Mastiff (69 page)

afore:
before

aught:
anything

bailey:
courtyard in a castle

bait:
food and water for horses at a rest stop

barbican:
fortified gateway

barrel trapper:
kidnapper

beard:
oppose boldly or impudently

Birdie:
informant

blessing:
birth control device or charm

bogle:
ghost

bolster:
long, narrow, stiff pillow or cushion

Book of Gold, The:
oldest census of the noble houses of Tortall, dating back to the founding of the realm

boot:
metal boot placed on a victim’s foot. Wedges are hammered into the inside of the boot, pressing on the lower leg until they break bones. Metal boots can also be heated to burn the victim’s leg.

bordel:
house of prostitution

budget:
pouch or wallet

by-blow:
illegitimate child

canoodling:
sexual activity

caudles:
soothing drinks given to excited or crazy people

cipher:
shorthand method used by Dogs, with symbols for entire common words

cole:
false coin

colemonger:
someone who makes or passes false coins; counterfeiter

Common:
language spoken in Tortall, Barzun, Tusaine, Maren, Tyra, and parts of Saraine and Scanra

coney:
victim of a theft or any crime; sucker

copper noble:
coin equivalent to ten coppers

corbie:
raven

cot:
small house or cottage

cove:
man

coyne:
vagina

cozening:
cajoling, wheedling

cracknob:
madman

craven:
cowardly

cresset:
metal wall fixture containing wood or oil to be burned for light

cuirass:
piece of armor protecting chest and back

dance a set:
fight

destrier:
warhorse

detail:
assignment

Dog:
member of the Provost’s Guard

dozy:
sluggish

Drink:
form of torture in which water is poured down the victim’s throat and nose to simulate drowning

dust spinner:
small dust whirlwind, what our world calls a dust devil

elsewise:
otherwise; or else

fambles:
hands

Ferrets:
street nickname for Crown spies

folderol:
nonsense, foolishness

fussock:
donkey; old mean woman

gab:
speech

Galla pasties:
turnovers with beef, cheese, pine nuts, currants, and spices

get bit:
be cheated

gixie:
girl

gob:
mouth

gods’ fool:
crazy person

gold noble:
coin equivalent to ten silver nobles or four gold bits

gormless:
gutless

Great Gods:
most powerful gods in the pantheon: Mithros; the Great Goddess (three aspects: Maiden, Mother, Crone); the Black God of Death; Oinomi Wavewalker; the Smith God; the Trickster or the Crooked God; Gainel (Master of Dreams); Wind (god of all winds); Pelmry (bird-clawed god of scribes); Apetekus (god of slaves); Wilnedur (goddess of slaves)

ground cover:
anything on the ground: grass, trees, bushes, gravel, stones, and crops

Happy Bag:
weekly bribes for Provost’s office

Heskaly’s drum:
instrument used by the trickster god of the hills to make people crazy

hoddy-dod:
slang for snail; someone who is slow

Hunt:
criminal investigation; pursuit of criminals

hunter:
hound trained to hunt escaped prisoners and slaves

Hurdik:
language of Tunstall’s native hill tribes

jabbernob:
chatterbox

Jane Street kennel:
Tunstall and Beka’s home base

jerkin:
hip-length sleeveless jacket

jumped-up:
raised above one’s station

kennel:
Provost’s watch house; police station

ladyhorse:
destrier (warhorse) bred smaller and lighter for lady knights

looby:
fool

lure:
scent sample used to give Achoo the right scent to follow

mains:
main dishes for meals

Master:
Mr.; mister; old title of honor for a mage

mayhap:
perhaps

mot:
woman

mumper:
beggar

new Tom:
overeager stranger; one who thinks he knows the game

nimmer:
swindle

nuncle:
pimp

pallet:
narrow, straw-filled mattress

pig’s knuckle:
barely competent worker; major insult

Puppy:
trainee in the Provost’s Guard

rack:
torture device on which the victim is placed with arms and legs spread. Turns of the handle and grips stretch the victim until his or her joints dislocate, then separate. Muscles are also stretched to a point at which they no longer contract. Some racks also have a spiked roller that can do bloody damage when the victim is placed facedown.

randy:
always having sex on his or her mind

Rat:
captive, civilian, criminal, or prey (to Dogs)

raw one:
corpse; body

rushers:
thugs

sap:
lead-filled six-inch leather cylinder; bone-breaking weapon

sarden:
blasted; damned; detestable

scry:
watch something magically in water, a crystal, or a mirror

scummer:
animal dung

scut:
idiot

seek:
hunt down a criminal or missing person

Sign:
sign against evil; an X intersected by a vertical line to form a star on the chest

sign:
in a Hunt, some indication of the prey, such as a footprint or handprint; marks of urine, feces, or vomit; or pieces of clothing

slum stew:
liquid garbage

stripes:
marks of the whip

swive:
vulgar term for having sexual intercourse

tack:
harness for a horse, including bridle and saddle

take someone over Breakbone Falls:
administer a very severe beating

tarse:
piece of meat

thumbscrew:
vise that crushes the victim’s fingers or toes

ticklers:
fingers

tightfisted:
cheap

trencher:
“plate” cut from a stale loaf of bread, used to hold food

trull:
very low-class woman; the dregs

turncoat:
traitor

twilsey:
refreshing drink made from raspberry or cider vinegar and water

wander mage:
mage who travels, picking up work here and there

wench:
less-than-respectable woman

My heartfelt thanks goes to Dr. Daniel Wnorowski; Daniel DiMartini, P.A.; Cheryl Bryant; Dr. Sami Abdul-Malak; the aides, housekeepers, nurses, and therapists of Menorah Park in Syracuse, New York; and Ted Lambert of Orthopedic Rehabilitation Associates of Syracuse, New York. All of you saw me through my surgery and subsequent therapy with knowledge, kindness, efficiency, and professionalism. Thanks for putting me back on my feet (knees, actually) and back to writing again!