Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine

by Jeanne G'Fellers

  “Work?” exclaimed Starnes. “It needs to be leveled. I hate it.” He scratched his side and shrugged disconcertedly. “But I guess it’s a living.”

  “Better than the Hiring Hall, I’m sure.”

  Starnes grinned at her. “I suppose it is. So, you going to cover those gorgeous blue eyes of yours or not?”

  “Yeah, right now.” LaRenna closed her eyes to replace the lenses. “Better?” She didn’t want to admit she had forgotten about their removal.

  He still grinned at her.

  “Something else wrong?”

  “No.” Starnes’s smile spread all the way to his outward-turned ears. “Can I ask you something?”

  LaRenna nodded, though she knew the question he was about to ask.

  “Sorta short for a Taelach, aren’t you?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  He who aids the Taelach shall become as soulless as the blue-eyed witch, his misdeeds punished in the cleansing fires.

  —from the text of The Raskhallak Stipulations

  “I expected you to bring back a barman, Starnes, not a waif still smelling of the farm.” Cance watched LaRenna clean a corner table. “Was the selection at the Hiring Hall that pitiful or have you that desperate a need? Brandoff was perfectly willing to—”

  “No, Cance, quite the opposite. She was the best the Hall had to offer skillwise.” Starnes averted her eyes as he restocked the bar. Cance rattled her empty glass against the counter until he slid a filled decanter to her.

  “Good boy, Starnie, you’re learning.” She swiveled and lounged against the heavy glass counter to watch their new employee. “Best qualified, eh? I’ll be the judge of that. You, girl, let me see your worker’s card. I want to know your job history.”

  LaRenna rose until she could see the other Taelach through the maze of chair bottoms and table bases. Cance stared back at her, mouth pursed as LaRenna whiningly objected. “Barman Starnes has seen the card.”

  “I don’t give a damn what Barman Starnes has or hasn’t seen of you, though I suspect he already has seen quite a bit. He may be the owner, but I manage this establishment and I require your card. Bring it here.” LaRenna pulled the card from her skirt pocket and grudgingly offered it to Cance, who snatched with a scowl. “You want to work here, girl, you do as you’re told. Get it?”

  “Yeah.” LaRenna turned back to her work.

  “Hold on! Did I say you were excused?” Cance caught LaRenna’s leg with her foot, nearly causing her to fall. As it was, LaRenna fell to one knee, bashing her forehead on the nearest chair back. Cance laughed uproariously at the sight. “Clumsy! Stand straight and tell me where you’ve worked.”

  “It’s on the card.” LaRenna rubbed at the small knot rising on her brow. It wasn’t a serious bump but enough to bruise her pride.

  “Humor me.”

  LaRenna rolled her eyes as she recited the list contained in the card’s small writing. Krell had been correct in insisting she memorize it. Cance was thorough. “I’ve worked at the Base Ender, the Downsider, and the Planetrise.”

  “Uh-huh.” Cance read the card’s front then flipped it over and eyed LaRenna expectantly. “Tell me about your background.”

  True to her disguise, LaRenna questioned Cance again, in a tone more whining than before. “Is this really necessary? Everything I’m saying is on the card. The Hiring Hall has verified it.”

  “You’ll answer.” Cance’s Taelach drawl began leaching through. “Or find yourself whoring to get back into the hall.”

  “If you must know, I’m from one of the farming compounds west of here. My father was in charge of the community stores, so I helped there until I took out on my own. Anything else?”

  “By the look of you I’m sure you were thrown out, but I’ve no more questions. Not for now. Get back to work.” Cance flung the work card to the floor and poured a glass from the fresh crystal, watching with wistful interest as LaRenna bent to retrieve the card. The low cut of LaRenna’s frock was the reason she’d tossed it to the floor to begin with. “Finish up, girl, we open in less than an hour.”

  Starnes had completed stocking the shelves. “Father needs tending. I’m taking him some food before business starts up.” He turned toward the kitchen.

  “He stinks.” Cance’s crinkled her nose. “Clean him up.”

