The Thief's Gamble (Einarinn 1) (21 page)

I had more trouble spotting the pickpockets and cut-purses. I thought I saw one; I didn't catch him make the lift itself, but he started moving away from his victim faster than the general pace of the crowd. As his face turned towards me, I saw the expression of a rat in a bear-pit; not what the dogs are after but something they'll kill all the same. I scanned the square covertly for the hounds and saw several lightly armoured men circulating round the shops and stalls. Something else struck me. You'll find a Rationalist or two in most places these days, arguing that worshipping the gods is pointless in the modern age. Not in Inglis, it seemed; now was that policy, or just a sign that new ideas had trouble travelling this far?

I kept moving and finally found the horse fair. This was more promising; festival garlands of fruit and flowers still hung on some doors and lay in the gutters. If these people weren't so conscientious about their street-cleaning duties, they might have a more relaxed attitude to other things. I saw a priest actually handing out alms of bread and meat here too; his shrine was as unusually well kept as all the others I had passed but he was the first religious I'd seen in Inglis without a collecting box. There were a few inns across the broad dusty expanse of the sale meadow. The Rising Sun was obviously a brothel and the Cross Swords could only be a drinking den and nothing more. The Eagle promised better and I wasn't disappointed. There was plenty of merriment but no obvious drunks and a lively game of runes was being played to one side. I left them to it; no one wants to chat and gamble. There were tables with White Raven boards by the window and I looked for a vacant seat; I like playing Raven but neither Darni or Geris knew how. Shiv did, but after a few games I could tell he was not really keen, which makes sense when you think about it.

There was an empty seat across from a tall, wiry man with the dark curly hair and olive skin you see most often in southern Tormalin. He sat, seemingly relaxed over a goblet of wine, not a care in the world. I knew better; I could see the alertness in his eyes as he scanned the horse traders and every passing stranger.

He was wearing a business-like sword and sitting half-turned so that nothing would get in his way if he needed it in a hurry. Alert but not predatory, he struck me as interesting.

'Are you looking for a game?' I gestured at the board.

'I'll oblige you if you want to play.' He straightened up and beckoned to the potman.

'Do you want to play the White Raven or the Wood Fowl?' I began sorting the well-worn pieces.

'Whichever. Wine?'

I nodded and began placing the trees and bushes on the board. Let's see how good he was.

'Interesting,' he murmured and I sat back to sip an excellent Califerian red as he selected which birds to set out in the open.

'Just arrived in Inglis?' He did not look up as he set out apple-thrushes and pied crows, a polite man just making polite conversation.

'This morning.' Why should I lie when there was no need?

'Downriver?'

I shook my head and leaned forward to study his layout before placing the raven on the board. It was deceptive in its simplicity and he'd kept back corbies and owls for the next play; this might be one white raven that did get driven out of the forest if I was not careful.

'Are you in from Tormalin then? What's the news?'

Now why did he want to know where I was from? 'No, I came along the south road through Dalasor. I'm up from Ensaimin. How about you?'

'I came up the coast from 'Formalin; I'm running some errands for a few people. I've been here ten days. Perhaps I can help you out, tell you where to find a good inn, the better merchants.'

'That could be useful.' We understood each other nicely.

We played a few rounds and I forced his songbirds off the western edge of the board before he used the hawks to drive me back.

'It's a long trip from Ensaimin,' my new friend observed, refilling my goblet. 'What brings you here?'

'Looking for new opportunities, the usual.'

'It's not a town that welcomes individual enterprise, if you get my meaning.' He glanced up from the board and I could see his friendly warning was sincere.

'It looks very well organised to me,' I observed as if agreeing. 'I hear the guilds run all the services, the Watch and so on.'

'That's right and they do it very well. The Watchmen aren't the usual bunch of losers with a mate on the town council; the guilds hire out of Lescar each winter when the fighting slows down. They're well paid and well trained; there's plenty of money moving round Inglis and the guilds are very keen that everyone knows it's safe.'

'Do they patrol regularly? How good are they at following up on trouble? Suppose I got my room rifled, for example?'

