Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [5]
"Pirates or us smugglers?" Valentino glanced around the factory, his vivid imagination making him think he could see the Harpers hidden in the shadows all around him, ready to spring.
"Both."
The smuggler shifted his feet nervously. "You know, I don't understand why we can't sell arquebuses in the first place. You can still kill a man with a sword you know. Why don't you outlaw swords?"
"I don't make the law, I just preserve it. Lets just say that we want to prevent a future in which whole armies would march into battle carrying arquebuses. It would be a bloody mess."
"No more bloody than our current wars." Valentino grinned with a sudden thought. "Smuggling is just the transportation of such goods. Whats wrong with that? Your own father buys smuggled drow vodka I understand."
"My father was a boxer. The bloodsport has been banned for a long time too. Do you really think he worried about getting caught with smuggled goods back then?" Pierce stepped back farther into the shadows and put a finger to his lips.
The hollow sounds of boots came closer and a giff's hippo-like head loomed into view, his face illuminated by the cracks in the roof. "Company halt!" the giff barked. The monster straightened his brown and green uniform and glanced at his bodyguards in a quick inspection as they formed into a line. He surveyed the shadowy surroundings and finally his eyes rested on Valentino. "Why did you choose this place?"
Valentino shrugged and his face flushed red. "Privacy. Now I'm sure that you've heard about the explosion rigged by my men-"
"Rigged?" barked the giff in fury. His huge hands clenched and he took a step closer. "You deliberately blew up a whole ship of smokepowder?"
Valentino smiled as best he could. "The smokepowder wasn't even on the ship. You can tell your kin that they have nothing to worry about. That was a magical explosion meant to throw the Harpers off our trail. It also provided my men a distraction to move the smokepowder to a new location."
The giff narrowed his large black eyes. "And where is the smokepowder? Or rather, where is my payment?"
"All in due time," replied Valentino. "My agents haven't sold off the bulk of the powder yet. We've had to be extra quiet since the explosion. Everyone has been talking about it and people have been very wary and suspicious around smokepowder dealers of late. I'm planning to sell over half of it tomorrow for a huge profit." One thing was for sure, the smuggler thought, Dr. Pierce was no muscle-bound idiot. His excuses were almost flawless in every detail.
"I want the gold now," spat the giff. His biceps bulged against the sleeves of his tailored uniform-like shirt. "Or else my troops here will find a new way to dispose of your pathetic body."
Valentino swallowed and reminded himself that he was surrounded by a small army of Harper agents. With growing courage he wet his lips. "You know, I could have you killed at any moment now. I have about fourty men hidden around us as we speak. More than enough to start a small war." He smiled at his own cleverness. "But we wouldn't want that would we?"
The giff sniffed his huge nose and drew a hand arquebus, pointing it straight at Valentino's head.
The smuggler only grinned and for a moment the giff looked uncertain. "You'll have your money in two days time."
"I want it now!" barked the giff.
"Perhaps you should wait awhile," said a hollow voice from the shadows to the giff's left.
The huge monster turned to the left, his hand ready to pull the trigger. And saw only the hollowed out piece of trunk. It took a second for him to realize what had happened, and by the time he turned back to face Valentino, the smuggler was gone and replaced by the downward stroke of a blue-steeled saber.
Pierce took a step back as the monster screamed. He watched as the giff dropped his pistol and clutched the wound that ran down the side of his face. He didn't even look to either side but immediately ducked under the swings of two bodyguards, and rolled