That is how they refer to one another,” he replied. “And it is more than merely a polite form of address. We were all like family. I shall miss them.”
“You mean you do not plan on going back?” Sorak shook his head. “I know I would always be welcome there, but no. Though I have lived with them, and trained with them, and grown up in the Way, I am not villichi. The time has come for me to find my own way in the world, and I do not think I • shall return.”
“So then you do not think of yourself as one of them?” asked Krysta.
“No,” he said. “I do not belong there. For that matter, I do not know if I belong anywhere. The halflings could never accept me because I am part elf, and the elves could never accept me because I am part halfling. I do not even know if there is another such as I.”
“It must feel very lonely,” Krysta said, her foot touching his under the table. He drew his foot away.
“I know something of what it feels like not to be accepted,” she continued. “Though, of course, there are many half-elves in the city, as there are half-dwarves and half-giants. You may have noticed that most of the people working here are half-breeds. I hire them first because there are many places in the city where they could not be hired, and the work that they can find, scarce as work is in Tyr these days, pays the lowliest of wages. Outside the city, there would be little they could do. Work on a farm, perhaps, or become herdsmen. Many become bandits, for they have no other choice. No tribe would accept them, and they become hard and embittered.”
“But you seem to have done well for yourself,” said Sorak
“Yes,” said Krysta. “Much like you, I recall little of my childhood. I was sold into slavery and grew up working in the arena, picking up body parts and spreading sand to cover up spilled blood. Between the games, I worked in the kitchens, where I first learned about preparing food. In time, I became a gladiator myself and trained with the others.”
“That was how you met Rikus?” Sorak asked.
“Yes. He had a partner who took an interest in me. She saw in me a younger version of herself, and so both she and Rikus became my protectors. Otherwise, things could have been much worse. Gladiators are a hard and ruthless lot, and a pretty, young half-elf girl would have been used harshly if she had no one to look after her. One day, I was purchased by a noble, who used his influence with Kalak’s templars to buy me as a plaything for himself. He was an old man, and his appetites were not so great. It was not difficult to please him, and it was easier by far than life in the arena, which was hard and brutal and often very short
I stayed with him for several years and learned much about the ways of the nobility. I learned how they lived, and what they liked, and how they preferred to spend their idle time, of which they had a surfeit.”
She crossed her legs under the table and, in doing so, her foot came briefly into contact with Sorak’s leg. She went on as if she hadn’t noticed.
“One night, while I was in bed with my master, the exertion proved too much for him, and he collapsed upon me. I thought that he had swooned, but when I rolled him off me, I discovered he was dead. It was late, and the servants in the mansion were all asleep. I took what money I could find in his quarters and escaped. I managed to make my way to the elven market, where I took a small room at an inn. I worked in the kitchen of the inn during the day, and at night, I went to the gaming houses. I had learned gaming at my former master’s house, watching him play with his friends, and I learned that while some games were mostly ruled by chance, others could have the chances of winning greatly increased by use of clever strategy. I paid close attention, and learned well.”
“And you built the Crystal Spider with your winnings?”
“Not entirely,” she said. “It would have been dangerous to try keeping all that money with me, and there was no place I could have hidden it that would have been truly safe. I had a friend in a merchant house, and I invested, buying shares in caravan goods and thereby participating in the profits. And what profits I made, I kept reinvesting. I invested cautiously and wisely so that I never had all my money in the same venture. That way, the risk was minimized. Eventually, I had enough to open up my own establishment. By then, I was well known to the merchant houses, and a number of them saw potential profits in the venture and chose to help finance the Crystal Spider.”
“So then you have partners,” Sorak said.
“Yes,” she replied, “but most of the money it took to build this house was mine, and so I retain control. However, there are two merchant houses that have strong interests in the success of my establishment. And if what you told Kikus was true, they will doubtless want to meet you and perhaps contribute to the reward the council promised you.”
“It was true,” said Sorak, “but I must confess to being puzzled as to how the council is acting in the matter. Neither you nor Rikus seems to trust the templars, and yet, it is they who have been charged with investigating what I reported to the council.”
“The templars can be trusted to look after their own interests,” Krysta said. “Where it concerns the security of the city, their own interests are involved most intimately. If Tyr were to fall under the domination of another city, such as Nibenay, the templars would be among the very first to fall, as they would pose the greatest threat. You may rest assured that their investigation will be a thorough and honest one. They do not wish to see Tyr fall under anyone’s dominion save their own.”
“So then the new government is threatened not only from without, but from within,” said Sorak.
“Very much so,” Krysta replied. “The templars once served Kalak, who was a defiler, and Tithian was the senior templar. When Kalak was slain, Tithian became the king, and if you ask me, he was not much better, but at least he was held in check somewhat by the new council under first Agis, then Rikus and Sadira. Now Tithian is gone, and the council rules the city. The templars sit upon the council, in the person of Timor, and they have strong allies, both in the council and among the nobility. Councilman Kor is Timor’s staunchest supporter, for he believes the templars will win out in the power struggle and is therefore already feathering his nest. And the nobles have little love for the new government, which freed their slaves.”
“What about the merchant classes?” Sorak asked. “The merchant houses are keeping to a strict neutrality,” said Krysta. “Whoever governs Tyr, they shall still have to do their business, and they deem it wisest to offend neither of the factions.”
Their food was brought to them, and Sorak found himself unconsciously licking his lips over the aroma of braised tital that rose from Krysta’s plate. “Kivara!” he said. “Stop it!”
“Must we eat like desert rats?” she asked petulantly. “I am starving for some flesh!”
“After all” added Eyron, “it is not as though you have not eaten meat before.”
“I have not eaten meat,” protested Sorak. “You have eaten meat. There is a difference.”
“Somehow, it escapes me,” Eyron said. “The flesh I eat nourishes your body.”
“Leave him alone,” the Guardian said, interceding. “He does not disturb or argue with you when you make your kill. He has a right to choose what will sustain him.”
“This paltry roughage would not even sustain a rasclinn,” Kivara grumbled.
Sorak ignored the exchange and simply ate his vegetables. Beneath the table, Krysta’s foot brushed up against his leg. He tried to move his leg back to avoid the contact, but it remained exactly where it was. Puzzled, he tried to move it once again, with no more result.