At the door to the tavern, Carth hesitated. She rarely came into the tavern during the day. The daytime was for selling Vera’s wares, or collecting scraps, not for sitting around inside while Vera baked and prepared for the evening rush. Hal ran errands, purchasing supplies, rolling barrels of ale and casks of wine from his suppliers or sourcing meats and flour and other ingredients that Vera needed to manage the tavern.
Inside, nothing moved.
Her heart fluttered a little faster.
She stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind her.
Carth scanned the tavern, but there was no one here. At this time of day, there should be a few people, at least. Staying along the wall, one hand still gripping her knife, she made her way to the kitchen. The door to the kitchen remained closed, and the small window was too high for her to easily peer into.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.
Vera stood next to the oven, kneading a thick roll of dough.
Tension left Carth’s shoulders and she breathed out in a sigh.
Vera glanced over. “You’re here early, girl. You done selling already?” she asked, eyeing Carth’s empty hands.
Carth swallowed. One of these days, she feared Vera would discover that she didn’t try to sell her breads or crafts for much. “Not yet. I… I was just checking that you were okay.”
Vera leaned forward on the dough, pressing it flat with her large hands, resting her weight on it. “Why would you be worried about me?”
Carth glanced toward the tavern. “There’s no one here.”
Vera’s eyes narrowed. “Hal was out there just a bit ago, girl. There were a handful of customers, enough to keep me busy when I should be getting my preparations ready for tonight.”
“Where would he have gone?”
“Hal? The gods only know where that one goes. Trust him to get into trouble.”
Carth felt the uneasy feeling begin to return. Vera thought that Hal had still been in the tavern, and the door had been open after the A’ras came through. “Did they come in here?”
“Did who, girl? Are you feeling well? You’re acting strange.”
She licked her lips and swallowed. “The A’ras. Did they come in here?”
Vera paused in between flipping the dough over and slammed it onto the table. She stood upright, straightening her back, and blinked slowly. “Now why do you have to go and mention them here?”
“They were on the street. A pair of them were here.”
Vera started around the counter and hurriedly pushed past Carth. She paused in the doorway between the tavern and the kitchen, glancing toward the back of the tavern, but Carth didn’t have to look to know that no one was there. The tavern was as empty as the first time she’d come here.
“Damn that man,” Vera said softly.
She hurried across the tavern and reached the door. She opened it a crack and peered out, looking into the street.
Carth stood under her arm. Activity in the street had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Would the dead man still be lying on the street or would someone have moved him? There had been another scream, but she hadn’t seen another body. Maybe there wasn’t anything more to find.
Vera stepped into the tavern. “Do you know where the others are?”
Carth shook her head. “Etan ran off. He was chasing a man…” She stopped before telling Vera all the details. She didn’t want to know how they got the money they did. “The last I saw Kel, he was heading down the street.”
Toward where the A’ras had disappeared, she realized.
“Go see if you can find them and then get back here,” Vera said. “I’m going to look for that fool Hal.”
As Vera started away, Carth said, “Vera?”
“What is it, girl?”
“Are you… are you worried for him?”
Vera sighed. “When it comes to them, I’m always worried.”
10
Carth made her way along the street, for once not bothering to try and hide, or to slink along as if she intended to collect scraps from someone. The A’ras might be gone, and people might have returned to the streets, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t tension about. Most people she passed were relatively silent and there was a somber air.
She found no evidence of the A’ras and whoever—or whatever—they had battled.
Where were Kel and Etan?
They could be anywhere along the riverfront. Normally she didn’t fret about finding them, but then, she would often wander on her own for most of the day. Now that she wanted to reach them, she wouldn’t be able to.
As she passed a low warehouse near the docks, she heard a voice she recognized, and paused. It was the man from the night she’d jumped into the river to save Kel.
“They grow bold,” he said.
“As we knew they would.” This other voice was lower and had a strange accent to the words.
“They travel freely now.”
“They have done the same elsewhere for years.”
Carth moved along the edge of the warehouse until she could see the cloaked form of the man from that night. In the daylight, he appeared nondescript: average height, short brown hair, a plain face, and a build that wouldn’t stand out anywhere. Once again, he looked out over the river, as if expecting someone to come through here.
“Perhaps. But they have remained in the shadows here. That they should oppose the A’ras so openly means—”
“That they seek power. We have known that they would.”
“If they acquire this power, they will be difficult to stop.”
The other man sniffed. Carth still couldn’t see him, but from the sound of him, he was close, likely right around the corner. “They were always going to be difficult to stop.”
The visible man laughed softly. “You thought to use them, didn’t you?”
“I have thought a great many things. In this land, many of them have gone awry.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You no longer have to. That asset is gone.”
“Asset. Is that all they were?”
