by Howell, Rob
Chapter 43
Early Afternoon, 24 Heamoanne, 1712 MG
One afternoon, Zvono came into the Faerie accompanied by a man with dark hair and a beard. Though he was slightly built, his hands were large, calloused, and rough. He wore workman’s clothes with burns and scorches that told the tale of many days at a forge.
Honker stood up as if to greet him but backed off when he noticed Zvono at his elbow. He pointedly tried not to pay attention as the two sat at my table.
“Do you know him, Sevener?” asked Zvono.
I rose and politely nodded to him. “No, though I think Honker does. Should I?”
“You told me about him.”
“I did?”
Zvono chuckled. “Go ahead, goodman.”
“Uh, I’z be called Petros, and I’z once…”
“He won’t be mad,” she encouraged.
“Well, uh, I’z once, uh, followed ye, ye see?”
It took only a moment to remember. “You were following me on the day Honker was beaten.”
He nodded, almost cringing.
“Come, sit. Karah, another mug, please,” I called out.
He started shaking his head. “Oh, no, I’z not needin’…”
“Please, Petros, I like Ragnar’s ale and I can’t drink if you’re standing there.”
Uneasily, he gradually sat down. He appreciatively drank some of the freshly poured ale, wiping the line of froth from his upper lip.
“Thankee, gospadar.”
“You’re welcome. So why have you joined me?”
“Uh…”
Zvono chuckled. “He’s joining us because I recognized him today.”
“Your memory is amazing.”
“You told me we were being followed. I tend to pay close attention to people who do that sort of thing.”
I smiled and turned back to Petros. “So Zvono brought you here today.”
He nodded like a hare caught in the open under a soaring falcon’s shadow.
“More importantly, I suppose, is why you followed me that day. I have not seen you since.”
“Uh…”
“Tell him, goodman.” Zvono’s tone was polite yet firm, and he looked between us nervously, licking his lip and then finishing off the mug.
“Well, uh, gospadar, uh, it’z to be like thiz, ya see. I’z to be friends with Harald since we’z been lads...”
I put up a hand to stop him. Honker had overheard the statement and started to nod before trying to studiously ignore us again. “Honker, just come over and join us.”
With a blushing face, he crept over and I motioned to Petros to continue.
“Uh, yes, gospadar. It’z to be that I waz there when he’z bein’ beaten.” He looked down in shame, not meeting his friend’s eyes.
“And you didn’t try to intervene because you were scared of three thugs? I don’t really blame you, and I’m sure Honker doesn’t either. You’d have just ended up bleeding, with some broken ribs. For that matter, your family might have to stay here too. You did the smart thing, right, Honker?”
Honker nodded slowly as he thought about it. “Yes, I’m thinkin’ it was the smart thing. I’d’ve probably done the same.”
“But now, goodman, you might be able to help both of us. Honker’s told us all he can remember about that day, but maybe you can remember more. I want you to tell us all you can.”
“I’z to be followin’ ya on that day to be doin’ that, but...”
“But suddenly I was with the queasies and you didn’t want to be involved.”
He nodded, looking at his hands. Honker nodded, too.
Zvono opened her tablet and leaned forward. “Goodman, what happened?”
“Well, they’z beatin’ on Honker.”
“How many were there?”
“Uh, three that I recall.”
“Good. Can you describe them?”
“Well, there’z two that did the beatin’.”
“Explain.”
“One of they’z just standin’ back and watchin’, mostly.”
“He didn’t do anything?”
“Uh, maybe a push or somethin’. I can’t really recall.”
“Did he say anythin’?”
“Uh..., let me see... Well, I’z thinkin’ he did some talkin’ but I’z not rememberin’ what exactly.”
“Did he talk about staying away from the queasies?”
“Uh..., no...” He looked at his hands. “At least I don’t think so. He’z sayin’ somethin’ about keeping outta their business, but...” He shrugged.
“But you don’t recall what exactly he said?”
He nodded.
“The other two did all the beating, correct?”
He nodded again.
“Did they say anything?”
“They’z to be sayin’ mostly the same things.”
“Stay out of their business?”
“And..., uh...”
“They’re the ones who said to keep away from the queasies.”
He nodded, squirming in his chair nervously.
Zvono chuckled, which surprised him and he looked up. “You’re doing just fine, goodman.”
Petros looked back at his hands. Honker punched him lightly in the shoulder with a small smile.
Zvono tapped her stylus lightly. “Did they say anything else?”
“Ummm..., yez, I mean, they’z to be laughin’ amongst themselves as they’z to be leavin’.”
“Did you catch anything they said?”
“Uh...”
“Goodman?”
“Well, yez, as to be sayin’, but it’z nonsense.”
“What do you mean?”
“One’z jokin’ about dinner with the Emperor, or something.” He looked at his hands again. “Just nonsense.”
“Yes,” Zvono said, nevertheless noting something in her tablet. She looked back up at Petros. “What were they wearing?”
“Uh... clothes.”
“What kind of clothes?”
“A tunic and pants, I guess.”
“Were they new clothes?”
