Off Center (The Lament) (21 page)

Pran
shrugged.

"She
doesn't have any extra money around that I've seen. She lives simply here and doesn't
ask for a lot of extra privileges outside of what her job needs. My guess is that
she's honest. Really, my guess is that they almost all are. You don't lie to a Judge
and all their coworkers fit that description."

Ben
made a funny face.

"They'd
be the only ones that could lie to another Judge, don't you think? They have the
skills needed to fake the truth, and hide lies. Anyone can be corrupted, if they
aren't watched. Who can watch them?" Then he stopped playing and winked at
the bed ridden man. "Not that I suspect Claire either. She's a nice woman.
Pretty too, don't you think Pran?"

It
was a funny thing to say, but she nodded, a bit abstractly.

"Certainly.
Not my type, but I hear you and she might be getting closer?"

Bard
Benjamin didn't even blush, much less nod. Instead he teased back, tuning his already
in tune guitar.

"Oh,
like you and Apprentice Roy?" He gave her a sly and slightly naughty look,
like anyone on the ship cared about that at all.

So
she nodded.

"Exactly
like that. Speaking of which, I need to go and see to some things for that. You
know, the first rule of improvisation?" It was a thing they all learned in
school after all, so Ben got it instantly, even if the man on the bed didn't.

In
fact, Ben finished it for her.

"The
key to good improvisation is; preparation, preparation, preparation."

"Exactly.
So, wish me luck."

That
clearly didn't make sense to the other Bard, but Will whispered the words, very
seriously.

As
if she'd really need it?

Pran
sort of expected the whole thing with Roy to be awkward and fumbling, but as Tammy
the spy had mentioned, he actually wasn't all that bad in bed. Oh, it was true that
almost anything that didn't involve being hit or threatened would have been an improvement
over what she knew, but he was kind about the whole thing and it was sweet. She
hadn't really expected that part at all.

There
were kisses involved, and he spent a lot of time just holding her.

When
they were done she went back to the shower to clean up, because otherwise it would
be a bit gross, though Roy just went to his own cot and fell asleep. It was dim
in the hallway, but there were lights, since every second one of the lamps along
the wall were burning with a bright white flame. They hissed a bit, the hydrogen
gas coming out with slightly different pressures at times. She saw the form in the
hallway well enough.

She
even worked out who it was from general shape. Zeke.

He
waved to her urgently, but didn't say anything. That made sense, being that you
never knew who was going to be around in the confines of The Lament. The white walls
through this section were oppressive in the dim light and the shadows made the man
seem sinister, even though, enemy or not, he'd actually been pretty nice to her
so far.

"Oh,
Zeke. Hey." She felt dirty, not having washed up yet. She didn't have a lot
of water left for it for the day either, and might have to cheat a little, if she
wanted to actually feel clean again. It wasn't Roy's fault, but the past kind of
soiled everything for her. "I'm going to shower, but it won't take long. I
can show you where those footlockers are, so that you can deliver them tomorrow?
I won't be around for most of the day, but I'd love to get the woodworking shop
cleared out so I can make my instruments." She kept walking, and the man frowned
at her, as if he couldn't take a hint or something.

His
words gave the lie to that, if a little too slowly to seem natural.

"Oh?
That's a plan then. I can wait, I guess. Technically this is free time, but, well,
like you said, it's better to be useful, since I don't want to sleep in the cold
all winter. This is a good job."

Pran
smiled and avoided touching him, moving around the man carefully when they got to
the door of the shower room.

"Good,
stay here then I'll be five minutes. No peeking." She made that playful enough,
she thought, and the man actually managed a decently scandalized look.

"Who,
me? I'd never do such a thing. Unless, you know, you left the door open a crack?"

She
chuckled but closed the thing tightly and hurried, just hitting the parts of her
that needed it worst. It wasn't perfect, but using too much of the warm water was
a problem, so she tried to be good about not doing it. When she came out, carrying
her towel and soiled clothing, she led him straight to the wood shop, chatting the
whole time. Hopefully he'd get the general idea that
this
was the message
to him, and she wouldn't have to whisper it in the dark of the shop.

"In
the morning I'm going into town to get Will Butcher's wagon and see about some horses
for him. He plans to leave the area as soon as the trial is done. There are some
other things too, trading for goods and such, so he can travel. I'll try to get
him food and some warm clothing, all that. A bit of food for the horses too, if
there's room in the meat wagon. The Captain said I can't put it on the ship, so
I'm going to make a little area in the woods, near the road, for the horses. It
isn't as good as real shelter, but..." She shrugged. That horses had four legs,
she knew. She could even tell you where their main muscles were and what their hooves
looked like, having done a stone sculpture of one not too long before. Other than
that, she really didn't know what horses needed at all. "I don't have a lot
of experience with them. Can you help with that part? I was thinking that giving
them some trees to stand under might help. No one will steal them out here, I don't
think."

The
thin and slightly hard looking man nodded, just a bit slowly, as they walked. Like
he was thinking, rather than being lazy.

"I
can do that. This isn't ship's business , so it will have to be after I'm done for
the day. This Butcher man, the one that likes to touch little girls, do you think
he can get off at trial?"

Pran
shrugged.

"Really,
it doesn't matter. I think it's set for the day after tomorrow, if we don't have
to set off and deliver some emergency medicine in the middle of the night. That
will delay everything, if it happens. In that case you need to be ready to climb
half a mountain I guess. Taking the medicine in will be the big task, and volunteering
for it would be useful. You'll want to be the one that the Captain and First Mate
think of when things come up. They'll be a lot less likely to set you off in port
if you mess up that way."

