Deepwoods (Book 1) (9 page)

“In the meantime,” she stood back up, waving at the food, “think
of this as a good faith payment and eat up.”

“Ya drive a hard bargain,” Lenney complained. From the way
his eyes shone, he didn’t mean it but hoped to weasel more out of her.

“I’m downright generous, and you know it,” she retorted with
a grin. “Come to me with good news quick, Lenny. And be ready to give me
details, otherwise I won’t believe you.”

He looked offended that she thought he would lie, but they
both knew he would if he thought he could get by with it. With a last wave, she
turned and headed back the way she had come.

Twenty feet away from the children, they finally dove into
the food like ravaging wolves. She didn’t pause, but kept walking, finally
turning a corner and passing completely out of sight.

Wolf leaned in and murmured, “You think you can trust the
boy?”

“About as far as I can throw him. But four golds will take
care of that entire group throughout the winter, so he’s going to make sure to
earn it, one way or another.”

“Is that why you offered such a high price?” Wolf shook his
head. “Siobhan, I never know with you if you’re being shrewd or generous.”

“What, I can’t be both?”

He just shook his head, amused, and refused to rise to the
bait.

They walked in companionable silence for several minutes as
they passed out of the street rats’ territory and back into the normal
hustle-bustle of the city.

“So, say they made it through here and went on to Sateren as
they should have,” Wolf said with a strange look on his face. “I assume that
you want to use Grae’s pathfinding to get there quickly.”

Siobhan quirked an eyebrow at him. What did that expression
mean? “Of course.”

“You also remember that he doesn’t have a pre-built path
made to go to Sateren with?”

She opened her mouth to respond and froze, nothing but a
croaking sound emerging. It actually had escaped her immediate notice that they
had never gone to Sateren before and so of course Grae didn’t have a path ready
that went that direction. “Oh,” she said weakly.

Wolf nodded, unsurprised. “I knew it. You hadn’t thought
that far ahead.”

Siobhan’s head dropped so that it hung in despair. “We’re
going to be digging around in cold ground for stones, aren’t we?”

“We certainly are.” He tried to smile but it came out as
more of a grimace. “Digging in the cold ground with a fussing, nitpicking Grae
hovering around issuing orders. Now isn’t that something to look forward to.”

“Shut it, I’m trying not to think about it.” Actually, just
imagining it gave her a headache.

“Maybe if we made it clear we’re in a hurry?” Wolf trailed
off and rubbed his chin. “Although that didn’t do any good last time.”

“Or maybe Hammon will distract him with more questions and
he won’t be as naggy this time,” Siobhan offered hopefully.

“You realize that’s wishful thinking.”

“If you don’t stop that, I’m making you sleep outside
tonight.”

He raised both hands in surrender and didn’t say another
word.

No, Wolf was right, no way would distracting Grae work. On
the other hand…. “Since we’re going to be here for a good day anyway waiting on
informants to get back to us, maybe I can split up our manpower a little? Say,
have three people go out to start putting a path together, while the rest of us
search the city?”

“The question is, which two people do you hate enough to
send out with Grae?”

“As the newest member, Hammon is automatically going,”
Siobhan decided on the spot. “He’d likely enjoy the experience anyway, with all
his interest in pathfinding. Hmmm…but who else?”

“Denney?” Wolf suggested thoughtfully, stepping to the side
to avoid a wagon before crossing the road with her. “All she does is get lost
in this city anyway.”

A very good point. Sending their directionally challenged
animal tamer out with two other people would keep her safely out of potential
trouble. “Denney will be our sacrifice, then.” Looking at him from the corner
of her eyes she added, “If that’s alright with you?”

He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I’m just not sure if you trust the man yet or not.”

“You’ve sent him out with only one other person before
this.”

“I sent him out with Fei. That’s not the same thing as
Denney and Grae. Answer me, Wolf. Has the man won your trust yet?”

