the priest, his novice, and the packhorse.
Fortunately, the last of the steep part was nearly behind them. The next loop of road seemed to jut over open air before turning back along the cliff face, and from that point on, the way was fairly easy. M’Baddah,despite his wound, set a quick pace, and now Eddis could see the thick, featureless south wall and the first glimpse of turrets. After another turn, more of the walls, and finally she could make out movement up there: guards and others, perhaps.
After that final climb, the road snaked east along the black stone ledge, hugging the walls before making the final plunge to the main gate. Now she could see men in polished helms gazing over the walls, and the glinting points of their tall pikes. The drawbridge spanning the dry gully was down and the portcullis up, but the heavy gates were closed. She was aware of men watching from the high, square towers, ready to launch an attack if need be. From here, she couldn’t see the ballistae and catapults.
It was always daunting, riding up to this gate. M’Baddah,aware how she felt, laid a hand on her shoulder. He looked pale, and his lips were set in a tight line, but as she worriedly touched his shoulder, he managed a smile.
“We are safe. They know us, my Eddis.”
“I know. It’s just that…”
She let that go and took the lead, pulling the cap from her very recognizable hair as she dismounted at the gate. It was quiet, suddenly, leaving her all too aware of the narrow slits and round openings in the walls.
One gate opened as she stepped forward, enough to let out two men armed with pikes. One came a pace closer, smiling as he recognized her. She managed a smile in reply.
“Eddis of Caffer, and my men,” she said. “You know M’Baddahand his son, M’Whan. We’ve brought the priest Xyneg and his novice to meet withyour curate. But first-we were attacked just now, on the Keep road.”
At a gesture from the near guard, the one just behind him turned and strode back into shadow. He returned a moment later with a tall officer, who listened as she quickly explained.
“Get four bowmen out here at once, mounted,” he told theguard. “I’ll go with them. Eddis,” he added, “we’ll talk of this later. Gofreely inside, settle your clients and your horses and goods, get yourselves lodging and a meal. You’re known here.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “Known” meant they were trusted-notkept in the barracks and watched until they were deemed safe, which was almost as good as known. “We three will be at the inn. The clients are to be guests ofthe curate and are expected.”
The officer nodded as he and his fellows mounted and rode out.
Eddis felt suddenly very tired indeed. The pikeman smiled at her. “As the captain says, ma’am-”
“That’s Eddis. Ma’am is my mother.”
“Eddis.” The smile became a grin. “You’re known here, Eddis.Captain’ll find you when he needs you. I’ll get someone to escort the priests tothe chapel.”
Eddis shook her head. “Thank you, but it’s a contract. We’llmanage.” She made certain to shove her cloak behind her shoulders as the gateopened. Let the guard see I’m armed but that the weapons are properly stowed,she thought.
An hour later, washed and clad in fresh cloth breeches andtunic from her saddlebags, pale, damp hair trailing down her back, Eddis sat cross-legged on a narrow cot in one of the inn’s few private rooms, counting outstacks of coins on three squares of soft brown suede. Six extra silver to share out this time. Nice of that priest to add it. Still, we did deliver them safe, even after the surprise practically at the gates. Two extra silver went to M’Baddah as her lieutenant; one for his son, as apprentice. Still better cointhan a two-season youth could expect in most companies. All in all, very good money, this trip. She folded the sides of the leather around the coins and set the packets on the low chest that held her personal things. Aside from the chest and the bed, there was no other furniture-wasn’t room for anything else, exceptthe small wooden tub they’d brought in for her bath and taken away once she wasdone.
M’Baddah and M’Whan stayed close by, in the large commonroom. Eddis stretched hard and leaned forward to squeeze water from her hair onto the stone floor. Now and again she stayed in the common room herself, but the chance of a bath and clean hair had been too much to resist.
“Getting soft in your old age, Eddis,” she mumbled. “A roomall to yourself with a bar for the door, and a real window.” True, the windowwasn’t much more than a narrow slit-deliberately made too narrow for anyone toclimb through, though only a madman would try something that lawless inside the Keep-unlike some places she’d stayed.
She dismissed that, gazed around the tiny room with real pleasure. Everything about it was plain, strictly functional, but neat and very clean It was much nicer than what she’d had as a girl-a corner of the main room,near the hearth, and a damp straw mattress to share with three sisters.
All the rest of her siblings-the ones who’d survivedchildhood-still lived in that village. Most of them, especially her oldersisters, had thought her an odd child for actually enjoying the bow lessons all the village children had to take. Even the villages near the heart of the realm weren’t always safe from human predators or other, worse things, but many boysand most of the girls found ways to avoid the demanding work. Not Eddis. She had shown a talent for the bow, and later for the spear, and eventually had been allowed to join the village hunters-mostly older men like her uncles.
It had taken a lot of convincing to get yet another uncle who’d been a soldier to teach her basic sword moves. She’d managed, and she’dmastered them, which was all that counted.
At the time, she hadn’t been certain what she would do withsuch skills. A grown village woman wasn’t expected to use weapons. By the timeEddis had reached her seventeenth summer, she knew that whatever else she wanted out of life, being a villager wasn’t any part of it.
Her family hadn’t understood. “They probably still don’t,”she sighed faintly. At times, she missed them very much. “But not that way oflife.”
Her oldest sister had wed at sixteen, was a mother at seventeen, and had never been beyond the most distant of Caffer’s hay fields. Ithadn’t been easy for Eddis, breaking with the only way she’d ever seen or known,moving from Caffer to the nearest market town, finding enough work here and there to keep herself fed, currying horses in exchange for a corner of the stable where she could sleep, hoarding her money a copper at a time so she could haggle for that first used sword.
“Forget all that,” she told herself. “It’s done, and itwasn’t easy, and sometimes it was frightening, and some bad things happened, butit’s over. You won, and you got what you wanted, Eddis-your own company ofguards, the chance to travel and be paid for it, to see new lands and meet new people. Sometimes, you get to fight. And you still enjoy all of it.”
She got to her feet, shoved the men’s pay packets in herbelt, stuffed all but three coins of hers in her purse, and snugged the ties down. The loose money went into the pocket sewn inside her tunic. That should cover food and drink.
She shook still-damp hair back over her shoulders where it lay cool between her shoulder blades. M’Baddah and his son must be at the tavernby now. No matter. Her stomach was reminding her it had been too long since that bit of travel bread at the base of the cliff.
The tavern door was at an angle across the courtyard from the inn, just a few long strides away. Now she could smell fresh-baked bread and hear laughter. The small courtyard was cool, the air definitely damp, and the sun nowhere in sight, though it was barely two hours from midday. She crossed the area quickly, slipped through the open doorway, and paused there, letting her eyes adjust to the interior gloom.
The deep walls and strong shutters kept the place warm this time of year. The interior was one large room with plenty of long trestles and benches. There were smaller tables here and there that could accommodate six, if people sat close.
M’Baddah had taken one of the tables against the far wall,and as she started across the room, he got to his feet and pulled out a four-legged stool for her. He and M’Whan had shed their lightweight armor andnow wore loose, sleeveless red tunics over black shirts and loose black pants. Both had thick pottery mugs before them. M’Badda’s small knife was stuck in adark loaf of bread. Eddis drew her stool in close to the table and handed over the folds of leather.
“A small bonus, thanks to that little disagreement on theroad,” she said, her voice low, and her movements
