“Where’s the Jug from here?”
“Back along a ways, there’s the Kuma Kistris, the one with a double spiral on the flag, black and green, alley there between two godons, leads up Skanixis Hill, follow it, Jug’s near halfway up.”
Daniel found two coppers, tossed them to the boy, strolled away grinning. Jaril hound was already two moorings away doing an impatient doggy dance in front of a boat with a green and black flag.
“Eleias Laux?”
“Who wants to know?”
“Someone wanting passage out.”
“Paying or working?”
“Paying. Five, two of ’em kids.”
“Hmm. Sit.” He was a little spider of a man, M’darjin with skin like aged walnut polished to a high shine, dressed in well-worn black trousers and tunic, a heavy silver earring with moss agate insets hanging from his left ear, linked plates that shivered with every breath he took, drawing the eye so that most people who met him never noticed his face and remembered only the flash of silver and the gleam of agate. The earring glittered wildly as he glanced at the hound, looked dubious, relaxed as Jaril settled placidly to the floor by Daniel’s feet. He pushed his plate aside, emptied his winebowl and was about to call for more wine when Daniel slid the skin off his shoulder and offered it.
Laux pinched at his nose, looked from the skin to Daniel’s face. “Be you insulted if I say you drink first?”
“I’m a cautious man myself, be you insulted if I want another bowl?”
Eleias Laux laughed and snapped his fingers for the serving girl.
When she brought the bowl, Daniel filled it halfway and sipped at the straw colored liquid, smiling with pleasure, taking time to do it justice. When the bowl was empty, he set it down, raised his brows.
Laux nodded, watched warily as the wine streamed out. He drank, widened his eyes, took another mouthful, let it trickle down his throat. “Now that is a thing.” He grinned. “Not your best plan, friend. You just raised the price a notch.”
Daniel shrugged. “Luck’s meant to be shared. I was mooching about the wharves a few nights back, when it was foggy, you remember? saw the Godalau swimming out in the bay and this bald little shemale offered me a drink, left the skin with me.”
“Tungjii Luck?”
“Couldn’t say, but I’ve been drinking wine since and passing it around here and there and the skin’s about the same as it was when I got it. I figure it’s just old Tungjii sticking hisser thumbs in and why not enjoy it while it’s here. Think you might be willing to slip out tonight, head round to Haven, no fuss?”
“How quiet?”
“Like a ghost’s shadow.”
“Might could. You walking round loose?”
“Far’s I know. Hound here says so and he’s good at nosing out nosy folk. You don’t want to know more.”
“True, true. Five gold each.-
“Ahh now, have yourself some more wine and think on this, two silver each adult, one each for the kids.”
“The wine I’ll take, but don’t you fool yourself; drunk or sober I’m not about to wreck myself for anyone. No discount for kids, they’re worse than dryrot on a boat. But seeing you’re a friendly type, I’ll think on taking a bit, of a loss. Three gold each. You bringing the hound here, another gold for him.
“No hound. What about this, five silver each, with a gold as bonus when you set us down on the shore of Haven Cove.”
“Mmmmm.” Laux drank and smiled, a friendlier sheen in his brown velvet eyes; if he had armed himself against the seduction in Tungjii’s wine, his armor was leaking. “Ohhhh, I’m feeling so warm to you, my friend, I’ll tell you what. Five silver each, a gold as bonus when you’re on the fine black sand of Haven Cove, sweetly out of sight from Haven herself, and five gold as trouble quittance, to be refunded if trouble keeps away.”
“Mmmm.” Daniel filled the bowl pushed over to him, filled his own. “Five silver each, a gold as bonus when we’re landed, five gold as trouble quittance, paid over the minute trouble shows.”
“Now now… what do I call you? give me something.
“Daniel.
“Now Daniel, don’t be a silly man. Trouble comes, nobody has time to count out cash.”
“Point made, point taken. Five silver each, a gold as bonus, two gold as trouble quittance, to be refunded if no trouble shows; my patron guarantees the cost of any repairs.”
