by J. Hepburn
When Zerris has recovered enough to move, Kalle is sitting casually on a wooden crate.
Zerris's hand goes instantly to his knife, which isn't there. His hand disappears inside his clothes.
He bares his teeth at Kalle.
Kalle holds up two knives. "Didn't want you going for me again before I had a chance to talk to you," he says, his voice reasonable but his face set in his usual cocky grin. "And I do want a word with you." He puts the knives on the marble slab, at his arm's length, closer to Zerris. "There."
"Why?" Zerris snarls. "You want to blackmail me, temerith?"
"I'm hurt," Kalle says, without looking or sounding anything of the sort. "I do know what that word means. I'm not from Molos, but 'temerith' is a bit much."
"Not from where I'm standing," Zerris says, slowly getting to his feet.
Kalle waves a hand dismissively. "I'm sorry if I shocked you like that. I assure you I have no interest in revealing your secret to anyone."
Kalle holds up another knife―the one he took off Orianna. His expression becomes serious, his eyes steady on Zerris's. "You are good, Zerris. You are very good. I bow to your skills, and I say that with no joking whatsoever. I've met many who use disguise to gain their ends, and met many therai who meticulously construct themselves as women, but I have never met anyone who could disguise themselves so well, therai or otherwise. I wondered about you at first—I wasn't sure for far too long that you were therai—and believe me when I say that my uncertainty is high praise. In fact, it took me too long to realise Tiglis was not born a woman, which delighted me of course, but also amazed me after I had been paying you such close attention. So, of course, I had to follow Tiglis home. I confess I didn't truly realise you and Tiglis were one and the same until after I had left you at the Twin Oxen, and even then I needed time to think it over—and Orianna, well, it was obvious after that. What's one more disguise for someone so accomplished?" He puts the knife next to the others. They all have their handles towards Zerris, the blades perfectly aligned, the single-sided cutting edges all in one direction.
Zerris ignores the compliments entirely as his eyes narrow in renewed anger. "'Therai'? What are you calling me?"
Kalle stares at him. "You've never heard of the therai?" He laughs. "I knew they weren't recognised in this city, but I thought at least you would know what you are!" He grins. "You mean to leave Molos, don't you? How far were you planning to go?"
Zerris snarls again. "Yes, I was going to leave the city. What are the therai?"
"Men who live as women," Kalle says, still grinning. "Men who dress as women, behave entirely as women, and—frequently, I am happy to say—sleep with men, occasionally for good coin, if they have a mind." Kalle exaggerates a wink, then shrugs carelessly. "By which I mean if they have a mind, they can charge a high price, having not so much competition. But not all can be bought. Most, I suspect, cannot, and make their coin in other ways, although such do not make themselves so obvious and are therefore harder to count. And I make their acquaintance less often, being not one of them and perfectly happy spending my ill-gotten gains honestly, rather than playing at flirtation, having nobody of Tiglis's calibre to entice me to flirt. So I have made company most often with those who ply the oldest profession. But I digress again. By therai, I mean not those men who like the company of other men and play at women—I know not why, but they are entertaining company—but those who believe themselves to be women. Go to Reshoon or Shoremoth, many of your kind have." Kalle's grin becomes a leer. "I spent a lot of time in those cities."
Zerris stares at him, suddenly speechless and feeling an icy calmness descend over him. He has never before heard anyone talk about him in such a way, or attempt to describe him. He has never assumed he is unique, for even in Molos he knows to his profit of several whose interest lies in men—and many more rumoured—and even one or two who prefer women's garb, but something about what Kalle said revolts him and repels him. He has oftentimes stared at himself in a mirror knowing the image to be wrong; this image is equally as wrong, but more repellently so by being close to truth yet missing it.
Kalle chuckles. "Don't meet many men interested in other men, do you?"
"In Molos?" Zerris laughs bitterly. "I would not survive if people found out about me. Travelling merchants and their guards will pay for half a night, and there are rich men in this city who pay even more for a secret to be kept, but not even the wealthy dare be open about their preferences. Many women live very comfortably as wives with no wifely duties, to maintain appearances."
