The Eyes of a Doll (The World of Shijuren Book 2) (30 page)

“Do you think that’s what she’s doing?”

“I don’t know, but either way, she’s more likely to prefer things to remain as they have been.”

Piri thought for a moment. “I can’t see that you’re wrong. Who else could it be?”

“Well, if I’ve learned anything from Pal Gropa it’s that it could be Gibroz.”

“Why would he do this?”

“The most obvious thing would be to claim the caravan traffic for himself instead of merely taking a cut.”

“Is there enough money in that?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s the only way I know of that Gibroz would look at a war with Ylli as good business. There could be another business reason, but I don’t know what that might be. Gibroz won’t go to war with anyone without a good business reason.”

“Agreed. It’s probably not Gibroz. Who else does he work with?”

“I don’t know all of them. There have always been four thugs with him when I’ve visited him. Their leader is Andreyev. I don’t know anything about him other than he likes kicking people.”

“What do you know about the others?”

“I know that Markov has a head for figures and keeps at least some of Gibroz’s accounts. He also enjoyed kicking me, and he and I have the same foot size.”

“The same foot size?”

“Yes. When they mugged me when I first got to Achrida, I had just purchased some new shoes. He wears them now.”

“Ah.”

“I would love to find out he’s the one who is betraying Gibroz.”

“Because you want your shoes back.”

“And because I don’t like him at all.”

Piri laughed. “The other two?”

“One’s a woman, as ugly and cruel as the others. I don’t know her name or that of the last man. I know even less about them than I do Andreyev.”

“To sum up, what you’re thinking is that one of Gibroz’s people is trying to overthrow him by using his organization to create a war between him and Ylli?”

“I guess. I’m still not sure. It doesn’t feel right. I mean, I knew it was one of the Gropa Council who had arranged to kidnap Marija almost from the first. I didn’t expect it to be Pal, but it had to be one of them. This time…”

“This time you think it could be someone else?”

“I just don’t know. Nothing feels right.”

“Maybe a good night’s sleep will help.”

“Maybe.”

“I want to think about what you’ve told me, too.”

“So?”

“So I think I’ll lead my lads and lasses back to our home, and I’ll come back tomorrow so we can plan.”

“Not tonight?”

Piri shook her head.

“No, it’s been too long of a day and there’s too much to think about. We’ll do better tomorrow. I’ll be here midday.”

I yawned at her mention of the day’s length, proving her point. “You’re right. But don’t come alone tomorrow.”

She nodded. “I’m not convinced yet that I’m a target, but I’d be stupid not to plan for the possibility.”

With that, she rounded up her squad and they left. I went up to my room, happy to find it exactly as I expected it.

I fell across the bed, asleep with my boots on.

I did not need Zoe’s raised eyebrow to remind me to take a bath. After a caravan ride from Lezh and two days of fighting, the thought of soaking seemed like paradise.

The water and harsh lye soap stung my wounds bitterly, but that pain soon passed, and I wallowed in the hot water until it cooled. I borrowed Ragnar’s sharpest blade and shaved. My bare chin and cheeks felt wonderfully cool.

Then, in braes and bare feet, I sought out Zoe. She reapplied the salve to my wounds, clucking at the increasing number of scars appearing on my body.

She wound a fresh bandage around me and then firmly instructed me to dress and return for breakfast. That had been my plan anyway, and soon I sat at my table, eating what was essentially honey laced with some gruel. I washed it down with mugs of cool lakewater.

Eirik came through the stable door and eagerly sat with me. “By Zeus’s cock, I bet you have amazing stories to tell.”

“By what?”

He blushed. “Don’t tell Mother, but I like saying it.”

I laughed. “I do have stories to tell, and I promise I’ll tell you all of them when I can, but it may have to wait a while. I want to tell the whole story at once, and I want Piri to hear it as well. She should be here soon.”

“But—”

“But nothing. You know I’ll keep my promise, right?”

He nodded.

“And I promised to tell you everything, right?”

He nodded again.

“Then, by Zeus’s cock, get back to work.”

He blushed as I laughed, but returned to the stables as Karah started sweeping the taproom.

“Is he still saying that stupid curse?”

“By Zeus’s cock?” I laughed. “Why yes, he is.”

“Fool.”

I laughed at Karah. “So are you, lass.”

