'Someone best take that slubber a beer before his voice irritates me further,' Egil said.
Nix read the creases in Egil's brow the way an oracle read chicken entrails, and they told him the priest's ire was up. He really was in a mood.
Not good.
'Come now,' Nix said. 'Are you really that mad about buying this place? We agreed it was a good idea.'
Egil merely harrumphed again.
'Something else, then?'
'A beer!' the hiresword called.
The lines in Egil's forehead deepened, Ebenor's eye in a squint.
Nix didn't see Morra so he grabbed a tankard of ale from Gadd and asked Lis, 'Would you mind taking this to that oaf?'
'I'm not a serving wench,' Lis said, pouting.
'I know, milady. But if I take it to him, I fear I'll stab him in the eye.'
'That'd be a well-earned stab,' Egil said.
'Please?' Nix asked, pleading with his eyes.
Lis sighed, shook out her long black hair, fluffed her breasts, and took the tankard in hand.
'You are the landlord, now,' she said, and walked off.
Nix grinned at that. 'Tesha did tell someone!'
'She told all of us,' Kiir said. 'She seemed put out by it, I'd say.'
'Put out?' Nix said, frowning. 'How so?'
Kiir seemed to realize she'd spoken out of turn. Her soft eyes looked everywhere but Nix's face. Her cheeks colored, visible even through her makeup. 'Just that… well… I think she… There she is! Maybe you should ask her yourself.'
Kiir grabbed Nix's tankard and took a long drink while Nix turned to watch Tesha descend the stairs. She wore a flowing blue dress with a tight-fitting bodice, and her dark hair hung in waves around her olive skin. Nix had heard that she'd been a harem slave once, owned by some minor sultan of Jafari, but he'd never dared ask. Her severe features did not invite familiar talk. Nix, who'd faced devils, who'd stared down three assassins hired by Kazmer the Flame to take Nix's tongue, acknowledged that Tesha intimidated him. She wasn't like most women he knew; or maybe she was, and he just didn't know women like he thought he did.
She slid down the stairway with the grace of an aristocrat. She spoke softly to the men and women in her employ who stood at the stair rail. Nix read her lips.
'Posture, ladies.'
'Smile, Arno. Always smile.'
Nix raised a hand to get her attention. He faltered like a boy when her eyes fell on him and her brow furrowed. He stood there like a statue, arm raised, no doubt a doltish expression on his face. He conjured the words he would speak, played them out in his mind — Milady, Tesha. You certainly are a lovely sight.
Shouts from the loudmouth hiresword ruined his fantasy.
'Even the whores serve tables here! Maybe it's not the shithole I took it for.'
His three fellows laughed and Lis, who had just set down the tankard of ale at their table, donned a fake smile while two of the men pawed at her backside.
'Where do you think you're going?' the hiresword said loudly, jumping up from his chair and boxing in Lis against the table. He took her by the wrist, none too softly. 'I might want more than a beer.'
From the stairs, Tesha said, 'Lis, please come see me. Goodsir, if you'd like-'
The hiresword turned and glared up at Tesha. 'What? Am I not good enough for a whore's company?'
'That's not what I meant at all,' said Tesha.
Nix stood up, thinking to impress Tesha by diffusing the situation.
'Here's an idea,' he called. 'Why don't you just take your hands off of her, retake your seat, and enjoy another drink with your crew. It's on the house.'
Tesha pursed her lips and stared daggers at him. He had no idea why.
The man did not release Lis. He cocked his head, squinted his eyes. 'Don't I know you? Ain't you Nix Fall?'
Nix bowed, pleased to be recognized. 'Indeed, I am. I see my reputation precedes me. Now-'
'This doesn't involve you now, does it, Nix Fall? So maybe you should close your hole, shouldn't you, Nix Fall.' He shook Lis by the arm as he spoke. 'This is between her and me.'
'There is no you and me unless you pay,' Lis said, still playing her role. She tried to sound playful, but Nix could see the hiresword's grip caused her pain.
'We'd like to settle up here,' said the fat teamster, as he and his companions rose and edged away from their table, out of the verbal line of fire.
'Friend, just let it go and go back to your tankard, yeah?' Nix said. 'You don't want this to go bad, do you?'
The hiresword sneered. 'Maybe I do. Would you wet your blade over a whore, Nix Fall? This whore?'
'Nix…' Kiir said behind him.
On the stairs, Tesha, still staring at him, raised her eyebrows and shook her head.
'Maybe I would,' Nix said philosophically. 'I've bloodied an edge over less. But that's neither hither nor yon, since she's more than that to me. It happens she's a rent-paying tenant. My rent-paying tenant, since I own this place.'
A few murmured comments, one soft 'huzzah' from one of the teamsters.
The hiresword guffawed. 'You own this place? Ha! You lose a wager or something? I heard you was called 'lucky.' This place is a shithole.'
The slam of Egil's tankard on the bar, as loud as the report of a blunderbuss, cut short the chuckles of the hiresword's companions. All eyes turned to the priest. The stool groaned with relief as Egil rose.
Rakon sat his horse, blinking in the drizzle, Rusilla's slouched form before him in the saddle. The eunuch sat a horse beside him, his ham hands clutching Merelda's limp form to prevent her from falling off the mount. Rakon's men stood around an uncovered, horse-drawn wagon. All but Baras, the head of Rakon's personal guard, had cloak hoods drawn against the rain.
'That's it there, my lord?' Baras asked, pointing at the decrepit building across the street.
Rakon squinted through the drizzle at the sign that hung over the building's door. He couldn't make out the faded writing, but the image limned on the board looked like a dark tunnel.
'That's it,' Rakon said.
'And they're inside, this Egil and Nix?'
'They are,' Rakon said. Or so his informant had told him.
Baras nodded. His face wrinkled in a question but he did not give it voice.
'What is it, Baras?' Rakon asked.
Baras looked up at Rakon, droplets of rain adorning his beard. 'My lord, why are we bothering with these two? I don't see-'
'We'll need them when we reach Afirion,' Rakon said.
'Yes, but these two men are thieves by reputation. There are others-'
'No,' Rakon said sharply. 'It must be these two. Now do as I've said, Baras. No more questions.'
Baras stiffened. 'Aye, my lord.'
'I need them alive. Bring them to the warehouse in the docks, the one we've used before. I'll meet you there.'
'Aye, my lord.'
'It may be a shithole, slubber,' Egil said to the hiresword, 'but it's our shithole. And you and yours are no longer welcome in it.'
Nix smiled, pleased to see Egil taking some pride of ownership. 'I'm glad to hear you own up to-'
The hiresword let Lis go and put a hand to his blade hilt. His three companions pushed back their chairs and stood.
