The ale had made her light-headed? Too bad, she thought, it had tasted good.
"The name's Led."
Onyx squinted up into his face, her expression blank.
"It's customary to respond with your name." The man gave her a penetrating look. "Unless there's some reason you don't want me to know it."
"No!" she said almost too quickly. Onyx touched her head. "The ale has made me a touch slow-witted, is all," she man shy;aged, borrowing from Aggis. "My name is Onyx."
"How appropriate." Led lifted a hand and ruffled the fine, blue-black fringes of hair that lapped at her neck. She drew back slightly, startled by his touch.
Undaunted, Led twirled his finger through a strand of her hair before withdrawing it casually. He almost seemed to enjoy her discomfort. "Where are you from?"
"The North," she said vaguely. "And you?"
"The road's my home." His eyes twinkled. "Did I hear you tell Bert that you're a mercenary?"
"That was his word. I said I'm a good fighter and hunter."
His smile was lazy, patronizing, his gaze over her slight, womanly form skeptical. "Really?"
Onyx's nervously fingered the choker at her neck. "What business is it of yours?"
Led threw his head back and laughed. "At last, the little snake shows her fangs!"
"Don't ever call me that again," Onyx growled.
"Sorry. It was just a pet name."
"I'm not your pet."
Led leaned back, grinning. "But are you a good fighter?"
Onyx drew back at this line of questioning, discomforted by the entire encounter. She took long breaths in the qhen way, struggling to contain-or even understand-the tangle of human emotions. For some reason, her human form responded strangely to this man. Perhaps it was because she'd been surprised, knocked off balance by finding him so unexpectedly. The only thing she knew for sure was that if she didn't gain control of her brain and tongue, she would lose what might be her only chance to discover Dela's where shy;abouts.
"I can fight," she said evenly.
"That's interesting." Led snuffled two coins between the fingers of one hand, watching her closely while he spoke. "You see, I'm something of a hunter myself. A bounty hunter. In fact, I was bringing a law-breaker here for the bounty some months back and, uh, lost two fighters in a freak accident. Struck by lightning, they were. I haven't found suitable replacements, and I need guards to help me deliver a valuable package to a prospective buyer in Kernen tomorrow." Led's admiring gaze swept over her. "Person shy;ally, I'm impressed by what I see"- he shrugged meaning shy;fully — "but I'm going to have a hard time persuading the rest of my party that you're stronger than you look."
"You're offering me a job?" she asked, trying unsuccess shy;fully to hide her surprise.
"Maybe." He was looking at her legs in the tight russet pants.
"If you're their leader, why do you have to persuade any shy;one?" she challenged.
Led's green eyes shot up. "I don't." They narrowed to slits. "But I can't afford to waste time settling arguments if you can't pull your own weight."
Onyx propped her elbows on the bar and placed her chin in her cupped hand. "You must know there's more to a good fighter than strength," she said softly. "Stealth and cunning are probably more important." She paused. "And magic doesn't hurt, either."
"You can do magic?" he whispered hoarsely. His eyes nar shy;rowed, and he looked around quickly. "Better drop your voice, making a claim like that. Nobody trusts magic or mages, not in this part of the world anyway."
"Until recently, humans thought dragons were but stories, too," she said, watching his reaction.
Led shuddered. "I've heard those rumors, too. But why should I believe you're a mage?"
She knew she was being tested on a number of levels. "Why should I care what you believe?"
Led took a long wooden pipe from his pocket and tamped tobacco into the bowl, considering her defiant reply with amusement. He was reaching for a candle on the bar when he felt something touch the pipe clamped between his lips. Led looked down his nose and saw Onyx's index finger in the pipe's bowl. A small flame leaped from her fingertip and ignited the tobacco. She withdrew her finger and blew away a thin trail of white smoke. "You're welcome," she purred.
Led was too stunned to speak, too impressed to care if anyone else saw the display.
"If s customary to respond with 'thank you/ I believe," she whispered.
Led chose, instead, to nod, but there was undisguised admiration in his emerald eyes. He pushed himself away from the bar. "The men'll be assembling here just after dawn-if you're interested."
"Whafsthejob?"
"Thaf s not your concern," he said, taking three coins from a small drawstring bag and stacking them on the bar. "I'm tired, so we'll have to discuss your pay tomorrow."
Onyx bit back a stinging retort. Like her, Led clearly would not brook insolence, and she was dangerously close to crossing the line between being intriguing and annoying. Besides, she would find out soon enough if the job involved Dela.
Just then, Led's rough hand touched her cheek, made rosy by the roaring fire, if not the exchange. "Are you going to show up, little Onyx?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out," she said slyly. She slipped off the chair and sauntered up the stairs, followed all the way by the sound of Led's laughter.
Chapter 6
Onyx sat on the inn's long wooden front potch, her back to a square support post. The sky to the east was still dark purple, though approaching lavender. Few people were moving about yet, as first light began to creep between the buildings. A layer of winter ice and snow covered the whole town, giv shy;ing the place a false sense of peace and stillness.
Despite Bert's advice to avoid the bounty hunter, whis shy;pered over a breakfast of fried bread and eggs, the raven-haired young woman was waiting for Led. If she was to free Dela, she had no choice but to join his band.
To Onyx's irritation, the sun was poking over the rooftops when she finally caught sight of Led striding through the street. He wore a glossy, polished leather breastplate and shoulder guards over a forest-green tunic. His muscle-hug shy;ging wool leggings were tucked inside the calves of laced
boots that cuffed below the knees. Wet from bathing, his hair looked darker than it had last night, and his beard and mus shy;tache had been neatly groomed.
Behind him was a ragtag group of grubby ogres, snorting and scratching their thick green hides. Most wore uncured animal pelts decorated with feathers and small animal skulls and carried large clubs or crude spears. One had a copper cauldron strapped upside down on his melon head in lieu of a helmet. Strangely, Onyx found ogres much more repulsive now that she had spent time among humans.
"Dawn passed quite some time ago," she said stiffly.
Led gave a mock bow and laughed. "Good morning to you, too."
"These are the creatures you were concerned might not accept me?"
"You were expecting Knights of Solamnia?"
"No. I knew, uh-" Onyx stammered "-I expected they were ogres."
He looked at her strangely, then shrugged. "You take what you can get. Ogres are fairly good fighters, and they listen well enough, just so long as Toba clubs them now and then."
Led pointed to a hollow-cheeked man with an exotic slant to his eyes. He wore an overlarge coat with the fur collar turned up. Dwarfed by the ogres, the wiry little man snarled as he kicked one brute aside with a blade-tipped boot.
"That's Toba," Led offered. "My lieutenant. He keeps the ogres in fighting shape, one way or another. He lived in Sala-sia, near Taladas, which is crawling with ogres. That's where he learned how to handle them."
Searching her memory, Onyx vaguely recalled the homely man from the vision in the globe. Led's voice drew her into the present.