Masquerades - Kate Novak [45]
"I will encourage my people to be less popular in the future," Jamal said with a straight face. To the crowd she announced, "We have been informed by the most illustrious Sergeant Rodney that we may continue our entertainment, with thanks owed to that great patron of the
arts, Dragonbait the Paladin, and the glib tongue of Lord Victor Dhostar."
There was a smattering of applause. Dragonbait bowed, and Victor, a little self-consciously, waved at the crowd.
"We dedicate this performance to them," Jamal announced, "and, of course, to Westgate's newest hero, Alias the Sell-Sword!"
Whistles and bellows of approval came from the mob. Alias felt her face reddening.
Alias, Victor, and Dragonbait slipped back into the crowd as the musicians started playing and the false Night Masks took the stage, juggling wooden swords and axes.
"You seem popular," Victor said.
Alias shrugged. "I don't know what I was doing up there. You're the one who deserves the credit for rescuing Jamal's troupe."
"Ahhh, but I wouldn't have bothered to help if you hadn't rushed up there," Victor said. "That's the whole point of heroes, isn't it, to inspire us with their courage?"
"Is that what you were doing? Inspiring him with your courage?" Dragonbait asked with amusement. "I thought you'd only come up to chide me for getting involved."
Alias shot the paladin a warning look.
"Well, I enjoyed that little foray into street justice, brief as it was," Victor said. "Thank you-uh, oh."
"What?" Alias asked, and she looked in the direction Victor now peered.
The croamarkh's carriage stood parked by Victor's curricle. The driver of the larger carriage stood up in his seat, indicating with a wave of his hand that Victor should make his way to the carriage.
"It seems I'm being summoned by Father. Time, I fear, to pay the piper. Excuse me, please."
Victor waded over to the croamarkh's carriage and disappeared inside.
Alias looked back at the stage, where a skit involving two Night Masks stealing a medusa's head was unfolding. "Let's move on," she said to Dragonbait.
The two made for the perimeter of the crowd, then circled about to Victor's curricle. A boy stood holding the horses' reins. Victor must have pressed him into service, Alias realized She tipped him a silver piece and told him he could go.
As she rubbed the noses of the two yellow mares, Alias spoke to the paladin in Saurial. "That money you offered could have been perceived as a bribe, you know. You could have been arrested. How would that look, a paladin in the local hoosegow?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," the paladin replied with a chuckle. "I could not sit by and watch the words of the law confused with the spirit of the law."
"What's the spirit behind the law against disturbing the peace?" Alias asked.
"That no one should be injured. No one was. At the worst, a few carriages and carts were inconvenienced."
"I don't imagine the merchant lords in those carriages will take your side in,that argument," Alias murmured. "Imagine all that fuss over a puppet show when the Night Masks get away with murder in this city."
"As the croamarkh pointed out, the watch can only ensure that the lawful obey the law, but the Night Masks are lawless," Dragonbait reminded her. "I don't imagine the watch is content that this is so."
"You're saying I shouldn't have insulted them," Alias replied. "You're probably right. Not very politic-"
Alias halted. From the croamarkh's carriage she could hear the croamarkh and Victor arguing. More accurately, she could hear the croamarkh's angry words, but only the slightest hint of Victor's voice. While Lord Luer wasn't exactly yelling, he was one of those people to whom it would never occur to modulate his voice. No doubt he believed it was the only way to make others listen.
Alias realized that since the carriage curtains were closed,