“I’z not sure.”
“I mean did they look worn, with rips and tears?”
“Uh..., I’z not to be recallin’ that.”
“Did the clothes look fancy and rich?”
He shook his head vehemently.
“Excellent. Did they have any weapons? I mean swords or cudgels, not simple belt knives.”
He shook his head slowly as he looked through his memories. “I’m not be recallin’ none, but I’z could be wrong.”
“How about jewelry?”
“I didn’t see no fancy jewels.”
“But?”
“Oh, they’z wearin’ charms a’course.”
“Charms?”
“Yez, charms on cords around they’z necks.”
“Did you recognize the charms?”
“Uh...” Petros shook his head vehemently. “I’z not to be seein’ them before.”
“Never?”
“Not as charms.” He clearly was uncomfortable about something, more uncomfortable than merely talking to Zvono.
“What were they?”
“Well, who’z to be wearin’ a bukavac as a charm?”
“What’s a bukavac?” I asked.
Zvono started, then smiled. “Of course, an ignorant barbarian such as you wouldn’t know of such a thing.”
Petros dropped his mouth open in surprise that anyone would not know what a bukavac was.
Zvono merely laughed at me. “It’s a monster of legend, Sevener. Six legs, big horns, and lives in lakes.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Such as that deep lake a couple miles thataway?”
“Exactly. They’re supposed to periodically come out in the night and strangle people.” She turned backed to Petros. “All three were wearing charms of a bukavac?”
“Uh..., I’z to be thinkin’ it waz just themz doin’ the kickin’, now that I’z thinkin’ about it.”
/> “Excellent. Did the third wear a charm?”
Petros thought about it, but shook his head. “I’z not sure, I’z to be seein’ the other two’z charms because they’z flyin’ around as they’z beatin’ on Honk here.”
“So the third could have been wearing a charm, perhaps the same charm, but you didn’t see it because he was mostly just standing there?”
Petros shrugged.
After Zvono asked the questions again and confirmed some details, she flipped her tablet closed. “Thank you, goodman. You’ve been very helpful. Why don’t you and Honker go over to his table and have a pint on me.”
Petros glanced back and forth at us, nodded, and followed over for several pints as things turned out.
Zvono sighed at me. “I don’t think that told us much.”
I nodded, but I was distracted.
“What, Sevener? You have a look in your eye.”
“I don’t know, Zvono. I feel like I just missed something.”
She peered at me, then flipped her tablet open. Almost word for word she recounted what Petros had said.
I listened, but nothing caught my ear. “I don’t know, Zvono, maybe it reminds me of something Honker said. Or maybe it’s something in this mass of stuff.” I patted the stack of heavily scrawled parchment that sat at my elbow.
We drank some ale.
“That’s an interesting charm.”
She tapped her stylus on her tablet. “Yes, it is, Sevener. Two violent thugs wearing a symbol of a creature that attacks people.”
“Petros thought it was a charm like the Naumites wore. Is the bukavac used as a symbol by any of the godlings here?”
“It could be, there are so many.”
“You don’t know them all?”
“No one knows them all here, Sevener.” She slid her hands over her head to clear the hair out of her eyes. “But, I’ll definitely ask around. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t either. I wonder if that’s what’s nagging at me. Maybe someone mentioned something like that in a report. I’ll get Maja to check. She’s more likely than I to spot something so Achridan.”
“Where is she, anyway?”
“I sent her to report to Vukasin. I know he’s gotten the information, but I suspect he’d like to hear something about our thoughts of all this.”
“You’re right, he would.”
“And it would not hurt me to stay on his good side.”
Zvono grinned. “Maybe you aren’t as stupid as you seem.”
“I don’t know. If I were smart, I’d be sitting on a meadhall bench singing songs of glorious deaths in battle with my kin.”
She chuckled, but patted me on the shoulder as she rose.
“I’ll ask around today. Hopefully, I can come back tomorrow or the next with some ideas on the bukavac charms.”
I pondered things for a while, but nothing fit so I decided to take my afternoon nap.
Chapter 44
Midday, 26 Heamoanne, 1712 MG
Two days passed before Zvono returned with more information about the bukavac charms. During that time, Maja and I scoured every report we could for any hint of bukavacs or charms depicting them. We also passed the word to keep an eye out for anything close.
Zvono arrived just in time for lunch, happily accepting a plate of her own holding a shopska salad and the previous day’s bread toasted and buttered. She told Maja and me what she had found between mouthfuls.
“Kapric is still looking for more information, because what we found worries him.”
“What did you find?”
“The bukavac has been adopted by a group in Basilopolis called the Gimerrai.”
“The Gimerrai? Who are they?”
Zvono shrugged. “Nobody really knows, but one of the quaesitors I know from the Great City sent a report to us about six months ago mentioning them. People wearing a bukavac charm were connected to several beatings similar to that of Honker.”
“A new organization after all.”
Zvono thought for a moment.
“Yes, but this group doesn’t look to have any connection that would influence Andreas.”
“What if they threatened his family?”
“Andreas’s family?”
“Yes.”
