Wolf snorted, amused, but didn’t deny it.
“But it really depends on how long they’ll let us stay,” she finished with a shrug. “We are, after all, coming unannounced. We’re not entirely sure of our welcome.” And wouldn’t be until they arrived.
“Fei doesn’t seem worried about that,” Wolf observed.
True. In fact, Fei had become progressively more excited the closer they got to his home. Whatever his reasons for not visiting before, he obviously wasn’t worried about returning. “Which gives me hope we can stay at least a week.”
To everyone’s utmost relief, it did not take a full week to build the path. In fact, it took five days. If not for having two Pathmakers actively building the path as they gathered stones, it might have taken those full seven days. Wolf, for one, was extremely grateful it was done. His knees were sore from the constant crab-like shuffle, and he had a permanent crick in his neck from looking down.
The light was failing by the time the last stone was put into place. They could not, of course, use a path without proper sunlight. They chose instead to stay there that night and leave in the morning. Conli made the rounds with strong liniment, which he used to rub the soreness out of people’s backs and hands, as Denney and Fei cooked dinner. The dogs, in spite of not having worked at all that day, seemed content to lay next to anyone that was prone and use the humans as pillows.
Wolf lay flat on the ground, staring up at the stars overhead, his ears tracking the movement of everyone. Tran was on watch, so he had the luxury to stretch out for the next two hours and let his muscles unwind after being hunched over for five days solid. One would think that after ten years, they’d have paths built to every possible destination, but in all reality they tended to go to the same places over and over. They’d built more paths in the past year than in the last five combined.
A pair of footsteps he knew well approached and he turned his eyes to see Siobhan sink down next to him, a familiar bottle in her hands. “Rub?” she offered.
He sat up immediately, not about to turn her down, doffing his shirt as he moved. Siobhan shifted about to be behind him, pouring a small trickle of liniment onto his shoulders before her hands, strong and sure, settled onto his skin. His eyes closed in bliss. Perfect.
“Me next,” Sylvie insisted, rolling her head around on her shoulders.
“Of course,” Siobhan assured her.
Wolf silently promised himself that he’d see to Siobhan after she was done with Sylvie. Knowing her, she’d put herself as the very last otherwise.
Denney, sitting next to the fire and peeling vegetables, complained to no one in particular, “It’s too quiet.”
Well, true, everyone was enjoying either lying flat or getting massaged, so the usual noise and chaos of the guild was muted tonight.
“Wolf? Sing me something.”
Amiably, he nodded. “Fine. Any requests?” From the corner of his eye, he saw Rune’s head jerk up in astonishment, as if he’d never thought that Wolf would either know how to sing or be willing to in front of an audience. He smiled to himself. Kiō had a lot to learn about him.
Denney thought about it for a moment before offering, “That one you sang last time, about the maiden who saved her village. I like that one.”
She must, as she normally requested it. Obligingly, he set up a tempo by thumping the ground with his right iron hand. Then in a low bass, he started weaving the tale of a fiercesome lass who dared to lead an army of women to rescue their village from being enslaved. As he sang, Siobhan worked her way down to his good hand, her movements firm and gentle, head bobbing along to the tempo he set.
Some might scoff at him, but whenever he sang this song, it was Siobhan he thought of. The description of the maiden put him in mind of the woman that had the strength, the courage, and the guts to stride into a black market and buy a crippled dark mercenary. If ever her city was attacked, he had no doubt that Siobhan would be the one that would gather up an army and lead the charge to reclaim it.
He ended on one long note, held steady and clear.
Denney had a wide smile on her face as she said, “Thanks. I really like that one.”
“Sing the one about the ship rescued by the whale,” Sylvie requested next.
“I have to have a female partner on that one,” he reminded her.
“I remember it,” she assured him. “I’ll sing it with you.”
