Bargain

by Riley S. Keene

  Elise ground her teeth together. “Yes, thank you. The ocean is that way.” She pointed in the correct direction. “And being so close to it means that the water table here is different. As far beneath the temple that Meodryt was, Jalova would be a soupy, salty mess.” Elise shook her head. “It’s not going to be down there.”

  “You know, that’s a bit of a relief,” Athala said. “It took me months to follow the myths, legends, and construction records to not just locate the spell that sealed Meodryt, but to find a route that would get us there without just getting a shovel and picking a spot that seemed close enough.” She shook her head. “And I imagine our dragon patron and its all-powerful God are not in the mood to wait for months of study.”

  “Well, you did all the research from outside documents, not knowing what you were actually looking for,” Ermolt said. “Now that we know we’re looking for a sealed dragon, we know a lot more about what to look for and what questions to ask, right? We could just ask around at the Temple if we were feeling bold.”

  “You forget, I was a Conscript of Ydia for years,” Elise said. “I never knew the dragon even still existed, let alone was hidden beneath our feet at the Temple. And Conscripts of Teis are who we’d be likely talking to.”

  The conversation died as a barmaid delivered their food. While Athala had requested a plate of roasted vegetables, Elise and Ermolt received the same roasted vegetables on the side of a few juicy cuts of ham and a hunk of bread. The three of them tucked into the meal with vigor.

  “Beyond that,” Athala said after a few mouthfuls of vegetables, “If we’re going to slay the dragon, I doubt anyone in the whole city would want to help us.”

  “Right,” Ermolt said around a mouthful of ham. “So we shouldn’t tell anyone about our plans for the dragon. Meodryt’s return is going to spread quickly behind us. Any follower of Teis who might hear—even secondhand—what we intend might step in on their God’s behalf.”

  “Sirur,” Athala said suddenly. “Sirur is the name of Teis’s dragon.”

  “Thank you,” Elise said with a laugh as she cut the slices of ham on her plate into tiny squares. “I spent the whole trip trying to remember, and couldn’t come up with the name.”

  “Me, too,” Athala admitted as she went back to digging into her own meal. “And I’m glad I remembered. It saves me a step in the research to come.”

  “Right. So you’re going to do your research thing, then,” Ermolt said. “Do you need help with that, or should we look around for information in our own way?”

  “I can manage just fine.” Athala waved a hand dismissively. “There’s plenty of information to be had that I won’t find in any book. Even if you two just wander the city all day, you can help us to blend in and look a little less like tourists.”

  “I can reach out to people within the city, actually.” Elise said, tearing apart her chunk of bread. “For some six-odd generations, the Overseers have had a presence here in Jalova. As a Conscript of Ydia, I might be able to trade information. If they have eyes inside the Temple, they might know something.”

  “And what would you trade to them?” Athala asked warily.

  “I could give them similar information about Khule.” Elise said, trying to not meet the eyes of the wizard in case she could see the lie behind her eyes. “I don’t know if they’ve ever thought about expanding, but I think our mission is worth giving them a foothold.”

  “Right.” Ermolt nodded. “And the Overseers are...?”

  “Oh, right,” Elise said. “I forget you haven’t really traveled widely in the south. The Overseers are a state-sanctioned thieves’ guild.”

  “Why would the state support a thieves’ guild?” Ermolt frowned.

  “It’s complicated,” Athala said as she waved a hand dismissively. “They started as a political tool for the Lublis elite. Sort of an open secret among the nobility. But eventually they expanded elsewhere and Jalova’s branch is—”

  “—Only as important as we make them,” Elise interrupted. “What matters is that they’re here, and they could be a resource.”

  “Just try not to provoke them,” Athala said with a sniff before went back to her meal. “I don’t know about the Jalova branch, but the Lublis Overseers are not to be trifled with.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Elise said. “I grew up in that life. I’m not worried about dealing with them.”

  “Well then, while you’re irritating a group of cutthroats,” Ermolt said around a mouthful of bread, “I’ll gather information my own way.” He gestured expansively around the room with a wink. “The common folk on the street are the best source of intelligence there is.”

