He let his tails see him enter Arnulf Black’s butcher shop. That pathetic villain had been questioned by Babeltausque, who declared him a bleak pervert whose need was to humiliate the weak and build himself up by tormenting the helpless. He abused his girls but did not murder them. Even the weakest eventually ran away.
In that impoverished quarter Black had no trouble finding replacements.
Varthlokkur left the shop. His shadows did not see him go. They had other things on their minds.
He headed for a nearby apothecary shop.
Arnulf Black said his girls usually ran to the druggist, whoever the druggist was.
The shop had been there forever but had changed hands a year ago. The new druggist was the son, grandson, or nephew of the man who had retired.
The wizard expected it to be closed and those associated with it to be gone. Chames Marks had to know he was being watched. But the door opened when Varthlokkur tried it. The overhead bell jingled.
A girl came through the curtains filling the doorway to the rear. Varthlokkur guessed her to be eleven or twelve. She was drying her hands on an old grey rag. She started to make an apology.
She looked straight at him.
She blanched. Her mouth worked but nothing came out. She had trouble breathing.
What was this? The child ought to have no idea who he was.
He made a quick gesture with his left hand. Her gaze followed. He said, “Stay where you are.”
She froze. Varthlokkur considered his surroundings. This was a serious apothecary shop, whatever else it might be-assuming the contents of those containers matched their labels.
Here was a fortune in medicine.
“What is your name?”
“Seline, sir. Seline Shalot.”
“Where is your master?”
“Making a delivery in Eatherton Close. Belladonna. Dr. Jaspars uses it. He should be back soon.”
“Why didn’t you make the delivery?”
“Chames thought it might not be safe. What’s been happening to girls around here has him worried.”
Varthlokkur put her under deeper so she would not resist more personal questions.
Chames had not touched her. It was all right if he wanted to. He was good to her. He might have been intimate with Haida. Haida had bragged that he was. It was no big thing.
Someone came in the back way. Varthlokkur heard a clunk and clatter and muttering, then the tread of shod feet headed their way. “Seline, I need you to pull jars while I formulate. We have a big wholesale order…”
Varthlokkur grinned wickedly. “Well! Hello. This puts a new spin onto everything.”
…
“I fooled myself,” Babeltausque complained to Nathan Wolf. It was dark. A fire, shielded from wind and rain by a tent under the constant assault of the elements, did not yield enough light to continue work.
Wolf agreed. “You should’ve thought about the weather before you told her. You knew she’d go nuts.” There were bits of ice in the rain. They stung.
The pond was empty. The dam side had been broken. Rainwater was flushing the muck. Babeltausque, Wolf, and several miserable soldiers took turns keeping the outflow burdened.
They had recovered six coins. Two were silver. None were gold.
“You’re right. But that’s not what I mean. Nobody will know if we just get in and hunker down by the fire.”
“She can’t fire us. What were you talking about, then?”
“Those men who attacked me. I marked them with tracer spells.”
“So you could see where they ran. So?”
“So I lost them. They left town. I should’ve grabbed them.”
Wolf grunted, disinterested. He was busy quitting work. He kept his back to Babeltausque so the wizard could not read his expression. “This will at least clean the pond out.”
Babeltausque glanced that direction, was content to let the darkness have the pool. “I hope we have enough firewood.”
…
Ozora Mundwiller told Kristen, “Inger found the missing treasury.” Kristen slumped.
“Take heart. They didn’t find much. Not enough for Inger to clear her debts. She won’t be hiring any troops.”
“That’s good news, then.”
“The wizard may have gone home, too. He hasn’t been seen lately.”
“More good news.”
“To old news. Did you try to kill Inger’s sorcerer?”
“No.” Kristen had heard about that but had given it no thought.
“Nor did I. Who, then? The sorcerer said they were Wessons.”
“Which would rule out the Marena Dimura. But they aren’t heard from much anymore, anyway.”
“So who, then?”
“Does it matter?”
“In the sense that it may affect us, of course it does. The enemy of our enemy isn’t necessarily our friend.”
“The eastern empress could have hired them.” But that was silly. Mist would be more direct. “No. Of course not. Maybe some Nordmen.” “But the Estates, nominally, support Inger and Fulk.”
“How about Aral Dantice?”
“Or Michael Trebilcock? Is he still alive?”
Kristen said, “I think so. How about you, Dahl?”
“Word would have gotten around if he really died.”
Kristen said, “Maybe if we knew why he was attacked?” Haas said, “I’ll go try to find out.”
“Or you could stay here and keep me happy.”
“I could do that, too.” Haas chose that course. But he did poke around in the shadows of Sedlmayr when he could get out of the Mundwiller complex unnoticed. He did not learn anything useful.
…
“I see three possibilities,” Babeltausque told the usual gathering. “What we found is a red herring. The King took the treasury with him and Shinsan has it now, which is what I think happened. Or, what we dredged up really is the whole treasure and Kavelin was broke before we took over.”
Inger scowled at the “we” but let it slide. “Or somebody got to it before we did.”
Gales asked, “Somebody who could keep from bragging or spending a farthing?”
Wolf agreed. “Nobody could keep that secret. Even if they took the money out of the kingdom. We would’ve heard.”
Babeltausque nodded agreement.
So. They all thought she had been chasing a fantasy, making wishful thinking over into policy. “Then we have to rely on ourselves after all. How much goodwill have we gained by rooting out those abusers?”
Wolf remarked, “The perverts aren’t happy.” He glanced at the sorcerer. Babeltausque scowled back.
Vigilante justice had caught up with several bad men. An especially vile bordello had burned. The mob responsible also laid into several known thieves, a moneylender, and his collectors.
Inger said, “We should clamp down. How do we do that if we can’t pay our soldiers?”
Gales suggested, “There’s always the old-fashioned way. Steal from them who do have money.”
Inger growled, “Cynicism noted. That would require soldiers, too.”
Gales observed, “Nothing should happen before the world sees what happens with the old king.”
Inger asked, “Has anyone seen Varthlokkur?”
Headshakes. Wolf said, “I’ve heard that he went back to the mountains. I don’t believe it. He’d want to know what Shinsan is up to here, first.”
Inger suggested, “Maybe he hasn’t been seen because he doesn’t want to be seen.”
“That sounds right to me.”
“So what might he be up to while he’s keeping his head down?”
“Maybe trying to find the portals Shinsan has here,” Babeltausque said. “That’s what I’d be doing if I wasn’t trying to find treasury money that probably doesn’t exist. Those portals might be a lot more important than the money.”
Inger glared. “Meaning?”
“Meaning we’re here and in charge because the Empress Mist hasn’t yet developed a taste for Kavelin.”
Inger’s glare intensified. She was severely displeased. But Babeltausque had not said an untrue word. Kavelin could no more defend itself than could a naked virgin in a coma.
She admitted, “Facts are facts. We’re dead meat if that’s what Shinsan wants.”