Lakhoni (28 page)

Tucking
his dagger into his waistband and draping two tunics over it to keep it out of
sight, Lakhoni made his way through the crowds. Today was the day. He felt
strong, refreshed after the fish. He’d had enough energy for a training session
last night. If he could get cleaned up, he could execute his plan today.

That
meant not being arrested for using canal water. He’d seen soldiers haul off
somebody who had been bathing in a canal.
Why would there be a law against
using water?

He
found a good spot and sat near the canal, pretending to repair a boot. He
watched the rhythm of the traffic, trying to find the right time to dip in the
water. He noted the position of three narrow alleys that sliced through one of
the Second Tier blagros, and he saw that the shadows in one indicated that it
turned sharply after only a few feet. Men, women, and children flowed by
individually and in small groups. He wouldn’t have much time. A pair of women
walked by, each bending under bulging sacks.

Folding
himself forward, he reached out with both arms to the cold water, scooping
handfuls up to his face and scrubbing. He glanced around, still nobody. He
scrubbed his neck with another double handful, then splashed enough on his hair
that he was dripping. He worked his fingers through his hair, then splashed
more water to rinse. As he scooped water to his face, drinking some of it and
using the rest to wipe his face clean, he heard the shout.

“Boy!”

Lakhoni
shot to his feet, and immediately saw the source. Two soldiers, each with three
red stripes on their sashes, had just rounded the southern corner of the
nearest blagro. Both broke into a run, reaching for the short clubs patrolling
soldiers wore on their left hip. “Stop right there!” called the one with a completely
bald head.

Lakhoni
exploded into a leap, easily clearing the canal, which was only two paces wide.
He dashed toward the alley that looked like it turned sharply, sparing a glance
over his shoulder. The soldiers were giving chase, shouting. They had already
jumped over the canal.

He
reached the alley, pelting down the narrow space and tucking his shoulders
inward somewhat so he could make it through. Hopefully the soldiers would be
too big for the space.

The
shouting behind him dashed that hope.

He
had been correct; the alley cut sharply to the left. Lakhoni ran hard, not
slowing for the turn.
A feather.
He leapt and extended his right foot,
bending his leg slightly and maintaining tension in his muscles. His foot
touched the wall, and he pushed hard off it and landed lightly, still running
full speed. The turn had not slowed him at all.

A
light perhaps sixty paces ahead indicated the end of the alley, but there were
at least three places where new alleys branched off to the right, and one to
the left. He pushed harder, fighting to keep his feet light. He still heard the
guards’ shouts and footfalls, although they weren’t as loud as before. The
feather leap had worked.

It
was time for another leap, this one harder. He passed the first right-branching
alley, loving the returned feeling of strength and speed. Lakhoni pictured the
movements he would make, allowing his body to make the adjustments necessary
for his timing to be right. He tried to run a little more to the left of the
alley. When he was two paces from the second right branch, he leapt again, this
time angling his body at the alley’s entrance and extending his left foot and
arm. His left foot hit, knee bent and muscles tight, followed immediately by
his hand. He pushed off the wall, feeling for a moment as if he were flying—if
he had pushed off harder he might have been able to scale the walls of the
houses to his left and right. Instead, he landed in perfect balance on his
right foot and never stopped moving.

Another
branching alley on the left—and another on the right. He poured all of his
strength into running, praying he could turn down the right alley, which by his
judgment led to a main road, before the guards made their turn. He hoped to
effectively disappear.

He
repeated his last leap and found himself ten paces from bright light. Crowds of
people rushed up and down the street ahead. Lakhoni ran hard, then slowed to a
walk in the last few paces, coming out of the alley and melting into the crowd
smoothly. He resisted the urge to look behind and see if the soldiers had
emerged. An idea hit and he wasted no time, pulling his top tunic quickly over
his head.

Now
they shouldn’t be able to recognize him from behind.

A
few tense minutes later, Lakhoni finally allowed himself to relax and made his
way to the outskirts of Victor Plaza to wait for the dogs. As he walked, he
watched for an opportunity to find food. He made a point of ducking through a
few alleys so that he could pass behind some of the bigger inns he had
discovered in town.

Disappointed,
Lakhoni emerged from a dim alley and sought a spare space along a building’s
facade. There he crouched, marveling again at the incredible numbers of people
that packed the city of the king. He understood that the bay provided a perfect
place for merchant ships to dock and that the river running just to the west of
the city provided essentially a crossroads for trade. He also remembered what
Regg had said about why people lived in the city, but the crowds, the smells,
and the extreme poverty he had seen still confused him.

Why
would people pack so tightly into a place that too often provided only a
miserable existence? They must be hoping for things to improve, but surely they
could bring that hope to pass by finding a better place to live.

Loud
barking and shouting cut through the steady beat of humanity. Lakhoni stood,
putting his second tunic back on and doing his best to straighten his clothes
and hair. He didn’t want to appear to be homeless or desperate.

The
dog-tenders finally rounded up the huge animals and got them moving in the
right direction. As the young men jogged after the exuberant dogs, Lakhoni
shadowed them, making his best effort to not appear to be skulking or hiding as
he moved. Lakhoni followed the yapping and shouting group out the south gate,
trying to blend in with a large cluster of men and women who were heading out
of the city on a journey of some kind.

As
they had done every day that Lakhoni had watched, upon smelling the fresh
aromas outside the city, the dogs set to chasing each other and tearing around
the large meadows that extended for miles just south of the city.

Lakhoni
thought back to the funeral pyre, laying his beloved Ancum to rest. He hoped
again that he hadn’t desecrated the memory of his village and family by adding
his dog to the pyre. At least now, all the time that Lakhoni had spent with
Ancum should help him in his task. It was apparent these dog-tenders had never
learned how to treat a dog.
Why have them work with the dogs if they have no
idea what they are doing?

