Hood Page 13
“No,” Kali said acerbically, “I haven’t heard that bit of wisdom.” She continued, trying not to sound plaintive, “My parents want to send me to stay with my uncle in another town. Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“By yourself?! Oh, probably they’d have you travel with a caravan. You should be safe traveling with a caravan.”
“So, you don’t think I’d be safe here?”
“I think,” he began slowly, “you’d be safe if I was watching King Uray every moment. But I can’t do that. I won’t even be in Realth all the time. I think the king’s worried enough he’ll behave, but I can’t be sure of that.”
“What’s he worried about?”
In a harder tone, Hood said, “He’s worried I’ll find out if he gets up to his old tricks.”
“And then you’d punish him?”
There was a moment of silence, then Hood said, “Oh yeah.”
Kali had the distinct impression that—whoever Hood was—he’d nodded during the moment of silence, then realized she wouldn’t see a nod and spoke instead. He doesn’t seem as all-knowing and all-powerful as I’d thought. “So,” she said with dismay, “you might come around and punish him for killing me and my entire family… but it wouldn’t do me or mine much good… Right?”
“That’s true,” Hood said, not happily.
“Well,” Kali said, “you said you came to check on how I was doing. I’m fine right now but worried about the future. I don’t know about the other five girls. I was just about to go check on them.”
“By yourself?”
“No. My dad’s asking the neighbor boy to go with me.”
There was a knock on Kali’s door. Her father spoke through the door, “Neil’s ready to go.”
“Okay,” Kali called to her father. More quietly she spoke to Hood, “I’m going now.”
He didn’t respond.
~~~
When Kali met Neil in the entry, she could hardly miss the way his eyes roamed over her. She glanced at her father. He seemed oblivious.
As they started walking to Nerri’s house, Neil said, “You’re wearing men’s clothing now?” His tone was both amused and disbelieving.
“Yeah,” she said curtly, not thinking she could possibly explain it to a guy like Neil.
“Decided to just give up on getting a decent man after…?”
For a moment, Kali didn’t understand what he was saying. Then she realized, He thinks I’m spoiled goods! That no one’ll want me after the king’s had his way with me. That, whether or not the king actually did, everyone’s going to think he did and no one’ll want me because of my… reputation! She turned on Neil with narrowed eyes. Putting as much venom as she could in her voice, she hurled her words, “I think I’ve got an excellent chance with a decent man. Probably not with an asshole like you.”
Neil jerked back, then his face reddened. “You, you…slut!”
He drew back a hand, but Kali beat him to it, delivering the hardest roundhouse slap she could. To her astonishment, he staggered several steps, then sprawled onto the street. She stepped closer, strongly tempted to kick him while he was down. His mouth was bleeding. Did I hit him so hard it split his lip? Or did he hurt himself when he fell…? Do you still say “hurt himself” when I apparently knocked him down? She wondered what to do. Her parents wouldn’t be happy about this.
Neil was grunting.
Kali wasn’t sure what the grunting meant, though she had the distinct impression he was trying not to throw up. Should I stay here to make sure he’s okay? Go back to the house and tell my parents? Go back and tell Neil’s parents? Abandon him and try to check on the other girls by myself?
Then Neil decided it for her. He said, his voice full of vitriol, “So, a slut and a witch. I don’t know what kind of hex you put on me, but you’d better get back to your mommy and daddy!”
She leaned down. Despite her incandescent fury, she managed to respond in an amused tone, “Yeah. If I were you I’d blame my defeat on a hex too. Wouldn’t want word to get out that a girl knocked your ass down. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re such a pathetic wuss… Well, I won’t as long as you don’t bring up this little episode.” She sighed, “Since you apparently wouldn’t be much protection anyway I’ll just make the trip by myself.” Shaking in reaction, she straightened and continued on her way toward Nerri’s home. And just what am I going to do if I run into ruffians like the ones Joan protected us from?
