Page 3 (1/2)

Back in Ruhborhood apothecary shop, "Ye Olde Frog&039;s Eye," if that was the correct translation on the sign out front The door ide open, the same as all the other businesses up and down the street It see me of older sections of Toronto when the weather was nice Well, the Toronto on about our fifth world They had some decent tech there I&039;d stocked up on the essentials of life: beef jerky, semi-sweet dark chocolate, and really warm socks

The shop A very intense olfactory experience Even with the door open The place was stuffed with all kinds of strange slass vessels Vinegar and garlic dominated, like some kind of twisted Italian eatery

"May I render helpuhsir?" A plump lady with a pleasant, full-cheeked face stared atfor a friend of n clothes?" It was my usual description for Terrin I didn&039;t knohat he had on today, but it was likely to be a T-shirt with a picture on it overlaid by a Hawaiian shirt, the louder the better To compensate for my looks I usually tried to blend in with local costu purple sneakers and sunglasses"

The lady took her ti&039;s a man like that cauy Don&039;t take it personal, he just gets preoccupied Did he buy anything?"

"No, but he asked if I had any ges like Overduke Anton"

My ears perked at the sound of useful information "So, this Anton dude is pretty well off?"

"More so than h for what I have Is there a circus in town?"

I disappointed her with my reply, but invited her to come enjoy the lunchtiht be interested in auditioning a singing cat-guy? I&039;s, bar mitzvahs"

"Oh, I wouldn&039;t know Mid-Suers are in it You could ask at his gate He has the big palace on the east side of the city Anyone will point you there"

"Then he&039;s a party-hearty kind of dude?"

"Dear me, but he&039;s not one for too much frivolity Usually has someone else plan the festival A very sober man is the overduke," she pronounced

I hated hi around town?"

"The overduke has several clans under him"

That must tickle I kept up with the questions, the ones I couldn&039;t ask at Cleive him the idea that I&039;d just pull out and take the act elsewhere for a better deal Of course I&039;d give notice first

I got a lot of naht not be helpful, and a basic idea of local politics The lady was careful not to give any personal opinions of the various clans in the city, e I didn&039;t think it was from any fear of reprisal As a businesswo a non-partisan face to the public

And unless they&039;re breathing down enda, politics bore me "Did you happen to notice which way

"There any candle makers nearby?"

"Same way On the left"

I thanked her and hurried on Part ofused to the rhyth the inn, I&039;d twice noticed the sounding of a huge bell in its high tower, e of the hours Not much time left before I had to stand outside Clem&039;s and persuade people to coic at the apothecary shop Practitioners and herbalists probably went there for supplies, but I didn&039;t pick up one whiff of the supernatural I may not be interested in the stuff, but I aht

I&039;d not discussed that with anyone Until I checked with Terrin, it see with ive them cause to think I was certifiable, too

The candle shop I found by so in them Many of the oils were stinky when burned, but they sold scents toup the purchase of a thick black candle half as long as his arm I knew he didn&039;t have any money, so he hit me up for some just as I walked in

"My friend will pay," he said, hooking his thumb in my direction His back was to me He couldn&039;t have seen my entrance

It was pointless to ask how he knew I&039;d arrive at just the right moment to take care of the bill Stuff like that always happened around hiical project I handed over a hard-won penny and shrugged it off

"What&039;s going on?" I asked once ere outside "You only use black candles when you want to whip up so with this world"

"What is it?"

"Don&039;t know yet"

"You ht and slipped his sunglasses on His eyes were green today Strangely, the color ith his purple fishing cap Our travel crystals were still in its netting, charging up in the sunshine "I just know it has to do with the black ure that out ?"

"Nope"

"What did you find?"

"Nothing"

"Nothing?"

"Zip And that is weird"

"Finding nothing is weird?"

"Nothing is weird, as in there wasn&039;t anything out there! Astral planes always have some kind of traffic The one in this world is empty No dreams, presences, ele Zip O La"

Even I knew that was extreed "Sooner we leave here, the better I gotta see about turning up a gem job I want out a-s-a-p"

Toward that end I told him what I&039;d learned from the apothecary lady about the overduke "He sounds like a stick in thearound before you offer roaned and stretched "I don&039;t feel like offering today Too daot here"

He totally looked it, but I kept shut No one likes to hear negative commentary on their appearance, especially Terrin He wanted to visit an herb shop he&039;d heard about, so we strolled through the noisy swirl of a street that was half-shopping aped at me, I waved back in a friendly way and collected another parade of kids Terrin loved children too - on toast with a little Dijon mustard - so he moved on while I did more PR work What can I say? I thrive on the attention and ear-scratching

I invited people to come to Clem&039;s for the show and some lunch, told a few jokes to whet their entertainenerally enjoyed ood, loud scream

Aw, come on - it was too soon for us to leave this place

Elsewhere in Ruuards for House Darn of an inn near the bell tower Lady Filima had been specific about who and what to look for; she just hadn&039;t mentioned that there were several inns and taverns in the area with red-lettered signs This was his third stop, and he was hungry That added to his annoyance What inspired the annoyance in the first place was being followed by Debreban, his Burkus House counterpart

Thearound in a cloak on so war around in the purple-and-green colors of House Burkus could expect a helping of snide laughter as well Shankey, anonymous out of his house uniform, almost felt sorry for theonto hi inside to ask yet another wary proprietor about a guest who awds - a cat h He strode purposefully to a shop doorhere his skulker had attempted to conceal himself People in the shop watched with interest

"Hello, Debreban," he said, looking down

Debreban atte in dooras quite the nor here?"

