[Lyra 05] - The Raven Ring

by Patricia C. Wrede - (ebook by Undead)

  Daner hadn’t moved or spoken. “Well, what is it?” Eleret said at last.

  “The Luck-seer’s talking.”

  “Already? That healer of yours must be very good.”

  “Of course she’s good,” Daner said impatiently. “She works for the Vallaniri.” He turned, frowning into the middle distance. “I wish we knew as much about that wretched Luck-seer.”

  “Daner, you’re not making any sense. What’s happened?”

  “I told you, the Luck-seer’s been talking. Not much, of course, not with injuries like hers, but enough so we could figure out what she was after.”

  “Which was?” With an effort of will, she kept herself from looking directly at Karvonen’s corner, but the knowledge of his presence was a continuing distraction.

  “You.”

  Eleret made an irritated noise. “We already knew that. Either stop being mysterious and let out what you know, or go away so I can get some sleep. Your father was right; it’s been a long day.”

  “I’m sorry,” Daner said at once, but the smile that accompanied the words looked a little stiff at the corners. “I wasn’t thinking. Of course you’re tired, after all that’s happened.” He moved away from the window as he spoke.

  “So tell me what Jonystra said.” Eleret shifted, drawing Daner’s eyes toward her and away from Karvonen’s corner.

  As long as Daner was watching her, he was unlikely to notice the thief standing motionless in the shadows. Not too much, she cautioned herself. It would be ironic if, after all the fuss she’d made about it, she maneuvered Daner into blocking her throwing lines.

  Daner hesitated. “It has to do with a ring,” he said at last.

  “Yes, but what does it have to do with my ring? If you can’t make sense, I’ll go find your father. I’ll wager I can persuade him to give me a full report.”

  “No, don’t,” Daner said quickly, stepping between Eleret and the door. “He can’t tell you anything more. He—we don’t know any more.”

  “You got Jonystra to say that she wanted my ring, but you forgot to ask her why?” Eleret did not bother to hide her skepticism, though she could not imagine why Daner would lie.

  “You saw how badly she was injured. We had a hard time getting as much information as we did.”

  “None of which is new.” Eleret frowned. Daner was behaving very oddly. “Why are you here?”

  “Now that we’re certain Jonystra was after your ring, we should make sure no one else gets a chance at it before we find out why.”

  “What do you mean?” Eleret asked warily.

  “There’s a strongbox built into the wall of my father’s study; it’s been spelled against every kind of interference anyone could think of. The ring will be much safer there than here.”

  “I’m sure you think so.” Eleret had to struggle to keep her tone neutral, because she was not at all sure. Everyone else seemed to want the raven ring; perhaps Daner, too, had succumbed to its lure. The thought made her feel alone, as if a comrade she’d depended on had deserted her. Why? Daner wasn’t Cilhar. Before that morning, she hadn’t even known he existed.

  “Come, don’t be foolish,” Daner said with a touch of impatience. “This is the best way, I promise to the land’s end. Give me the ring.” He held out his hand toward Eleret.

  Behind him, Eleret saw the beginning of movement in the shadows. “Daner!” she shouted, and jerked a raven’s-foot free of the strap that held it against the padded shoulder of her vest. Daner whirled, raising his hands in an unfamiliar motion. Eleret’s arm whipped down, and in the moment of release, her wrist flicked infinitesimally to one side. An instant later, as Daner finished his gesture, the raven’s-foot struck his shoulder. Simultaneously, the raven ring stabbed Eleret’s forefinger.

  As she pulled another raven’s-foot loose, Eleret’s mind caught up with her body. Something was wrong with Daner’s reaction, his timing, his stance—that wasn’t Daner at all!

  “Don’t move, you,” she said. “Karvonen? Can you get his dagger?”

  The door swung open. “What dagger?” Daner’s voice said from the hall outside. “Eleret—Stars!”

