Emel nodded and stepped back to escort his guest out. For an instant, no more than that, Darmouth was puzzled. Had something… threatening flickered across the baron's plain features?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Magiere rook another sip of tea and shuffled the deck of cards. Byrd and Leesil sat across from her at a table in the common room.
It had been a long, unproductive day, but late as it was, no one showed interest in heading for bed. Wynn sat on the floor trying to tease Chap's interest in Potato and Tomato's wrestling game. Clover Roll crouched alone atop a table at the room's rear, glowering at everyone.
A few patrons came earlier for an evening meal. Magiere gave Byrd a hand at the bar, missing the nights at her own Sea Lion tavern. She wondered how Caleb and Rose fared in Muska and hoped Leesil was right about Aunt Bieja heading there on her own.
Magiere's assistance was also an excuse to watch over Byrd. Like Wynn, she thought the man deceitful at best, with designs on Leesil connected to the unfinished drawings he had so casually handed over. She wished they'd never come here, but Byrd might still be the only lead to answers for Leesil. After the patrons left, Magiere sat down to play cards. She chatted politely as she watched over Leesil, hoping Byrd would tip his hand in some way.
Leesil's heart didn't appear to be in the game. He'd stayed upstairs, out of sight, until the last of the patrons were gone. As the night ran on, he grew more restless. Magiere knew that they must soon decide on some course of action.
"More tea?" Byrd asked. "Or something stout? Your father never drank, but I don't know your habits."
Leesil hesitated in a way that set Magiere on edge. "Just tea," he replied.
Byrd headed off for the kitchen. Magiere wished she had the man alone. Getting Byrd drunk might yield something more than Leesil had gotten out of him.
"Leesil, look," Wynn said. "Like four little hands!"
Magiere glanced down. Tomato had all four paws wrapped savagely around Wynn's arm as if locked in a life-and-death battle. The sage's fascination with the kittens baffled Magiere, and the attempt to get a smile from Leesil failed. Chap was merely bored, head lying on his paws.
Clover Roll yowled.
Magiere tensed, and Chap instantly sprang to his feet. The cat's mouth opened wide, exposing missing teeth in a long, grating hiss. As Byrd trotted back in from the kitchen, clunking the teapot down on a table, the mangy animal's noise grew louder.
Clover Roll leaped from table to table all the way to the front window's sill and pushed at the closed shutters.
"What's up?" Byrd asked and joined the fat feline, but when he cracked the shutter to peek out, he whirled around, all traces of the witty innkeeper gone. "All of you, get in the kitchen, now! Keep quiet and out of sight."
Leesil stood up. "Byrd-"
"Move!" Byrd whispered harshly, and grabbed Wynn's arm, pulling her up as he rushed them all into the kitchen and jerked the curtain closed. "Not a sound."
Magiere looked to Leesil for answers, but he shook his head, white-blond hair falling forward over his shoulder. The curtain swayed slightly as Clover Roll sauntered in, weaving through their legs away from Chap to settle beneath the kitchen table.
There was a knock at the inn's front door. Magiere hooked the curtain with one fingertip and peered out.
Byrd opened the front door, revealing a slender man. His wild black hair, dusky complexion, and silver earrings marked him as a Mondyalitko. When he turned his head, she noticed he wore the rings in only one ear. His other ear was missing, and only smooth scars remained.
Magiere didn't care much for these wanderers with their wagon houses. She and Leesil had encountered their traveling families over years on the road. They wore motley bright clothes and had open smiles for strangers, and their laughter came too easily to be trustworthy.
The man in the doorway was different. Closed and serious, with hard eyes, he showed none of his people's sly mirth. He was rather plainly dressed in a burgundy shirt, high boots, and a thin belt. As he stepped into the common room, several cats scurried out from hiding beneath tables. Even Tomato and Potato skittered around behind the bar in a strange panic.
"Bit late for a visit, Faris," Byrd said.
"As if I'd make a social call here," the man answered.
"Then what do you want?" Byrd shut the door but didn't follow his visitor into the common room. He stayed at the bar's far end near the front door.
"Lord Darmouth wishes to find a woman named Magiere. He's been told she's in the city."
Magiere stiffened. Why and how had she come to that tyrant's attention?
Byrd merely shrugged. "And what of it?"
"We were told she's a dhampir." Faris offered a shallow smile of mockery. "A noblewoman was assaulted outside the Bronze Bell last night. The story is that the attacker was a vampire."
Faris waited for Byrd's reaction. When none came, he continued with a shrug of his own.
"Our lord wants to protect the city, of course, so he wishes to engage this hunter's services… for whatever fee. Put the word out and be quick about it. He wants her found tonight."
"Of course." Byrd paused. "But which noblewoman was attacked?"
"Lady Hedi Progae. She is safe now, under our lord's protection."
As Faris spoke the name, Magiere heard a breath sucked in behind her. Something clattered to the floor, followed by a hiss. She glanced back to find that Leesil had retreated back against the kitchen table, knocking off a carving knife and startling Clover Roll. Leesil's gaze was fixed on the curtained doorway, and he didn't blink.
The noise had surely attracted Faris's attention, and Magiere dropped one hand to her hip. The falchion wasn't there. She'd stowed it behind the bar while serving drinks earlier that evening.
Clover Roll scurried out from under the table. Magiere ducked back as the doorway curtain rustled in the cat's passage. When the fabric settled in place, she peeked out again. The cat sauntered around the bar's near end and out into the common room.
Byrd looked down at the cat and smiled calmly. "Ah well, I forgot about my partner's late night nibble. My kitchen will be in quite a state for that oversight."
Paris sneered in disgust. "Just find the hunter-tonight." He pushed past Byrd to the front door and left.
Magiere spun around, stepping close in front of Leesil. He didn't acknowledge her.
"What's wrong?" she said. "That woman's name…"
Magiere stopped. Leesil's gaze wandered across the floor, eyes shifting quickly as if he was watching something. When she glanced down, there was nothing to see. Leesil remained silent, and at first Magiere thought she saw him shaking his head ever so slightly. Then she realized he was shuddering.
"Leesil? What has that woman to do with this?"
And still, he didn't seem to know she was there. She was about to grab him and shake him to awareness when Byrd stepped through the doorway curtain.
"You heard?" he asked.
Before Magiere could answer, Leesil whispered.
"A trap…"
Magiere slowly reached toward him and then stopped.
"If Darmouth knows of Magiere," Leesil continued to himself, "then he knows she's with me. He knows I'm here, and this is just a pretense to draw me out."
"Don't be so quick," Byrd warned.
"What if there is a vampire?" Wynn asked, looking to Magiere.
The little sage stood off to the side and couldn't see Leesil's face as Magiere could. Leesil blinked, finally focusing on Magiere, then slowly tilted his head toward Wynn as if realizing she was there and had spoken.
"There are better cities to settle in," he said, "where prey is just as plentiful."
Byrd's brow wrinkled at Leesil's response. Magiere wished Leesil hadn't been so quick to reveal their belief in such creatures. And normally he wouldn't have.