Lakhoni
made sure to stay out of sight as he skirted wide around the meadows, hiding
behind copses of trees and staying downwind of the dogs so they wouldn’t get curious.
He lost sight of the animals several times, but was easily able to keep track
of them because of their barking. By the time he made it to his selected
vantage point, the sun was directly above and had burned the chill out of the
air. Lakhoni briefly considered removing his second layer, but thought better
of it; best to not look like he was carrying everything he owned.

The
time came to gather the dogs. Lakhoni heard the shouts of the young men and saw
the dogs ignore them. Perfect.

He
got to his feet and moved quickly but casually towards the road, angling so
that he would walk directly through the chaotic, milling group of dogs. One of
the dogs, its shoulders as high as Lakhoni’s waist, noticed him first. It
immediately stopped moving, lowered its head and growled at him. Lakhoni
stopped moving too, facing the dog directly, standing up straight and spreading
his shoulders so he presented as big and wide of a figure as possible. He met
the dog’s eyes.

They
stood facing each other, the dog growling deep in its throat, slobber dripping
from its lips. Lakhoni made no sound and no movement. He stood like that for
long moments, staring the large animal down. He knew that Ancum had obeyed him
because the dog had accepted him as its master. Of course, Lakhoni had raised
Ancum from when he was a pup, so this would be different, but the principle was
the same. After a long time the dog’s growls subsided into heavy panting.
Lakhoni was no longer perceived as a threat. Now to establish dominance. He
reached out, letting the dog sniff the back of his right hand. The cool, moist
nose brushed his hand gently. Suddenly Lakhoni was back in his village as
images of tossing a tough ball of deer hide for Ancum, and the small dog’s
happy barking and whuffling, washed over him.

Careful
to keep his teeth hidden so he wouldn’t appear as a threat anymore, Lakhoni
stepped closer and murmured soft, soothing noises at the large dog. “What do
they call you?”

The
dog’s hair grew short and tight, a few small clumps of winter hair spotting his
sides and back.

“Nobody’s
brushing you, are they?” Lakhoni stepped closer and eased his hand onto the
dog’s nose, stroking carefully. The dog was clearly tame, but completely
untrained. “What do they call you?” Lakhoni scratched the dog’s dark brown
snout and stood right next to it, showing the animal that he was much bigger.
Within moments the dog went from a carefully curious stance to sniffing Lakhoni
all over and licking his hands.

“That’s
right,” Lakhoni murmured, crouching low and using both hands to pet the dog.

 This
dog was very similar to Ancum, with the light-brown color and short hair. But
this dog had to be twice the size of Lakhoni’s old dog—and it was still young,
as evidenced by the animal’s gangly looks and large paws.

His
throat sore with tightly stored memories, he pushed resurgent grief back. He
looked for a stick under a copse of trees. He grabbed one and waved it around
to get the dog’s attention. “Want to play?”

The
dog immediately barked and began leaping about. Lakhoni threw the stick, aiming
in the general direction of where he heard the dog-tenders shouting. He jogged
after the dog, wanting to close the distance between himself and the dog
tenders. The dog ran back and dropped the stick at Lakhoni’s feet, continuing
to run in playful circles.

Lakhoni
picked up the stick, held it up and stopped walking. “Come,” he said, using a
firm, deep voice.

The
dog barked and went low on its front legs.

“First,
come.” He motioned with his left hand, pointing to the ground at his feet.

The
dog barked and leapt around for a few seconds before settling low again,
waiting to chase the stick.

Lakhoni
lowered the stick. “You want to play?” He held the stick out toward the dog.

The
dog ran to him, going for the stick then running back to wait for the throw.

Lakhoni
raised the stick. “No.” He lowered the stick again. “Come.” He pointed to the
ground at his feet again.

The
dog barked and ran over, nipping at the stick.

“Good.”
He patted the dog, scratching it just above the ears. He threw the stick hard
and followed the dog up the hill, moving closer to the frustrated shouts of the
other young men. When the dog brought the stick back, Lakhoni repeated his
actions, teaching the dog to come. By the time they were at the bottom of the last
hill between him and the other boys, the dog would come even when Lakhoni had
tucked the stick out of sight

Lakhoni
crested the hill and looked around. The three dog-tenders were scattered, each
of them running after one animal, then another. The dog Lakhoni had trained
immediately dashed off to join his brothers in their playful abandon. Lakhoni
descended the hill, trying to appear as normal and casual as possible. Then the
dogs caught his scent, or they noticed his movement. Whichever it was didn’t matter,
because all ten animals joined in loud barking and changed direction so that
Lakhoni suddenly had ten dogs running directly at him. Lakhoni guessed that the
dogs were all the same breed, although they each had different patterns of dark
brown on their fur. The dogs loped up to him, barking and leaping all over each
other, their tongues lolling out of panting mouths.

“No
fear,” he murmured to himself, stopping and standing tall, his eyes moving from
the pack of dogs to the three boys who had finally noticed him. He guessed that
they were maybe a year or so younger than him. Looking back and forth between
the two shorter ones, Lakhoni realized that they had to be brothers. Maybe even
twins. They were the same height, had very wide noses, and both were sticking
their chin out. They wore the same thing as the tall boy: breeches that were
cut off mid-calf and nothing else. The brothers’ heads looked to have been
scraped clean recently; they each had a very short layer of black hair growing
in. The tall boy’s head was shaved on both sides and partly on top. What hair
remained sprouted, dark brown, out of the back top of his head and flowed down
just below his neck. It looked like he had a woodland creature on his head.