The Robin And The Kestrel

Robin sighed with relief. 'That, and other things. What's it going to cost us?'

Donnar considered this for a moment. 'The tale's on th' house, if ye buy some'a m'beer at m'high prices. The rest_we'll see, eh? Depends on what ye want.'

Robin and Jonny listened attentively as Donnar described what had been happening, and the measures people had taken to get around the new rules. Virtually all forms of public entertainment and pleasure had been forbidden. No plays, no public performance of music, no Faire-type gatherings. Taverns and inns were not permitted to serve anything stronger than small beer. Extravagance and ornamentation in dress were frowned upon. The brothels had been closed, and the Whores Guild officially disbanded.

So the Guild and every other form of entertainment organization had moved to the Warren, and the houses had taken on other guises.

'Ye go off t' Shawna Tailor's, fer instance,' Donnar said, 'an' ye ask fer th' 'personal fittings,' and personal is what ye get! Or there's 'bout a half dozen bathhouses where ye ask fer th' 'special massage.' But it costs more, it all costs more, eh. Outside the Warren, ye gotta pay off th' Constables an' the Church Guards; ye gotta bribe th' right people.'

Even the Guild musicians had moved on to other cities, with the exception of the few who had steady employment with wealthy or noble families, or in the better class of inn. The few independent musicians still in the city now played only at 'private parties,' or, predictably, in one of the Houses. Taverns did not sell hard liquor; they sold the use of a mug or glass, and for a little more than the old price of a drink, one could go to a stall located conveniently near the tavern and purchase hard liquor in tiny, single-drink bottles. The glass-blowers were the only ones prospering at the moment; these were the same kinds of bottles that had been used for perfumes and colognes. If you wanted to drink with your cronies in the tavern, you bought your evening's drinks outside, and brought them into the tavern to drink them.

'Takes deep pockets, though,' Donnar sighed. 'It all takes mortal deep pockets. Bribes ev'rwhere ye turn. An' I tell ye, there's a mort'a folks who just canna understand why 'tis that last

year they was good taxpayin' tithe-makin' citizens, an' this year they're criminals. Hellfires, I'm one'f 'em! Had me a tavern an' didn' have the means t' build me a liquor shop. Moved in here.'

He sighed, and looked so depressed that Robin reached out to pat his hand comfortingly. He looked startled, but smiled wanly.

'Well,' he continued, 'advantage is I started out with rules here. Don' care who ye be, nor what ye do_in here we got peace. Got th' whole buildin'. Rented out th' upstairs t' the head'a th' Whore's Guild; her girls work as m' wenches when they ain't on duty. An' 'f they decide t' go on duty wi' a customer, 'tis all right w' me, eh?'

'Padrik_the High Bishop,' Robin said, after a moment. 'With all the thieves and professional beggars in the Warren, you have to know those miracles of his are faked!'

''Course we know!' Donnar said in disgust. 'Trouble is, we can't figger out how he does half of 'em, so what's the good of tryin' t' expose 'im, eh? It ain't no good fer us t'do anythin' unless we c'n show ever'thin' is faked! Otherwise, nobody's gonna believe us.'

Robin sighed, and agreed that he was right. She was going to have to wrestle with her conscience over this one, and she wished desperately for a way to contact the Chief of her Clan. There was no way that she could expose Padrik as a fake without revealing how his 'miracles' were performed, which was in direct violation of her oath.

'Does anyone know who's helping him?' she asked, hoping someone did. If she could discover who the Gypsy was that had given away the secrets, she might be able to force him to confess publicly that he had helped Padrik perform his 'miracles.' That would take care of the problem without revealing any Gypsy secrets.

But Donnar disappointed her, shaking his head. 'Not a clue,' he replied. 'Wish we did. We figger it's got to be somebody in the Priests. Mebbe they found summat in some book somewheres that tells 'em how t' do all that stuff.'

That was a possibility she had not even considered! And if anything, that made her quandary worse. If there was no one to blame for revealing secrets, if the Gypsy 'secrets' turned out to be something that had already been put in print somewhere, did that make her oath invalid?

She shook her head. This situation was confusing enough without making it more complicated than it already was.

'Well, the last thing we need is something you can do for us better than anyone else,' she said. 'We need more information than we have, particularly on the Priests, and the best way to get that _'

She paused significantly, and Donnar grinned. 'Is t' go workin' inna House, a'course!' he finished the sentence for her. 'I 'spect ye mean as musicians; I tell ye what, I'll get ye an audition at th' place I reckon'll suit ye best. Rest is up t' you.' He thought for a moment. 'Ye come by in two days, same time as t'day, less I send ye a message at th' Bird. I'll have it set up fer ye. A good House; I'd say here, 'cept I already gotta feller who ain't bad, an' he's old.