reached out his ludicrously long arm and punched Framain on the side of the head. Framain collapsed like a shoddily built rick. Daurenja turned back as though he'd just swatted a fly. She sprang past him and threw herself on top of Framain; clearly she was afraid Daurenja had killed him, but he groaned and pushed her away.
'Excuse me,' Miel said.
Framain looked up and saw him. His expression showed that he'd forgotten about Miel. He wiped a dribble of blood off his chin.
'I'd like you to meet my business partner,' Framain said. 'Daurenja, this is Miel Ducas. He's going to hold your arms while I smash your head in.'
Daurenja glanced quickly at Miel; he was judging distances, doing mental geometry. He took two long strides, sideways and back, placing himself out of distance of all three of them.
'You,' he said, looking at Miel for the briefest time required to make eye contact, then returning the focus of his attention to Framain, 'get lost. Nothing to do with you. Get on your horse and go away.'
It would've been very easy to obey. Daurenja had a foreman's voice, the kind that makes you do as you're told without stopping to think. Besides, he was right: none of the Ducas' business, therefore no obligation to intervene. Since it seemed pretty evident that the three of them together would be no game at all for Daurenja in a fight, there didn't seem to be anything Miel could usefully do.
'If it's all the same to you,' he said, 'I'll hang around for a bit. I mean, I haven't got a clue where we are, for a start, and-'
'Do what he says,' Framain growled at him. 'I don't need you.'
'I know. I just-'
'Go away.' So she didn't want him there either. It was just as well, Miel decided, that he wasn't a democrat.
'Fine.' Miel stood up. 'Can I keep the horse?'
No reply; he no longer existed. He gathered the reins and led the horse away. It didn't want to move, so he twitched its head sideways; at least that still worked. 'I'll head this way,' he called back without looking round. 'And thank you for rescuing me.'
Once he was over the lip of the saucer, he stopped and glanced back; then he found the heaviest rock he could lift, put the reins under it to keep the horse there, and walked as quietly as he could manage back the way he'd just come. Just under the cover of the lip he stopped, crouched down and listened.
He could hear Framain's voice, shouting, but couldn't make out the words. After a while she joined in, shrill, practically hysterical. Framain interrupted briefly, and then she resumed. He'd never heard so much anger, so much passion in any voice, male or female. Then there was a sound like a handclap, but extremely loud, and her voice stopped abruptly. Framain roared, and then he heard Daurenja say, 'No'-not shouting, just speaking extremely clearly. At some point while he was eavesdropping, a stone had found its way into his hand. It fitted just right into his palm and nestled there comfortably, like a dog curled up at your feet. He crawled up to the top of the lip and looked down.
She was lying on her face. Framain was kneeling beside her, hugging his ribs, finding it hard to breathe. Daurenja stood a long stride away from him-long distance, in fencing terms. He had his arms folded too; he looked impatient and mildly annoyed. The knuckles of his right hand, gripping his left elbow, were scuffed and bleeding slightly.
Absolutely none of my business, Miel thought, taking aim.
The stone hit Daurenja just above the ear; not hard enough to knock him down but sufficient to make him stagger. Not the right time for sophistication, Miel decided. He ran down the lip, just managing to keep his balance, and crashed into him. The two of them fell together, and before they hit the ground, Miel could feel fingernails digging into his neck.
His weight helped. Landing on Daurenja was like falling into the brash of a fallen tree; his ribs, like branches, gave and then flexed. The grip on Miel's neck didn't slacken and he felt panic surging through him. The palm of his hand was on Daurenja's face, he was pushing away as hard as he could, but all that achieved was to tighten the grip. At that moment, death lost all its serenity and grace. He was the prey in the predator's jaws, wriggling and kicking a futile protest against the natural order of things. In his mind, dispassionately, like a neutral observer, he realized that he was losing the fight-not over yet, but he certainly wouldn't bet money on himself. It was, he decided, a pity but no tragedy. Mostly he felt resentful, because in the final analysis this thin freak was beating him, which inevitably made him the better man.
He didn't hear anything, but Daurenja's grip suddenly loosened and he stopped moving; then his body was hauled out of the way and Miel saw Framain looking down, though not at him. He realized that he was exhausted, too physically weary to move. Death, he decided, simply didn't want him, like the fat boy who never gets asked to join the gang.
'My business partner,' Framain said. 'It's all right, he's not dead. We need him, unfortunately. He's going to take us to join the Vadani duke. It's his way of making it up to us.' Framain stopped, made a sucking noise and spat, very carefully, on Daurenja's upturned face. 'I suppose I ought to thank you, but you should've done as you were told. This is a family matter, nothing to do with you.'
'Would you help me up, please?' Miel said.
Framain frowned, as if he didn't understand, then reached out, caught hold of Miel's wrist and hauled him upright. He nearly fell down again, but managed to find his feet.
'Are you all right?' Framain didn't sound particularly interested.
'I think so. Just winded.'
'We need some rope, or something we can tie his hands with,' Framain said. 'Got to be careful with him, it's like tying up a snake.' That made it sound like he'd done it before; regularly, even. 'He hit my daughter, you know,' he added. 'Punched her face. She's all right, but…' He sighed. 'We need him, at least until we reach the Vadani. It'll be awkward killing him there, but you know what they say. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.'
No rope on the horses' saddles; they had to take Daurenja's shirt off and plait strips of it. Framain was fussy and impatient at the job, fretting in case Daurenja came round before they were ready. She helped at the end. Her mouth was swollen and purple, and her left eye was closed. Daurenja was in scarcely better shape. Whatever Framain had hit him with had left a long gash on his bald scalp. It had bled copiously, as scalp wounds do, so that his neck and ponytail were caked in blood. They propped him against the slope and Framain tied his hands and feet together, working edgily, at arm's length. 'I'm surprised we managed it, actually,' Framain observed casually, as they stood up and looked at him. 'Just the three of us. Of course, it helped that he was taking care not to damage us. In some respects he's quite predictable.'
'You should kill him now.' She was using the tone of voice in which she chided him about details of mixing the colors. 'Forget about joining up with the Vadani. That was his idea, presumably. Anyway, we don't need them. They're losers, or they wouldn't be running.'
Framain scowled at her. 'We haven't got anywhere else to go.'
'Thanks to him.' A different him this time.
'Be that as it may. Besides, what he said makes sense. The Vadani can't mine silver anymore; they need money. They'll be glad to help us, if we tell them we can make them a fortune.'
'But the clay-'
'It's the Vadani, or going back home and waiting for the Mezentines to arrest us for killing those soldiers, or wandering aimlessly till we run out of food or a patrol gets us. Use your common sense for once.'
The same argument, just a different topic. Presumably it would last as long as they did. Framain turned to Miel like a man looking for an escape route. 'I suppose you're curious to find out why we're planning to kill the man who just rescued us all,' he said.
'I was wondering, yes,' Miel said mildly. 'I'd got the impression you hadn't parted on good terms.'
'Don't tell him,' she interrupted, a hint of panic in her voice. 'He's nothing to do with us. And we don't need the Vadani, let's do it now and get it over with, before the bastard escapes.'
Framain raised his hand. Remarkably, this had the effect of silencing her. She turned her back on them both, though Miel was prepared to bet she was watching Daurenja, like a terrier on a leash at the mouth of a rat-hole. 'My daughter's quite right, actually,' he said, in a strangely calm, almost pleasant voice. 'But from what I know about you, I get the feeling that if I don't tell you, it's quite likely you'll carry on interfering. The easiest way to get rid of you is to tell you. Of course, I'll need your assurance that you won't ever tell anybody what you're about to
