“You have to prepare yourself to meet the oracle.” She pointed at one of the chairs.
This was a dispiriting sign. It was clear that she intended to extract details from me that the oracle could use when she divined my fate. Most men talking to a pretty girl for a few minutes would give up their fears, their desires, and how much gold they’re carrying. If the girl was clever, they wouldn’t realize they’d been interrogated. That didn’t help me a damn bit, though.
I figured I might as well stay, so I sat. Maybe this oracle would shock me.
The young woman fetched two wooden cups from the cabinet. Then she lifted a pot from a smoking brazier on the table and poured liquid into both cups. Sitting, she blew on her cup and took a sip. “Drink this tea to purify yourself.” She sipped again. “It’s safe.”
It would take a horrifying, rapid poison to kill me before I could heal myself. I took a couple of sips and smiled. “So, the oracle is coming here to join me, eh? That’s awfully accommodating and sweet of her. Do you have any bread?”
“No, but we have some nice bacon.” She grinned and for a moment looked fourteen years old.
My mouth started watering, but I wasn’t there for a tasty breakfast. I sighed and held up a hand. “I’ll pass. It would ruin this fine tea. How long do you think I’ll need to wait?”
“I see you have red hair.”
“Not much.”
“You must be from the Island of Ir. My grandfather told me stories about it.”
“Hope they were interesting.” Clearly the interrogation was starting.
“That’s a beautiful sword.”
“I stole it off a dead Northman in a ditch.”
She pulled the chair around and sat close to me. “Where was the ditch?”
I sipped my tea. “It was just uphill from the lake.”
She grinned again. “I love lakes. Which lake?”
I craned my head at the door I hadn’t been through. “I feel fairly pure now. Maybe I should just walk on through and find the oracle.”
“Wait,” the young woman said, calm and sitting straight. Then she leaned in fast, headed straight for my lips.
I caught her by the shoulders and pushed her back a few inches. Nothing was going to happen, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Miss, I can understand your being overcome by my pretty face, but I must tell you that I’m about a thousand years older than you.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I do.” I pushed her farther away.
“Don’t be stupid. You want me. You do, don’t you?” She sounded a little uncertain there at the end.
“Of course, any man—” I blinked when the point of a sharp knife pressed against my right testicle.
She showed me her teeth and murmured, “How much do you want to speak to the oracle? Enough to sacrifice one of these?”
I realized that I should have gone ahead and slept with her. Now she was tickling my groin with sharp steel, and I ought to kill her straight off. It was bad practice to let someone live after they demonstrated their willingness to make holes in my body. And I would never fulfill my debt to the God of Death if I started being merciful.
But I had seen too many girls die recently. If I killed one today, I thought I might lie down and die myself. I wouldn’t really lie down or do anything like that, of course. I’d cut her throat and move on to the next murder. But I didn’t have to kill this girl today, and I decided that I wouldn’t. She had chosen a lucky day to threaten me.
I didn’t even twitch as the woman shifted the point of her knife to my left testicle. I cleared my throat. “I want to make sure I understand you. The price you’ll charge me to see the oracle is one of my balls?”
She nodded. “You shouldn’t have been pushy. I could take them both, if you want an extra five minutes.”
“I prefer to leave here intact. Please tell the oracle that I regret she missed the pleasure of my company and my sterling wit. Go on and tell her that. My friends and I will wait outside to help you tear down this little building tonight. I feel certain the oracle will come out before this place clatters down around her. We might exchange a word or two then.”
The woman tensed. “Maybe we can bargain. I could take a finger. Just to the first knuckle.”
That might have been a good bargain for me. I was carrying far more than enough power to heal that sort of wound in a minute. But I disliked the idea on principle. I would rather cut off this girl’s hand and throw it at the oracle’s feet. “I’m afraid not, dear.”
“If you’re going to call me ‘dear,’ why didn’t you screw me a minute ago?”
“No part of my body is on the block for trading. I will share a bit of my reservoir of wisdom.” I thought of the four fools I’d killed in Bindle and smiled. “I earned it with bruises and broken hearts.”
She didn’t smile back. “Your reservoir of wisdom is probably full of rats and urine. How about this for a bargain? Say you do a favor for me. I can claim it anytime within a year. Assuming you’re good for anything. Or are you only good for underperforming?”
I paused. She had let me make the first offer—I wanted to see the oracle. She had staked out an aggressive bargaining position—my testicle. Now she let me think I was wearing her down, when in fact she was demanding a useful prize—a favor from me.
She bargained like a sorcerer.
“That is a mighty tempting offer, miss, but I fear you might ask me to do something distasteful. Instead, why don’t I introduce you