  “You just want to get drunk with our newfound wealth.” Elise muttered.

  “Excuse me?” Ermolt said. “I didn’t catch that.” He grinned and took another drink from his mug.

  “I said you’re just going to stumble from bar to tavern to inn getting drunk and starting trouble,” Elise said, enunciating each word clearly. She flashed him a wide grin and he stuck his tongue out in return.

  “Well, when you put it that way, yes. But I’ll be buying drinks for the local know-it-alls, and keeping an ear to the ground at the same time.” Ermolt smiled broadly and chugged the last of his beer before letting out a ringing belch. “Just because I’ll enjoy myself doesn’t mean it won’t be useful.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Elise.” Athala said, raising a hand to quiet Elise before she could retort. “Between my research telling us where the dragon is, and the Overseers telling you how we can get there, we should have everything we need.”

  “I’d love to stay and discuss why my contribution is being ignored here.” Ermolt pushed the empty plate out from in front of himself. “But I should get some rest.” He piled his dishes in a nice pile for the barmaid to clear. “I will see both of you in the morning.” Elise handed him the key to his room wordlessly.

  Elise and Athala shared a frown as they watched him head towards the back of the tavern. “You know,” Elise said after a moment, returning to her meal to sop up the last bit of ham juice with a small hunk of bread, “the longer I know him, the more I’m unsure if he’s joking.”

  Athala chuckled low. “He says the same about you. I tend to think of the two of you as a very dangerous two-headed coin. One that argues about who should be the real front though neither actually wishes for the honor.” Athala piled her dishes with Ermolt’s. “Just be careful with the Overseers, alright? Don’t trust them.”

  “You be safe as well.” Elise said as the wizard stood from the table. She slid Athala’s room key across the table. “I know you shouldn’t be in any real danger, but this is still a new city. Watch yourself.”

  “Of course,” Athala said with a nod before she made her way towards the rooms.

  Elise sat in silence, nursing the last of her wine. The barmaid came and collected the various plates and mugs with a flirtatious smile and bit of conversation, but Elise had no desire to warm her bed after the long trek. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

  Chapter Eleven

  By the time Elise woke up the next morning, Athala and Ermolt were already gone. Elise ordered herself a hearty breakfast and tucked into it with efficiency. She was driven to get going as soon as possible.

  When breakfast was done, Elise traveled west out of the tavern, toward the Overseer’s District. The name was a bit of an unofficial designation, but the amount of control the guild had over that portion of the city was too absolute to ignore.

  Elise was sure to pass close by the Temple of Teis to get a good look at it. It was a mistake. Seeing the place made her all the more nervous about the prospect of sneaking in. The proximity to—and possible conflicts with—the Overseers had obviously influenced the security around the place.

  Where the Temple of Ydia had regular guard shifts and patrol routes for Conscripts, the Priests of Teis had taken it to the extreme. There were Conscripts everywhere, standing in pairs at every door, with a few stat
ioned near the temple’s windows, where they were within reach of the ground. Elise was shocked to see that there were even guards stationed on the rooftops of nearby buildings. Homes and businesses had been turned into watchtowers by the small guard perches built onto them.

  Such high levels of security helped to drive home the importance of what information she could gather from the Overseers. Without help, there was little chance of penetrating these defenses.

  Elise left in a hurry before any Temple Guard or Conscript could get a good look at her.

  It was a brisk day in Jalova, and even though her walk took nearly a bell, Elise didn’t mind. The air coming off the ocean was cool and steady, bringing with it the scent of fish and salt. The buildings around the harbor were made of wood and brick and looked to be built to weather the salted water and occasional storm that the waves would drag to shore. She saw plenty of small eateries, many with counters and stools instead of the more traditional table.

  The smells that wafted from the building fronts made her mouth water, even though she was still sated from breakfast. It was almost eleventh bell, and so many of the sailors seemed to be fetching an early lunch. Elise saw soups and stews with chunks of white fish, fire-seared fish flesh draped over platters of rice, and bits of oil-fried fish served on thin wooden sticks.

