The Lion of Senet

by Jennifer Fallon

  The prince examined the knife, then glanced at Marqel. “Is that the girl?”

  “Yes, sire,” Rees agreed tonelessly.

  “Arrest her.”

  Two of the soldiers grabbed Marqel and dragged her over to stand before the Lion of Senet. She squealed in protest as she struggled against them, glancing over her shoulder at Lanatyne, who looked at her stonily. She made no move to speak up on Marqel’s behalf.

  “There’s been some sort of misunderstanding, your highness,” Kalleen said hurriedly, staring at the dagger. Marqel could see she was fuming, but she suspected it had more to do with their rapidly fading chance to get their permit for Senet, than Marqel’s fate. “If the young lord has his property back, then no harm is done. I’ll see the girl is whipped for her dishonesty.”

  Kalleen meant it, too. She would beat Marqel within an inch of her life for this.

  Antonov looked down at Kalleen with contempt. “You have until the morning to be gone from Elcast. And I promise you, it will be the next Age of Shadows before you set foot on either this island or the mainland again.”

  The prince wheeled his mount around with Rees at his side and headed back to the castle. Protesting her innocence loudly, Marqel was lifted into the saddle in front of the captain. Kalleen, Vonril, Sooter and Murry stood watching them as they rode off, their expressions stuck somewhere between shock and outrage.

  Only Lanatyne did not watch her being taken away. Instead she scuffed at the ground with her foot and didn’t say a word.

  Marqel stopped struggling once they got moving, mostly because she was afraid of falling from the horse. She was not an experienced horsewoman, and sitting in front of the captain’s saddle, she was uncomfortable and rather precariously balanced. Besides, she needed time to think, and she couldn’t do that and fight with the captain at the same time.

  Think, she told herself sternly. Think!

  The punishment for theft delivered by the Lion of Senet might yet prove the lesser of two evils. Laws varied from island to island, and she had never heard anything really bad about Elcast, so she allowed herself to hope that the penalty for theft was simply a whipping or perhaps a few days in the stocks. On Gaetane, she’d heard they chopped off your right hand for stealing.

  Kalleen’s discipline was liable to be a thousand times worse.

  Marqel consciously calmed herself and resolved to wait and see what was in store before she made up her mind either to accept the blame or throw herself on the mercy of Prince Antonov’s court.

  There would be time, later, to get even with Lanatyne.

  Chapter 31

  The meeting with the Brotherhood went as smoothly as Reithan predicted. Videon Lukanov proved to be an ordinary, middle-aged man with the air of a prosperous merchant about him. The meeting took place in a cozy tavern near the edge of town, just below the steep road that led to the Kalarada Palace. They were served an excellent meal in the small taproom, as Videon chatted about any number of inconsequential things that had nothing to do with the business at hand. Underneath Reithan’s chair sat a small locked trunk— the reason they were here this evening. Videon didn’t so much as glance at it.

  “So, how are things in your part of the world?” Videon asked eventually, once the plates had been cleared away. He leaned back in his chair and studied the pair of them carefully.

  “Much the same as always,” Reithan told him with a shrug. “Why do you ask?”

  “There’s a rumor around that Johan Thorn is currently a guest of the Lion of Senet.”

  “Well, they were good friends once,” Reithan replied with a smile.

  “Not such good friends anymore, though, eh?”

  Reithan shrugged. “Even if they’ve fallen in love, Videon, it makes no difference to the business at hand.”

  “No,” he conceded. “But it might affect the long-term viability of our arrangement.”

  “If anything happens that is likely to affect our arrangement, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Videon nodded, apparently satisfied with the assurance, then he turned his attention to Tia. “Your little girlfriend doesn’t have much to say for herself.”

  That’s because Reithan made me swear by everything that I hold dear not to say a word, Tia retorted silently.

  “Well, I don’t actually keep her around for conversation,” Reithan told him with a wink.

  “Wish I could find a woman like that, myself. Pretty as a picture, silent as a mouse.”

  Arrogant, patronizing little shit, Tia thought. Reithan must have sensed something of her growing aggravation. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently. It wasn’t an affectionate squeeze. It was more of a say-one-word-and-I’ll-throttle-you sort of squeeze.

  “If you happen to tire of her, while you’re here . . .” Videon suggested hopefully.

  “I might. She can’t cook worth a damn.”

  Tia smiled at Reithan sweetly and placed her hand on his leg under the table. He managed not to show his surprise. Even more impressive was the fact that he managed not to wince when she pinched the soft flesh of his upper thigh and twisted it as hard as she could.

  Reithan pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck, just below her ear. “You cut that out this instant, young lady, or so help me, I will sell you as a virgin,” he hissed.

  She smiled and lifted her hand from his thigh. Reithan turned his attention back to Videon with a smirk. “On the other hand, she does have some other ... attractive ... qualities.”

  “So I see,” Videon agreed with a chuckle. “And I’m obviously keeping you from them. You have the merchandise?”

  Reithan took his arm from around her shoulder and bent over to retrieve the chest. He placed it on the table between them and produced a small key from a chain around his neck. Once the chest was unlocked, he turned it to face Videon. “Ten Senetian drams. As we agreed.”