"And many servants live very happily thanks to a wife with unfulfilled needs, I'd wager," Kalle murmurs. He tilts his head to one side, giving Zerris a thoughtful look. "I can see why you wear that beard. It really doesn't suit you, but it looks genuine. It is a good plan to have Tiglis be your sister, but did you consider making her your wife?"
"No," Zerris says sharply. "An unmarried woman can hide herself from anyone she chooses, but a married woman might be expected to entertain her husband's guests. And a married man would be expected to have guests."
"Handy indeed," Kalle says. He is still looking at Zerris thoughtfully. "Say, how did Tiglis appear? Did she stroll in from the desert when you decided you needed someone to be? Wouldn't that seem strange, to suddenly have a sister?"
Again, Kalle's words revolt Zerris, but this time with a more obvious cause. Needed someone to be? "In this city, many a young desert girl is kept hidden from all save family until she is old enough to hold her own knife," Zerris snaps. "I know full well how lucky I am for it." He glares at Kalle. "What do you want to keep my secret, then? My arse?"
"No!" Kalle snaps, anger flaring in his expression. "I do not make threats for sex. I buy it or trade it, or share it. I do not threaten." He takes a deep breath, visibly settling. "No, I won't break your secret."
"You expect me to trust your word?"
Kalle's face contorts for a second before he brings it back under control. "Yes, I expect you to trust my word."
Zerris has been watching Kalle's internal struggle with narrowed eyes. He is not going to trust every emotion to pass Kalle's face, but he no longer thinks Kalle is deliberately misleading. He thinks now that Kalle genuinely is that quick to change tempers, but anger of the sort Kalle has to visibly struggle to contain is honest anger, and betokens honesty. "Then what are you after?" he asks, trying to keep his voice even.
"I wanted to meet you," Kalle says. "I wanted to meet a thief who could con a merchant's party as a ploy to rob him. And I wanted to meet Tiglis." He flashes Zerris another cocky grin. "In any clothes."
Zerris does not feel flattered, and lets it show on his face. His skill in deception may have grown through the growth of Tiglis, but is not part of Tiglis. "You took the key."
"Please, Zerris, we've been over that ground many times already. By my mother's grave—assuming she has one—I did not take it by intent, or even any understanding of its purpose. I merely grabbed every moneybag and purse I could find in drawer or safe, to sort through later."
Zerris just scowls at him.
"Why did you join the party?" Kalle asks. "I've seen you can climb. Why not just sneak in?"
"A party would be the only night Gabrio would not have the key on his person, yet there are guards stationed on rooftops when a party is in progress," Zerris says sharply. Then he realises what he said. He stares at Kalle. "How did you avoid them?"
Kalle laughs. "Those guards were predictable! I've evaded far better than them. And I didn't have to make the whole run at once, of course. I hid a few times. On the way out, well, they weren't expecting someone to come from the house, were they?"
Zerris continues to stare at him. "How long were you following me? I'd swear you've only been behind me twice."
Kalle grins. "More than that. Oh, more than that. I may not have seen every pocket you picked, but you could not always see me at all, if I did not wish it. You hide in plain sight behind masks. I just hide."
Zer
ris scowls again. He stalks towards his knives without taking his eyes off Kalle.
Kalle watches him evenly. Zerris snatches up the blades one at a time. Kalle makes no movement.
"You weren't after the Egg?" Zerris asks.
"By whatever Gods you care about, no, I was not after the Egg. If I had heard about it, I might have been, but you have a contract. I won't interfere with that."
Zerris subjects Kalle to a continued hard stare for several heartbeats, then grudgingly relaxes. It is well known in Saradakh that wetlanders lack honour in their word, but Kalle at least seems to understand the worth of a promise once given. Zerris's knives disappear about his person.
He spits in his palm. Kalle, standing to face Zerris squarely, does the same. They shake.
Zerris drives his knee into Kalle's groin.
As Kalle collapses, Zerris pours wine. Nothing had been knocked over in their fight.