“Well enough then. Lead off.” As Sylvie started singing, he noted that Rune was slowly creeping closer, eyes wide with wonder, drawn like a moth to flames. His lips were parted, as if a corner of his heart wanted to join in on the singing, but of course he didn’t know either lyrics or tune. Wolf’s heart broke a little in seeing that expression, for he remembered what it was like, all too well. To see harmony and comradeship in front of him and yet be unsure how to take part in it—it was a lonely and miserable place to be.
Siobhan noticed it as well. He wasn’t surprised, as she kept a close eye on Rune. The corners of her eyes tightened in dismay, for she recognized the hunger in Rune’s expression, but it didn’t seem as if she had any idea what to do about it. In Wolf’s case, it had taken a solid two years before he felt really at home in the group. Sometimes, it just took time.
But tonight, at least, he thought he could see a way to bring Rune more fully in with them.
The song ended and he beckoned the boy closer. “Rune. You don’t know any tales or songs from Wynngaard?”
Mutely, Rune shook his head in a tight, controlled gesture.
“I’ll teach you.” He gestured toward a spot near his right knee. “A man should know his heritage. It gives him a centering.”
Rune hesitated openly about taking that invitation.
Fei, still quietly cooking near the fire, said without looking up, “Teachers open the door. You must enter by yourself.”
Rune’s eyes flickered toward him, weighing, considering. Wolf was well aware that while Markl and Grae might be Rune’s official teachers, Fei was unofficially teaching their assassin a great deal about life. Rune respected him just as much as he did the other two.
In the end, Rune sat where Wolf indicated, waiting patiently and with his full attention.
“We sing often as we camp out,” Wolf started off. “We tell tales, make up stories, and the like. It’s best you learn the songs so you can join in. We’ll start with a refrain.”
“Wolf will sing a certain line, and then sing a verse, and we all join in at certain intervals with the line he sang in the beginning,” Siobhan explained.
“It’s the easiest way to learn some songs.” Which was why Wolf had chosen that type first. “Now, listen close.” Taking a breath, he started, “The wind, it blew and carried the scent of winter—”
Rune, unsure of both the lyrics and his singing ability, did not join in on the refrain the first time, only mouthed the words. But he dared to put a little volume the second time, and on the third refrain, Wolf could actually hear him. Kiō had a nice voice, actually. It was mild and smooth, and pleasant on the ear. He had no reason to be afraid to use it.
When the song ended, Wolf gave him a slight nod of praise, which made the boy flush a little.
“Rune, is there anything you can’t do?” Denney asked, sinking down beside him and offering a plate of hot food. “I mean, so far, you seem to pick up whatever we teach you. You can even sing well after just a few hours of learning.”
“Not true,” he objected, taking the plate with a ravenous look. “I can’t cook.”
“That’s a lack of experience,” she refuted, not buying it. “You picked up on it after trying a few times. If you’d stop trying to cook everything at a high heat, you wouldn’t burn anything.”
Alas, it was the common mistake most people made when first learning how to cook. Wolf would know. But he admitted to himself privately that Denney had a good point. Rune not only had a good head on his shoulders, but had a lot of talents. His potential was wasted as a simple assassin.
From across the fire, Grae cleared his throat and raised his voice a bare notch above his normal speaking tone. Wolf had to strain to hear him. “Everyone? As we’re in late spring, I expect the sun to rise fairly early. Which means we need to be up fairly early. Fei tells me that it will take several hours to hike the rest of the distance to his home, so we need to get there sooner rather than later.”
Wolf translated this to: If you’re wise, you’ll eat dinner and promptly go to bed. Grae had great difficulty giving commands (or even direct yes or no answers) so his guild had to infer what the man actually wanted to say.
The suggestion was well received. People finished up dinner, gave and received the last of the massages, and started to roll into their beds. Wolf kept an eye on things in general as he got ready to turn in himself. (Although the only thing he did was shuck of his sword and take his boots off. He refused to do more than that in an unprotected area.) It was not his watch first, Tran had that dubious pleasure, but he kept one eye open until everyone was situated. Because of that, he noticed that Rune stayed alert until both Denney and Siobhan were settled. Only then did their newly minted Pathmaker fall asleep.
