dahr .”
“ Good,” said Elas firmly. “And your name?”
“ Pheyl, m’lord. Pheyl Milhas.”
“ Stay then here, for a moment, freeman, so we can talk. Anyone else?”
In reply, the room was being vacated. From his seat behind the counter, Jirve Lan watched in intense fascination, and shook his head, muttering to himself. “Seventy dahr! Idiots . . . If I were but young . . . if I didn’t have this inn to care for . . .”
“ What does this mean, Elas?” said Dame Beis, who had just finished her dinner, and now had this new cause for alarm. “Won’t anyone be hired? By all gods, I simply refuse to be taken anywhere without an escort tomorrow!”
There is no more danger , he thought, this is only to humor you, Aunt. Bilhaar are too confident to repeat an attack so soon. They don’t know yet of the failure of this set .
But he said nothing, only made a show of further waiting.
Ranhé was examining her fingernails. I will not, she thought violently, as a cold inexplicable fury suddenly gripped her. I will not say a word. If he thinks he can buy me still . . . The arrogant —
“ Raise the price, Elas!” wailed Molhveth Beis, her warm eyes frightened out of their ordinary kind gentility. “Good sirs! Would anyone please—”
“ Mother!” whispered Lixa like a snake, without changing her expression and barely moving her lips. “It is unseemly, the way you—”
Nilmet felt a twinge of pity. The fear of the assassins was genuine in the old woman.
Jirve Lan looked around the room in nervous anticipation, seeing only the merchant finishing his second course of dinner leisurely and getting ready to retire upstairs, and Nilmet with that scrawny sexless female seated at the far table. What the hell was she anyway?
The one newly hired man, Pheyl Milhas, standing to the side, was beginning to look as if he was reconsidering his decision.
“ My offer stands, until morning, to anyone who is willing,” spoke Elasand then, calmly. The last glimpse he had of the freewoman in the corner showed a far greater indifference on her part than seemed natural under the circumstances. She was working so hard at it that he was beginning to have hopes after all.
“ My lady, Aunt,” he said. “The two of you best retire for the night now.”
And as the noblewomen rose obediently, too worn out with the events of the day to even argue, Jirve Lan hurried to “escort” them personally to the bedchamber, calling servants on the way.
Nilmet chuckled. “If only Master Jirve was hirable, I’m sure he’d be willing to perform both jobs. I never did ask him how well he handles the sword, if at all.”
And suddenly he remembered what Ranhé had said earlier.
“ Freewoman, weren’t you just telling me that you were traveling to the City for hire? I notice a sword there, at your side. Why don’t you consider this offer?”
* * *
Postulate Six: Rainbow is Pain.
* * *
T he young boy stood before a great monolithic statue of precious gray stone and metal, its fifty-foot bulk representing the likeness of a god. All around, the dimly illuminated Temple swept upwards into eternity, resting on doric columns of stark granite.
The boy looked about him, his eyes oddly unaccustomed to the natural illumination produced by torches. Their colorless gray fire flickered low on the walls, but left the immense ceiling a shadow-mystery. Everything stood bland, single-hued, gold and silver and granite distinguished only by the fine texture of surfaces. And in places winked the small gray suns that were the finely faceted jewels of smoky hue, exploding into light when the torches caught on their razor facets.
He looked about him and for a moment wondered what would happen if a color monochrome, like the one in his bedchamber back in Dirvan , were to be lit here. The one in his bedroom happened to be of an ultimate pale blue hue, and really was not what he might have preferred to have as his own. It was so
“ Good,” said Elas firmly. “And your name?”
“ Pheyl, m’lord. Pheyl Milhas.”
“ Stay then here, for a moment, freeman, so we can talk. Anyone else?”
In reply, the room was being vacated. From his seat behind the counter, Jirve Lan watched in intense fascination, and shook his head, muttering to himself. “Seventy dahr! Idiots . . . If I were but young . . . if I didn’t have this inn to care for . . .”
“ What does this mean, Elas?” said Dame Beis, who had just finished her dinner, and now had this new cause for alarm. “Won’t anyone be hired? By all gods, I simply refuse to be taken anywhere without an escort tomorrow!”
There is no more danger , he thought, this is only to humor you, Aunt. Bilhaar are too confident to repeat an attack so soon. They don’t know yet of the failure of this set .
But he said nothing, only made a show of further waiting.
Ranhé was examining her fingernails. I will not, she thought violently, as a cold inexplicable fury suddenly gripped her. I will not say a word. If he thinks he can buy me still . . . The arrogant —
“ Raise the price, Elas!” wailed Molhveth Beis, her warm eyes frightened out of their ordinary kind gentility. “Good sirs! Would anyone please—”
“ Mother!” whispered Lixa like a snake, without changing her expression and barely moving her lips. “It is unseemly, the way you—”
Nilmet felt a twinge of pity. The fear of the assassins was genuine in the old woman.
Jirve Lan looked around the room in nervous anticipation, seeing only the merchant finishing his second course of dinner leisurely and getting ready to retire upstairs, and Nilmet with that scrawny sexless female seated at the far table. What the hell was she anyway?
The one newly hired man, Pheyl Milhas, standing to the side, was beginning to look as if he was reconsidering his decision.
“ My offer stands, until morning, to anyone who is willing,” spoke Elasand then, calmly. The last glimpse he had of the freewoman in the corner showed a far greater indifference on her part than seemed natural under the circumstances. She was working so hard at it that he was beginning to have hopes after all.
“ My lady, Aunt,” he said. “The two of you best retire for the night now.”
And as the noblewomen rose obediently, too worn out with the events of the day to even argue, Jirve Lan hurried to “escort” them personally to the bedchamber, calling servants on the way.
Nilmet chuckled. “If only Master Jirve was hirable, I’m sure he’d be willing to perform both jobs. I never did ask him how well he handles the sword, if at all.”
And suddenly he remembered what Ranhé had said earlier.
“ Freewoman, weren’t you just telling me that you were traveling to the City for hire? I notice a sword there, at your side. Why don’t you consider this offer?”
* * *
Postulate Six: Rainbow is Pain.
* * *
T he young boy stood before a great monolithic statue of precious gray stone and metal, its fifty-foot bulk representing the likeness of a god. All around, the dimly illuminated Temple swept upwards into eternity, resting on doric columns of stark granite.
The boy looked about him, his eyes oddly unaccustomed to the natural illumination produced by torches. Their colorless gray fire flickered low on the walls, but left the immense ceiling a shadow-mystery. Everything stood bland, single-hued, gold and silver and granite distinguished only by the fine texture of surfaces. And in places winked the small gray suns that were the finely faceted jewels of smoky hue, exploding into light when the torches caught on their razor facets.
He looked about him and for a moment wondered what would happen if a color monochrome, like the one in his bedchamber back in Dirvan , were to be lit here. The one in his bedroom happened to be of an ultimate pale blue hue, and really was not what he might have preferred to have as his own. It was so
Similar Books
