Web of Defeat
Page 23
And as he looked thoughtfully over her head, he could see a vast procession forming at the gateless gate in the wall. Townspeople, hundreds of them, in their finest clothes fell into solemn ranks; music from hundreds of perfectly tuned instruments filled the twilight sky with celebratory hymns; and a tall figure wrapped in a scarlet cloak stepped out of the crowd and walked toward them.
"Hey," he whispered as he stood and placed Tuesday on the ground. "Sis, it's time."
Finlay Botham came out of the tent, his colorful tunic and leggings and the sweep of his hair making him look almost downright handsome.
Oh, give it to him, for god's sake, Gideon thought; he looks damned good.
Jimm Horrn rode Red from behind the tent, his hair brushed back with some of the pinkpod pulpjuice, his ragged furs exchanged for new ones that made him look less like a thief than a man of leisure looking for a job.
And Bones Abber in a new loincloth just as bilious as the old stepped from the tent's entrance and held his staff proudly in both hands.
"Giddy?"
He leaned down and kissed her head, straightened when the cloaked figure reached them and threw back its hood.
"It's time," said Grahne Shande. "Are you ready, little one?"
Tuesday shook her head.
Gideon knelt and hugged her.
"I'm afraid," she whispered. "Giddy, I'm afraid."
"So am I," he told her. "But I was more afraid when I thought you were dead."
"That's because you don't trust me."
"No, it's because I was afraid you'd come back to haunt me and I'd never be rid of you."
She couldn't laugh, but she tried.
Grahne held out her hand.
"Come with me," Tuesday said.
He shook his head. "I can't. I want to see you... after. Not in between."
Grahne turned as the music welled, and after shaking herself and sniffing, Tuesday waddled after.
Finlay walked on one side, Abber on the other, and Red with a snort carried Jimm Horrn behind.
—|—
He stood alone on the plain then.
Not moving when they reached the gates and became part of the procession.
Not moving when the wind rose and spread the tears across his cheeks.
Not moving when he understood that he was weeping not only for his sister but once again for himself. This celebration, this working of magic, and all the participants from every town, were not his customs or people after all, no matter how hard he tried to tell himself they were. He was alone. In a land where no one needed him unless something needed to be done that no one else could do. And they weren't even sure he could do it at all; they only hoped, and in hoping had been twice lucky in their rewards.
And when it was done, whatever needed to be done, they had their celebrations, with customs and songs and dances he didn't know.
He was alone.
And he wanted to go home.
—|—
He sat in the tent, a low fire in a shallow pit putting his shadow on the curving wall. He had eaten and tasted nothing; he had drunk water and ale and was still thirsty; and when he heard footsteps outside he didn't look away from the flames.
"You know," Tuesday said, "if that man practiced in New Jersey, they'd probably make him governor."
With a lingering sigh she sat opposite him, the fire between them, and spread her white wings over her still white head. "I mean, really, Giddy!"
He couldn't help it; he laughed. A deep rolling laugh that put an ache in his side and tears in his eyes and had him hold out his arms until she fluttered to his embrace. And when she joined him, the laughter continued until neither one of them could breathe.
"Now what?" he asked when they were reasonably calm.
"He says he forgot something."
"What? What the hell did he forget?"
"He doesn't remember." She hopped off his lap and poked her beak into a bowl of ale. "Grahne did everything she was supposed to—standing in a pot of water, naked, reading from this really old book I thought was going to fall apart—but she couldn't do anything more."
"Naked?" he said.
Tuesday lifted her head and swallowed. "She was so miserable she's already left for home."
"Naked as in no clothes on?"
"Would you believe she took Abber with her? That slimy little grey man with the dancing loincloth? She says, my dear, she wants him to massage her happiness back." She snorted ale across the tent. "Her happiness my—"
"Sis!"
"Foot."
They drank a silent toast to each other, and forgiveness to Whale, and crawled outside to watch Red staggering toward a bed of grass.
"What's the matter with him?"
The duck flapped a wing. "Party time."
"He's drunk?"
She flapped again. "I don't know, but he kept purring all night and trying to eat Grahne's furs."
"And Jimm?"
"The last I saw him, he was surrounded by all these women who wanted to hear, for the millionth damned time, how he saved the world and the hero from the spell of the Web. He hasn't told the story the same way twice, but I don't think he was listening anyway."
Gideon groaned and shook his head. "What the hell," he said. "What the hell."
They watched the moon, they counted the stars, and he decided not to ask about Finlay—the blacksmith who had hoped to find a beautiful woman under all those feathers, and had only, it seemed, found a very angry duck.
A shooting star cast a shadow.
Red whined in his sleep.
Then Gideon looked toward the city and pointed at the lights. "It isn't over, Sis," he said at last.
She quacked low and deep.
"He's going to be really mad when he finds out who killed two of his wives."
She headed for the tent.
"I think we're in for another spot of trouble. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's out there right now, sneaking around, watching us, taking our measure, looking for new, diabolical ways to get around our defenses, thinking every minute about how to separate us so we won't be able to fight properly, maybe even building another army of those Moglar that he can lead himself and—"
"Giddy!"
"—attack Terwin, or Rayn, or whatever other cities are around here. Jesus, suppose he tries to attack Pholler on the Upper Ground. My god, Sis, Ivy is up there! Do you suppose she knows about it? Maybe, though sometimes I wonder, maybe she would like me to go up there and help her out. Not that she needs help in the ordinary sense, you know, but she does—"
"Gideon!"
"—have her weak spots, and I wish to hell I had taken advantage of them when she offered them to me the last time she was here. Oh, god, Sis, what an idiot I was. What a complete and stupid idiot I was not to fall for her when I had the chance. I suppose she hates me for it now. Do you think so? Maybe she doesn't, though. Maybe she knows that I'm really a very sensitive and shy guy and I only need a little overt encouragement before I can take the initiative. That would be nice. That would be really very—"
"Gideon Sunday, goddamnit, will you shut up and help me?"
He turned with bat in hand, eyes narrowed, seeking the figure of the assailant who had lurked in the dark until he'd caught the duck alone.
Then he dropped the bat, and stood up.
"Now, how the hell did you do that?" he wanted to know.
"Who," she said from the folds of the collapsed tent, "put it up, huh? Who said he knew all about it now and not to worry, he had everything under control?"
He shrugged. "I thought I did."
"He thought he did," she muttered. "Honest to god, Gideon, I'll be glad when you get a decent job so we can live in a house."
"So will I, Sis, so will I."
But meanwhile, he thought as he watched her flopping around beneath the hides, when this is all you got, then this is all you got.
"Gideon! Gideon, what the hell—"
On the other hand, when this is all you
got, you don't have to like it whether you got it or not; and he lay down beside Red, wrapped the lorra's tail over his ears, and promptly fell asleep.
"Gideon?"
And snored.
"Giddy?"
And dreamed of Ivy.
"Oh, shit."
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY