could pretend he was just talking to himself, but loud enough so everyone could hear. “And you’re in charge. Wonderful.”
“What’s stuck in your teeth now?” Marten asked, tiredly.
“Boy’s making a little wooden fort, not a fire.” Dedan sighed dramatically, then assumed a tone he probably thought was fatherly, but came across as profoundly condescending. “Here, I’ll help you out. A spark will never catch on that. Do you have flint and steel? I’ll show you how to use them.”
No one enjoys being talked down to, but I have a particular aversion to it. Dedan had been making it clear for two days that he thought I was an idiot.
I gave a tired sigh. My oldest, most world-weary sigh. That was how I needed to play it. He thought of me as young and useless. I needed to drive home the point that I was nothing of the sort. “Dedan,” I asked, “what do you know about me?”
He gave me a blank look.
“You know one thing about me,” I said calmly. “You know the Maer put me in charge.” I looked him in the eye. “Is the Maer an idiot?”
Dedan made a dismissive gesture. “Of course not, I was just sayin’. . .”
I stood up and regretted it, as it just brought into sharp contrast how much taller he was. “Would the Maer have put me in charge if I were an idiot???
?
He gave an insincere smile, trying to pass off two days’ worth of derogatory muttering as some sort of misunderstanding. “Now don’t get all twisted up over—”
I held up my hand. “This isn’t your fault. You just don’t know anything about me. But let’s not waste time on it tonight. We’re all tired. For now, rest assured that I’m not some rich tit’s son, out for a lark.”
I pinched a thin piece of Tempi’s tinder between my fingers and concentrated. I pulled more heat than I needed and felt my arm go chilly all the way to the shoulder. “And rest assured I know how to start a fire.”
The shaved pieces of wood caught fire, flaring up hot and sudden, catching the rest of the tinder and making flames leap up almost instantly.
I’d meant it to be a dramatic gesture so Dedan would stop thinking of me as some useless boy. But the time I spent at the University had made me jaded. Starting a fire like this was as simple as putting on your boots for a member of the Arcanum.
Dedan, on the other hand, had never met an arcanist, and probably hadn’t ever been within five hundred miles of the University. Everything he knew about magic was from campfire stories.
So when the fire flared up, he went pale as a sheet and took several sudden steps back. He looked for all the world as if I’d suddenly called up a roaring sheet of fire like Taborlin the Great.
Then I saw Marten and Hespe wearing the same expression, native Vintish superstition written clearly on their faces. Their eyes went to the flickering fire, then back to me. I was one of those. I meddled with dark powers. I summoned demons. I ate the entire little cheese, including the rind.
Looking at their stunned faces, I realized nothing I said would set them at ease. Not right now. So instead I sighed and began to set up my sleeping roll for the night.
While there wasn’t much cheerful conversation around the fire that night, there wasn’t any muttering from Dedan either. I’d like respect, but failing that, a little healthy fear can go a long way to making things run smoothly.
Two days with no further dramatics on my part helped everyone relax. Dedan was still all bluff and bravado, but he had quit calling me “boy” and was only complaining about half as much, so I considered it a victory.
Flushed with this lukewarm success, I decided to make an active attempt to draw Tempi into a conversation. If I was going to be in charge of this little group, I needed to know more about him. Most importantly, I needed to know if he could speak more than five words in a row.
So I approached the Adem mercenary when we stopped for our midday meal. He was sitting slightly apart from the rest of us. He wasn’t standoffish. It’s just that the rest of us would sit and talk while we ate. Tempi, on the other hand, simply ate.
But today I made a point of sitting down next to him with my lunch: a chunk of hard sausage and some cold potatoes. “Hello, Tempi.”
He looked up and nodded. For a second I caught a glimpse of his pale grey eyes. Then he looked away, shifting restlessly. He ran his hand through his hair, and for a second he reminded me of Simmon. They both had the same slender build and sandy hair. Simmon wasn’t this quiet though. Sometimes I could barely get a word in edgewise with Sim.
I’d tried to talk to Tempi before, of course. Ordinary small talk: the weather, sore feet after a long day’s walk, the food. These had all come to nothing. At best a word or two. More often a nod or a shrug. But most common was a blank look followed by fidgeting and a stubborn refusal to do so much as look me in the eye.
So today I had a conversational gambit. “I have heard stories about the Lethani,” I said. “I would like to know more. Would you tell me about it?”
Tempi’s pale eyes touched mine briefly, his expression still blank. Then he looked away again. He tugged one of the red leather straps that held his shirt close to his body and fidgeted with his sleeve. “No. I will not speak on Lethani. It is not for you. Do not ask.”
He looked away from me again, down at the ground.
I counted in my head. Sixteen words. That answered one of my questions at least.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Pennysworth
TWILIGHT WAS SETTLING IN as we rounded a curve in the road. I heard clapping and stomping mingled with music, shouting, and roars of laughter. After ten hours of walking, the sound lifted my spirits to an almost cheerful level.