"Makes
sense. I'll stay ready then. Well, come find me when you need me. I'll get those
boxes delivered on time for you. About noon?"

He
didn't stop to examine the work, but she explained where the rags were and how he
needed to carefully wipe the excess oil off first, and that if he didn't, he'd end
up with linseed all over himself. Zeke promised not to let that happen, and took
off from there, to the other side of the ship, where his quarters were. Pran had
never had a reason to go to that side of things, but assumed it was pretty much
like what she and Roy shared.

When
she got back into the room, he was already asleep, and the lights were out, which
meant she had to climb into bed carefully, without making a vast amount of noise.
She was tired, but then, that was a constant thing in her life, so she hadn't noticed
it until her eyes closed. It was early still, being just after nine, which meant
she actually got a good eight hours of sleep by the time that Roy shook her shoulder.

"Good
morning!" He was bright and cheery looking already, so she returned a happy
smile. A bleary one though.

"Morning.
I'm up. Any word yet on the Hilden thing?" There was no reason that Roy would
know in particular, but he shook his head anyway, clearly better informed than she'd
been aware of.

"Nothing
yet. Bill said that the herb woman there seems to be hoping it will break on its
own. Having to call in help like they might is expensive. The government pays for
it, but doing things like that too often gets you looked at pretty closely and no
one wants that. In these remote areas pretty much everyone cheats on their taxes,
and too many reviews will show that. You're going into Pumpkin Hollow today?"

"Yeah.
I hope it all works out. They might chase me from the town, screaming and throwing
things. I think I'll take the air rifle, just in case. My truncheon too." She
meant it, but winked, as if it were also a joke. The people there could be violent,
and she was going in to basically help the man that they hated most in the world.

Roy
seemed to think it was a good enough idea and leaned toward her, kissing her on
the cheek lightly.

"Be
careful. I had fun last night. Don't worry, I know that you won't be here long.
Airship rules. You know, you have your fun, but don't let yourself get too attached?
If we get a chance, I'd love to do it again sometime?"

Pran
smiled.

"All
right. In a couple of days. I'm slightly sore from what we did. Not a lot of practice,
you know?" She wasn't really, but saying that had him smiling a bit as he left.
She'd heard enough girls talking about that at the art school to know that it made
boys feel perversely manly, knowing that you were sore the next day. At least a
tiny bit.

She
got an early breakfast, and realized that she had an unusual thing happen then.
She didn't have anything to do for a whole two hours or so. She nearly went back
to bed, but smiled and pulled her borrowed instruments, to practice. In a few weeks
she had an important meeting with High Bard Clarice after all, and not being ready
wasn't going to help her at all.

Diligently
she ran basic exercises first, and vocal ones as well, then practiced every song
she could think of, until it was time to pack things up and leave. No one stopped
her, but almost everyone she saw waved or said hello on the way out. Bill, the Second
Mate was outside, still awake for some reason, and sipping covertly from a tiny
flask that he had hidden inside his jacket. He tried to hide it when she came up,
and winced when he realized it wasn't going to work.

"Ah.
Bard Pran. I don't suppose I could distract you by needling you about young Roy
now, could I? Not with you being a Bard and all."

As
distractions went it wasn't a very good one at all.

"Nope.
I'm headed into the village to see to things now." She didn't mention the flask,
since it wasn't her business, but he did.

"It's...
I'm a drunk. If I go too long without anything, it will make me sick. It isn't a
good thing, but if I'm careful and have just a little now, then I'll be able to
sleep and stand my watch later." He seemed eager for her to understand, and
she thought she really did. He was being honest enough with her, at least to what
he believed.

That
being the case, she didn't see a reason to tattle on him.

"All
right. I saw nothing. Just keep that in mind when it's my turn?" Not that she
thought it would come up, but you never knew.

The
red nosed and ruddy faced man nodded seriously, as if it were a sacred pact.

She
trudged out then, the ground having melted and most of the snow being gone. Her
jacket wasn't waterproof, and she didn't have an oil cloth with her, but she had
the rifle and a two foot long lacquered stick tucked through her belt, tied loosely
into place. It was in the way if she needed to run very fast, but it was better
to have it than not.

The
trip took longer than was needed, since she jogged it, but without rhythm, moving
through the woods and trying to work out a good place to hide the things.
Without
actually doing that. So it needed to be a protected spot, but not a criminal's secret
camp. Shelter for the horses, she remembered. That's how she'd present it. A place
that was near the road, but that was out of the sight of The Lament, so that the
others could sneak off, unnoticed.

Preferably
while she was busy doing something else.

That
way she wouldn't be implicated in it. Really, if she could time it right, being
with Judge Claire would be the best thing at the time. That would give her an alibi
that no one would ever bother trying to test. It was going to take some planning
though, to get that done. Maybe the woman would like some music? Or they could go
over her experience with Roy, so she could improve? That would be embarrassing,
but also needed. You didn't get better without trying to, regardless of what most
people believed.

She
didn't really see the perfect spot or anything and realized that the best one would
require a lot of physical labor to make suitable. Cutting back some brush and hauling
it out of the way. It would be a pain, but if things didn't take too long she might
be able to get it done before darkness fell. Of course, what were the odds of that
actually happening?