  A second Daner stepped through the open door, stopped short, and reached for his knife, his eyes wide with astonishment. The set of his shoulders and the way he held his knife fit Eleret’s memories of the fight in the alley. Eleret smiled slightly, and kept her eyes on the false Daner and her raven’s-foot raised to throw. “Stay where you are, Daner,” she said to the newcomer. “I don’t want to get you mixed up. Karvonen! Hurry it up.”

  “Small chance of that,” the false Daner said. He straightened, clutching his left shoulder, and bowed sardonically in Eleret’s direction. “Fare ill, Cilhar girl, until we meet again, and do believe I’ll try my best to make it so. Ilmora!”

  Between one eyeblink and the next, he vanished. The candle flames bent briefly toward the empty space as Eleret stood frozen, staring. Then, weapon poised, Eleret advanced, while behind her Daner muttered rapidly.

  “No good; he’s gone,” Daner said, sheathing his dagger. “Who—Eleret, look out!”

  As Daner spoke, Karvonen half stumbled, half fell out of the shadows toward Eleret, his face twisted and his eyes wild. Both hands clutched at his throat; it looked as if he were trying to strangle himself, and more than half succeeding. Eleret slid her unused raven’s-foot back into place and took three quick steps forward. Her hands closed around Karvonen’s wrists and she threw all her strength into a quick push-pull. There was a moment’s resistance; then the opposition ended abruptly. Karvonen fell against her, choked, and began breathing in great gasps.

  “It’s the thief!” Daner’s knife was back in his hand. “What in the Emperor’s name is he doing here?”

  “He came to talk to me.” Eleret helped Karvonen over to the bed and let him drop to a seat on the edge of it. He was laboring for breath and unable to talk, but he responded with a wave and an exaggerated nod which Eleret interpreted as thanks.

  “You can’t be sure of that,” Daner said. “He might have come to rob you. For all we know, he might be in league with that woman downstairs.”

  Karvonen frowned and tried to say something, which set off a coughing fit.

  “That’s not what he told me,” Eleret said, shaking her head at Karvonen.

  “Told you?”

  “He was here when I came up. We talked for a while before you—I mean, he—I mean, that other Daner came in.” Without thinking, she glanced at the place where the false Daner had disappeared, and suppressed a shudder. “I thought shapeshifters were just a story.”

  “They aren’t, mores the pity,” Karvonen said. His voice sounded hoarse and he still breathed heavily, as if he had been running, but at least he wasn’t gasping for air like a drowning man. “And they’re worse than wizards. Shit a two-by-twenty-weight of iron through the bottom of a badly patched canoe. What have I gotten myself into?”

  “A cell in the Emperor’s dungeon, if I have anything to say about it.” Daner glared at Karvonen and shifted his grip on his dagger. “What are you doing here, thief?”

  “Sitting on the Freelady’s bed, getting my breath back, after we saved each other’s necks,” Karvonen answered. He took another deep breath, then looked up to meet Eleret’s eyes. “For my half of which I thank you most profoundly, Freelady. I owe you my life.”

  Eleret blinked, surprised again by Karvonen’s familiarity with Cilhar customs. Daner frowned. “Saved each other’s necks? I saw Eleret save yours, but when did you do anything for her?”

  “When I realized your shapeshifting double was a fake,” Karvonen said, then glanced doubtfully at Eleret. “At least—”

  “I knew he wasn’t Daner when I saw him move to attack you,” Eleret said. “And not until then, so yes, you did something. But how did you know he wasn’t Daner?”

  “His phrasing. ‘I promise to the land’s end’ is a Rathani saying, and it isn’t used often enough for most foreigners to pick it up on
a casual visit to the city. Add to that the fact that the Vallaniri trade interests are mostly in the south and east, and the way he was urging you to give him that ring—”

  “What?” Daner looked from Karvonen to Eleret with an expression of outrage. “And you were going to do it?”

  “Of course not,” Eleret said. “Look, it’ll make more sense if you hear it in order.” She gave a quick summary of events, finishing, “Now you know what he told us. How much of it was true?”