Located at the last major crossroad south of the Eld, the Pennysworth Inn was enormous. Built of rough-hewn timber, it had two full stories and a scattering of gables that hinted at a smaller, third floor above that. Through the windows I caught glimpses of men and women dancing while an unseen fiddler sawed out a mad and breathless tune.
Dedan took a deep breath. “Can you smell that? I tell you, there’s a woman in this place could cook a stone and make me beg for more. Sweet Peg. By these hands, I hope she’s still around.” He made a curving gesture, showing the double meaning of his words as he nudged Marten with an elbow.
Hespe’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the back of Dedan’s head.
Oblivious, Dedan continued, “Tonight I’ll sleep with a bellyful of lamb and brandy. Although a little less sleeping might prove a little more entertaining, if my last trip here was any indication.”
I saw the storm brewing on Hespe’s face and spoke up quickly. “Whatever’s in the pot and a bunk for each of us,” I said firmly. “Anything else comes out of your own pocket.”
Dedan looked as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Come off it. We’ve been sleeping rough for days. Besides, ’taint your money, don’t be a stingy shim with it.”
“We haven’t done our job yet,” I said calmly. “Not even a piece of it. I don’t know how long we may be out here, but I know I’m not rich. If we run through the Maer’s purse too quickly we’re going to have to hunt for what we eat.” I looked around at everyone. “Unless someone else has enough coin to keep us fed and cares to share?”
Marten smiled ruefully at the suggestion. Hespe’s eyes were for Dedan, who continued glowering in my direction.
Tempi fidgeted, his expression unreadable as ever. Avoiding my eyes, he glanced at everyone in turn, his expression blank. His eyes moved, not from face to face, but at Dedan’s hands, then Dedan’s feet. Then Marten’s feet, then Hespe’s, then mine. He shifted his weight and moved a half-step closer to Dedan.
Hoping to dispel the tension, I softened my tone and said, “After everything is done we’ll split what’s left of the purse. That way each of us will have a little extra in our pocket before we even get back to Severen. We can each spend our lots as we want to. Then.”
I could tell Dedan wasn’t pleased and waited to see if he would press the point.
Instead it was Marten who spoke up. “After a day of long walking,” he said in a musing voice, as if talking to himself. “A drink would go down nice.”
Dedan looked to his friend, then back to me expectantly.
“I think the purse can stand a round of drinks,” I conceded with a smile. “I don’t think the Maer is trying to make priests of us, do you?”
This got a throaty laugh from Hespe, while Marten and Dedan cracked smiles. Tempi glanced at me with his pale eyes, fidgeted, and looked away.
A few minutes of relaxed haggling got the five of us common bunks, a simple supper, and a round of drinks for a single silver bit. After that was done, I found a table in a quieter corner of the room and tucked my lute out of harm’s way under my bench. Then I sat down, bone weary and wondering what I could do to get Dedan to stop acting like such a little swaggercock.
Such was the distracted turning of my thoughts when my dinner thumped onto the table in front of me. I looked up to see a woman’s face and well-advertised bosom framed by a tumble of bright red curls. Her skin was white as cream with just the barest hint of freckle. Her lips a pale, dangerous pink. Her eyes a bright, dangerous green.
“Thank you,” I said, somewhat belatedly.
“You’re welcome, love.” She smiled playfully w
ith her eyes and brushed her hair back from her bare shoulder. “It looked like you were almost a-sleeping in your seat.”
“I nearly was. A long day and a long road.”
“That’s a shame indeed,” she said with playful regret as she rubbed the back of her neck. “If I thought you’d still be on your feet in an hour, I’d take you off them.” She reached out and twined her fingers lightly through the hair on the back of my head. “The two of us would be enough to start a fire.”
I froze like a startled deer. I cannot say why, except perhaps that I was tired from several days on the road. Perhaps it was that I’d never been approached in such a forthright manner before. Perhaps—
Perhaps I was young and woefully inexperienced. Let us leave it at that.
I scrambled desperately for something to say, but by the time I found my tongue she’d taken a half step away and given me a shrewd look. I felt my face grow hot, embarrassing me further. Without thinking, I looked down at the table and the dinner she’d brought. Potato soup, I thought numbly.
She gave a small, quiet laugh and touched my shoulder kindly. “I’m sorry lad. You looked like you were a little more—” She broke off, as if reconsidering her words, then started again. “I liked the fresh look of you, but I didn’t think you were that young.”
Though she spoke gently, I could hear the smile in her voice. It made my face burn even hotter, all the way to my ears. Finally, seeming to realize that anything she said would just embarrass me further, she took her hand off my shoulder. “I’ll be back to see if you need anything later.”
I nodded dumbly and watched her go. Her retreat was pleasing, but I was distracted by the sounds of scattered laughter. I looked around to see amusement on the faces of the men sitting at the long tables around me. One group raised their mugs in a silent, mocking salute. Another fellow leaned over to pat my back consolingly, saying, “Don’t take it personal, boy, she’s turned all of us away.”