They must be staring because I'm a stranger, she thought. Analyzing their bold, gaping glances, she realized she was wrong: they were staring because she was a woman. Appar shy;ently her form was appealing to humans of the opposite sex. The realization amused her. Spotting Bert behind a wooden counter, she smiled in recognition. His face reddened. She made a step toward him, and the tightly packed, still silent throng of men rippled back like a wave to let her pass.
"Come now, boys. We've all seen a woman who weighs under ten stone before!"
Onyx glanced over her shoulder and located the speaker, a round, blotchy-faced woman whose long dark skirt was stretched to the limit of its gathers. The woman slammed large mugs of ale down on a table, foam splashing her filthy apron. "Looks scrawny to me," she muttered.
The taproom exploded with laughter at the woman's scornful observation. One man seated before the angry serv shy;ing woman gave her thick waist a reassuring squeeze, then said something Onyx couldn't make out. Smiling trium shy;phantly, the woman looked up and scowled at the lovely, raven-haired stranger. Onyx simply smiled back. The other woman's smirk dissolved into puzzlement.
"We don't see too many young women here in Styx," a voice explained kindly behind her. Onyx swung around to see Bert's sweaty, sagging face. The innkeeper's expression as he contemplated her attire was more fatherly than the other looks she'd received. "I'm glad you was able to find some gear that fit."
Taking her elbow, Bert steered her toward the long, gleam shy;ing wooden bar and onto a stool. He held a mug beneath the tap of a keg, waited while the golden ale splashed forth, then pushed it over the counter toward Onyx. "You could
probably use a drink, after the night you've had. Did you lose much?"
"Lose much?"
Bert looked puzzled. "Aggis said you was robbed by ogres."
"Oh, yes-uh, no," Onyx sputtered, remembering her story to the older woman. "I mean they didn't get much. Just my clothes."
"Filthy creatures, them," spat Bert. "We don't let 'em in here." He frowned suddenly. "Strange that ogres would want your clothes. Didn't you have no steel on you?"
"Steel?"
"Coin," prompted the innkeeper. "Money."
Onyx saw a man down the bar toss back the contents of his drink and push a round piece of steel across the wooden tabletop.
"Ah, money … I didn't have much," Onyx said. "I was just passing through town," she added, in case he, too, in shy;quired about family.
"What do you do?"
"Do?"
She's as simple as Aggis said, Bert thought. "How do you earn your money?" he asked slowly, careful to enunciate.
"I-I'm a good fighter and hunter."
"So you're a mercenary, eh?" He looked dubiously at her slight form. Perhaps looks were deceiving.
"I'm pretty good with my, er, hands," Onyx said to the innkeeper with a sly wink. She downed the bitter-tasting ale with several long gulps, wiping the foam away on her buck shy;skin-covered arm-as she would have on her dragon scales. The amber liquid tasted strangely refreshing.
Bert wasn't sure what to make of that comment, or her hearty display of drinking. Something about the beautiful stranger made him uncomfortable. Almost grateful that he had other customers to attend to, he pushed a small mound of round steel pieces toward her. "Here. Take these to get back on your feet," he said. "If you're hungry, I'll get a boy to bring you food."
"Thanks," she said, placing the steel pieces in her trouser pocket. "I'm starving." The ale had warmed her belly in a pleasant way. She saw Bert signal to a whey-faced boy with badly chopped, ashen hair. The boy disappeared behind a swinging door, only to reappear within moments carrying a rough-cut square board covered with steaming food. Ner shy;vously averting his eyes from the pretty woman, he set the board on the counter before her.
Onyx frowned at the ridiculously small portion. "I'll need more," she ordered. Then, with her hands on the counter, she bent forward to sink perfect white teeth into the juicy drum shy;stick of a small bird. Some instinct stopped her. Hardly lifting her face from the platter, the dragon-turned-woman looked quickly from left to right. The other diners at the bar were watching her strangely. Some held odd, pointed pieces of metal poised above their food.
