The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas 2015

by Paula Guran

  Finally Bast turned to look the boy over. He was no more than eight or nine, well-dressed, and plumper than most of the other town’s children. He carried a wad of white cloth in his hand.

  The boy swallowed nervously. “I need a lie.”

  Bast nodded. “What sort of lie?”

  He gingerly opened his hand, revealing the wad of cloth to be a makeshift bandage, spattered with bright red. It stuck to his hand slightly. Bast nodded; that was what he’d smelled before.

  “I was playing with my mum’s knives,” Brann said.

  Bast examined the cut. It ran shallow along the meat near the thumb. Nothing serious. “Hurt much?”

  “Nothing like the birching I’ll get if she finds out I was messing with her knives.”

  Bast nodded sympathetically. “You clean the knife and put it back?”

  Brann nodded.

  Bast tapped his lips thoughtfully. “You thought you saw a big black rat. It scared you. You threw a knife at it and cut yourself. Yesterday one of the other children told you a story about rats chewing off soldier’s ears and toes while they slept. It gave you nightmares.”

  Brann gave a shudder. “Who told me the story?”

  Bast shrugged. “Pick someone you don’t like.”

  The boy grinned viciously.

  Bast began to tick off things on his fingers. “Get some blood on the knife before you throw it.” He pointed at the cloth the boy had wrapped his hand in. “Get rid of that, too. The blood is dry, obviously old. Can you work up a good cry?”

  The boy shook his head, seeming a little embarrassed by the fact.

  “Put some salt in your eyes. Get all snotty and teary before you run to them. Howl and blubber. Then when they’re asking you about your hand, tell your mum you’re sorry if you broke her knife.”

  Brann listened, nodding slowly at first, then faster. He smiled. “That’s good.” He looked around nervously. “What do I owe you?”

  “Any secrets?” Bast asked.

  The baker’s boy thought for a minute. “Old Lant’s tupping the Widow Creel . . . ” he said hopefully.

  Bast waved his hand. “For years. Everyone knows.”

  Bast rubbed his nose, then said, “Can you bring me two sweet buns later today?”

  Brann nodded.

  “That’s a good start,” Bast said. “What have you got in your pockets?”

  The boy dug around and held up both his hands. He had two iron shims, a flat greenish stone, a bird skull, a tangle of string, and a bit of chalk.

  Bast claimed the string. Then, careful not to touch the shims, he took the greenish stone between two fingers and arched an eyebrow at the boy.

  After a moment’s hesitation, the boy nodded.

  Bast put the stone in his pocket.

  “What if I get a birching anyway?” Brann asked.

  Bast shrugged. “That’s your business. You wanted a lie. I gave you a good one. If you want me to get you out of trouble, that’s something else entirely.”

  The baker’s boy looked disappointed, but he nodded and headed down the hill.

  Next up the hill was a slightly older boy in tattered homespun. One of the Alard boys, Kale. He had a split lip and a crust of blood around one nostril. He was as furious as only a boy of ten can be. His expression was a thunderstorm.

  “I caught my brother kissing Gretta behind the old mill!” he said as soon as he crested the hill, not waiting for Bast to ask. “He knew I was sweet on her!”

  Bast spread his hands helplessly, shrugging.

  “Revenge,” the boy spat.

  “Public revenge?” Bast asked. “Or secret revenge?”

  The boy touched his split lip with his tongue. “Secret revenge,” he said in a low voice.

  “How much revenge?” Bast asked.

  The boy thought for a bit, then held up his hands about two feet apart. “This much.”

  “Hmmmm,” Bast said. “How much on a scale from mouse to bull?

  The boy rubbed his nose for a while. “About a cat’s worth,” he said. “Maybe a dog’s worth. Not like Crazy Martin’s dog though. Like the Bentons’ dogs.”

  Bast nodded and tilted his head back in a thoughtful way. “Okay,” he said. “Piss in his shoes.”

  The boy looked skeptical. “That don’t sound like a whole dog’s worth of revenge.”

