The shaved pieces of wood caught fire, flaring up hot and sudden, catching the rest of the tinder and making flames leap up almost instantly.
I’d meant it to be a dramatic gesture so Dedan would stop thinking of me as some useless boy. But the time I spent at the University had made me jaded. Starting a fire like this was as simple as putting on your boots for a member of the Arcanum.
Dedan, on the other hand, had never met an arcanist, and probably hadn’t ever been within five hundred miles of the University. Everything he knew about magic was from campfire stories.
So when the fire flared up, he went pale as a sheet and took several sudden steps back. He looked for all the world as if I’d suddenly called up a roaring sheet of fire like Taborlin the Great.
Then I saw Marten and Hespe wearing the same expression, native Vintish superstition written clearly on their faces. Their eyes went to the flickering fire, then back to me. I was one of
Looking at their stunned faces, I realized nothing I said would set them at ease. Not right now. So instead I sighed and began to set up my sleeping roll for the night.
While there wasn’t much cheerful conversation around the fire that night, there wasn’t any muttering from Dedan either. I’d like respect, but failing that, a little healthy fear can go a long way to making things run smoothly.
Two days with no further dramatics on my part helped everyone relax. Dedan was still all bluff and bravado, but he had quit calling me “boy” and was only complaining about half as much, so I considered it a victory.
Flushed with this lukewarm success, I decided to make an active attempt to draw Tempi into a conversation. If I was going to be in charge of this little group, I needed to know more about him. Most importantly, I needed to know if he could speak more than five words in a row.
So I approached the Adem mercenary when we stopped for our midday meal. He was sitting slightly apart from the rest of us. He wasn’t standoffish. It’s just that the rest of us would sit and talk while we ate. Tempi, on the other hand, simply ate.
But today I made a point of sitting down next to him with my lunch: a chunk of hard sausage and some cold potatoes. “Hello, Tempi.”
He looked up and nodded. For a second I caught a glimpse of his pale grey eyes. Then he looked away, shifting restlessly. He ran his hand through his hair, and for a second he reminded me of Simmon. They both had the same slender build and sandy hair. Simmon wasn’t this quiet though. Sometimes I could barely get a word in edgewise with Sim.
I’d tried to talk to Tempi before, of course. Ordinary small talk: the weather, sore feet after a long day’s walk, the food. These had all come to nothing. At best a word or two. More often a nod or a shrug. But most common was a blank look followed by fidgeting and a stubborn refusal to do so much as look me in the eye.
So today I had a conversational gambit. “I have heard stories about the Lethani,” I said. “I would like to know more. Would you tell me about it?”
Tempi’s pale eyes touched mine briefly, his expression still blank. Then he looked away again. He tugged one of the red leather straps that held his shirt close to his body and fidgeted with his sleeve. “No. I will not speak on Lethani. It is not for you. Do not ask.”
He looked away from me again, down at the ground.
I counted in my head. Sixteen words. That answered one of my questions at least.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Pennysworth
Twilight was settling in as we rounded a curve in the road. I heard clapping and stomping mingled with music, shouting, and roars of laughter. After ten hours of walking, the sound lifted my spirits to an almost cheerful level.
Located at the last major crossroad south of the Eld, the Pennysworth Inn was enormous. Built of rough- hewn timber, it had two full stories and a scattering of gables that hinted at a smaller, third floor above that. Through the windows I caught glimpses of men and women dancing while an unseen fiddler sawed out a mad and breathless tune.
Dedan took a deep breath. “Can you smell that? I tell you, there’s a woman in this place could cook a stone and make me beg for more. Sweet Peg. By these hands, I hope she’s still around.” He made a curving gesture, showing the double meaning of his words as he nudged Marten with an elbow.
Hespe’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the back of Dedan’s head.
Oblivious, Dedan continued, “Tonight I’ll sleep with a bellyful of lamb and brandy. Although a little less sleeping might prove a little more entertaining, if my last trip here was any indication.”
I saw the storm brewing on Hespe’s face and spoke up quickly. “Whatever’s in the pot and a bunk for each of us,” I said firmly. “Anything else comes out of your own pocket.”
Dedan looked as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Come off it. We’ve been sleeping rough for days. Besides, ’taint your money, don’t be a stingy shim with it.”
“We haven’t done our job yet,” I said calmly. “Not even a piece of it. I don’t know how long we may be out here, but I know I’m not rich. If we run through the Maer’s purse too quickly we’re going to have to hunt for what we eat.” I looked around at everyone. “Unless someone else has enough coin to keep us fed and cares to share?”
Marten smiled ruefully at the suggestion. Hespe’s eyes were for Dedan, who continued glowering in my direction.
Tempi fidgeted, his expression unreadable as ever. Avoiding my eyes, he glanced at everyone in turn, his expression blank. His eyes moved, not from face to face, but at Dedan’s hands, then Dedan’s feet. Then Marten’s feet, then Hespe’s, then mine. He shifted his weight and moved a half-step closer to Dedan.
Hoping to dispel the tension, I softened my tone and said, “After everything is done we’ll split what’s left of the purse. That way each of us will have a little extra in our pocket before we even get back to Severen. We can each spend our lots as we want to. Then.”
I could tell Dedan wasn’t pleased and waited to see if he would press the point.
Instead it was Marten who spoke up. “After a day of long walking,” he said in a musing voice, as if talking to himself. “A drink
Dedan looked to his friend, then back to me expectantly.
“I think the purse can stand a round of drinks,” I conceded with a smile. “I don’t think the Maer is trying to make priests of us, do you?”
This got a throaty laugh from Hespe, while Marten and Dedan cracked smiles. Tempi glanced at me with his pale eyes, fidgeted, and looked away.
A few minutes of relaxed haggling got the five of us common bunks, a simple supper, and a round of drinks for a single silver bit. After that was done, I found a table in a quieter corner of the room and tucked my lute out of harm’s way under my bench. Then I sat down, bone weary and wondering what I could do to get Dedan to stop acting like such a little swaggercock.
Such was the distracted turning of my thoughts when my dinner thumped onto the table in front of me. I looked up to see a woman’s face and well-advertised bosom framed by a tumble of bright red curls. Her skin was white as cream with just the barest hint of freckle. Her lips a pale, dangerous pink. Her eyes a bright, dangerous green.
“Thank you,” I said, somewhat belatedly.
“You’re welcome, love.” She smiled playfully with her eyes and brushed her hair back from her bare shoulder. “It looked like you were almost a-sleeping in your seat.”
“I nearly was. A long day and a long road.”
“That’s a shame indeed,” she said with playful regret as she rubbed the back of her neck. “If I thought you’d