Wolf chewed on that question for a long moment, stepping around
to walk at her left side to shield her from the late evening traffic still on
the road, before he finally said, “I don’t think him a threat. Don’t smile at
me like that, Siobhan. I didn’t think him a bad man from the start. You’re too
good a judge of character to let someone sleazy into the guild. But that
doesn’t mean I trust him to watch our backs, either. I don’t know how this man
fights or reacts to danger. Is his first reaction to protect or run? Does he
have the awareness to recognize danger before it actually hits? I can’t trust
him until I know.”

Siobhan’s open palm ceded the point to him. She didn’t know
any of that either, and they wouldn’t know until the first real danger hit them
as a group and they could see how Hammon reacted. It was not the best way to
find out, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the only sure-fire
method of knowing. “But you trust him enough to go out stone hunting.”

“Enough for that, especially with the dogs going along,”
Wolf agreed.

Good enough for the time being. Wolf’s faith in her judgment
aside, she knew very well that she was fallible. She trusted his instincts as
much as she trusted her own and if he had some issue, then she wanted to hear
it.

They returned to the inn only to find that everyone else had
beaten them there. Not only that, but they had already claimed a back table in
the main room and ordered dinner, no less. Siobhan called to them as she
navigated around the tables, “At least tell me you ordered dinner for us too!”

“We didn’t know when you’d be back,” Beirly responded carelessly
with a toss of his hand. “Order your own.”

“A fine bunch
you
are,” she grumbled, finding an
empty seat and taking it. As Wolf took the empty seat next to hers, she caught
Hammon’s eye and asked, “Horses sorted?”

“Safely returned, no extra fees to pay,” he assured her.

Excellent. She so hated hidden fees. “Perfect. Tell me some
good news, people.”

“If they ran into trouble, it doesn’t look like it happened
in this city,” Conli reported to her. “We asked the guards here and no party of
sixteen people or any mention of Blackstone appeared in their records.”

Well, that was something, anyway. “Anything else?”

“Blackstone does have a trading branch here in the city,”
Sylvie piped up, idly stirring a bowl of hot stew. “I stumbled across them
quite by accident, but they were rather helpful. They gave me a list of every
inn that the guild has an affiliation with. I figure they would have used an
inn they knew, so I’ll start there.”

Bless Sylvie’s brains. If she was right—and she probably
was—that would no doubt save them some time. “How big is that list?”

Sylvie grimaced. “That’s the bad news part. It’s quite the
list.”

Well, Blackstone couldn’t be considered a ‘small’ guild by
anyone’s standards. “Big enough to divide up? Alright, then let’s split it
between people. However, Wolf pointed out to me that we don’t have a ready-made
path leading up to Sateren. So while some of us are investigating, I want
others stone hunting for Grae.”

Every single person but two looked at her with outright
dread. Grae looked happy—he hated talking to strangers on general principle—and
Hammon didn’t seem to mind either option. But then, the scholar stood to learn
something new either way. “Hammon, as the newest member, you draw the short straw.
Denney, you’re joining them.”

Denney let out a wordless protest.

“The dogs can go with you and serve as a lookout while
you’re working,” Siobhan told her patiently, having already anticipated this
reaction and planned a response to it. “You know they obey you better than
anyone else. I can’t spare another person to protect everyone while you’re
working. The dogs are a neat solution to the problem.”

Denney slumped in resignation.

“Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be as many stones as last time,”
Grae attempted to reassure her. “It’s only…er, how far is it to Sateren
exactly?”

“One hundred and eighty-three spans,” Hammon supplied.

“Oh? That far? I assumed it was closer because the itinerary
said it would only take them three days to reach it from Quigg.” Grae frowned
as he calculated things at high speed. “Probably a little optimistic on
someone’s part. Well, regardless, the soil is quite rich around this area, so
as long as we have good sunlight, hmmm….” He muttered to himself in complex
mathematics that no one at the table could or tried to understand before he
nodded, satisfied with his own conclusion. “Yes, we’d only need about ninety
stepping stones altogether. So, it’s just 3,150 stones we need to find,” he
assured Denney with an innocent smile.

