Read Splintered Icon for Free Online Page A

my voice, 'I am indeed from the land of the Scots, sir. Do you have anything to say about that?'
    White-faced, he shook his head and backed off, but from the corner of my eye I saw one of his companions reach for his sword. I judged the weapon to be about an arm's length, but my pike was longer, about two arms' length.
    There is no defence against a pike thrust upwards from knee level towards the stomach. I dropped my dagger, snatched up my pike and put my weight behind it, since I perceived myself to be in mortal danger and was in any case by now very angry. The metal tip of the pike sank into the man's belly to about a finger's depth. He collapsed like a dead weight and rolled on the ground, screaming in pain and holding himself, while blood spurted between his hands. His companions ran off shouting - brave fellows they! — leaving him howling on the ground. I noticed that the woman who had smiled at me a moment earlier had disappeared. I picked up my dagger and went on my way, hardening my heart against the man's cries of pain.
    No more than a hundred paces had passed when I was stopped yet again, this time by someone of my age, dressed in little more than rags. 'I saw that,' he said in an accent which I could scarce understand. The word 'saw' came out as 'zorr'.
    He added, 'You are a stranger in these parts?'
    'I am, and what of it?' My voice came out harsh and trembling with the excitement of the last moments.
    'This is Southwark, a dangerous place to be after dark. There are many thieves and cutpurses here.'
    'Aye, and you are perhaps one of them.' My ballockknife was inside my sleeve again but could be at his throat in a flash.
    He laughed. 'My name is Michael,' he said. 'As you are a stranger in these parts, I swear to God you are at risk.'
    'You have just seen me dealing with Master Risk.'
    'Have I not!' Behind me, the man was still threshing around and howling. Others were stepping around him, paying him little attention. I believe there was admiration in Michael's voice, though why I do not know. 'Where are you staying?' he asked.
    I hesitated before confiding in this complete stranger, but judged that he presented little immediate danger. 'I have no place to stay, and in case you think to lighten me of my purse through some trick, save your effort. I have no money.'
    'And what about food?'
    'I ate yesterday.'
    'Come with me.'
    I decided that the risk of being on my own in this hostile area was greater than that of following this boy of my own age. With every sense alert, I followed him along the streets. There was a whiff of human excrement in the air, mixed with wonderful smells of food coming from taverns which we passed. Presently he turned into a noisy, well-lit tavern. Over the entrance was a sign on which was painted a galleon like those I had seen in the Dominie's books. Inside, the noise was greater than any I had ever heard, even in the hostelries where I had stayed on the way down. It was hot, from the crush of bodies and a roaring fire near the entrance.
    'Find a space,' he said, and disappeared towards a far corner of the room. As it happened, three men, all drunk, were standing up and about to leave a table. I pushed my way through the crowd, attracting no small attention, I suppose because of my pike - although I had wiped the blood from its tip - and sat down. My companion soon appeared with two large jugs of beer. 'Put that down you,' he said. 'Food will be along shortly.'
    'Why are you doing this?' I asked. 'I am a stranger to you. And I judge that charity is not in your heart.'
    My companion grinned, raised his jug. 'I have my reasons,' he said.
    'To do with those roughs?'
    'To do with the way you dealt with them.'
    I sipped at the beer. It was strong. It was clear that if I finished the jug I would be as drunk as many of those in the tavern. I decided that out of courtesy I would sip at it but take no more than a mouthful in total.
    'A Scotchman, then?'
    'Aye.'
    'Come to look for employment in