"We pulled all that stuff this morning to show the world that we're still here and that we could do what we want, whenever we want, Protector or no Protector. And to take you so I can question you about the plain of glittering stone."
He looked at me for several seconds, then checked his cards. "There's a subject that hasn't come up in a while."
"You going to be stubborn about it?"
"You kidding? I'll talk your ear off. But I'll bet you don't learn a damned thing you didn't already know." He discarded a black knave.
Slink jumped on the card, laid down a nine-queen spread, discarded a red queen and grinned. He needed to see One-Eye about those teeth.
"Shit!" Swan grumbled. "I missed this game. How did you people learn? It's the simplest damn game in the world but I never met a Taglian who could figure it out."
I observed, "You learn fast when you play with One-Eye. Scoot over, Sin. Let me play while I pick this guy's brain." I pulled up a stool, studying Swan every second. The man knew how to get into a character. This was not the Willow Swan that Murgen wrote about or the Swan that Sahra saw when she visited the Palace. I picked up my five cards from the next deal. "This ain't a hand, it's a foot. How come you're so relaxed, Swan?"
"No stress. You can't have a worse hand than mine. I don't got no two cards of the same suit."
"No stress?"
"As of today I got nothing to do but lean back and take it easy. Just play tonk till my honey comes and takes me home."
"You're not afraid? Reports I've had said you're shakier than Smoke used to be."
His features hardened. That was not a comparison he liked. "The worst has happened, hasn't it? I'm in the hands of my enemies. But I'm still healthy."
"There's no guarantee you'll stay that way. Unless you cooperate. Darn! I'm going to have to rob a poor box if this keeps on." Play had not gotten all the way back to me before the hand ended. I did not win.
"I'll sing like a trained crow," Swan said. "Like a chorus. But I can't do you much good. I was never as close to the center as you may think."
"Possibly." I watched his hands closely as he dealt. It seemed like a moment when a skilled manipulator's ego might compel him to show himself how good he was at pulling fast moves. If he had any moves, he would not get them by me. I learned the game from One-Eye, too. "Prove it. Tell me how Soulcatcher kept you two alive long enough to get off the plain."
"That's an easy one." He completed a straight deal. "We ran away faster than the ghosts chasing us could run. We were riding those black horses the Company brought down from the north."
I had ridden those enchanted beasts a few times myself. That could be the answer. They could outdistance any normal horse and could run almost forever without tiring. "Maybe. Maybe. She didn't have any special talisman?"
"Not that she mentioned to me."
I looked down at another terrible hand. Grilling Swan could get expensive. I am not one of the better tonk players in the gang. "What happened to the horses?"
"Far as I know, they're all dead. Time or magic or wounds got them. And the queen bitch wasn't happy about that, either. She don't like walking and she ain't fond of flying."
"Flying?" Startled, I discarded a card I should have kept. That allowed one of the Guptas to go down and take me for another couple of coppers.
Swan said, "I think I'm going to like playing with you. Yeah. Flying. She's got a couple of them carpets that was made by the Howler. And she just ain't real good with them. I can tell you that from personal experience. Your deal. Ain't nothing like falling off of one of them suckers while it's hauling ass, even if you're only five feet high."
One-Eye materialized. He looked about as bright and alert as he ever did these days. "Room for one more?" His breath smelled of alcohol.
Swan grumbled, "I know that voice. No. I figured you out twenty-five years ago. I thought we got your ass at Khadighat. Or maybe it was Bhoroda or Nalanda."
"I'm quick on my feet."
Slink said, "You're in only if you show some money up front and you agree not to deal."
"And you keep your hands on top of the table all the time," I added.
"You smite me to the heart, Little Girl. People might get the idea you don't trust me not to cheat."
"Good. That'll save them a lot of time and pain."
"Little girl?" Swan asked. There was a whole different look in his eye suddenly.
"One-Eye's got diarrhea of the mouth. Sit down, old man. Swan was just telling us about Soulcatcher's magic carpets and how she doesn't like flying. And I'm wondering if we couldn't find some way to take advantage of that."
Swan looked from one of us to the other. I watched One-Eye's hands as he picked up his first bunch of cards. Just in case he might have done something to this deck sometime in the past. "Little girl?"
"Is there an echo in here?" Slink asked.
"Is that suddenly a problem?" I asked.
"No! No." Swan showed me the palm of his free hand. "I'm just getting a lot of surprises here. Soulcatcher thought she was pretty solid on the Company survivors. But I've already run into four people who are known to be dead, including the world's ugliest wizard and that Nyueng Bao woman who acts like she's in charge."
One-Eye growled, "Don't you go talking about Goblin that way. He's my pal. I'll have to stand up for him. Someday." He snickered.
Swan ignored him. "And you. That we had down as a man." '
I shrugged. "Not many knew. And it's not important. The dope with the eye patch and smelly hat should've had sense enough not to mention it in front of an outsider." I glared.
One-Eye grinned, drew a card from the pile, discarded. "She's feisty, Swan. Smart, too. Designed the plan that pulled you in. You started on another one, Little Girl?"
"Several. I think Sahra will want the Inspector-General next, though."
"Gokhale? He can't tell us anything."
"Say it's personal. Swan. You know anything about Gokhale? He dabble in little girls like Perhule Khoji used to?"
One-Eye gave me an evil look. Swan stared. My mess-up this time. I had given something away.
Too late to fuss about it. "Well?"
"Actually, yes." Swan was pale. He focused on his cards, having trouble keeping his hands steady. "Those two and several others in that office. Common interests brought them together. The Radisha doesn't know. She doesn't want to know." He discarded out of turn. He had lost his zest for the game.
I realized what the problem was. He thought my speaking freely meant I expected to elevate him to a higher plane before long. "You're all right, Swan. Long as you behave. Long as you answer questions when you're asked. Hell, I got to save you. There's a bunch of guys buried under the glittering plain that want to talk to you about that when they get back." Might be interesting to watch him talk it over with Murgen.
"They're still alive?" The idea seemed to stun him.
"Very alive. Just frozen in time. And getting angrier by the minute."
"I thought... Great God... shit."
"Do not speak so on the name of God!" Slink growled.
Slink was Jaicuri Vehdna, too. And much less lapsed than I. He managed prayers at least once a day and temple several times a month. The local Vehdna thought he was a Dejagoran refugee employed by Banh Do Trang because he had done the Nyueng Bao favors during the siege there. Most of our brothers endured genuine employment and worked hard to resemble pillars of the local community.
Swan swallowed, said, "You people ever eat? I ain't had nothing since yesterday."
"We eat," I said. "But not like you're used to. It's true what they say about Nyueng Bao. They don't eat anything but fish heads and rice. Eight days a week."
"Fish will do right now. I'll save the bitching till my belly's full."
"Slink," I said. "We need to send a kill team down to Semchi to watch the Bhodi Tree. The Protector's probably going to try to smash it. We could make some friends if we save it." I explained about the Bhodi disciple who burned himself and Soulcatcher's threat to turn the Bhodi Tree into kindling. "I'd like to go myself, just to see if the Bhodi non-violent ethic is strong enough to make them stand around while somebody destroys their most holy shrine. But I have too much work to do here." I tossed my cards in. "In fact, I have work to do now."