  LaRenna was bent over yet another table, wiping the base. When Starnes returned from the kitchen, he came close to inspect her work. “Who taught you to clean? Not like that, girl. Like this.” He placed the tray on the table and crouched to scrub the base himself. “Don’t just stand there. Get down here and watch the right way to do this.” LaRenna hunkered beside him with an inquisitive look on her face. She knew the job was adequate and wondered why he chose to criticize her so. “Medicine,” he whispered when she was close enough. “Please.” She glanced to see if they were still being observed. Cance’s back was to them.

  LaRenna flipped up the hem of her skirt and popped two of the stitches. The medicine packet fell into her palm. “Here.” She slid the pack into his hand. “Half now, the rest in four hours.”

  Starnes placed the packet in his vest pocket and stood. “That’s better, girl. Finish them last two tables then get something to eat. You can’t work half the night with nothing in you.” He left her to finish the task.

  When she’d finished, LaRenna removed her apron and washed her hands in the kitchen basin. A variety of aromatic roast meats and breads were keeping warm on the steam table, a difficult choice, as Starnes was an excellent cook. She chose a slice of each then carried her plate and a neglected sweet jam pot to the dining area. Cance leisurely observed all the while, expressing mild surprise when LaRenna walked behind the bar counter, chose a dusty crystal from a high shelf, and took it to a table.

  “Drinking the profits with our dinner, are we?” Cance tossed LaRenna a clean glass.

  “It doesn’t look like bitterwine is a popular choice. It won’t be missed.”

  “Bitterwine and sweet jam, interesting combination.” Cance stared piercingly at her, wishing her lenses were back so she could edge into the barmaid’s mind. “Where did you say you were from again?”

  “West of here, near the Lanslotchin valley.” LaRenna spread a thick layer of jam on her bread and poured a shot of wine. Cance’s brows knitted with suspicion.

  “Then where the hell did you pick up that habit?”

  Only then did LaRenna realize her mistake. Sweet jams on bread was a decidedly Taelach habit. Her mind raced for a second then she smiled. This was easy to explain away. “We had a Taelach teacher who divided her time between my parents’ farm compound and three others. When she was teaching at ours, she usually boarded with my family. I guess that’s where I picked up my affection for jam.”

  “Oh?” Cance remained unconvinced.

  “She shared a room with me and my two older sisters. Always brought loads of sweets. Now that I think about it, I probably picked up a few other small Taelach habits I don’t realize.”

  “Like the capability to form a complete sentence?” said Cance in hopes of argument. “Farm brats seldom learn that skill. You people spend far too much time with your animals to be very intelligent.”

  “My father believed in education, even for his girls to a certain level. I had an excellent teacher.” LaRenna shoved a large cut of meat into her mouth. She couldn’t make another mistake if she kept it full.

  “So you read and write?”

  “Mmmhm.”

  “A Taelach taught you?”

  LaRenna nodded.

  “Hmph. Autlach children need Autlach teachers. Taelachs disrupt the natural cycle when they put their noses where they don’t belong.”

  LaRenna swallowed, quickly shoved another bite into her mouth then shrugged, hoping the answer would suffice.

  To her dismay Cance rose from her stool to take a seat at the same table, a casual, almost flirtatious smile crossing her face as she approached. “Too much sun will make you wrinkle befor
e you should. It’d be a pity to see such a pretty young woman go to waste.”

  LaRenna feigned ignorance. “Really? I always stayed this way from fieldwork. Never heard it was harmful, only healthy.”

  “Move to the northern highlands and you’ll lose that color.” Cance held out her palm. It was pale, but not outside Autlach possibility and nowhere near as washed as LaRenna’s natural tone. “That’s where I’m from. You can’t go outside there during the winter cycles. Too cold.”

  LaRenna let the poor explanation stand and downed a shot of bitterwine. The dark drink had a syrupy consistency that repulsed most, Cance included. “I don’t know many who actually care for bitterwine these days. It’s a drink for the old.” LaRenna smiled and drained a second shot, clinking the glass twice as she set it down, which brought yet another puzzled look to Cance’s face. “You remind me of someone.”