  Bast shook his head. “You piss in a cup and hide it. Let it sit for a day or two. Then one night when he’s put his shoes by the fire, pour the piss on his shoes. Don’t make a puddle, just get them damp. In the morning they’ll be dry and probably won’t even smell too much . . . ”

  “What’s the point?” the boy interrupted angrily. “That’s not a flea’s worth of revenge!”

  Bast held up a pacifying hand. “When his feet get sweaty, he’ll start to smell like piss.” Bast said calmly. “If he steps in a puddle, he’ll smell like piss. When he walks in the snow, he’ll smell like piss. It will be hard for him to figure out exactly where it’s coming from, but everyone will know your brother is the one that reeks.” Bast grinned at the boy. “I’m guessing your Gretta isn’t going to want to kiss the boy who can’t stop pissing himself.”

  Raw admiration spread across the young boy’s face like sunrise in the mountains. “That’s the most bastardy thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, awestruck.

  Bast tried to look modest and failed. “Have you got anything for me?”

  “I found a wild bee hive,” the boy said.

  “That will do for a start,” Bast said. “Where?”

  “It’s off past the Orissons’. Past Littlecreek.” The boy squatted down and drew a map in the dirt. “You see?”

  Bast nodded. “Anything else?”

  “Well . . . I know where Crazy Martin keeps his still . . . ”

  Bast raised his eyebrows at that, “Really?”

  The boy drew another map and gave some directions. Then he stood and dusted off his knees. “We square?”

  Bast scuffed his foot in the dirt, destroying the map. “We’re square.”

  The boy dusted off his knees, “I’ve got a message too. Rike wants to see you.”

  Bast shook his head firmly. “He knows the rules. Tell him no.”

  “I already told him,” the boy said with a comically exaggerated shrug. “But I’ll tell him again if I see him . . . ”

  There were no more children waiting after Kale, so Bast tucked the leather book under his arm and went on a long, rambling stroll. He found some wild raspberries and ate them. He took a drink from the Ostlar’s well.

  Eventually Bast climbed to the top of a nearby bluff where he gave a great stretch before tucking the leather-bound copy of Celum Tinture into a spreading hawthorn tree where a wide branch made a cozy nook against the trunk.

  He looked up at the sky then, clear and bright. No clouds. Not much wind. Warm but not hot. Hadn’t rained for a solid span. It wasn’t a market day. Hours before noon on Felling . . .

  Bast’s brow furrowed a bit, as if performing some complex calculation. Then he nodded to himself.

  Then Bast headed back down the bluff, past Old Lant’s place and around the brambles that bordered the Alard farm. When he came to Littlecreek he cut some reeds and idly whittled at them with a small bright knife. Then brought the string out of his pocket and bound them together, fashioning a tidy set of shepherd’s pipes.

  He blew across the top of them and cocked his head to listen to their sweet discord. His bright knife trimmed some more, and he blew again. This time the tune was closer, which made the discord far more grating.

  Bast’s knife flicked again, once, twice, thrice. Then he put it away and brought the pipes closer to his face. He breathed in through his nose, smelling the wet green of them. Then he licked the fresh-cut tops of the reeds, the flicker of his tongue a sudden, startling red.

  He drew a breath and blew against the pipes. This time the sound was bright as moonlight, lively as a leaping fish, sweet as stolen fruit. Smiling, Bast headed off in
to the Bentons’ back hills, and it wasn’t long before he heard the low, mindless bleat of distant sheep.

  A minute later, Bast came over the crest of a hill and saw two dozen fat, daft sheep cropping grass in the green valley below. It was shadowy here, and secluded. The lack of recent rain meant the grazing was better here. The steep sides of the valley meant the sheep weren’t prone to straying and didn’t need much looking after.

  A young woman sat in the shade of a spreading elm that overlooked the valley. She had taken off her shoes and bonnet. Her long, thick hair was the color of ripe wheat.

  Bast began playing then. A dangerous tune. It was sweet and bright and slow and sly.

  The shepherdess perked up at the sound of it, or so it seemed at first. She lifted her head, excited . . . but no. She didn’t look in his direction at all. She was merely climbing to her feet to have stretch, rising high up onto her toes, hands twining over her head.