“At least I know we’re all fools.”

I laughed loud enough for Zoe to lean in to the taproom. She came for my bowl.

“What’s so funny, Edward?”

“Your children amuse me.” I grinned.

She chuckled. “They amuse me, too.”

Karah sniffed and went back to work.

Except for Karah sweeping around me, everyone left me alone. Given that I had not seen Ragnar at all that morning, I suspected he was brewing. In any case, I appreciated the calm that allowed me to think.

Soon, people started trickling in for their midday meal. Emilija nodded to me and took her normal seat.

A high shriek announced that Ludmilja had seen me. I managed to catch her before she jumped into my lap. Bath or not, salve or not, I did not want her landing on my wounds. Nevertheless, I happily settled her on my lap, Nadja clutched in her arms.

“Why, Ludmilja, I thought you had forgotten me.”

She giggled at my smile. “I’d never never do that.”

“Good.” I hugged her. Soraya finally arrived in Ludmilja’s wake.

“Gospadar, I can take her. She’ll just bother you.”

“It’s fine, Soraya, she and I have to catch up, do we not?”

Soraya nervously nodded. With wringing hands, she said, “You’ll send her over when she’s a bother?”

I nodded with a smile and she retreated to a table across the taproom.

“How have you been?”

Ludmilja shrugged. “It’s boring here. Nobody to play with.”

“What about Nadja?”

“She still plays with me some, but she feels like she has to play with a bunch of the people here.”

“She’s very generous.”

“I know! But now you’re here and we can play!”

I hugged her. “I will when I can, but I am trying to make sure you can go back home.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yes.” She took a lock of her hair, wrapped it around a finger, and started chewing on it.

“Because you’ll have friends to play with?”

“Well, yes. And it’s home. This place is loud.” She bounced on my lap. I winced as pain shot through my ribs. “But I can play with you now.”

“Don’t adults always have things they have to do?”

“Yes,” she said sadly.

“I’m an adult.”

“I knooowww.”

“So you’re a smart girl and know I have to do adult things.”

She shrugged.

I lifted her chin and looked at her.

“I’ll play with you when I can. And, if your parents allow it, I’ll take you on a ride with Deor soon.”

Her eyes lit. “When when when?”

“When I can.”

“But I don’t know when that will be.”

“Neither do I.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Ludmilja, look at me.”

She did.

“I won’t lie to you. I will take you for a ride, if your parents say yes, but it will have to wait until I can do so. I won’t tell you a specific time because that would be a lie. Understand?”

She nodded.

“And you trust me?”

She smiled. “Oh, yes.”

“Good.”

“Now, how is Nadja? She hasn’t said anything yet.”

Ludmilja, Nadja, and I chatted until Piri and Arkady’s squad, including Maja, arrived.

I hugged Ludmilja. “I have to talk with Piri. It’s adult stuff.”

“But…” Her face dropped.

“But I’ll come play with you when I can.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

I hugged her, and she ran back to Soraya, who had never moved, anxiously making sure that she could step in if Ludmilja offended me. I smiled at the pair broadly, making a mental note to talk to Zoe about easing Soraya’s worry.

Piri’s face held a slight smile as she watched Ludmilja run away. Maja stood by her side, surprisingly wearing normal clothes, not Pathfinder armor. She also carried two large packs.

“You’re quite the fearsome warrior,” commented the hecatontarch.

“I am, aren’t I?”

We laughed, and both Maja and Piri sat with me. Karah brought over two more mugs and another pitcher of lakewater.

Piri drained some happily and smacked her lips. “I have had some ideas.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll get to them in a moment. Did you have a chance to rest?”

“Yes. And a bath, and food, and hugs from Ludmilja.”

“And a shave.”

“Oh, yes, and a glorious shave.”

Piri chuckled. “Good. Did those things give you any inspirations?”

“Not really, only that I need to do something.”

“Do something?”

“I realize that’s vague. What I mean is that whoever is behind this has been making me dance to his or her tune. I need to step out of the dance and play my own game.”

“You’re getting smarter, Sevener.”

“Thank you. I wish I was smart enough to actually think of what my own game should be.”

“I’ve had some thoughts along those lines.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t know enough.”

“I seem to recall you saying that to me before over dinner once.”

