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 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
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 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
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