A Fair Fight (8 page)

“
She's
enormous
.”

“
Yes, but not a Giant in terms of species, just ... gigantic. She's an ogre.”

They hushed as the huge figure turned towards them, squinting and sniffing the air. Another figure approached, similarly large and Neanderthal-ish, with huge iron bracelets, with broken chains dangling from them. Where the bracers rested, his skin went from ruddy to ash-black, as if they'd burned into the flesh, as had other sections of chain at his shoulders, and a second set of shackles at his ankles. “Tsonoqua,” he said with rough cordiality.

“
Jack,” she answered. She continued looking around.

“
They've got names like 'Tsonoqua' and 'Jack'?” Megan whispered.

“
Very international, ogres,” Ashling said just as quietly. “When they hang out at all. They associate over culinary interest rather than national boundaries. Especially during the big holidays, like this one. They've started early."

“
So they just
happen
to have a potluck at the same time we're in crisis mode?” Megan asked.

“
Nope. They smell everything. Even trouble.”

“
What, like the Scandinavian birds?”

“
Different means, similar skill.”

“
I want a danger sense if everyone else is getting one.”

"My danger sense is telling me that we're not downwind of them," Lani said, pointing back down to the ogres. "Listen."

Despite Lani's urgency, the pair of ogres remained casual, but with her attention pulled back to them, Megan was able to make out most of what they were saying.

“
Smell the blood of an Englishman?” the one apparently named 'Jack' asked.

The female sniffed again. “Yep,” she said. “And an Irish woman... sidhe maybe. Hard to tell under the medicine. And definitely a satyr.”

He sniffed in turn. “Cats. Crow. Pixie. What's the last one?”

“
Menehune,” the female said.

“
Don't know those. What do you serve with them?”

“
Fish, fruit, and root veggies.”

"That's our cue to leave,” Lani whispered. Making no argument, they started moving away from the two massive figures as quietly as they could.

"Which way?" Megan finally asked Ashling, as the pixie took them through twists and turns.

"Working on it."

"But there's only two of them, and they're behind us," Megan said, looking back over her shoulder. "I don't even hear them running or anything."

"There's no safe path," Ashling reported, seconds before the group's progress led them within sight of two more hulking figures. They turned, scrambling a different direction through the rocky terrain.

"What do we do?" Megan asked, panic rising, even as she was quickly running out of breath, not nearly fully recovered from the poisoning attempt.

"Try not to look so tasty," Ashling shouted back.

"Not helpful," Megan said, before falling and going skidding on the stone ground, dry heaving as she tried to stand back up.

Justin and Lani stopped to try to help her, and a moment later, Cassia and the cats had doubled back as well, though Megan wasn't sure if that was to help, or because more of the immense figures appeared over the next rise ahead of them.

"Can we bargain with them?" Lani asked, struggling to help Megan stay on her feet, giving up on even trying to run.

"We don't exactly have a lot to work with here," Ashling said as the Count landed on Justin's shoulder. "Ogres aren't usually that worried about avoiding a fight, and even if they're being weird, you probably want your legs."

"If they want a fight, they'll have one. Stay with Megan," Justin said, moving to one side of Megan and Lani, drawing the Claiomh Solais. The approaching figures actually paused when they saw the sword light up, and for a moment, Megan was hopeful. Especially when she saw Cassia and the cats moving to defend the other flank, Cassia drawing her blade as well. Megan tried to start singing, to dispel some of her own nervousness, and help her friends, but more dry heaves took her breath away.

Then she overheard the commentary, as an ogre with horribly oversized arms and hands, even for his size approached, accompanied by another with a badly misshapen face.

"Sword of Light? Thought that was hidden."

"Nah, some humans found it."

"That's them, then?"

"Must be. Don't smell all human, though."

"Think we can trade it?"

"Maybe we can. Ought to fetch something good."

More and more of the huge figures walked, ran, or climbed into view around them, ranging from those who merely looked like oversized, over-muscled humans, to twisted mockeries. None of them looked friendly. When Justin and Cassia threatened with their swords—and Maxwell advanced, growling—there was slight hesitation on the ogre's parts, but only slight.

The lot did stop, however, at a bellow from higher ground, and all heads, including Megan's, turned to look to the voice.

The ogre in the iron chains was standing on a hilltop overlooking the path, small, deep-set eyes roaming over all present. The woman with the basket caught up not long thereafter. "Listen up!" the ogre in shackles called. "We smelled them first."

There were curses in at least a dozen languages, and a couple challenges called in Jack's direction. The ogre balled his hands up, taking a couple steps forward down the hill. "No one is claiming sole rights to the lot. We'll divvy 'em up, but we call first share, and I'll fight anyone who says different."

Megan looked to Ashling, almost expecting the signal to run when the ogres started fighting amongst themselves. That thought was dashed when Jack called attention right back to them. "After we tie 'em."

"What about the satyr and the pixie?" a voice called from the crowd.

Jack considered this, narrowing his eyes. "Depends on who speaks for them. Maybe we let them go. Maybe we don't. Maybe we invite them to join us for dinner." He ambled closer, and apparently, even if they didn't fear Cassia and Justin, he held enough sway or backed up his intimidation enough that ogres parted for him, until he was looming over the group. "Well, who speaks for you?"

Before Ashling or Cassia could get a word out, a familiar soft, sing-song voice whispered. "In this case, I will."

More ogres parted, allowing the Gray Lady and her will o’ wisps through.