She laughed. “Yes. And I’m just as correct now as then.”

“Are you going to explain how Achrida works to me again?”

“No, but I am going to explain how an Achridan might work.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know enough.”

“You already said that.”

“Yes. How will you learn what you need to know?”

“Talk to Gabrijela and Gibroz’s people.”

Maja snorted and Piri chuckled, muttering to her, “He’s not stupid, just naïve.”

“Yes, I’m naïve. Please explain exactly how I’m naïve right now.”

Piri laughed louder. “You think so directly. You do not need to talk to people to learn things about them. In fact, many times that’s the worst thing to do.”

“That makes sense.”

“Of course it does,” she said smugly.

“So how would an Achridan learn about people?”

“You watch them, follow them, keep track of their comings and goings.”

“Well, yes, that would make sense, but I would need to follow six people around. There’s no way I can do that.”

“Actually, you need to keep track of at least eight, and possibly more.”

“That’s even more impossible, if that were logically feasible.”

“This is where you need to think like an Achridan. Or rather, you need to think like a lord, not a thegn.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You accept that you have to change your strategy, right?”

“Yes, whether or not the attacks are actually aiming to kill me, I can’t continue to fight in them. I might not be lucky next time.”

“Exactly, nor might those who are with you. Especially if you’re facing a large unknown organization or someone controlling Gibroz’s.”

“Yes.”

“Your king, what was his name?”

“My king was Cynric. My lord was Penwulf, his son.”

“Did Cynric do everything?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did Cynric do everything in Middlemarch?”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Did Cynric farm?”

“He knew how.”

“But did he do the plowing and tilling?”

“No. His farmers mostly did that, though we all pitched in at harvest times.”

“Exactly, he asked others to do the work for him.”

“Are you asking me to have others keep track of these, what, eight people?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“Send others out where they might be attacked? Ridiculous!”

“Did Cynric not do the same?”

“No!”

“Really? Think about it, Sevener.”

I sat back. “Well, there were times that his thegns had to defend against a raid.”

“And where was he?”

“On the other side of Middlemarch.”

“Exactly.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“It isn’t?”

“I’m here in Achrida.”

“But you can’t do what you need to do without help.”

Piri let me chew on that.

“I know I need help, but that doesn’t mean I’ll put others at risk unnecessarily.”

“I’m not asking you to do that. I’m simply saying that it’s necessary.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. You have eight people at minimum to follow: Gibroz, Gabrijela, Andreyev, Markov, Gibroz’s other two henchmen, Andreas, and Pherenike.”

I sat back.

“You’re saying that I need to keep tabs on Andreas to find the link between him and Gibroz’s people?”

“Yes.”

After a moment, I nodded.

“Andreas I can see, but why Pherenike?”

“Who do you think does Andreas’s bidding? Well, either that or she is the leash the Emperor tied to Andreas. She’s probably both, actually, his servant and watchdog.”

I sighed. “Yes, that makes sense. Fjolnir would probably suggest I watch all of the Imperial Guard in Achrida.”

“That’s probably impractical, but you
can
watch Pherenike.”

“I suppose, though I’m not sure when I’ll have the time.”

“You don’t. That’s my point. You have to watch at least these people, and you cannot do it by yourself. You literally cannot.”

I started to object, but then sighed. “You’re right. So what do I do?”

“You do what a lord does. You get people to do what you cannot do because you only have two hands.”

“I refuse to put people at risk.”

“People are already at risk. You asked me to come here with a squad. I’m not likely to allow that to happen for long. Honker, Soraya, and Ludmilja are all staying here because we don’t think it’s safe for them to go home.”

“And I’m worried enough about Radovan to have sent Veselko and Sebastijan’s other two men back to watch over him and Jovanka,” I added with a sigh.

“So how do you protect them?”

“I figure out who is pitting Gibroz and Ylli against each other and I put an end to it.”

“Exactly. And you don’t know enough to do that right now.”

“So I need to gather information.”

“And…”

“And I simply can’t do it alone.” I got up and pounded my fist against the wall with a yell.

Of course, that stopped all the conversation in the taproom. Melia glared at me from her nap in a midday sunbeam. I nodded apologies to Karah, those having lunch, and Zoe when she looked in. Melia simply turned around a few times and went back to sleep, chin resting on her paws.