  “I do?”

  “I’m not sure, but somebody I know does that when they drink shots.” Cance peered at the empty glass. “I wish I could remember. Ah, no matter.” The thought faded into insignificance as Starnes shuffled down the stairs.

  He watched them for a second then turned to LaRenna, unable to mask his confusion. “I . . . uh . . . hurry up with your dinner, girl. We open in minutes.”

  “Leave her be, Starnes.” Cance caressed LaRenna’s forearm. “She’s kept me company. Bright girl to be working here.” She pointed toward him with the other hand. “You found her at the Hiring Hall?”

  “Times are tough,” said LaRenna to prevent a fatal error on Starnes’s part. “You take what you can get.”

  “I suppose.” But Cance still wondered. This girl was capable of far more than waiting tables, that was for certain. “I’m going upstairs to work, but I wish to speak with you a moment first, Starnes. Come here.” She dismissed LaRenna to the kitchen area, allowing him to slide into her still warm seat.

  “I don’t want to find out you’ve told the help of our little arrangement.” Cance’s hand now rested on Starnes’s arm, gripping until her nails left marks. “If I do, I’ll make you watch as I kill your father.”

  “I haven’t breathed a word.”

  “Keep it that way.” Cance grabbed the crystal from the bar and climbed the stairs, stopping midflight to restate the warning. “I’ll be down later. Behave.” She leered down at LaRenna as she emerged from the kitchen. “Both of you.”

  When she was gone, LaRenna drew to a chair beside Starnes. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

  “You haven’t met the other one yet,” he whispered. “Brandoff’s a true Raskhallak curse.”

  “Everyone has a weakness.” LaRenna peered up the stairwell. “I’ll find theirs and use it against them.” Kimshee determination darkened her disguise. “I swear it’ll bring them both down.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Do not judge another’s post as simple until you have spent time at it.

  —instructor’s wisdom from the Taelach Training Grounds

  The Waterlead bustled with a crowd larger than LaRenna had anticipated. Not only did the sentry squadron patron the bar as ordered, but they brought friends, most of whom lingered well into the night. Trazar Laiman was among them, assuring his men’s sobriety with his presence. LaRenna dashed between tables, delivering drinks and platters around the dining area. The job was difficult, trying to the mind and the body but flowed smoothly once she had established a rhythm. When one table ordered, she delivered their drinks and approached the next, then delivered any food the first table had ordered, delivered drinks to the second, approached the third and so on throughout the evening.

  “Trazar?” One of the sentries leaned back to address his commander at the next table. With no uniforms to show affiliation, rank and title were not to be mentioned. “Do you have relatives on Langus?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Why?”

  The sentry pointed to where LaRenna was squeezing between the crammed tables. “The little vamp slinging drinks looks a lot like you. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t your cousin or something before I hit on her.”

  “Nah, the girls in my family are stocky built. She’s too tall and slender to be my relation.”

  “She doesn’t look tall to me,” stated a lankier sentry at the same table. “And she may not be heavy, but she’s very well-rounded. Figures like hers are few and far between. Sure you’re not related? She’s got the same mark on her left ear.”

  Trazar peered up from his drink. “She can’t. It’s a family trait. My sister and father have one, too.”

  “So does the barmaid. Call her over and see for yourself.”

  Trazar raised his hand for service. LaRenna dropped a round to a nearby group then approached his table. “Need another?” The question sounded tired. Her feet ached and the fresh Kimshee symbol throbbed from the rub of her shoe. Besides, she was slightly abashed by the way Trazar looked at her. He looked friendly enough, somewhat familiar, but she hadn’t the faintest notion why.

  “No.” He leaned forward to view her left side. “My friends were curious about the diamond-shaped mark on your ear.”

  LaRenna rubbed at the mark. “What about it?”

  “Is it a scar, a birthmark?”

  “Birthmark. Why?”

  “You have any relations living in Vartoch’s southern mountains?”

  “I’ve never been to Vartoch and I doubt I have family there. I’m local.” LaRenna smoothed her hair over the questioning mark. “Now, unless you have an order, I really must get to work.”

