Winter of Ice and Iron

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Winter of Ice and Iron Page 20

by Rachel Neumeier


  Kehera nodded, all her past doubts about Parren rearing up, ugly in the dark. “He was recommended to me—he’s done this before, I was told—half up front, yes. He’s to get the other half when he brings me to the walls of the town.”

  Tageiny’s skepticism was clear in the tilt of his head. “If you’re Harivin, and I’m sure there’s a tale in that, then who’s to miss you on this side of the mountains? There’s more than one way to get a reputation, and t’other is to make sure the wrong sort of story doesn’t get around—” He cut the last word off sharp, jerking his head at her, and Kehera slipped away into the dark, as quick and careful as she’d ever been in her life, but feeling cold to her bones.

  She still didn’t know for certain whether she could trust Tageiny. But there was no way to tell except to put him to the test, and she’d surely seen at least a glimpse of the hearts of all her traveling companions through those wretched days in Kimsè. And she thought she trusted him more than any man who bought and sold slaves, even if Parren did seem friendly. She could see at once that Tageiny was the kind of man who’d know about such things. And he had no reason to lie to her.

  She couldn’t help but understand that Parren had every reason to lie to her. So she took the chance, while the slaves gathered around the next morning’s common fire for porridge and tea, to give Tageiny a significant look. That was all she could manage: a straight look into the big man’s eyes. That was all it took, because two hours later one of the horses drawing the second wagon came up lame, and just as the driver got it out of harness and began to put in one of the riding animals in its place, the rest of the team suddenly spooked so hard—at nothing Kehera could see—that the two nearer the verge were shoved right off the road, dragging the two left wheels after them into the ditch. One wheel cracked its rim, and the new horse, not accustomed to being part of the wagon team, took that excuse to shy and rear like a green yearling, drawing yet more of the men into the unexpected fray.

  Kehera hadn’t seen Tageiny anywhere near either the horses or the wagon, but somehow she wasn’t surprised when he turned up next to her among the group of watching slaves. She moved a few steps apart from the group to watch the cursing men argue about how to get the wagon back on the road without cracking another wheel, and of course Tageiny drifted after her, and there they were, as private as they needed to be for at least a moment or two.

  “You’re thinking maybe you don’t trust Parren after all and maybe you want to shake free on your own,” he murmured without preamble. This wasn’t quite a question, though she nodded, barely. He went on in the same low voice. “You want to wait till we’re closer to the city, I won’t say you’re wrong. On the other hand, you want to clear out before Parren expects it, that might offer the best chance right up front, but it’d have to be today or tomorrow, and it’d mean covering some rough country off the road—I’ll tell you straight, this time of year, I wouldn’t be eager to take a girl any distance through the mountains.”

  “But you do think you can get us away?” Kehera asked, trying not to sound too doubtful. “And your friend, too?”

  “You branded? Right, I figured not. On our own, just me and Luad, I don’t mind saying it’d’ve been tricky. With an unbranded woman as can say she owns us, well, that gives the rods a nudge toward a fortunate throw, as they say. Not that canny folk aren’t suspicious of that little trick, only there’s ways to make ’em believe it’s all right and proper—or ways to make ’em pretend to believe it, which is good enough, mostly.” He added, “Likely we’ll get only one try, so my advice is, closer to town opens up more options.”

  “Whatever you think,” Kehera murmured.

  Tageiny barely nodded. “A day or so out from town, then. Now, what do we have to work with? I don’t mind saying money is a big help. You paid that bastard Parren half up front, you said.” He rubbed the side of his face, looking at her out of the corner of his eye while the men unharnessed the horses and led them aside so they could replace the cracked wheel.

  Kehera hesitated only a second before saying in a low voice, “I’ve a handful of jewels hidden away.”

  “Best if we can count on nobody looking where they shouldn’t for an hour or more. If you’ll pass me something, I’m pretty sure I know which guard to bribe.” At her sideways glance, he added, “I know. But, listen, girl”—he ran a thumb across the brand on his cheek—“this means Harivir sounds damn good to me; that’s damn sure something you can trust. It’s the Fortunate Gods put you in my path. Or me in yours, whatever. I believe that, either way around.”

