Nahlik said, 'We don't know you anymore.'
A big, sturdily built brute was talking to the stringy-haired character. Neither looked at Else but he knew they were talking about him.
Turning so it looked like he was talking to Mallin, Nahlik asked, 'You know what ship you're taking?'
'Vivia Infanti.'
'We'll get your stuff aboard. Mallin, take hold of the drunk. We'll walk him out like he's our friend.'
They barely got the drunk off his stool before a boy materialized, armed with a filthy rag and a bowl of dirty water. He made a dispirited effort to clean up the vomit.
'Do a good job I'll give you a copper for your own,' Else whispered.
The boy discovered reserves of enthusiasm. Else slipped him a coin. 'I need more coffee. No! I don't want your sister, your mother, or you. I just want more coffee.'
A newcomer started to settle opposite Else. The big man who had been talking to the skinny one pushed him aside. 'Go away,' he said. He took the stool himself.
Else studied his coffee and waited for another cup to arrive. He felt the big man staring at him.
He appeared to be alone. His behavior had attracted no attention despite its rude and provocative nature.
Else said, 'That was inexcusably rude.'
It was clear the big man meant to become violent. Else trumped him.
The man started to speak but gasped in surprise instead.
'Don't pick a fight with a man who has one hand under the table. If you take a breath I don't like I'll ruin your knee. If you move at all I'll ruin your kneecap. Nod if you understand.'
The man nodded. He showed no fear, just pain and confusion. He was not accustomed to being on the downhill end of the pain/terror equation.
Else's fresh coffee arrived. He paid using one hand. Then he told his new friend, 'You were going to explain what you're doing. And why. You were going to do that because you don't want to live the rest of your life with only one good leg.'
The big man was careful not to move.
'Speak to me,' Else said. He pushed the long dagger's razor-sharp tip a quarter inch deeper into the space beneath the man's right kneecap. Nothing. 'There'll be no help. Your longhaired friend left.' Still nothing. 'If you have the brains God gave a toad …' The Sha-lug had a saying, You can't fix stupid, said of crusader captains who fell for a trick more than once. This looked like it might be a major case of stupid. 'You're bothering me for a reason. I want to know what it is.' He probed a little deeper with the dagger.
Else saw the moment when the shock cleared enough for realization to strike home. The moment when understanding arrived.
The big man ground his teeth. 'There is nothing I can tell you.' He spoke mechanically. 'I was told to find Carpio. He would point you out. I would kill you in a brawl that Carpio would swear you started.'
'But Carpio took off right after he talked to vou. Where do you suppose he went? Who told you to kill the man he marked?'
'Starkden. The order came from Starkden.'
'Is that a man's name?'
'Starkden is a woman. They say.'
Volunteered information. A good sign. A watershed in this relationship. 'Be that as it may, Starkden sent you. Why?'
'Because she wanted you dead, I guess.'
'Why?'
Shrug.
“Tell me about this woman. Including where I can find her.'
The big man knew nothing. He'd never met Starkden. He'd heard that she was an older woman, in her forties or even her fifties. If you did what she said she paid well. She supposedly had no political or religious axes to grind. Not that he cared about that stuff himself.
Else questioned the man for another ten minutes and learned nothing more. 'All right, Ben.' The big fellow's name was Benatar Piola. 'I want you to sit right there till your knee stops hurting. If you put any strain on it right away it'll fold up, you'll wreck the joint, and they'll probably have to cut off your leg.' You could not fix stupid but you could use it.
Else called for wine for Ben, paid and left.
Once back at the factor house he told his story to anyone who would listen. He thought a legitimate traveler would do that. And he hoped somebody would have an idea about what really had happened. He got nothing for his trouble but insincere sympathy. He should have had sense enough not to frequent waterfront dives. Nobody seemed willing to guess who Starkden might be.
The morning he was supposed to board Vivia Infanti for Sonsa he received a summons through a house messenger. He followed nervously. Something must have gone wrong. Then he was sure it had when he found himself in a room with four older members of the Brotherhood of War.
'You're Sir Aelford daSkees, homeward bound after service in the Holy Lands?' one asked.
'I am.'
'I'm Parthen Lorica. From the Special Office. We're interested in your encounter in the sailors' tavern.'
'Why?'
'Excuse me?'
'I complained myself gray around here and the only thing anybody cared about was whether I owed anybody any money. Somebody's out to kill daSkees? Better not let him have anything on credit.'
'Sound business practice.'
Else grimaced but kept his mouth shut.
'Someone passed the story on to us. And here we are. Interested.'
Else responded with a grudging, 'All right.'
“Tell us what happened. Try not to leave anything out. Any little detail might help. This might give us a chance to do something we've wanted for a long time.'
'Which would be?'
“To get a line on a witch and spy who calls herself Starkden.'
Else was tempted by the notion that any enemy of the Brotherhood of War was a friend of Else Tage. Only this particular enemy of the Brotherhood had paid to have Else Tage murdered.
Else told his story almost exactly as it had happened — discounting some creative editing on behalf of Nahlik and Mallin.
'Those sailors you were sitting with. You didn't know them?'
'No. The soberest two knew each other but not the unconscious drunk, I'm pretty sure, even though they carried him away. He was there when I sat down. Those two didn't show up until a few minutes later.'
'And their names were Ren and Doy?'
'That's what they said. I didn't really care about them. I was in there because the Lantern has Peqaad coffee and I developed a taste for that… I was trying to relax some before I travel again. I hate sea voyages. I get seasick. Bad.'
'Carpio and Benatar Piola were the other men?'
'Yes.'
'We know Carpio,' the oldest Brother said, speaking for the first time.
Lorica said, 'Only a moron would trust Carpio with any secrets. But someone must have hired him. So he's a thread we can tug at. Piola shouldn't be that hard to find, either.'
'Can you tell me anything about this woman who wanted me killed?'
'No. But only because we know so little ourselves. We're hoping to change that. Why would she want to kill you?'
'Please don't start that. I've already got my brain twisted into knots trying to figure that out. The only thing that makes any sense to me is, somebody picked the wrong target. That Carpio. If he was following me around,