Well. Maybe Conli was right to be worried about Rune after all.
Chuckling to himself, Wolf closed his eyes and joined his fellows in dreamland.
Siobhan had seen many a forest in her time, but never one as ancient as this. The trees were massive—so large that five grown men could not clasp their arms around one. They soared into the sky for several feet before even one branch sprouted out, their leaves intertwining above each other so that it formed a thick canopy. Sunlight came in patches, not enough to warm the forest floor, so the air smelled cool and damp.
She took in a deep breath and nearly choked, the odor of the place was that pungent. Her nose twitched, trying to decide if she liked the smell or not. Rubbing at it, her eyes peered ahead, or tried to. She could barely see more than fifteen feet before it became too dim to see anything properly.
Eyeing the thick underbrush, she requested, “Fei? Tell me that there’s a trail we can take.”
“There is,” he assured her.
Oh good. Otherwise they’d be here until next year hacking a trail through.
He led them confidently up along the forest’s edge for quite some distance before abruptly diving into it. She saw nothing that resembled a trail until he stepped foot on it, it was that well camouflaged. Even then it was little more than a hunting trail, wide enough for one person at a time, but no more than that. Her enforcers sorted people out so that they had people in the front, middle, and back to handle an attack if it happened. From Fei’s nonchalant attitude, this didn’t appear to be a very real possibility, but he knew as well as she that it was no good telling Wolf or Tran that. Trying to stop those two from being protective would likely trigger heart failure, it was that engrained into their natures.
Fei stopped dead in his tracks, snapping his fingers and said, “Ah.”
That sounded like a man that had just realized he’d forgotten something of importance. “Ah?” Siobhan prompted him, leaning sideways to see around Tran.
“I forgot to warn you about the finger monkeys.”
“…The what, now?”
“Finger monkeys.” Fei turned about so that he could project his voice and talk to the whole group at once. “They’re literally about the size of your finger. Very cute, very affectionate—totally out of control. They’re natives of this region, and mostly omnivores. If you have any fruit or water about you, they’ll flock to you in droves. Also, they’re highly attracted to warmth. Don’t be alarmed if you wake up to something fuzzy sneaking in under your clothes.”
Sneaking under her clothes? Siobhan’s eyes crossed at the mental image. “Do they, ah, bite?”
“When provoked. Don’t alarm them, don’t grab them, and don’t pick them up by the tail no matter how tempting it is. It’s easier to get them to cooperate if you rub their belly gently with a fingertip and coax them into going the direction you want them to.” The way Fei said this, he was talking directly to the less animal-friendly people in the guild. They were all good with dogs, but Siobhan had learned through previous experience that their skills with other animals were dubious at best.
“When will we see them?” Tran asked with a suspicious look about him.
“When they want you to, and not a moment before.” Fei’s mouth quirked into something that could have been a smile before he turned back around and started leading them deeper into the forest. “Just remember, you’ve been warned.”
The humans were, certainly, but how were they supposed to explain this to either Pyper or Pete? Colliers were famous for sticking their noses into the unknown and sniffing until their curiosity was satisfied. From Fei’s description, the finger monkeys would not take this initial greeting well.
Well, perhaps she shouldn’t worry about this too much. A little thing like that couldn’t do too much damage, surely.
Siobhan reviewed what Fei had told them on the way across the bridge. His people were naturally quiet and chose to speak in soft tones. (After living with Fei for so many years, that didn’t surprise her.) It was the height of rudeness to do anything that would be an imposition to someone else, and even speaking loudly could be considered an imposition. They were never to accept a compliment, but to politely deny it, as it was arrogance to agree. They were not to eat or drink anything while walking. The women especially should always be seated properly before they ate. Siobhan expected to forget that rule at some point and break it—her entire guild was notorious at snacking on the go.
