Days of Blood and Fire - Katharine Kerr [84]
“You didn’t, but I know you cursed well. The first thing you always think of is blood.”
“I’m not about to get myself hanged for killing one of the noble-born. Don’t trouble your heart over it. What I will do is stay close to Meer and Jahdo for the next few days. And I think I’ll just have Yraen keep an eye on our fine lordship.”
“Now that’s a splendid idea.” Jill turned back to her patient. “All right, lad, you can take your paws out of the water now. Let’s see what they look like clean.”
Time, Rhodry knew, was their ally and Matyc’s foe. Now that the gwerbret had given his vassals leave to return to their own lands, Matyc quite simply couldn’t dally in Cengarn without some good reason. With his lack of imagination, reasons would be hard to come by. As he told Yraen, while they lingered at table after the evening meal, Matyc was going to have to make his move fast, if indeed he did strike again.
“I’m going to stay in the bard’s chamber tonight,” Rhodry said. “Having a silver dagger sleeping in the doorway does wonders for keeping trouble out of a room.”
“True spoken. Where are the lad and Meer now?”
“Up in Jill’s chambers. I figure they’ll be safe enough there for a bit.”
“I wouldn’t cause trouble where Jill could see me, not on your life.” Yraen paused, chewing on the ends of his mustache. “Now, as for Matyc, I might be able to bribe a servant to give me a place to sleep near his lordship’s apartments. Worth a try.”
Only half consciously they both turned to look across the great hall, laced with a strand or two of blue smoke from the secondary hearth, to the table of honor — Although die gwerbret and his lady had retired, and the prince and Carra were nowhere to be seen, the two vassals lingered over goblets of mead. Matyc listened, his face its usual mask, while Lord Gwinardd told some long tale that, judging from the way he laughed as he told it, was meant to be humorous.
“I’ve never seen a man so sour as Matyc,” Yraen remarked. “You think he’d at least feign a smile for the courtesy of the thing.”
With his story fallen flat, Gwinardd lingered but a moment longer. He rose, bowed briefly to Matyc, and stalked out of the great hall. Without a trace of expression on his face, Matyc watched him go, then reached for the flagon of mead. Yraen stood, considering.
“I’ll just go have a word with Matyc. One of his riders was telling me that his lordship dearly loves to gamble on a good game of carnoic, and the gwerbret keeps a set right there, in that chest in the curve of the wall. I’ll see if Matyc will take a challenge from a silver dagger.”
“Good thinking.” Rhodry stood, too. “I’m just going to take a walk out in the ward.”
By then the sun had all but disappeared, and the first few stars were coming out over the towering walls of Dun Cengarn. Out by the kitchen hut servants scurried round, and the scullery boys lugged bucket after bucket of water from the well, but otherwise the ward stood empty. Rhodry made a tour round, looking for places where a man bent on murder might hide, and finally strolled down to the main gates, which still stood open with a guard on either side. The town spread out downhill, dark except for the occasional crack of firelight from an open window. Far away in some temple or other a bronze bell clanged.
“A friend of yours rode in some while back, silver dagger,” a guard said. “That dwarven merchant, Odo or Thoto or whatever his name is.”
“Ah. I wonder if the little bastard’s finally come to pay me what he owes me?”
“He said he was headed for the great hall, but good luck. Squeezing coin out of a dwarf’s a hard day’s work.”
Rhodry trotted uphill to the main broch and slipped into the great hall by the back door. The riders’ side stood empty, while up at the honor hearth a small crowd flocked round the table, watching and wagering upon the game of carnoic. Judging from the silence in the hall, it was running close. Rhodry saw Otho, standing back a bit by the hearth itself and looking as irritable as if he had a thorn in his breechclout. As Rhodry was walking over to join him, he heard