keep their feelings well hidden but I saw no reason why someone who
had grown up in a tropical swamp should feel at home inside an immense pile of
stone. Especially since all his past experience with cities and big buildings
had been negative in the extreme.
I hurried to get him back into territory he knew well enough to walk alone. I
had to get into Croaker’s cell fast, before he and his feathered friend
returned. That is where we were keeping the books right now. We did not want
anyone to know we had them though Soulcatcher surely suspected if she was aware
that they had been stolen from where she had hidden them.
What a convoluted game.
I felt my wrist to make sure I still wore the loop of string that was really an
amulet One-Eye had given me so I would be immune to all the spells of confusion
and misdirection around the chamber where we kept Smoke.
Even before I collected the books, noting that Croaker had shooed all crows,
closed the window and covered it with a curtain, I was thinking how best to
conceal them once I had them where Croaker wanted them to go.
It would not be long after we left that the Radisha would start wondering who
was taking care of the wizard now. My bet was that she would start looking for
him. She was stubborn enough to find her way to the room.
Though she had shown little interest in Smoke lately she had never given up hope
of bringing him back. If we enjoyed many successes against the Shadowmaster she
would want his help even more.
Everything we did seemed to have potentially unpleasant consequences.
Black Company GS 7 - She is Darkness
8
When the Old Man decides to move he moves. It was still tomb dark when I left
the Palace and found him waiting with two of the giant black stallions that had
come down from the north with the Black Company. Specially bred during the
Lady’s heyday, with sorcery instilled into their very bones, they could run
forever without getting tired and could outrace any mundane steed. And they were
almost as smart as a really stupid human.
Croaker grinned down at my in-laws. They were completely nonplussed by this
development. How were they supposed to keep up?
Kind of pissed me off, too. “I’ll handle it,” I said in Nyueng Bao. I handed
Thai Dei my stuff, climbed the monster Croaker had brought for me. It had been a
long time since I had ridden one but this one seemed to remember me. It tossed
its head and snorted a greeting. “You too, big boy.” I took my stuff from Thai
Dei.
“Where’s the standard?” Croaker demanded.
“In the wagon with One-Eye. Sleepy put it there before—”
“You let it out of your control? You don’t ever let it out of your control.”
“I was thinking about giving Sleepy the job.” Standard-bearer was one of the
hats I wore. And not one of my favorites. Now that I am Annalist I should be
passing it on. Croaker has mentioned that himself on occasion. “Give me your
stuff now,” I told Thai Dei once I had mine settled in front of me.
Thai Dei’s eyes got big as he realized what I intended.
I told Mother Gota and Uncle Doj, “Stay on the stone road all the way and you’ll
catch up with the army. If you’re stopped show the soldiers your papers.”
Another innovation of the Liberator. More and more people involved in the war
effort were being given bits of paper telling who they were and who was
responsible for them. Since hardly anybody was literate the effort did not seem
worthwhile.
Maybe. But the Old Man always has his reasons. Even when those are simply to
confuse.
Croaker realized what I was doing just as I extended my hand to help Thai Dei
climb. He opened his mouth to raise hell. I said, “Don’t bother. It ain’t worth
a fight.”
Thai Dei looks like a skull with a thin layer of dark leather over it at the
best of times. Now he looked as though he had just heard a death sentence
pronounced. “It’ll be all right,” I
had grown up in a tropical swamp should feel at home inside an immense pile of
stone. Especially since all his past experience with cities and big buildings
had been negative in the extreme.
I hurried to get him back into territory he knew well enough to walk alone. I
had to get into Croaker’s cell fast, before he and his feathered friend
returned. That is where we were keeping the books right now. We did not want
anyone to know we had them though Soulcatcher surely suspected if she was aware
that they had been stolen from where she had hidden them.
What a convoluted game.
I felt my wrist to make sure I still wore the loop of string that was really an
amulet One-Eye had given me so I would be immune to all the spells of confusion
and misdirection around the chamber where we kept Smoke.
Even before I collected the books, noting that Croaker had shooed all crows,
closed the window and covered it with a curtain, I was thinking how best to
conceal them once I had them where Croaker wanted them to go.
It would not be long after we left that the Radisha would start wondering who
was taking care of the wizard now. My bet was that she would start looking for
him. She was stubborn enough to find her way to the room.
Though she had shown little interest in Smoke lately she had never given up hope
of bringing him back. If we enjoyed many successes against the Shadowmaster she
would want his help even more.
Everything we did seemed to have potentially unpleasant consequences.
Black Company GS 7 - She is Darkness
8
When the Old Man decides to move he moves. It was still tomb dark when I left
the Palace and found him waiting with two of the giant black stallions that had
come down from the north with the Black Company. Specially bred during the
Lady’s heyday, with sorcery instilled into their very bones, they could run
forever without getting tired and could outrace any mundane steed. And they were
almost as smart as a really stupid human.
Croaker grinned down at my in-laws. They were completely nonplussed by this
development. How were they supposed to keep up?
Kind of pissed me off, too. “I’ll handle it,” I said in Nyueng Bao. I handed
Thai Dei my stuff, climbed the monster Croaker had brought for me. It had been a
long time since I had ridden one but this one seemed to remember me. It tossed
its head and snorted a greeting. “You too, big boy.” I took my stuff from Thai
Dei.
“Where’s the standard?” Croaker demanded.
“In the wagon with One-Eye. Sleepy put it there before—”
“You let it out of your control? You don’t ever let it out of your control.”
“I was thinking about giving Sleepy the job.” Standard-bearer was one of the
hats I wore. And not one of my favorites. Now that I am Annalist I should be
passing it on. Croaker has mentioned that himself on occasion. “Give me your
stuff now,” I told Thai Dei once I had mine settled in front of me.
Thai Dei’s eyes got big as he realized what I intended.
I told Mother Gota and Uncle Doj, “Stay on the stone road all the way and you’ll
catch up with the army. If you’re stopped show the soldiers your papers.”
Another innovation of the Liberator. More and more people involved in the war
effort were being given bits of paper telling who they were and who was
responsible for them. Since hardly anybody was literate the effort did not seem
worthwhile.
Maybe. But the Old Man always has his reasons. Even when those are simply to
confuse.
Croaker realized what I was doing just as I extended my hand to help Thai Dei
climb. He opened his mouth to raise hell. I said, “Don’t bother. It ain’t worth
a fight.”
Thai Dei looks like a skull with a thin layer of dark leather over it at the
best of times. Now he looked as though he had just heard a death sentence
pronounced. “It’ll be all right,” I
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