Part 6 (2/2)
”Diin-tha, get him away from me or I refuse to be responsible,” I muttered, closing my eyes as my hands went to fists at my sides. ”I'm not in the mood to be the b.u.t.t of a joke right now, and if you let this go on I promise more trouble than fun.”
”What's bothering you, girl?” the barbarian said, suddenly a lot closer than he had been. ”Are you afraid to go with me, afraid I'm lying or won't be able to protect you? I give you my word that I'm not lying, and as for protection - ”
”I can protect myself!” I interrupted harshly, pulling my arm back away from the sudden touch of his hand. ”And the only thing I'm afraid of is that you'll find that out a little too late. Now get out of here before those guardsmen show up.”
”You believe I'd leave you?” he asked with a snort, looking down at me with very blue eyes. ”I don't know what you think I am, but I'm not in the habit of saving myself at the expense of a woman's freedom. I - ”
”What I think you are is someone looking to fulfill a prophecy,” I told him, holding that light blue gaze. ”The only reason you're so concerned about me is that you think I'm part of the prophecy, otherwise you'd be somewhere else rather than here. If you want the truth I'll give it to you: I wouldn't go with you even if I was a slave who needed freeing. Does that make it clear enough?”
”Clear isn't really the word I'd use,” he answered, his expression having gone strange. ”I think you're misunderstanding something I said, but this still isn't the place for a discussion.
Come with me now, and - ”
”There he is!” a shout came, and we both looked around to see a squad of guardsmen not seven strides away and closing as fast as the wet gra.s.s let them. The barbarian was in front of me so fast with his sword in his fist that the guardsmen faltered in their jogging advance. I could see there would be a fight if something wasn't done, and the only one available to do that something was me.
”Stop right there,” I called to the guardsmen, moving out from behind the barbarian even though he tried to stop me. ”Do any of you know me?”
”You expect us to remember one like you?” one of the guardsmen began with a laugh, but that was as far as he got. The man next to him gave him a hilt-filled backfist in the mouth, and even through the pouring rain I could see how the second man had paled.
”You d.a.m.ned fool, don't you know who she is?” the second man hissed, loud enough for all to hear. ”She's the one Fearin set in the Guest Pavilion, the one he had to call off personally! You say another word out of line and I'll kill you myself!”
”G.o.ds, is that her?” one of them muttered, and ”Dargol save me, I saw the bodies,” came from another, and in an instant they all looked like they were ready to run.
”This man isn't to be bothered,” I said before they could decide to take off, making sure I didn't move toward them. ”Pa.s.s his description around and see to it that no one tries to stop him when he's ready to leave.”
”Yes, ma'am,” and ”As you say, lady,” came at me in various voices and words, and then they were on their way back to wherever they'd come from. I didn't like the reputation using theLearning gave me, but I wasn't above taking advantage from it when I had to.
”Well,” the barbarian said as he watched the squad leave, his sword almost forgotten in his hand. ”I thought you were lying to yourself about not being a slave, but obviously I was wrong.
Now I really don't understand.”
”Garam and I are part of the invading force, and we were playing a little game yesterday,” I said, wondering why I was explaining anything at all to him. ”What you saw was an accident, not a deliberate attempt to hurt me, so you can forget about how mistreated I am. And you can also leave with a clear conscience.”
I walked past him to go back to the middle of the gazebo, looking forward to being alone again, but I should have known better. When the G.o.ds decide to have their fun with you, nothing you say or do can stop them.
”But you were a slave, and not too long ago either,” he said, not sounding the least unsure.
”You may be free now, but you used to be a slave in this city.”
”All right, I used to be a slave in this city,” I granted, turning with a sigh to look at him. ”If I hadn't managed to escape earlier on my own I would have needed you to help me. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
”Not exactly,” he denied as he resheathed his sword, surprisingly with a grin. ”I was fairly sure you were the right one, and now I'm convinced. I thought it was pure luck that I saw you being brought here last night, but now I know I was meant to see it. How soon will you be able to leave here with me? As soon as the entire city is secure?”
”You really need to do something about your hearing problem,” I said, no longer feeling the least amount of patience. ”I'm not leaving here with you even if I am the one involved in that prophecy of yours, which I seriously doubt. I have other things to do, and none of them include you.”
”You want people to think you're really hard, don't you?” he said, those light eyes inspecting me from stringy hair to muddy feet. ”A woman alone in a place like this needs to do that, I suppose, but I'm not like these others. You don't have to pretend with me, not about anything.
Do you believe that?”
I was just about to tell him what I believed, in gutter slave lingo tailored especially for him, when my intentions were interrupted. Ranander came racing into the gazebo, just as wet as he would have been if he'd walked, his stare going from me to the barbarian and back again.
