Inside, they led him out onto the stage and into the yard. Waiting in the lower gallery was a small group of men and women, along with a short, green-skinned creature with a wild black mane. The beast hissed at Darrow as he approached.
'Easy, Lommy,' said Talbot Uskevren. He sat in the second row, surrounded by the others. Across his knees he held the biggest sword Darrow had ever seen. It looked impossible to wield, even in two hands. Talbot scratched the little creature behind the ears. 'Go upstairs and make sure he wasn't followed.' Lommy scrambled up the nearest pillar as nimbly as any monkey.
Talbot stood up and set the monstrous sword aside as easily as if it were a walking stick. He was at least as tall as the Huntmaster, and even more powerfully muscled. Darrow felt the same sense of foreboding as he did when in the presence of Rusk or Stannis. This man could kill him in a second.
'I saw you in the playhouse last night,' said Tal. 'You were with the white-haired elf.'
'Yes,' said Darrow.
Talbot looked ready to ask something else, but Feena interrupted. 'Is it true what your friend said about killing my mother?'
'Your mother?' he asked.
'Maleva. He said you killed Maleva.'
'Rusk said she was your teacher…' said Darrow. 'He didn't tell us she was…'
'So it's true,' she said. Her voice turned cold.
Darrow nodded slowly. 'Rusk killed her, yes. She tried to stop us from coming to the city.'
'But you helped,' said Talbot. 'You all killed her, didn't you?'
Darrow licked his lips. 'Listen, I came to warn you-'
'Answer the damned question!' said Feena.
'I was there,' admitted Darrow. 'I… I'm as guilty as the rest.'
'And you've killed before then, haven't you?' Feena spat at his feet. 'You've done it yourself. You're nothing but an animal!'
This was the last thing Darrow expected. He knew they had no reason to trust him, but this badgering astonished him. 'What does it matter? I'm here to help save someone, not to kill anyone.'
'Eckert's daughter,' said Tal. 'That's what you told Feena.'
'I still can't believe Eckert has a daughter,' interrupted Chaney, clutching his head with both hands. 'Do you know what that means? That means he's had sex. With a woman. Some poor woman had sex with Eckert!'
'Knock it off, Chane,' said Tal. He fixed his eyes on Dar-row. 'What happened to her?'
'I don't know how she was captured, but she's been Lord Malveen's prisoner for over a year.'
'There is no Lord Malveen,' interjected one of the players. He was a pretty man with long black curls.
'Stannis Malveen still lives-if that's the word for it- in the ruins of House Malveen,' Darrow said. 'Everything that's happened to you started with him.'
'Tell me everything,' said Talbot.
'I will,' Darrow promised, 'but you've got to promise to help me get Maelin out of there.'
'No promises,' said Talbot, 'but if you make yourself useful, I won't break your neck right now.'
Darrow didn't believe the threat… not until he met Talbot Uskevren's unwavering eyes. They were the color of unpolished steel, dead and strong. He realized that he had put himself completely in the other man's power. He might be able to win past all the players and even Feena, if he were lucky, but he could not oppose this man that Rusk called the Black Wolf.
'Start from the beginning,' said Talbot, glancing up through the open roof. 'And make it quick. The moon is coming.'
Darrow took a breath and obeyed. He hoped his new master would be merciful.
Talbot was quiet for a long time after Darrow finished his tale. He had told it carefully, trying not to make too much of his desire to release Maelin from captivity, but leaving unspoken his own participation in the pack's High Hunts and callous defense of their territory. Judging by Feena's steady gaze, his guilt was not forgotten, nor forgiven.
The cleric had turned away from him only long enough to say her prayers at moonrise. Having listened carefully to Darrow's tale, she called on Selune for protections against the undead as well as spells to heal the wounded and harm the wicked. Afterward, she sat rocking slightly in a gesture that reminded Darrow of his own inner contest with the moon. She was calling to his wolf, and he had to concentrate to contain it. He had little doubt that his sudden transformation would be all the excuse Feena needed to execute him.
If Talbot felt the call, it did not show. He sat pensively, his fingers trailing the length of the gigantic sword he held on his lap. Whatever he was thinking, he did not share with the others.
Quickly lit a fresh bowlful of tobacco and broke the silence.
'Werewolves and vampires,' she said. 'This'll make a great play when it's all done.'
Talbot began to protest, but then he sighed. 'You might as well,' he said. 'There's no hiding it after last night.'
'I want to play this Sorcia,' said a slim, androgynous woman. Darrow was astonished at her aplomb.
'Sivana!' said Feena.
'Can I play Tal?' said a big, goofy looking fellow. He had the size for it, if no other resemblance to the Black Wolf.
'Not you, too, Ennis! Listen,' said Feena sharply. 'I know you're just trying to lighten the mood, but this doesn't help.'
'Sorry,' said the man with black curls. 'Tell us what we can do to help.'
'Absolutely nothing, Mallion,' said Talbot. 'I've already brought more than enough trouble to the playhouse. From now on, I'll deal with it on my own.'
'Not alone,' warned Feena.
'No,' agreed Tal reluctantly. 'I'll need your help.'
'And mine,' said a short, blond man who seemed somehow out of place among the players. He stood up and winced as if injured.
'Forget it, Chane,' said Tal. 'You've taken more than your share of lumps lately.'
'It's my prerogative as the best friend,' said Chaney. 'I'm the-what do you call it in the plays, Quickly?'
'The male confidant,' said Quickly, tossing him a wink.
'What does that make me, fifth business?' said Sivana. She twirled a polished long sword in her hand. It shone red under the light of the continual flame brands Lommy had set on the gallery support beams and the edge of the stage. 'You taught us how to fight with these, Tal. It's time we returned the favor by putting them to real use.'
Mallion agreed, stabbing one of the benches with his own blade. Quickly gave him a dire glance, and he pulled it out and hid the scar in the wood with his boot.
'This is not a play,' said Tal. 'You saw what happened last night, and that was nothing compared to what happened last time Rusk was here.'
'He's got a point, dearies,' said Quickly. 'I was here for that, and it wasn't pretty.'
'You were down in the abyss with me the whole time,' protested Chaney. 'Neither of us saw anything but that nasty severed arm and the mess he made of Tal's insides.'
'I saw your insides right afterward,' countered Quickly.
'Quiet!' thundered Tal. His voice resonated throughout the playhouse, and several of the players flinched at its unexpected volume. Seeing that he had their attention, he continued. 'I love you all,' he said. 'Except you,' he amended with a cold glance at Darrow. 'One wrong move, and I will throttle you.'
'I know,' said Darrow.
'Good,' said Tal. 'The rest of you, I appreciate the sentiment. You're closer to me than my own family-'
'Damning us with faint praise,' snorted Sivana.
'-and twice as disagreeable,' said Tal. 'But there's no way I can let you-'
'Tal Tal Tal Tal!' sang the tiny arboreal creature as it scampered down from the thatched roof. 'They are