Leaning back slowly, self-consciously, Onyx tried to emu shy;late the actions of the humans around her. Though she found the practice slow and cumbersome, she managed at last to spear a piece of potato on the point of the metal stick and placed it into her waiting mouth. Hot! Her tongue leaped back in her throat, and she spit the offending potato back onto her plate. More foolishness! Humans heated their food!
Onyx impatiently allowed the potato to cool and placed it back into her mouth. It had been spiced. She had to admit that it tasted better than she would have expected from a root.
Onyx waited for the steam to dissipate from the drumstick before taking a bite. It, too, had been heavily seasoned and was far superior to the raw, cold meat that had been her daily diet. Onyx cleaned the food from her plate. Then, taking a cue from her fellow diners, she licked the board clean. She was surprised to feel a familiar tightening in her stomach. She felt as full as if she'd eaten a moose.
Groaning, Onyx pushed the empty board back, as well as the second full one the bewildered boy had placed before her. She had eaten-now what? Perhaps someone here had infor shy;mation about Dela, or even knew the man from the maynus. With that thought in mind, Onyx spun around on her seat and contemplated the occupants of the room over the rim of her second mug of ale.
Many of the patrons still eyed the pretty young woman now and then, but for the most part they had returned to their conversations. Onyx looked toward the hearth on the short wall to the right of the taproom door. Seated before the roaring fire, at a large round table, were a number of tooth shy;less, paunchy men. After pushing coins toward the center of the table, they would roll some polished white cubes with black dots on each side. Every now and again one of them would leap back, yelp victoriously-as if he had just killed something-then scoop up the coins.
At another long, narrow table, more than a handful of men were holding small, thick pieces of paper inscribed with pic shy;tures and words, which they would occasionally throw toward the center. After a number of these pictures had accu shy;mulated, someone would collect the money, while the others looked on grimly.
Was this how humans "earned their money"?
"Do you like to roll the bones?" said a honeyed voice at her elbow.
Onyx turned to look at the speaker, then caught her bot shy;tom lip between her small human teeth in a slight gasp. Dark tendrils of shiny hair curled around his face and dropped to rest on broad shoulders. The cheekbones beneath his wide-set emerald eyes were high and arched above smooth, weath shy;ered skin. His full, almost purple lips, inside a short-clipped beard and mustache, pulled up into a smile that brought out crease lines around his eyes.
Something about him looked strangely familiar. The green eyes … Onyx gasped again. The man from the globe.
"I usually kill anyone who stares at me for so long," he said, "especially with such penetrating eyes. You remind me of Vil, a snake I once kept as a pet." He looked almost coy. "Are you as sly as a snake?"
"Huh?" Onyx tossed her hair back from her face, and the room tilted crazily. Keeping one hand on her mug, she grabbed her stool to stop the spinning in her head. What was wrong with her? Perhaps the food had been tainted….
Grinning, the man took the mug of ale from her hands and pushed it down the polished length of the bar. "It is also my policy to encourage women to drink until they're well past dizzy, but for some reason you inspire chivalry in me."
The ale had made her light-headed? Too bad, she thought, it had tasted good.
"The name's Led."
Onyx squinted up into his face, her expression blank.
"It's customary to respond with your name." The man gave her a penetrating look. "Unless there's some reason you don't want me to know it."
"No!" she
said almost too quickly. Onyx touched her head. "The ale has made me a touch slow-witted, is all," she man shy;aged, borrowing from Aggis. "My name is Onyx."
"How appropriate." Led lifted a hand and ruffled the fine, blue-black fringes of hair that lapped at her neck. She drew back slightly, startled by his touch.
Undaunted, Led twirled his finger through a strand of her hair before withdrawing it casually. He almost seemed to enjoy her discomfort. "Where are you from?"
"The North," she said vaguely. "And you?"
"The road's my home." His eyes twinkled. "Did I hear you tell Bert that you're a mercenary?"
"That was his word. I said I'm a good fighter and hunter."
His smile was lazy, patronizing, his gaze over her slight, womanly form skeptical. "Really?"
Onyx's nervously fingered the choker at her neck. "What business is it of yours?"
Led threw his head back and laughed. "At last, the little snake shows her fangs!"
