Mortals & Deities (25 page)

Shifting his feet to a defensive stance, Arderi let his hand drop to the hilt of his sword. He had beaten Ragnor during a few of their training sessions. He was not certain that the older man had given it his all, however, and Arderi was not sure if he could best him with naked steel.

With a grimace, Ragnor glanced at Dorochi before locking his gaze on Arderi. His words came out chilled like ice. “I said, what did you say, lad?” His hands remained at his sides, and for the first time Arderi realized Ragnor stood unarmed.

“The Mah’Sukai. The one we have been hunting. He is my brother.” Tensing his muscles, he prepared to pull his sword when the man lunged.

Ragnor did not lunge, however. Instead, he turned and stormed into the barn leaving Arderi standing alone in the courtyard. He made to follow the older man, and then hesitated.

What if he went in to get a weapon?

Glancing over his shoulder, an urge to run filled him. His bag still sat in the kitchen. If he hurried, he could scoop it up and be out of the villa before this turned worse than it already had.

Before he moved, however, Ragnor came out leading two horses. “Go in and get saddles for these, lad.”

Shocked, Arderi could not move. “What—what are you doing?”

Dropping the lead ropes of the two horses, Ragnor reached up and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I am no sure what you be after, lad. Still, in the time we did be together, you have shown me you be true of heart.”

“So you are going to let me go?” Arderi could not believe his ears.

“You risked everything to save Clytus’ son. If this be as you say, and the Mah’Sukai be your brother, then to my eye, the situation has changed. I can no expect you to stand around and let him die.” Turning, Ragnor headed back into the stable. He came out with two saddles stacked one on top the other. Arderi stepped up to him and took one, then Ragnor set the second on the ground. “I can assume you have a plan?”

Without taking his eyes from his work, Arderi spoke over his shoulder. “Aye, we do. Alant—that is my brother—he knows a place he can go for help.” When he finished cinching up the girth, he turned to pick up the second saddle and saw Ragnor leading out two more horses. “I only need three.”

“Aye, for you and yours. I will be needing one for me, however.” Not waiting on an answer, Ragnor disappeared back into the barn. Moments later, he returned with two more saddles. “My vow includes protecting you. I will no let you go off on your own.” When Arderi stood to argue, Ragnor pointed a thick black finger at him. “This no be up for discussion, lad. If you do plan on leaving here, you will be leaving here with me.”

While the two men busied themselves with tacking the horses, Arderi studied Ragnor. His vows may include protecting him. Still, they also included being faithful to the Tat’Sujen Order.

What if he is simply going along with this so I will lead him to Alant? He may try and finish what he thinks I can no longer do. Still, I do not see any other way.

The Mah’Sukai sat across from Elith, eating. The common room of the Fisherman’s Dock looked about as appealing as the porridge-like gruel he shoveled into his mouth. She, herself, had eaten worse. Still, she had expected more from him. The few patrons in evidence, all shoddily clad men, looked like they had slept here in the common room—or passed out in it. The bare wood floor was in desperate need of work. Many of the tables and chairs showed signs of damage as well. Even the serving girls—she knew they were not slaves, though she saw no difference in the way the owner of the inn treated them—looked as if they had all led hard lives.

Pointing his wooden spoon at her, the Mah’Sukai pushed his bowl toward her a bit. “Are you sure you do not want any? It does not have an off taste this morn.”

“She is sure.”

Spending the entire eve with him had been one astonishing discovery after the next. Although the priests had never discussed what the Mah’Sukai would be doing when she found him, hiding in a run down shack of an inn in the poorer section of Mocley was not what she had expected. With the power he held, she did not understand why he would reside this way.

“You do eat, do you not?” He had asked her questions like that ever since his brother had left late last eve. She made him nervous. She was used to that. Even back home most were wary around her.

“Aye, she eats.” Reaching up, she adjusted the hood of her cloak to ensure her face was covered. Being in a room full of Humans, even one as dimly lit as this, made her feel exposed.

“Do you always refer to yourself as she?”

Question after question. Then more questions.

It seemed that every time she answered one, he asked ten more. “She does not know what you mean.” The few aurns he slept last eve while she sat leaning against the door in his room had been the only time he had not asked her questions.

“Each time you speak, instead of saying—”

The abruptness at which he stopped speaking caused her to tense. Slipping a hand across her lap, she fingered the hilt of one of her throwing knives. She hated sitting with her back to the door. The Mah’Sukai had insisted, however. Now she regretted letting him have his way, for she could not see who approached.

Spooning up more of his food, the Mah’Sukai held it just in front of him and nodded. “It is not Ma’s. Yet, it will fill your stomach.”