'They patrol everywhere, dawn to dawn. What trouble they don't catch, they hunt down, and I'm pleased to hear they can't be bought off either. They have wizards working with them too.'

'A pretty thorough lot by the look of the gibbets. Does everyone get hanged, or do they have a lock-up as well?'

'There's a keep where they dump drunks and so on.'

'Nice to know the streets will be safe to walk at night.' We both sounded thoroughly pleased with the situation. I betrayed myself with a clumsy move and nearly fell to a hidden group of owls.

'I've not seen many Forest Folk this far east.' He drank his wine and sat back as I studied the board; things were looking increasingly complicated.

'Oh, we get about.'

'It must be a bit of a nuisance, everyone able to pick you out by that copper-top of yours.'

I grinned despite myself. 'Oh, it's surprising what you can do with herbal washes. I can be as black and curly as you if I need to be.'

He smiled back appreciatively. 'I bet you'd look good in it too. The best I can do is shave my head and grow a beard.'

That made for an interesting picture. 'Had to do that often?'

'Now and again. I'm always interested in new opportunities, like yourself.'

We each made a few more moves.

'Blond must be a good colour for hair if you need to dye it.' He was very good; it really sounded as if it had only just occurred to him. 'Not that you see real blond very often.'

'No.' I gazed round the bar at the usual variety of middling brown and darker heads and beards. 'That maid's colour is straight out of an alchemist's crucible for a start.'

'You know, I don't suppose I've ever seen more than a couple of really yellow heads together.' Casual conversation over a friendly game, that's all it was, wasn't it?

'I met someone on the road who said they'd seen a whole troop with corn-coloured hair.' Fair exchange; he'd told me the important things about the Watch. Anyway, I'd be interested to know the reason for his curiosity.

'Oh? When was that?'

'A couple of days before Equinox, just before the drove-road that turns south to Lescar.'

He studied the board, seemingly intent on his next move, but I'd bet I'd have seen an Almanac if I'd been looking through his eyes.

'How are the cattle looking this year?' He made a swift move and boxed my raven in.

'Pretty fair, the rains kept the grass good through the summer.' So our yellow-haired attackers were not the ones he was interested in.

We continued the game and chatted idly about incidental things. It was a good contest and I eventually won, which pleased me more than I expected.

He rose and offered me his hand. 'Thanks for the game. Have a good stay; Inglis is a pleasant town, as long as you don't attract the wrong sort of notice.' He flicked the raven with a finger.

I finished my wine and left a few moments later. Finding the lock-up was easy enough and I studied it for a while before making my way to the district where Yeniya the merchant lived. Despite what I'd said to the others, I wanted to see it for myself. I was glad I did, when careful pacing of the streets and studying the roof-lines suggested her luxurious three-storey house backed directly on to the trading-house she owned in the avenue beyond. I'd have bet all my noble coin on there being a connecting door, and I marked it down as a potential route in or out. I was starting to see a workable plan.

I spent the rest of daylight studying in just as much detail a weaver's guild-house, the farmers' market and two more private houses and in striking up conversations and a game of runes in a couple more inns. I have absolutely no idea if I was being watched but this was neither the time nor the place to take chances. I made my way back to the others with my purse nicely full just as the bells of the city were sounding the first chime of the night. It was so comforting to hear them again after so long in the wilds; town bells mean civilisation, hot water and decent food.

'There you are!' Geris struggled to conceal the extent of his relief and I was touched at his concern.

'I told you I'd be fine.' I gave him a quick kiss. 'Now, let's get some dinner and when the others get back we can do some planning.'

My incidental winnings bought us the best meal in the house and we were laughing and flirting over the end of the wine when Frem and then Shiv reappeared. It was the most natural thing in the world to retire to our parlour with spirits and liqueurs but once the door was locked behind us, it was down to business.

'So, Frem, what do you have to tell us?'

It turned out that Yeniya was playing all of her suitors with a skill that made me glad she'd not taken up the runes professionally. They were all keen, eager and convinced they'd be cutting her hair for Drianon within the year, if not sooner. In the meantime, she was negotiating contracts for her various businesses to increase her already considerable wealth.