"Don't ever call me that again," Onyx growled.
"Sorry. It was just a pet name."
"I'm not your pet."
Led leaned back, grinning. "But are you a good fighter?"
Onyx drew back at this line of questioning, discomforted by the entire encounter. She took long breaths in the qhen way, struggling to contain-or even understand-the tangle of human emotions. For some reason, her human form responded strangely to this man. Perhaps it was because she'd been surprised, knocked off balance by finding him so unexpectedly. The only thing she knew for sure was that if she didn't gain control of her brain and tongue, she would lose what might be her only chance to discover Dela's where shy;abouts.
"I can fight," she said evenly.
"That's interesting." Led snuffled two coins between the fingers of one hand, watching her closely while he spoke. "You see, I'm something of a hunter myself. A bounty hunter. In fact, I was bringing a law-breaker here for the bounty some months back and, uh, lost two fighters in a freak accident. Struck by lightning, they were. I haven't found suitable replacements, and I need guards to help me deliver a valuable package to a prospective buyer in Kernen tomorrow." Led's admiring gaze swept over her. "Person shy;ally, I'm impressed by what I see"- he shrugged meaning shy;fully -"but I'm going to have a hard time persuading the rest of my party that you're stronger than you look."
"You're offering me a job?" she asked, trying unsuccess shy;fully to hide her surprise.
"Maybe." He was looking at her legs in the tight russet pants.
"If you're their leader, why do you have to persuade any shy;one?" she challenged.
Led's green eyes shot up. "I don't." They narrowed to slits. "But I can't afford to waste time settling arguments if you can't pull your own weight."
Onyx propped her elbows on the bar and placed her chin in her cupped hand. "You must know there's more to a good fighter than strength," she said softly. "Stealth and cunning are probably more important." She paused. "And magic doesn't hurt, either."
"You can do magic?" he whispered hoarsely. His eyes nar shy;rowed, and he looked around quickly. "Better drop your voice, making a claim like that. Nobody trusts magic or mages, not in this part of the world anyway."
"Until recently, humans thought dragons were but stories, too," she said, watching his reaction.
Led shuddered. "I've heard those rumors, too. But why should I believe you're a mage?"
She knew she was being tested on a number of levels. "Why should I care what you believe?"
Led took a long wooden pipe from his pocket and tamped tobacco into the bowl, considering her defiant reply with amusement. He was reaching for a candle on the bar when he felt something touch the pipe clamped between his lips. Led looked down his nose and saw Onyx's index finger in the pipe's bowl. A small flame leaped from her fingertip and ignited the tobacco. She withdrew her finger and blew away a thin trail of white smoke. "You're welcome," she purred.
Led was too stunned to speak, too impressed to care if anyone else saw the display.
"If s customary to respond with 'thank you/ I believe," she whispered.
Led chose, instead, to nod, but there was undisguised admiration in his emerald eyes. He pushed himself away from the bar. "The men'll be assembling here just after dawn-if you're interested."
"Whafsthejob?"
"Thaf s not your concern," he said, taking three coins from a small drawstring bag and stacking them on the bar. "I'm tired, so we'll have to discuss your pay tomorrow."
Onyx bit back a stinging retort. Like her, Led clearly would not brook insolence, and she was dangerously close to crossing the line between being intriguing and annoying. Besides, she would find out soon enough if the job involved Dela.
Just then, Led's rough hand touched her cheek, made rosy by the roaring fire, if not the exchange. "Are you going to show up, little Onyx?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out," she said slyly. She slipped off the chair and sauntered up the stairs, followed all the way by the sound of Led's laughter.
Chapter 6
Onyx sat on the inn's long wooden front potch, her back to a square support post. The sky to the east was still dark purple, though approaching lavender. Few people were moving about yet, as first light began to creep between the buildings. A layer of winter ice and snow covered the whole town, giv shy;ing the place a false sense of peace and stillness.
Despite Bert's advice to avoid the bounty hunter, whis shy;pered over a breakfast of fried bread and eggs, the raven-haired young woman was waiting for Led. If she was to free Dela, she had no choice but to join his band.