Zvono leaned back in thought for a moment but then shook her head. “No, the timing isn’t right. He does have family in the Great City, but it was only a day between you planning to leave for Lezh and Andreas arresting you. There’s no way anyone in Basilopolis could threaten them before he could respond. His wife is here, but Pherenike has a detail for her as well as Andreas if she leaves the building.”
“What about magic?”
“That’s the point. Andreas can talk to people in Basilopolis quicker than anyone else with magic and make sure his family is protected. This group would have had to make arrangements ahead of time.”
“Could they have done just that?”
“I suppose, but why? Andreas was just going to be the governor of Dassaretum. Most people know there’s not much power in that position.”
“Even in the Great City?”
“Yes, even in the Great City. Besides, then they’d have to have been able to prove to him that they could get to his family within that day without having attacked his family weeks ago. It just doesn’t work.”
“I suppose.”
“You don’t agree?”
“I guess I do. Certainly it would be very unlikely. But no chance at all? I wonder if we’re missing something.”
“I’m sure we are, but I still don’t think the timing will work.”
I looked at Maja. “Can you think of a way?”
“No, I think Zvono’s right.”
Karah came to our table, trading a fresh pitcher of lakewater for our empty lunch plates.
I mused, “Well, could they influence Andreas in any other way?”
“Could he be a member of this group?” Maja suggested.
Zvono drummed her fingers on her tablet. “I would guess not, but that’s only because the only Gimerrai we know of are poor. I won’t say it’s impossible, but I can’t imagine Andreas meeting the people who beat up Honker socially.”
“We don’t know enough to say for sure, though.”
“No, Edward, we don’t, but it still seems unlikely. More likely is someone who can get to Andreas and can hire the Gimerrai.”
I mused for a moment. “I’m forgetting something that’s rattling in my head, but one thing that does come to mind is Dragan.”
“Dragan?”
“The member of Gibroz’s organization who set up the attack on Gabrijela and I.”
“You didn’t tell me much about all that.”
“I probably didn’t, now that you mention it.”
“But one of Gibroz’s people attacked Gabrijela, his erkurioi?”
“Yes, and while Gibroz sent Dragan for a swim later, we never found out why he attacked Gabrijela in the first place. Gibroz’s organization would attract people like the Gimerrai.”
“That’s true.”
“The Gimerrai could have worked their way into Gibroz’s organization, finding opportunities to manipulate some of the lower levels without necessarily involving any of his main people.”
Maja smacked the table in frustration. “Meaning all of this work is useless!”
“No, Maja,” responded Zvono, “That’s not true. Yes, the people behind the attack on Gabrijela and Edward could be outside Gibroz’s main group, but how would they be able to influence Ognyan or Markov without Gibroz noticing? Not to mention Andreas. There’s just too much going on.”
“We’ve told our people to look for anything related to bukavacs,” I said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“And maybe you’ll remember what it is that you’ve forgotten.”
“Yes.”
Zvono pushed away from the table. “I need to get back. Kapric is really worried about what a group like this could do if left alo
ne in Achrida, so we’ll keep looking. I’ll let you know if we find out anything.” She grinned. “Kapric will owe you a favor if you do the same.”
I chuckled. “I will.”
As Zvono left I turned to Maja.
“Let’s do it again.”
“What?”
“Look through this for any hint of a bukavac.”
“But we just did that.”
“Look and look again.”
“That’s one of Bedarth’s sayings, not yours,” she grumbled.
“True, but do you have any better ideas?”
She sighed and started reading.
Chapter 45
Evening, 27 Heamoanne, 1712 MG
“Edward? Edward, did you hear me?”
“What?” I shook my head and answered, “No, Gabrijela.”
Gabrijela sat across from me in one of Ragnar’s private rooms, with shopska salads on the table between us. She had not touched hers and was tapping her fingers on table, so I needed no magical skills to realize she had gotten irritated.
“I’m sorry, my mind is wandering tonight.”
“It’s not that much money.”
I chuckled. “No, it’s not, though it’s a great deal to me.”
This was Gabrijela’s normal night to have dinner with me, and this week she had surprised me with the first fruits of the armring exchange through Ylli and Timoshenko. I’m not sure that I agreed with Ylli that Gibroz was the best courier for the money, but nevertheless, a satisfyingly heavy bag sat in my room.
“And I wanted it to be a nice thing for me to give it to you.”
“It was. Thank you.”
“Then why are you ignoring me?”
“I’m not intending to. I haven’t slept well lately, and maybe that’s distracting me.”
She looked at me with an eyebrow raised over sharp, angry eyes.
I took her hand in mine and apologized by kissing her palm.
She smiled slightly and, thankfully, changed the subject. “In that case, tell me what you’re going to do with your new wealth.”
“I think I might buy a bauble for this beautiful woman I know.” I kissed her palm again.
She smiled shyly. “That’s a good start.” We laughed together.
After a few bites of our salads, she asked, “What else? I don’t need too many baubles, after all.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t thought too much about it. I want to make sure some of that gets to Ragnar and Zoe. They’ve been too generous to me, I think.”