wondered for a moment if he hadn’t been punished for the act after all; the situation he found himself in with Gwen’s mother and the Watch certainly could be described as hellish in nature.
“It’s not right that you can just take something that is mine!” the woman stormed.
“You are immortal. I took a minuscule amount of your time—for which you were more than amply compensated—time that you won’t even notice missing. If you know anything about Travellers, you will be aware that the penalties for our actions are reduced when it concerns your kind.”
“But it is still illegal,” she insisted.
He waved that fact away. “Barely so.”
“The fact remains that what you did was wrong, morally and legally, and I shall be sure to inform the Watch of that fact. Oh, yes, I know who you are.” She had obviously noticed his reaction to her threat. “I had some people look you up once it became clear to me that you had stolen my time. You’re only a probationary member of the Watch, and it shouldn’t be difficult to have them kick you out for your illegal actions toward me. Not to mention interfering with me in the course of my duty.”
“I did nothing to stop you.”
“You brought my client back to life by resetting the time!”
“The outcome of which was that Gwen didn’t die, and thus your duty to collect her soul was abolished. Therefore, I couldn’t stop you from doing a job you didn’t have.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t think you can get around me with your time doublespeak. There’s causality for actions by people who affect time. I looked it up; there are laws that you are obligated to follow, so don’t think you can pull that wool over my eyes. I can see right through it.”
Gregory didn’t think she could, not really. Travellers had more than a millennium to perfect their circular thoughts on time, especially those concerning paradoxes, but he didn’t feel that she would benefit from knowing this. “You were paid for your time. I admit that the Watch will have something to say to me about the act”—that was an understatement—“but given the circumstances of saving a woman’s life, I am confident that their chastisement will not be too egregious.”
“We’ll see about that.” She scowled at the nearest cat. “What are you doing here in Anwyn?”
He thought of telling her that it was none of her business, but since he wanted to deflect her attention from this camp, he engaged what Peter’s wife called his charm mode. “The king sent me out to recover some items stolen from him. What are you doing here?”
“Items? Oh, the things that started the war? I’m here to reclaim my client’s soul, as you must know. Two mortals at the other camp told me that she had been taken to the king’s castle, but there was no sign of her, nor any sign that she had been there.” The reclaimer looked extremely annoyed. Gregory was frankly surprised that no one had told her that they’d been there, but that confusion was cleared up with her next words. “How those people live with all those cats—it’s unhealthy! There was cat hair everywhere. I couldn’t stop sneezing, and the second I set foot in the castle my eyes started streaming so badly that the officious little twit of a tour guide asked me if I was crying.”
Gregory made sympathetic noises. “So you didn’t speak to Aaron himself?”
“No, he was off doing something with an elephant, or so his wife gave me to understand. I spoke to her—or I attempted to.”
He froze. Constance had wanted them executed; it wasn’t likely that she would keep mum about their presence in the castle. “Did you indeed?”
“I don’t know about Aaron, but she is clearly dotty.” The reclaimer pulled an embroidered handkerchief from a pocket and dabbed at her nose while sending another potent glare at the cats nearest them. “Obsessed, obviously. And rude! She was downright obnoxious when I insisted that the cats be removed from the room. She said that allergies were all in one’s mind. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?”
“Never,” he said, breathing again. Thank the deities for Constance’s feline obsession.
“So I came back here to find those two mortal ignoramuses who were after my client and give them a piece of my mind. Only they aren’t at that other camp. The people there said they’d been brought over here.” She eyed him with a speculative glint in her eyes. “I don’t suppose you know where they are?”
“Two large men with no necks?”
She nodded.
“I have no idea where they are. For that matter, I don’t know who they are, other than that they are, as you say, mortal.”
“They work for some sort of crime lord, from what I understand. I spoke with them briefly when I got here, but they knew little other than that their boss wanted my client for refusing to deliver something she’d sold him. It matters little—my claim takes precedence.” She eyed him with growing suspicion. “You know her name. And yet my sources couldn’t find any proof that you were acquainted with her. Is that why you are here? To find her?”
“No,” he said in all honesty. He knew exactly where she was. Well, not the specific tent, but he knew she was in the camp. “I was captured by Aaron’s men and agreed to find three items that were stolen from him in order to secure my release.”
“Oh.” She looked away, clearly losing interest in him. “Then you are of no use to me. I must find the human idiots and roast their balls until they tell me where my client is.”
“There are a lot more cats in the camp than you see here,” Gregory said quickly, wanting to keep her from snooping around.
She had moved off a few feet, giving the nearest cat a wide berth, but stopped at his warning.
“Perhaps we could come to a deal,” he said slowly as he strolled toward her, his mind busily sorting through ideas.
“What sort of a deal?” she asked, suspicion back in her face.
He spread his hands to show his good intentions. “Let’s say that I search the camp for the two men—I’ve seen them from a distance, so I should be able to recognize them—and in return for my doing so, you drop the charges you’ll place against me with the Watch.”
She clicked her tongue against her teeth and appeared to be about to refuse his suggestion, but after a cat started toward them to investigate the new people, she agreed. “Very well,” she said, dabbing at her nose while backing away from the oncoming cat. “But you should know that this is very irregular, and if you ever again think of taking so much as a second from me—”
He spread his hands wider and turned up the wattage of his charm. “I can swear to you on the grave of my beloved mother that I would not do so.”
“I will be over in Ethan’s camp.” She hurried toward the downed tree to cross the stream. “I will expect you to report to me as soon as you find them.”
He bowed, waited until she had disappeared into Ethan’s encampment, and turned to examine the cat who sat next to him licking her paw. “Well done. Your timing was perfect. You may now remove yourself and attend to your other duties.”
The cat decided that more intimate ablutions were in order, and Gregory, feeling that was his cue, moved off to find Gwen. He would have to warn her about the reclamation agent. Perhaps Gwen would agree to lie low until he could persuade Death’s minion that she had left Anwyn?
These thoughts swirled through his mind as he searched the outer fringes of the camp.
“Would you mind telling me”—he stopped a pair of twin boys who were lugging wooden buckets lined with leather and filled with steaming water—“where I can find the tent that belongs to a warrior named Gwenhwyfar?”
“Just ahead, on the left,” one of the twins said, sucking noisily on a peppermint, if his breath was anything to go by. “It’s the one with Seith outside it.”
“Seith?”
“His lordship’s son,” the other twin said, nodding toward the biggest tent, the one that Gregory recalled belonged to Doug. “What for are you a-carrying that deer?”
“I like it. I thought it would look good in Gwen’s tent,” he improvised.
“You wouldn’t be the thief what Brother Helene said was sniffing around the camp, would you?” Twin One asked, his eyes round with wonder. “Because if you are the thief, we’re supposed to call the guards, who will torture you most heinously.”
“Do I look like a thief?”
