The Dragon Revenant - Katharine Kerr [143]
“But I don’t understand,” Jill said. “What did you get from him?”
“His permission to go after the Hawks. If I fail, it’ll be no affair of his, but if I succeed, there won’t be any talk of my legal culpability, either.”
“But how do you know? It was all cursed unclear to me.”
“My dear turtledove,” Salamander broke in. “It’s no one word or phrase—the truth resides in the sum of the entire evening. Never have I seen concessions better wrung! Our Nevyn is so subtle, so recondite even, that I’m beginning to wonder if he’s half an elf himself.”
“I know you mean that for a compliment, but stop gloating!” Nevyn snapped. “You didn’t see the slaughter in that temple.”
“Well, true enough, master. I fall abashed.”
In a clatter of hooves on the cobbles and the ringing of bridles, slaves brought the horses round the corner of the longhouse. At their head, all diffidence and openmouthed grovel, his red hair gleaming in the lantern light, walked Perryn. At the sight of him Jill quite literally snarled like a dog and clasped her hand over her sword hilt. When he yelped and shrank back, her disgust rose strong enough to choke her. That—that ugly creature—that skinny little beast who looked more like a gnome than a man—that wretch was what had terrified her, terrorized her rather with his peculiar and unclean dweomer! Without a single thought she strode over, slapped him across the face with one hand and punched him as hard as she could in the stomach with the other. He moaned and doubled over.
“Enough!” Nevyn caught her wrist from behind.
“But, my lord! After what he did to me! I’ll kill him!”
“You won’t, and because I say so. Naught that I could say would talk you out of it, so leave him alone because I order you to.”
That she could accept—barely. She shook off’ the old man’s grip and strode over to Rhodry, who was standing at the head of his warband—she could think of the men no other way, now that he was with them—and watching her with a small, approving smile.
“Do you remember that stinking little weasel?” she said.
“Entirely too well. I caught him on the road, you know, after you’d left him. The gray gnome guided me right there, and I beat the demons out of his heart and hide and the filth out of his guts. It’s a lovely memory, that one.”
“Why didn’t you kill him?”
“I swore a vow that I wouldn’t.” Rhodry frowned, thinking hard. “I don’t remember why now, or what god presided. But a vow’s a vow.”
“It is, truly. Well and good, then—I just wondered.”
“As well you might. But here, my love, I’ve been aping a man with a memory, sure enough, but that doesn’t mean I have one. That old man, Galrion, the one you keep calling ‘no one? Who by all the hells is he?”
She felt then as Perryn must have when her fist punched gut into backbone. All her despair came flooding back, a wondering if Rhodry would ever be well again, if he couldn’t even remember Nevyn.
“A man you can trust with your life, and the greatest sorcerer in all Deverry, just for starters.” She managed to force out a reassuring smile. “I’ll tell you about his other talents later.”
Since he agreed with Brother Merrano that the priests of Dalae-oh-contremo had endured enough armed barbarians within their walls, Nevyn sent Salamander, Perryn, and Praedd back to the temple to round up the gear and horses left behind, then took everyone else to an inn that Merrano recommended: a large, clean place run by a pious man and, better yet, surrounded by a high wall with iron spikes embedded in the plaster on top. This time of year, fortunately, they had the compound pretty much to themselves, and Jill, rather to Nevyn’s surprise, had an amazing amount of hard coin to give the innkeep to ensure that they would continue to do so.
“Where did you get all that silver?”
“Ah well.” Briefly she turned furtive. “We earned it, actually, but you’d best ask Salamander how.”
“Very well, then. Here, Amyr! You and the rest of the men will be sleeping in what’s usually the common room upstairs. Get them settled, then stay out here to wait for Salamander