Li looked at Veseene. The old woman shrugged. "All right," she said, "maybe I don't drink it for fun." She gave Li a harsh look. "You understand though?"
He bent at the waist, bowing to her. "You've made your point."
"Tycho is family to me, Li. I'll do anything to protect him."
"Believe me, Veseene," said Li, "I understand the importance of protecting family." Veseene looked at him curiously, her head tilted again. Li didn't return her gaze. "Do you want to come with me to meet Tycho?"
She shook her head. "I'll have a cup of tea with Sephera then go home. Tell Tycho we talked, though." She nodded toward the stairs. "Go back to the last intersection and follow that street toward dockside. It will take you right to the Wench's Ease."
Li bowed again. "Thank you," he said.
"Don't get Tycho in more trouble than he gets himself," Veseene replied. "That will be thanks enough."
CHAPTER 6
The sun was low in the west. The last of the day was kissing the rooftops of Spandeliyon and the underbellies of thick clouds moving in low from the east. There would be more snow overnight. Thick, wet snow. Tycho knew it with the instincts of someone raised beside the sea. The temperature of the air was hardly dropping at all. It might even have been getting a little bit warmer, but he couldn't really be certain of that. He simply felt cold all over.
His boots sent slush and muck splattering up with every long, running stride. As he rounded a corner, the slick surface of the street betrayed him and sent him skidding in a wide arc, arms flailing as he fought to keep his balance. A few people stared at him. Tycho barely noticed. One thought kept flowing through his mind.
Bind me, bind me, bind me, bind me
He kept running. He couldn't get the vision of Black Scratch's mad yellow eyes out of his head.
The sight of the Wench's Ease was a blessing. Tycho slid to a stop, clutching at the great, bare tree in the yard outside the tavern for support. He shrugged out of the strap that held his strilling, stripped off his coat, and began scrubbing with handfuls of coarse, icy snow at the patches of dung that smeared it. He had lost one of his mittens somewhere. He shook the other one off his hand and flung it away. "Bind me, bind me, bind me!"
"Tycho?" A shadow fell over him. Tycho flinched and looked up.
It was Li. The Shou was dressed-mostly-in his own clothes again. "Just getting here?" Tycho asked. His voice sounded brittle even to him. "I thought you'd already be inside."
"I ran into your friend Veseene. We talked." Li's face was drawn in concern. "Tycho, what's wrong?" His nose crinkled. "Pearl of night, that stinks!"
"I slipped."
"Did you find out anything about Brin or Yu Mao?" asked Li cautiously.
"I asked around," Tycho lied. "Put it out that you were just-"
The words caught in his throat. Noon tomorrow. He couldn't lie to Li. He'd promised to help and now… He flung the last handful of snow away and rubbed his face. "No," he confessed, "I didn't find out anything. I didn't even get the chance to. Bind and tar me, Li, I'm deep in the bilge."
Li's eyes widened slightly and he drew a breath. "Because of me?"
Tycho shook his head and pulled his coat back on. It was wet and cold from the snow, but most of the pig stench was gone. "No, it's all my fault. When we were arrested, I had a package with me that I was supposed to deliver to-" He hesitated. Considering the way the Shou had reacted to Desmada's corruption, Tycho didn't think he'd want to hear that his new friend did jobs for the one-eyed halfling as well. Or that he'd known all along where to find him. "That I was supposed to deliver," he said and left it at that. "While we were in jail, someone stole what was in the package. I've been given until noon tomorrow to get it… them back."
"What was in the package?" Li asked. Tycho told him. Li's eyes went wider. "Who in Spandeliyon could want something that valuable? "
"The man I was supposed to deliver them to!" Tycho wrapped his arms around himself. "Bitch Queen's mercy! What am I supposed to do? Li, this man is insane. I'm amazed he didn't break my legs before sending me out to look. If I can't find the beljurils, I'm dead. I'm worse than dead." He shuddered.
"This man sounds as bad as Brin," said Li.
Tycho couldn't hold back the strangled choke that rose up out of his throat. Li looked at him sharply. For a moment he was silent. "Tycho," he said finally, "that was pig dung on your coat."
"There are a lot of pigs in Spandeliyon," Tycho said defensively. "Every third house keeps a few."
"I haven't seen a pig since I've been here."
"It's cold! They like to stay in shelters where it's warm."
"Then you must have been standing around in a pigsty when you slipped."
He met Tycho's eyes. The bard ground his teeth together and stared back. Li's gaze was steady. Unflinchingly steady-and ever so slightly disappointed. A shiver crawled down Tycho's back and settled in his gut. Li's eyes tensed, not quite narrowing with suspicion, but just flickering as if a bit of trust had slipped away. Tycho's gut clenched and rose in anger, most of it directed squarely at himself. "All right," he groaned, "it was Brin! I deliver packages to him. Mard Dantakain's brother Jacerryl uses his influence to bring things into Spandeliyon-I pick them up when I give Laera her music lessons and take them dockside to Brin." He leaned against the tree and banged his head on its rough bark. "I told you a lot of people in Spandeliyon work for Brin. I'm one of them."
"Veseene-"
Tycho looked up. "Veseene doesn't know. This is how I make the extra coin to pay for the tea that keeps her palsy in check. Without it, she'd be bedridden."
There was a look of struggle on Li's face. Tycho sighed. "Li, I'm sorry. I should have told you. I've always known where you could find Brin. He really is dangerous, though. I wouldn't wish his bad side on anybody." He made a sour expression. "Of course, now I'm on it. You probably don't want to talk to him right now, but if you want to look for him later, you'll find him at a festhall called the Eel."
Li did a double take and made a sour expression as well. "Last night when I asked directions to a tavern, I was told I could look for the Wench's Ease or the Eel. If I had chosen the Eel, none of this would have happened?"
"Well, no." Tycho screwed up his face. "But there's a pretty good chance you'd be dead."
"Then I'm glad I chose the Wench's Ease." He held out his hand. Tycho just stared at it. "You were willing to help me, Tycho. I'll help you."
Tycho gaped at him. "You're kidding. I thought you'd be mad when I told you I worked for Brin."
Li shrugged. "Veseene gave me instructions that I wasn't supposed to get you in trouble. You were arrested because of me, so I am in a way responsible for the loss of the beljurils. You had your reasons for not telling me everything, Tycho." Tycho gave him a narrow glance. Li coughed. "And Veseene is very intimidating."
Tycho's lips twitched into a smile. "You're more afraid of Veseene than you are of Brin?"
"I haven't met Brin yet." Li's mouth narrowed. "Though I keep trying." He reached out and grabbed Tycho's hand, pulling him away from the tree and upright. "First we find your beljurils; then we talk to Brin."
"We don't have any clue of who took the beljurils at the jail, though!"
Li looked at him. "But we do. Who did we see there?" Tycho shrugged. Li snorted. "There is a saying in Shou Lung: A snake is never less than a snake."