The Yellow Silk - Don Bassingthwaite [100]
They had expected to be outnumbered, but not like this. "Tycho… " Li murmured.
Brin nodded and Li caught sudden movement out of the corners of his eyes as Bor and Ovel stepped away from the wall behind them. Ovel reached out and shoved the door closed. Laera squeaked in alarm.
"Stick to the plan," Tycho whispered back, but his voice was thin. Li fought to keep a wince off his face. Their plan was meant for seven, not thirteen.
Did they have another choice now? He glanced around, taking careful note of where their opponents stood and trying to guess how they might move, as Tycho stepped forward. "Olore, Brin," the bard called. "You didn't mention that there'd be such an audience."
"But you still brought the full chorus." Brin looked at Laera with a hungry leer and she shrank back. "Dantakain's daughter. Mard's been tearing up the town looking for her and you had her the whole time."
"I don't have her," said Tycho sharply. UI don't take hostages."
Brin smiled. "Why, neither do I. Is it wrong to invite people around for some conversation?" He pricked Veseene with the dagger and the old woman hissed. Her face was pale and she was shaking badly, though Li couldn't tell whether that was because of her palsy or the cold. Above her gag, however, her faded blue eyes flashed angrily-at, them. If she'd been able to talk, Li guessed, she would be berating them for walking into so obvious a trap.
Tycho's eyes narrowed. "Take the gag out of her mouth. Let me talk to her."
"I don't think so," said Brin. His gaze shifted between Tycho and Li. "Do you have the Yellow Silk of Kuang?"
Tycho reached into a pocket of his coat. It seemed as if half the people gathered-but especially Brin and the two wizards-leaned forward in anticipation. Li tensed. Tycho, however, produced only a small velvet bag. "The beljurils, Brin," he said, spilling the winking gems into his hand.
"You know it was Jacerryl who stole them. He sold them. I got them back." He tipped them back into the bag and held it out. "How about you take them and we part ways? All square?"
Brin's sneer was no surprise. In fact, they had been counting on it. Li forced his expression to remain neutral. Let the hin think they were desperate, he thought, that he had them backed into a corner…
That if he let them simply exchange the Yellow Silk for Veseene and walk out of the Eel, he would be losing the valuable beljurils. Blood in the water draws sharks, Tycho had pointed out. And in spite of his sneer, Brin's eye followed the bag as Tycho passed it to Laera. Lander's eyes followed it as well. Li murmured a silent prayer to Hsing Yong, the patron of fortune and prosperity. The sharks had the scent. It was time to whip them into a feeding frenzy-and, he hoped, to draw out an answer to the question that had brought him from Keelung to Spandeliyon. He stepped forward.
Black Scratch shifted at the sudden gesture and let out a snort, hot breath producing a great cloud of vapor. Brin's hand tightened on the boar's head. Li ignored the beast and glared at Brin with all of the confidence he could muster. "You know who I am and what I carry," he snarled. "You must know why I'm here."
"Kuang Li Chien," Brin replied without hesitation, "dutiful younger son of Kuang." His sneer grew even broader and more mocking. "Seeking vengeance for the death of his beloved brother, Yu Mao."
In spite of himself, Li felt anger rising inside him. "Seeking vengeance on him," he said. "I know how he betrayed his ship and our people to join the Sow." It was gratifying to see Brin stiffen in surprise. So the hin hadn't guessed everything. Li returned his sneer. "You sailed with him for a year before the Sow sank. That's how you came to know about the Yellow Silk." He reached for his own pocket. "Before you take it, tell me this and I will not