  Still apparently unaware she was being serenaded, the young woman picked up a nearby blanket and spread it beneath the tree, and sat back down. It was a little odd, as she’d been sitting there before without the blanket. Perhaps she’d just grown chilly.

  Bast continued to play as he walked down the slope of the valley toward her. He did not hurry, and the music he made was sweet and playful and languorous all at once.

  The shepherdess showed no sign of noticing the music or Bast himself. In fact she looked away from him, toward the far end of the little valley, as if curious what the sheep might be doing there. When she turned her head, it exposed the lovely line of her neck from her perfect shell-like ear, down to the gentle swell of breast that showed above her bodice.

  Eyes intent on the young woman, Bast stepped on a loose stone and stumbled awkwardly down the hill. He blew one hard, squawking note, then dropped a few more from his song as he threw out one arm wildly to catch his balance.

  The shepherdess laughed then, but she was pointedly looking at the other end of the valley. Perhaps the sheep had done something humorous. Yes. That was surely it. They could be funny animals at times.

  Even so, one can only look at sheep for so long. She sighed and relaxed, leaning back against the sloping trunk of the tree. The motion accidentally pulled the hem of her skirt up slightly past her knee. Her calves were round and tan and covered with the lightest down of honey-colored hair.

  Bast continued down the hill. His steps delicate and graceful. He looked like a stalking cat. He looked like he was dancing.

  Apparently satisfied the sheep were safe, the shepherdess sighed again, closed her eyes, and lay her head against the trunk of the tree. Her face tilted up to catch the sun. She seemed about to sleep, but for all her sighing her breath seemed to be coming rather quickly. And when she shifted restlessly to make herself more comfortable, one hand fell in such a way that it accidentally drew the hem of her dress even further up until it showed a pale expanse of thigh.

  It is hard to grin while playing shepherd’s pipes. Somehow Bast managed it.

  The sun was climbing the sky when Bast returned to the lightning tree, pleasantly sweaty and in a state of mild dishevel. There were no children waiting near the greystones this time, which suited him perfectly.

  He did a quick circle of the tree again when he reached the top of the hill, once in each direction to ensure his small workings were still in place. Then he slumped down and at the foot of the tree and leaned against the trunk. Less than a minute later his eyes were closed and he was snoring slightly.

  After the better part of an hour, the near-silent sound of footsteps roused him. He gave a great stretch and spied a thin boy with freckles and clothes that were slightly past the point where they might merely be called well-worn.

  “Kostrel!” Bast said happily. “How’s the road to Tinuë?”

  “Seems sunny enough to me today,” the boy said as he came to the top of the hill. “And I found a lovely secret by the roadside. Something I thought you might be interested in.”

  “Ah,” Bast said. “Come have a seat then. What sort of secret did you stumble on?”

  Kostrel sat cross-legged on the grass nearby. “I know where Emberlee takes her bath.”

  Bast raised an half-interested eyebrow. “Is that so?”

  Kostrel grinned. “You faker. Don’t pretend you don’t care.”

  “Of course I care,” Bast said. “She’s the sixth prettiest girl in town, after all.”

  “Sixth?” the boy said, indignant. “She’s the second prettiest and you know it.”

  “Perhaps fourth,” Bast conceded. “After Ania.”

  “Ania’s legs are skinny as a chicken’s,” Kostrel observed calmly.

  Bast smiled at the boy. “To each his own. But yes. I am interested. What would you like in trade? An answer, a favor, a secret?”

  “I want a favor and information,” the boy said with a small smirk. His dark eyes were sharp in his lean face. “I want good answers to three questions. And it’s worth it. Because Emberlee is the third prettiest girl in town.”

  Bast opened his mouth as if he were going to protest, then shrugged and smiled. “No favor. But I’ll give you three answers on a subject named beforehand,” he countered. “Any subject except that of my employer, whose trust in me I cannot in good conscience betray.”

  Kostrel nodded in agreement. “Three full answers,” he said. “With no equivocating or bullshittery.”