To Onyx's irritation, the sun was poking over the rooftops when she finally caught sight of Led striding through the street. He wore a glossy, polished leather breastplate and shoulder guards over a forest-green tunic. His muscle-hug shy;ging wool leggings were tucked inside the calves of laced
boots that cuffed below the knees. Wet from bathing, his hair looked darker than it had last night, and his beard and mus shy;tache had been neatly groomed.
Behind him was a ragtag group of grubby ogres, snorting and scratching their thick green hides. Most wore uncured animal pelts decorated with feathers and small animal skulls and carried large clubs or crude spears. One had a copper cauldron strapped upside down on his melon head in lieu of a helmet. Strangely, Onyx found ogres much more repulsive now that she had spent time among humans.
"Dawn passed quite some time ago," she said stiffly.
Led gave a mock bow and laughed. "Good morning to you, too."
"These are the creatures you were concerned might not accept me?"
"You were expecting Knights of Solamnia?"
"No. I knew, uh-" Onyx stammered "-I expected they were ogres."
He looked at her strangely, then shrugged. "You take what you can get. Ogres are fairly good fighters, and they listen well enough, just so long as Toba clubs them now and then."
Led pointed to a hollow-cheeked man with an exotic slant to his eyes. He wore an overlarge coat with the fur collar turned up. Dwarfed by the ogres, the wiry little man snarled as he kicked one brute aside with a blade-tipped boot.
"That's Toba," Led offered. "My lieutenant. He keeps the ogres in fighting shape, one way or another. He lived in Sala-sia, near Taladas, which is crawling with ogres. That's where he learned how to handle them."
Searching her memory, Onyx vaguely recalled the homely man from the vision in the globe. Led's voice drew her into the present.
"I'm glad you decided to join me." His green eyes were fixed on hers, probing.
The black-haired young woman could not suppress a scowl. "I almost left. I'm not accustomed to waiting for any shy;one."
Led smirked ruefully and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Blame them. They don't move very fast in the morning."
Onyx jumped from the porch to her feet and slammed her dark hands onto her hips. "Then don't tell someone dawn, when you mean midmorning."
It was Led's turn to scowl. "Let me tell you the three rule
s this party has," he said evenly, employing great effort to con shy;trol his temper. His green eyes narrowed beneath thick, arched brows. "First, you do what I say, when I say it, with no questions. Second, if the cargo I'm paying you to guard is threatened, you will fight like a damned hellhound and won't stop until I say it's over. Third, if there is a battle, nobody searches bodies or gathers loot until the enemy is dead or run off."
Onyx hooked her thumbs under her rope belt noncha shy;lantly. "So whaf s this precious cargo I'll be guarding?"
Led tensed. "You're violating rule number one."
Frowning, Khisanth decided on a new tactic. "What do I get in exchange for following your rules?"
"A share of the loot," Led replied.
"One share? And how many shares do you take?"
Led snorted. "More than one. Don't be obtuse."
Onyx lifted one eyebrow. "Do you really think one share is a fair split for a mage? The same share as one of those mind shy;less ogres?" Onyx cast an artless, wide-eyed look at the throng milling in the slush behind Led.
The brown-haired man fidgeted imperceptibly. "No. More than that."
"How much more?"
"Whatever I decide." Led twirled one end of his red-brown mustache. "I'm the boss."
Onyx shrugged under her purple tunic. Turning on her heel, she took a step toward the inn's front door. "Not my boss. Find yourself another mage-if you can."
Led considered her as she stomped across the porch. She was more like a man than any woman he knew. She knew magic, too, and Led had never met a mage in all his travels, let alone one willing to do mercenary work. He let out his breath, sending tendrils of white fog into the chill air.
'Tell you what, Onyx."
The young woman stopped in her tracks, her back as straight as a pillar. She did not turn around.
"Give me a better demonstration of your, urn, skills," he said softly. He eyed the villagers passing in the icy street. "Then I'll reconsider your pay level."
Onyx hesitated, considering how far she should take this tack. Her goal was to earn Led's trust, become a member of his party. Perhaps she should just agree to whatever he said.
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