been building up since my third klava. Then I walked about half a mile away and found a flophouse. Loiosh and Rocza took a flight around the place to make sure it was safe.
“So, Boss, about this plan.”
“Yeah. Give me some time to think about it.”
“All right.”
Then, “Boss?”
“More time, Loiosh.”
“All right.”
Then he said, “Just tell me one thing: Will the spell work?”
“Daymar just said it would.”
“I know. Will the spell work? ”
“Trying to build up my confidence, are you?”
“That’s my job.”
I gave the landlord some money, started the room fumigating, and walked back outside. I strolled a bit, but it made me nervous, so I went back to the flophouse, hanging out near the desk where the landlord determinedly didn’t look at me. After a while, I went back to the room, smothered the burning herbs, and let the place get started on airing out. I’d have opened the window except that it couldn’t close, so there was no need.
I sat on the bed, I stood up, I paced, I sat down, I leaned against the wall, I struck my palm with my fist, and I said, “Yeah, Loiosh, I think we can maybe do this.”
“Boss, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Yeah. There’s a chance I can get my life back. Or get killed, of course.”
“You’ve almost gotten killed in worse causes.”
“Yeah.”
“What do we need?”
“A way to make a Jhereg think like an Orca.”
“That seems possible.”
“Yeah, if we can make him see things like a Hawk.”
“That sounds harder.”
“There may be a way. We’ll need some things. Lots of things. The first steps will be to get a good supply of cash, and to find Kiera.”
“Which one first?”
“It doesn’t matter. All right. Let’s go steal the Jhereg Council.”
“And we’re off!”
Loiosh sounded positively excited. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d sounded excited about something that wasn’t on the order of telling me that if I didn’t duck I was going to be dead.
I was feeling somewhat the same. It wasn’t just the last few days, of course; I hope I’ve gotten at least that much across. The Jhereg had been after me for years—wanting me not just dead, but dead dead. Soul dead. Killed with a Morganti weapon. I’d been looking over my shoulder all that time, running around, too scared to settle anywhere even for a while. I’d learned that my ex-wife had given birth while I was gone, and I now had a son. I’d fought personal demons and impersonal gods and wandered through buildings that couldn’t exist to do impossible things. I had discovered that I had a destiny, and blown that destiny right off the table. I’d run, fought, hid, and schemed. I was tired of the whole thing. And now, maybe, maybe. After all of this, a “maybe” was more precious than platinum, more delicious than Piarran Mist. In all of these years, this was the first maybe I’d had. I gripped it, held it, studied it from every side. I was pretty close to giving it a name and a food dish.
A beautiful, beautiful maybe.
Now to make it real.
I threw my cloak back on and headed out to get things started.
The first step was easy enough, just tedious. I had to pass through pretty much all of South Adrilankha and then cross the river. I’ve been told that before teleportation became commonplace, the city used to be full of carriages, but now you can only find them near the Palace where they charge too much to take too long to get to too few places. There are cabriolets, but I just didn’t like the idea of having my face exposed while not being under my own power. That left renting a horse, or walking, and I’d ridden on horseback before, so that was out.
I’d gotten used to doing a lot of walking in the last few years, so it wasn’t too bad—it just took a long time. Adrilankha, in case you’ve never been there, is not a small city. It was afternoon when I finally reached the part of Adrilankha where I used to be important—which was
“So, Boss, about this plan.”
“Yeah. Give me some time to think about it.”
“All right.”
Then, “Boss?”
“More time, Loiosh.”
“All right.”
Then he said, “Just tell me one thing: Will the spell work?”
“Daymar just said it would.”
“I know. Will the spell work? ”
“Trying to build up my confidence, are you?”
“That’s my job.”
I gave the landlord some money, started the room fumigating, and walked back outside. I strolled a bit, but it made me nervous, so I went back to the flophouse, hanging out near the desk where the landlord determinedly didn’t look at me. After a while, I went back to the room, smothered the burning herbs, and let the place get started on airing out. I’d have opened the window except that it couldn’t close, so there was no need.
I sat on the bed, I stood up, I paced, I sat down, I leaned against the wall, I struck my palm with my fist, and I said, “Yeah, Loiosh, I think we can maybe do this.”
“Boss, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Yeah. There’s a chance I can get my life back. Or get killed, of course.”
“You’ve almost gotten killed in worse causes.”
“Yeah.”
“What do we need?”
“A way to make a Jhereg think like an Orca.”
“That seems possible.”
“Yeah, if we can make him see things like a Hawk.”
“That sounds harder.”
“There may be a way. We’ll need some things. Lots of things. The first steps will be to get a good supply of cash, and to find Kiera.”
“Which one first?”
“It doesn’t matter. All right. Let’s go steal the Jhereg Council.”
“And we’re off!”
Loiosh sounded positively excited. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d sounded excited about something that wasn’t on the order of telling me that if I didn’t duck I was going to be dead.
I was feeling somewhat the same. It wasn’t just the last few days, of course; I hope I’ve gotten at least that much across. The Jhereg had been after me for years—wanting me not just dead, but dead dead. Soul dead. Killed with a Morganti weapon. I’d been looking over my shoulder all that time, running around, too scared to settle anywhere even for a while. I’d learned that my ex-wife had given birth while I was gone, and I now had a son. I’d fought personal demons and impersonal gods and wandered through buildings that couldn’t exist to do impossible things. I had discovered that I had a destiny, and blown that destiny right off the table. I’d run, fought, hid, and schemed. I was tired of the whole thing. And now, maybe, maybe. After all of this, a “maybe” was more precious than platinum, more delicious than Piarran Mist. In all of these years, this was the first maybe I’d had. I gripped it, held it, studied it from every side. I was pretty close to giving it a name and a food dish.
A beautiful, beautiful maybe.
Now to make it real.
I threw my cloak back on and headed out to get things started.
The first step was easy enough, just tedious. I had to pass through pretty much all of South Adrilankha and then cross the river. I’ve been told that before teleportation became commonplace, the city used to be full of carriages, but now you can only find them near the Palace where they charge too much to take too long to get to too few places. There are cabriolets, but I just didn’t like the idea of having my face exposed while not being under my own power. That left renting a horse, or walking, and I’d ridden on horseback before, so that was out.
I’d gotten used to doing a lot of walking in the last few years, so it wasn’t too bad—it just took a long time. Adrilankha, in case you’ve never been there, is not a small city. It was afternoon when I finally reached the part of Adrilankha where I used to be important—which was