All that Glitters (Stavin DragonBlessed Book 1) (18 page)

"Use a silver," Stavin gasped.

Kahndar carefully pulled a silver crown from the bag and handed it over to the barman. He let go of the beer to take the coin and Stavin grabbed the mug.

After a long drink, Stavin glared at his brother-in-law. "You are an evil person, Kahndar Kel'Horval."

Kahndar laughed as he accepted the change and put it in Stavin's pouch. "And you have been keeping secrets. Besides, if you think I'm bad, wait until you spend the winter with Shari." He hung the pouch around Stavin's neck and tucked it inside his mail.

Stavin looked at the woman with the sausages and asked, "What is in here that's so hot?"

"It's a local spice," she laughed. "In the old tongue it's called Sah Da Ho'ha. That means—"

"—Damn, that's hot," Stavin finished for her. He took a more judicious bite and nodded. "It's good, though."

The woman and her husband were looking at Stavin strangely. "Do you know the Old Tongue, young warrior?" the man asked and Stavin shrugged.

"Of course," he replied, as if he was agreeing that the sky was blue. "The old tongue is the basis for all of the new languages. If you want to read the really old imperial manuscripts you have to be able to read the glyphs as well as speak the language, because some of the words change meaning depending upon how they're used. For example, 'Ho'ha' can mean hot, fire, sun, or molten, depending on what is before and after it."

"Stavin," Kahndar interrupted, "sometimes you sound so much like Shari you scare me."

Stavin looked at Kahndar, then at the man and woman. They were all wearing the expression that Stavin had come to know all too well. It was the surprised look that he had privately dubbed, 'skunk in the pantry.' He grinned at Kahndar and said, "Now you know why I married her. We're the only people who think we're normal. Except Master Kel'Zorgan, of course."

"Of course," Kahndar agreed. "Finish up, then we'll walk around a bit. We're supposed to watch for trouble and stop it before it starts."

Stavin nodded and applied himself to his sausage and beer. Soon, all that was left was a warm lump in his belly and a pleasantly hot sensation in his mouth.

Kahndar led him back to their tents to get the rest of his armor. As he was fastening Stavin's straps he stepped back to look Stavin in the eye. "That pouch has more in it than those mercenaries were carrying."

Stavin nodded. "I said the magistrate fined those merchants for trying to cheat me. I just didn't say it was fifty silver crowns." He paused as Kahndar took a step backwards. "The gold is all going back to Shari, and probably most of the silver as well."

"And there's still all that armor and the horses to be sold," Kahndar said softly.

Stavin sighed. "Barvil asked Trader Sahren to see what she can do about it. She'll get a percentage, but each of those horses is worth about seventy-five silvers. And the armor is worth about a hundred altogether."

Kahndar was shaking his head slowly. "In five seasons I've only collected about fifty silver crowns. You've already collected twice that and more is on the way. Shari did far better than even Mother ever dreamed."

Stavin ducked his head in embarrassment, but had to grin. "Wait till Dorvi finds out. Shari is going to have her biting the walls."

Kahndar shook his head and slapped Stavin's armored shoulder. "She probably already does. Let's get back out there."

Stavin and Kahndar walked around the perimeter of the crowd, watching and listening to the people of Parvin's Hold as they turned the trader's presence into an excuse for a festival. At one point they saw Barvil watching them, but he just smiled and waved them on their way.

A
S THE DAY WORE ON TOWARD
evening, the crowd became thicker and more boisterous, and all of the warriors were signaled to stay by the wagons. At Barvil's order they took up sentry positions in front of and behind the wagons. Trader Sahren specifically asked for Stavin to be posted in front of her wagon.

The sun had set and gaily colored lanterns had been lit to illuminate the area when four men came to Sahren's wagon. "Are you Sahren Kel'Vandar, of the Kavadian House of Zel'Vandar?" the apparent leader asked.

"I am," Sahren answered, looking the man in the eye as she spoke.

"I am Ardath Fel'Ganin. Were you given a consignment for me?"

"I was. I must ask for proof of your identity, Sir. This consignment is quite valuable."

The man scowled at her. "You don't want to cross me, woman."

Now it was Sahren's turn to scowl. "You don't want to cross Elain," she said in a near whisper. "The tattoo."

