“Rubbish,” he said crisply.
That wouldn’t have been her word for it, but she didn’t think she needed to say as much. “It looks familiar,” she offered.
He pursed his lips. “Are you telling me that when I examined a similar piece of refuse in Mochriademiach of Neroche’s private solar, you were merely pretending to doze in front of his fire?”
“I’m a light sleeper,” she said, “and you were swearing rather loudly at the time.”
“I was expressing a polite bit of dismay.”
“You almost put out the king’s fire with your shouting—”
The sudden banging on the front door sent her stumbling into his side. He shoved the missive into a pocket, smothered the candle flame, then reached for her hand.
“Side door,” he said quickly. “Trust me.”
Surprisingly enough, she did. She took a brief moment to appreciate the concessions Master Odhran had apparently made for those who might want to make a less-than-visible exit from his shop, then followed Acair quickly out into the night.
She was lost within moments, but that didn’t surprise her. She hadn’t been able to keep track of all the twists and turns they’d taken simply to get to the tailor’s shop. Running through alleyways and as many unlit streets as possible left her utterly disoriented. The only thing that eased her mind any was realizing that the doorway Acair soon found for them to rest in wasempty and the pounding she was hearing was only the blood thundering in her ears, not booted feet chasing them.
She propped herself up against the very worn doorway and looked at him, leaning over as he was, gasping for air with almost as much enthusiasm as she was herself.
“Were those palace guards?” she whispered.
“More than likely.” He heaved himself upright, then collapsed back against the door with her. “Not lads I would care to encounter at the moment.”
“Have they come after the book you have?”
He hesitated. “Possibly.”
She shot him a look. “Are you going to explain, or should I guess?”
He chewed on his words for a moment or two, then sighed deeply. “’Tis possible that the king made a bargain with an extremely powerful and canny mage to exchange this unimpressive book of spells for a rather generous amount of the world’s power.”
She wondered if the time would come where she was no longer surprised by what came out of his mouth. “Isthatwhat you did?”
He opened his mouth—no doubt to give her the entire tale—then swore softly instead at the sound of a shout or two in the distance. He pulled her over more fully into the shadows of the alcove.Shadowwas, of course, not a word she was particularly fond of for reasons she didn’t need to explain to herself.
It was also fairly inaccurate given that the whole damned place was dark. They had definitely left behind anywhere that boasted streetlamps, something she suspected Acair had planned. She could scarce make out his face in the darkness, but she supposed she didn’t need to look for signs of lying. His greatestfault, according to the man himself, was his lamentable propensity to always tell the truth.
It also wasn’t as if she needed him to give her the particulars. She had recently listened to an elven king and his lads go on at length about Acair’s having attempted to steal quite a few things, including all the world’s magic. At the time, she had thought the entire lot of them absolutely barking. Now, though, she had to admit she could see it was exactly something Acair would have done.
That she was taking any of it seriously... well, she was past the point where she could do anything but shake her head over her ability to accept things she wouldn’t have wasted the effort to disbelieve but a fortnight earlier. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wood of the door behind her until the voices had faded and they were left with nothing but silence. She opened her eyes and looked at her companion.
“And?” she prodded.
He pulled her closer and wrapped his cloak around her. “If you must know the particulars, I did indeed promise Simeon power in trade for the book that is currently leaving bruises on my poor back.”
She was shivering because it was very cold out, not because the thought was so ridiculous she could hardly stop herself from snorting in derision.
Surely.
“So, this isn’t just a nasty rumor started by the king of those elves?” she asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
She took a deep breath. “Did you manage it?”
“Sadly, nay,” he said, “and that wasn’t for a lack of trying, believe me. I beg you not to force me to reveal any of the morehumiliating particulars. There are many and each equally unflattering.”