I grimaced at this news; I could not see how I could turn any of that to our advantage.

'There was something more.' Frem took a drink of wine. 'There's a nephew of her dead husband who's been making trouble. He took a case to the jurists' guild over the will. He reckoned his bequests were too small and wanted more shares in the business.'

'Did he have a case?'

Frem shrugged. 'That's hard to tell, but he's been telling anyone who'll listen that he only lost because one of the key judges is after Yeniya's hand.'

I grinned; that was just the sort of thing I had hoped for.

'What are you planning?' Geris asked curiously.

'Never mind, I'll tell you later. Shiv, what can you tell us about the wizards?'

He frowned. 'They're well enough respected and fairly represented in the usual trades, but they have to be guild members just like anyone else. I have to say, I think they will have divided loyalties. My authority will make sure they turn a blind eye to anything we do — none of them will point the Watch our way, for example — but I don't think we'll get any active co-operation. Any wizard stepping over the line here is on the next boat out, never mind where it's going.'

'That shouldn't be a problem,' I reassured him. 'Just as long as you can do some magic without everyone pointing the finger.'

'What do you want?'

'If I get myself locked up by the Watch, can you get me out and then back in again?'

'Yes, if I have time to study the building.' Shiv was looking intrigued.

'Can you make me invisible?' This was the big one.

'Yes. It'll last about two chimes — will that do?'

'Good enough.' I leaned back in my chair and smiled at them all. 'I think we can start planning now, gentlemen.'

It was simple enough really; I needed to get in and out without being seen and we wanted a good smelly scent for the Watch to follow when Yeniya started screaming theft, as well as a defence hewn in stone in case I was somehow spotted. Frem told us when her servants were due their next night off and Darni and Geris spent the intervening evenings striking up a drinking friendship with the aggrieved nephew, encouraging him to pour out his complaints ever more loudly and extravagantly. I watched all this one evening from a quiet corner. The pair of them could have taken their act to the Looking Glass; I really had not thought they had it in them, but they were brilliant. I followed our diversion home a couple of nights, and soon had the measure of his small house and its simple locks. Once he had a handful of Yeniya's jewels hidden in his chimney, he should keep the Watch entertained long enough to let us make a casual and completely unremarkable departure a couple of days after the Watch stopped quizzing everyone leaving the city.

CHAPTER FIVE

Taken from:

The Yeoman's Almanac for the Ocean Coast

Sostire Heriod

Containing comprehensive schedules and instructions for all farming, husbandry and household tasks

Schedule of Seasons as Governed by the Moons and Notable Customs thereof

Winter Solstice

Sacred to Poldrion Greater and Lesser Moons Full

Gidesta: White pelt sales. Inglis Frost Fair (Wolf-bounty paid). Dalasor: Mistle Fairs. Riding the Bane-horse. Tormalin: Coin taxes. Winter Assizes. Soulsease Night.

Aft-Winter

Sacred to Misaen

Lasts until end of Second Dark of the Greater Moon Gidesta: Skull-setting to 20th day; Sled-motes thereafter. Dalasor: Marking and blessing the herds. Marrying the Mares. Tormalin: First-flower maidens crowned. Patrons' market-doles.

For-Spring

Sacred to Halcarion Lasts until end of Second Dark of the Lesser Moon

Gidesta: Rite of Dastennin's Step when ice breaks. Inglis fur sales. Dalasor: Horning the Ram-lamb. Forage sales on the Drove Road. Tormalin: Plough-dressing, seed-blessing. Fixing the doorthorns.

Spring Equinox

Sacred to Raeponin

Greater Moon waning, Lesser Moon waxing Gidesta: Mining Contracts sealed, Inglis. Apothecary Fair. Dalasor: Minstrel Day. Lots drawn for summer water-rights. Tormalin: Herd taxes. Convocation of Houses. Blossom-singing.

Aft-Spring

Sacred to Arrimelin