  Kehera thought she might believe that too. “I’ll give you something,” she murmured. And then they had to go in opposite directions as the men finally got the wagons back in order and started to shout at the slaves to get back on the road.

  That evening, at supper, when she handed around the hard bread everyone ate with their soup, she made sure Tageiny’s portion had a pearl tucked into it. If he swallowed it and choked, she would feel pretty stupid. But she was sure he wouldn’t.

  Then Geris ran over, wanting bread of her own, and Kehera found herself blinking back unexpected tears as she pretended to have to search for a last piece for the little girl. She hadn’t thought of having to leave Geris behind. . . . It made no difference, she told herself sternly. She would never have been able to take a child with her through Roh Pass in any case. She would have had to leave her anyway. And Hallay, and the rest. She had never had any way to rescue every slave in Pohorir.

  So the next morning, when Tageiny caught her eye and one of his eyelids shivering in a suggestion of a wink, she made herself nod. She knew he must have put that pearl to good use. She wondered which guard he’d bribed.

  She wondered if she trusted him to have bribed a guard on her behalf and not just on his own. She thought she did. But it was hard to be sure, and the uncertainty wore at her nerves through the next day’s slow travel toward Eäneté. This was heavily settled land, here so near the town. Every hill had a farmhouse or a barn nestled against its lee side, where the land would offer shelter from the black midwinter winds that spilled from the wings of dragons. . . . Eäneté was as far south as Coär, which meant the Wall of Storms lay only another hundred miles or so to the south. Kehera guessed, from the feel of the air and the early dusk, that the Month of Frost had probably turned to the Iron Hinge Month. No doubt the Wall of Storms was already boiling with the obsidian winds, terrible and beautiful and capable of flaying a man to the bone in seconds.

  She wished that everything were over and past and no one needed to try anything difficult and chancy during the month of ill fortune.

  If Tageiny shared her impatience, it didn’t show. If Luad knew anything was going on, Kehera couldn’t tell it, though he might have looked a shade less sullen. But maybe that was just because they were getting close to the town of Eäneté at last, which promised a few days’ rest for everyone and better shelter than a couple of wagons could provide. Except that Kehera could hardly bear to imagine spending days in Eäneté. . . . Even if Tageiny couldn’t manage to get her away, or if he betrayed her, maybe Parren had brought her here in good faith anyway. He offered her a warm smile when she caught his eye. But he always had, right from the beginning. He looked trustworthy . . . and Tageiny looked like a thug.

  But that evening, the last before they were supposed to reach the town, when Kehera started back toward the girls’ wagon after supper, Tageiny caught her eye and glanced away, toward the bushes where the girls were supposed to go for their needs. She didn’t nod, but she looked just once more toward Parren, sitting and laughing expansively with a couple of his men. He clapped one of them on the shoulder . . . a brute of a man. All the guards were brutes: What other kind would work for a man who bought and sold slaves? Parren’s manner with those men was just as bluff and friendly as it was with her, unless he was angry. Then it was something else. She’d seen that, too, during the long days of travel.

  Kehera let her breath out. Then she g
ot up and wandered off toward the bushes.

  Luad met her, with a low “Hst!” and a tip of his head, and she hesitated—after this it would be too late to change her mind—but then followed him down the road the way they’d come. It was bitterly cold. The young man seemed to know where he was going, though Kehera couldn’t imagine how. He glanced back now and then to make sure she was still with him, but didn’t offer her a hand when she stumbled over frozen ruts at the side of the road. . . . She wasn’t sure she wanted him to offer her a hand; she wasn’t sure she trusted him. She’d decided to trust Tageiny, but that decision was seeming possibly ill-advised now too.

  She couldn’t help but think about a night out in this cold, and think again of the relative warmth of the girls’ wagon. . . . At least the moon shone on the snow, so there was enough light to see. Though she wondered if that was so much an advantage to those who might soon be hunted. Maybe Parren had always meant to do exactly as he’d promised and she’d been a fool to be persuaded away from the wagons by men she didn’t actually know. . . .

