above, cursing in their own tongue. So Soulcatcher knew. Or soon
would.
We continued moving, into the now-animated crowd and through, heading home. The
Bhodi disciples who had helped prepare the ritual suicide had disappeared
already, while all eyes were fixed on the burning man.
Black Company GS 8 - Water Sleeps
10
I can’t believe he did that!” I said, still climbing out of Sawa’s smelly rags
and crippled personality. Word had beaten us home. The suicide was all anyone
wanted to discuss. Our own nighttime effort had become secondary. That was over
and they had survived.
Tobo definitely did not believe it. He mentioned that in passing and insisted on
telling us everything his father had seen inside the Palace last night. He
referred to notes he had made with Goblin’s help. He was thoroughly proud of the
job he had done and wanted to rub our noses in it. “But I couldn’t really get
him to talk to me, Mom. Anything I asked seemed to be just an irritation. It was
like he just wanted to get it over with so he could go away.”
“I know, dear,” Sahra said. “I know. He’s that way with me, too. Here’s some
nice bread they let us bring home. Eat something. Goblin. What did they do with
Swan? Is he healthy?”
One-Eye cackled. He said, “Healthy as a man with cracked ribs can be. Scared
shitless, though.” He cackled again.
“Cracked ribs? Explain.”
Goblin told her, “Somebody with a grudge against the Greys got overexcited. But
don’t worry about it. The guy is going to have plenty of opportunity to be sorry
he let his feelings get the best of him.”
“I’m exhausted,” Sahra said. “We spent the whole day in the same room as
Soulcatcher. I thought I would burst.”
“You did? It was all I could do not to run out of there screaming. I
concentrated so hard on being Sawa that I missed half of what they 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
would.
We continued moving, into the now-animated crowd and through, heading home. The
Bhodi disciples who had helped prepare the ritual suicide had disappeared
already, while all eyes were fixed on the burning man.
Black Company GS 8 - Water Sleeps
10
I can’t believe he did that!” I said, still climbing out of Sawa’s smelly rags
and crippled personality. Word had beaten us home. The suicide was all anyone
wanted to discuss. Our own nighttime effort had become secondary. That was over
and they had survived.
Tobo definitely did not believe it. He mentioned that in passing and insisted on
telling us everything his father had seen inside the Palace last night. He
referred to notes he had made with Goblin’s help. He was thoroughly proud of the
job he had done and wanted to rub our noses in it. “But I couldn’t really get
him to talk to me, Mom. Anything I asked seemed to be just an irritation. It was
like he just wanted to get it over with so he could go away.”
“I know, dear,” Sahra said. “I know. He’s that way with me, too. Here’s some
nice bread they let us bring home. Eat something. Goblin. What did they do with
Swan? Is he healthy?”
One-Eye cackled. He said, “Healthy as a man with cracked ribs can be. Scared
shitless, though.” He cackled again.
“Cracked ribs? Explain.”
Goblin told her, “Somebody with a grudge against the Greys got overexcited. But
don’t worry about it. The guy is going to have plenty of opportunity to be sorry
he let his feelings get the best of him.”
“I’m exhausted,” Sahra said. “We spent the whole day in the same room as
Soulcatcher. I thought I would burst.”
“You did? It was all I could do not to run out of there screaming. I
concentrated so hard on being Sawa that I missed half of what they 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
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