  “It’s pure?”

  “Naturally.”

  “That’s why I like dealing with you Baenlanders,” Videon said as he pulled the chest to him for closer inspection. “You’re so damn reliable. Have you tried it?”

  “Never touch the stuff.”

  “Smart, too,” Videon remarked. He closed the chest and waved to a man standing near the door. Tia hadn’t realized until then that there wasn’t a man in the room who wasn’t part of the Brotherhood. No wonder Reithan was so touchy.

  “Pay him, Shapon.”

  The man called Shapon produced two large purses from inside his shirt and tossed them on the table. Reithan picked them up and weighed them in his hands for a moment, then tucked the purses into his belt.

  “Aren’t you going to count it?” Videon asked.

  “Do I need to?”

  “And they say there’s no honor among criminals.” Videon waved to another man who stepped forward and picked up the chest. Reithan handed him the key and rose to his feet. Tia took the hand he offered her and decided not to let it go. She didn’t trust these people.

  “Can I offer you an escort, friend? You’ve a lot of money on you. I’d hate for something to happen to you between here and the docks.”

  “If anything happens to me, Videon, you’ll have to find another supplier. I’m sure you’ve got more to lose than I have.”

  The Brotherhood leader smiled. “That’s what I like about you, Reithan. You’re a realist. Go. Take your little friend and enjoy yourself tonight. You’ll be safe. I’ll see you next month?”

  “As always.”

  The men stood back as they crossed the room. One of them even politely opened the door for them. Tia stepped outside with relief. She opened her mouth to say so, but Reithan jerked her arm and began walking briskly down the road into town.

  “Not here,” he warned softly.

  They walked in silence for a way, Tia cursing the long skirts she was wearing. They’d be a serious impediment if she had to run. Eventually, they turned off into a side street. Reithan stopped and waited for a while, until he was satisfie
d they weren’t being followed, then he turned to Tia.

  “What the hell was all that about?” he demanded.

  “Did you see the way he looked at me? And you! Since when did I become your damn girlfriend?”

  “Oh, so you would have preferred it if he thought I didn’t have some claim on you?”

  Tia hesitated for a moment. She hadn’t thought about it like that. “Well, no . . . but . . .”

  “Goddess, Tia! You can be such a child sometimes!”

  “I wasn’t being childish!”

  He took a deep breath, visibly calming himself. “All right, just forget it. But don’t you dare do anything like that when you meet Alexin. You’re going to endanger us all unless you can at least act just a little bit... feminine!”

  “If acting like a simpering fool is your idea of being feminine, then you can shove—”

  “Keep your voice down!” he hissed.

  Tia clamped her mouth shut, surprised at the anger in his voice. “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be,” he agreed unsympathetically.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Not getting us killed would be a good start.”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “We need to go back the way we came. There’s a tavern just near the one we met Videon in. The Queen’s Guards drink there pretty regularly, so it attracts a lot of whores.”

  “You want me to pretend I’m a whore?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. She’d seen the whores in Mil. It didn’t seem that hard. “How will I know Alexin?”

  “He looks like me.”

  “Suppose he doesn’t like the look of me, or something?”

  “If you can get close enough to him to let him know you’re with me, I’m sure he’ll find you irresistible.”

  “Then what?”

  “Take him upstairs, and for the Goddess’s sake, try to look like you’re going to bed him. We don’t want his friends to get suspicious.”

  “Where will you be?”

  “Waiting for you. In room fourteen.”

  “How do you know you can get room fourteen?” she asked curiously.

  “We’ve done this before. The tavern owner is sympathetic.”

  “Who did you use to lure him upstairs the last time?”

  “A friend.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  “Tia . . .”

  “I was just curious, that’s all.”

  Reithan shook his head and turned to examine her critically. “Unbutton your shirt.”

  “Why?”

  “So you look like a whore, not a schoolmistress.”

  “Oh.” She did as he asked, unbuttoning her shirt until there was a fair amount of cleavage visible. Tia glanced down with a frown. Breasts were such inconvenient things. They got in the way when you were using a bow and they bounced around quite painfully when you ran. She would have been quite happy if she’d never developed them at all.

  Reithan suddenly smiled.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Nothing. I just forget that you’re all grown up, sometimes.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she bristled.

  “Let’s not go there,” he suggested with a smile. “Are you ready for this?”

  She nodded, then placed her hands on her hips and thrust her bosom forward. “I think I can manage.”

  He shook his head. “Give me your knife.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want you stabbing the first poor sod who makes the mistake of pinching you on the bum.”

  Reluctantly, she reached under her skirt and handed over the blade she had strapped to her thigh.

  “Good girl. Now, let’s go see if we can’t seduce ourselves a Guardsman.”

  Chapter 32

  The taproom of the Whistler’s Haven was smoky and crowded as Tia let herself in. She glanced around uncertainly for a moment, then made her way toward the other end of the room. There was a crowd of uniformed Guardsmen drinking around the bar, singing a bawdy ballad about a young soldier and the widow who was the reason he never made it to the front, and several more Guardsmen by the hearth. She couldn’t see Alexin among them, or anybody who looked even remotely like Reithan.