Jack's eyes narrowed, and his exhalation almost sounded like a growl. "What are these to you?"

The bean sidhe didn't even look at them, fixing her blank gaze on the ogre instead. "Nothing, but the red-haired girl is Riocard's daughter. You don't want to do this."

Jack tensed, fingers clenching and unclenching. "You don't work for the King anymore. You said so yourself."

"Indeed I don't. I've come on my own interests."

"Then why are you interfering in our interest in dinner?"

"I'm doing you a favor, and you should recognize it. You're smarter than this, Jack, and neither hunger nor anger should hide that."

"Some favor. Last I heard it, Riocard wasn't exactly in a position of strength to go making demands."

"When have you ever known the King to be reasonable about things he cares about? Besides, remember: I was right about the bookmark."

The ogre in chains didn't precisely step back, but he did relax, and the growling exhalations turned into something more like a resigned sigh. "Fine, but don't start with that 'I owe you one', nonsense."

"I wouldn't dream of it. All I ask is that you listen to my proposal, and consider carefully. I believe I have something of use to you, as well."

"And what do we do with them?" he gestured, getting a lot of agreement from the other ogres. Megan was hoping that 'let them go', was an option.

"As you say, invite them all to dinner. They're part of my proposition, after all," finally, the woman turned her gaze on Megan, though the wisp continued to do all the translating. "I think they will acknowledge full well that they do, in fact, owe me one, after all."

Chapter 12: Unconscionably Terrible

The group was shown to one end of what was apparently a children's table. There were only a very few young ogres about, but while she tried to remember her manners, Megan didn't at all care for the way the few there were sniffed at her and kept checking with the elders if they'd changed their mind about the group being cooked.

For the most part, the group was ignored, aside from Cassia getting a couple of offers to join one of the other tables. For the time being, the satyress refused, though Megan could see she was tempted.

Megan was just glad that the tables were too high for her to easily see anything on them. Similarly, as if she wasn't nauseated enough, she was pretty sure that whatever was in the two dozen massive cooking pots being used to prepare the feast was rotten.

Instead, she spent most of the seating process with a notebook she'd pulled out of Lani's pack, sketching a portrait.

“
Who's that?”

“
The dog-impersonator who shot me,” Megan said. “He had a very distinctive look.”

“
Why would you want to focus on that?”

“
Better than focusing on being sick.”

From that point Megan did try, however, to pay attention to the 'grown-up' ogres. Jack, Tsonoqua, and a couple of the others sat, but did so facing outward, while the Gray Lady talked to them, indicating she preferred to stand. Because they were apparently involved somehow, she'd made sure that the group had the opportunity to listen in, but the wisp had cautioned them to try to keep quiet.

"What is it you want?" Jack growled.

The wisp floated to hover in front of the Gray Lady, keeping the ogres waiting before finally answering. "I will get to that in good time, but you'll be far more interested in what I have to offer you."

"And what's that?" Tsonoqua asked, eyeing the bean sidhe uncertainly.

"News about the cauldron," the wisp stated, which instantly got a lot of attention from everyone in hearing distance.

Unable to help herself, Megan leaned in towards Lani. "This is that Dagda's Cauldron thing Kerr was talking about?"

"Yeah, it was traded to the ogres," Lani said.

"Wait, for what? Why?"

"For a bookmark."

"That's ridiculous! That's... just like my father." Megan sighed.

"It's not like that. This time, anyway. Even your dad doesn't take the Dagda's Cauldron lightly. He kind of made a point a while ago, and forced them into a deal. And then made them a trade that eased things a lot. It's a long story, but it's a very your-Dad's-version-of-diplomacy story."

"You'll have to tell it some time.” Megan tried to turn her attention back to the larger table, where there was talk of deception, illusions, and something whispered about a 'wrong kind of elf.' But there was too much to deal with on the previous subject. She looked back to Lani. “But if they made a deal with him, why didn't they back off sooner when they found out whose daughter I was?"

"Mostly for reasons of ogres. They're, uhm," Lani looked around, trying to determine if anyone could hear them. So far, all attention seemed to be on the Gray Lady. "Stubborn, strong, and always, always hungry. Which is part of why the cauldron was so valuable."

“
Because it's all-you-can-eat,” Megan said. “Didn't quite get what else it did, actually.”

“
Strengthens alliances with those who agree to sit at the host's table,” Lani said.

“
That, and people who break their word to the host after eating from it might or might not choke to death,” Cassia said.

“
That might be something else,” Lani said.

“
Yeah, but Ric liked adding it in."

"So, the cauldron really is a big deal?” Megan asked

“
Up there with the Sword of Light and the Fal Stone,” Lani said. “More subtle, but maybe even more powerful."

"Twenty-four huge pots of gack don't give the impression that there's an endless food supply,” Megan said.

Lani looked around quickly, then back at the Gray Lady. "You're right. No wonder they're pissed off. They don't have it."

The Gray Lady chose just that moment to look their way, and Megan quickly silenced herself again. She thought she caught the slightest nod from the bean sidhe, before the fae woman turned back to the ogres and continued on with whatever she'd been saying that Megan had missed while talking to Lani. "I apologize for any misunderstanding, Jack. I don't have the cauldron, and neither does Riocard. He had nothing to do with its being stolen from you. And I don't even know, specifically, where it is. However, I know someone who does."

"And you'll show us to them, and we convince them to share that bit?" Jack suggested with a wicked grin.