to warn them off. I enjoyed my month and a half
there. I indulged my curiosities, and found Feather and Whisper
remarkably accessible.
That hadn’t been true of the old Taken. Too, the commander
of the Guard, called the Monitor, bragged up his command’s
past, which stretches back as far as the Company’s. We
swapped lies and tales over many a gallon of beer.
During the fifth week someone discovered something. We peons
were not told what. But the Taken got excited. Whisper started
lifting in more of the Company. The reinforcements told harrowing
fables about the Plain of Fear and the Empty Hills. The Company was
at Lords now, only five hundred miles distant.
At the end of the sixth week Whisper assembled us and announced
another move. “The Lady wants me to take some of you out
west. A force of twenty-five. Elmo, you’ll be in command.
Feather and I, some experts, and several language specialists will
join you. Yes, Croaker. You’re on the list. She
wouldn’t deny her favorite amateur historian, would
she?”
A thrill of fear. I didn’t want her getting interested
again.
“Where’re we headed?” Elmo asked. Professional
to the core, the son-of-a-bitch. Not a single complaint.
“A city called Juniper. Way beyond the western bounds of
the empire. It’s connected with the Barrowland somehow.
It’s a ways north, too. Expect it to be cold and prepare
accordingly.”
Juniper? Never heard of it. Neither had anyone else. Not even
the Monitor. I scrounged through his maps till I found one showing
the western coast. Juniper was way up north, near where the ice
persists all year long. It was a big city. I wondered how it could
exist there, where it should be frozen all the time. I asked
Whisper. She seemed to know something about the place. She said
Juniper benefits from an ocean current that brings warm water
north. She said the city is very strange—according to Feather,
who’d actually been there.
I approached Feather next, only hours before our departure. She
couldn’t tell me much more, except that Juniper is the
demense of a Duke Zimerlan, and he appealed to the Lady a year ago
(just a while before the Captain’s courier letter would have
left Charm) for help solving a local problem. That someone had
approached the Lady, when the world’s desire is to keep her
far away, argued that we faced interesting times. I wondered about
the connection with the Barrowland.
The negative was that Juniper was so far away. I was pleased
that I would be there when the Captain learned he was expected to
head there after resting in Oar, though.
Could be I’d hear his howl of outrage even from that far.
I knew he wouldn’t be happy.
----
----
Chapter Thirteen:
JUNIPER: THE ENCLOSURE
Shed slept badly for weeks. He dreamt of black glass walls and a
man who hadn’t been dead. Twice Raven asked him to join a
night hunt. Twice he refused. Raven did not press, though they both
knew Shed would jump if he insisted. Shed prayed that Raven would
get rich and disappear. He remained a constant irritant to the
conscience.
Damnit, why didn’t Krage go after him?
Shed couldn’t figure why Raven remained unperturbed by
Krage. The man was neither a fool nor stupid. The alternative, that
he wasn’t scared, made no sense. Not to a Marron Shed. Asa
remained on Krage’s payroll, but visited regularly, bringing
firewood. By the wagonload, sometimes.
“What’re you up
to?” Shed demanded one day.
“Trying to build
credit,” Asa admitted. “Krage’s guys don’t like me much.”
“Hardly anybody does, Asa.”
“They might try something
nasty . . . ”
“Want a place to hide when they turn on you, eh?
What’re you doing for Krage? Why is he bothering with
you?”
Asa hemmed and hawed. Shed pushed. Here was a man he could
bully. “I watch Raven, Shed. I report what he
does.”
Shed snorted. Krage was using Asa because he was expendable.
He’d had two men disappear early on. Shed thought he knew
where they
there. I indulged my curiosities, and found Feather and Whisper
remarkably accessible.
That hadn’t been true of the old Taken. Too, the commander
of the Guard, called the Monitor, bragged up his command’s
past, which stretches back as far as the Company’s. We
swapped lies and tales over many a gallon of beer.
During the fifth week someone discovered something. We peons
were not told what. But the Taken got excited. Whisper started
lifting in more of the Company. The reinforcements told harrowing
fables about the Plain of Fear and the Empty Hills. The Company was
at Lords now, only five hundred miles distant.
At the end of the sixth week Whisper assembled us and announced
another move. “The Lady wants me to take some of you out
west. A force of twenty-five. Elmo, you’ll be in command.
Feather and I, some experts, and several language specialists will
join you. Yes, Croaker. You’re on the list. She
wouldn’t deny her favorite amateur historian, would
she?”
A thrill of fear. I didn’t want her getting interested
again.
“Where’re we headed?” Elmo asked. Professional
to the core, the son-of-a-bitch. Not a single complaint.
“A city called Juniper. Way beyond the western bounds of
the empire. It’s connected with the Barrowland somehow.
It’s a ways north, too. Expect it to be cold and prepare
accordingly.”
Juniper? Never heard of it. Neither had anyone else. Not even
the Monitor. I scrounged through his maps till I found one showing
the western coast. Juniper was way up north, near where the ice
persists all year long. It was a big city. I wondered how it could
exist there, where it should be frozen all the time. I asked
Whisper. She seemed to know something about the place. She said
Juniper benefits from an ocean current that brings warm water
north. She said the city is very strange—according to Feather,
who’d actually been there.
I approached Feather next, only hours before our departure. She
couldn’t tell me much more, except that Juniper is the
demense of a Duke Zimerlan, and he appealed to the Lady a year ago
(just a while before the Captain’s courier letter would have
left Charm) for help solving a local problem. That someone had
approached the Lady, when the world’s desire is to keep her
far away, argued that we faced interesting times. I wondered about
the connection with the Barrowland.
The negative was that Juniper was so far away. I was pleased
that I would be there when the Captain learned he was expected to
head there after resting in Oar, though.
Could be I’d hear his howl of outrage even from that far.
I knew he wouldn’t be happy.
----
----
Chapter Thirteen:
JUNIPER: THE ENCLOSURE
Shed slept badly for weeks. He dreamt of black glass walls and a
man who hadn’t been dead. Twice Raven asked him to join a
night hunt. Twice he refused. Raven did not press, though they both
knew Shed would jump if he insisted. Shed prayed that Raven would
get rich and disappear. He remained a constant irritant to the
conscience.
Damnit, why didn’t Krage go after him?
Shed couldn’t figure why Raven remained unperturbed by
Krage. The man was neither a fool nor stupid. The alternative, that
he wasn’t scared, made no sense. Not to a Marron Shed. Asa
remained on Krage’s payroll, but visited regularly, bringing
firewood. By the wagonload, sometimes.
“What’re you up
to?” Shed demanded one day.
“Trying to build
credit,” Asa admitted. “Krage’s guys don’t like me much.”
“Hardly anybody does, Asa.”
“They might try something
nasty . . . ”
“Want a place to hide when they turn on you, eh?
What’re you doing for Krage? Why is he bothering with
you?”
Asa hemmed and hawed. Shed pushed. Here was a man he could
bully. “I watch Raven, Shed. I report what he
does.”
Shed snorted. Krage was using Asa because he was expendable.
He’d had two men disappear early on. Shed thought he knew
where they
Similar Books
