“I’m
He did. “I didn’t mean none of what I said; that was just cover. Are ye all right? Tell me for true.”
Laela backed away from him and tried to pick up her belongings, but her hands were suddenly clumsy, and they slipped through her fingers. She felt tears prickling at her eyes.
The stranger came toward her. “I can help. .”
“No. .” Laela tried to pull away from him, but in that moment the last of her strength slipped away, and she started to sob.
The stranger seemed to understand. He bent and gathered up her possessions, wrapping them neatly and efficiently back up in their blanket. “It’s all right,” he told her. “Ye’re safe, see?
Laela managed to pick up the sword. “L. . I’m. . I’m. . Laela. Laela R. .” But she broke out in a fresh wave of sobbing before she could finish.
“Here,” said the stranger, offering her his hand. “Let me help yer. Can ye tell me where ye live?”
“Not. . not here,” said Laela. “I ain’t. . ain’t from here.”
“Are ye with anyone?”
“No. I’m alone.”
“I see.” The stranger straightened up and looked from one end of the alley to the other, apparently checking if the coast was clear. “Well, I’m on my way somewhere. . If ye want t’come with me I can get ye some food an’ a warm place t’rest a while.”
Laela was too weak by now to argue, and she clung to her rescuer as if he were her only friend in the world. “Yeah. Yeah. I’d. . yeah.”
4
The stranger led her out of the alley and away through the darkened streets. He moved like one who knew the city very well, but he kept to the shadows and the side streets, as if he were trying to hide. Laela followed him, keeping quiet and pathetically hoping that he would protect her as he had claimed he would.
Eventually, he came to a halt outside a modest-looking building. “Here we are. The sign of the Blue Moon. They know me here.”
A tavern, Laela realised. She followed him inside more than gladly.
There weren’t very many people within, and they showed only passing interest in the stranger-and given his shrouded face and body, Laela took it to mean that they did indeed know him. That reassured her a little.
He walked silently up to the bar and spoke softly to the man on the other side. As Laela came to join him, he turned to her, and said, “I’ve gotten us a room. Come on.”
He took her up a flight of stairs and into a smallish space with a bed and a fireplace. There was a chair in front of it, and he gestured at her to sit in it.
Laela all but collapsed into the chair and stayed there for some time, soaking up the warmth from the fire. The stranger took another chair opposite her and waited in silence while a woman came in with bread, cheese, and a mug.
Laela ate ravenously and drank from the mug, which turned out to be full of beer.
The stranger ate nothing. His face, under the hood, was half-covered by a cloth that concealed everything except his black eyes. But he seemed peaceful enough, sitting there and just watching her.
Laela put down her mug. “Thanks,” she said. “Yeh saved my life back there, yeh know. . more’n that.”
The stranger stirred. “Look at me.”
Laela had forgotten not to make eye contact. “It’s. .”
He examined her face. “Look at them eyes. Ye’re a half-breed, ain’t ye?”
Laela wanted to hit him. “Yeah.”
“I see, then. Can I ask what ye were doin’ wanderin’ around the streets in the middle of the night?”
“I travelled here,” said Laela. “I’m lookin’ for a new home.”
“Yer accent ain’t Northern,” he observed. “Where are ye from?”
“Nowhere,” said Laela. “Village in the South. Sturrick.”
“Never heard of it. How did ye get here, then? They shouldn’t’ve let ye through Guard’s Post.”
“Bribed the guards,” said Laela. A half-truth was easier.
The stranger chuckled. “Clever girl. Why did ye want t’come here, though?”
Laela’s eyes narrowed. “Why should I tell yeh? I don’t even know who yeh are. Why’s yer face covered up like that?”
“Call me Wolf,” the stranger said briefly. “I’m someone who’s got a good reason not t’let anyone see his face.”
“Why?” said Laela.
He pushed the mug of beer toward her. “Tell me why yer came here, an’ I’ll tell ye that.”
“Deal,” said Laela. “I came here ’cause. .” She paused. “’Cause who in the North is gonna call me a blackrobe or a darkwoman? Nobody so far. I blend in here, right? So long as no-one notices the eyes, I can pretend t’be a Northerner. Me dad died. I din’t have nowhere else t’go.”
“I see,” said Wolf. “Not many people like the King, but he gave a home to outcasts, an’ there’s not many can say they’ve done the same. I’m sure he’d be flattered t’hear ye thought enough of his land t’come this far.”
Laela shrugged. “Who are yeh, then, Wolf? Why are yeh hidin’ like that?”
“Because I just escaped from prison,” he said casually. “Don’t want anyone recognisin’ me; they’d drag me straight back an’ make sure I never got out again.”
Laela stared at him. “Prison? Why? What did yeh do?”
“Enough for ten death sentences,” he said, still calm.
“Aren’t the guards after yeh?” said Laela, with the horrible thought that if they were tracking him, they might find her, too, and who knew what they’d do to her?
“No,” said Wolf. “They don’t know I’ve escaped yet.”
“Are yeh sure?”
“Why, d’ye doubt me?”
“I just
He chuckled. “True. Well, don’t worry; we’re safe. Nobody messes with me if they know what’s good for ’em. Anyway. . so what are ye going t’do now, Laela?”
“I dunno,” she mumbled. “Them bastards took all my money. I was gonna try an’ find a job. .”
“Got any skills?”
“Not really. I can cook an’ clean, an’ I know how t’sew.”
“Hm,” said Wolf. “I dunno, Laela. Maybe ye can pass as a Northerner at first, but as soon as anyone looks closely at yer, they’re gonna notice them beautiful blue eyes.”
“But they wouldn’t care, would they?” said Laela. “I’m only-”
“Only a Southerner,” he said flatly.
“But I never did nothin’ wrong!” she almost wailed.
“No, an’ nor did most of the Southerners the King’s rebels killed here all them years ago. Ye’re young, Laela. Ye don’t understand what that war meant. Us Northerners had been ground into the dirt by the sun worshippers for centuries. Half the people in this city have collar scars an’ memories full of pain an’ hard labour in mines an’ building sites. That ain’t somethin’ ye forget in a hurry. An’ when they see a blue-eyed Southerner, that’s what they think of. An’ ye. . well.” He sounded rather sad.
“I know,” said Laela. “I know. I ain’t just a Southerner. When yeh see me, yeh know one of yer own people bedded a Southerner. Betrayal.” She had thought it many times.
Wolf nodded. “It’s the mixing of North an’ South. Southerners’d see a dirty barbarian, Northerners’d see an arrogant tyrant. Madness, ain’t it?”
