There’d been a long hour then, while the guard captain listened to her story about the battle on the road and got her to identify the two dead men. The third had vanished, only a thin trail of blood to show which way he’d gone. Fortunately, they’d already talked to her clients and seemed willing to accept what she said as truth.
The aroma of fresh loaves brought her back to the moment, and now she could see M’Whan threading his way between tables, coming her direction. Off to her right, the taverner’s wife was stoking a fire in the massive fireplace and two servants were moving around lighting candles and lanterns. Three half-grown boys came from the direction of the outside kitchens bearing steaming pots of stew. Serving girls followed with covered baskets of bread, and behind his long counter, the taverner turned up his lanterns and began setting out fresh cups and pitchers. Eddis drew a deep breath, sighed happily, and followed M’Whan across the room.
They’d shoved two small tables together in front of a corner bench built into the southeast wall. Blorys watched as Jerdren spread out a map, securing corners with filled wine cups and two fat candles. Light from these fluttered and cast odd shadows as Eddis took a stool. M’Baddah settled down next to her and passed her a cup.
If Jerdren had been excited earlier in the day, he was almost vibrating with energy now. But he merely glanced up and smiled a welcome before returning to his map. It was upside down from her viewpoint, but Eddis recognized the Keep and lands to the east, north, and south of it. The map properly flattened out, Jerdren jumped to his feet and began pouring a dark red wine into cups and handing them around.
“To our new company,” he announced, “to Fortune’s Five—and to fame, wealth, and glory!”
Eddis eyed Blorys sidelong. He cast up his eyes. “It’s all he’s told me since he got here.”
“Said I’d wait until everyone was here, didn’t I?” Jerdren demanded. He was grinning broadly. “Ask the lady—we’re equals in this. Anyway, I went off to the barracks to find Mebros, but he’s normally on the inner gatehouse, they told me. None of us would normally be let inside those gates, of course, but I thought, why not see if he’ll come out? One of the guards sent word in for me, and while I waited, he and I talked—he’d heard about our ambush this morning, and he told me a tally sheet went up in the mess hall late today. Said it asked for volunteers—trackers and hunters, men who know the woods east of the Keep.
“Mebros wasn’t to be found, but another guardsman came out with word that some parchment pusher wanted to talk to me if I was the Jerdren who came in this morning with hide merchant Lhodis.”
Jerdren’s eyebrows went up. “You wouldn’t believe the size of that end of the Keep. Stone training grounds for two full companies to drill at the same time—not that there’s so many men, these days. Terraced crop beds on all sides, up against the walls so’s a company can still drill there, and they can eat once they’re through drilling. Seems to me there’s a clever man in charge here. Practical.
“Left alone, I’d’ve got lost at once inside the north towers, but my guide led me up a flight of stairs and inside a plain stone chamber, talking to a tall, pale fellow named Hollis. ‘Undersecretary to Castellan Ferec,’ he said. He knew about our set-to out on the road and said Ferec wanted to thank us himself. There’s a banquet tomorrow night, Blor, and we’re invited—us and our men.”
“Hmmm. That might mean the castellan wants to look us over, Brother. Talk to us, see if we might be useful to him. They say it’s how he does things.”
“Could be. Thing is,” Jerdren leaned forward to plant his elbows on the map, “I ran across Odis—that’s one of the men I hired for this journey, Eddis—on my way to the barracks, early on. He and his mates already have a return job, and they’re heading out tomorrow. Wanted to know if I’d give ’em good recommendation to this ore merchant who’s eager to get back north with his pouch of gold. Well, I did that, and I also told Odis about this raid. He just laughed! Said the main reason they signed on with us was hopes of a chance like the ore merchant. ‘Why give over an easy job with a filled purse at the end,’ he said, ‘in exchange for real danger and crawling through the woods?’
“Anyway, when this Hollis said we were all invited, I thought, say those bandits had set their ambush late, rather than early, then Eddis would’ve taken ’em out just like we did, right Eddis? And we’re equals in this, right?”
Eddis stared at him. “Jerdren, tell me you didn’t try to wangle us an invitation to a formal banquet!”
He smiled cheerfully. “I didn’t just try—I got it! All five of us, tomorrow at second bell after sunset.”
Eddis broke the silence. “Jerdren, I can’t eat at a lord’s table. I’m village!”
“So?” he asked. “We’re village, and we left that for the army. But this castellan’s no lord! He was a soldier left in charge here when the old lord went north with most of his army. When none of ’em came back, he stayed on to keep things together, that’s all. Man like that won’t care how you eat your soup. Besides, you wanted to know how much truth there is to Meb’s rumor, and who’d answer that better for you than the man in charge?”
Eddis shook her head in disbelief. Behind her, the room was filling up, and the babble of voices was growing louder by the moment. M’Baddah said something quietly to M’Whan, who went off through the crowd and came back some moments later followed by one of the taverner’s daughters—a dark-haired, slender lass in bright blue, who smiled at everyone and joshed with most, expertly balancing a tray piled high with bowls of stew and chunks of bread.
Eddis sniffed the fragrant steam cautiously. Stew with no onion—they remembered. She tore her bread into thick strips and dipped it into the rich broth.
“Eddis? You can do this, right?” Jerdren looked rather anxious.
She chewed bread, swallowed. Finally shrugged.
“The banquet, you mean? I can—” She fell forward as someone slammed into her left shoulder.
A long-fingered hand dragged her back upright, and a reedy voice mumbled apologetically. Eddis was turning toward the voice when her belt shifted. My purse! She spun around the other way and snatched at the dark-haired, skinny fellow backing away from her. He evaded the grasp but went sprawling as M’Baddah stuck out a leg. Eddis was off her stool and had him by two handfuls of roughspun shirt before he could scramble up. He twisted in her grip but subsided when she transferred one hand to his hair.
“All right,” she snapped, “where is it?”
“Where’s what?” The face was a boy’s, despite a thin smear of moustache on his upper lip and a skinny tad of beard. His eyes were very wide.
“The purse you just cut from my belt,” Eddis hissed.
“Purse? Cut? I lost my balance, woman, and fell into you. I said I was sorry, didn’t I?”
“Fine,” she said. “Apology accepted, once you hand over that purse!” He twisted suddenly, freed himself from her grasp, and dove under the nearest trestle. Merchants and their women scattered. Eddis swore under her breath and went after him.