Pulling out a chair from a nearby table, Arderi Cor sat down between them. “Nix. I had eggs and ham already.” The big grin on his face clashed with the frown on the Mah’Sukai’s. She thought it must mean something, though she had never understood Human interactions very well.

“Oh, aye. And I guess a big, cold glass of honeyed-milk to wash it all down, as well?” The Mah’Sukai shoved the spoon into his mouth.

Arderi Cor’s grin widened. “As a matter of fact…”

The Mah’Sukai grunted and shook his head.

Yes. There is something going on between them. She just does not understand what.

Swallowing, the Mah’Sukai picked up his cup of water and took a drink. “Did you get what we need?”

“Aye, plus something we did not.” Arderi Cor shifted in his seat. Nervousness she had been trained to spot, and Arderi Cor practically reeked of it. “Ragnor De’haln is here with me.”

His chair slid back as the Mah’Sukai started to stand. Then, looking about the room, he pulled the chair back and sat down. “Is this one of the men who sent you after me?”

Sighing, Arderi Cor put his elbows on the table. “Aye. He would not let me leave once he found out you were my brother.”

“You told him!” Glancing around the room, he lowered his voice. “Arderi! How could you do that? You said they are hunting me!”

“I know. Though I think he just wants to help.”

This did not look like it calmed the Mah’Sukai down. If anything, it agitated him more. “You
think
? So, for all you know he is here to kill me?”

She had heard enough. Slipping her hand behind her back, she withdrew her Ratave staff from its sheath. “Point this man out to her.”

Holding up his hands, Arderi Cor waved them to remain seated. “Just wait. I am sure he is not here to do anything like that. There is no need to get upset.”

Even if he spoke true, Elith kept her staff in her lap. In these close quarters, even the time it took to draw the weapon could be too long. Sizing up the room, she took inventory of what she could use to her advantage—and what she should avoid—if a fight ensued.

The Mah’Sukai shoved his now empty bowl to the center of the table. “Where is he now?”

“He is waiting across the street in the stables with our horses. We have enough supplies to last the trip.” Lifting up a small pouch on his hip, Arderi Cor bounced it. The sounds of coins jingled. “And I have enough coin to see us even further if need be.”

“I do not like this, Arderi.” The Mah’Sukai leaned forward. “Did you tell him where we are headed?”

“Hmm.” Shaking his head, Arderi Cor looked puzzled. “Now that I think on it, he never asked.”

Clenching his fists, the Mah’Sukai looked ready to strike his brother. “Mayhaps because he never had any intentions of going further than this inn!”

It made sense. If Arderi Cor had been stupid enough to tell the man who had sent him to kill his brother that they were now together, then the man very well could be using him.

“Well, it is too late to pull the honey from the milk now. I doubt he will try anything with so many people about. Mayhaps we can lose him somehow.” The Mah’Sukai stood and shook his head. “I cannot believe you let him come.”

Arderi Cor stood as well. “I am sorry, Alant. I did not see any other way.” Grabbing onto his bother’s arm, he nodded once. “Besides, I trust him.”

“Fine.” The Mah’Sukai pointed at Arderi Cor. “Yet, if he kills me, you have to explain it to Ma.” Turning, he headed for the stairs. “Let me get my things and we will go.”

Once the Mah’Sukai left, Arderi Cor looked down at Elith. “Um. So. I guess it is just you and me.”

As he sat down, she stood. “Wait here for the—your brother.” When he moved to stand once more, she placed a hand upon his shoulder and held him firmly in his seat. “Wait for your brother. She needs to retrieve something.” She did not release him until he nodded. Then she turned and walked out the front door.

The sun was bright after being in the darkness of the inn and Elith shaded her sensitive eyes so she could see better. In dim light or darkness, her eyes gave her an advantage. In sunlight, they hindered. With half the morn wasted waiting on Arderi Cor’s arrival, the streets were already packed with Humans. Glancing around, she spied what she sought and stepped onto the cobblestone street just behind a passing sedan-chair. Crossing the street, she entered a large barn-like structure. The smell of horse mixed heavily with manure here, though she ignored them both. Two scrawny men—boys really—stood holding the reins of four horses while a large man, darker than any of her countrymen, stood taking his ease against a stall.

She dismissed the two stablehands. Her focus rested on the black man. He stood off to one side. A well muscled man with a curved blade hanging from his left hip. He glanced at her as she entered with a look that the untrained or unaware would think was one of dismissal. Yet, she knew in that brief moment, he had sized her up, and though he no longer looked directly at her, watched her every move.

This one should be able to handle that sword of his, then.

