Thieves at Heart (6 page)

“When I was born,” Old Gam said, breaking the spell of the horrible scar but still holding Tavera’s attention. “I had a birthmark on my leg. It covered my whole thigh and it was blue, believe it or not, or so I recall. Probably closer to purple. In any case, my pa was a very strange man with strange ideas which is why he moved my ma and me and my little sister to the Freewild shortly after she was born. A holy man, he called himself. Sent by the goddess Herself to rid the Valley of the taint of the evil ones. Mind you, he most loudly proclaimed this when he’d drank a bit of the goddess’ gift, if you hear me.

“Well, my pa started to say that I was marked for evil. The birthmark was proof of it and he went on to say my mother must have done something to taint the offspring so. He went on and on, condemning us, shaking things at us. Sometimes he built fires in the forest and danced around them under the moon in self styled robes. We heard about it from the other villagers. Other times he would leave us, to rid himself of us evil ones. Sometimes my ma kicked him out. But Lover’s Day would come and the cold always drove him in.”

Old Gam stood up and walked over to the little hearth, shaking her skirts back into place. A small stack of twigs and wood was stacked by it and she threw in a few, not cowing before the flames as they leaped up to lick at the fuel. “Well, one night,” she started again, watching the fire as she stood there, her skirt painted orange by the light. “We were all sleeping in the bed together as we were wont to do to keep warm in the cold times. I didn’t even hear him. But I saw him standing over me, the light from the coals he dropped on my leg making his face glow like something from the Goddess’ hems, eyes wild, mouth wide in a judgmental scream. And then his eyes were wide not with fervor but pain. My mother hadn’t thought to put the coals out on my legs but she did kill him. She broke his back with the ax. You don’t mess with a woman from the Freewild. I passed out from the pain shortly after. They got me to a priestess in the Valley proper for healing but there
was no medicine for him. No moonflowers grew over his grave. Just the fluttering of dark wings, I suppose.”

Old Gam came back to the table and sat down. She set her elbows on her knees and laid her head in her hands, gazing at the little girl before her. “So you see, we have something in common. We’ve had people mistreat us. I doubt you did anything to deserve such a cut, you don’t seem very insolent and you seem very fast.” Old Gam raised her brows at her. “So…who did it?”

Tavera could feel her mouth dry out and she wished she hadn’t drank all of her beer. Her heart thumped in her chest and she traced a skinny finger around the circle she made, wishing she could finish it and wondering when Derk would be back. But Old Gam was staring at her and she had asked and she had shared. Tavera could still imagine the scar on the woman’s skin and she couldn’t help but feel her own skin crawl and pull tight and itch on her legs. Biting her lip she cleared her throat and forced herself to speak.

“I…when I’s with my father’s debt holders, they cut it. And they sent it to him. Since he couldn’t read. To make him pay. I…” She sucked in her breath and held it for a moment before she spat the last bit out. “I don’t think he ever paid. So they sent me to the Blocks.” Everyone knew what the Blocks were. Tavera had gotten off easy for a little girl from the ‘Wicks. Orchard work, gleaning, fish gutting and finally…sausage making. She still hated sausages to this day. Tavera put her hand up to where her ear was cut and frowned.

“There, there,” Old Gam said. She sat up and knelt besides the little girl and she hugged her, letting Tavi bury her face in her neck. Old Gam smelled like milk and sleepspice and Tavera tried to remember what her mother and father had smelled like but could only remember Derk. His skin, the tobacco he smoked, the oil he put in his hair and the iceleaf he chewed sometimes, occasionally mixed with alcohol.

“And don’t you think that people like that…they give the rest of us a bad name, don’t they? Not every person from the Freewild is like my pa and not every gambler and debt taker is like those people who did this to you.” Old Gam smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And if you’re good at what you do and as clever as Derk says you are and you stay sparkling like you are, you’ll get to set things right. And have fun on the side.” Her brown eyes strayed down to Tavera’s lap and she smiled. “Look, you’re almost done. I’ll make you a bedtime drink. Derk’ll be back soon.” She ruffled her hair with her hand, and it made Tavera grimace with annoyance which, in turn, made Old Gam laugh. She went back to the kettle and threw some herbs in and stirred it with a wooden spoon, coming back to sit while it steeped.

