Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [45]
I peered at the number written there. "No doubt."
"Have you the first idea what you're about, Moirin?" Caroline asked.
"No," I said honestly.
She studied me. "Would you like me to arrange for your passage across the Straits?"
"It would be a kindness," I said.
"No." Caroline no Bryony smiled wryly. "A kindness would be to urge you and your kin to retreat to whatever wilderness you came from, for I see the lot of you itching to be gone from this place and I fear the City of Elua will give you no better welcome than Henri did here today. What I am doing is my job."
I shrugged. "Nonetheless."
"Nonetheless," she echoed. "So be it."
I left the offices of Bryony Associates with a purse of a hundred gold ducats jingling at my belt and a letter of credit for five thousand more in the City of Elua. It seemed amply fair, given that I'd done nothing to earn it. Bidding us farewell on the doorstep of the building, Caroline paused and pressed my hands between hers.
"Do you have lodging here in Bryn Gorrydum?" she inquired.
"Oh, aye." I smiled. "Oengus says there's a goodly park in the center of the city that's taisgaidh land."
Her face went blank. "The park."
"Aye," I said, puzzled.
"Elua have mercy," she said for a second time, half-dismayed and half-amused. "Would that I could hear the gossip you'll provoke. Come tomorrow afternoon, Moirin of the Maghuin Dhonn. I'll see to what arrangements I may."
"My thanks," I said politely.
The park was a little piece of wilderness in the heart of the stone city. We made camp there unmolested. I went hunting with my uncle Mabon and we shot a pair of pigeons apiece. The new bow he'd made me on the journey had a heavier draw and a greater range. It suited me, but I was still getting used to it. We walked back to the campsite in the dusk. He summoned the twilight in slow, rolling waves, letting it trail and dance behind him like a shimmering wake. It reminded me of the music he played on his pipe. I'd never seen the like and tried to emulate it.
"Do you really think you can live among them?" Mabon asked abruptly.
"I mean to try."
He peered at me, his eyes wide-set and glimmering. "They say the entire city is walled by stone. I can't imagine how one could breathe in such a place. And they'll make mock of you for not knowing their ways. That's what she was trying to say."
"I know," I said softly. "But what else am I to do, Mabon?"
He slung one lean arm around my neck and hugged me. "Don't let them."
"I'll try," I promised.
"Don't forget who you are," he warned me.
I shook my head. "Never."
* * *
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
On the morrow, we presented ourselves once more at Bryony Associates—or at least I did. Having satisfied themselves yesterday that I was safe enough within, my mother and the others lingered on the doorstep to wait.
"Here is your chit for passage on the Heart of Gold." Caroline no Bryony said in a forthright manner, handing me a scrip. "Departing at dawn two days hence. I can vouch for the captain, Josephe Renniel. I've asked him to keep an eye on you."
I nodded. "My thanks."
"The Heart of Gold is a trade ship, but she's equipped to take on passengers as well. She'll head south down the Straits and put in at Bourdes. Your fare guarantees you three meals a day and a private berth." Caroline hesitated. "The latter if you so desire. I note you're not wholly comfortable indoors."
"Not yet," I agreed.
She cleared her throat. "Captain Renniel has been thus advised. Now, you'll have to book passage from Bourdes overland to the City of Elua. I'm not able to arrange it in advance, but there's a stagecoach for hire departing at least once a week. Captain Renniel can assist you in this."
"Stagecoach," I repeated. "Very good."
Caroline handed me a sheaf of papers. "I've drawn up some notes for you, Moirin." She traced them with one elegant finger. "This is the address of Bryony's banking house in the City of