said.”
“What didn’t get said might be more important.
Soulcatcher was really suspicious about the attack.”
“I told you, go for the throat!” One-Eye barked.
“While they still didn’t believe in us. Kill them all
and you wouldn’t have to sneak around trying to figure out
how to get the Old Man out. You could make those guys at the
library do your research for you.”
“We’d’ve just gotten killed,” Sahra
said. “Soulcatcher was already looking for trouble. The news
about the Daughter of Night did that. Speaking of whom, I want you
two looking for her, and Narayan, too.”
“Too?” Goblin asked.
“Soulcatcher will hunt them with a great deal of
enthusiasm, I expect.”
I observed, “Kina must be stirring again. Narayan and the
girl wouldn’t come to Taglios unless they were confident of
her protection. Which means the girl will start copying the Books
of the Dead again, too. Sahra, tell Murgen to keep an eye on
them.” Those terrible, ancient volumes were buried in the
same cavern as the Captured. “I had a thought while we were
up there—after I ran out of candlesticks and didn’t have
anything else to do. It’s been a long time since I read
Murgen’s Annals. It didn’t seem like they had much
bearing on what we’re trying to do. Being so modern. But when
I was sitting there, just a few feet from Soulcatcher, I got a
really creepy feeling that I had missed something. And it’s
been so long since I studied those things, I can’t guess
what.”
“You should have time. We’ll need to lie pretty low
for a few days.”
“You’ll be going to work, won’t
you?”
“It would be suspicious if I didn’t.”
“I’m going to the library. I located some histories
that go back to the earliest days of Taglios.”
“Yeah?” One-Eye croaked, jerked himself out of a
half-sleep. “Then find out for me why the hell the ruling
gang are only princes. The territories they rule are bigger than
most kingdoms around here.”
“A question that never would have occurred to me,” I
said politely. “Or to any native of this end of the world,
probably. I’ll ask.” If I remembered.
Nervous laughter came from the shadows in the back of the
warehouse. Willow Swan. Goblin said, “He’s playing tonk
with some guys he knew in the old days.”
Sahra said, “We should get him out of the city. Where can
we keep him?”
“I need him here,” I said. “I need to ask him
about the plain. That’s why we grabbed him first. And
I’m not going off to some place in the country when
I’ve finally started getting somewhere at the
library.”
“Soulcatcher might have him marked somehow.”
“We’ve got two half-ass wizards of our own. Have them
check him over. They add up to one competent—”
“You watch your mouth, Little Girl.”
“I forget
myself, One-Eye. You two together add up to half as much as either
one alone.”
“Sleepy has a point. If Soulcatcher marked him, you two
ought to be able to find out.”
One-Eye snapped, “Use your head! If she’d marked
him, she’d already be here. She wouldn’t be up there
asking her lackeys if they’d found his bones yet.” The
little man climbed out of his chair, creaking and groaning. He
headed for the shadows at the rear of the warehouse but not toward
Swan’s voice.
I said, “He’s right.” I headed to the back
myself. I had not seen Swan up close for fifteen years. Behind me,
Tobo started grilling his mother about Murgen. He was upset because
his father had been indifferent.
Seemed to me there was a good chance Murgen did not understand
who Tobo was. He had trouble with time. He had had that problem
since the siege of Jaicur. He might think it was still fifteen
years ago and he was stumbling away into a possible future.
Swan stared at me for a few seconds after I stepped into the
light of the lamp illuminating the table where he was playing cards
with the Gupta brothers and a corporal we called Slink.
“Sleepy, right? You
“What didn’t get said might be more important.
Soulcatcher was really suspicious about the attack.”
“I told you, go for the throat!” One-Eye barked.
“While they still didn’t believe in us. Kill them all
and you wouldn’t have to sneak around trying to figure out
how to get the Old Man out. You could make those guys at the
library do your research for you.”
“We’d’ve just gotten killed,” Sahra
said. “Soulcatcher was already looking for trouble. The news
about the Daughter of Night did that. Speaking of whom, I want you
two looking for her, and Narayan, too.”
“Too?” Goblin asked.
“Soulcatcher will hunt them with a great deal of
enthusiasm, I expect.”
I observed, “Kina must be stirring again. Narayan and the
girl wouldn’t come to Taglios unless they were confident of
her protection. Which means the girl will start copying the Books
of the Dead again, too. Sahra, tell Murgen to keep an eye on
them.” Those terrible, ancient volumes were buried in the
same cavern as the Captured. “I had a thought while we were
up there—after I ran out of candlesticks and didn’t have
anything else to do. It’s been a long time since I read
Murgen’s Annals. It didn’t seem like they had much
bearing on what we’re trying to do. Being so modern. But when
I was sitting there, just a few feet from Soulcatcher, I got a
really creepy feeling that I had missed something. And it’s
been so long since I studied those things, I can’t guess
what.”
“You should have time. We’ll need to lie pretty low
for a few days.”
“You’ll be going to work, won’t
you?”
“It would be suspicious if I didn’t.”
“I’m going to the library. I located some histories
that go back to the earliest days of Taglios.”
“Yeah?” One-Eye croaked, jerked himself out of a
half-sleep. “Then find out for me why the hell the ruling
gang are only princes. The territories they rule are bigger than
most kingdoms around here.”
“A question that never would have occurred to me,” I
said politely. “Or to any native of this end of the world,
probably. I’ll ask.” If I remembered.
Nervous laughter came from the shadows in the back of the
warehouse. Willow Swan. Goblin said, “He’s playing tonk
with some guys he knew in the old days.”
Sahra said, “We should get him out of the city. Where can
we keep him?”
“I need him here,” I said. “I need to ask him
about the plain. That’s why we grabbed him first. And
I’m not going off to some place in the country when
I’ve finally started getting somewhere at the
library.”
“Soulcatcher might have him marked somehow.”
“We’ve got two half-ass wizards of our own. Have them
check him over. They add up to one competent—”
“You watch your mouth, Little Girl.”
“I forget
myself, One-Eye. You two together add up to half as much as either
one alone.”
“Sleepy has a point. If Soulcatcher marked him, you two
ought to be able to find out.”
One-Eye snapped, “Use your head! If she’d marked
him, she’d already be here. She wouldn’t be up there
asking her lackeys if they’d found his bones yet.” The
little man climbed out of his chair, creaking and groaning. He
headed for the shadows at the rear of the warehouse but not toward
Swan’s voice.
I said, “He’s right.” I headed to the back
myself. I had not seen Swan up close for fifteen years. Behind me,
Tobo started grilling his mother about Murgen. He was upset because
his father had been indifferent.
Seemed to me there was a good chance Murgen did not understand
who Tobo was. He had trouble with time. He had had that problem
since the siege of Jaicur. He might think it was still fifteen
years ago and he was stumbling away into a possible future.
Swan stared at me for a few seconds after I stepped into the
light of the lamp illuminating the table where he was playing cards
with the Gupta brothers and a corporal we called Slink.
“Sleepy, right? You
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