He is sitting on a crate on the other side of the room by the time Kalle has recovered enough to sit normally.
Kalle salutes with the glass left for him. "That was fair," he says. "That was fair, and fairly done to catch me napping, like that. Can we start from the beginning?"
Zerris tastes the wine. Wherever Kalle acquired it, it is good. "Yes," he says. He restrains the comment that a clear slate between them would require Kalle to shut up.
"That's good," Kalle says. "I would like us to be friends, Zerris. I respect you and admire you, and believe me when I say that makes you alone in all of Molos."
Zerris does not trust himself to reply to that.
He drains his glass instead. Kalle leans forward, proffering the amphora.
"You still lost me my best chance at the Egg," Zerris says, but he holds out his glass to be refilled.
"Then we start by finishing the job."
Zerris almost chokes. "'We'?"
"It's only fair, don't you think? I ruined your first attempt—I'll help you finish the second."
Zerris stabs his glass towards Kalle angrily. "How do you expect to do that? Gabrio would check for that key the first opportunity he got! He knows someone ransacked his bedroom, he knows someone has the key to the greatest treasure in all Molos!"
"Then why are you so determined to retrieve the key, if you imagine it useless?" Kalle asks. "Are you merely trying to ensure I don't make an attempt?"
Zerris snarls at him, but does not deny the accusation. "With it, I can plan," he says instead. "I can hardly seize an opportunity without it, can I?"
"Good! Then we strike before he has a chance to change the lock," Kalle says, unperturbed.
Zerris laughs. "Before? That is hardly a concern. He will have to get a locksmith from Voren, if not farther away! He made sure no smith in Molos could break it."
Kalle raises both eyebrows. "I am confused. If he was that paranoid in housing the Egg, why are you worried?"
"What?"
"He has a lock that cannot be broken," Kalle says calmly. "You told me the lock has a secret. So the key alone is not enough?"
"No," Zerris says.
"Then if someone cleaned out his entire safe and desk, and the key was coincidentally one of the things taken—is he really going to be that concerned? Is he going to expect that someone will try to use the key?"
Zerris stares at him. Of course, that is an entirely reasonable argument. He has been so focused on retrieving the key he has not had time to plan at all. He feels lost for a response.
Kalle spreads his hands. "There you are, then! We should venture an attempt on the Egg, in case I am right."
Zerris begins to laugh. "And what about the guards already there? Or if he has set extra guards?"
Kalle's lips stretch open. It may not be a grin. He may be merely displaying his teeth like a jackal. "If you can get us inside the house, I can ensure we are not troubled by guards."
"How much killing do you intend?" Zerris asks, appalled.
Kalle shrugs. "I do not have to kill. Killing should not be necessary. Easier, perhaps, but mayhap not necessary."
Zerris returns to laughing. It seems the only sane reaction. Kalle patiently waits him out.
"So," Zerris eventually manages to say, "we get inside—I should still be able to do that provided there are not too many guards on the outside—then we need to find our way to Gabrio's vault through a house where every guard may be on alert for an attempt on the Egg. Assuming that—"
Kalle raises a finger to request a pause. "Is Gabrio the sort of man who will have guards patrolling inside his house, or will he be so sure of his house he will keep them on the outside?"
Zerris stares at Kalle, wild hope springing inside him. He had considered that before, but if more guards are stationed on the outside, watching for any attempt at an intrusion...
"The first attempt was made during a party, after all. The battlements had already been passed," Kalle points out.
Zerris chews his lip in indecision, seeing the possibility but not willing to believe in it yet.
"We should at least make an assay to test this," Kalle says, the voice of reasonableness.
"All right!" Zerris bursts out. "We make our way inside, may the Gods below make sure it can still be done, and let us assume we do not face an army in every doorway. We must then hope the Egg is in the same place, behind the same lock, and there is nothing more to overcome save more guards!"
"True," Kalle says. "Many possible problems, but none of them insurmountable. What do we gain if we do not make the venture?"
"Our lives, possibly," Zerris snaps, swinging back to anger. "And what do you want, for so generously helping to fix what you broke?"
