Read Online Goblin Precinct (Dragon Precinct) by Keith R. A. Decandido - Free Book Online

could get items that weren’t entirely above-board—or which weren’t marked up due to tariffs, thanks to not having actually paid them.
    One of the latter items was an entire bolt of linen from Saptor Isle that Hobart had from a shipmaster whose cousin’s family grew flax and wove it into linen on the island. Saptor linens were always softer and more comfortable than those from the mainland—the shipmaster in question said it had something to do with winds or sunlight or some such thing. Hobart didn’t give a goblin’s foot about the details. The flax farmer had a surplus of linen after his family sold to various merchants, and gave that surplus to his cousin the shipmaster, who sold them to Hobart at a rate that was considerably lower than what he’d pay on the open market, but which still gave the shipmaster a tidy profit on, well, nothing. Even with Hobart’s own mark up, he sold the best linen in Flingaria for less than half of what every other merchant charged.
    And that, right there, was the crux of his problem, right there in that bolt of Saptor linen that sat, unpurchased, on his stand on the eastern end of Jorbin’s Way. In the past, every time he got a shipment of Saptor linen, it was gone by the end of the day.
    Today, though, he’d only sold a few yards, and that was to a couple of tourists who were on their way to the docks for a sea voyage. His regulars were nowhere to be found.
    Then he saw a sight that normally filled him with dread, but today suffused him with uncharacteristic joy: two Cloaks heading down the way.
    Lieutenants Tresyllione and ban Wyvald were striding purposefully through Jorbin’s toward Haven’s Way (and why they’d be going to that shithole, Hobart had no idea). But if anybody could do anything about this scourge that had ravaged Jorbin’s, it was those two.
    Happy to have an outlet, and only a little concerned that things had gotten so bad that he viewed the arrival of two Cloaks with anything other than annoyance, Hobart put out his cigar and jumped up and down to get their attention. “Oi! Lieutenants!”
    They were, he noticed, walking with an armor-wearing elf who seemed more than a little perturbed.
    Tresyllione looked down on him with her usual disdain. “We don’t have time for you, Hobart.”
    “Look, I just need a moment, all right?”
    The elf asked, “Who is this imbecile?”
    “Hobart,” ban Wyvald said with a smile. “One of the merchants.”
    “I know the type.” The elf’s mouth twisted in disgust. “I would prefer we not dally with him, as we have work to do, and he’ll have our money pouches before long.”
    Smiling in that way that made her even uglier, Tresyllione said, “See, Hobart? He’s only just met you, and he already knows you!”
    “Oh, real funny, Lieutenant. Look, I got information that might be’a use to ya.”
    “You expect us to believe that?” Tresyllione asked.
    “Oh, I believe it,” ban Wyvald said.
    “Thank you, Lieutenant.” Hobart inclined his head toward ban Wyvald. “Always knew you were the brains of the partnership.”
    Continuing as if Hobart hadn’t spoken, the red-bearded Cloak went on: “What I don’t believe is that he’ll name a price for this information that we’ll be willing to pay.”
    Hobart pointed an accusatory finger at ban Wyvald. “Ah, see, that’s where you’re wrong, Lieutenant. Y’see, I ain’t chargin’ you nothin’ for this little piece’a info.”
    “And I say again, you expect us to believe that?”
    Snarling at Tresyllione, Hobart said, “Look, this is good stuff, an’ if you don’t want it—”
    The big elf turned to leave. “I see no reason to continue to listen to this.”
    Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he didn’t provide at least one detail, and seeing that ban Wyvald and Tresyllione were starting to move to join the elf, Hobart said, “It’s about Bliss!”
    Ban Wyvald stopped and whirled around. “What about Bliss?”
    Tresyllione looked at