Finnvid shrugged. “My point was, itisthe custom of your people. One of many ways we differ. Nobody here would have blamed you or even been surprised if you’d . . . done whatever you wanted with me. Right?”
“Well, there’s people who’d be surprised, I think. People who know me well enough to think I’d be kind.”
Finnvid nodded. “Well, now I’m one of those people. And I appreciate your kindness. Thank you.”
Theos couldn’t resist. He smiled as winningly as he could manage and said, “I could be kind in a whole lot of ways you haven’t experienced yet, if you’d care to open your mind a little and let me in.”
“I believe you. I just . . . It’s customary for the men to stay in the city overnight, isn’t it? I’ll see you tomorrow morning when you return, and I’ll be much calmer. I just need some time to get my head sorted out.”
Theos frowned. “You said a few hours. When this started, you said a few hours.”
“I guess I was thinking in terms of the time we’d be awake for. I mean, youdonormally sleep in the city, don’t you? I don’t want you to insult your partner by leaving early.”
Nodding slowly, Theos agreed, “Aye. Tomorrow, then.” He tugged his tunic back into place and smoothed his hands over his trousers. “I look presentable?”
“You do.”
Theos left. He headed down the stairs with a crowd of rowdy young men, but stepped aside so he wouldn’t have to walk into the city with them. He needed his own time alone to think.
Chapter Twelve
Theos stayed by the doorway of the barracks until the sun began to set. He could hear the distant sounds of music and revelry in the city, and every now and then he caught a whiff of the roast pork, carried to him on the cool autumn wind. But when he finally moved, he didn’t head in the direction of the city gates.
Instead, he found his way down along the backs of the buildings, through a narrow alley, and then into an alcove. A different smell, here, the odor of men kept too close together, without the benefits of the baths. Theos hoped he was in the wrong place, but he didn’t think he was.
And sure enough, shortly after the moon rose, Finnvid appeared. He moved carefully, but didn’t sneak. If there was anyone else left in the barracks to see him, they’d think he was on official business. By the sword, the boy was a natural.
Finnvid headed straight for the door of the prisoner pen. Theos had a good view of the pens, and was interested in discovering how the spy planned to get past the heavy iron lock.
He frowned and leaned forward in disbelief when he realized what he was seeing. The boy—the Elkatispy—he had akey.
There was no time to think about it right then. Theos sprinted across the yard, saw Finnvid’s startled face, saw the little coward trying to change his expression into a smile, or an apology, or whatever else it would take to fool big, stupid Theos again.
This time, Theos didn’t give him the chance. He slammed his fist into Finnvid’s gut and as he doubled over Theos dropped his elbow into the back of the boy’s lying, spying Elkati skull.
He wished he’d had more time to teach the boy to fight, because it was over too soon. Finnvid managed to keep himself vertical for a moment by grabbing hold of the bars of the pen, but his dizziness proved too much for him and he slid down into the mud. Theos grabbed him by the back of his collar. He was wearing his new coat, the one he’d tricked Theos into buying for him that afternoon. It would be good for traveling in the winter. But had he really expected his men to survive without being better equipped? Or did he only need them to fight past the sentries, and didn’t care if they made it the rest of the way?
Or had the same person who’d given him the key also left a cache of winter equipment somewhere? Had the person leftweaponsthey could use to escape the valley? Tokillthe sentries?
Too many questions, and Theos was done with not having answers. He dragged Finnvid, groggy and disoriented, through the abandoned barracks until he found some leather armor straps, and he used them to tie the spy’s hands and feet together. Then it was time for more dragging.
He was halfway through the city gates before he calmed down sufficiently to remember the occasion. Pulling a sputtering Elkati, bound hand and foot, into the central square probably wouldn’t contribute to the mood of the evening. So he changed course, turning left down a narrow street, cutting through an alley, and coming out behind the main administrative building. Theos had spent the first decade of his life running through these streets, and he still knew them well. The back door was unlocked, as most city doors tended to be, and he pulled the Elkati up the steps, down a hall, and into the outer office. His luck abandoned him there, as he tried the next door and found it locked. Sensitive materials inside, maybe.
He glared down at the spy. There was blood from his nose smeared all over him, and some extra bumps and scratches from his rough trip, but otherwise he looked healthy enough. Still, he’d been dizzy earlier, so obviously his brain had been affected at least a little.
“I don’t want to gag you in case you puke. There’s no point in having kept you alive this long just to have you choke to death now, so I’m going to leave your mouth free, but I don’t want you disrupting the festival. If you make any noise, I’ll beat you bloody. Do you understand what I’m saying? You haven’t had a beating yet, and I don’t really like giving them. But in this case? For you? I’d make an exception. I’d make yousuffer. You understand?”
The Elkati nodded reluctantly. Theos took the end of the leather strap he’d brought from the barracks and threw it over a post halfway up the nearby staircase, then pulled it down to the spy’s hands and tied it so he was almost, but not quite, suspended. Tight enough that he had no room to squirm or cause trouble. And hopefully tight enough to cause the lying little coward some pain.
Theos left him then. He strode out the front door and through the city streets, trying to hang on to his anger because it was easier to feel that way than to give in to the hurt and confusion. The humiliation of having been a fool, of having believed, even for a moment, that the Elkati was being genuine. No, Theos would much rather be angry.
He found the reeve in the main square, watching the dancing with her typical small frown. The earlier exchange with the Elkati over difficult mothers flashed through his mind, and then he made himself step forward into her line of sight.
Photina raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been? You’ve been missed.”
Her tone made it clear thatshehadn’t missed him. She just didn’t like her women being slighted by a man who neglected to show them proper admiration.
“My apologies. I was kept away by something important. Something I need to speak to you about.”