  Elise had never been a big fan of eating fish but she’d also never had it fresh. She wondered if it had a different flavor and consistency. There was work to do now, but Elise made a mental note to stop by before they left Jalova and give some a try.

  Beyond the harbor to the northwest side of town was the Overseer’s District. The cove that enclosed the harbor led to an elevated section of town that sat above the ocean. At the top, Elise knew, was the keep that served as the official headquarters of the Overseers, but their influence had expanded slowly as the formerly rough neighborhood fell under the Overseer’s control, and went from slums and abandoned buildings to successful small businesses and well-kept homes. The improvement of the city was a subject of pride for the Overseers, and was a constant point of contention in any discussion among the common people regarding the guild’s conflicts with other forces within the city. If the Overseers were supposed to be so bad, why were the businesses they supported doing so well?

  Elise availed herself of one such business, a tavern south of the Overseer’s keep. A wooden sign out front of the establishment named it The Rebellious Huntress, and there was a tiny woman carved into the sign, her cocked arrow aimed at the sigil of Teis. It seemed a likely source of information against the Temple.

  The tavern was a surprisingly fine establishment, although it was full of shady-looking characters. The tavern sported a decor that spoke volumes about the large amounts of coin that was spent on its wares. Elise sidled up to a long rounded counter that spanned the center of the room and got the attention of the woman working behind it.

  “You’re new around here,” the portly woman said. She was well-dressed, and appeared healthy, though there were pockmark scars across her neck below the jawline that spoke of harder times behind her. “Looking for a drink?”

  Elise purposefully laid three too many coins across the top of the wooden surface. The woman’s brow rose at the extras. “Something dark and good for the changing season, but nothing with cave pepper, if you please.”

  The woman made the coins disappear and supplied a cup of a deep brown liquor that Elise found pleasantly warming at the first sip. “Now I know my whiskey is good, but a woman of your tastes might also be interested in a bit more. Everything’s on the menu, although certain things might run a bit more coin than you gave. What would you like?”

  Elise tipped the cup toward the woman. “Now that you mentioned it, I would be gracious if you could find me something about current events. I’m curious if there’s anything interesting going on around the Temple in the next month or so. Want to be sure I do my sightseeing around the best time.”

  The barkeeper pursed her lips for a moment in thought. “Well, there’s the Autumn Festival starting up soon, but if you’d like to know a bit more than that...” She hesitated for a moment and looked toward a figure to the back of the establishment. The woman jerked her chin in that direction. “Talk to Wilmarr. I’m sure he can accommodate your needs.”

  “Thank you,” Elise said, laying out another coin. “For his next round, please.” The woman nodded and Elise picked up her drink and walked in the direction of Wilmarr’s table.

  The tavern was clean and well-lit, but Wilmarr seemed to not notice. He had his hood pulled up over his head and it cast his features in darkness. The man was hunched over his drink, a scowl barely visible as he watched Elise approach.

  “I didn’t order that,” Wilmarr grumbled as Elise set her drink down.

  “I know you didn’t.” Elise slid into the seat opposite the brooding man. “This is mine.”

  “I didn’t order you, neither,” the man said into his tankard. “Unless someone else already paid.”

  “Tch.” Elise let an edge of anger seep into her tone as she laid a hand on the table. The callouses of years of weapons drills were clearly visible across her fingers and palm. “Do I look the sort of woman who can be bought to bed?”

  “Maybe you do,” Wilmarr said with a sniff. He shrugged and settled his cloak around himself a little closer. “People will do just about anything if the coin is right. But alright, let’s assume you aren’t for sale to bed. But if you’re for sale for muscle then you’re about two months too late for the Sauer contract, and I don’t have another thing on right now.”

  “I’m not looking for work. I seek information.” Elise sighed and dropped her attempt at subtlety. It was obvious attempting to hide her motives would just drag out her conversation with this man. “I want to know if there’s anything major happening around the temple in the next month or two.”

