hanged until dead. What lord made a law that said being a stranger was against the law? The death sentence for having an unfamiliar face seemed a little harsh, as far as punishments went.
The three were speaking with Feloovil, but she was only half-listening, dabbing a damp cloth against the rake of claw-marks running down her right cheek. Finally, with an irritated gesture she indicated Hordilo and the three strangers swung round.
The bandaged one limped over. “You! You thook them up there? The keep? And they wath made guethth?”
Hordilo glared at the other two. “You elected this one your spokesman?”
The woman scowled. “Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, and Mancy the Luckless. They’re all up at the keep, are they?”
“They are, and you’re welcome to join them.”
“Thath awfully nithe of you,” the bandaged man said, nodding and smiling.
“Just take the track up to the gate and knock,” said Hordilo, waving one hand. Then he pointed at the woman. “But not you.”
“Why not me?”
“Got to question you.”
“About what?”
“I’m the one asking the questions, not you. Now, get over here and sit. You two, go on, up to the keep. There’ll be a fine meal awaiting you, I’m sure.”
“And her?” the third man asked, nodding at the woman.
“I’ll send her up anon.”
“Go on,” said the woman to her companions. “He’s the law around here.”
“I uphold the law,” Hordilo corrected her. “It’s Lord Fangatooth’s law.”
“Lord what?”
“Fangatooth. You all think that’s funny? Go and tell him so, then.”
When the two men had finished their drinks and left, the woman carried her tankard over and sat down opposite Hordilo. She studied him with level eyes and that was a look Hordilo knew all too well.
“Is that what you think?” he asked in a growl.
“Why shouldn’t I?’ she retorted, slouching and setting her tankard down on the thigh of the lone leg she stretched out—the one bare and pale and with a delicious curved line where the meat of it slung down from the chair’s edge, and the sight of that made Hordilo want to fall to his hands and knees and crawl up under that thigh, if only to feel its weight on the back of his neck. He shifted about, felt sweat everywhere under his clothing.
“I don’t like it when women think that,” he said.
One brow arched. “If you weren’t that way then no woman would think it, would she?”
“I wasn’t until some woman did me in, not that I was ever married, of course, but if I had been, why, she would’ve done me in, all because she was thinking what she was thinking.”
“You’re blaming the water for the hole it fills.”
“I’ve just seen that too many times,” Hordilo said, feeling surly. “Women thinking.”
“If that’s what you think, why talk to me? You could’ve questioned Gust Hubb, or Heck, even. But you didn’t. You picked me, on account of me being a woman. So let’s face it, you keep making the same mistakes in your life and I ain’t to blame for that, am I?”
“If we’re talking blame here,” Hordilo retorted, “then it was you that sat down thinking what you were thinking. I ain’t blind and I ain’t dumb and I don’t take kindly to being thought of that way, when we only just met.”
“What’s your name?”
“Hordilo. Captain Hordilo.”
“All right, Captain Hordilo, since you know what I’m thinking, what are we doing here?”
“Women always think I’m that easy, don’t they.”
“Is that what I was thinking?”
“I know what you were thinking, so don’t try and slip around it with all this talk of us taking a room upstairs to continue this conversation. I got laws to uphold. Responsibilities. You’re a stranger, after all.”
“You only think I’m a stranger,” she replied, “because you ain’t got to know me yet.”
“Of course you’re a stranger. I never seen you before. Nobody has, nobody around here, I mean. I don’t even know your
The three were speaking with Feloovil, but she was only half-listening, dabbing a damp cloth against the rake of claw-marks running down her right cheek. Finally, with an irritated gesture she indicated Hordilo and the three strangers swung round.
The bandaged one limped over. “You! You thook them up there? The keep? And they wath made guethth?”
Hordilo glared at the other two. “You elected this one your spokesman?”
The woman scowled. “Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, and Mancy the Luckless. They’re all up at the keep, are they?”
“They are, and you’re welcome to join them.”
“Thath awfully nithe of you,” the bandaged man said, nodding and smiling.
“Just take the track up to the gate and knock,” said Hordilo, waving one hand. Then he pointed at the woman. “But not you.”
“Why not me?”
“Got to question you.”
“About what?”
“I’m the one asking the questions, not you. Now, get over here and sit. You two, go on, up to the keep. There’ll be a fine meal awaiting you, I’m sure.”
“And her?” the third man asked, nodding at the woman.
“I’ll send her up anon.”
“Go on,” said the woman to her companions. “He’s the law around here.”
“I uphold the law,” Hordilo corrected her. “It’s Lord Fangatooth’s law.”
“Lord what?”
“Fangatooth. You all think that’s funny? Go and tell him so, then.”
When the two men had finished their drinks and left, the woman carried her tankard over and sat down opposite Hordilo. She studied him with level eyes and that was a look Hordilo knew all too well.
“Is that what you think?” he asked in a growl.
“Why shouldn’t I?’ she retorted, slouching and setting her tankard down on the thigh of the lone leg she stretched out—the one bare and pale and with a delicious curved line where the meat of it slung down from the chair’s edge, and the sight of that made Hordilo want to fall to his hands and knees and crawl up under that thigh, if only to feel its weight on the back of his neck. He shifted about, felt sweat everywhere under his clothing.
“I don’t like it when women think that,” he said.
One brow arched. “If you weren’t that way then no woman would think it, would she?”
“I wasn’t until some woman did me in, not that I was ever married, of course, but if I had been, why, she would’ve done me in, all because she was thinking what she was thinking.”
“You’re blaming the water for the hole it fills.”
“I’ve just seen that too many times,” Hordilo said, feeling surly. “Women thinking.”
“If that’s what you think, why talk to me? You could’ve questioned Gust Hubb, or Heck, even. But you didn’t. You picked me, on account of me being a woman. So let’s face it, you keep making the same mistakes in your life and I ain’t to blame for that, am I?”
“If we’re talking blame here,” Hordilo retorted, “then it was you that sat down thinking what you were thinking. I ain’t blind and I ain’t dumb and I don’t take kindly to being thought of that way, when we only just met.”
“What’s your name?”
“Hordilo. Captain Hordilo.”
“All right, Captain Hordilo, since you know what I’m thinking, what are we doing here?”
“Women always think I’m that easy, don’t they.”
“Is that what I was thinking?”
“I know what you were thinking, so don’t try and slip around it with all this talk of us taking a room upstairs to continue this conversation. I got laws to uphold. Responsibilities. You’re a stranger, after all.”
“You only think I’m a stranger,” she replied, “because you ain’t got to know me yet.”
“Of course you’re a stranger. I never seen you before. Nobody has, nobody around here, I mean. I don’t even know your
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