~~~
Using his ghirit, Tarc was able to keep following Kali from house to house while keeping out of her line of sight. Fortunately, only one fellow looked like he might accost her, turning to follow her after she walked past. Tarc tried a new idea on him, applying just the faintest twist to the man’s semicircular canals. The man stumbled but caught himself against a wall without actually falling. When Tarc walked past a few moments later the man was looking puzzled but not distraught. The man gave a quick shake of his head as if checking for residual dizziness, then continued on his way, no longer shadowing Kali.
Except for Sylvia’s wealthy father, the families of the other girls were all worried that the king might take some kind of revenge on them. When Kali mentioned that she might be sent away to live with an unspecified relative, the other girls seemed to think it sounded like a good idea. They certainly weren’t as appalled by it as Kali had been. By the time she finished speaking to the last of the five, Kali was talking as if she thought it was a good idea herself.
The more he thought about it, the more Tarc agreed.
***
Charlotte looked up when the door of the pharmacy and cosmetic shop opened. Because of the girl’s millimeters-long crew cut, it took Charlotte several seconds to recognize Daussie Hyllis. Thinking ruefully of how little she liked the way her own shaved head looked in the mirror, Charlotte thought, Damn! I thought it was amazing how good the girl looked with the terrible haircut she had before. Now I find out she looks gorgeously cute even after she’s had her hair cut off right down to the scalp! Charlotte smiled, “Hi Daussie, you guys need more antibiotic already?”
“Um, no,” Daussie said, blushing. “I’m… hoping to talk to Morgan?”
“Oh,” Charlotte said, surprised. Why would this gorgeous girl want to talk to my dorky cousin? she wondered. “I’ll… see if he’s here,” she said, turning for the door into the chemistry. Why did I say that? I know very well he’s here. Do I really think he might tell me he doesn’t want to talk to the prettiest girl in Clancy Vail?
As she walked over to the bench Morgan was working at, she suddenly realized her dorky cousin had matured. He’s actually kind of cute, she thought wondering when that’d happened. “Morgan,” she said softly, “Daussie Hyllis’s out in the pharmacy and cosmetic shop.”
To her astonishment Morgan sat up like someone’d poked him with a sharp stick, turning wide eyes on Charlotte.
Charlotte continued, “She says she wants to talk to you?”
Morgan jolted to his feet and brushed past her on his way to the shop at a run.
He’s in love! Charlotte realized with amusement. Or, thinks he is. Though, why wouldn’t he be, she’s so damned… Charlotte turned to look at the recipe for the synthesis he’d been working on. Crap! I have no idea where he’s at on this. He could waste a lot of expensive precursors if he misses a step while he’s out talking to her.
Charlotte’s initial reaction was to let him get in trouble. It’s what he’d do to me… She frowned, But maybe it’s time for a truce. She followed him to the shop but the door wouldn’t open. She snorted, He bolted it! He’d secured the door because he didn’t want her coming in while he was talking to Daussie. Which shows how tragic our cousin-ly relationship is, but it’s also hilariously funny. Time to formally begin our truce. She took a moment to compose herself, then rapped sharply on the door, “Morgan. Tell me what step you’re on and I’ll keep your synthesis going.”
A moment later, Charlotte heard the bolt draw back. The door op
ened a crack. A crack that was completely filled because Morgan was leaning so close she couldn’t see. “Thanks,” he whispered looking terribly relieved. “I’m on step twenty-three. The next step will be after one more turn of the glass.” He immediately shut the door and she heard the bolt shoot home again.
“You owe me!” Charlotte said, but she whispered it. Then she thought wistfully, Good luck cousin…
She turned back to Morgan’s bench.
***
While Tarc worked his day’s stint as a guard, another caravan left and a new one pulled into Realth’s huge caravan grounds. The new one took the previous caravan’s prime position between the Norton caravan and the city. Tarc decided that after his shift he’d walk through the new caravan on his way into town to check on the king and the girls.
