"Me?"
"You. Things are happening around the Company. I don't think that's because I strut so pretty."
"Phooey."
"I haven't pressed, Lady. For all there's reason. And I won't—unless I have to. But it would be nice to know why we've got one dead Taken hanging around watching us out of the bushes and another one that used to be your buddy trying to kill us back in those swamps. Might be interesting to know if he knew you were aboard that barge, or if he was working on a grudge against Shifter, or if he just wanted to keep traffic from moving down the river. Might be interesting to know if we're likely to run into him again. Or somebody else who didn't die on time."
I tried to keep my tone gentle and neutral but some of my anger got through.
The first food arrived, bits of iced melon soaked in brandy. While we nibbled, some thoughtful soul gave our guardians food as well. Less elegant fare, perhaps, but food nevertheless.
Lady sucked a melon ball and looked thoughtful. Then her whole stance changed. She shouted, "Don't eat that stuff!" She used the tongue of the Jewel Cities, which by now even the most thick-witted of the Nar understood.
Silence grabbed the grove. The Nar dropped their platters.
I rose. "What is it?"
"Someone has tampered with their food."
"Poison?"
"Drugged, I'd guess. I'd have to check more closely."
I went and got the nearest's platter. He looked grim behind his Nar mask of indifference. He wanted to hurt somebody.
He got his chance when I turned back with my plunder.
A quick shuffle of feet. A thwack! of wood against flesh. A cry of pain that was little more than a whimper. I turned. The Nar had his spearpoint resting on the throat of a man sprawled before him. I recognized one of the lamplighters.
A long knife lay not far from his outflung hand.
I surveyed our surroundings. Bland faces watched from every direction.
"One-Eye. Frogface. Come here." They came. "I want something low-key. Something that won't disturb anybody's dinner. But something that will have him in a mood to talk when I'm ready. Can do?"
One-Eye snickered. "I know just the thing." He rubbed his hands in wicked glee while Goblin, left out, pouted. "I know just the thing. Go enjoy your dinner and sweet nothings. Old One-Eye will take care of everything. I'll have him ready to sing like a canary."
He gestured. An invisible force snagged the lamplighter's heels. Up he went, wriggling like a fish on a line, mouth stretched to scream but nothing coming out.
I settled opposite Lady. A jerk of my head. "One-Eye's idea of low-key. Don't let the victim scream." I popped a melon ball into my mouth.
One-Eye stopped lifting the lamplighter when his nose was twenty feet off the ground.
Lady began poking through the Nar's food.
The expedient of turning my back on One-Eye did not let me attain the mood I'd had in mind when arranging the evening. And Lady remained troubled.
I glanced over my shoulder occasionally.
The captive shed bits of clothing like dead leaves peeling away. The flesh beneath, betrayed, crawled with tiny lime and lemon glowing worms. When two of different hues butted heads they sparked and the failed assassin tried to shriek. When the mood took him, One-Eye let the man fall till his nose was a foot off the ground. Frogface whispered into his ear till One-Eye hoisted him up again.
Real low-key. What the hell would he have done if I'd asked for a show?
Goblin caught my eye. I raised an eyebrow. He used deaf sign to tell me, "Company coming. Looks like big stuff."
I pretended no greater interest than my meal while watching Lady intently. She seemed possessed of no special awareness.
There were two of them, well dressed and courteous. One was a native, walnut brown but not of negroid stock. The people of Taglios were dark but not negroid. The negroid peoples we had seen there were all visitors from up the river. The other one we knew already, Willow Swan, with the hair as yellow as maize.
Swan spoke to the Nar nearest him while his companion appraised One-Eye's efforts. I nodded to Goblin, who went to see if he could get any sense from Swan.
He came back looking thoughtful. "Swan says the guy with him is the boss wog around here. His choice of words, not mine."
"I guess it was bound to come." I exchanged glances with Lady. She had on her empress's face, readable as a rock. I wanted to shake her, to hug her, to do something to free up the passion that had appeared so briefly before going underground. She shrugged.
I said, "Invite them to join us. And tell One-Eye to send the imp over. I want him to check on Swan's translations."
The serving staff got down on their faces as our guests approached. It was the first time I had seen that kind of behavior in Taglios. Swan's prince was the real thing.
Swan got right to it. "This here's the Prahbrindrah Drah, the head guy around here."
"And you work for him."
He smiled. "In a left-hand sort of way. Drafted. He wants to know if you're looking for a commission."
"You know we're not."
"I told him. But he wanted to check it out personal."
"We're on a quest." I thought that sounded dramatic enough.
"A mission from the gods?"
"A what?"
"These Taglians are superstitious. You ought to know that by now. That would be the way to get the quest idea across. Mission from the gods. Sure you couldn't stick around for a while? Take a break from the road. I know how rough it is, travelling and travelling. And my man needs somebody to do his dirty work. You guys got a rep for handling that stuff."
"What do you really know about us, Swan?"
He shrugged. "Stories."
"Stories. Hunh."
The Prahbrindrah Drah said something.
"He wants to know why that guy is hanging up in the air."
"Because he tried to stab me in the back. After somebody tried to poison my guards. After a while I'm going to ask him why."
Swan and the Prahbrindrah chattered. The Prahbrindrah looked irked. He glanced at One-Eye's pet, chattered some more.
"He wants to know about your quest."
"You heard it all coming down the river. You told him already."
"Man, he's trying to be polite."
I shrugged. "How come so much interest in a few people just passing through?"
Swan started looking nervous. We were starting to move in toward it. The Prahbrindrah said several sentences.
Swan said, "The Prahbrindrah says you've talked about where you've been—and he would like to hear more about your adventures because far peoples and places intrigue him—and your quest, but you haven't really said where you're going." He sounded like he was trying to translate very accurately. Frogface gave me a shallow nod.
We had told Swan's bunch little during the passage south from the Third Cataract. We had hidden from them as much as they from us. I decided to pronounce the name maybe better kept to myself. "Khatovar."
Willow did not bother translating.
The Prahbrindrah chattered.
"He says you shouldn't do that."
"Too late to stop, Swan."
"Then you got troubles you can't even imagine, Captain." Swan translated. The Prince replied. He got excited.
"Boss says it's your neck and you can shave with an axe if you want, but no sane man says that name. Death could strike you down before you finished." He shrugged and smirked as he spoke. "Though it's likely more mundane forces will slaughter you if you insist on chasing that chimera. There's bad territory between here and there." Swan looked at the Prince and rolled his eyes. "We hear tales of monsters and sorcery."
"Hey, really." I plucked a morsel from a small bird, chewed, swallowed. "Swan, I brought this outfit here all the way from the Barrowland. You remember the Barrowland. Monsters and sorcery? Seven thousand miles. I never lost a man. You remember the river? Folks who got in my way didn't live to be sorry. Listen close. I'm trying to say a couple of things here. I'm eight hundred miles from the edge of the map. I won't stop now. I can't." It was one of the longest speeches I've ever made, outside reading to the men from the Annals.