Bared Blade (15 page)

“But I promised to tell you how I came to know about the Kothmerk,” I said.

“You did at that.” Vala didn’t relinquish her hold on my arm, choosing to sit on the edge of the barrel with me instead. “Let’s hear it.”

I was somewhat distracted as I rattled off my encounter with Qethar, and I wondered if that wasn’t exactly the Dyad’s intent. But I still managed to tell the bulk of my tale in a reasonably lucid manner. Lucid enough that VoS and company didn’t seem to notice the gaps where I omitted things like the pebble Qethar had given me, or the appearance of Captain Fei, both of which incidents I thought better to keep to myself for the moment. Oh, the joys of trying to serve two masters, and justice besides.

When I finished speaking, Vala hopped to her feet and began to pace—the only one of us short enough to manage it in the confined space of the attic. “I don’t like the sound of this Qethar even a little bit. Do you think he’s one of the group that we followed to the city? Judging by the marks in the road, there were at least a half dozen left by the time they got here.”

“I doubt it.” Mostly because of things Fei had said about Qethar being well-known in certain circles in Tien, but I couldn’t very well tell the Dyad that. “He seemed to know the city like someone who lived here, and that Elite major treated him more like a well-known pain in the ass than a visiting VIP.”

“That reminds me of a thought I wanted to mention about the major,” said Stel. “You say his dog was practically on top of you when it suddenly turned away?”

I nodded, which stretched sore muscles and reminded me of how very long the day had been already. “Yes. I thought sure it had us there, and then nothing. It was strange and Qethar later implied it was his doing, but I don’t see how.”

“Maybe he can persuade the stone dogs in the same way he persuades the stuff of the earth itself. They are elementals, after all.”

Triss reared back. “Oh, I don’t like that thought, not one bit.”

“But do you think it’s possible?” I asked him through a sudden yawn.

Triss was our resident expert on elementals—being one himself.

“I don’t think you could do it to one of us,” he replied, his voice low and worried, “but then there are no Others who have a history of alliance with the shadows. And, well, how can I put this kindly? The stone dogs aren’t the smartest of the elementals. Much smarter than a dog, certainly, but not even as smart as most men.”

I gave him my best raised eyebrow. “Thanks for that vote of confidence, partner.”

“Oh, you’re significantly smarter than most of your breed …about some things at least. And that makes you nearly as smart as the average Shade. But neither you nor I have anything like the mind of one of the great water dragons. A shinsan or a kuan-lun, say.”

“He’s got a point,” said VoS. “You humans are smart enough in your own way, but you’re a long way from the brightest lights around.”

Vala sighed. “Is she going to go into her thing about how much smarter she is than we are again?”

“It sure sounds like it,” said Stel.

“It’s not that I’m smarter per se, it’s just that I have twice
the thinking power, so I can do things both faster and better than either of you could alone.”

“Not if I knock back this bottle of whiskey.” Vala picked up the Kyle’s. “And I’ve got to tell you that’s what this whole line makes me want to do. What do you say, Stel?”

“I’m in …if this whole superiority spiel goes on much longer.”

VoS snorted through both of their noses. Then she sighed and shook her heads. “Fine. I’ll stop. Now, what’s next on our agenda?”

I got up and hunched my way over to the chimney, sticking my head through the curtain and looking up. A clear patch of pale rosy gray sky showed at the top.

I closed the curtain again. “I don’t know about you, but sleeping is getting pretty high on my list. I’ve been awake for something like twenty hours straight and on the run for more than half of that. I’ll be a lot more useful for planning in the morning.”

“That sounds like a damned fine idea to me,” said Stel, and for the first time since we’d gotten her settled, I remembered how badly injured she was. “I’m all in.”

“Fair enough,” said Vala. “I’m pretty knocked down as well.” She looked at the bottle a bit wistfully. “Though I wouldn’t mind a nightcap if any of you wanted to join me.”

I was quite tempted, and because I was tempted, I shook my head. “Maybe tomorrow.”

Stel had already slid down the barrel to lie fully prone and closed her eyes.