“By choice, Jhon, do not think otherwise.”
Carth took a step back.
Jhon.
It had to be more than a coincidence, didn’t it? She remembered that name from the night her parents died. She hadn’t seen him, but he had been in the temple with the man Ander.
How was it that she had come across him again?
Not only once, but repeatedly.
Did he know that she had been there?
How could they have known? She had been hidden in the temple, and they wouldn’t have known that she had ended up with Vera and Hal… would they?
That wouldn’t have been possible. Carth had ended up down by the docks purely by chance, not because she had chosen to come or had been guided here.
She took a step back and her foot slipped on the stone, making too much sound.
Carth was immediately aware of the noise. Her parents had taught her to pay attention to the sounds that she made, and this would have been noticeable.
She froze, heart racing and a cold sweat coming to her brow. If they had somehow managed to follow her, she couldn’t risk them discovering her here, listening to them. Already she’d seen Jhon too often.
But had he wanted to harm her, wouldn’t he have done so the last time he’d seen her? Unless he hadn’t recognized her then.
If the other man was Ander, it was possible that they would recognize her this time.
She didn’t want to risk it.
Moving carefully now, she made her way back to the street. She wasn’t sure what she’d overheard, but whatever it was would be dangerous. They didn’t fear the A’ras, not as they should—not as she did.
As she reached the street, she felt a firm tapping on her shoulder.
Carth turned, thinking that maybe Kel or Etan had found her, hopeful that they would be able to return to Vera’s tavern and discover what had ha
ppened with Hal. Hopefully nothing.
Jhon stood in front of her, his plain face considering her with a neutral expression.
“Have you learned how to use your knife?” he asked.
Carth took a step back, glancing around for Ander. That had to be the other man she had overheard… unless it was the man from that night in the tavern, the one with the gold bracelet and the stack of coins. She didn’t see him.
Instead, across the street, Kel started toward her. He wore a look of concern and had a gash along the side of his face. At least now he didn’t need to fear hiding the bruising on his neck quite so much.
Carth shook her head and shot him a warning glance. She didn’t need for him to get mixed up in whatever Jhon and Ander were up to, not any more than he already was. Bad enough that they had helped to rescue him when he’d nearly drowned.
“Now you won’t talk?”
Carth pulled her focus back to him. “What do you want with me?”
A hint of a smile pulled at his mouth. As it did, he took on an air of something that was more than the plain-appearing man he otherwise seemed. “After pulling you from the river after you fell in, I didn’t think that you would risk yourself again.”
“I told you that I didn’t fall in.”
The smile pulled a little more and made him appear more youthful than he looked otherwise. When it faded, it became difficult to tell his age again. “That’s right. You jumped in. After him.” He nodded toward the other side of the street, where Kel attempted to hide, but was unsuccessful.
“That’s right. He was the one who fell in.”
“How was it that he did? He doesn’t appear all that clumsy, but then I haven’t watched him quite as much as I’ve been watching you.”
Carth swallowed. “You’ve been watching me?”
“It is difficult not to watch. I must say, you really are more skilled than your partners.”
“They’re not my partners.”
“No?” He glanced over to Kel. “You’re not related, and you are much too young to be anything more than friends. I would say that makes you partners. And not of the Thevers, or the A’ras would have come after you as well.”
Carth flushed at the thought of anything more with Kel. The stupid boy had nearly died too many times to count. Were she not so willing to help him, he wouldn’t still be alive. “We’re not related, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“No. Were you related, he might have swifter hands. Lucky that he didn’t suffer any more than he did, don’t you think?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Jhon offered that half smile again, the one that made him look so much more youthful than he did when he didn’t smile. “That means that he’s lucky to have only that bruise you managed to cover up. I am interested in learning how you learned such a skill.”
Carth looked over at Kel. From here, she could make out the faint traces of the oil that stained his neck. It gave him some color, but not enough to look completely natural. This application hadn’t worked quite as well as the first.
“It wasn’t me. There is an herbalist.”
“Yes, I am aware that there are herbalists. How is it that you thought to visit one?”
“I… I saw someone use them before,” she lied. Maybe he didn’t know that she had been in the temple that night her parents had died. If not, then it was possible she could keep from him the fact that her mother had taught her about oils and leaves and other things like that.
“Is that right? What combination did you use?”
Carth considered whether she should even answer, but what could it hurt if she did? Worse, Jhon might have learned anyway. He had known about the bruising, which meant that either he had seen them after the attack, or he had witnessed Kel’s attack… and Carth’s response.
Was that the reason he’d questioned whether she had learned more about the knife? Did he do that to taunt her?
“Nevern oil and vashi leaves.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “That would color the flesh, but I suspect it burns a bit.”
She glanced past him to Kel, who still hadn’t moved. “He said it does.”