The man had taken an involuntary step back at the mention of Elain, but now he stepped forward and pulled his jerkin open at the neck. "Satisfied?" he asked, and Sahren nodded.

Sahren turned and motioned for them to accompany her. She caught Stavin's eye and nodded for him to accompany them as well, and he fell into step behind the last man. The man kept looking back, but the only thing he could see was the reflection of the lanterns glittering on Stavin's armor.

Sahren stopped at the corner of her wagon and opened the back. "This is your consignment. Let me count your payment first."

The leader pulled a large bag from his jerkin and handed it to Sahren. "It's all there."

"Since Elain will take it from my purse if it isn't, we'll count it together. That, or you can go your way empty-handed."

The man finally agreed and they began counting. Stavin was watching the other men because something didn't feel right about what he was seeing. There was something wrong in the men's posture. All of them were very tense and one of them kept rubbing his arm.

One of the other men struck while Stavin was concentrating on the man who was rubbing his arm, stabbing backward with a large knife at a level that would have caught an average-sized man in the crotch, a notoriously weak place in most men's armor. On Stavin, however, the knife hit the bottom of his breastplate.

Stavin jumped back in alarm anyway and struck out with his Dragon's Tongue, knocking the knife out of the man's hand with the flat of one point. The man continued to turn towards Stavin with a knife in his other hand, and Stavin reacted to the dishonorable attack as he had been trained. The point of his Dragon's Tongue sliced up, opening the man's gut, then across to open his throat.

The other three had gone for Sahren, assuming that Stavin was taken care of, and it immediately cost two of them their lives. Stavin took one swipe at the back of their necks, and they fell like puppets with cut strings. That left the leader, but Sahren had him.

"You think to steal from me?" she snarled. "You think to steal from Elain? You don't think enough." Sahren's hand was a blur as she struck the man's throat, and he fell at her feet, choking on his crushed windpipe.

Stavin turned toward a sound behind him, but it was just one of the traders with another man. "What happened?" the man asked.

"These men thought to steal a valuable consignment from me. That one was named Ardath Fel'Ganin, or so he claimed to be."

"His name was Orval Del'Flour. He was one of my lieutenants. I am Ardath," the man said. "How did he convince you that he was me?"

Sahren looked at him through narrowed eyelids. "A tattoo."

"Like this?" the man asked, pulling aside his shirt to show the tattoo: A red rose with the name Elain under it.

Stavin was tired of being ignored and used his Dragon's Tongue to slit the dead man's jerkin and push the cloth aside. The tattoo was the same, and in the same place.

The man claiming to be the real Ardath knelt and rubbed at the dead man's tattoo. His fingers came away red and green, leaving the tattoo smudged. "Players paint! That miserable cheat." He stood and looked at Sahren. "Did he have a payment?"

Sahren looked at the top of the box where five stacks of ten gold crowns each sat next to a small pile of loose coins. "They attacked when it became obvious that it was short."

Ardath walked over and finished counting the coins while Sahren watched, then pulled out a purse and added to the pile when it came out thirty gold crowns short. "Payment in full, as specified in Elain's letter."

"And them?" Sahren asked.

Ardath looked down and spat. "I'll deal with them. A moment, if you will?" At Sahren's nod, he walked to the front of the wagons and made a gesture. He came back and nodded to Sahren. "My wagon is coming around to get the cargo. We'll take this offal along with us."

He finally turned to Stavin and looked him up and down. "You're the one in the story. Keep your mouth shut about this if you know what's good for you." He looked at Stavin's shoulder and snorted. "Only three? Well, now you have three more. No loot, though. Too bad for you."

Stavin didn't say anything. He was afraid his voice would quaver and betray how shocked he was. He just stared at Ardath, then watched as the box and bodies were loaded into a wagon and spirited away into the darkness.

"Stavin, are you all right?" Sahren finally asked.

Stavin let loose a long, shuddering breath and sagged a little. "Three more kills. Three more men dead by my hand." He took a step back, and bent down to pick up the knife that might have ended his life. It was a long, thick dagger with a silver ball on the pommel. "Thank the Gods Above I'm short. He almost got me."

His hand began to shake and he dropped the knife as he staggered back to lean against the wagon. "So close. That's the fourth time I've had to fight for my life. It was so sudden. I had no warning. If he had struck for my eyes, I'd be dead."