Lizeth was the one who came to relieve him. “Gonna go check on your girlfriends?” she asked truculently.
“Girlfriends?”
“Those pretty little things you rescued.”
“The young women you insisted I rescue?” Tarc asked, letting irritation seep into his tone.
“Yeah, those,” Lizeth said, still sounding surly.
Tarc studied her for a moment, wondering about her moods. It’d be nice to have Mom or Kazy tell me what’s going on with her. Though, he thought, mentally rolling his eyes, they’d tell me it’d be an invasion of her privacy if she didn’t request treatment. Returning to the question at hand, he said, “We probably do need to keep an eye on them and the king. Have you checked in on them recently?”
“No. I figured you’d be checking on those grateful girls often enough for both of us.”
“Aren’t you worried about them?”
She stared at him a moment, then almost repeated herself verbatim. “No. I figured you’d be checking them enough for both of us.”
Is she jealous? Tarc wondered. He decided he’d better not ask. Instead, he said, “Do you want to check on the king and I’ll keep an eye on the girls?”
“No!”
“Or vice versa?”
“No.”
“Well,” Tarc said, putting a cheerful lilt in his voice, “I think someone should check on them, so I guess I’d better go do it.” He turned toward the other caravan and the town.
~~~
There was something familiar about the other caravan. Tarc turned in place, looking around at their stalls. Since he and his parents hadn’t gone to many caravans when they’d lived in Walterston, it pretty much had to be a caravan he’d visited in Clancy Vail. Oh, he thought, recognizing a sandwich stand, this is the caravan with that jeweler, Fava.
Tarc looked around until he found her stand, then dropped in for a visit. When he arrived, she was busy with another customer. He watched out of the corner of his eye and saw the man was examining one of the gorgeous blue oval stones Daussie’d teleported out of Fava’s big chunk of raw lapis lazuli.
Fava quoted a price of two golds.
Tarc was stunned. Fava’d sold Tarc the big chunk of raw lapis lazuli for a silver and there were a hundred silvers in a gold. Daussie’d cut handfuls of spheres, ovals, teardrops, and cylinders out of the raw stone and Tarc had sold all of them to Fava for three golds. But if she’s selling each of Daussie’s stones for more than a gold, she’s making an incredible profit!
The man dickered with Fava until they settled on a price of one gold and seventy silvers.
When the man left, Fava looked over and saw Tarc grinning at her. She rolled her eyes, “You’ve been listening,” she said accusingly.
“Why yes,” Tarc said, with a little laugh, “it’s been very educational.”
Sounding despondent, she said, “You’re gonna raise my prices.”
Tarc snorted, “That only seems fair. I think you’ve got plenty of margin.”
She shook her head dejectedly, “What’re you doing here in Realth?”
“Traveling to… visit some old friends.”
Fava brightened. “Can you make me more stones?”
“No, sorry. My… friend that makes them’s still in Clancy Vail.”
Fava said, “We’re headed that way.” Her eyes narrowed, “Will you be there when we get there?”
“No, I’m going the other direction.”
Dismayed, she said, “Can you tell me who cuts and polishes those stones? I really need more inventory.”
Tarc gave a little laugh, “I’d be crazy to connect you directly, wouldn’t I? But, if you go to the Hyllis Tavern and ask for my sister Daussie, she could take your raw stones to the person that does them.”
“Oh, thanks!” Fava said.
Tarc could see the wheels turning in Fava’s head. He said, “And I’m sure you’ll give her a much better price on the finished stones, right? Something like thirty silvers per finished stone? You wouldn’t want me to find out you’d shorted us when I got back. I might decide to deal with a different distributor from now on.”
Fava sighed. Tarc thought partly in frustration and partly in relief. “Of course. I was planning to do that now that I know what I can sell them for.”
Tarc grinned, “I’m sure you were.”
~~~
Entering Realth, Tarc first headed for the palace to find out what the king had gotten up to. There weren’t any people in the audience chamber where Tarc had dealt with the king the day before yesterday.