“He did. Does it not burn you?”
Carth shrugged. “I didn’t apply it to my skin.”
“No, but I believe that you helped your… friend… apply it. Did it have so little effect on you?”
“I barely touched it.”
“But you touched it.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Only that you are an interesting person. I have thought so since I first saw you.”
Carth took a shallow breath to steady herself. “And when was that?”
“I thought we established that I pulled you from the water when you jumped in. Unless you think that we have met another time? Perhaps in the tavern, when you reconsidered stealing from my asset.”
“Why was he your asset?”
“He provides me with information.”
“Why?”
“Because I have asked him.”
“Why do you want information?”
That half-smile returned. “There are many reasons to want information.”
“Do you work with the A’ras?”
His face clouded for the briefest of moments. “There is no working with the A’ras.” He said the word differently, so that it rolled off his tongue with a strange lilt.
“Then why do you need an asset?”
“Why do you steal?”
Carth was taken aback. “What kind of question is that?”
“I think that it’s the same sort of question as the one you asked. In fact, mine might be less intrusive, as what you do could be considered offensive to the A’ras and the royal family. I believe the punishment were you caught stealing would be quite harsh.”
Carth paled. “They would never do that to someone my age.” That had been the reason Etan claimed that the strays could get away with it. Were they any older—and really, Etan might still be in danger of it—they would run the risk of losing a hand for stealing. Repeat offenders lost the other. And a third offense meant death.
“Are you certain? I can’t say that I’m as familiar with the laws of Nyaesh as I am with others, but it seems to me that they don’t have the same concerns with age as you would find in other places.”
“You’re not from Nyaesh?”
Jhon smiled again. “That was what you took away from what I said?”
She shrugged.
“No. I am not of Nyaesh. As you have seen, there are many not of this land who live here. Your coloring tells me that you were not originally from here, either. I would imagine that you are either of Al-shar or possibly Pey or even…” He frowned, studying her.
“Al-shar,” she said quickly. Better to divert him from knowing where her parents actually came from. Not that it mattered. There weren’t many who had heard of Ih-lash, so even were she to claim that she was from that distant land, it was unlikely that it would mean anything to him.
“Indeed? You must have been in Nyaesh for many years.”
“Why?”
“You have no accent. And your hair…”
Carth hadn’t considered whether she would actually look like someone from Al-shar. She knew almost nothing about the land, but it seemed to her that she should just as likely be from Al-shar as from Ih-lash.
“I have no memory other than Nyaesh,” she said.
He nodded. “That would explain much. How old are you?”
“Twelve.”
“A difficult age, especially when you live in this part of the city. I am surprised that your mistress allows you to wander so freely.”
“My mistress?”
“At the Wounded Lyre, if I’m not mistaken. Most would expect a girl of your age to be working in the kitchen and learning the trade.”
Vera hadn’t shown any interest in working with Carth. Her mother had, but then her mother had shown her things that had no bearing on any sort
of future role she might have. “I have been learning the trade,” she said.
“Indeed? Is that why she has you here, risking yourself?”
“I’m—”
“You are collecting scraps, I believe is what you say, is it not?”
Carth looked past Jhon, wanting to get away from him, but there was no easy way around him, not without crashing into him. As compact as he might be, he still filled the street, managing to make himself appear larger. The hint of a smile, much less than what he’d displayed before, told her that he knew exactly what he did.
“What do you even know?” she demanded.
Jhon tilted his head. “Not as much as I would like to, I think. I have many questions when it comes to you, Carthenne Ih-thanor.”
She sucked in a quick breath. He had known exactly where her family’s homeland was, as well as her father’s name. He had used the formal name, one that she had only heard spoken by those who knew Ih-lash as her parents had known it. How was it possible that he knew?
“What do you want with me?” she asked. Attempting to run or find a way to hide would do no good, not when there was someone who knew her the way he appeared to know her. She wanted to run, but where was there for her to go? She could run to the river and attempt to jump in, maybe swim down the shore, but the last time she had attempted that, it had not gone that well. The only thing she had that might help her escape if he tried to attack her was the A’ras knife.
“I want the same as you, I suspect. I would have answers.”
“That’s not what I want at all.”
“Oh? What is it you would have?”
Carth blinked slowly. What would he know about what drove her? She didn’t care if she ever understood. All she wanted was a way to obtain the revenge she sought for her parents.
“Ah,” Jhon said, almost as if he understood her thoughts. “You want something that you cannot have, at least not in the form that you think. But if you find understanding, then you might learn.”
While Jhon had been speaking to her, she noticed that Kel had been creeping forward. For the first time, he managed to move quietly enough that he didn’t gain the attention of the other man. Carth tried to keep her gaze on Jhon, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that Kel approached.
The Shadow Accords Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 9