Denney groaned and banged her head against the table.

They spent all of the next day going from one inn to the
next, trying to pinpoint where Lirah’s party had stayed. By the time the
afternoon sun threatened to sink past the horizon, Siobhan’s feet were
throbbing. In fact, her legs were threatening mutiny if she didn’t sit down
soon. She finally gave up and went back to the inn with Wolf, meeting other
people in the main room who had already called it quits for the day. After an
hour of sitting there, however, there was still no sign of Grae or the stone gatherers.

Concerned that Grae, in his preoccupation, would keep them
out past dark, she told everyone to order dinner and left the inn, intent on
fetching them herself. She’d barely gotten to the main road when she spied
Hammon coming her direction and waved him down. “Why are you alone?”

“Denney and Grae are just behind me,” Hammon assured her. He
half-turned to look behind him. “I lost them in the crowd crossing the main
intersection, though. You don’t suppose Icean got lost, do you?”

She let out a wordless growl. Yes, with Denney, that was
entirely possible.

Grae appeared from behind a group of chattering housewives
and, spying them, weaved his way toward them. “Siobhan! I lost Denney in the
crowd back there. Has she come this way?”

She dropped her head and shook it in absolute despair. “Of
course she didn’t go in the right direction.”

“Uh-oh.” Grae glanced behind him. “This isn’t a good city
for her to be lost in.”

“Are the dogs with her?”

“No, she sent them back to the inn several minutes ago. They
were whining about being hungry.”

So, in other words, Denney was completely alone and without
one reliable guide to get her back to the inn. Heaven preserve her.

“Grae, you go back to the inn. If we’re not there in twenty
minutes, send out a search party. Hammon, you come with me.”

“Right.” Grae shot a worried look at the darkening sky.
“Find her quick.”

“Will do,” she confirmed. Brows knitted together in concern,
she started off for the intersection.

At this hour of the day, everyone was going home from work,
closing up shops, and making last minute stops to pick up dinner ingredients.
The place was a madhouse with people going in every possible direction. Denney,
with her directionally challenged senses, likely wouldn’t know up from down
after five minutes in this crowd. Siobhan’s concern tripled, and she started
calling out the girl’s name as she went down one street and then another,
hoping that by some miracle she’d find Denney before trouble did.

“Let go! I said let go! LET GO OF ME!”

Siobhan’s head jerked around, alarm shooting through her.
That was Denney’s voice! In this crowd of people, it was hard to see her, but
she was absolutely certain that had been Denney, somewhere to the right.

Grabbing Hammon’s arm, she tugged him hard. “This way.
Quickly!”

“What is it?” he asked in alarm, instantly following her.

“I think Denney’s in trouble. I heard her yelling just now.”

“Icean?” Hammon raised up on his toes, using his height to
see over the crowd. “Yes, I see her. Straight ahead.”

“What’s happening?” Siobhan demanded as she used her hands
and elbows to shove people out of her way.

“Two men have her by the arms and are dragging her toward
that alley.” Hammon raised his voice to a bellow. “LET GO OF HER! NOW!”

Siobhan felt her ears ring at the volume, but she felt
grateful he had yelled, as she certainly didn’t have the lung power to be heard
over this din.

Instead of just following behind, Hammon stepped around her
and blazed a trail straight ahead, still yelling for them to stop. Siobhan
stuck close to his back, afraid to lose him in the crowd as people just melted
back into position once he’d pushed his way through.

Finally they reached a semi-clear area. She took in the
whole scene in a second. Denney was leaning backward with all her might,
fighting the hold of two men that were trying to drag her forward. They had
both hands on her wrists, using considerable strength to hold on to her. Both
men were tall, muscular, and obviously Teheranian. Denney had tears streaming
down her cheeks, sobs pouring out of her mouth. When she saw Siobhan, she lit
up in relief and screamed, “SIOBHAN!”