As she moved deeper into the stable, one of the stablehands handed the reins he held to his partner and stepped toward her. “Greetings, and well—”

Her backhanded blow caught the young man just behind the jaw, whipping his head to the side, and he collapsed to the floor without a moan. Not pausing in her actions, she snapped her elbow toward the black man’s head. It impacted the arm he flung up for protection, though she had already launched her follow-up attack. Twisting, she lifted her back foot and drove it into his mid-section. The man took the blow well. Before she withdrew her leg, he wrapped both his hands around her ankle. Snapping her hand behind her, she withdrew her staff and smacked it against his head before spinning and flinging the weapon at the second stablehand who ran for the door. The Ratave staff slammed into the back of the scrawny boy’s head, sending him face first into the dirty hay, well inside the building.

Her victory was short lived when stars burst into her vision from a blow landed by the big black man. The punch broke open the skin of her cheek, split her lip and drove her to the floor. Blood filled her mouth and she felt it running freely down the side of her face.

It was glorious!

Looking up at the man, she smiled.

The man opened his mouth to say something. When he saw her grin, he snapped his mouth shut even as he reached for the hilt of his sword. Springing forward, she wrapped her right hand over his before he could draw the weapon. His muscles flexed as he tried to overpower her and draw his blade. Pulling his left arm back, he struck at her, though this time she saw it coming. She caught his fist in the palm of her other hand just before it struck her jaw. The man’s eyes widened when his fist stopped mid-punch, then widened more as he struggled to pull his fist away. Regaining his composure quickly, he glared at her as his body shook under the exertion. Neither of his arms moved.

Pulling his left arm forward and down while yanking his right from the hilt of his sword, she crossed his arms at his waist, bringing his face closer to hers. His scowl deepened and he continued to struggle, trying in vain to break free of her grip. “She will spare your life this day. If you follow us, however, she will not be so kind on the morrow.”

“What manner of creature do you be?” His voice strained as he continued to try and free himself from her hold.

Elith knew this man would not give in so easily. Slamming forward, she cracked her forehead into the center of his face. Blood ran freely from a split on the bridge of his nose and she knew she had broken it. Releasing the hand that had held the hilt of his sword, she struck the side of his head with her elbow several times in rapid succession. When she released him, he slumped to the floor, his face a broken mass of blood and bruises. She was surprised he remained conscious, though his head lolled to one side and his arms hung useless. “You are more trouble than she had hoped.” Reaching down, she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him to the back of the stables. Sliding him into an empty stall, she flipped him over to his stomach, easily batting away his half-hearted attempts to stop her. A length of rope hung from the opposite wall and she used it to secure his hands behind his back. She then pulled his feet up behind him and tied them to his hands. A towel hanging from the back of the black man’s belt made for an adequate gag, and she secured it into place after stuffing much of it into his mouth.

Returning to the two stable hands, she added them to the stall with the black man, though she did not bother tying them up—by the look of them, they would both be unconscious for some time.

Leaning down to the black man who had regained much of his sensibility, she ripped off the corner of his silk shirt. Standing, she wiped the blood from her cheek and lip before dropping next to him. “Do not feel bad. You fought well for a Human. She was impressed.”

He bit into his gag and mumbled something that did not sound polite while he thrashed around the floor.

With a last smile, she nodded to him before returning to the front of the stables. She spotted the brothers standing on the front steps of the inn looking up and down the street. Taking the reins of the four horses, she walked out of the building and over to them.

Arderi Cor saw her first and stepped toward her. “Where is Ragnor?”

“He is no longer an issue.” She held out the reins of one of the horses to him.

Instead of taking them, he brushed past her. Dropping the reins, she grabbed his arm as he passed. “He is not dead, if that is what you fear. Still, his bindings will not hold forever. You must leave now if you are to avoid his interference.”

He stared at her for several moments before taking up the reins. “Fine. Let us go then.” Taking the lead, Arderi Cor pulled his horse through the crowd toward the main gates of the city.

The Mah’Sukai approached and took the reins of a second horse. “You did not have to do that. Arderi said the man meant me no harm.”

“Did you really wish to take such a foolish chance?” Picking up the reins of the last two horses, she walked next to the Mah’Sukai as they followed after his brother. “If she has overstepped her authority, she is sorry.”

“Nix, it is not that.” Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. “Forget it. I just want to get out of this stinking city.”

The walk through Mocley went, for the most part, uneventful. The horse Arderi Cor led became spooked and bolted when a wagonload of chicken crates fell over, sending the winged beasts scattering across the Bazaar. Arderi Cor started to give chase until the Mah’Sukai wisely informed his brother that they had a spare mount, and to let it go.

At the main gate, Arderi Cor stopped and asked one of the guards direction to a villa owned by a man he named Rohann Vimith. She paid little attention to their conversation, however, as she felt it more important to keep a watchful eye for any dangers that may present themselves toward the Mah’Sukai.