Part 12 (1/2)
”We go now,” he answered in agitation, and then he and his half dozen scurried away as fast as they could. Time had very little meaning for them, and food was the only thing they hurried for.
They now knew that if they didn't hurry they would lose the trade even if they found the man.
I stood where I was for a short while, and then I went back to the mouth of the alley to gesture for Garam. If the rats had left a scout to watch me, I didn't want the watcher to believe I'd gone away to never return. Garam strode over with the barbarian right beside him, and the two of them looked at me questioningly.
”I've got the searchers moving, and now we have to wait,” I told them. ”Hopefully it won't be too long a wait, because I can't leave this alley. As soon as I find out anything I'll call you to join me.”
”You've contacted runaway slaves in hiding,” Garam guessed, pointing a finger at me. ”That's why you took the food, and why you couldn't meet with them in the open. You really think they'll be able to find where Brangol's holed up?”
”If it's possible to find him, my searchers will do it,” I a.s.sured him, resisting the temptation tolaugh at his guess. ”Just remember to keep your men well back when I tell you it's time to follow. My searchers tend to be on the shy side, and they won't appreciate having you and your squad on their heels.”
”Then what you need is an intermediary,” Ijarin jumped in as Garam nodded. ”If you can't leave this alley and Prince Garam isn't supposed to come to you, you need someone to carry messages back and forth. Obviously the job of messenger has to be mine.”
”That's a really good idea, Prince Ijarin,” Garam said so fast I only had time to part my lips for my own answer. ”That way you won't feel as though you're simply wasting time. Men used to action don't enjoy wasting time, and we wouldn't want you to get bored.”
Bored enough to leave, was the emphasis put on the words by Garam's eyes, the message reaching me in the hardness of his stare. If you say no and he does leave, guess who gets blamed by someone not human and definitely not merciful. A long message for one pointed stare, but it came through without any confusion.
”No, of course we wouldn't want him to get bored,” I agreed with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
”Then he might go off looking for someone else to bother, and what a tragedy that would be.
All right, if you're coming, come on.”
I turned away from Garam's near growl and walked back to the place I'd been standing in the middle of the alley. Light footsteps followed me, and the only bright part of the situation was that the barbarian didn't sound like a bull charging through the brush. I looked around casually, knowing it was much too soon to expect the answer I wanted, and suddenly a finger came to tap my shoulder.
”What makes you think I'd want to find someone else to bother when it's so much more rewarding to bother you?” the barbarian asked when I turned my head toward him. ”I'm beginning to really enjoy forcing my presence on you. Aren't you having fun?”
”Oh, absolutely,” I agreed solemnly, seeing at once that he was trying to get even for the ...
cool way I'd been treating him. ”This is the most fun I've had in - oh, at least two full seasons.
But at least you're learning something important from it.”
”And what would that be?” he asked, honestly puzzled. ”How to develop an infinite amount of patience?”
”You're learning what your place in life would have been if you hadn't been born a prince,” I told him with something of a smile, not surprised that he'd fallen into the trap. ”You know, what your current job is.”
”A messenger,” he all but growled as I went back to looking around in the shadows of the alley. I was really hoping that Ijarin would get so insulted he walked away, but no such luck.
”So you think I couldn't have gotten anywhere in this world if I was anything but high born.”
I shrugged at the statement, feeling he'd understood me well enough, but that didn't end the discussion.
”Or maybe you think something else,” he said, and all traces of insult were gone from his voice. ”Maybe you think that if you treat me badly enough I'll go away and you can forget about the prophecy. I've discovered you didn't mention the prophecy to Fearin and the others.”
”Most prophecies are hogwash,” I stated, letting him hear the disgust in my voice. ”They're so vague they could cover anything, and usually end up doing exactly that. For the few that refer to specific events, they only come true when people start to fiddle with them. If everyone ignored them instead we'd never be bothered by 'prophecies coming true' again.”
”In a way you're right,” he said, and I heard him s.h.i.+ft as though he leaned a shoulder against the wall we stood near. ”People's actions are always tied into prophecies, but not just when they try to do something. Doing nothing is also an action, and comes fully equipped with its own consequences. Wouldn't you at least like to know something about the prophecy you're involved in?”
”No,” I stated, completely certain. ”And the only one who thinks I'm involved is you, which hardly makes it an unarguable fact. I considered the source and decided I didn't care to wastethe time.”
”You know, I don't have all the patience and self control in the world,” he said, the growl suddenly back in his voice. ”I've been trying to make allowances, but I've just about reached the limit. I'm not going away, so why don't you stop trying to make it happen.”
”Now that's funny,” I said with a small laugh, delighted that I was finally reaching him. ”A barbarian making allowances for me. How n.o.ble can you get?”