  “Hold on,” said another at the table. “I’m local, too. I would remember someone like you and I’ve never seen you before.”

  “Guess you never knew where to look,” retorted LaRenna with the slightest of grins. “I was raised in a farming compound just west of here.”

  “Farm girl, huh?” Trazar returned her grin. He had many distant farming relations and was positive his next question would clear the air. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

  “LaRenna.”

  Trazar choked on his wine. “LaRenna?” He gasped. The Death Stone’s cold image flew to mind. Hadn’t his father said the baby was born with the same mark? “Are you sure?”

  “About my own name? Yes. Excuse me, but I am busy.” A corner table whistled for her attention. She took Trazar’s empty glass and turned.

  “Wait.” Trazar grabbed her hand. “How old are you?”

  “None of your business.” She struggled against his touch. “Let go.”

  Trazar realized the strength of his grip and released, but his eyes remained transfixed on her face. Shades of Mercy were present in this young woman, as was his father’s jaw line. Could it be? Surely it was coincidence, a strange one for sure, but it couldn’t possibly be more. “I’m sorry, it’s just—”

  “You gonna flirt all night or do your job?” LaRenna startled and turned to find Cance behind her. “The corner table demands your immediate attention. They’re friends of mine so their drinks are on the house.” She looked at Trazar. “Keep your hands off the staff or I’ll kick your ass out.”

  “I meant no harm to the girl,” he replied.

  “Sure you didn’t.” Cance escorted LaRenna from the table, making rude accusations concerning her propositioning the customers until they reached the table. She took a chair beside a long-haired man. “Service leaves something to be desired.” She elbowed Longhair in the ribs.”Nice to look at though, isn’t it?” The Autlach gave a polite laugh and whispered something in one of the lesser-known dialects to one of his comrades. Cance and LaRenna both understood the lewd comment, but neither dared react. “Bring us two wine crystals to sip from.” Cance’s attention reverted to LaRenna. “And me a dish of the roast you were eating earlier.”

  “What else?” An unrolled scroll map on the table had caught LaRenna’s attention, so she lingered, trying to interpret the diagram without being seen.

  “Yeah.” Cance sniffed. “Make it a crystal and a plate for each of us.” When LaR
enna hesitated, Cance lashed out, pinching her leg through her skirts. “Slow barmaids have a bad habit of losing fingers and a lot more around me.” Cance twisted tighter before letting go. “Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.” LaRenna rubbed her thigh. “You’ve made it painfully clear.” She flounced her skirts and hurried toward the kitchen. It wouldn’t do any good to challenge Cance’s cruelty now. Too much relied on her role. Besides, she had seen all she needed of the map. It was of a Center’s Assembly, specifically the sentry stations in the vicinity thereof.

  Safe in the kitchen, she examined her purpling thigh then spooned five servings of the meats, arranging them on a large tray. She laid the bulky load on the back counter then tapped Starnes on the shoulder. “Five crystals and a single glass.”

  “Five?” Starnes had been wiping the counter with a damp towel. “Who ordered so much and did they show their money?”

  “Cance says they’re on the house.”

  “Figures.” He helped her center the crystals on the tray. “She could outdrink a water demon.” He balanced the load on her shoulder then set the single glass in the center. “Want me to carry it?”

  “I can manage.” LaRenna grunted from the demand on her tired muscles but held the tray steady. “Where’s Brandoff?”

  “Upstairs. Cance won’t let her down during business hours. Seems she don’t know how to behave in public, is the more off of the pair—if you can believe that.” Starnes glanced to where Cance sat. “Better get over there.”

  “On my way.” LaRenna slowly made her way through the tables. She balanced the tray on her hip and distributed the order, ignoring Cance’s attempts at flirting. The single glass she saved for last, creating an excuse to see Trazar.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you before and I certainly didn’t mean to get you in trouble,” he said before she could turn away. “Is the manager always so rough?” A short nod in Cance’s general direction showed his distrust. “I saw him give you that pinch. Are you hurt? Why do you put up with it?”