  Ahead of them, snow crunched. Tageiny shifted away from the shadows of a stand of trees, so close that Kehera jerked back with a startled gasp. Even Luad cursed under his breath, which was a slight comfort.

  “You blind, boy?” Tageiny said, sounding amused. “Never mind. It’s a different kind of dark out here.”

  “Yeah, I’ll take a town,” muttered Luad. “Probably got wolves out here.”

  Tageiny chuckled. “In Eäneté? You bet. Never you mind, boy; it’s too early in the winter to worry about wolves. This way; let’s go.”

  “I’m not worried about wolves,” Kehera said tautly, following him up the slope, among the trees that came down almost to the road. They were mostly firs and cedars here, which at least broke the wind. She was trying not to believe she heard steps behind them, or distant shouts. Surely that was just the wind across the branches. . . .

  “Good girl! That’s the way,” Tageiny told her approvingly, apparently taking her rejoinder for bravery, when it was quite otherwise. He went on with good-natured calm. “We should have a little time. Enough. If the man stays bought. Though I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t put a man like that at my back if I had a choice, so best we move along briskly. There’s a farmhouse I have in mind, just the kind of place to pick up a couple horses, not too far back this way. How’re your hands? Tuck ’em in your sleeves. We’ll get you a proper coat if we can.”

  “I’m perfectly fine—I’m not cold,” Kehera told him firmly, trying to sound like she meant it. It helped that they were walking fast. “What did you tell the guard—what will he tell everybody else? The other girls—they’ll know I’m missing—” She couldn’t imagine now how she’d thought this could work.

  Tageiny laughed under his breath. “Well, now, I’m almost sure you don’t want to know the story he’ll pass along. Nice girl like you. In a way it’s too bad the guards have kept themselves to themselves this trip—well, no, probably just as well, only it’s a bit hard to see one of ’em breaking discipline at this point. On the other hand, this close to town, might as well drink the rest of the beer, right? And that’ll give some boys ideas. By the time the rest figure he’s not coming back, we’ll be well away.”

  Kehera was pretty sure he was right: She didn’t want to know any more than that. She said hastily, “But Parren will know where to look for us, surely? At least, won’t he check all the nearby farmhouses?”

  “Sure, and he’ll figure out who’s lost a couple horses, if he bothers asking around, but that’ll take time, and meanwhile there’ll be little trails all through these woods, all kinds of tracks on ’em, and what’s a man to do? Even if he knows you’re heading for Roh Pass, lots of ways to get there from here, and is he going to leave the rest of his merchandise sitting by the roadside so’s he can chase down one girl who already paid him up front? I don’t see a man like him being real committed to getting you back. Plus, a couple of brawlers like Luad and me, those men of his won’t necessarily want to catch up to us all that damn fast, if you get what I mean.”

  This made sense. Kehera began to feel cautiously optimistic again. This was going to work. Tageiny obviously knew what he was doing—and if she’d been wrong to trust him, surely that would already be clear. “How did you get rid of that chain?” she asked.

  Luad surprised her with a quite friendly sounding chuckle. “Yeah, I took care of that,” he said confidently. “That, I can do.”

  “He can,” Tageiny confirmed comfortably. “Boy’s scared of wolves, but he’s a natural with a bit of wire. It’s a real handy skill.”

  “I’m not scared of wolves, Tag—”

  “Good thing, in Eäneté, boy—”

  Kehera let herself be comforted by their easy argument, by the welcome effort of the uphill pace—away, away, every step seemed to say; after so many days of slow and uneasy travel, she felt that she was finally moving.

  The farmhouse was a bit ramshackle for an Eänetén farmhouse; its combined byre and stable was a mere lean-to, closed to the mountains from which the midwinter winds would come, but open to the east. And as far as Kehera could tell, there were no dogs, which was surely a favor from the Fortunate Gods. She could see why the place had caught Tageiny’s eye when they’d passed it. She hadn’t noticed it at all, or not to think of it as a place to steal horses. She didn’t like to think of stealing the animals, though. Not from folk who probably needed them and might not have the coin to buy others. Maybe she could leave another pearl somewhere those people would be sure to find it. . . .