”Have you ever been put over a man's knee and had your backside soundly smacked?” he demanded, his voice not quite as low as it had been. ”Somehow I doubt it, or you wouldn't be playing this game with me. Take my word for the fact that you're just about to the point of earning that experience and don't say another word. If you do, you and I will have trouble being friends.”
”Friends?” I echoed, finding it necessary to turn and look directly at him. ”You listen to me, friend, and believe what I say. I was a slave in this stinking city for almost two full seasons, and every heartbeat of that time I was told to keep my mouth shut and watch what I said when I did speak. When I told them what to do with themselves and said whatever I pleased, they strung me up by the wrists and had a guardsman teach me better with a whip. It hurt more than you could possibly imagine, but I still said whatever I pleased. Do you understand what I'm telling you?”
”I think so,” he agreed with a calm nod, his arms folded across his chest and one shoulder leaning against the wall. ”You were treated as less than an animal for an eternally long time, and now you're fighting with the urge to strike back at anyone in reach. You know the people around you aren't responsible for what was done, but urges like that are hard to reason with.
It's a fight to keep yourself under control, and if you get pushed too hard you'll lose your grip on that control.”
”Leave it to a barbarian to read something like that into a simple statement,” I told him in disgust, then turned away before he could see how unbelievably close he'd come. I had no idea how he knew, but I didn't care to pursue the question. ”What I was trying to get across was the idea that if you don't like hearing what I say you can always leave. If you choose not to leave, don't complain.”
”I wasn't complaining,” he corrected, and I could almost feel him looking down at me. ”I was warning you what to expect if you took that last step across the line. I won't beat you with a whip, and I won't cause you agony. I'll punish you like a little girl for acting like a little girl.
Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't already been done.”
”By who?” I asked with a snort of ridicule. ”Do you think I'm part of this group because of my beauty and sweet disposition? No Kenoss is easily taken, and some are a lot harder than others. You'll find out about that if you hang around long enough, but don't expect to enjoy what you learn.”
”Some day I'll tell you what I already know,” he said, and there seemed to be a faint smile behind the words. ”Right now, though, I'll suggest an answer to your question. Master Fearin strikes me as a man to be reckoned with, and I've seen him get somewhat unhappy with you. If he decides to put you over his knee, I don't think you'd be able to argue very effectively.”
”He'd need his Power to do it, and I'm sure he has better things to do with his Power,” I said, beginning to get bored with the conversation. ”If you insist on bending my ear, why don't you tell me where this sword comes from. I'd be curious to know who it was made for.”
”It was made for you,” he answered, and this time there was definite amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.
”But we can't go into that because you don't believe in prophecies and also don't want to hear about them. Why don't we talk instead about why you believe none of the men around you really care about you? Including me, of course.”
”Where did you come up with that?” I demanded, exasperated enough to look at him again. ”I never said anything like that, and wouldn't even have been silly enough to think it. I'm not here to be cared about, I'm meant to add my talents and skills to the general effort. If I wanted to becared about I'd go somewhere else.”
”And where would that be?” he returned, those very light eyes looking straight down at me.
”If I asked you to name a place, I don't think you could. And one of the things that gives me that idea is the way you act with Prince Garam. Yesterday he was defending you, today he's feeling protective, and you're already flinching over what tomorrow might bring. I'd say you were happier when he was treating you like a slave.”
”I don't like to be bothered,” I said slowly and clearly, wanting him to understand what I was saying. ”Garam is now bothering me, so of course I was happier when he was pus.h.i.+ng me around. He wasn't bothering me.”
”Is either one of us supposed to believe that?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. ”Prince Garam is becoming concerned about you, but you don't seem able to believe that. You've probably been wondering what he expects to get out of you, and not being able to come up with an answer is confusing you. Or confusing part of you. Another part knows the answer and is frightened, while another part yet rejects the whole thing. No one will ever be concerned about you, so why bother even thinking about it?”
”How about the part of me that's wondering why no one has locked you up yet?” I asked, folding my arms as I returned his stare. ”Do barbarians believe in letting crazy men run around loose if they happen to be a prince?”
”No fair trying to start a different argument,” he said with a grin. ”We aren't finished with this one yet. Part of you wants to be cared about, part of you is uncomfortable being cared about, and part of you doesn't believe it will ever happen. That's why it surprises you when Prince Garam gets angry on your behalf, why you have trouble dealing with it, and why you don't simply tell him to mind his own business. One mind with three different emotions.”
”Four,” I reminded him. ”You're forgetting about the part wondering why you aren't locked up.
If you pulled this nonsense on a regular basis back where you come from, they had to have been delighted to see you leave.”