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tear my gaze away.
    His was the face of a dead man, of a mummy improperly preserved. His eyes were alive and baleful, yet directly beneath one was a patch of flesh which had rotted. Beneath his nose, at the right corner of his mouth, a square inch of lip was missing, revealing gum and yellowed teeth.
    The Limper sipped tea, met my eye, and smiled.
    I nearly dribbled down my leg.
    I went to the window. There was some light out there now, and the snowfall was weakening, but I could not see the stone.
    The stamp of boots sounded on the stair. Elmo and Raven shoved into the room. Elmo growled, "Hey, Croaker, how the hell did you get rid of that...." His words grew smaller as he recognized our visitor.
    Raven gave me a guestioning look. The Limper turned. I shrugged when his back was to me. Raven moved to one side, began removing his wet things.
    Elmo got the idea. He went the other way, stripped beside the fire. "Damn, it's good to get out of those. How's the boy, Otto?"
    "There's fresh tea," I said.
    Otto replied, "I hurt all over, Elmo."
    The Limper peered at each of us, and at One-Eye and Goblin, who had yet to stir. "So. Soulcatcher brings the Black Company's best." His voice was a whisper, yet it filled the room. "Where is he?"
    Raven ignored him. He donned dry breeches, sat beside Otto, doublechecked my handiwork. "Good job of stitching, Croaker."
    "I get plenty of practice with this outfit."
    Elmo shrugged in response to the Limper. He drained his cup, poured tea all around, then filled the pot from one of the pitchers. He planted a boot in One-Eye's ribs while the Limper glared at Raven.
    "You!" the Limper snapped. "I haven't forgotten what you did in Opal. Nor during the campaign in Forsberg."
    Raven settled with his back against the wall. He produced one of his more wicked knives, began cleaning his fingernails. He smiled. At the Limper, he smiled, and there was mockery in his eyes.
    Didn't anything scare that man?
    "What did you do with the money? That wasn't Soulcatcher's. The Lady gave it to me."
    I took courage from Raven's stance. "Aren't you supposed to be in Elm? The Lady ordered you out of the Salient."
    Anger distorted that wretched face. A scar ran down his forehead and left cheek. It stood out. Supposedly it continued down his left breast. The blow had been struck by the White Rose herself.
    The Limper rose. And that damned Raven said, "Got the cards, Elmo? The table's free."
    The Limper scowled. The tension level was rising fast. He snapped, "I want that money. It's mine. Your choice is to cooperate or not. I don't think you'll enjoy it if you don't."
    "You want it, go get it," Raven said. "Catch Raker, chop off his head, take it to the stone. Ought to be easy for the Limper. Raker's only a bandit. What chance would he stand against the Limper?"
    I thought the Taken would explode. He did not. For an instant he was baffled.
    He was not off balance long. "All right. If you want it the hard way." His smile was wide and cruel. Did he have some special interest in Raven?
    The tension was near the snapping point.

XV
    A shadow moved in the open doorway. A lean, dark figure appeared, stared at the Limper's back. I sighed in relief.
    The Limper spun. For a moment the air seemed to crackle between the Taken.
    From the corner of one eye I noted that Goblin was sitting up. His fingers were dancing in complex rhythms. One-Eye, facing the wall, was whispering into his bedroll. Raven reversed his knife for a throw. Elmo got a grip on the teapot, ready to fling hot water.
    There was no missile within grabbing distance of me. What the hell could I contribute? A chronicle of the blowup afterward, if I survived?
    Soulcatcher made a tiny gesture, stepped round the Limper, deposited himself in his usual seat. He flung a toe out, hooked one of the chairs away from the table, put his feet up. He stared at the Limper, his fingers steepled before his mouth. "The Lady sent a message. In case I ran into you. She wants to see you."