* * *
Later that week,the bulk of the construction was complete. They built a big trestle table, and benches ran between the booths. She and Cal stained and oiled them all, swept the floors clean, and set glass in the new high windows.
Viv hoisted a chandelier and secured it to a bolt-plate Cal set into the wall. As evening drew on, they lit it with a long taper, both pleased with the glow it cast, the ring-shadow pulsing below.
At the table, with Viv’s notes between them, they discussed some of the finer points of furnishings and rugs and maybe some reeds to freshen the smell of the place.
They both halted their conversation at once.
In the doorway stood the man in the hat, with company to boot. They were less well-dressed, a motley assortment of men—two humans and a dwarf with a cropped beard and clubbed-back hair. Viv saw at least two short-swords and would have wagered there were at least six knives between them, in one cuff or another.
“Wondered when you’d stop back by,” said Viv. She didn’t bother to rise.
“I’m flattered to have occupied your thoughts,” the man said, stepping across the threshold and surveying the renovations with an appreciative nod. “You’ve been mightily industrious! The old place never looked better. Seems you won’t be in the business of horseflesh though.”
Viv shrugged.
His smile from the last visit might never have lapsed in all the intervening days. “Look, I enjoy a witty back and forth as much as the next man, but I sense you appreciate directness. I’m merely a representative. My friends call me Lack. You can, too. This street—this entire southern quarter—is under the watchful and beneficent eye of the Madrigal.” He sketched a bow, as though the Madrigal himself were here to see it.
“You think I need a watchful eye?” Viv’s brows rose.
“Weallneed someone to watch out for us,” replied Lack.
“This is the part where you let me know about the monthly involuntary donation for… what did you call it? A ‘beneficent eye?’”
Lack cocked a finger at her, and his smile widened.
“Well, you’ve said your piece.” Viv casually dismissed him by returning to the study of her notes. Cal hadn’t budged an inch during the entire exchange, his face rigid.
Lack’s voice developed an annoyed edge. “I’ll expect your contribution end of the month. One sovereign, two silvers is the going rate.”
“What you expect is your business.” Viv’s reply was mild.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the heavies behind Lack make a move to approach—which would have been a laughable mistake—but he stopped them with a gesture.
There was a heavy silence while Viv waited for a rebuttal.
Then Lack and his crew were gone.
Cal let out a long breath and shot her a worried glance. “Listen. You don’t want to run afoul of the Madrigal,” he said in a soft voice. When the hob normally spoke, it was always even and solid, like he was laying brick. The change in him made her look at him seriously.
“That’s what Laney said.” She put one of her hands on the table and opened it wide. “But Cal, I think you have a pretty good idea of what these hands have done. Do you really see me bobbing a curtsy to a bunch of men too stupid to know the odds if they were to tangle with me?”
“Hm. I don’t doubt you’d lay those four low, no problem. But listen. There’s a lot more’n four of ’em out there, and the Madrigal is the sort to make an example.”
“I’ve heard a lot of stories and a lot of legends in my time, and they’re always worse than the real thing. I can take care of myself, here.”
“Maybe so. This place, though?” He rapped the table with a knuckle. “It ain’t fireproof. So, fine, you can take care of yourself, but I figure there’s more you got a stake in. Am I wrong?”
Viv frowned and stared at him, lost for words.
Cal got up, leveled a finger at her, and said, “Wait.”
He rummaged in some of the last remaining supplies and retrieved hammer and nails. Up on his toes at the wall behind the counter, he banged some brackets into the wood—one, two, three.
“At least, do this. Put that sword of yours up there,” he said. “If you’re gonna show ’em you got teeth, at least fix it so you can bite when you need to. Hm?”
* * *