  Bast nodded. “So long as the questions are focused and specific. No ‘tell me everything you know about’ nonsense.”

  “That wouldn’t be a question,” Kostrel pointed out.

  “Exactly,” Bast said. “And you agree not to tell anyone else where Emberlee is having her bath,” Kostrel scowled at that, and Bast laughed. “You little cocker, you would have sold it twenty times, wouldn’t you?”

  The boy shrugged easily, not denying it, and not embarrassed either. “It’s valuable information.”

  Bast chuckled. “Three full, earnest answers on a single subject with the understanding that I’m the only one you’ve told.”

  “You are,” the boy said sullenly. “I came here first.”

  “And with the understanding that you won’t tell Emberlee anyone knows.” Kostrel looked so offended at this that Bast didn’t bother waiting for him to agree. “And with the understanding that you won’t show up yourself.”

  The dark-eyed boy spat a couple words that surprised Bast more than his earlier use of “equivocating.”

  “Fine,” Kostrel growled. “But if you don’t know the answer to my question, I get to ask another.”

  Bast thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

  “And if I pick a subject you don’t know much about, I get to chose another.”

  Another nod. “That’s fair.”

  “And you loan me another book,” the boy said, his dark eyes glaring. “And a copper penny. And you have to describe her breasts to me.”

  Bast threw back his head and laughed. “Done.”

  They shook on the deal, the boy’s thin hand was delicate as a bird’s wing.

  Bast leaned against the lightning tree, yawning and rubbing the back of his neck. “So. What’s your subject?”

  Kostrel’s grim look lifted a little then, and he grinned excitedly. “I want to know about the Fae.”

  It says a great deal that Bast finished his great yawp of a yawn as if nothing were the matter. It is quite hard to yawn and stretch when your belly feels like you’ve swallowed a lump of bitter iron and your mouth has gone suddenly dry.

  But Bast was something of a professional dissembler, so he yawned and stretched, and even went so far as to scratch himself under one arm lazily.

  “Well?” the boy asked impatiently. “Do you know enough about them?”

  “A fair amount,” Bast said, doing a much better job of looking modest this time. “More than most folk, I imagine.”

  Kostrel leaned forward, his thin face intent. “I thought you might. You aren’t from around here. You
know things. You’ve seen what’s really out there in the world.”

  “Some of it,” Bast admitted. He looked up at the sun. “Ask your questions, then. I have to be somewhere come noon.”

  The boy nodded seriously, then looked down at the grass in front of himself for a moment, thinking. “What are they like?”

  Bast blinked for a moment, taken aback. Then he laughed helplessly and threw up his hands. “Merciful Tehlu. Do you have any idea how crazy that question is? They’re not like anything. They’re like themselves.”

  Kostrel looked indignant. “Don’t you try to shim me!” he said, leveling a finger at Bast. “I said no bullshitery!”

  “I’m not. Honest I’m not.” Bast raised his hands defensively. “It’s just an impossible question to answer is all. What would you say if I asked you what people were like? How could you answer that? There’s so many kinds of people, and they’re all different.”

  “So it’s a big question,” Kostrel said. “Give me a big answer.”

  “It’s not just big,” Bast said. “It would fill a book.”

  The boy gave a profoundly unsympathetic shrug.

  Bast scowled. “It could be argued that your question is neither focused or specific.”

  Kostrel raised an eyebrow. “So we’re arguing now? I thought we were trading information? Fully and freely. If you asked me where Emberlee was going for her bath, and I said, ‘in a stream’ you’d feel like I’d measured you some pretty short corn, wouldn’t you?”

  Bast sighed. “Fair enough. But if I told you every rumor and snippet I’d ever heard, this would take a span of days. Most of it would be useless, and some probably wouldn’t even be true because it’s just from stories that I’ve heard.”

  Kostrel frowned, but before he could protest, Bast held up a hand. “Here’s what I’ll do. Despite the unfocused nature of your question. I’ll give you an answer that covers the rough shape of things and . . . ” Bast hesitated. “ . . . one true secret on the subject. Okay?”

  “Two secrets.” Kostrel said, his dark eyes glittering with excitement.