Tavera finished her circle and she smiled at it, a crooked little smirk. A circle was harder than a square, she told herself and she had made a perfect circle. Tavera had decided she had admired her work enough and was about to hop out of the chair when Old Gam spoke up. “Has he ever mentioned a woman named Sindra?”

Tavera shook her head and looked at Old Gam’s face, trying to figure out what she was looking for. Derk hadn’t mentioned anyone by that name. “I don’t think so,” she said finally. “Just you.” The little girl’s words made color come to Old Gam’s cheeks though she didn’t look up from her work. Tavera stood next to Old Gam and looked over her shoulder at her work. It was a handkerchief with daggerleaf crawling over the edges in a pale green, the red flowers popping at the corners. “Who was she?” she asked, not sure if she should say the name. Was that the woman she was supposed to look like?

Old Gam just sighed, managing a few more stitches as she did. “Just some woman your pa used to fancy when he was younger. I never met her but she was around, if you catch my meaning.” A bit of annoyance showed in Old Gam’s face. Apparently she didn’t like to be on the receiving end of some questions. Tavera focused on the handkerchief Gam was sewing, surprised to see the progress the woman had made in the short amount of time.

“You’re good at this,” Tavera said finally. A circle was one thing but a straight line of various shapes was something different altogether. Plus Old Gam didn’t sew up and down as Tavera did. Her thread looped around and collected in chains and sometimes the stitches ran next to each other to give the effect of smoothness, filling in little pools of color on the square of cloth.

“I know,” Old Gam said, pleasure with the compliment dripping from her words. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Longer than you.” Their eyes met and Tavera took a step back, seeing something hard in Old Gam’s eyes she hadn’t expected to see. Just as she took the step back a knock came on the door and then Derk popped his head in, his familiar grin setting Tavera’s nerves back to normal.

“You ladies doing alright?” Derk asked, stepping in and taking off his cloak. He shook it out before he set it on the peg, running a hand through his hair before he looked at them both, smiling. “What’d I miss? You get to sewing, Tavi?”

Tavera nodded and walked over to him, showing off the circle she had made, trying hard not to grin too hard with pride. He took it up in his hands, the rough skin scratching against the fabric as he held it gingerly, looking at it before he set his eyes on her. “You did this, Tavi? Well, this is just…I didn’t know you was a seamstress as well as a cunning little girl! You could sew coins into your clothes this way, d’you know that? This is a very good circle!” He pulled his chair over to Old Gam and sat on it backwards, straddling the seat as he looked at the handkerchief. “And more of the same delicate work, beautiful as always.” He took one of Old Gam’s hands and kissed her fingers and Tavi saw him bite her knuckles gently, which made Old Gam laugh. “Celeel, you could get a job in a keep, I swear on Her tits. Any Baron would be more than happy to have your work on their tunics and britches. A priestess maybe.”

“I started doing work for the priestesses of the temple, actually,” Old Gam said in a matter-of-fact way, as she sewed a few more stitches, lowering her eyes at Derk in a way that was supposed to be demure. “Just the every day clothes, though they might want me to do the altar cloth for Lover’s Day.”

“Really?” Derk’s eyes went wide and he looked to Tavera. “Did you hear that? What an honor! Oh, speaking of the temple,” Derk said, standing up quickly from the chair, standing upright in one fluid motion, he spun the chair back to its original position with the light touch of his hand, making Tavera giggle with his showmanship. “They was selling these outside the temple and I thought you might like one.” He patted his hands against his chest and pulled out a small carved stone, the impression of a lantern carved into it. “You know about the story of the Goddess as the Light Bringer, I trust.”

Tavera nodded and looked over the smooth white stone, feeling how cool it was in her hand and how it was warming against her skin. “The…the goddess walked along the night and saw how scared the people was in the dark and how they cried. So she went to her brother, the Sun and asked him for a bit of light for the people in the night, asking for mercy. Her brother said he couldn’t, saying they would love him more if they saw him less and turned her away. So in the night she crept to where he kept his flame and she stole it, just a handful which burnt her hands black but she ran with it back to her realm of the night. She lights the night sky for everyone and every month goes back to steal more light for her people, that they might not fear the dark. And sometimes the moon is red because he catches her and they fight and he bloodies her.”

