“No, nothing,” she said.
“Where y’ been? A hole?”
Croak snorted. “Not far off.”
Terena glared at him until he ducked his head.
“I ‘ear tell he’s recruitin’ now. Lookin’ fer strong arms an’ payin’ well.”
“Reckon he needs trackers?” Croak asked with a grin.
“Was tole’ specially trackers.”
Terena glanced over at Croak. He watched her and shrugged as he picked dirt out of his fingernails with something he’d picked up from the table.
“What’s he need trackers for?”
Benson wheezed out a chuckle and struck the blade once more. “Who the ‘ell knows? Why’s ‘e lookin’ for strong arms? What the ‘ells ‘e want to be king of that shit pile anyways? All mysteries o’ the world, far as I’m concerned.
“But rumor’s he’s rich. And every day I ‘ear tell o’ the refugees makin’ their way toward the border. Sure ya passed some on the way ‘ere.” He pointed his hammer at her. “Could be work for ya there. Steady work. Better work than ‘ere, that’s no lie.”
Terena folded her arms and frowned. “I saw you last month, and you said not one word about any of this. When did all this happen?”
Benson dropped his hammer. He turned and grabbed a filthy ragoff one stool and scrubbed his face with it before balling it in his fist at his waist. “I seen ya four moons ago at the least an’ much has ‘appened.” He gave a mock bow. “As y’ see. More folk an’ now soldiers to boot. Tensions w’ the royals, talk of war with Lakonia bruin’, folks goin’ north to get away from the emperor’s reach.”
Terena glanced at Croak at Benson’s mention of war. He returned her look, his lips pinched. “Now his men are ‘ere, lots of fightin’ an’ wailin’ an’ fear,” Benson continued. “Speakin’ for m’self, mostly mercenaries in ‘ere, looking for anythin’ I have on ‘and afore headin’ north. Reckon the soldiers using the gods as an excuse. Reckon the general’s ‘ere to put the mercs in chains afore they flee north an’ fight against ‘im.”
“That could be,” Terena said, rubbing at her chin. “Have they rounded up many? Do you know where he’s keeping them?”
“Not sure, but he’s taken over Atton’s Bathhouse. ‘im and ‘is men.”
“Ask any of them anything else about this new king before they were taken?”
“Asked one of ‘em what gives, an’ was tol’ the king was recruitin’. ‘King’, I says, ‘didn’t even know theyhada king up there.’ And then he says, ‘aye, a king an’ richer than Solon.’” Benson paused, one hand on the hammer and the other on the blade as he looked over at her. “Another came jus’ two days past, grabbed up the last o’ me longswords. Said they’d finally finished th’ bridge at Thalos and he was on his way to make his fortune.”
“Good luck to him, then,” Croak muttered. “Most like you’ll never hear from that one again.”
“Most like, specially seein’ as ‘ow ‘e got snatched up last night. Suspicion of ‘idin’ a god, what they said.” Benson shook his head. “Not sure ‘ow they knows that cause ‘e sure as ‘ells was travelin’ alone. The others they jus’ plain ain’t givin’ excuses for why they gone.”
“And what of Duke Ravos? Is he helping find gods?”
“Ha!” Benson hawked and spat on the ground. “That turd won’t even come out ‘is castle. No word from ‘im since Peleon’s men arrived. One good thin’, that. Oh, an’ his tax collectors ‘aven’tbeen ‘round either.”
“Don’t think that debt won’t come due,”Croak mumbled.
Benson nodded, and with a sigh he shoved the blade back into the forge. “I knows it, young ’un, I knows it. But we’ve got more jus’ now t’ think on than what’s owed to the empire.”
“His Excellency must be worked up if he’s delayed the taxes in favor of a gods hunt.”
“Aye. And he sent th’ cleric, as well.”
“What?” Terena pushed away from the wall and dropped her arms. “Christos is here?”
“Nah,” he said. “The younger.”
“Orry!” Croak cried out with a laugh.
“Aye. Scared of ‘is own shadow, that one.”
