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"From what I understand,a fe keeps a woman home and happy more than a man who kno to please her If once your lady ever sa ti for fools in cat ed to pull hiot summin&039; there But how d&039;we ht of himwellit seems to annoy her to no end"

"I&039; to cure that," said Debreban, alsoan effort to overcome his beer He cut loose with an extended belch when he ht "I a out while we&039;re in this state"

"I am not drunk, my friend This is just a little buzz"

"Didn&039;t e meal we just had" Indeed, their shared tray was bare of food, including crumbs "I&039;m too full to think But later today, after we&039;ve walked this off, we can start thinking up soled "As in a plan for et it?"

But Shankey had his head sideways on the table, his eyes thickly glazed over He h, to the idea of thinking up an idea

A Few Streets Away Fro to do with Terrin, for a change Not at first It did seeuy around by the neck They e, from some tavern, and it looked to be a full-blown brawl I didn&039;t knoho started what, but uys who beat up on not so big people piss et involved, but they both careened intome hard over Only by some fast footwork and an instinctive shift in balance did I ht hurt yourself," I called out to the big one, annoyed He&039;d done all the klutz-work "He&039;s way out of your league, you know"

"Huh?" Still holding onto the other guy&039;s neck, he looht have been the rage distorting his features His eyes were pretty rabid Must have been the booze At two yards I was getting high off his breath "Whazzat to you?"

"Ihim around like that"

"Shaddup, freak!"

Bet he worked all day thinking up that riposte He dropped theand fast, but I ducked, dancing clear, drawing hi, but I dodged, and he plowed into a slower- bunch of people None of the on hireat ti toward me to try for another round

"Myhr! What the hell are you doing?" Terrin calare at me, probably pissed that I wasn&039;t there to pay his bill

"Just a little exercise" I avoided another fist It also cut close Too close I couldn&039;t let this guy connect or he&039;d snuffbored now"

"You started it, you finish it"

"It&039;s not uy, as still on the ground He looked confused and unhappy

"Oh, okay" Somewhere deep inside Terrin had a rusty sense of honor His black candle still in hand, he stepped into the street and addressed the -ass jerk Pick on someone your own size!"

Terrin&039;s just an inch or so over five feet Nearly everyone he got in a fight as taller I&039;d yet to see hi turned on hiht never bothered Terrin "Both round, that&039;s all that matters," he&039;d usually say

But in this case his feet ceased to be on the ground Launching a lightning-fast crescent kick, he caught Luggo&039;s chin solidly with the heel of his purple high-top sneaker Our mutual non-friend dropped heavily to the cobbles and stoppedhis butt Apparently he was still sore fro down the stairs

"He&039;ll kill uy

"Not if you leave," I said "After a knockout like that he won&039;t re that happened today"

"He&039;ll find me!" he wailed

I looked at Terrin "He did seerumped "Why&039;s it always me?"

"Because you&039;re the best, of course" He liked being talked into things Flattery helped

He growled, but gave in to his fate He went over to the unconscious man and held a hand out over his head I saw a very faint shimmer, like heated air "Okay, he&039;s fixed"

"Fixed in ay?" Never liked that word, "fixed"

"Every tiraine"

"He won&039;t be able to defend himself, you know"

"I know But he&039;s about due for some karmic payback"

"You hear that?" I asked the victih"

"What&039;d you do?" he wanted to know

"Coedall his freckles stand out He did need some rest "Come on, I need you to buy me some herbs"

I ith him The street theater scene over, the croent on with business as usual I hoped they&039;d bring some of it to Clem&039;s Before I could make an announcement to that effect, Terrin hauledas left ofout As ever, it was a painful experience "I know you have a stash in your pack"

"That&039;s ic It&039;s always better to use local organics for spell work The energy connection to the ley lines is stronger than if I bring in soet back to Clem&039;s It&039;ll be time for the lunch crowd soon"

"Great, take this with you" He foisted his candle and bag of herbs ontoaround I need to feel out the lines, see where the power points are"

"Get laid" I wondered how he spelled the "ley" in ley lines

"That, too I saw a place where - "

"Thanks, spare h solid walls, and in all our travels I&039;d never once seen hiive it to hiuys are born lucky I didn&039;t begrudge hiet laid fairly often he tended to i about the big drunk, too," he added

"What kind of so?"

"When I did the whay than it should"

"Maybe he was just resistant &039;cause of the booze"

"I don&039;t think so Thereon here, only I&039; the?"

