“Aye, m’lord,” the dwarf grunted. He smiled crookedly at Geran. “Half-drownded he was, but he tipped himself over an’ crawled out.”
“My thanks,” Geran replied. He wouldn’t have wanted to drown the Veruna man, which is why he came out to make sure the sellsword had actually escaped from the barrel… but coming within an inch of drowning the fellow did not bother him at all.
He drew an oilcloth from a small pouch by his scabbard and wiped down the fine steel blade as he stepped back inside. With a graceful flourish he sheathed the sword and faced Mirya in the wreckage of her business. She stood with her arms hugged close to her body, watching him with an absent frown creasing her brow.
“Are you hurt, Mirya?” he asked quietly.
She reached up to touch her jaw and shook her head. “I’ve taken no hurt. But if you hadn’t come along when you did, I’ve a feeling it was going to get a lot worse.”
“I wish I could promise you that they won’t trouble you anymore, but I can’t.” Geran stooped down to right a small keg of nails that had been kicked over on its side. “I think you need to hire a couple of good men to guard your place. Or close up shop for a tenday or two, keep to yourself, and stay safe until things settle down.”
“I know it.” Mirya went to the door, closed it, and threw the bolt. Then she turned to study the damage to the shelves and wares and took a deep breath. “What a mess they’ve made of the place. It’ll take me all the night to clean this up.”
“Mirya, I’m sorry that I brought this on you. I thought that I could solve your problems for you with a few hard words and a show of steel. That’s what I know how to do. I suppose I felt that I owed it to Jarad… and you. But I shouldn’t have stepped into the middle of your troubles without asking.”
Mirya didn’t reply for a time. She reached up to brush her disarranged hair out of her eyes. Her braid had come lose during the struggle. “Thank Ilmater that Selsha’s back at the house with my mother,” she finally said. “If she’d been here… I haven’t the heart to even think about it.” She sighed and found a seat on a heap of grain-filled sacks. “Whether you were here or no, the Merchant Council would still trouble me, Geran Hulmaster. They aim to drive all the smaller merchants out of town to make more room for Veruna and Marstel and the other important companies. They’ve already arranged the harmach’s laws to suit them, and that’s not enough, so they mean to ruin the rest of us. Maybe you’ve got the right of it, and it’s your stubbornness as brought those brigands back to my shop today. But I’m beginning to think that your way of things might be exactly the change that’s needed in this town.”
“I’m only one man,” Geran answered. He shook his head. He never would have imagined that things could turn so ugly in Hulburg in just a few years, but if Mirya said it was so, he believed her. He found an overturned barrel, rolled it up on its end, and seated himself on it. “Listen, Mirya, I came to see you for a different reason… there’s something I need to tell you. I’ve found out a few things about Jarad’s death. And you should know that House Veruna is at the bottom of it.”
She glanced sharply at him and nodded once. Clearly, Mirya was not surprised to hear that. “Were the barrow robbers Veruna men?”
“Yes, they were-and you haven’t heard a quarter of the story yet.” He began the tale of how he’d spent the last tenday with his visit to the barrow where Jarad Erstenwold had been killed, the days he and Hamil had spent spying out House Veruna’s enterprises, and the decision to retrace Jarad’s steps and visit the other barrows. He recounted the visit to Rosestone and his decision to find the barrow of Terlannis before the Verunas could pillage it, and told her about what he and Hamil had found there and the ambush waiting outside when they emerged.
Mirya listened intently, her keen eyes never leaving Geran’s face. When Geran described how Aesperus had made an appearance, her eyes widened and she leaned forward. “The King in Copper himself,” she breathed. “Everybody’s told tales of that one for years, and all this time I’ve believed they were nought but stories.”
“He knew me for a Hulmaster, but other than that, I was almost beneath his notice,” Geran said. “He was only interested in the book. He left after he took it from me, but not before he told Urdinger that Veruna had met their end of the bargain.”
“Bargain? What bargain?”
“I didn’t find out. Hamil and I made a break for it after Aesperus left. Our chances didn’t look good, but the sorcerer we met at the first barrow showed up again and started slinging spells. We were able to fight off the Verunas in the confusion. Anfel and his men rode off, but we lost our horses and had to walk back. We didn’t get back to Hulburg until early this afternoon,” Geran finished. “I came to see you as soon as I could leave Griffonwatch.”
“So the Veruna mercenaries opened the barrows to find this book for Aesperus,” Mirya murmured, more to herself than to Geran. “Jarad stood in their way, and for that they killed him. Stealing barrow-gold I might’ve guessed, but searching for Aesperus’s spellbook? That’s a dark and strange tale, and there’s no doubt of it.” She remained silent for a long moment, looking down at her lap. Then she shook herself and raised her face to Geran again. “So what does the harmach mean to do about it?”
“I’m not sure. As you know, the Verunas can hide behind the laws of concession. My uncle can’t lightly set those aside, no matter how much he might want to.” Geran scowled. “I think that he feels that he’s got to give Sergen and his Council Watch a chance to show where their loyalties lie. Of course, when I told my tale in front of Sergen and the harmach, Sergen was quick to speak in Veruna’s defense. He went so far as to suggest that my friend Hamil and I were the barrow-robbers and were casting accusations at House Veruna to cover our own crimes.”
Mirya’s mouth twisted in a small, bitter smile. “He did not!”
“He did. Even my uncle-who’s tried hard to believe the best about Sergen for fifteen years-had a hard time with that.”
“Did Sergen have aught to do with the whole scheme?”
“I couldn’t say. He might have been protecting Veruna as a matter of simple self-interest. It seems that he’s prospered greatly with the rise in House Veruna’s fortunes, and that might be reason enough for Sergen to side against me.” Geran smiled humorlessly. “Then again, Sergen’s hated me since we were children. I’m sure that had something to do with it too. We had hard words for each other in front of my uncle. Sergen won’t forget them. Nor will I.”
Mirya started to say something else, but a sharp rap at the window beside the bolted door interrupted her. Geran glanced around behind him; the old dwarf from across the street was peering inside. The dwarf met his eyes through the wavy glass and gave a sharp jerk of his head before ducking away.
“Now what was that about?” Mirya said.
“Trouble. I think the Verunas are coming back.” Geran stood. He could leave and try to avoid further trouble, but they might take it out on Mirya. The best thing might be to meet them in the street, distance himself from Erstenwold’s, and try to keep the mercenaries’ attention on him.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, unlocking a spell in his mind, and breathed the words for his silversteel veil. “I’ll meet them outside.”
Mirya didn’t protest. She simply met his eyes and nodded slowly. “I’ll ask the neighbors to send for help,” she said and hurried out the back of the store.
Geran moved to the door, unshot the bolt, and stepped out onto the porch. He glanced down the street; three men in green-and-white tabards pushed through the passersby. He descended from the store’s covered porch to the cobblestones and strode out into the middle of Plank Street to await them. Two of them were men he hadn’t seen before
… but the third was Anfel Urdinger, wearing his armor of black plate under his Veruna tabard. The captain’s face was set in an angry scowl. The three Veruna mercenaries came to a halt seven paces away from him, and the people moving about on the street nearby fell silent to listen and watch.