Siobhan reacted instinctively. She closed in the final
distance in a flash, and with all the strength that she could muster, struck
both men hard in the sternum, driving the air from their lungs.

Gasping for breath, their hold on Denney loosened. Hammon
lost no time in grabbing Denny around the shoulders and hauling her away from
them completely, bringing her to his own chest in a fiercely protective move.
Denney openly clung to him, shaking and crying.

Siobhan drew both swords and assumed a guard position in
front of them, eyes snapping with anger. “What is going on here?” she gritted
out between clenched teeth.

One of the men—she dubbed him as ‘Drunkard’ because he stank
of cheap alcohol—pointed to Denney with an outraged shake of the hand. “That
woman belongs to us!”

“That woman is Denney Icean, member of Deepwoods Guild,”
Siobhan riposted icily. “I am her guildmaster. You want to rethink that
statement, you gleeking clodpole?”

“She belongs to us,” the other man asserted with quiet
authority. He looked angry as well, but composed instead of flaring like his
companion. “She has since she was born.”

“No!” Denney refuted strongly. “My uncle bought me from you!
I owe no debt to you!”

Uncle? Bought? What by the wind and stars was going on here?
Siobhan wanted to ask questions—she desperately wanted to ask questions—but
this was not the time or place to get things sorted out. Whatever the history,
she knew one fact to hold true: Denney had no business going with these men.

“Your uncle is not here,” the man responded with that same
eerie, irrefutable tone. “When you are out of sight of your owner, anyone can
lay claim to you.”

By Teheranian culture and law, that was unfortunately true.
Siobhan tried to think hard and fast to get out of this without needing to
fight them for the right to keep Denney.

“Her uncle also belongs to Deepwoods.” Hammon’s voice was
like a quiet rumble of thunder, low but full of dangerous power. “What belongs
to one guildmember belongs to the guildmaster. Her guildmaster is before you.
You cannot claim ownership here.”

“That is not true by the laws of this city.”

Siobhan knew in that moment that whatever was said, these
men would not be convinced. They wanted Denney, and they didn’t care if they
had to resort to tricks or break a few laws to have her. Her grip tightened on
her swords.

“I don’t care if it’s true by your laws or not. You have no
claim over her and you can’t have her. Go your own way.”

“Or what?” Drunkard challenged, lip curling in a sneer.

Tran melted from the crowd and with deliberate movements
took up a stance next to Siobhan. Grae must have sent out a search party as
she’d requested. She stole a glance at him and felt fear shake her inner core
at the dark expression she saw there. Never before had she seen Tran so openly
enraged
.
It scared even her, and that anger wasn’t directed at her.

“Take one step,” Tran crooned darkly, voice promising death.
“Come near me and mine, if you wish to put your lives in my hands.”

They eyed him from head to toe and back again, and for the
first time, looked nervous.

“Guildmaster, take her,” Hammon encouraged.

Siobhan glanced over her shoulder and found that Hammon was
already unsheathing the sword spear, ready to fight. Denney was reaching for
her short sword, too, but her hand shook as she did so. She was in no condition
to fight. Siobhan made a snap decision and sheathed her swords before turning
back and taking Denney into the circle of her arm, giving the comfort that
Denney so desperately needed.

Hammon stepped forward to take her place, standing shoulder-to-shoulder
with Tran and not looking any more calm than the dark giant. In fact, his
features looked hard with anger.

Drunkard, not able to take a hint, pointed angrily in
Denney’s direction. “That woman belongs to us! We owned her mother, and by
birth rights, she belongs to us!”

“Why?” Hammon asked with soft menace. “Because she’s an
illegitimate child? That’s it, isn’t it? Because she’s a half-blood, and a love
child, you think you can do whatever you want with her?”