"It could be I&039;ve never run up against anything like it before, so I don&039;t knohat itthis kind of tired fro wha"

He snorted, otta go get soain It did the same for ical side of stuff Terrin said he fed on all levels, whatever thatit in my Too Much Information cabinet He went off in one direction and I another, heading back to the inn

Greta gave et started The place was a little sparse for lunch custouys in a corner One was passed out on the table, and the other seemed fast asleep with his eyes wide open He wore a really awful purple-and-green uniform that clashed badly with his blond hair

I stopped upstairs long enough to drop off Terrin&039;s stuff and get ready for the lunch show Over my white pirate-style shirt I pulled on a dapper vest to dress things up Then I stood just outside the front door and did my warh to gather a street crowd just to stare at me, but the key is tobeen blessed with a decent singing voice, this wasn&039;t a tough job, and I rounded it all out with the jokes, irl came in view They ate it up I duly invited everyone for second helpings over their noontih takers to draw a s behind the bar while Greta and their various kids dished out the food My storowled expectantly, but it would just have to wait until the shoas over I never ate beforehand; it&039;s too e with a badly tih I was about to launch into "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - nature piece, it never fails to please a crohen the guy in the purple and green cut loose with athe kind that shakes the rafters and it happened just as I openeduntil the audience settles down They were laughing too hard In an atte contest It seeroup

"What&039;s the prize?" someone demanded

"Prize? You expect a prize?" I didn&039;t have to pretend shock

"Aye, &039;s only right You &039;ave a contest, y&039; should &039;ave a prize!"

Daht all the way through Thankfully, Cle to volunteer on of beer," he called out

I shot hirinned back and proceeded to sell beer to a dozen eager contestants He&039;derew louder by the ured out quick which end of the room was upwind from the belchers and stood there for the duration By the tiuys in the corner see ht of as "the hairy eyeball" I wondered if there was so Cle about it

"Okay, last and final round," I bellowed "Rick the Roaring Bear against Werdel the Wondergut!"

Rick and Werdel drained off their flagons of fuel and after abellies, each had a turn cutting loose The rafters not only shook, but a quantity of dust sifted down They both sounded the sa to the audience The cheers were loudest for Werdel He accepted his free flagon with good grace, took a swig, then generously passed the rest of it to Rick

"Gotta see aall tense as he sprinted for the back door

I offered a few choice lines wishing hi a hat and singing "Show Me the Way to Go Ho was for ood hour and a half and needed a break

Clem ell pleased "That&039;s triple the business I usually get for beer this time of day We&039;ll do the same tomorrow if my stocks hold out"

"Glad to have been of service" Maybe I should have felt guilty contributing to the area&039;s population of alcoholics, but didn&039;t I had a nice chunk of change left over after Cleeo check on their prices The sooner I left the sooner the locals could get back to norht?

Just as I slipped the coins into uy came up His blue eyes were somewhat red-rimmed and dull "My friend here wants a ith you"

His friend wasn&039;t here, but still at their table "Is soh to develop a certain respect for people in uniforreat otherwise

"He jus&039; wan&039;s a ith you"

There&039;d be no infor from this one Maybe he wanted h, I went along to the table The guy there was stocky and balding; what reht back He hat I&039;d conize as civilian clothes, but he was definitely some kind of military With practice, you can just tell

"Captain Shankey of House Darmo," he said about hiht I did, too

"Hi, I&039;m Myhr"

"Hah?"

"Myhr - rhyle, don&039;t you think?" I flared my lip whiskers in a way I hoped would be taken as a friendly expression

He squinted "That&039;s not a mask, is it?"

"Just my oonderful face" I spoke slow so he&039;d catch everything His breath was very beery "Was there so I can help you with?"

"You&039;re not froot in yesterday Is there a problehtened a bit "My Lady Filima Botello Darmo requires that you come to her house"

Fronized the name of one of the city&039;s main clans I couldn&039;t recall if they were Fortune 500 rich, though "Oh, yeah? Did she say why?"

"She doesn&039;t have to say why"

Uh-oh Types like that , so how is it she even knows me? I appreciate the invitation and all, but - "

"I&039;ll put it this way," he said, lurching to his feet to co more sober by the second He and his friend hadwith me If my lady wants to see you, then she will see you Understand?"

Before hed a lot of factors, like both of the knives, swords, authority, and stuff like that Bolting seemed more trouble than it orth Maybe this Fili PR work and just wanted a closer look I hoped she&039;d be uy He seemed a friendly sort except when his dark eyes went hard They were like chips of onyx now

"I understand, but - "

They each grabbed one of my arms

"Oh, Mr Myhr!" called Greta froed past, backwards "What&039;s this about?"

"These guys want me to see Lady Fillerup Bordello, I think Tell Terrin what happened or I ot back

"I don&039;t hold with arrests in my place," Clem pronounced sole me, I presume, to spare my shoe leather

"Yuhhh," added his blond buddy in the bad clothes, also lifting

My feet were inches clear of the ground They hauled ass toward the front door

"Say," I chirped opti, "will there be any ?"