“Go sleep, then,” Vlandar said. “Well done, my friend.”
Malowan shook his head. “There is more, though. Wait.” Hepatted his pack. “We also found several scroll cases deeply hidden among thebalks of wood.”
“Scroll cases?” Vlandar said. “Have you looked at them yet?”
“I did not take the time in there, but if they are messagesin Giantish, it would have done me little good. I can speak some Giantish, but I read none of it. I believe Nemis does, though.”
“He said so, back when he and I first spoke.” Vlandar thoughta moment. “Let’s look at them now, you and I. If we need Nemis to translate forus, that can wait until after you’ve slept a while.”
Lhors stood and gazed over Vlandar’s shoulder. The two meneither didn’t care or didn’t notice that he was so blatantly eavesdropping.
The scrolls were written in well-formed, large letters, but neither man could understand a word of what was written there, not even the glyphs at the bottom that must be the mark of the sender. “Or Nosnra’s glyph, ofcourse,” Malowan said gloomily.
“They could be anything,” Vlandar agreed as he furled thelast scroll and slid it into its tube. “Keep them, Mal. We’ll get Nemis’ helpafter you both wake up. Meantime, I’ll finish out the individual maps as best Ican. Likely, I’ll take your advice and we’ll enter the fort an hour earliertomorrow. I want to avoid a melee, especially if there’s a chance to get backinto that chamber and learn something about why Nosnra and his underlings are attacking Keoland.”
“We won’t learn that by launching an open attack,” thepaladin agreed. “I trust if you plan on stealth that you have put the fear ofthe gods into young Plowys?”
“As best I could, Mal. Still, I may need your aid inrestraining our young hero.”
“There is,” the paladin said severely, “not enough sleep inall the world to prepare me for that.” He tugged his cloak around himselfsnugly and worked off his boots, settling down where he was.
Malowan woke some hours later to find Agya awake andreplaiting one of the straps on his pack.
“They’re at it.” She grumbled and indicated the group aroundVlandar with a minute jerk of her head. “Your warrior friend’s picked ’is teams,and no one wants to be with anyone else.” She drew a dagger and cut a slit onthe side of the pack, threaded the braided strap through, and began working the ends in so it would hold. “Thought it were bad enough in th’ city when ourmaster chose which ’prentice thieves to send out with which journey-lads. No oneever wanted who they got, journey or ’prentice.”
Agya finished her task neatly and shoved the bag his way. “You left it out in th’ open where anyone could’ve taken those things we found,”she said severely. “I don’t trust half ’em, specially that boy.”
“Boy?” the paladin asked his ward in the sudden quiet. “Iknow Lhors is ill-trained-”
“Nah, th’other: Lord Pretty Prince of the Heavens.” Agyascowled at Plowys, who was pacing by himself and occasionally spinning on one heel to half-draw a blade. “Th’ rangers’ve asked him to give over before he cutsone of us, playing with his shiny toys in here. Ask me, let ’im play-if luck bewith us, he’ll trip and skewer ’imself.”
“Harsh,” Malowan said mildly.
His ward gave him a hard-eyed look. “Nah. Harsh is what I’lldo to ’im if ’e does something to get you hurt.” She shoved the bag asideand leveled a finger at his face. “I know you. You’ll give someone like thattries and tries again and get yourself hurt trying to keep ’im safe.”
“Just as I did recently with a young market thief, a skinnygirl masquerading as a boy and nearly old enough to be caught in that deception by the city guard-or her fellow thieves?”
Agya blushed and turned her back on him.
“We’re all flawed, Agya.”
“You know how th’ thieves guild uses girls,” she muttered,“or what happens to girl thieves tossed in th’ cells. But even if I weren’tready to leave off thieving, I’d’ve done nothin’ to get you hurt.” Her chin cameup. “And I never stole but enough to keep m’self fed.”
Malowan laid a hand on her shoulder. “I know, and now youshame me for reminding you. But you have changed. Perhaps Plowys can, especially this far from his mother.”
“P’raps,” the girl replied dubiously.
Malowan gripped her arm briefly then got to his feet to find out what plans had been set for the coming night.
Khlened snarled something. Vlandar leaped to his feet, but before he could utter a word, Maera cut him off. “Lower your voice, fool of abarbarian! The fake wall our mage put up to block the entry is to trick eyes not ears! They could have heard you down along the river, just now!”
Khlened grumbled under his breath, but Vlandar cleared his throat and chopped a hand for silence.
Vlandar was visibly holding onto a formidable temper at the moment. When Plowys and Khlened both began talking at the same time, the warrior snarled a curse that silenced both and left Rowan blinking in surprise.
“I was put in charge of this sortie,” Vlandar said evenly,“and all of you knew that from the first-including you.” He scowled at Plowysuntil the young man’s mouth twitched. “Now. I will often ask for opinions,particularly from those of you who have fought giants or can speak or read Giantish, or who have skills other and better than mine. I may even follow such advice if it seems sensible, but I am captain here. The responsibility for all of us-and to the king and Lord Mebree-is mine. I made my choices fortonight for my own reasons, and I am not called on to explain them. Do what you must to get ready, because we move out two hours before first light.” And withthat, he turned away, beckoned for Malowan to follow him, and settled in the narrow corner where he’d spread his blankets.
“It was a poor choice putting me in charge of thisbunch,” he growled.
Malowan smiled. “You manage well enough. How did you divideus up?”
Vlandar sighed heavily. “Khlened and the rangers are going tolearn what they can about the door where the wolves and their keeper went. The northerner is upset to be put with females, and they in turn are offended by him. I put Nemis with you and Agya. You need to learn where that downstairs goes, and he needs to either copy that map or take it.”
“You plan on all of us getting inside unnoted by theresidents?” Malowan asked.
Vlandar shrugged. “I do not believe the Steading isultimately responsible for the attacks. Nosnra is a brutish oaf, cunning but not a planner. If he does report to someone else, I want to learn who and if there is a way to find that someone. We may decide to do as much damage to the Steading as we can before going after Nosnra’s superiors then. Likely not,though. If Nosnra learns what we’re up to, he’ll warn his superior, if he istaking orders. Better if we can avoid walking into a trap, don’t you think?”
“Of course.”
“I will take Lhors and Plowys to see what else we can learnfrom the feasting hall, then join you in the council room. I don’t want any ofus wandering off. Our goal should be to get in and get back out with that map and anything else useful.” Vlandar sighed again. Now he sounded merely tired. “Ineed your help, Mal. We can’t go into that fort in this mood.”
“I agree,” Malowan said. “We act as a team or die asindividuals. I’ll talk to Khlened and the rangers. Young Plowys-he won’t listento me. You’ll have to do your best with him.”
But as it turned out, there was no need for anyone to searchfor information on the Steading’s arrangement. When Nemis went through thescrolls Malowan had brought back, he found a detailed map of the main floor.
“I see the steps you found, Mal,” the mage said and pointedthem out, “and another set here, just off the kitchens. But there are no plansfor the lower level.”