Leddie stomped up and stood over me. “Now that you’re done exploring, how could you be so reckless? And selfish? You’re ruining everything!”
“Well, if I knew what ‘everything’ was, I could try not to ruin it so much.” I wanted to scream at her and kick her a few times, but that didn’t seem likely to lead to the long-term satisfaction of cutting out her heart.
Crossing her arms, Leddie grimaced at me. “All right. I work for a sorcerer who exists beyond death. He wants to build an army to conquer the world, and he needs to sacrifice you to do it. All the signs say so.”
“Really?” I said, deadpan.
“Yes, really! So just behave yourself, or I’ll kill you and bring him your head and liver. That’ll be almost as good.”
I nodded slowly. “So, this dead sorcerer . . . wants to sacrifice me. Because of the signs.”
“Yes!” She glared at me for a few seconds. Then she shook her head and laughed. “No! Hell, I almost had you believing it! If I had a totem or a magic glass, that would have sold it. You almost believed it, though, right?”
I grinned. “Almost, you howling gobbet of scum. What’s really going on?”
Leddie stepped in and kicked me in the crotch. I groaned and slid sideways as far as the manacles allowed while she knelt in front of me. “Do you think I’m going to tell you everything about everything? You’re not so smart, but you’re smarter than that. I’ll tell you one single thing, all right? One. All right? One, right?”
I nodded and wished I could puke on her again.
“If you knew what’s really going on, you’d be galloping your ass home.” She patted my cheek. “Too late now!”
Leddie swaggered away toward a tent in the middle of the camp but turned back toward me when she arrived. She held up the gold lump from my pouch. “This almost makes me think you do still love me.” She blew a kiss at me and pushed on into the tent.
Less than a minute later, a hiss came from around the tree trunk. “Bib!”
“Pil?” I whispered. I peered over my shoulder but couldn’t see around the tree trunk.
“Yes. They manacled us to each other around this big tree,” she said in a garbled whisper. “I wish this magic connection between us would cut it the heck out. If it hadn’t been for you and it, I may have gotten away.”
“What happened?”
Pil sighed. “Somebody knocked you out of the saddle with a piece of wood. I mean, they threw a stick of wood, and it smacked you on the head, and you fell hard enough to bounce. I fell on top of you—I’m sorry about the bruises—and they grabbed us both.”
“And when they separated us?” I could imagine significant furor.
Pil was silent for a few seconds. “I panicked, a little. Well, I panicked a lot, enough that I kicked a few and bit one, but that’s all right. They’re our enemies, so it was worth it.” The faster she talked, the more she slurred her words.
That worried me a little. “It was worth what?”
“They hit me a few times, which you figure . . . that’s what they do, right? They hit people, so they hit me and kicked me some—two of them did. Not too long, probably. I didn’t count off the time.”
“What in the name of Effla’s thousand lovers did they do to my hands?”
“Oh, that was clever! They put your hands into pails full of plaster and kept you sleeping until the plaster set. I’ve never heard of that. Is it a common way to make a sorcerer helpless? Dixon never mentioned it.”
I had never heard of it, either. “I didn’t credit Leddie with that much imagination. It’s a useful tactic. She keeps me tame, and when she’s done with me, she can just pitch me into a pond and watch me sink.”
Pil took a deep breath. “I think they want you for something, or that’s what that tarty blonde said, anyway, but I didn’t hear anybody say they want me for anything.” She paused. “They’re going to kill me, aren’t they?”
That was an accurate assessment, but I saw no need to frighten her about it. I prepared to lie like a boy with sticky hands. “I don’t think you—” I stopped when I saw Leddie walking back toward us, and I hissed at Pil.
Leddie knelt beside me and grabbed my hair. “Three drinks, and I’m ready to slap caution on the ass. Bib—yes, I know your name and everything about you—why oh why are you this way? That’s the question I yearn to ask. How can you kill people who are faster, smarter, meaner, more desperate, and prettier than you? Any of a hundred people should have killed you. They couldn’t have failed to kill you! But here you sit, dirtying up the ground. Can you make me understand it?”
“This is a poor venue for philosophical discussions. Set me loose, and I’ll find us a tavern with a contemplative atmosphere.”
“This is the only venue. It might be your last,” she said in a quiet voice.
A lie would be simple. The truth would be a better weapon. I grinned at the woman. “Although I am not inclined to be frank, you dripping dog’s ass, I will say what I can. Apart from a jingling amount of luck, several things have run in my favor. I never hesitate to run away. When steel fails me, I can use magic. I have a strong preference for being alive, and goddamn it, you sucking cow’s gut, why are you wearing my sword?” I nodded at my scabbarded sword on her belt.
Leddie blinked, stood up, and crossed her arms. “It’s a good sword.”
“Swinging that effeminate sword won’t make you invincible, Leddie. Wearing it like a magic charm won’t do it, either. Did you pay attention to anything
