The trip through the snowbound streets had been remarkably short. They had been in the King's Chamber before the daze of having his head cracked against Li Chien's had even worn off.
His anger at Li Chien, however, had yet to fade. "I mean, going up to hightown in clothes that smell like beer and fish guts, walking right up to Mard Dantakain's house, and demanding to see him-just what did you think, that he was going to welcome you with open arms?" Through the shadows, Tycho caught a tightening of the muscles along Li Chien's jaw. He growled. "I know you can hear me, Li Chien." He switched to Shou. "Maybe you've just been having trouble understanding me-I said that you've got the brains of a horse, the grace of an ore, and the gratitude of a rabid weasel!"
Li Chien's eyes popped open and he sucked in air. His entire body seemed to clench at once "And you," he seethed in an explosion of rage, "are a liar with all the morals of a rutting goat! You were sleeping with the man's daughter!"
The venom in his voice was wasted. "I never even kissed Laera!" Tycho shot back.
"It looked like she was ready for more than a kiss."
"That wasn't my doing! If I'd gone into that library on my own, I wouldn't have let anything happen." A tiny whisper of doubt tickled Tycho's mind but he thrust it away. He would have rebuffed Laera's advances. "This is your fault," he said. "You attacked me, remember?"
"You lied to Mard Dantakain!" spat Li Chien. "You knew I was telling the truth and you lied. All you had to do was tell him what happened last night and-"
Tycho leaned forward sharply. If the chains hadn't held him back, he might have lunged at Li Chien. "What happened last night? You mean how you insulted me, ignored every attempt I made at warning you, and then, when I saved your life, how you snuck away like a thief without even saying 'thank you'?" He wrenched fruitlessly on his chains. "You're right, I should have supported you-О Emissary of Imperial Shou Lung! You want to talk about lies, how about that one? If you're an ambassador, I'm the Witch-Queen of Aglarond!"
Li Chien started to snap a reply but stopped. His face fell and he looked away. "That lie is between Mard Dantakain and me," he said stubbornly. "But for walking away from you this morning-" He glanced up again and Tycho was startled to see that anger was actually fading from his face and a look of shame taking its place. "-I apologize. What I did was no way to repay your kindness. I'm very sorry. You are right to be angry."
For the first time in a very long while, Tycho found his mouth opening and closing in speechless astonishment. "Well," he managed finally. "All right then;"
He sat back against the cold wall and just looked at Li Chien. The Shou looked back. Neither of them said anything. Uncomfortable silence hung in the air-until Li Chien's stomach broke it with a loud, hollow growl that echoed off the stone walls. He flushed. "Excuse me. I haven't eaten."
"It might be a while before you do. I don't know if they'll bring us anything before dinner." He turned his gaze up to the ceiling of the cell, almost lost in the darkness. It was hard to tell what time it was. His own stomach was empty, though. He'd guess that it was at least well into the afternoon now. "Are you an ambassador, Li Chien?" he asked.
"Just Li, Tycho. Li Chien is what my mother calls me." The Shou sighed. "I'm no ambassador. I'm just a clerk in the imperial bureaucracy."
Tycho raised his eyebrows. "You fight well for just a clerk."
"You healed me, didn't you? Are you just a singer?"
"True enough." Tycho shifted and his chains rattled again. "So what brings an imperial clerk all the way from Shou Lung to Altumbel?" Li said nothing. Tycho looked at him. The Shou had his head down and was staring at the floor between his knees. "Not the sort of thing you can talk about?" Tycho shrugged. Li shook his head. "That's fair."
"Tycho," said Li without looking up, "tell me about Brin. Is there anyone in Spandeliyon who isn't afraid of him?"
"Mard Dantakain. Crazy old Riverhand the Sage out on the edge of town. A few people in the middle and high-towns who haven't actually heard of him, maybe. Anyone with any sense is afraid of Brin. He came to Spandeliyon just about a year ago and set himself up by finding the biggest gang boss in dockside and burning his house down. With him inside. Then he just moved in and took over. He's slick. When he doesn't want to be linked to something, he'll trick someone into doing his dirty business, but when he wants to make a point, he makes it in a very big way. A lot of people in dockside and middle town who cross him have problems with knives. Or pigs."
"Pigs?"
"Brin passes himself off as a swineherd. He even likes to do his business in a sty. I don't know who he's trying to fool, but it sure gives him a crazy edge. People aren't just scared of him because he's mean. They're scared of him because there's a very good chance he might be insane, too."
"What about you? Are you scared of him?"
"Witless. It's the only smart way." Tycho considered Li for a moment. "You know, for someone who's looking for Brin, you don't seem to know a lot about him."
"I don't. I only heard about him in Telflamm-rumors that said he was here in Spandeliyon." He hesitated then added. "Brin isn't actually the reason I came west from Shou Lung. He's just a link."
Tycho had to stop himself from leaning forward too eagerly. "Oh?" he asked. "A link to what?" He tried to dredge up everything he had heard about Brin's career as a pirate before the one-eyed halfling had come to Spandeliyon. There were always tales linking pirates to fantastic treasure hordes… and what had Li said back in Mard Dan-takain's entrance hall? That he served the bureaucracy of Shou Lung in the Department of Lost Treasures? Li was biting his lip in uncertainty. Tycho waited, giving him his time, not wanting to pressure him and lose this tale.
It wasn't to be. Just as Li swallowed, drew breath, and opened his mouth, there was noise out in the corridor. Footsteps. The rattle of keys in locks. Li's mouth closed firmly. Tycho ground his teeth in frustration. Patience, he told himself, patience.
The door opened and three figures stepped into the cell. With the lantern in the corridor behind them they were nothing but silhouettes for a moment. "Magistrate will see you now," said one as the other two moved forward with more keys. Light splashed across guard uniforms marked with the crest of the city. "On your feet."
Li, however, was already leaping up with a clatter of chains and a sharp storm of Shou curses. The guards, two men and a woman, jumped back, hands reaching for weapons. Tycho came to his feet as well. "Li!" he said in Shou. "Calm down! They're just here to-"
"I know her, Tycho! I saw her last night." Li pointed an arm at the woman guard. "She's in Lander's pay!"
A woman's face emerging from shadows and falling snow, torchlight showing a uniform-a guard uniform, Li realized now. "She came past last night while Lander and his men were robbing me," he spat at Tycho, "and just left when Lander told her it was Brin's business and paid her off!"
Blood was pounding in his head. He tried to reach forward with both hands, but the chains binding him made it impossible. "She's corrupt! She's-"
Tycho looked startled but also shook his head sharply. "Li, it's all right! They're taking us before a magistrate, that's all. Be quiet or you'll just make things worse. If we're lucky we could be out of here soon." He twisted around to face the guard who had stayed by the door, clearly the leader of the trio. "The Shou is confused," the singer said quickly in the common tongue of the west. "I'm trying to calm him down."
"You speak his language? You tell him we don't want any trouble, but we're ready for it." The guard pulled out a club and held it up where Li could see it. "No trouble," he said loudly. "You understand?"
"Got that?" Tycho asked in Shou.
Li clenched his teeth and nodded. Chained and helpless, there was little he could do anyway. He did not, however, take his eyes off the woman guard. "I don't trust her," he growled.