men with pretty young wives!'
That took them from Lythecare to Fromish, on the eastbound roads. In Fromish they ran into old friends -- Ikan and Justin.
'Hey-la! Look who we have here!' Tarma would have known that voice in a mob; in the half-empty tavern it was as welcome as a word from the tents.
She leapt up from her seat to catch Justin's forearm in a welcoming clasp. And not more than a pace behind him came Ikan.
They got themselves sorted out, and the two newcomers gave their orders to the serving boy before settling at Tarma's table.
'Well, what brings you ladies to these benighted parts?' Ikan asked, shaking hair out of his guileless eyes. 'Last we saw, you were headed south.'
'Looking for work,' Tarma replied shortly. 'We did get home but... well, we decided, what with one thing and another, to go professional. Even got our Guild tags.' She pulled the thong holding the little copper medal out of her tunic to display it for them.
'I thought you two didn't work in winter,' Kethry said in puzzlement.
'It isn't winter yet, at least not according to our employers. Last caravan of the season. Say -- we might be able to do each other a favor, though.' Justin eyed the two women with speculation. 'You say you're Guild members now? Lord and Lady, the Luck is with us, for certain!'
'Why?'
'We've got two guards down with flux -- and it does not look good. We want out of here before the snows close in, but we daren't go shorthanded and I don't trust the scum that's been turning up, hoping to get hired on in their places. But you two -- '
'Three,' Tarma corrected, as Warrl shambled out of the kitchen where he'd been enjoying meat scraps and the antics of the innkeeper's two children.
'Hey-la! A kyree!' Ikan exclaimed in delight. 'Even better!'
'Shieldbrother,' Justin lounged back in his chair with an air of complete satisfaction, 'I will never doubt your conjuring of the Luck again. And tonight the drink's on me!'
* * *
The nervous jewel merchants were only too pleased to find replacements that could be vouched for by their most trusted guard-chiefs. They were even happier when they learned that one of the two was Shin'a'in and the other a mage. Kethry more than earned her pay on that trip, preventing a thiefmage from substituting bespelled glass for the rubies and sapphires they had just traded for.
They left the merchants before they returned to Mornedealth, Kethry not particularly wanting to revisit quite yet. Ikan and Justin did their best to persuade them otherwise, but to no avail.
'You could stay at the Broken Sword. Tarma could keep drilling us like she did last year,' Justin coaxed. 'And Cat would dearly love to see you. She's set herself up as a weapons merchant.'
'No... I want things to cool down a little more,' Kethry said. 'And frankly, we need to earn ourselves a reputation and a pretty good stake, and we won't do that sitting around in Mornedealth all winter.'
'You,' Ikan put in, a speculative gleam in his eyes, 'have got more in mind than earning the kind of cozy docket we have. Am I right, or no?'
'You're right,' Tarma admitted.
'So? What've you got in mind?'
'Schools -- or rather a school, with both of us teaching what we're best at.'
'You'll need more than a good stake and a rep -- you'll need property. Some kind of big building, stables, maybe a real indoor training area -- and a good library, warded research areas, and neighbors who aren't too fussy about what you conjure.'
'Gods, I hadn't thought that far, but you're right,' Tarma said with chagrin. 'Sounds as if what we want is on the order of a manor house.'
'Which means you'd better start thinking in terms of working for a noble with property to grant once you get