“Beautiful. I don’t think I’ve heard a priestess tell the story better,” Derk said. He walked over to her and took her by the hand, her hand so small in his and he spun her around to imaginary music, making her dizzy and pulling a laugh out of the little girl. “Tomorrow we’ll go by the temple so you can make your offering and yes, before Old Gam insists, you and I will go see someone else for a different sort of blessing.” Tavera stood there dizzily and Derk crouched down before her, looking at Old Gam over his shoulder. “He’s in Bluemist, isn’t he?”

“On personal business is what I heard,” Old Gam said. She shook out her skirts and walked over to the fireplace, pulling the pot off the fire with a metal hook and setting it on the small stand. “He’ll be happier to have you find him in Tyestown. And there’ll be more for the girl to do there.”

“Bluemist is pretty though. The mists do look blue as they rise off the lake, I’ve seen them. If there was a list of prettiest places in the Valley that were actual places, it would be one of them.” He walked over to her with the mugs, holding them while she ladled the drink in, steam rising off. “I’d probably add on Northtown for its view of the Holy Bowl.”

“The view from the Freewild is better,” Gam said, pouring milk into both mugs. “And please, do wait for it to cool before you drink this, you stupid man.” He crossed his eyes at her and walked over to Tavera with the mugs, blowing over the top of his as he walked to the table.

“Too bad there’s nothing in the Freewild but nameless towns and jackasses too stupid or too miscreant to stay in the Valley proper.” Derk set a mug in front of Tavera and she blew across the top of it, smelling the spices and herbs in the drink. “In any case what would you rather see, Tavi? Some blue mist, maybe get some fish stew? Or Tyestown? They have some of the nicest dance halls in the Valley and I do know how you like to move those feet of yours.” He kicked her under the table and picked up his mug, taking a sip and screwing up his face as it burned his mouth.

Tavera could only nod enthusiastically, wondering what the dance halls of Tyestown looked like. The ‘Wicks had several but their steps were always kept clear of children and people not associated with the establishment. It was a place for merry making and music. The streets around the halls were kept lit and free of drunks and beggars, usually in contrast to the dark dealings done in the basements or attics of the buildings. A Baron’s town would probably have a grand dance hall, wouldn’t it? And plenty of people selling and buying and trading, plenty of pockets to check out.

“It’s getting late Tavera, so best you drink up and get ready for bed,” Derk chided, drinking his mug in a few quick gulps. “You’ll sleep out here and Gam and I’ll be back there.” He gestured towards the back room with his chin. Old Gam ducked into the back room and Tavera could hear her going into the trunk again, things moving in the back.

“Can I have some more thread?” Tavera asked, her shyness finally melted away. Derk reached forward to clean her mouth with his hand. Tavi looked to Old Gam and pleaded without words. Old Gam cocked her head to the side and set the quilts she had in her arms on the floor.

“I suppose you may. Glad you’re enjoying the sewing.” She did in fact look pleased and she went into the back again as Tavera pulled off her boots and socks, untying her skirt so she was in her tunic only, way too long for her and covering her skinny thighs and knobby knees. When Gam came out and saw her legs she laughed, hard. “Derk, you must feed this girl more! Are you going to use her to pick a lock?” Tavera stuck her tongue out at Gam when she wasn’t looking, tired of being called skinny but Derk just gave his little girl a look, urging silently for her to put her tongue back in her mouth.

“I take that to mean you’ll be feeding us in the morning then?” Derk said. He put his mug in the bowl on the stand and started to undo the buckles of his boots, smiling at Gam. She rolled her eyes at him before she went into the back room, closing the curtain behind her. Derk shook his head and turned his attention to Tavera, pulling his boots off and undoing his belt.

“Don’t stay up too late, Tavi, we’ve a lot to do tomorrow. You can sew on the way to the town. No arguing. We have to go to temple and then find a ride and people like to leave early, you know that.” He pulled his shirt over his head and hung it over the chair, pulling his dagger out of his boot and setting his boots under the chair.

“I can sleep in the back of the cart,” Tavera reasoned, letting her head fall to the side. Her hands were still on the cloth and needle, Derk shaking his head and arranging the quilts on the floor to make a bed for her.