One of Sahren's people had gone for Barvil and they arrived while Stavin was speaking. "Are you all right, Stavin?" he asked, examining Stavin carefully. "What happened?"

Sahren spoke first. "He saved my life. I'll admit now that I wanted the drawing power of that golden armor to lure the curious to my wares, but his good sense proved to be more valuable. He stayed behind my visitors and took three of four when they tried to steal Elain's consignment from me." She bent and picked up the dagger. "This almost took off his manhood."

"It was the most
foul
attack I've ever heard of, Sir!" Stavin finally said in a voice hot with indignation. "He tried to stab me in the crotch!"

Barvil laughed. He tried not to, but the laughter wouldn't be contained. "Stavin, honor is rare among thieves. Let me guess: he stabbed backwards to cripple you and had another knife for the kill." He paused as Stavin nodded. "Stavin, there is a reason such things are commonly called 'a dirty, underhanded trick.' Where did he actually hit you?"

Stavin touched the bottom of this breastplate. "Somewhere in here."

Barvil grinned. "Not a scratch, not that I expected one. He probably wouldn't have had much luck if he'd been lower, though. That knife wouldn't damage your mail any more than it damaged your plate. You'd be sore, but you wouldn't have been disabled. He, on the other hand, would still be dead."

Now it was Stavin's turn to grunt in agreement. "I hadn't really thought of that, Sir, but you're right."

"Bitter experience is a harsh teacher. I know that trick from my fourth expedition. My partner died to teach it to me. I got his killer, but I still had to tell his family what happened." Barvil examined the knife. "Water-steel, and I'd guess real silver in the hilt. If you don't want to keep it, Sahren can probably get you two or three gold crowns for it. Where's the second knife?"

"I saw the second knife, but it's gone. They must have taken it with the bodies," Stavin said softly as he scuffed the ground with his toe. "As for this one," Stavin said in a stronger voice as he held up the big knife, "I'll keep it for a while, Sir, as reminder of how close death can be."

Barvil smiled and patted his shoulder. "Good man. Now shake it off and get back on guard. The crowd is thinning, but there are still a lot of people out there. I'll award your stripes in the morning, Sergeant Kel'Aniston." He grinned and gave Stavin a shove toward the front of the wagons.

"G
OODMAN
B
ARVIL,"
S
AHREN SAID AS
S
TAVIN
rounded the wagon and disappeared, "I had thought that young Stavin had been blessed by that dragon, but I think I may have been mistaken. He said that's the fourth time someone has tried to kill him, and he's not even halfway through his first season."

"
Nothing comes without a price
," Barvil quoted. "Dandarshandrake taught the Chosen of Luxand that lesson centuries ago. That dragon saw something in Stavin that none of us dreamed existed. Well, his parents believed in him, but most of the town discounted him because of his size. He has a long way to go, but I wouldn't be surprised if he earns his two stars and joins the Elders Council." Sahren looked at Barvil's shoulder and raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh, that's not a happy story, Trader Sahren. It's full of bull-headed pride, youthful lust, and an Elder's refusal to admit that he could be wrong. He is learning, though, and expects a full recovery in a few years."

Sahren bowed slightly. "I won't press the issue, then. I will ask that you say nothing about Elain's shipment. Her business is her own affair, and I am simply her cargo carrier. I neither know nor wish to know what that cargo is."

Barvil simply nodded and walked away. He had his own suspicions about Elain, and was certain he didn't want them confirmed.

He walked among the people of Parvin's Hold and watched his men. He wasn't surprised to see Stavin hovering in Kahndar's shadow, and was glad he'd been able to get the older man in his group. Kahndar's conspicuous championing of Stavin kept the other youths from saying anything cruel, as many of them had in previous years. The fact that Stavin was proving himself to be far more dangerous than anyone would have believed was troubling, though.

There was something that he had deliberately not told Stavin or Sahren. The four men who had attacked them on the road weren't ordinary mercenaries: They were Kel'Portan Guards, one of the most respected and feared mercenary companies in the lower kingdoms. They commanded even higher prices than the warriors of Kel'Kavin—and Stavin had defeated three of them. He shook his head as he considered the implications of that. Now Stavin had killed three men who were probably underworld enforcers as well.