  “Ah, you already have work then,” Wilmarr said. “You’re just looking to make it easier on yourself.”

  “You could say that,” Elise admitted. “Though my patron doesn’t have a lot of pull around here, I can trade information for information.”

  “Ah, playing at having a mysterious backer, an interesting tactic.” Wilmarr nodded slowly and took another drink from his tankard. “It usually goes over smoother if you don’t admit that they’re at our mercy.”

  Elise startled. “That’s not what I said,” she said cautiously, trying to keep herself calm. “To say you have power over my patron is laughable. What I meant is that the base of Her power is not in this city.” She could tell Wilmarr was trying to get her to slip up and give up information for free. Elise vowed she would not be taken so easily.

  “If she wants to push into this city, then she is at our mercy.” The man took a long pull from his tankard, finally giving Elise a proper look at his face. It was narrow and delicate, with sharp cheekbones and a pointed chin. He was clean shaven and the lack of stubble gave him a youthful, boyish appearance. His did not look like the face of a criminal, except for the ripple and shine of burn scars that ran from the middle of his forehead down across the left cheek. Wilmarr’s eyes were a crisp blue, the color of the sky on a snowy day, and a perfect hint to the barbarian blood that loomed somewhere in his lineage. In another situation, Elise would have found the man’s face disarmingly attractive, scars or no.

  “You’re staring,” Wilmarr noted with a flick of a smile.

  Elise flushed with embarrassment. “My apologies, but you are quite attractive under all that shadow. It’s rare to see a southern man with such arresting eyes.” She gestured in a small shrug with her free hand. “And rarely do the northern men have such a delicate bone structure.”

  Wilmarr snorted. “Your poetry could use some work, but I’ll take the compliments for what they are. My mixed blood doesn’t get me many usually, and my bone structure even less.” He smiled wide. “Not many ladies can accept my being both half-blood and goch.”

  Elise arched an eyebrow and felt her skin
grow hot again. The man was a goch, a person who’d been designated one gender at birth but transitioned to living life as the other. Her immediate reaction was to apologize as if she’d performed some social blunder, but the man seemed genuinely pleased with her comments. Considering he mistook her for a prostitute earlier in their conversation, perhaps he was used to a less sophisticated round of conduct anyway.

  “I doubt your poetry is any better,” she said with a smile. “But to the matter at hand, my patron doesn’t want to push in, she just wants a job done, that’s all. If there’s something going on, I just want to know when. I don’t need details.”

  “And what do you have to offer in return?” Wilmarr asked. “I don’t even know what information to ask for because you haven’t even told me who you’re working for.”

  “I’m from Khule,” Elise said. “I’ve lived there all my life. I can offer you information relevant to establishing yourselves there.”

  “I don’t know that that’s worth much here.” The man shrugged. “The folks in Lublis might be interested in information like that, but it might not get you too far here.”

  “Maybe if you get the information from me, you can use it to get something out of them,” Elise said, lifting her own mug for a sip. “It’s worth as much to you as it would be to them, then.”

  “Alright then.” Wilmarr leaned forward, tipping his head back to meet Elise’s eyes. He gave her a charming smile. “You’ve convinced me. What can you give me?”

  Elise took a drink from her own mug, both to steady herself and to make Wilmarr wait. She leaned forward to speak as quietly as she could. “Auernheim is corrupt,” Elise said carefully. “I know where you can find some documentation that can be used for blackmail.”

  “To what end?” Wilmarr fixed her with his gaze. Elise found herself jealous of his light eyes. “Is this just going to be some rumors that can get us favorable treatment, or is it bigger than that.”

  “Much bigger.” Elise squirmed in her chair. “Just to start there’s bypassing the judges, sending undocumented prisoners straight to executions, and the use of prison resources for personal projects,” Elise said. Her skin crawled as her hair stood on end. She smoothed them down with her hands. “If you get your hands on the documentation, you can dangle this information over the warden, and if anyone gets put away, your people could just walk out clean.”