  This is never going to work, she told herself. Never.

  She was almost to the bar when an arm slid around her waist and a man pulled her to him, breathing stale beer all over her. “You’re new, sweetie.”

  “I’m also very expensive,” she told him impatiently, putting her hands on his chest to keep him at a distance.

  “What’s so special about you, then?”

  “Fifty silver dorns and you can find out.”

  The man let her go with a shove. “For that much, you’d have to be the Goddess herself!”

  Tia laughed as he let her go, and continued heading toward the bar. I think I handled that well. Maybe this wasn’t so difficult.

  “Hey!”

  She turned toward the man who called her. He was a Guardsman, standing with a group of other officers in their blue-and-silver jackets around a tall table littered with empty tankards. One of the men standing near the unlit hearth was enough like Reithan to be his brother except for his fair coloring. It had to be Alexin.

  All too easy, she told herself. What was Reithan so worried about?

  “You called?” she purred seductively as she headed for the officers. The man who had hailed her was old, probably over forty. She looked around the officers and smiled at them, saving her best smile for Alexin. He seemed totally unimpressed.

  “Haven’t seen you around here before, darlin’.”

  “That’s because I haven’t been here before.”

  “She looks new to the game,” Alexin suggested, giving her the onceover disinterestedly. “She probably hasn’t heard about the minuscule size of your equipment yet, Wilim.”

  The other officers laughed. Wilim pulled her closer. “What about it, then, darlin’?”

  Tia tried to hide her shock. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Didn’t these morons even pay lip service to the social niceties?

  “I ... er ... wouldn’t you like to buy me a drink first?”

  “Anything for you, my lovely!” Wilim hailed the barkeeper for another tankard and then turned his attention back to Tia. He had a firm grip around her waist and was standing between her and Alexin. “So, do you have a name, gorgeous?”

  “Tia.”

  “That’s pretty. Almost as pretty as you.”

  The barkeeper arrived with her ale and she snatched it from him, burying her face in the foaming tankard. She looked at Alexin over the rim, willing him to notice her. Wilim began to nuzzle her neck. It was all she could do not to cringe.

  “Thirsty little thing, aren’t you?”

  She nodded and kept drinking.

  “See, even whores have to get drunk before they can stand you, Wilim,” another officer laughed.

  “Drunk or sober, they never forget me, though!”

  “Which probably accounts for why most of them run and hide whenever you enter the room,” the man standing on the other side of her remarked, which sent all of them into gales of laughter.

  Tia fought down a rising wave of panic. I’m going to kill Reithan, she decided. Right after I strangle this lecher with my bare hands. Wilim grabbed her breast and began to knead it quite painfully. It was a damn good thing Reithan had insisted she hand over her knife. This fool would be singing soprano right now if I had been armed.

  Just as Tia was doing her level best not to scream, a fight broke out near the bar. She glared at Alexin, trying to will him to look at her, but the fight had diverted his attention, along with Wilim’s. She struggled free of him as he turned to cheer on the combatants. Wilim let her go and she stumbled into Alexin.

  “Reithan sent me,” she whispered urgently as he caught her.

  His whole demeanor changed instantly. With a n
od of understanding, he helped her to her feet and pulled her close to him. Wilim glanced over his shoulder and glared at Alexin.

  “Hey! I saw her first!”

  Alexin bent his head down and kissed her soundly, leaving her gasping. “Seems she’s had a change of heart.”

  Wilim looked ready to argue the point, but at that moment, the fighters staggered into Wilim, almost knocking him to the ground. With a roar, he forgot all about Tia and jumped to his feet, plowing into the brawl with fists flying.

  Alexin grinned at her. “Who says there isn’t a Goddess?”

  “Upstairs,” she whispered. “Room fourteen.”

  Alexin nodded and with his arm still around her waist, pushed his way through the crowd to the stairs. Almost everyone was involved in the fight by now—either actively, or egging on the brawlers. He pushed her up the stairs ahead of him into the relative quiet of the hall and didn’t say a word until they reached the door at the end with the number fourteen scratched into the woodwork. It was unlocked. Tia staggered through it with a feeling of vast relief.

  “You didn’t start that fight downstairs, did you, Tia?” Reithan asked as Alexin closed and locked the door behind him. They could hear the faint shouts and cheers from the brawl, even with the door closed.

  She glared at him. “No.”

  “I’m amazed.” He turned to his cousin with a smile. “Alexin.”

  “Goddess, Reithan, where did you find this one?”

  “She’s a friend.”

  “She’s not a whore, that’s for certain.”

  “Of course I’m not!”

  “Next time, find someone who knows what she’s doing.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Reithan said with a grin.

  “Then you must be truly desperate, cousin.” He stepped forward and embraced Reithan warmly. “Not that it takes any great leap of intuition to guess why you’re here.”

  “Then you know something?”

  “Not much.” The Guardsman sat down on the edge of the narrow bed and looked up at his cousin. “I know Johan was captured on Elcast. Apparently he survived a tidal wave.”