Part 25 (2/2)
334.
Xestrazy glared at his foe. looking down at the young thief with hate-filled eyes.
They stood this way for several heartbeats. Blood ran from Cord's side where the yataghan had slashed it, but the wound was a minor one. The majority of the rapidly spreading pool of blood that now stained the deck of the barge came from the body of Xestrazy.
”How . . . ?” Xestrazy asked in a small, choked voice.
”You thought mail would save you from the long fang of my dagger?” Gord asked with a little laugh of his own. ”Ah, but the blade Is enchanted and bites through steel as easily as If it were b.u.t.ter. You were as good as dead when you first grabbed me and held me fast.”
The paling Baklunlsh mountebank looked slowly down at his chest Cord's dagger had entered his body below the navel and cut upward to the breastbone, from where its point had pierced the man's heart. Unks of silvery mail showed through rent tunic and blood. Without further word or gesture, Xestrazy fell dead at Cord's feet.
”This one would have been a boon companion under different circ.u.mstances,” Gord mused aloud as he tried to catch his breath. Then a scream split the air.
Ageelia, witnessing the death of her lover and reacting In panic, grabbed the leather case filled with the ill-gotten coins. What she thought to do. Cord could not imagine. As he stood and watched for what seemed like minutes but was actually only a few seconds, she ran to the side of the barge, which was now in mid-channel.
In one steady, swift motion, she flung her burden overboard and then attempted to leap after it. But the case struck the edge of the raised side, teetered, and then fell overboard. In the process, Ageelia's foot was caught in 335.
the long strap handle that held the container shut. The strap pulled tight around her ankle and pulled her into the water as the case fell, and the coins within it served as an anchor.
”No!” Gord screamed in agony, stumbling to where the girl had gone into the water.
He thought he could make out the stream of Ageelia's long, black hair disappearing into the depths of the Gray Run just as the valves of the dam swung open and the barge shot forward in the rush of the water.
Some of the crewmen and the captain of the vessel now approached Gord. ”What was that all about? Is your wound mortal?” the captain asked the injured thief.
”This? Nay, it is but a cutting of the flesh which will heal in a week, leaving naught but a slight scar as a trophy.” Gord answered as he pressed a torn piece of the dead man's cloak to his side to stanch the flow of blood. ”As to what happened, it was a matter of honor grown out of hand. The woman was the cause, and she has been served accordingly by powers greater than mine.”
The captain shrugged and said nothing in reply. He gestured, and the crew members turned and headed back to their duties.
”Here,” said Gord to the blank-faced master of the barge. Take this silver n.o.ble for your trouble, and drop me ash.o.r.e at Longgate or the great South-gate Quay. 1 care not which.”
The bargeman nodded and turned away to oversee his charge. Thus, he failed to see Gord staring back at the waters of the Gray Run with tears trickling down his face.
It would be long and even longer still before that countenance would know laughter again.
336.
Cat or Pigeon?
IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART of Greyhawk, at a point where the Halls District abuts the134 area called Clerksburg, there can be found a number of theaters and halls where plays and musical performances are staged on a regular basis. Surrounding these centers of culture are houses providing food, inns of good quality, saloons, and taverns where one can eat, drink, socialize and be further entertained before and after the staged performances.
In an out-of-the-way area where the maze of lanes, side streets, and alleys take the bon vivant away from the busy thoroughfare, there are cellars and cabarets where performers, artists, Intellectuals, and other sorts of nonconformists gather. Many students can be found in such places, for the colleges are but a little way from this sector. Bat-wing Lane is one of these byways, and in a small cul-de-sac, just off the narrow pa.s.sage between the tall buildings that loom over the lane like canyon walls, Is a flight of steps, eight to be exact leading to a tunnel.
An oddly shaped wheel with varying scenes depicted around it hangs above a door in semi-darkness at the bottom of the stairs. Those ascending these steps after having been exposed to bright daylight must have sharp eyes to be able to discern the 337.
markings on this strange advertis.e.m.e.nt An unusually keen observer, after having viewed it several times, would note that the sign's octagonal sides are periodically rotated in a clockwise fas.h.i.+on. The tunnel beyond the display leads to a cellar bistro named The Turning Wheel. It is at this location that one of Greyhawk's most infamous citizens unwittingly begins an adventure that will find him. before its completion, the princ.i.p.al partic.i.p.ant in a dangerous mission on behalf of the city he loves above all others.
A pair of ruffians lurking along Batwing Lane heard steps approaching slowly and moved to positions where they could best take joint advantage of their approaching target. Only the drunk or foolhardy were abroad alone in such places at this hour, which was nearing midnight The unwary pa.s.serby should be an easy mark.
One thug went into the shadows of a doorway on the far side of the lane; the other took station in a recess just a little farther down the lane on the opposite side. A smallish man appeared around the curved way, walking slowly and humming a mournful tune. Faint glittering Indicated he wore some valuable jewelry. Best of all, he was unaccompanied by friend or guard, ”Ho, stranger,” the ruffian farthest down Bat-wing Lane called softly as he stepped from concealment. The lone man stopped still and peered at the big shape before him.