  “About Jonystra? Nothing.” Daner fingered his dagger as if he was not sure whether he wanted to keep it in hand, put it away, or throw it at someone. “She’s not capable of talking yet, and the healer said she wouldn’t be until tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. Once he finished with her, he hauled me over the starboard yard and back; apparently when it comes to taking care of burns, I did almost everything wrong except put her to sleep.” He shook his head. “Why do healers always expect people to know as much about their business as they do?”

  “They don’t.” Karvonen shrugged expressively. “They’re just like most people—they hate it when some amateur makes their job more difficult. As long as we’re explaining things, would someone mind telling me what this ring is that almost got me killed?”

  “Yes, I mind,” Daner said. “Eleret, watch him for a minute while I call someone. As soon as he’s locked up, we can—”

  “No.”

  Both men looked at Eleret with surprise, Karvonen’s mingled with dawning delight, Daner’s with irritation. “He’s a thief and a sneak,” Daner said angrily. “You can’t trust him!”

  “Maybe not, but I owe him something.” Eleret looked at Karvonen. “I won’t say that I owe you my life, but you’ve taken risks twice for me. Once to bring me your information, and once to let me know about the shapeshifter.”

  Karvonen cocked his head to one side and studied her.

  “You know, I have the melancholy feeling that neither one was really necessary.”

  “There’s no telling now,” Eleret said. “In any case, I won’t help Daner lock you up. But I won’t help you get away, either. You’re on your own, thief.”

  “Eleret, you can’t mean to say that you believe him! He’s an admitted thief—”

  “And good at it,” Karvonen murmured. “Don’t forget to say ‘good at it’.”

  “—and an intruder,” Daner continued determinedly. “The sea lords alone know how he got in here.”

  “Well, I know, too,” Karvonen put in. “But I can’t say. Professional secret,” he added with relish.

  “You don’t even know that he told you the truth—”

  “And you don’t know that I didn’t,” Karvonen said smugly.

  Daner glared at him. “Whatever his claims, you don’t owe him anything but a cell. Which is where I intend to put him as quickly as possible, whether you agree or not.”

  “That’s called the watch in,” Karvonen said, shaking his head. “You’ll never get her to help now. Oh, and by the way, I didn’t make any claims. I acknowledged a debt. Another one,” he added in a gloomy tone. “Why these things always happen to me…”

  “Go ahead, then,” Eleret said to Daner.

  “I thought you’d see it my way,” Daner said with a triumphant glance at Karvonen. “I won’t be long; keep him here—”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “I won’t keep him here,” Eleret said calmly.

  Daner transferred his glare from the thief to Eleret. “Why not?”

  “Because she already said she wouldn’t help you lock me up,” Karvonen said, grinning broadly. “You don’t know much about Cilhar, or you wouldn’t have wasted your breath arguing. So what are you going to do now, my lordly Ciaronese friend? The minute you’re out that door, I’m gone. And believe me, once I am, you won’t catch me.”

  “I won’t have to,” Daner snapped. “Because you’re not getting away, no matter what you think.”

  “I got in here, didn’t I?”

  “Stop it, both of you.” Eleret made her voice as commanding as she could, hoping that surprise would make them listen even if nothing else did. If they kept to the path they were traveling, there’d be blood on someone’s dagger before morning.

  “Eleret, can’t you see what he’s doing?” Daner said. “This is all some sort of trick. He’s probably after the ring too, just like everyone else.”

  “I’m never like everyone else,” Karvonen objected, and paused. Then, too casually, he asked, “What ring?”

  “This one,” Eleret said, holding out her right hand. She kept her fingers curled into a fist, just in case.

  “Eleret, are you crazy?” Daner demanded as Karvonen studied the ring with an expression of casual interest. “What do you think he came here for?”

  “I came to give her some information,” Karvonen said patiently. “I’ve told you that several times.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I do,” Eleret said, surprising herself as much as Daner. “But if you won’t take his word for it—”

  “Take his word? He’s a thief!”

