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By Root 1160 0

to the wall. Raising himself on his toes, he could just peer out through the mesh that covered the air gap under the roof. As he had guessed, a layer of wet new snow covered the ground outside, though the day was warming and it was already showing signs of melting. Lander and his men-Serg still wearing his waitao!-were taking their time sauntering up the street. In spite of the insults they tossed at each other, the five men looked about sharply. Li froze as Lander's gaze swept over the shed, but from his distance and angle, the man must not have been able to see anything through the tight mesh. His gaze moved on.

Black Scratch was across the street, trotting along like a big, ill-tempered dog. His tracks marked a crisscrossing pattern in the snow, though. Only moments ago, the beast had passed within a few yards of their hiding place. Li let out a thin sigh. A narrow escape, he thought.

Tycho nudged him. The bard was standing at his side but even on his toes was too short to see out. He mimed peering outside. Li nodded curtly and gestured in the direction Lander and his men were headed and motioned for Tycho to remain calm. The thugs were moving on. They hadn't been discovered.

Out on the street, Lander stopped abruptly, looking ahead sharply. Li stifled a curse and twisted his head to try and see what he was looking at.

More men were coming along the street. This group, however, wore the uniforms of city guards and they were looking around just as intently as Lander's men were. Li stifled another curse. Walking at their head was Mard Dantakain.

Tycho's face was twisted in frustration but Li waveci him down. Outside, Lander and Mard were eyeing each other mistrustfully as the two groups met. Lander spoke first. "Captain Dantakain."

"Lander." The captain glanced distastefully at the men before him and at Black Scratch. "What are you doing out from under your rock so early?"

"Out for a stroll."

Mard didn't seem fooled. Or interested. "So are we." "Fine day for it."

"I won't keep you standing, then. Olore." He strode forward, forcing Lander to hop out of his way. Lander grunted and snarled at his men-they all moved aside. Thugs and guards separated, each group moving a little faster now, eager to put distance between themselves. Within moments, the street outside the shed was empty.

Li dropped down from his toes and leaned against the shed wall. He glanced at Tycho. "You heard?"

The bard's eyes were squeezed shut. "I heard."

"Is the guard looking for us, too?"

Tycho snorted. "Because of what happened at the Ease? I doubt it. The guard doesn't care that much about dockside." He opened his eyes and exhaled. "It's Laera." He looked up at Li. "Mard is looking for Laera. She didn't make it home last night."

"You sent her to a guard station."

"I know."

"Could Brin have her? He had Lander's man hold her hostage last night."

"Maybe, but I don't think he does. If Brin were holding her hostage to use against me, he wouldn't have Lander walking the streets. He'd just put the word out and let me come to him." Tycho clenched his jaw. "Not that it would work." Li looked at him and he scowled. "I got her out of the Ease last night. I sent her on her way. She's a stupid girl and she's on her own. I'm not going to be responsible for her."

"Tycho… "

The bard held his hands over his ears. "No. I'm not going to listen-I'm not going to worry about her. We don't know she's in danger. Her father's the captain of the guard. If he can't find her, there isn't much we could do to help. And we've got serious problems of our own." He lowered his hands. "Brin hasn't given up looking for us.

Or at least for you. What was so special about Yu Mao that Brin would hunt you like this?"

"I don't know," said Li smoothly. "It's something to ask him-once we have the beljurils."

"Be careful, Li," Tycho sighed. "That's starting to sound like a desperate measure. I'm not even sure Brin's going to want to see me when… 1/we get the beljurils back."

"We're desperate men, Tycho." Li stood and stretched up to peer out of the air-gap once more. "You