“Then you want us tohelpwith that?” Gallina’s grin was eager and a little bloodthirsty.
“It’s not as simple as that.”
“Oh, this is thesimplest,” said Gallina. “Nothin’ simpler!”
Viv flattened her hands in front of her and tried to think of the right words to use. “Here’s the thing. I was hoping that… thethreatof me would be enough. I even hung Blackblood on the wall as, I don’t know, a sort of warning.I don’t want to deal with this the way that the old Viv would have, because… because….” She struggled to articulate it.
“Because if she does, it ruins everything,” said Tandri, joining the conversation.
Roon looked dubious. “She’s taken care of problems just like this a dozen times. Two dozen! Protectin’ what’s yours? There’s no shame in that. Don’t see how that would ruin anythin’, except the face of whatever fool is tryin’ to shake her down.”
“That’s not what I mean,” said Tandri, with surprising heat. “Sure, it might be fine this time, for thisonething… but once it’s an option, once she can pick that back up….” She pointed at the sword on the wall. “She loses what she won by building this place without it. Maybe next time, it’s just a job to earn a little silver in a lean winter. Maybe a bounty in exchange for a shipping discount. And little by little, this isn’t that coffee shop in Thune where you can get a cinnamon roll as big as your head. It’s Viv’s territory, and you don’t want to cross her, and did you hear about the time she broke the legs of somebody who looked at her funny?”
“Shehasdone that,” whispered Gallina out the side of her mouth.
“That was before.” Tandri stabbed the table with a finger. “Right now, in this town, the shop is a clean slate. She should pay the Madrigal and let it be.”
“Well, Viv,” said Roon, who looked confused. “If that’s what you’re thinkin’, then why are we here?”
Viv tossed up her hands helplessly. “I don’t know… advice? Or I guess I thought….”
“You thought we might do it,” finished Gallina. She archly inquired, “Were you gonna offer topayus?”
Viv looked pained. “No, that’s not what I had planned, I… I don’tknowwhat I should do.” She made a frustrated growl deep in her throat. “The problem is I don’twantto pay them. I don’t think I can bring myself to do it. And no, I’m not trying to hire you to take care of the problem. But I thought, maybe… just ashowof force.”
“That’s the sword on the wall, again,” said Tandri. “And if you go too much further, you might as well use it and be done with it.”
They all fell silent for a moment.
“The Madrigal,” said Taivus.
“You know him?” asked Viv.
“I know of them,” he replied.
“Then what do you think?”
Taivus was characteristically thoughtful and quiet, but they all waited without saying a word.
“It may be,” he eventually said, “that this can be resolved without blood.”
“I’m all ears,” said Viv.
“It’s possible I may be able to arrange a parley,” he continued.
“Meetin’ in a dark alley to talk terms seems like a sure way to get a knife in the back,” observed Gallina.
“The Madrigal and Viv have more in common than you might think,” said Taivus.
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve met them before,” he said. “I’m bound by certain oaths not to reveal overmuch, and I take those oaths seriously, but I have a… sense… that it would be worth the effort.”
“And you could set this up?” asked Viv.
“I believe I could. I’ll reach out to a contact in the city. We should know by nightfall tomorrow.”
Gallina looked unconvinced. “I still think murderin’ them in their beds would be safer.”
