"Hornsbuck, be quiet! Not now!" Mika whispered in alarm, punching Hornsbuck on the leg. "The woman's a lunatic, leave her alone!"
Ignoring Mika completely, Hornsbuck placed his hand on top of Mika's turban and leaned forward, resting his entire weight on Mika's head. Mika staggered under the weight, unable to say a word as he tried to keep his legs from buckling. Hornsbuck sat back, releasing him as the woman whipped around, her face purple with her exertions.
As Mika struggled to pull the turban up over his eyebrows, he saw the woman's fists clench and the muscles in the great arms bulge. He edged backward, wondering if he could get away before the woman pinched their heads for daring to speak. Then he heard the welcome sound of the guard as they trudged forward, pushing through the crowd. Maybe all was not lost, maybe the guard would arrive on the scene and arrest the madwoman before he and Hornsbuck were killed.
"Hornsbuck!" cried the woman, the rage fading:: ~n her face, replaced by a huge grin. Her brilliant
~:"..:wer-blue eyes sparkled when she smiled at the nomad as he dismounted from the roan and stumbled toward her with open arms.
"Lotus Blossom," he cooed warmly, folding her into his vast embrace, and the two leather-clad bodies merged like bears in heat.
"Here comes the guard," Mika called hoarsely, almost unable to believe that this enormous woman with the bulging biceps was Hornsbuck's infamous inamorata of whom he had spoken so often.
"Hornsbuck, he tried to cheat me," said the woman, her lower lip trembling as she nestled her head on Hornsbuck's shoulder. "I bought a liter of wine to drink with my dinner. It was watered! When I complained, he laughed and turned his bullies on me. I defended myself and managed to hold my own."
Hornsbuck did not answer, seemingly content to hold the woman in his own mammoth arms.
Mika looked around at the broken jugs, the wine merchant's entire inventory, the smashed wagon, the bullies, all four of them lying unconscious with more than a few limbs twisted in unnatural positions, and thought that Lotus Blossom could probably hold her own against an entire squad of guards. Judging from the sound of marching feet behind them, she might just get the opportunity to prove it.
"Quick, the guard!" he said, repeating the warning even more loudly.
"Come, my sweet, let us remove ourselves from this unruly mob," Lotus Blossom said with great dignity, offering Hornsbuck her arm.
Hornsbuck responded rather slowly, linking his arm through hers as though uncertain of what he was doing or why. Lotus Blossom batted her eyelids coyly and smiled a shy, dimpled smile, her grapefruit-sized cheeks glowing red with vibrant health.
"Here, merchant, this should cover your damages," Mika said as he half-emptied his sack of money, showering the recumbent form with a sprinkling of grushniks which would not have begun to make good the damage.
"But do not let us hear of any further complaints, or we will return and mark paid to the business that the lady began."
The sight of Hornsbuck, coupled with the mighty woman, was more than the poor merchant could bear, and he sank back on the wine-wet cobbles and groaned.
The crowd began to disperse, confusing and inhibiting the guards' progress. Mika seized the roan's reins and, whistling for the wolves, slowly followed the leather-clad pair as they sauntered down the street, foreheads touching, Lotus Blossom murmuring soft nothings in Hornsbuck's ear.
Halfway down the street, the captain of the guard trotted up alongside Mika and touched his wolf-tail- embellished cap in greeting.
"Good brother, it seems we have come too late to break up the fight that has disturbed this street. Did you sec what happened? Can you describe the ruffians?"
"Indeed," answered Mika, touching his turban in turn, thankful that it was he who had been asked. "It was two men, dark they were. One had a ring through his left nostril. The other had a knife scar running the length of his face. They looked like Blackmoorian cutthroats. I think they tried to rob the wine merchant. They ran off down that side street yonder. If you hurry, you can catch them still."
"Many thanks, brother," said the guardsman. Calling to his men, he rode off down the street, bypassing Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom without a second glance.
Lotus Blossom stopped in front of a slope-roofed, evil-looking dive. Foul fumes speaking of lost evenings and wasted lives wafted out of the open door. A ragged, reeking wastrel lay sleeping in the doorway, his snores and exhalations containing enough alcohol to drug a wolf.
Lotus Blossom pushed the fellow away with the toe of her boot and ushered the still bedazed Hornsbuck inside. Mika stood outside, trying to think of what to do. It seemed unlikely that he would be able to persuade Hornsbuck to leave. Although his friend had recognized the woman, Mika knew that Hornsbuck was still bereft of his senses.
Mika liked to lift a drink as well as the next man, maybe even more, and having a drink had been part of his plan, but he did not like the look of the place and did not care to watch Hornsbuck drool in public. But since he could not propound an alternative, he sighed and tied the horse to a nearby post, leaving the soundly wheezing TamTur strapped over the roan's back. Then he entered the dark doorway, dragging the princess behind him. RedTail entered without hesitation, and Mika surmised that he had followed Hornsbuck into many such a place during their years together.
It took a while for Mika's eyes to adjust to the dark, and when they did, he was not overly encouraged, for the interior looked much the same as the exterior.
A long, low hearth, constructed of fieldstones, ran the entire length of the left-hand side of the building. An ox was spitted over the glowing embers, turned by a filthy, rag-clad urchin of indeterminate years and sex. Rabbits, pheasants, guinea hens, and marmots sizzled and browned on stakes suspended over the coals, and potatoes baked on flat rocks.
The wholesome smell of the cooking meat competed with the stench of whiskey, wine, and mead which had been spilled on the wooden floor until it could absorb no more and formed a tacky, sticky surface that gripped the foot in an unpleasant manner.
Mika made his way across the dark room, bumping into the occasional chair and table, all but unseen in the murk, for a dense cloud seemed to fill the upper level of the room, a permanent stratocumulus of smoke from the hearth and pipes of now-absent customers.
The woman had seated herself at a smallish table. Hornsbuck, still gripped by his confusion, stood alongside, not understanding what was required of him, his eyes vacant and foolish.
Mika slid into the chair meant for Hornsbuck. The woman stared at him with open displeasure and then glanced up at Hornsbuck, her eyes narrowing as she noticed, perhaps for the first time, that something was wrong.
"Who be yourself, and what be wrong with Hornsbuck?" she asked in a tighdy controlled voice.
"My name is Mika, and I am of Hornsbuck's clan," Mika replied, kicking out at the princess as she tried to bite the underside of his thigh. "Hornsbuck tangled with an umber hulk and was bravely felled. He was powerfully stunned and has failed to come out of the magical confusion, though it happened some time ago. I keep hoping he'll get better, but he hasn't yet."
"Looks like you've got a few problems yourself," said Lotus Blossom as she eyed Mika critically. Mika clutched his new cloak and straightened the pink silk turban with a chain-metaled hand, trying to look dignified.
"Hornsbuck's always been a bit confused," said the woman. "Needs me to take care of him. You leave him to me. I know something that'll fix him right up. Make yourself at home, Mika, we might be a while."
Lotus Blossom rose from the table and, without another glance at Mika, slowly led the bemused Hornsbuck off by the hand. The last Mika saw of them, they were vanishing up a flight of stairs.