  “But the City Guards said the Aurelicos were honorable ones,” Eleret said uncomfortably. She couldn’t bring herself to say aloud that she rather liked Karvonen. In the past, when she had needed to know whether to trust someone, she had relied on the knowledge and experience of her family and friends, as most Cilhar did. Here in Ciaron she had little to depend on but her own instincts, and she couldn’t hold those up to Daner as a reason to believe Karvonen.

  “An honorable thief is a contradiction in terms.”

  “Well, Karvonen seems pretty contradictory to me.”

  Karvonen’s eyes widened; then he grinned and bounced to his feet. “A fairer compliment has never been paid me, Freelady,” he said in Cilhar, bowing with fluid grace.

  “What was that he said?” Daner asked suspiciously.

  “He thanked me,” Eleret told him, allowing some of her irritation to show. “Daner, do you intend to stand there all night? Because that’s what you’ll have to do, if you won’t trust at least one of us.”

  “It’s not a matter of trust.”

  At least he didn’t sound quite as determined as he had a moment earlier. “Then what is it a matter of?”

  “Pride,” Karvonen suggested with an air of innocent interest.

  “Keep out of this,” Eleret said, exasperated. Karvonen was behaving like the kind of person who’d poke a willow wand into a wasp’s nest for the fun of watching, never mind the stings. And just when she was starting to get somewhere with Daner, too.

  “I can’t,” Karvonen said even more innocently than before. “I’m what you’re arguing about, aren’t I? So I’m in the middle whether I want to be or not. I’m just trying to enjoy myself a little.”

  “If you’re not careful, you’ll enjoy yourself right into a cell.”

  “All right,” Daner said abruptly. “He can go, but only because you say you owe him a favor. And this cancels it.” Setting his knife back in its sheath at last, Daner looked toward Karvonen. “Don’t come anywhere near Eleret again, or I’ll hand you over to the Emperor’s Questioner. Understand?”

  Karvonen blinked, then looked reproachfully at Eleret. “I thought you said he wasn’t your boyfriend.”

  “What?” said Daner, completely at a loss.

  “He isn’t,” Eleret said. “And you’d better leave while you have the chance.”

  Daner glared at Eleret. “What did he mean?” he demanded, jerking his thumb at Karvonen.

  “That little speech of yours sounded an awful lot like a fit of jealousy to me,” Karvonen replied. “I’m sure you’d agree, if you could consider the matter rationally.”

  “Karvonen you idiot, get out of here,” Eleret said as Daner’s face reddened and his right hand dropped to his dagger’s hilt once again.

  “Sorry, no.” Smiling, Karvonen sat deliberately down on the bed and swung his feet up on the covers. Clasping his han
ds behind his head, he leaned back against the nearest bedpost, a picture of casual relaxation, and said, “Think it through, Freelady. When you owe someone a favor, you don’t get to decide how to pay it off.”

  Daner growled and started forward. “Don’t worry, Freelady,” Karvonen said without moving, as Eleret caught at Daner’s arm. “He’s not likely to kill an unarmed, unresisting man, or even wound him, particularly not on top of your bed.”

  “You—” Daner stopped short, staring at Karvonen, then began to laugh. “You’re right.”

  “Well!” Karvonen sat up and returned Daner’s stare, then gave him a half-bow that managed to look graceful in spite of Karvonen’s semi-reclining position. “I underestimated you, my lord. Or perhaps misjudged is the better word; what do you think?”

  “Oh, misjudged, certainly,” Daner said, still laughing. “Since it seems I did the same to you. That way, we’re even.”

  Eleret looked from one to the other, baffled by the sudden air of amity. “If that’s settled, Karvonen had better leave now.”

  “Oh, no.” Karvonen leaned back against the bedpost once more, looking stubborn. “I’m not going anywhere, not for a while, anyway.”

  “Why not?” Eleret and Daner said together.

  Karvonen favored them with a charming and impartial smile. “Because I want to collect on that favor first. Tell me about this ring of yours, and the lady downstairs who can’t talk yet, and whatever brought you to Ciaron in the first place. It’s a fair trade, information for information, and when you’re done we’ll call your side of the debt canceled. Agreed?” He looked at them expectantly.