  “Right,” said Tageiny. “Right, girl, listen, I’d just as soon have you wait here, but it’s too cold. So we’ll all go down, but quietly, hear? Don’t talk and be careful how you set your feet. It’ll be warmer in with the beasts, though we won’t dawdle about. Likely we can pick up a bit of blanket for you, if nothing better. Then we’re off. We’ll pick up the rest of what we need in Eäneté—I know people, so that’s no problem—and find out who to bribe to get through Roh Pass. But first, gotta have a couple horses. So let’s go. Quietly.”

  They were quiet. But it didn’t matter. There were no horses in the shelter, nor cattle. Parren was waiting there instead, with several of his men, all of them armed with the small crossbows men carried for hunting and for protection against wolves.

  They couldn’t even run, not with the crossbows and the moonlight. Tageiny caught Luad’s arm when the younger man might have tried to break away. Luad was cursing under his breath, steadily and uninventively. Tageiny didn’t say a word. Kehera, whose first incredulous thought had been that he’d led her deliberately into this trap, changed her mind at his expression. Or non-expression.

  “I thought you might try something as we got close to Eäneté,” Parren said to Tageiny. “You and your buddy. Figured this was the kind of place that might catch the eye of a clever man who wanted to run.”

  “Not so clever. Not clever enough to figure you were clever.” Tageiny sounded disgusted, but not afraid. But in the lantern light, Kehera could see the tension in his body, as though he might be right on the edge of attacking Parren despite all the crossbows. They would just shoot him, she knew, and maybe that’s what he wanted, but she couldn’t stand the thought and laid a hand on his arm to stop him. He did ease back, though he wouldn’t look at her.

  “People don’t figure that, somehow. I don’t know why that is.” Parren shook his head in mock wonder. “The one who surprised me is the girl.” He looked Kehera up and down. “Yeah, you, I didn’t expect. Didn’t trust me after all, hey?” He didn’t look friendly at all anymore, despite his smile.

  “I did,” Kehera whispered. “Teier trusted you.”

  “It’s my face,” Parren said, smiling even more broadly. “Everybody trusts me. It’s very, very good for business—two payments for the same goods! Your young friend in Enchar isn’t the only one to keep me supplied. I didn’t figure you’d guessed, and now look at you! Not many come so close to getting away
. That wouldn’t have been good. I’ve got just the buyer for you. A special buyer with special needs.” And he laughed, not friendly or warm at all.

  Kehera asked, because she couldn’t understand how this had happened and she thought Parren might answer, “How did you even know?”

  “Ah, that was your fault, girl,” Parren told her cheerfully. “Reilliy told me. Worried about you, she was. Malicious little snip, but I guess she likes you—or she wanted to get my man in trouble. He’ll get trouble, all right, if I get my hands on him. Not the cleverest boy in the Four Kingdoms, that boy, if he let you bribe him. I’m betting I know just where he’ll go to drink up whatever you paid him. Either way, I’ll get enough for you to make up for all this bother, not just in coin, but in the prettiest bills of sale you ever saw in your life, just the thing when you happen across the chance to pick up a pretty girl who might not technically be a slave.”

  Kehera said nothing. There seemed nothing to say. She felt physically ill. How many other men and women over those years had stood, as she was standing, on the threshold of freedom, only to find it giving way beneath them, crumbling into a pit of slavery and despair?

  10

  Gereth was only just entering the outskirts of the merchants’ district on the north side of town when the wheel of His Grace’s carriage broke. Despite the fine cushions and the carefully woven suspension of leather straps, the jolt flung him forward and then back harder than was comfortable for a man of his years. He caught the edge of the window to brace himself, bruising his hand on the closed shutters. The driver cursed, and the carriage settled at a distinct slant.

 

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