"My lady sent ood day for it Nice seeing you"

Shankey made a face "Cut the crap, Debreban We both know a little of what&039;s going on Let&039;s have a beer and swap stories"

After ahis knees He was a well-built fellow, all blond hair and boyish charm, just a little short on talent in i people ere neither blind nor deaf "Well, it is getting close to lunch"

Shankey nodded in a friendly way and led off back to the inn, an unpretentious two-story structure called "Clen The bar was open, and the woman behind it informed them she could do them so hot it would be another hour They ordered accordingly and took their tray and huge flagons of foamy beer to a quiet table at the far end of the room There they could put their backs to the wall and each keep an eye on the front entry Their training uzzle of beer, Shankey gave a shuddering sigh of relief in reaction "Dareed Debreban, belching "What o first"

"Fair enough Lord Cad"

"That&039;s all?"

"Sadly, yes I wish he&039;d get aafter your lady all the time I&039;m pretty sure it&039;s to do with Lady Filima"

"He knows I&039;m on one of her errands? How&039;s that?"

Debreban, as slicing cheese with his fighting knife, waved it carelessly "Probably soic He has Talent, you know Dabbles like soeneral He lowered the knife and stuffed cheese in his mouth

"Yeah, I&039;ve noticed that They have way too much time on their hands" Shankey helped hienerously Being more respectful of his battle equipment, he used the flat, dull knife provided by the inn, sparing his own cherished blade for lessas we have a job"

"That&039;s for damn-sure Nowwhat&039;s your side of it?"

Shankey took on a resigned expression "Lady Fili a cat ht Couldn&039;t say it, though Not to her face Pisses her off when people question her orders Have no idea why she wants him; I just do what I&039;m told Makes life a lot simpler"

"A cat mask?" Debreban shook his head "Is there a circus in town?"

"She said so, but I&039;ve not seen or heard sign of one Been feeling like a fool asking around after him, too Seems more like a job for one of my errand runners, but she wanted me to see to it personally, so it must be important in some way I don&039;t know yet"

"He could be a thief," Debreban suggested "Uses it as a disguise But ear a cat ht of that, too It&039;s nuts Between you and me, I don&039;t think she knoho he is either or she&039;d have given ic stuff the saone in for e like soe bunch, aren&039;t they?"

"That they are,theshop with another professional even if the felloasn&039;t nearly as experienced at the work "At least the pay is good"

"When you get paid" Debreban was justifiably morose about the topic It ell-known Lord Cadetful when it came to the timely remuneration of his retainers "Sorry, didn&039;t ht If you weren&039;t sworn to his service, I&039;d invite you to coht Debreban would do well once he got so

"You would? That&039;s decent of you The whole house is hoping it ht happen anyway"

"What? That Lord Cadmus finally , but ave an expressive shrug "Not unless Hell freezes over" In truth, he had no idea what the weather conditions in Hell ht be and tended to conduct his life in such a way as to never find out firsthand

"I wish it would," Debreban stated softly, but with a great deal of feeling under the words

"Oh, yeah?" said Shankey, in a drawing-out tone

"Don&039;t get ot no political ambitions, so there&039;s not a lot of work, just drills and stuff like that to keep us all polished"

"Much better doing that than real fighting," Shankey agreed He drained away his beer, signed for another round, and dug into a slice of cold ham

"But he needs a keeper So the household, you know?" Debreban finished his first flagon and welcomed the next

"Someone to see that he doesn&039;t overspend himself?"

"Exactly!" Debreban said "Lady Filima would be perfect for him She used to have to earn her way like the rest of us, so she knows the value of a penny There&039;s no waste in your house, is there? Everyone gets paid on time? The whole town knows she&039;s slow of pride that his lady&039;s reputation was taking on a new facet In the early days of her e to Lord Botello the oochie-coochie dancer past had been rather hard to live down "True, all true"

"Then there you are," said Debreban conclusively

Shankey nodded several tireement and made a mental note to return to this inn for more drink Whatever they did with the beer here was inspired It usually took more than just two tohappily ood for a man to be so concerned about the welfare of his master, too bad that master was Cadon, Debreban said:

"If they got married she&039;d be able to keep my lord Cadmus in line Of course, there&039;s also the risk that he could beggar her You kno soive him all herin love With hirunted, apparently used to popular opinion concerning his liege-lord "Wish we could ot himself a proper heir He&039;s the last of his line, y&039;know If he dropped dead today the whole household would bebesoon empty, his memory lapse was excusable "Shouldn&039;t be allowed"

"Seems to me," said Shankey slowly, for he&039;d also found the bottoe is on your side What would et out of such a match?"

"Well, he&039;s a handsoood joke Very dedicated to the gentlemanly arts He&039;d never mistreat her That&039;s a fact You knowyou knowall his old girl friends still like him?"

"Really?"

Debreban nodded sole to do with being a gentleood entertainot her brains and his looks - not that she doesn&039;t have a face a man could die forbut then that could be all reversed The kids could end up with his brains" He frowned again

"That&039;s getting too far ahead What benefit couldthat I can see - wait, she&039;d have a fine lover"

"I don&039;t want to kno you know that," said Shankey

Debreban laughed hiot so in that area"

Maybe that hy his old girlfriends still liked him "Oh, yeah?"