The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [43]
“What do you think?” asked Daine.
“I do not know this Alina Lyrris,” Lakashtai said, “and I am troubled that this man knows of our presence. His thoughts are slippery, like polished glass, but he did us a great favor when he shattered the mindshard. I doubt that our enemy has another such object here in Stormreach, and it’s not something they would sacrifice willingly.”
“At this point, nothing Alina does can surprise me,” Daine said, grinding his teeth. “She’s a … I don’t know what you’d call her. A spider, playing games with people’s lives. This fellow has her stink on him, I’ll give you that, but we did her a service recently, and I don’t see any reason she’d sell us out. He’s probably just what he seems—this would be her idea of a gift.” A favor, he thought, taunting me with her help.
“Why doesn’t he know who I am?” Lei said.
“Pierce, what do you think?” Daine said.
“If we need a guide, he is our best choice. We have no reason to trust anyone in this city. He has helped us once, and if this Alina did ask him to help us—it is my understanding that she is not a woman to be crossed lightly.”
“Yes … that’s certainly true.”
“While he may have followed us without my knowledge, I assure you, Daine—I will be watching him now,” Pierce said. Pierce was a scout and a hunter—if he had marked his prey, Gerrion wouldn’t be sneaking up on them again.
“It sounds like we’re decided, then,” Daine said. “Lakashtai—do we have gold to spare for out guide?”
“I have some coin and letters of credit on the Kundarak Bank,” Lakashtai said. “One does not come so far without gold in hand.”
“Assuming you have gold to begin with,” Daine said, running a finger along his all-too-empty purse. “Well, you’re the mistress of coin. Perhaps you can see if our new friend can find us a trustworthy inn. I don’t know about you, but I’d just as soon get out of this alley.”
“Why doesn’t he know who I am?” Lei said again.
It took Lakashtai and Gerrion some time to work out the details of their arrangement; Alina might have told the gray man to look after Daine, but apparently she’d said nothing about the price of these services. Eventually they came to terms, and Gerrion took the lead.
“There are inns in Stormreach that make soup from the bones of unwary guests,” he said, “but I know a place where you can sleep through the night.”
Lakashtai walked alongside Gerrion, asking questions about the colony. Pierce stayed close behind their guide, listening to every word and taking his measure of the stranger. Daine held Lei back a step, just far enough so they could speak without being overheard.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, tapping her healing wand. “I think we’ll both pull through.” She rubbed at a tear on her sleeve. “Though I’ll need to do some mending, once we’re settled in.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
Daine gestured vaguely. “Everything! We’re across the sea. There’s no law here. We were almost killed a few minutes ago, and this gray man may be leading us into someone’s soup pot.”
“Where have you been for the last three years?” Lei said. “A week ago I was fighting bugs in the sewers. I’m starting to get used to it. Besides, this is Xen’drik. All my life I’ve heard stories. They say the old kingdoms of Xen’drik controlled powers we can’t even imagine—mystical principles thousands of years beyond what my … House Cannith has developed.” She stumbled for a moment; clearly the mention of House Cannith had brought back the memory of her own humiliation at the house, but she soon found her voice again. “Just look at this place. Where else could you find pre-Galifar Lhazaar architecture next to a Zil waterhouse? And … look at that.”
At first, Daine thought the creature she was pointing at was a minotaur. It was a massive humanoid with hooves in place of feet; it wore a red tabard, and its exposed skin was covered