“Ah, now that might be a good deal, saying your patron’s the right sort. You willing to say who he is?”
“I won’t be mentioning that she doesn’t want her name spread around. I’ve heard you’re a man of discretion and wisdom. She’s called Drinker of Souls.”
“Exalted company, hey, gods and demigods all round.” Laux sat hunched over the winebowl, a long forefinger like a polished walnut twig stirring the plates of his ear dangle as he stared past Daniel at shadow forms he alone could see. He said nothing, but Daniel could read the argument going on inside, an argument he’d been in himself, never coming out with the same answer twice. Daniel waited without speaking for the struggle to end, fairly sure what the answer would be. Laux knew well enough he could be jumping into a maelstrom that could suck him under, but he was visibly bored with the mundane cargos he ferried in and out of Silagamatys and something deep and fundamental in him was tempted to try the danger, especially if he could be sure of coming out of it reasonably intact, his boat in the same condition.
“Mmh!” Laux straightened, shifted his focus to Daniel. “Yes. Tell you what, considering what’s likely to be involved and how likely it is bystanders get chewed up and spat out when powers start to feuding, and this isn’t trying to screw you, Daniel, just me taking care of me, how ‘bout instead of your patron’s giving me her word, she gives me two hundred gold surety to hold for her till the bunch of you put foot down on Haven Cove’s black sand. No one in his right mind would try cheating the Drinker of Souls. The rest as before, five silvers each, a gold as bonus, four gold trouble quittance.”
“Done.” Daniel grasped the hand Laux extended, gave it a brisk shake, settled back in his chair. “How’re the tides, can you leave around sunset today?”
“Tide’ll be standing, my Hetty don’t draw enough to worry about the sandbars at the bay’s mouth. As long as the wind’s good (give old Tungjii’s belly a rub) we’ll go.”
They sat in silence a while, sipping at their wine, Laux leaning over his elbows, Daniel lounging in the chair, straightening up to fill the bowls whenever they showed bottom. There were a few other drinkers and diners scattered through the comfortable gloom inside the taproom, talking together in muted tones and generally minding their own business. “Waiting for the Lot to finish,” Laux said. “Everything’s waiting for that.”
“Not Water Street, Laux.”
“Call me Lio, yeah you right, they’re not waiting, they’re stocking up for the run. Leaves the rest of us neaped.” He shoved out his bowl, watched the pale gold wine sing into it. “Cheonea’s neaped these days.”, He sipped and sighed. “Sold my Gre’granser in the King’s Market here when he was somewhere about six. He said you couldn’t hear yourself think for a mile all round the port it was that busy. Most of it under the table, but that didn’t seem to matter. My Granser’s mum was a freewoman Gre’granser sweetered into the bushes, means he was born free. Him he was prenticed out on a merchanter when he made six. He took to the smuggling trade and trained his sons in that. Ahhh, it was a wild trade then and Haven was a wild town, it never stopped, you know, moonset was busy as sunset, ships coming in and going out, half a hundred gaming houses wide open, a Captain could win a fleet or lose everything down to the skin, man or woman make no matter. There was a woman or two had her ship and you didn’t want to mess with them, Granser used to say, they didn’t bide by rules, got you howsoever they could.” He dipped his finger in the wine, drew a complicated symbol on the dark wood.-Never saw any of that myself. Him in the tower, he shut down the slave market and cleared out the hot brokers and he put the tariffs down to nothing almost on spices, silk and pearls and the like so an honest smuggler can’t live on the difference. Aah, Daniel, the past some years I’ve been thinking of moving on to livelier shores.-A long silence, voices drifting to them, clanks of china as serving girls began to clear the tables. “Might do it yet. Trouble is, them already there won’t like newcomers nosing in, that kind of thing gets messy. Starve for a couple years, maybe get killed or turned, no contacts, no cargo, I tell you, man, it was a sad year when Him he kicked out the king and started on his Jah’takash be damned reforms.” He fell silent, brooding into his wine.