“Hell, I wish there were.” Leddie smiled. “It’s just what I’ve needed a couple of times in my travels. Now, if we’re all done whining about doing right or wrong, Memweck may think I’m dead, and he may think he’s lost sight of you, but that won’t last forever. We need to move now, move fast, and not stop.”
“How far off is he?” I asked.
She stared into my eyes. “Nope, can’t tell you. Your only choice is to trust me.”
“I don’t trust you any farther than I can sling an anvil with my dick.”
Leddie laughed until her eyes watered, and she was still chuckling when she took the lead and trotted her horse up the road.
We didn’t stop to camp. Even though we slowed once an hour to walk the horses, by sunrise, we had traveled far. The road had continued to run inland and climb. The trees and bushes had grown smaller but still were full and healthy. We could occasionally appreciate the far-off valleys and lowlands to our left.
I began thinking about whom to kill. This debt to Harik was insidious in its regularity.
Breakfast went unheeded. We rode past two villages during the morning and approached a third before midday. Halla drew rein. “We will stop here and rest the horses while we eat.”
The village was sure to have water for the horses and food for us. I began prowling for nasty people I could kill. The villagers weren’t nice or even tolerable company, but none seemed vicious enough to murder.
The horses weren’t fully restored by an hour’s rest, but they weren’t quite as worn down. We rode on, pushing as hard as our mounts could bear. The road had stopped climbing and now wound inland through a mass of gentle, green hills. The three mountains ahead of us had become distinct and jagged. Snow capped all three.
I felt myself yanked out of my body in a sickening swoop, and a moment later, I existed in the near-complete nothingness of the gods’ trading arena.
“A city stands ahead of you, Murderer,” Harik said.
Since I wasn’t asking for a favor, there might never have been a better time to talk about resurrection. “Mighty Harik, I—”
“Find the man who rules this city,” Harik interrupted me. “Give him the book.”
Harik flung me back into the world of man before I could squeak.
I lifted myself and called for Harik, but he was either ignoring me or had hurried away to some divinely jaded birthday party or naked concert. At least, that’s what I imagined.
I drew rein and gathered everybody. “There’s a city up ahead there.”
Leddie peered at me. “Yes, there is. We’re going around it.”
“Not me!” I smiled as if I were going to that naked concert. “I’m riding into it, right through the main gate.”
“No!” Halla slapped her thigh.
Leddie sat back in her saddle. “You damned moron. It doesn’t have a gate, and you’ll be captured in a minute. Memweck will have his servants searching for you under every barrel and in every woman’s bed. You might as well stab yourself in the throat. Let me do it. At least somebody will have some fun.”
“If you’re scared, you don’t have to go,” I said. “I’ll meet you back here when I’m finished.”
“How many people do you need to kill today?” Halla asked.
I silently damned her ability to figure things out. “Never mind. I won’t ask you to help.”
I trotted up the road and realized I had forgotten to ask Leddie the city’s name. I glanced back and saw that she sat her horse without stirring to follow me. That didn’t surprise me, but it startled me to see Whistler and Bea back there.
As Halla pulled even with me, I said, “They’re going to get bored as shit out here. Counting knotholes, bad storytelling, bug races. I’ll make up some terrifying, fun adventures we can brag about later to make them feel bad.”
“Do not go into the city.” She didn’t sound upset about it, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“I’m on an errand for Harik. I don’t have a choice.”
Halla smiled a little, which surprised me. “You have defied him many times. Tell him to swallow his elbow and flap like a goose. Bypass the city and return when we have dealt with Memweck.”
“I will definitely tell him to flap next time I see him. But I’ve already defied him on this, so I’m shy of doing it again.”
“You mean the book?” Halla sat taller.
I tossed my hands up. “Damn it! That’s a fine guess.”
“How do you know . . .” Halla started, then trailed off. “Will you need the book to resurrect someone? If you give up the book, you may give away your only chance. Do not risk it.”
I felt a little ashamed that Halla had thought of that and I hadn’t. “Did somebody tell you that? Maybe your mother? Or are you just guessing?”
“I am speculating.”
“Ah. Well, I speculate that I’ll have hell to pay from Harik if I dawdle over this. Come on if you’re coming.”
I trotted my horse on toward the city, whatever the hell its name was. I turned around to ask Halla whether she knew, but she had ridden back and was gesturing to the others, urging them to follow me. Leddie laughed, and Bea started arguing.
Halla shouted, “Do you think you can succeed without him?” She dropped her voice, but I could still hear. “That’s stupid. You are stupid for thinking that. But you are more stupid if you think you can succeed without him and without me.” She wheeled her horse and rode up to join me.
The others followed her in a ragged line. I led our whole stupid procession up the road toward this unnamed city.
TWENTY-EIGHT
In ages past, the people of the western kingdoms gave their countries and towns mundane names, almost literal. Their descendants rarely changed those names, even though the words aged poorly. The city of Bellmeet was where the People of the Bells once gathered. Bellhalt was