"Targets of opportunity," Kalle says instantly. "I wouldn't dream of asking for a cut, I'll just take targets of opportunity while we're there."
Zerris glares at Kalle. Kalle grins back. A long time passes before a smile twists half of Zerris's mouth. "'We' take the Egg. I deliver it and take my payment. No promises after that, understand?"
"Understood!" Kalle spits in his palm again.
Zerris grudgingly spits in his. They shake. For a few heartbeats, they lock eyes as do sparring men before carefully pulling their hands back.
Kalle grins. "See? I knew we should be partners."
"I said no promises, and I meant it," Zerris says, managing to speak with more composure than he feels, but Kalle's phrasing reignites a simmering anger.
"Why are you pursuing Tiglis? You told me you like men—you even said you were 'not averse to a tumble,'" Zerris says, mocking Kalle's accent. "Why Tiglis? Were you only interested when you worked out our secret?"
Kalle laughs, which only serves to increase Zerris's rage. "Ho, no! I was surprised by my initial reaction to Tiglis, I admit, but that was not it at all. Oh no, Zerris, I was completely taken in by Tiglis, and thought her entirely woman. No, Tiglis seemed a dainty, demure thing, and I do not find women such as that to my taste. I don't often care for women, and much less so for what you might call womanly women: girls who most men find enticing for their softness and lack of threat. I much prefer men, but, I say with great interest, having long been intrigued about this myself, I find most appealing manly women and womanly men. So I followed Tiglis to work out what it was about her that attracted me so. I became smitten with her when I saw the way she moved among the crowd, the way she bargained so sharply with shopkeepers, and the way a man she but brushed past found himself bereft of his wallet. It took me a little while longer to realise her skill was not her only secret." He smiles brightly at Zerris.
It takes Zerris a few heartbeats to close his mouth. "You flirted with Orianna well enough, for a man who does not like 'womanly women'!"
Kalle waves this away. "Mere common courtesy. Look: You ask me when I knew. I have considerable training in observing others. To pierce disguises, identify concealed weapons, determine who can fight and how. It was training that stood me in good stead when I met therai. They made a fascinating study. Some are easy to identify, some considerably harder. Some
one of your talent—" He shakes his head. "I am surprised I was even able to recognise Tiglis as such, to be honest with you. But I am so delighted that I did!"
Zerris feels his cheeks grow hot again, but stubbornly ignores the praise. He feels a great need to remove himself from this conversation. He also feels a growing urge to violence every time Kalle talks in such an offhand way about who—or what—Zerris is. "You still want to meet Orianna, don't you? Personally?"
Kalle grins at him. "You can hardly blame me," he says. "And it would hardly be cheating on Tiglis, would it?"
Zerris struggles for the words to explain that yes, it would, but finds himself completely at a loss.
Kalle laughs. "No, I know Orianna is you, let us not maintain that charade, it has been fun but maintaining it would be silly now we have had this honesty between us. But I so swore to return the key to her, and I was denied a close look upon her face or form. As well, I am greatly interested in any opportunity to see your skill at work. So yes, I still want to meet Orianna personally, and return the key solely to her." He sits back, wearing the smug look of someone who knows he deals with someone who cannot afford to bargain.
Zerris has no thought of bargaining. He is struggling too hard to comprehend what Kalle said and to work out how to explain, without the use of a blade, why Kalle is so fundamentally wrong. And of what use is bargaining now? There are no longer any secrets to be kept from Kalle. And Melech represents a danger that eclipses any concern in any case.
"I think we've got enough time to complete the job tonight, don't you?" asks Kalle.
Zerris stares at him in disbelief. "Tonight?"
"Tonight. It'll be deepest dark in another two bells. Perfect time for thievery. I can get in through the balcony again, I can promise you that. I can help you get in through any door on ground level, if you don't feel comfortable enough to follow me."
Zerris's head starts spinning again. "You're mad!"
Kalle's eyes and teeth gleam. "Tell me we can't do this together. You probably still could yourself, even after I poked the hornet's nest, but we most certainly can together."