At some point, the conversation had changed from a cultural one to a lecture on history, and Siobhan didn’t think that Fei had told them as much as he should. Since they were walking like this, she took advantage and asked, “Is there anything else we should know? Something that you only remember now?”
“Ah?” Fei turned to glance at her over his shoulder. “Yes, actually. There is a stopping stone in front of doors or walkways. If you’re riding a horse or carriage, you must dismount there and walk the rest of the way.”
Markl, of course, had to ask, “Why?”
“It’s mostly in front of temples. It’s a way of equalizing rank.”
Ahhhh. Made sense. “What else?” Siobhan prompted.
“All of the buildings have different levels of floors in them. The higher the floor is, the higher in rank you must be to enter that section. Unless you are invited, do not go up more than two levels.”
“I’m very grateful you mentioned that now,” Sylvie said wryly. “Anything else like that?”
“No, I think that’s—” he stopped midsentence and smacked both hands together, the back of one hand against his open palm. “I’d forgotten. There are certain paths here that lead to opposite mountains. There is one in particular none of the women can go to.”
Siobhan’s first thought was that the mountain or the trail might be dangerous, but why only to women?
“The god of that mountain is a woman,” Fei explained, half-turning so that he walked sideways on the trail. “If a woman enters the mountain, it will make the god jealous, so women are forbidden to enter.”
From behind her, Siobhan could hear Markl’s journal come out of his pouch and the quick scribbling of pencil on paper. “Is that the only female god?”
“No, not at all,” Fei denied. “She’s the only one known to get jealous, though. Many of the female gods are protectors for our women and children.”
Siobhan held up a hand at Markl. “Wait, scholar. Don’t get sidetracked by religion right now. Fei, are you sure that’s all you need to tell us?”
“Hmm, I think so? I’m sure there’s other things you’ll notice as you come in. I’ll just give you two warnings. One, stop at the first temple you see and buy prayer beads to put around your wrist.” Fei held up his own left arm in demonstration, where painted black beads hung. “If you don’t have these on you, then every temple mo
nk and shrine maiden is going to badger you into joining theirs.”
“Lead us straight to a temple then,” Tran advised dryly. “I’d rather not deal with that.”
Fei shrugged agreement. “Fine. The second thing is, if you are invited to someone’s home, make sure to bring something with you. Fruits, flowers, something along those lines. Showing up empty-handed is rude.”
Finally, a cultural quirk that she had in common with him!
“Everything else that I’m forgetting to mention is probably not as important,” Fei finished with a dry smile. “They will make allowances as you’re all foreign. The things I mentioned are just the ones that you absolutely cannot do.”
“Noted,” Denney assured him.
Markl lengthened his stride and came around Siobhan so that he could walk right behind Fei and pepper the man with questions.
She tapped Tran on the shoulder to get his attention. When he turned and looked down at her, Siobhan drawled, “How much do you want to bet that by tomorrow, one of us will forget the ‘no eating while walking’ rule?”
“I don’t take sure bets,” Tran denied, tone half-amused, half-resigned. “It’s an engrained habit in this guild.”
Heaving a long sigh, Siobhan resigned herself to the inevitable embarrassment.
ӜӜӜ
Saoleord did not look a thing like she had expected it to.
Fei had told them once that in the past, travelers had walked down their main roads sometimes without even realizing they were in the middle of a city. How in the world had they managed to do that? Even from here, standing in the middle of the trail, it was obvious there were buildings about! Granted, the trees and plants and the curve of the mountain camouflaged a great deal of the city. She couldn’t begin to guess how deep or wide this place went. But popping in and out of the tree line were sharply slanted roofs of all colors, from red to black, with the edges curving up again in a unique style she had never seen before. Hints of white walls could be seen as well, and mixed in the fresh mountain air was the distinct scent of wood smoke and something exotic, like a blend of spices she had never before tasted.
Blackstone (Book 2) Page 4
