Eined nodded. Iahn looked into Eined's eyes a moment longer, then let go of her arm and glanced at Ususi. "I judge we can trust her. Perhaps she can help us, and we can help her." "You're the vengeance taker,"
Ususi agreed. Takers were renowned for the ability to discern truth from falsehood. But they'd been known to be wrong. Ususi vowed to keep half an eye on this woman. Ususi mollified herself by recalling that even those who'd earned a vengeance taker's trust were only under a little less scrutiny than his enemies. It was the nature of the vengeance taker order to view all with some level of suspicion. Or so she'd heard. "I do need help," allowed Eined. "Since I went into hiding, my family has been looking high and low for me. I've about exhausted my resources." "And we need help, too," said Iahn. "Perhaps our needs and abilities can be shared." Ususi said, "We need to find the source of the crystal." "The source? The shop…" "We need to find out where the crystal is mined," explained Ususi. "So you can shut down its production?" asked Eined. "Mayhap. And for other reasons." Iahn gave a subtle shake of his head, but she had already ceased speaking. Yes, she was aware, no need for Eined to know their deeper purposes. "Well… if you promise to sabotage production, I can tell you where the crystal is mined," said Eined. Iahn shrugged. "We can do no more than promise to try. Success may or may not follow."
Eined squinted at the vengeance taker uncertainly. Ususi sighed. "Yes, we'll stop the mining operation, Eined. If we can, we will. Where is the mine?" "You'll need to charter a boat. The mine is not on this side of the Golden Water." "Then what?" asked Ususi. "That'll have to wait for the other side of the gulf." "Tell us where we need to go," instructed the vengeance taker. "I will-because I'm going with you.
I'll take you to the site personally." Ususi glanced sidelong at Iahn.
Was the woman showing her true colors? Suspicions again scurried through the back of the wizard's mind. Ususi said, "I don't think that's a good idea." "Then I won't tell you where to find the mine. If I'm not with you, there's no chance you'll get into the heart of the mine, anyway. You need me." Iahn said in his no-nonsense manner, "If you come, I can't guarantee you'll survive. You'll be safer here." "If I don't come with you, how can I be sure you're holding up your end of the deal? Besides, I already told you-my family is leaving no stone unturned in searching for me. If I can get out of the city, they'll never find me-I'll be safer if I'm not here." Ususi thought the mine was likely a fortified Datharathi holding, where Eined might be more easily recognized than in the thronging streets of Vaelan, but she held her tongue. Regardless of the vengeance taker's ability to discern betrayal, the wizard hoped Eined's appearance wasn't evidence of an elaborate conspiracy meant to snare her and Iahn. Iahn said "Very well. You're with us." Ususi frowned, but Eined smiled. The vengeance taker continued. "We have little time to waste, Eined. Are you ready to leave immediately? I'd like to go straight to the docks."
"Yes. I travel light these days."
The sun glistened on the waves rolling in toward the pier. Iahn bartered for passage across the Golden Water to Huorm. The smell of fish mingled, not unpleasantly, with the salty tang in the air. Iahn was relatively new to wide bodies of water, but he was coming to enjoy the broad vistas he'd experienced since leaving Deep Imaskar. Yonald, ship steward for Smoke and Fire, named a ridiculous price for passage.
Iahn merely shook his head. He said, "We'll pay you one quarter of the price you've named now, and that amount again when we safely reach the opposite shore." Eined, in her hood, and Ususi, still in the disguise Iahn had fashioned for her earlier, stood nearby. Dockworkers rushed back and forth, loading and unloading crates and barrels from the holds of the half dozen merchant ships tied up along the pier. The wizard noticed several people whose backs were not bowed beneath the weight of crates. They were moving along the dock. "Iahn," Ususi said, stepping to the taker's side, "look!" She gestured down the pier where the stone causeway met the shore. Haifa dozen men and women strode purposefully toward them, shoving aside dockworkers with disdain. The one in the lead, a burly red-haired man, yelled, "Eined Datharathi! We have a writ, signed by Xaemar Datharathi of Datharathi Minerals, that remands you into our care! Surrender yourself!" Eined gasped and stepped behind Iahn, so that the vengeance taker momentarily occluded her from the approaching group. Eined whispered, "Zel probably stationed men at all the city exits! I should have guessed he'd do that. Damn! I wish we had splurged and chartered an airship!" The vengeance taker said nothing, merely watching the men as they approached, confident their purpose would be revealed shortly. The redhead halted, facing Iahn and Ususi, and he looked at Eined. "Please come with us, Madam Datharathi. For your own safety. You're sick, and your family wants to help you." "Help me? I don't need their kind of help!" Eined's voice quickly rose in pitch. Iahn could tell she was scared. She didn't need to be. The vengeance taker looked the red-haired man in the eye and said, "This woman has secured our services for all her needs. If she is unwell, we will see to her health. If she has other concerns, they will be met. Leave. You are distressing our patron." The man shook his head. "Sorry. We've got our orders direct from the top man in Vaelan. You have no standing here, outlander." "I give you one warning," said Iahn. "If you and these others do not vacate this pier immediately, I shall judge your presence to be a threat to our patron, and take appropriate steps to eliminate that threat. Permanently." The redhead crossed his arms and moved his feet to a wider stance, a clear challenge to Iahn's pronouncement. A woman with a nasty scar that connected her left eye to the corner of her mouth moved to stand at the man's left. An oddly doughty halfling with an oversized club stood at his right. Behind the red-haired man stood three more men in uniforms proclaiming them to be of the watch. Apparently, no one was accustomed to hearing ultimatums made by agents of Deep Imaskar. Then again, they had probably never encountered or even heard of a vengeance taker before. Too bad, thought Iahn. Their ignorance won't protect them from judgment.
Yonald, the ship steward, took a few paces back. He, in contrast to the newcomers, was a smart man-and more perceptive than the redhead, who had exactly three more heartbeats left in him. The arts of judgment studied by the protectors of Deep Imaskar were widely varied.
They included the ultimate poison (that produced by a damos), intimate knowledge of anatomy and its key weaknesses, weapons, and magic. With so many options, Iahn nearly insulted his profession by simply stepping forward and pushing the red-haired man off the pier. Ususi made a throwing motion toward the group, releasing a vivid cone of clashing colors that shimmered over the five assailants, giving them a sickly appearance. The three uniformed watchmen instantly slumped to the pier. Iahn could see that they still breathed and were merely unconscious. The two remaining antagonists, the scarred woman and the halfling, were apparently well paid. They attacked instead of running away. The woman charged Iahn with a dagger in each hand, the snarl on her face distorting her expression into something even more bestial.
The greasy, hulking halfling threw his club end over end and struck Ususi in the shoulder. Eined screamed. Iahn didn't much care if he killed the dagger-wielding woman or the halfling. They had been warned, so their continued defiance could legitimately be answered with extermination. But he suddenly worried that killing a citizen of Vaelan might hurt their chances of securing a ship berth. He leaned forward and left, deftly evading the woman's first knife thrust. As he leaned, he separated his thinblade from the hilt of his dragonfly blade so he had the thinblade in his left and the deadly dragonfly blade in his right. He countered the woman's first dagger thrust with his thinblade, piercing her arm just below her shoulder blade. She shrieked and dropped the dagger. Iahn leaned forward to avoid her second thrust, then sliced the second dagger-and a few fingers-from her grip with a savage flick of his dragonfly blade. The woman collapsed, holding her mauled hand and howling in shock. Iahn spun and saw the halfling advancing on Ususi. Eined cowered behind the wizard.