'Maybe we'll get to that,' Aeron said. 'Tell me about Sefris.'
'What do you know about the followers of Shar?'
Aeron frowned and replied, 'Just what everybody knows. They're vicious, mad, and worship an evil goddess.'
'I don't know a great deal more myself, but I have heard of a cult within the cult. Or that watches over the main cult. Something like that. They're called the Monks of the Dark Moon, and they learn a special, highly effective style of fighting. Sefris claims to be one of them, and I believe her. Evidently her order sent her here to recover the treasure Quwen plundered from their goddess.'
Aeron cocked his head and asked, 'So what were you doing wandering around with her?'
Miri felt her face grow warm.
'At first,' she said, 'I didn't know who she was. She tricked me into accepting her as my comrade. For some reason, she must have thought she'd have better luck getting her hands on the Bouquet if we hunted it together. In the end, she turned on me, because I wouldn't agree to help her take your father from the Red Axes and hold him hostage ourselves, and that was when she told me who she really is. We fought until your balcony collapsed beneath us. She managed to scramble off, but I didn't. It's a miracle I'm not dead.'
'You didn't fall all the way to the ground,' said Aeron. 'You landed on a Rainspan partway down. If Sefris wants to take the book back to the cult, and Kesk wants it for some other reason, how could they work together?'
'I don't know. You're fairly certain they are?'
'I palavered with Kesk today. Sefris stalked me when I left and tried to capture me. How did she know to find me there unless that pig-faced bastard told her?'
'If she tried to catch you, you were lucky to get away. As lucky as I am to still be alive.'
'I realize that. The first time she threw a spell at me, it didn't take, but I felt a kind of tickle in my head. I glanced around and spotted a woman standing in a wriggling blot of shadow, or twilight, in the middle of the sunshine. It only lasted a second. If I'd looked a heartbeat later, I wouldn't have seen anything funny. I might have decided the tickle was just my imagination, and not known I was in danger until it was too late.'
Miri stared at him and asked, 'Sefris threw a spell?'
'Yes. You didn't even know she was a sorceress? Shadows of Mask, you are thick.'
'She didn't cast any spells when we were together. Magic must be the secret weapon she likes to hold in reserve.'
'Maybe.'
'I assume Kesk offered to ransom your father for the formulary?' Miri asked.
'Yes.'
'Are you going to do it?'
'I don't see how I can. I figured that if I tried, he'd play me false. Seize the book, take me prisoner, and kill both my father and me. He's like that mean, treacherous, and vengeful. But I wasn't sure of it, so I arranged a meeting in Slarvyn's Sword to feel him out. After what happened, I'm positive I can't trust him. Though maybe if I'm clever enough, I can set up the exchange in such a way that he has no choice but to keep his word.'
'You sound doubtful,' Miri said, 'as well you should.'
She decided she was tired of sitting up in bed like an invalid, so she pushed back the covers, and swung her bare feet to the floor. Someone had dressed her in a white linen shift sufficient for modesty.
'Why don't we do the sensible thing?' she asked.
He arched an eyebrow.
'Go to the authorities,' she continued, 'and report that the Red Axes abducted your father. If you have the kind of reputation I suspect, they might not take your word for it, but the Red Hart Guild is known far and wide as an honorable fraternity, and I'll back you up. I won't even tell them you're the thief who committed the outrage in the Paeraddyn and escaped to tell the tale, and in exchange for my help and forbearance, you'll return The Black Bouquet.'
Aeron chuckled grimly and said, 'I don't think so.'
'Why not?'
'First off, I'd have to trust you, and all I know about you is that you killed my friends, and stood and watched as the Red Axes kidnapped a sick old man. I didn't think 'honorable' rangers were supposed to behave like that.'
The barb evoked a rush of shame in Miri, which she did her best to hide.
'I've seen a hundred cruel and depraved acts since I came to this cesspool of a city,' the ranger said. 'I couldn't interfere with all of them. Anyway, who are you, a miserable thief, to lecture me on my duty?'
He shrugged and said, 'Nobody, obviously, in your eyes. Anyway, there are other reasons I don't want to go to the Gray Blades. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are in Kesk's pay, or beholden to the person who hired him to get the book. Even if they're not, they're as leery of the Red Axes as the gang is of them. They wouldn't want to break into Kesk's stronghold just on our say-so. They do know I'm an outlaw even if they've never been able to hang anything on me, and while your guild may be known the world over as honest and true, you're still an outlander, which means you don't count for much.'
'The rightful owner of the book does. If I can convince him to speak up…'
'It's still not a sure thing. Look, my father was a notable robber in his time. The law hasn't forgotten, and it doesn't love him, either. But let's say we could convince the Gray Blades to raid Kesk's mansion. Do you think they'd find my father alive? The house surely has secret rooms, and sits on the river to boot.'
'So the only answer is to out-trick Kesk?' Miri asked. 'And his henchmen? And Sefris?'
'I imagine.'
'In that case, let me help you, and when your father is safe, you'll return The Black Bouquet to me.'
'Right,' Aeron said with a snort, 'and as soon as I turn my back, you knock me over the head, tie me up, and torture the location of the book out of me. Or hand me over to the law and let them do it.'
'I swear by the Hornblade that I won't.'
'Oh, well, that changes everything.'
Miri felt a surge of anger, and quashed it as best she could. In his world, perhaps it wasn't a deadly insult to doubt the sanctity of another person's oath.
'Look,' she said, 'neither you nor I are a match for Sefris and the Red Axes by ourselves. But if we work together, we might have a chance.'
Frowning, he thought it over for a moment.
'At the end,' he said, 'when I turn over the book, I want a reward.'
'We're talking about your father's life.'
'Even so,' the thief replied. 'Think of it as wergild for my friends.'
'All right I can arrange it. Where are my clothes and weapons?'
'Your clothes and armor are in the chest at the foot of the bed. We'll have to buy you a new sword and bow.'
CHAPTER 11
The night was overcast and dark. Still, peering down from the Rainspan, Aeron could make out some detail inside the shadowy enclosure off Dead King's Walk. From the looks of her, Miri could, too. In fact, from the way she fingered her new longbow, he could tell she was thinking she could hit the guard who periodically emerged from his sentry box to amble around checking on the merchandise, and never mind that she'd complained of the poor quality of the weapon compared to the one she'd lost.
She was a dangerous woman for certain, one who'd already killed some of Aeron's friends, and he was trusting her simply because, when she'd promised to deal fairly with him, she'd seemed to be speaking honestly, and even if not, so long as she didn't know where he'd stashed The Black Bouquet, she might well hesitate to attack him. For what if matters went awry, and he either escaped her or wound up dead?
In any case, he had to run the risk of working with her, because she was right. For the time being, he did