”Aelana, Fearin wants to start the meeting now,” he said, both looking and sounding distracted. ”Everyone thought you'd only stepped out for a breath or two, that's why I didn't come sooner. Who's this?”
”Ranander, meet a barbarian,” I said, the words not quite a growl. ”Barbarian, meet Ranander. I hope you two get to be really close.”
With that I marched back out into the rain, heading for the palace and that meeting Fearin was waiting to hold. It wasn't Ranander's fault that he could follow me by knowing which way I'd gone and which I hadn't, but I wasn't feeling too kindly right now toward the man who had shown me I was wasting my time. Privacy wasn't something I would be allowed, not as long as Diin-tha's purpose remained unaccomplished.
That short walk through the downpour turned me wringing wet, but over the seasons I'd learned to ignore worse things than dripping with every step. When I reached the porch and stepped out on it, four pairs of eyes turned to study me.
”Where did you disappear to?” Fearin asked with annoyance. ”I was ready to start and you weren't here, so I sent Ranander after you.”
”I stepped out for a breath of air,” I answered shortly, heading back to the chair I'd earlier abandoned. ”I didn't mean to keep everyone waiting. Go ahead with whatever it was you wanted to say.”
”Now we have to wait for Ranander to get back,” the man of Power said, even more annoyed.
”How did you manage to miss him?””I didn't miss him,” I said as I sat and pushed my soaking hair back. ”I left him with what delayed me, an acquaintance who paid me an unexpected visit. Ranander should be along in another tick or two.”
”Someone you knew in the city got onto the palace grounds?” Fearin demanded, moving away from the table he'd been standing near. ”And the guard did nothing to stop them? Prince Talasin, Prince Garam, I think you'd better look into that. I didn't want to bother setting up my own watch, but - ”
”Don't get so excited, it wasn't just anybody,” I interrupted with a sigh. ”And the guard did track him down, but I sent them on their way. The man thought he was doing me a favor, but now he knows better so he ought to be ready to leave. If he isn't, you can do whatever you like to get rid of him.”
”What do you mean, he isn't just anybody?” Talasin asked from his chair to my left. ”And the guard obeyed you without giving you any trouble?”
”One of them remembered me from last night,” I said without looking at him - or anyone. ”And as for who the man is - ”
I hesitated, feeling both annoyed and foolish, and Garam made the sort of intuitive leap I hadn't thought he was capable of.
”Don't tell me,” the fighter said with a big grin from his chair opposite mine, leaning forward just a little. ”I'll bet it was that yokel with the two swords, back with a better offer. Didn't you tell him I'd take it?”
”What are you talking about?” Fearin demanded as I simply glared at Garam. ”What yokel with two swords, and what's this about a better offer?”
”She and I had an accident yesterday while we were placing men around the city,” Garam answered, my glare adding to his amus.e.m.e.nt. ”A visiting barbarian from somewhere or other decided I was being too hard on her and tried to buy her from me. I had to tell him something to get rid of him, so I said his offer of a silver piece was too low. But I also told him to come back when he decided to raise his offer, and it looks like he has. How much higher is he willing to go, girl?”
”I offered two silver pieces, but this time she turned me down,” another voice b.u.t.ted in, and then Ranander and the barbarian were adding their own dripping to the porch. ”You sophisticated city people must have a way to make silver grow on trees.”
”Of course we do,” Garam told him, arrogance in the way he looked at - and down on - the stranger. ”We also happen to be choosy about who we do business with, especially when one of our own is involved. She still isn't for sale, so why don't you just forget about her?”
The barbarian seemed to be trying to control his temper to keep from starting a fight, but all the rest of us, Lokkel and Ranander included, were staring in shock or surprise at Garam. Not a dozen ticks earlier he'd been telling me he was ready to accept the barbarian's offer, but now, in front of everybody, he was flatly refusing even to joke about the matter. I was one of them, he'd said in so many words, and wasn't for sale any more than any of the others. Garam...!
”I'm sure Aelana appreciates your concern, but as you can see it isn't necessary,” Fearin finally said after pulling his stare away from an unnoticing Garam. ”And since you're our guest for the moment, why don't you introduce yourself to us.”
This time it was Fearin I stared at, hearing something in his voice I didn't like, and looking at him seemed to confirm my original suspicion. He was studying the barbarian in a way that was too casual, too easygoing for his earlier annoyance.
”I'm Ijarin of the Far Mountains,” the barbarian answered, speaking directly to Fearin. ”My father is Ralak, King of the Silent Desert. When the day comes for my father to journey to the next of his lives, I'll be king of the Silent Desert and the first of what sons I'll have will be Prince of the Far Mountains. It's the way we barbarians do things.”
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