haven’t changed. Goblin or One-Eye
put some kind of hex on you?”
“God is good to the pure of heart. How are your
ribs?”
Swan ran fingers through the remnants of his hair. “So
that’s the story.” He touched his side.
“I’ll live.”
“You’re taking it well.”
“I needed a vacation. Nothing’s in my hands now. I
can relax until she finds me again.”
“Can she do that?”
“You the Captain now?”
“The Captain is the Captain. I design ambushes. Can she
find you?”
“Well, son, this looks like the fabled collision between
the unstoppable whatsis and the immovable thingee. I don’t
know where to lay my bets. Over here we got the Black Company with
four hundred years of bad and tricky. Over there you got
Soulcatcher with four centuries of mean and crazy. It’s a
toss-up, I guess.”
“She doesn’t have you marked somehow?”
“Only with scars.”
The way he said that made me feel I knew exactly what he meant.
“You want to come over to our side?”
“You’re kidding. You pulled all that stuff this
morning just to ask me to join the Black Company?”
“We pulled all that stuff this morning to show the world
that we’re still here and that we could do what we want,
whenever we want, Protector or no Protector. And to take you so I
can question you about the plain of glittering stone.”
He looked at me for several seconds, then checked his cards.
“There’s a subject that hasn’t come up in a
while.”
“You going to be stubborn about it?”
“You kidding? I’ll talk your ear off. But I’ll
bet you don’t learn a damned thing you didn’t already
know.” He discarded a black knave.
Slink jumped on the card, laid down a nine-queen spread,
discarded a red queen and grinned. He needed to see One-Eye about
those teeth.
“Shit!” Swan grumbled. “I missed this game.
How did you people learn? It’s the simplest damn game in the
world but I never met a Taglian who could figure it out.”
I observed, “You learn fast when you play with One-Eye.
Scoot over, Sin. Let me play while I pick this guy’s
brain.” I pulled up a stool, studying Swan every second. The
man knew how to get into a character. This was not the Willow Swan
that Murgen wrote about or the Swan that Sahra saw when she visited
the Palace. I picked up my five cards from the next deal.
“This ain’t a hand, it’s a foot. How come
you’re so relaxed, Swan?”
“No stress. You can’t have a worse hand than mine. I
don’t got no two cards of the same suit.”
“No stress?”
“As of today I got nothing to do but lean back and take it
easy. Just play tonk till my honey comes and takes me
home.”
“You’re not afraid? Reports I’ve had said
you’re shakier than Smoke used to be.”
His features hardened. That was not a comparison he liked.
“The worst has happened, hasn’t it? I’m in the
hands of my enemies. But I’m still healthy.”
“There’s no guarantee you’ll stay that way.
Unless you cooperate. Darn! I’m going to have to rob a poor
box if this keeps on.” Play had not gotten all the way back
to me before the hand ended. I did not win.
“I’ll sing like a trained crow,” Swan said.
“Like a chorus. But I can’t do you much good. I was
never as close to the center as you may think.”
“Possibly.” I watched his hands closely as he dealt.
It seemed like a moment when a skilled manipulator’s ego
might compel him to show himself how good he was at pulling fast
moves. If he had any moves, he would not get them by me. I learned
the game from One-Eye, too. “Prove it. Tell me how
Soulcatcher kept you two alive long enough to get off the
plain.”
“That’s an easy one.” He completed a straight
deal. “We ran away faster than the ghosts chasing us could
run. We were riding those black horses the Company brought down
from the north.”
I had ridden those enchanted beasts a few times myself.
That could be the answer. They could outdistance any normal
horse and could
put some kind of hex on you?”
“God is good to the pure of heart. How are your
ribs?”
Swan ran fingers through the remnants of his hair. “So
that’s the story.” He touched his side.
“I’ll live.”
“You’re taking it well.”
“I needed a vacation. Nothing’s in my hands now. I
can relax until she finds me again.”
“Can she do that?”
“You the Captain now?”
“The Captain is the Captain. I design ambushes. Can she
find you?”
“Well, son, this looks like the fabled collision between
the unstoppable whatsis and the immovable thingee. I don’t
know where to lay my bets. Over here we got the Black Company with
four hundred years of bad and tricky. Over there you got
Soulcatcher with four centuries of mean and crazy. It’s a
toss-up, I guess.”
“She doesn’t have you marked somehow?”
“Only with scars.”
The way he said that made me feel I knew exactly what he meant.
“You want to come over to our side?”
“You’re kidding. You pulled all that stuff this
morning just to ask me to join the Black Company?”
“We pulled all that stuff this morning to show the world
that we’re still here and that we could do what we want,
whenever we want, Protector or no Protector. And to take you so I
can question you about the plain of glittering stone.”
He looked at me for several seconds, then checked his cards.
“There’s a subject that hasn’t come up in a
while.”
“You going to be stubborn about it?”
“You kidding? I’ll talk your ear off. But I’ll
bet you don’t learn a damned thing you didn’t already
know.” He discarded a black knave.
Slink jumped on the card, laid down a nine-queen spread,
discarded a red queen and grinned. He needed to see One-Eye about
those teeth.
“Shit!” Swan grumbled. “I missed this game.
How did you people learn? It’s the simplest damn game in the
world but I never met a Taglian who could figure it out.”
I observed, “You learn fast when you play with One-Eye.
Scoot over, Sin. Let me play while I pick this guy’s
brain.” I pulled up a stool, studying Swan every second. The
man knew how to get into a character. This was not the Willow Swan
that Murgen wrote about or the Swan that Sahra saw when she visited
the Palace. I picked up my five cards from the next deal.
“This ain’t a hand, it’s a foot. How come
you’re so relaxed, Swan?”
“No stress. You can’t have a worse hand than mine. I
don’t got no two cards of the same suit.”
“No stress?”
“As of today I got nothing to do but lean back and take it
easy. Just play tonk till my honey comes and takes me
home.”
“You’re not afraid? Reports I’ve had said
you’re shakier than Smoke used to be.”
His features hardened. That was not a comparison he liked.
“The worst has happened, hasn’t it? I’m in the
hands of my enemies. But I’m still healthy.”
“There’s no guarantee you’ll stay that way.
Unless you cooperate. Darn! I’m going to have to rob a poor
box if this keeps on.” Play had not gotten all the way back
to me before the hand ended. I did not win.
“I’ll sing like a trained crow,” Swan said.
“Like a chorus. But I can’t do you much good. I was
never as close to the center as you may think.”
“Possibly.” I watched his hands closely as he dealt.
It seemed like a moment when a skilled manipulator’s ego
might compel him to show himself how good he was at pulling fast
moves. If he had any moves, he would not get them by me. I learned
the game from One-Eye, too. “Prove it. Tell me how
Soulcatcher kept you two alive long enough to get off the
plain.”
“That’s an easy one.” He completed a straight
deal. “We ran away faster than the ghosts chasing us could
run. We were riding those black horses the Company brought down
from the north.”
I had ridden those enchanted beasts a few times myself.
That could be the answer. They could outdistance any normal
horse and could
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