A soft sound, inaudible to any but the keenest ear, came from behind the wayfarer.
The second bandit crept to a position behind his Intended victim and raised his cudgel. The heavy oaken billet hissed through the air. but it failed to strike the victim's skull with the good, solid Impact Its wielder antic.i.p.ated so fondly. Instead it continued through emptiness until it impacted with the only solid ma.s.s In its path - the thug's own s.h.i.+n! He howled, dropped the weapon, and grabbed his injured leg.
His startled partner was left to deal with the supposed victim who had somehow managed to appear directly in front of the big mugger. One moment he was a handful of paces distant, and the next instant this dark-clad stranger, sword in hand, was before the bandit who intended to waylay him. The ruffian tried to stab with a knife, but the lone man's move was far too quick. The blade went spinning out into the darkness, and the criminal yowled in pain from the cut he'd taken In the bargain. In a Hash he was off into the night as quickly as his legs could carry him.
”Now for you,” the lone night stalker said quietly, turning with his sword at the ready. But the thug who had wielded the club was already hobbling away. The lone man shrugged, not smiling at even so ludicrous a sight as the limping fellow presented as he disappeared. Sheathing the sword blade, the wayfarer entered the cul-de-sac, and in the dim glow of a lantern overhead, went down the steps and into the entrance to The Turning Wheel.
The strains of a quartet playing lively music were evident even before he entered the place.
”Darksgreeting, sir. Do you wish ...” a woman with a fixed smile routinely began her usual spiel. Then, recognizing her latest customer, she brightened considerably.
”Ah, Gord, come again, have you? It's wonderful to see you after such a long interlude! Shall I bring the usual to your table?”
”Yes, that is fine, Tess,” the young thief answered unenthusiastically, and the135 woman went to 338.
339.
fetch his drink. Gord moved through the crowd to a small, empty table in a dim comer of the high-vaulted cellar.
Gord sat watching the performance while sipping the mulled wine fortified by fiery spirits. There1 were three Instruments accompanying a troubadour who played a lute and sang sad ballads. The musicians playing the virginal, the dulcimer, and the trilling shalm were familiar, but Gord couldn't recall their names. The troubadour, however, was well-known to the young adventurer. The entertainer noticed Gord at the same time that Gord .noticed him. He nodded and grinned in Cord's direction and lost no time in getting to his friend's table when he finished the song and the applause died.
”A pleasure to see you, Gord, old friend! May I Join you?” the musician asked, obviously delighted to see his longtime friend.
”Be at ease. Hop,” Gord said without enthusiasm. ”Allow me to supply you with potable In way of appreciation of the entertainment you so capably provided Just now. Your music is of the sort I am drawn to these days.”
”Not so fast, my friend,” Hop countered. ”As an entertainer here, I am supplied by the house with whatever I want to drink. You shall have another of those concoctions you drink on me instead.”
, Before Gord could say anything to that, the troubadour had signaled one of the barmaids, and two b.u.mpers were immediately placed before them. Gord looked at the singer without any change in expression. ”I am surprised to find you here. Hop. The last I heard, you had vowed to rusticate In Gawkes Mere forever.”
The life of a tavernkeeper has its charms, but the lure of the city draws me back once again to learn the latest gossip and play with other minstrels 340.
for a while. I'll tire of it soon enough and return to Gawkes Mere, have no fear.
But enough of that. How fare you? It is said you .are as gloomy and silent as you were once ribald and social. And I can see with my own ' yes that this is true. Why so morose, Gord?”
”A pa.s.sing spate of ill humors, perhaps,” the young man said vaguely in reply, lifting his beaker to drink so that he wouldn't have to provide further explanation.
Hop nodded and said, ”Rhumsung Lampba P. once told me that the oversel-”
Coughing from having swallowed hastily, Gord managed to interrupt. ”No discussions of philosophies or arcane life-knowledge this night, please! Better anything - even your lecherous tales - than that!”
Hop. whose given name was Runewort, son of Kay of Ashdown, was in addition to ostler and troubadour a highly skilled mountebank. When he spoke of gossip. Hop knew of what was told from the n.o.blest of salons to the lowest of dens in Greyhawk and elsewhere as well, for his customers were of many diverse lifestyles. He knew the cause of Cord's melancholy and, having failed at his attempt to broach the subject by philosophizing, decided to come straight to the point. ”I too have suffered love lost, my friend. A place such as this is good medicine for the imbalance of humors you suffer of late, but the cure requires the cooperation of the afflicted as well.”
”Meaning what?” Gord asked impatiently. ”If you wish to be dolorous, then no amount of drink and lively company will lift the pall, old friend. Talk, smile, laugh - allow yourself to heall Come, let's find a pair or so of likely wenches and see if that doesn't lift your downtrodden spirits.
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