VoS said, “Save it. You were right about the spell earlier. We’re going to have to make some alterations to our appearance before we can show our faces out on the street again, and that means the bonewright. You don’t want a hangover for that, and after, we’ll all three need a drink or five.”

Vala grimaced and set the bottle aside. “We will at that. Aral, this is your aerie. Do we need to set a guard?”

“No, the main risk is a fire started by our downstairs neighbors and sitting up worrying about it won’t make one
jot of difference as to whether that’s going to happen. Beyond that, there’s Triss.”

My little dragon nodded and spread his wings. “Even with the sun coming up it’ll stay pretty dark in here. Once the magelight’s out, I’ll be completely free to roam around the attic and even to slip down through the cracks once in a while to check on the caras-heads.”

“Don’t you sleep?” asked Vala. Stel had already started to snore faintly.

“Mostly I nap, and much of that in the day, while I’m dragging along in Aral’s shadow, going bump-bump-bump down the street and pretending I don’t exist. I’m wide awake now and will be for hours yet.”

“I guess that covers everything.” Vala looked at me. “Do you want me to do something about the light since I’m up?”

“I was just going to toss it in an amphora and tamp the lid down. You’re welcome to the duty if you want it.”

She nodded and took down the light. The shadows, all but Triss, danced wildly around as she followed my suggestion. Then it got very dark and I had to follow her progress by ear. First, grabbing up her blanket. Then, laying it out and settling herself.

I’d expected her to put it down beside Stel’s, but she actually chose a place on my farther side, bracketing me between her and her bond-mate in a way that I found a bit discomfiting. Especially as she took a spot rather significantly closer to me than Stel was—just the other side of the little half barrel where I’d been sitting.

“Aral?” she said after several minutes had passed.

“Yes.”

“I wanted to wait till Stel went to sleep and took VoS with her before I said this. I’m glad we found you. I don’t think we could do this on our own. Thank you.”

I heard a faint noise from her direction, but couldn’t figure out what it was until Triss whispered in my ear. “She’s reached her hand out along the left side of the barrel. I think she wants you to squeeze it.”

So I did. “You’re welcome.”

She squeezed me back, then withdrew her hand. “See you in the morning, Aral. Sleep well.”

“You, too, Vala.”

I
woke to the sound of chalk scratching across rough boards, and rolled up onto my side to find Vala busily scribbling diagrams on the floor at the far end of the room. The attic felt breathless and baking, like the inside of a huge and dusty oven, and I guessed it must be getting near sundown. I wiped sweat off my face and took a second look at the huge splash of multicolored chalk Vala was creating.

“That kind of spell, is it?” I mumbled. I’ve never been much for high magic, especially not the intricate stuff with all the fuss and bother.

“Hush.” Triss shushed me from above.

He had climbed high up on the angled ceiling to get the best view of the process. This put him in a very strange position relative to me and the glow of the magelight. Vala had pulled it out and fixed it on the back of the chimney so that it lit her end of the room and left me mostly in shadow. Which meant Triss was just about 180 degrees from where a natural shadow would have been.

I ignored his admonition and kept talking. “I don’t suppose anyone’s made porridge and toast, or even some of that awful fish soup the locals favor for breakfast?”

“Nope,” said Stel from somewhere behind me. “You’ve got your salted pork, your rice cakes, your salted pork between two rice cakes, or, if you’re feeling all bold and experimental, your rice cake between two slices of pork. That one’s kind of messy.”

I looked over my shoulder. Stel was sitting up against the half barrel with her head leaned back and her eyes closed.

“Ribs bad?” I asked.

She nodded very slightly without moving otherwise. “I took a look under the bandages this morning. It looks like I’ve been rolling around in raw indigo.”

“You want me to get you the whiskey?” I knew how much cracked ribs can hurt.

“No, I can’t afford to dull my wits now. Not right before we attempt this damned bonewright trick.”

“Maybe you should wait till you’re feeling better,” I said.

She opened her eyes and met mine, shaking her head slightly. “Without a real healer that could take weeks, and we can’t go see a healer until we do something to lower our profile.”

