His eyes opened wide.
With both hands now, he tugged at his throat. I could hardly blame him; my gift looked uncomfortable, not to mention ridiculous. But I was sure he wouldn't get it off without a struggle. I'd taken care on those knots, and his sausage fingers weren't made for delicate work.
Still, there was no use in taking chances.
"Time to get up!" I roared in the direction of the giant encampment. "Don't you know it's morning? The day's a-wasting! Is this how giants behave, sleeping until lunchtime?"
I didn't care if I was barely making sense. They couldn't understand me anyway. I just wanted them awake and attentive — and that much, at least, seemed to be working. Everywhere giants were sitting up, rubbing eyes with knuckles big as chestnuts, turning watery stares in my direction and in Saltlick's.
I scampered into position, placing myself directly between him and the other giants. On the off-chance that any of them hadn't noticed his new ornament, I gestured dramatically, hoping that would serve to bridge the language barrier between us.
Eventually I was confident I had the attention of everyone within hearing distance — and that they'd all seen Saltlick's ridiculous medallion. However subtle and elegant the royal crown of Altapasaeda might have been under other circumstances, it looked pretty damn stupid when turned into a choker for a giant.
But this wasn't the time for questions of fashion. Bigger issues were at stake.
"All hail!" I bellowed, at the very top of my lungs. "All hail Saltlick, King of the Castoval!"
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I never saw Alvantes coming.
Only as his fist carried me off my feet did I catch the briefest glimpse of his face, twisted almost beyond recognition by rage. Dazed, I tried to shuffle backwards on my rump. His second blow was more a slap, but more than enough to make my head ring. I threw up my arms — an instinct that proved misjudged when Alvantes's third punch hammered needles through the recently injured one.
"Get off me, you lunatic!" I cried.
I rolled aside. Tough Alvantes might be, but he could only hit so quickly with one hand. His next blow went wide. I made it to my feet and skipped backwards. My head was still tolling like a bell — but behind that racket, my blood was boiling. Only a tiny core of sense reminded me that even one-handed, Alvantes was ten times the fighter I was.
"Back off, damn you!"
"Back off? I should tear your spine out for this!" Alvantes pointed a trembling finger at the ornament around Saltlick's neck. "That's the royal crown of Altapasaeda, you rat's prick."
"All right. So what?"
"So what? You stole it from me, you disgusting little sneak thief."
I wiped a smear of blood from my suddenly bloated lower lip. "I'd say I stole it from the King. But let's not argue semantics. How is that a reason to break my jaw?"
"What? Because…" I could see Alvantes straining to think through his fury. He didn't try too hard. "You're a damned fool. What will this achieve? You can't make someone king by hanging a crown round their neck. Even if you could, it's just a hunk of metal to them."
"Like their stone was just a stone to us? Like I said, back off. Maybe you've given up, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to. At least I'm trying something."
"Given up?" He paused then — or I thought he'd meant to, anyway. Faint shudders like the ruffling of wind on water were coursing down his body, but he didn't seem aware. "Fine. Do whatever the Hells you want. Play your games with these poor bastards. Maybe you'll piss them off enough that they'll give you the thrashing you deserve."
Alvantes spun on his heel, stormed away.
My relief lasted just as long as it took me to turn my head and wonder just how prescient his last words might be. A vast shadow closed round me, as though the early daylight had been snuffed like a candle flame. "What have you done?"
I was almost too shocked to hear Saltlick string together four words in grammatical order to be alarmed. "You're going to have to trust me," I told him.
"Not trust! Not king!"
"Just for a little while. Please, Saltlick."
He wanted to believe me. For all his obvious anger, that much was obvious. Given my past performance, I couldn't be surprised that he was finding it a struggle.
Just for once, though, luck was on my side.
"Just give me a chance," I told him. "This is for your own good, I swear it."
Before Saltlick could answer, I was sprinting towards the wagon crawling towards us on the road below. I'd realised straight away it must be the locals coming with the morning's meal — and when I saw Huero driving, with Dura beside him, I couldn't help but whoop a laugh. It was all I could do not to leap onto the driver's board and hug them both.
Huero reined the horses in. "Damasco." There was concern in his eyes. "Do you need help?"
Only then did I realise I'd just charged at him, with a bloody lip, whilst laughing manically. "I do. But not for me. Huero, I have a plan. To get the giants moving… to get them home once and for all. Only, it's going to take everyone. Everyone you know, everyone you can gather. Can you bring them here? The more people, the sooner you do it, the more likely it is to work."
"But… what about the food?"
"The food can wait. Will you do it? The faster, the more people, the better."
Huero nodded. "Of course. I'll try. Give me an hour, all right?"
"As quick as you can."
I caught my breath and watched him turn the wagon, before starting back towards the giant camp. This time, I didn't hurry. There was every chance Alvantes had come up with new reasons to hammer my face by now. Even if he hadn't, every moment weighed in my favour. Whatever slim trust Saltlick had in me, I could only keep it kindled for so long.
Sure enough, he watched me questioningly as I crossed the last distance. I didn't have any answers for him — or none that he'd like. "One hour," I said, "just wait one hour. Give me that much… then you'll see."
Alvantes was gone, at least. I could see him by the riverbank, feeding and watering the horses. Rather than give Saltlick time to answer, I followed his example, heading in the opposite direction. I singled out a patch of hillside far from any of the giants and sat down. With one eye on Saltlick, the other on Alvantes in case of further hostilities, I settled to wait.
For all my good intentions, I was drowsing by the time Huero returned. His voice calling my name shocked me into wakefulness. For a moment, I was bewildered to see an entire village worth of people gathered upon the lower slope. Then I remembered.
Huero had outdone himself. Judging by numbers, he must have brought everyone between here and the Hunch. I hurried down to meet them.
"Thank you, everyone," I said. "For all your kindness towards the giants, and for coming here now. I'll need just a few minutes of your time."
I rapidly outlined what I wanted them to do. There were a great many gasps, a few appalled looks, and a general rumble of discontent. Somewhere towards the back, a woman exclaimed, "Well, I never. Not in all my days."
Huero chose that moment to step in. "It's a strange request, all right, friend Damasco." He was speaking in my direction, but it was obvious his words were intended for the crowd. "Still, but for you, these giants might have starved by now. It's obvious you want what's best for them."
"Don't we all?" I asked. "And what's best for them is what's best for all of you — to get them back home where they belong. With a little harmless play-acting, that's exactly what we'll do." There was a subdued muttering and much clearing of throats, but I knew Huero had shifted the mood a little in my favour. I could only hope it would be enough. "Excellent. The sooner we start, the sooner it's done."