“By the laws of the land, we can!” Drunkard snapped, his
hand finally reaching for the sword strapped to his side.

Hammon moved so fast that even Tran could barely keep up
with his speed. The haft of the sword spear snapped out, hitting the man’s
wrist with a sickening crunch. Drunkard gasped in pain, the sword dropping from
his numb fingers. Hammon wasted no time in following up that attack with
another sharp strike to the man’s head, striking him squarely in the temple.

Drunkard’s eyes rolled up in the back of his head as he
slowly sank to the ground, out cold.

The other man didn’t stand much of a chance either. Tran
didn’t even bother to draw a weapon, just lashed out with a fist and hit the
man squarely in the gut. When he folded over, choking, Tran grabbed him by the
back of his head and rammed the man’s face into his knee. It surely broke his
nose, as blood spewed everywhere. With a disgusted snort, Tran tossed the man
aside like a dirty rag.

Hammon spat on their bodies. “You are boils, malcontents,
nothing more than rump-fed measles!”

“You know, Hammon, I believe that’s the first unforgiving
thing I’ve ever heard you say.” Siobhan felt more than a little surprised at
it, too. He was such a gentle, soft-spoken man most of the time. To hear such
vehemence coming from him startled her.

“I’m angry.” He didn’t even try to apologize for his words.
“Even I get angry, Siobhan.”

“Oh, I never doubted that. But this is the first time I’ve
actually
heard
you get angry at someone or something.”

“Ahh.” He shrugged slightly. “My father taught me that the
tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
If it’s not one of those three, it’s best not to say it.”

“Wise council,” she agreed. Considering his father’s
reputation, she had to wonder just how well he heeded his own advice. Or
perhaps this was one of those matters where a father wanted his son to follow
what he
said
rather than what he did.

She shook the thought off. “For now, let’s go back to the
inn.”

ӜӜӜ

Tran knew where people were searching and they gathered up
Wolf, Beirly and Fei as they retreated to the inn. Everyone took in Denney’s
shaken expression and closed in ranks around her, but tactfully didn’t ask any
questions.

They’d made it all of three feet inside the inn’s main room
when Conli spied them. He took in the iron grip that Denney had on Siobhan’s
arm, and the waxy complexion of her face, and came out of his chair so quickly
it fell in his wake.

“Denney?!”

Denney reached out for him, arms latching around his waist,
and for the first time, she breathed out in relief like a drowning man finally
putting his feet on solid ground. Conli returned the embrace just as firmly,
his eyes locking with Siobhan’s, silently demanding an answer.

She didn’t feel it right to say anything now, not with the
room already half full of people and more coming in behind her. Instead, she
turned her head and caught Sylvie’s attention. “Get us a back room to talk.
Private one. Now.”

Sylvie took in the atmosphere around them with a glance and
gave her a wave of the hand in acknowledgement before hunting down the
innkeeper. In moments, she was back, silently encouraging everyone to follow
her.

The whole guild trooped after her, most of them uneasy and
wondering what was going on, all of them concerned with how uncharacteristic
Denney was behaving. The dogs especially were sticking close, constantly nosing
at her sides, although it took a few minutes before she was able to let go
enough of Conli to pat them in reassurance.

The private room was nothing more than a rectangular table
with chairs around it and a door that kept out the noise from the main room.
With ten people inside, it quickly felt cramped, but Siobhan closed the door
anyway and stood in front of it, guaranteeing that no one tried to casually
enter.

Wolf looked from one face to another before asking in alarm,
“What happened?”

“Now that’s a question I can’t fully answer.” Siobhan kept
her voice level, painfully even. “Denney. Conli. I haven’t asked this question
for six years as I felt I didn’t have the right to pry or poke at old wounds.
But that comes to an end tonight. What is your relationship with each other?”

Conli stared at Denney’s bowed head, where it rested against
his chest, for a long moment. Then he sighed in resignation before finally
looking up. “She’s my niece.”