Tarc realized this wasn’t surprising. King Uray probably thought something about the room allowed the voice projections that had harassed him. He probably searched for speaking tubes or other devices. Finding none, he’s just decided to avoid that room.
Expanding his ghirit, Tarc started walking around the outer wall of the palace searching for the huge man. He was feeling hungry and thirsty. Keeping an eye out for a tavern, he wondered whether he should’ve gotten a sandwich at the stand in Fava’s caravan. But, he’d eaten at that stand when it’d been in Clancy Vail and the food’d been terrible.
Coming around a corner, he saw the Palace Tavern where he and Daussie had stayed when they rescued their mother. I should go visit that place, he thought, thinking about how they’d tried to have him robbed. Somebody should see what kind of unsavory things they’re up to now.
He’d decided not to waste time on the tavern, then he saw a couple of king’s guards step up to the door, furtively look around, then go in.
If those guys are having a beer in a den of thieves like the Palace Tavern, Tarc thought, that’s probably a bad thing. He turned toward the tavern.
Opening the door, Tarc stepped into the dimly lit bar. As before, many of the patrons turned to see who’d come in. At first, Tarc didn’t see the two guards, then he recognized their helmets on the floor beneath the table in their booth. The two men looked uncomfortably out of place.
All the tables were full. Tarc looked over at the bar. The bartender who’d tried to have Daussie and Tarc robbed wasn’t to be seen. A different guy was tending. Tarc walked over and took a seat at the bar. The tender lifted his chin questioningly. Tarc said, “Beer.”
The tender nodded and headed for his spigot.
Sitting at the bar put Tarc’s back to the guards at their table. He’d have preferred to be able to see their faces, but it wasn’t much of a problem. He expanded his ghirit behind him.
The tender brought him a mug of beer.
It was terrible.
Another man took a seat in the booth with the guards. Tarc turned and glanced at him. The man didn’t look like an upstanding citizen.
Turning back to the bar, Tarc used his ghirit to listen.
“Well, out with it. You two don’t come around here unless you’re wanting something unpleasant done.”
A different voice, presumably one of the guards, said, “A botched robbery.”
“By ‘botched,’ I assume you mean make it look like a robbery in which the thieves didn’t expect anyone to be home.”
There was a pause during which Tarc’s ghirit showed one of the guard’s heads nodding.
“Someone’s entire family.”
Surprising Tarc by having any scruples, the man said, “Oh geez. Women and children too?”
There was no verbal response. Just the guard’s head nodding again.
“What’s the pay?” the first voice asked.
“No guards nearby. You keep the goods. Shoddy investigation.”
“Shit! The first one we could make sure of ourselves. The second one’s assumed. The third one’s no different than the guard’s usual investigation. The only thing that’d be different about your job is that we’d have to do a house we didn’t choose, and we’d have to kill the women and kids. We don’t need jobs like this one!”
Tarc heard the clicking of coins. Golds, he thought from the slightly muted sound. Then the second voice said, “Also, we wouldn’t find it necessary to investigate some of your current enterprises.”
“Okay,” the first voice said resignedly. Tarc’s ghirit showed hands moving together, then coins clicked again as they transferred from one man to the other. “Who?”
Icicles shot down Tarc’s spine when the man said, “Salvador Descarte’s home.”
He’d learned the names of the six girls’ fathers when he’d followed Kali from house to house the day before. Descarte was Nerri’s last name. What do I do? Tarc wondered, feeling panicked.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This had to be because the king had decided to seek revenge on the girls and their families. Uray’d decided to distance himself by hiring the job out to the local criminal element—presumably so the voice that’d chastised him wouldn’t connect the killings back to him. But, if I tell the king I’ve learned of the plan before it even got started? Tarc gave himself a nod, I can make him call it off.
Tarc’s furious thought process almost kept him from hearing the outlaw’s next question, “When?”
“Tonight.”
“Oh, come on! We need time to scout it out!”