'Pay the blind fool no attention,' said the Mar. 'Certainly, the Wu-jen will agree that when one man does two-thirds of the work, he should have two-thirds of the reward?'
'The Wu-jen will agree that it is none of his concern,' replied the Wu-jen. 'But a blind man's senses are very sharp. Perhaps he hears this devil or smells him somewhere along the way?'
'No, I heard nothing unusual.' Bharat's answer came quickly-too quickly, Atreus thought. 'And it is impossible in this cart to smell anything but my greedy partner.'
'Ah, most unfortunate for us. But we are grateful for your candidness. It is very unusual for a Mar not to make up a story.' The Wu-jen's voice grew less suspicious, though the irony in his words was not lost on Atreus. 'By what road did you come?'
'By the Thanza road.' Rishi answered quickly, robbing Bharat of the chance to malign him further. 'From Edenvale.'
'Of course… the Thanza road,' said the Wu-jen. 'Strange, I do not recall anyone mentioning a blind merchant. You Mar are so full of gossip, and selling beautiful carpets is an uncommon occupation for a blind man.'
'That is easy to explain,' Rishi said. 'The old fool cannot tell whether his eyelids are up or down. It often looks like he is napping. And now, if the great Wu-jen permits, we must be on our way. We have far to go before dark.'
'And where are you bound, Blind Man?'
Bharat hesitated. 'I am not sure.'
'Not sure?' asked the Wu-jen.
'I am never certain where my lying partner is taking me.' Bharat shifted in his seat. 'Since he does not consider me his equal, he does not often tell me.'
'You know this time,' Rishi said. 'We have already agreed, and it is too late to change now.'
Bharat remained silent, and Atreus grew so angry that his hand began to hurt from squeezing his dagger. After this was over, he would let the pudgy Mar know what he thought of blackmail.
'I am waiting,' said the Wu-jen. 'What is your destination?'
'Oh, begging the Wu-jen's forgiveness,' said Bharat. 'My friend is right. I recall now that we are going to Gyatse.'
Rishi groaned.
'To Gyatse?' scoffed Naraka, the patrol leader. 'You cannot sell carpets in Gyatse.'
'If the patrol leader has stayed in Gyatse, perhaps he has noticed that they have only stone floors,' said Rishi. 'There is not one carpet in the whole village… and a very cold village it is! They have a great need for our carpets.'
'Need, yes, but they are paupers in Gyatse,' said the Wu-jen. 'The whole village together could not buy a single carpet. Perhaps we should look at these carpets.'
Atreus braced himself, ready to spring the instant the dust shroud was pulled back. Suddenly the wagon rocked, and Bharat cried, 'Save me!'
Atreus flung off the dust shroud and saw Rishi holding Bharat by the shoulder of his cloak.
'Help! Ysdar's devil has blinded me!' Bharat screamed and tried to fling himself off the wagon, but Rishi jerked him back to his seat.
Yago sat up facing the rear of the cart, and Atreus rolled to his knees facing the front. Outside the cart, the Wu-jen was twisting around to reach into his saddlebags while Naraka, on the far side of the sorcerer, was awkwardly trying to bring his lance to bear. Yago started to push himself out the back of the wagon, but Atreus caught the ogre by the shoulder and shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to fight it out with Naraka's patrol here.
Bharat continued to struggle, crying, 'They're after my gold!'
Rishi's free hand flashed up and struck Bharat in the gullet, then whipped back, launching something small and silver in the opposite direction. The Wu-jen screeched and clutched at a tiny dagger protruding from his throat, and Bharat tumbled back into Atreus's lap, coating everything in the cargo bed with gouts of warm, coppery blood.
As Atreus struggled with Bharat's gurgling form, Rishi ducked Naraka's awkward lance thrust, then slapped the yaks with the reins. The wagon lurched forward and the leader began to shout at his patrol. Atreus pushed aside Bharat's gurgling form and spun toward the rear of the wagon, expecting to find Yago struggling to block half a dozen flying lances.
Instead most of the patrol was on the other side of the river struggling to organize itself. Only the last three riders in line were able to answer their commander's call, and even they were just backing their ponies off the bridge.
'I could go wreck that bridge,' suggested Yago. As he spoke, the ogre struggled in the cramped space to gather his legs beneath him. 'Wouldn't take much to get past them three riders.'
Atreus shook his head. 'If it did, you'd be trapped and alone,' he said. 'Better to stay together.'
'Help!' screamed Rishi. 'Help-he will kill me!'
Atreus turned to find Rishi trying to duck Naraka's lance and steer at the same time. He caught the weapon by the shaft and shoved it away, then peered around the front edge of the canopy.
When Naraka saw Atreus's hideous, blood-covered face, he shrieked and released his end of the lance to reach for his sword. Atreus jammed the butt into the patrol leader's chest and pushed hard. Naraka fell, dragging his pony down on top of himself, then tumbled away into the snowy willows.
'Hah! Well done, good sir!' Rishi said, then dragged himself back onto the bench and slapped the reins, somehow urging more speed from the trotting yaks. 'That will delay them!'
Atreus glanced back and saw that the three pursuers from the bridge had indeed seized on their leader's fall as an excuse to stop. One of the riders was kneeling on the road, holding the limp Wu-jen in his lap while another man pressed his ear to the sorcerer's chest. The third was dismounting near where Naraka had tumbled into the willows, calling down over the road bank to see if he needed any help.
Now that the immediate danger was past, Atreus's ears began to pound with anger. He used his sleeve to wipe Bharat's blood from his face, then slapped Rishi's head with the shaft of Naraka's lance.
'What's wrong with you?'
'Wrong with me?' Rishi asked. He leaned away, rubbing the side of his head. 'I am not the one beating my poor servant for no good reason.'
'Murder is not a reason?' Atreus asked. He ducked into the wagon and touched his fingers to Bharat's slit throat. There was no pulse. 'This wasn't necessary.'
'Many profuse apologies for any mistake the good sir thinks I have made, but Bharat betrayed us. He deserved to die.'
'He was your friend,' Atreus retorted. 'Losing his third of the gold would have been punishment enough. You could have let him jump, and it would have been the same to us.'
'And what of the Wu-jen?' Rishi asked indignantly. 'Should I have spared his life as well? Or does killing only bother you when it is someone you know?'
'Unnecessary killing bothers me,' Atreus said. 'The Wu-jen's death was necessary to avoid capture.'
'I see,' said Rishi. 'A very convenient distinction. I will try to keep it in mind so as not to offend the good sir in the future.'
'Uh-forget that Wu-jen,' said Yago. 'Tell me what you want done about them.'
Thirty paces down the road, Naraka's men were reluctantly urging their mounts into a charge. With the riders stirrups nearly dragging the ground and the necks of the little ponies stretched forward in a fierce gallop, the sight seemed almost comical save for the sharp points of their lances and how rapidly they were to coming up behind the wagon.
'Can you make this cart go any faster?'
'Certainly… if I find a long hill and cut the yaks free,' Rishi replied. 'Until then, perhaps you would consider our pursuers? If you delay them for only five minutes, we can flee into the willows and escape to our secret caravan road. After that, the gods themselves will not find us.'
Atreus thought for a moment, then shoved Bharat's body toward Yago. 'Get him out of the way.'
The ogre pitched the stout Mar out onto the road.