“I know a couple of backstreet wound-tailors who will forget they ever saw you if the fee is high enough.”

“And how do we get there without running the risk of being seen?”

Stel’s face shifted as VoS came to the fore. Even after listening to her tell the long story last night, it was still jarring to watch the shifts in expression and manner when the Meld inhabited one or the other of them. It made the person I’d just been talking to feel like nothing more than a mask to be put on or taken off at the convenience of the creature that ruled them both.

“More importantly,” said VoS, “what happens if the Durkoth offer a reward for anyone with information? Will your friends stay bought if they can make ten times as much by turning us in?”

It was my turn to shake my head. “They aren’t really friends, and even the most honest of them would probably sell his mother for parts given the right incentive. That doesn’t change the fact that Stel’s injuries are going to keep her from operating at anything like her best. If this bonewright is that dangerous…”

“It is,” VoS said flatly. “But we still have to try it.”

“Partially
because
of Stel’s injuries,” Vala tossed over her shoulder, entering the conversation for the first time. “I think that if I work her transformation right I can mend her ribs myself as part of the process.”

“Really?” asked Triss. “It’s not all cosmetic?”

“No.” Vala rose from where she’d just finished a line and turned to face Triss. “Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be. If
you want to really change the way someone looks, you need to restructure the bones of the face, at least a little bit. That’s why it hurts so much. VoS and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to extend that to knitting Stel’s ribs back together.”

“I’m still not entirely sold on that part,” said Stel. “The spell is complex enough without trying something that’s not a standard part of the routine. Even the best eavesmen usually don’t do much more than surface work below the neck, and you’ve only ever drilled with this spell.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Vala, but I could see she was worried.

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Are you saying you’ve never actually performed this bonewright thing before?”

Vala’s chin came up. “Not to completion, no. But I can handle it. The structure of the spell isn’t that difficult to manage. It’s just the pain factor that makes it dangerous, and Stel and I have had a lot of practice dealing with pain. I’d expect spinners like Stel and I to be much better at this than those wimpy old eavesmen.”

“But you don’t
know
that,” said Stel. “And it’s dangerous to mess with the big bones. That’s what Pride at Valerian said when you asked about making yourself taller.”

“That was only because you can’t actually add or subtract anything, just move it around. Unlike fat and muscle, there’s no good way to make extra bone. If I made myself significantly taller I’d have to thin out my bones so much they’d be as brittle as old porcelain.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think I should have taken you up on the offer of a drink,” said Stel. “If I passed out we couldn’t try this hob-brained scheme.”

“You know VoS wouldn’t let you do that,” said Vala.

“Some days I just want to whack her one,” replied Stel. “Unfortunately, the one who’d get hurt would be you.”

“And you, through the echo,” said Vala.

“That, too.” Stel sighed. “Do you have all the chicken-scratching done, Vala?”

“I do.”

“Then let’s get this over with one way or the other.”

Vala crossed to her bond-mate and helped her up. “It’ll be fine. I promise I’ll take good care of you.”

“I’m not worried about that so much as whether I’ll be able to do the same for you. I’m not at my best right now.”

“That’s why we’ve got to do it, and you’re first.”

The pair crossed to the chalked up area of the long low room, with Stel leaning heavily on her smaller companion. I got up as well. I wanted to take a closer look at the diagram. I don’t
do
ritual magic if I can avoid it, but I was taught the basics, and it was always good to learn new things. Triss flitted along the ceiling above my head, moving in to get a better look as well.

The main figure was a pair of large hexagons that shared one side in common. Sketched in and around the points were great bunches of the usual glyphs and sigils. I’d just started trying to work out the general gist of the structure, when Vala completely snarled my line of thought by the simple expedient of slipping off her shirt, about three feet in front of me.

Her breasts were small and perfectly formed, with nipples like dark coins. She was thin, but not so much so that I could count ribs, and very muscular—an athlete. Before I could even think about turning away or otherwise offering her greater privacy, she skinned out of her pants and underwear as well, exposing a lovely pair of legs and the patch of raven hair at their juncture.