Most of the Red Axes, even those still dazed or in pain from Sefris's attacks, hastily exited the room.
'It's unfortunate the monastic escaped,' said the man in green, 'but the important thing is that we kept our partnership from foundering.'
Kesk spun around to face him and grumbled, 'You miserable… You're supposed to be a wizard, but you were just as worthless as the rest of them.'
'I'm sorry about that, but I'm not a battle mage. Just a dilettante, when you get right down to it I don't have any experience fighting other spellcasters, whereas Sefris manifestly does. She dispelled my sending before I could, ah, send it. If need be, I'll do better next time. Meanwhile, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that our objective is still to lay hands on the Bouquet, not chase a Shar worshiper around town.'
'I wish I'd never heard of the cursed book. Or you.'
'You won't say that when it makes you the richest, most powerful outlaw in the Border Kingdoms. Sefris's gems were just a fantasy, but the joyous tomorrow you and I are going to share is quite real.'
'It had better be.' Short and burly as he was, the tanarukk only had to stoop a little to stick his wild-boar face close to Nicos's. 'Now, old man, you're going to learn a lesson about speaking out of turn. What Sefris put you through is nothing compared to what I'm going to do.'
Nicos was pleasantly surprised to discover that, for whatever reason, he wasn't frightened.
He sneered back at his captor, 'Go ahead. It's like the Shar cultist told you. I won't have to endure it for long. My heart will give out under the strain.'
Kesk backhanded Nicos across the face. But only once, then he wrenched himself away.
CHAPTER 12
'I keep worrying about the hobgoblin,' Miri said.
Aeron asked, 'How's that?'
He scanned the crowd in the street ahead. Many folk had covered up their heads against the drizzle, which made the task of spotting Kesk's henchmen more difficult. Still, it appeared that all the people in the immediate vicinity were law-abiding sorts scurrying off to their jobs, and that made sense. Most of Oeble's outlaws slept in the morning. In fact, Aeron looked forward to doing the same, but he and Miri had one more stop to make first.
'Will the creature really help the other slaves run away,' she said, 'or will it betray them? It is goblin-kin, after all. I'm sure it has no love for the civilized races.'
Miri had stayed awake as long and worked as hard as Aeron, but she still seemed relatively fresh. It was as if the rising of the sun, which generally made him yawn, had infused her with fresh vitality.
He snorted and said, 'Goblin-kin. Of course. I bet your fingers were just itching to shoot the creature, and never mind that it risked its neck to help me fight the mantis.'
'I didn't say it was inconceivable that it would keep its word. Nor do I relish killing, whatever you think. I certainly took no joy in shooting your friends.'
'I'm sure you didn't,' he said sardonically.
They swung around a mule-drawn wagon heaped with bags of flour, the product of one of the mills upriver.
'I didn't,' she insisted, 'and… I'm sorry I didn't try to rescue your father when the Red Axes were kidnapping him. I shouldn't have let Sefris talk me out of it. It's this place. It makes me doubt my instincts. It even makes it hard to know right from wrong.'
He shook his head in puzzlement and asked, 'Is Oeble truly so much fouler than other towns?'
'You've never visited another?'
'Not a big one, just little villages hereabouts.'
Miri took a long stride to avoid stepping in a puddle.
'Well,' she said, 'Oeble is the worst I've seen. I'll admit, though, I've never visited a city that didn't make my skin crawl. They all have their dirt, crowds, and stenches. That's why I'm a scout.'
'Because cities spook you?'
'Because as a ranger, you spend most of your time in the parts of the world that are worth living in: forests, mountains, rivers, the prairies, and the sea.'
He grinned and said, 'Without a soft bed or a mug of beer to be had for leagues in any direction.'
She smiled back.
'You don't miss easy living once you lose the habit,' she said. 'Not that I ever had it much, growing up on a little farm on the edge of the wilderness. Haven't you ever wanted to roam, and see wonders you could never even have imagined?'
'Everything I want is right here in Oeble.'
It was true, but just for a moment, Aeron wondered whether he might discover something more to desire if only he opened up his eyes.
Ombert Blackdale's thick-built brownstone drum of a tower came into view around the next bend, and the sight banished the peculiar, wistful thought from his mind.
'That's it,' he said, pointing.
Miri peered at it and said, 'I don't see any sentries.'
'I don't either, yet, but Ombert will have somebody keeping an eye out. He always does. Not that it matters.'
'True, considering that we're proposing to serve ourselves up to him on a platter.'
'You know,' Aeron said, 'you don't need to come inside. I can do this by myself.'
'I'll stick with you.'
'To help me fight my way out again if necessary?'
'That, and to keep you from deciding our alliance is a mistake, and skipping out the back door.'
He chuckled and said, 'You're finally learning to think like somebody who belongs in Oeble.'
'That's an insult, but I'll let it pass.'
They headed for the tower and climbed the three steps to the entrance, a high, arched oaken panel with a smaller door, scarcely taller than waist high, inset in the larger one. Aeron clanked the wrought iron knocker up and down, and they waited.
After a time, Miri said, 'Maybe they decided they don't want any part of our problems.'
'Or maybe,' Aeron replied, 'they need a couple minutes to ready their trap.'
She scowled and said, 'If you actually think th-'
The full door swung open, and a stocky man with waxed, upturned mustachios frowned out.
'Get inside,' he grunted
Aeron stepped through, and Miri followed. Beyond the threshold was a gloomy, windowless anteroom.
'Now give me your weapons,' the stocky man said.
'I'm here to see Ombert Blackdale,' Aeron replied. 'He knows me. We've pulled jobs together.'
'He knows who's come calling,' said the tough, 'and he told me either to collect your blades or send you on your way.'
Aeron sighed. He hadn't expected to win that particular argument, but it had been worth a try. He handed over all his Arthyn fangs except for one throwing knife he was currently carrying strapped to his forearm beneath his sleeve. By itself, it was a slim defense, but better than nothing.
Glowering, plainly not liking it one little bit, Miri surrendered her sword, bow, quiver, and dirk. The ruffian hung everything on a pegboard, then led the visitors deeper into the tower. His heart pounding, Aeron waited for other outlaws to rush out at them.
They didn't.
The inhabitants of the well-kept, lavishly furnished spire eyed the newcomers speculatively, but made no effort to interfere with them. Most of the folk who were still awake were smaller even than gnomes like Burgell, smaller than many human children, and that was as Aeron expected. The Lynxes were notorious for being Oeble's preeminent halfling gang, though they did occasionally recruit a representative of another race. Like Kesk, they'd invited Aeron once upon a time, but unlike the tanarukk, hadn't taken offense when he declined.
