chair’s back, staring into the rain morosely. “How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“Day or three.”
“We getting any fresh water out of it?”
“About as much as we can being as we’re hiding out.”
“What’re those two doing?” Goblin and One-Eye were on the floor in the middle of the room, crosslegged, farthest from the moisture blowing inside. They did not look up.
“Wizard stuff. Don’t bother them. They’ll bite your leg off.”
One-Eye grumbled, “And somebody’s gonna lose a set of ears if he don’t stop yakking.”
Hagop and I each spent one of our diminishing supply of single finger salutes. One-Eye did not acknowledge the accolade.
The lookout had a window facing each direction. I went to the biggest.
This rain was not what we called a gullywasher back home but it was strong and steady. I could barely sense the vague loom of the surrounding hills. Nearer at hand I could make out the surface of the water. It was down despite the rain. It was a grey that spoke of sickness.
I saw a Jaicuri raft out there, so loaded with people that it was awash. Men using short boards as paddles labored carefully to drive it toward shore.
I made the rounds of the other windows, studied the city. I was pleased to see our Taglians at their posts the way they had been taught.
“They’ve been doing it by the numbers,” Hagop agreed. “And that gets them left alone.”
“By Mogaba?”
“By everybody. The fighting is almost constant.”
The streets and alleys were now canals. I saw bodies floating everywhere. The stench was overwhelming. The water level, though, was lower than I had expected. I could see the citadel from the east window. There were Nar up top there, ignoring the weather. They moved around the parapet, studying our part of town.
Hagop noticed me watching them. “They’re worried about us. They think we might come sort them out sometime.”
“Sure we will.”
“They’re superstitious about guys like Goblin and One-Eye.”
“Which shows you how dangerous a little ignorance can be.”
“I heard that,” One-Eye grumbled. He and Goblin could have been playing some obscure dice game for all I could tell. I liked it better when they conjured big lights that went around smashing things and burning them up. Destruction I can understand.
Sahra seemed tired of lugging To Tan so I took him. She offered a grateful smile. It lit up the lookout.
One-Eye and Goblin paused to exchange glances amongst themselves and with Hagop.
“What are you guys doing?” I demanded.
“We found out we were right.”
“Yeah? That might be a first. You were right about what?”
“About your head having been tampered with.”
I shuddered to a sudden chill. That is not something anyone welcomes. “Who did it? How?”
“How we haven’t been able to figure out for sure. It might have been managed several ways. Who and what are more interesting, anyway.”
“So give.”
“Who was Lady. And what was knowledge of the fact that she is out there.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a little hard to tell from here, especially when we got tourists and their girlfriends traipsing through the workplace, but it looks like Lady and the Taglians are in charge out there. Their camp is on the other side of the hills, up the north road. The southerners we see patrolling are auxiliaries who report back to Lady.”
“Run through that again.”
Goblin did so.
I said, “You guys go ahead. I’m just going to sit over here in the corner and think.”
77
Uncle Doj and Thai Dei were back from wherever they had gone. They scowled at Sahra and me when we returned but neither said a word. Hong Tray still had her hold on the Kys. Thai Dei took his son. The little guy brightened immediately.
Uncle Doj told me, “My people are not mushrooms, Standardbearer. They cannot endure this much longer. You Stone Soldiers have been generous to a fault and have given no provocation but even so there will be trouble eventually. A wounded animal will strike out at even the most loving master.”
“We’ll be out of here sooner than I planned.” I was not in a good mood. I wanted to drag Lady across my lap and paddle her. “I’ve already given orders to start the process.”
“You sound angry.”
“I am angry.” Lady used me in a political game with Mogaba with never a thought for the Company’s welfare. She was no more real Company than he was.
Longo leaned in the doorway. “You get the word about the catacombs flooding, Murgen?”
“Bucket told me. How soon is it going to be a problem?” “Four or five days. Maybe more. Unless the leak gets a lot worse.”
“We’ll be gone. Your brothers and One-Eye are up in the big lookout. Go find out what’s up.”
Longo shrugged and went, grumbling about the climb.
I asked, “Who speaks for the Nyueng Bao now?”
“We have not yet chosen,” Uncle Doj replied.
“Could you? Quickly? A Taglian general name of Lanore Bonharj-the guy who’s in charge of the freed slaves and friendly Taglians and Jaicuri right now-is going to come by. We’ll need somebody Nyueng Bao to join us in planning our evacuation.” He started to say something. I rolled on. “It seems that the Shadowmaster isn’t a problem anymore, only nobody bothered to tell us. Our own so-called friends have been jobbing us for political reasons. We could leave any time I don’t know for how long now.”
I put all the blame for our ignorance on Goblin and One-Eye. You can blame a wizard for anything and people will believe you.
Sahra tried to make a meal from what we had. I touched her hand as she passed. She smiled. I told her, “This should be the last time we’ll need to do this.”
I hoped.
I was wrong.
Everything takes time.
Lanore Bonharj followed me down into the warrens. He was both amazed and appalled. He was high-caste Gunni. It was bad up top but this squalor down below was beyond his imagination. We talked. Uncle Doj spoke for the Nyueng Bao. Bargains were struck, agreements agreed, plans quickly laid. Preparations began in earnest.
78
In the dark of night, in the rain, the Black Company stole forth, crossed a rickety makeshift bridge to stairs to the battlements, joined the Taglians of the al-Khul company. With Goblin at the point we sneaked along the wall, seized the North Gate and barbican from the Nar and their Taglians. Goblin’s sleep spell made that easy. Nobody got hurt. In our gang.
Before the last body splashed into the water outside Goblin and I and the Company cadre headed back to grab the West Gate and its barbican.
