Winterfinding (9 page)

She turned the latch and opened the window.
There was a bout a twenty-foot drop to the alley below. Leaning
back in, Jena looked at the modest hearth and the basket of wood
next to it. A fire and a bed tonight would be a pleasant sleep, she
thought. If so, it’d be the first in a long time.

She knelt beside the firewood and searched
through its contents until she found what she wanted. Crossing back
to the door, she dropped its latch and locked it. Then, bending
down, she placed the small piece of wood she had taken in the seam
of the jab. She kicked it several times to lodge it tight.
Unlatching the door, she pulled and when it wouldn’t give, she was
satisfied. Jena re-locked the door, walked over to the bed and
plopped herself down. It wasn’t the softest, but it beat any cold
ground or tree hammock.

Suddenly, a wave of fatigue came over her.
With her feet propped up on her pack, she let her eyes close and
tugged at the blanket to cover her a bit. She was falling asleep.
This wasn’t the time for it but she could tell her body was
fighting her mind. Like it always does eventually, the body won and
Jena drifted off into oblivion.

It was as if no time had passed. Jena had
closed her eyes to the soft light of midday and now opened them to
a tawny dusk. Everything felt still, she sat up and began to
register the sounds of the street outside. She was cold. Standing
closed the window and lit the oil lamp near the hearth. As she bent
down to start, a fire there was a sheepish knock at the door.

“
Come.” Jena
called.

“
I canna, miss.” Jej said
flatly. Jena scowled then realized she had latched and stopped the
door. She opened it for Jej, who stood there with a tray of
food.

“
It’s been a few hours. Ya
never answered when I knocked so I lef’ the tray. It was still
‘ere, I took the liberty of taking it down to the kitchen an’
adding supper.” Jej held out the tray which now had not just what
Jena had asked for before but what looked like a shepherd’s pie and
a tankard.

“
Ale?” Jena took the
tray.

“
Proper cider, Madame
Moria’s own.” Jej smiled with pride.

“
Sorry for the bother.
Thank you.” Jena gave the girl a weak smile.

“
No worries. Noon crowd
has gone so iffaya wanna come down, der’s room aplenty.” Jej
smiled. The girl’s face was nearly all cheeks, rose red like
apples, and her large eyes made her look remarkably innocent. She
was cute, Jena thought looking her over.

“
We’ll see.” Jena nodded
as she began to close the door, “When does the bar close
up?”

“
Late.” Jej replied, “But
I’m usually gone to bed by then.” Jena nodded again, closed the
door with her hip, and set the tray down on a wobbly nightstand.
She didn’t bother to latch it this time and returned to her fire
making.

Roughly an hour or so later, she made her
way down to the common room. The barmaid from before was gone,
replaced by a rather tall and sturdy fellow. There were a handful
of folk along the bar and random pairings at the tables in the
corners of the room. Jena surveyed quickly as she approached the
bar, she spied the man she had seen on the veranda skulking alone
in the corner. He had spotted her immediately and was watching her
movements far too closely for any valid reason.

“
New face.” The barkeep
said in pleasant manner.

“
Of a sort,” Jena replied,
“Haven’t been to this town in quite a while.”

“
So then, what can I give
a prodigal?” A flirtatious smirk crept onto the face of the
barkeep.

“
Raki.”

“
Glass or
flask?”

“
Flask.”

The barkeep nodded and turned to retrieve it
from the cupboard behind him, “That’ll be a bit more than the lager
or bitter we have, which is rather good.”

“
Or Moria’s
cider?”

Presenting Jena with a crystal flask full of
the milky looking raki, “We call her ‘madam.’” His tone was more
serious but still congenial.

“
Will keep that in mind.
How much?”

“
An obol, but you’ll want
a tab.” He said and Jena nodded, taking the flask and a glass with
her as she turned to find a table.

Once she found a place, below a window in
one of the corners opposite the entrance, the man from the veranda
stood up and slowly made his way towards her. Jena didn’t look up
but poured herself a glass and withdrew a slender kris from her
vest’s inner pocket. Moving deliberately, she set the dagger down
on the table making sure the man saw it. The stranger registered a
moment’s hesitation but didn’t pause.

“
I don’t think this is the
sort of place where you’ll need that.” Addison suddenly sat down
across from her. The stranger tried to recovery his nonchalance and
continued walking on by the table. Addison eyed him as he passed.
He looked at Jena, “That would be a gifter.”

“
I saw him when I arrived.
He doesn’t look very posh but his clothes…” Jena spoke in a low
tone.

“
Have never been worn more
than two days in a row.” Addison set a glass on the table. “May I?”
He gestured to the flask. Jena made no objection as a maid she
hadn’t seen before sat down a plate of lavash. Addison began at
once to tear pieces of the bread. “Feel free,” he said between
bits, “I apologize but I wasn’t able to eat much today.”

“
Busy were you?” Jena said
cautiously.

“
After a fashion,” Addison
smiled as he drank the raki, “It’s not as easy as you think giving
directions.”

Jena smirked, “Who was that?”

“
Heston Peel.”

“
And?” Addison wiped the
corners of his mouth with his thumb, clearly reluctant. “Should I
be worried?” She asked.

He shook his head, “The little prick
wouldn’t be much trouble for most one-on-one, but…”

“
He doesn’t often face
people one-on-one.”

“
His tendency is to cozy
up and then make a move when his so-called friend has their back to
him. Fancies himself an assassin.”

“
And you just let him
wander about?”

“
There’s enough aurei in
his purse to keep his tracks covered and mouths shut. Although,
I’ve been looking to…remove…him from the city for a while
now.”

“
Well, this was a lovely
peak into your local drama.” Jena said dismissive.

“
He’s interested in you,
so now it’s your drama too.”

Jena shook her head, “I don’t see it that
way.”

“
That hardly matters, he
does.”

She threw back the contents of her glass,
the let out a long sigh, “I don’t need more drama. This is petty
and trifling.”

“
I am certain that is what
all those Heston has killed thought as well.”

“
So what is it you want
exactly? You’re not just telling me this out of the goodness of
your heart.”

Addison shook his head and laughed, “You’ve
not been around normal folk for a long time have you?”

Jena squirmed in her chair. She didn’t like
how chummy Addison was. “I’ve got my reasons.”

“
Oh?” Addison leaned back,
“Do tell.”

“
You’re not going to stop
pestering me until I do, eh?”

“
I’m merely doing my
job.”

A woman came to the table. Not a maid, she
walked with too much dignity about her, “If you were doing your
job, then you’d have something to tell me.”

“
Madam Moria,” Addison
bowed his head, “I was just talking with my new friend.”

Moria looked Jena over and was obviously
wary betraying more than a bit of contempt, “She’s certainly got my
girl in a tizzy. Won’t stop going on and on about the ‘lady
adventurer’ that’s strolled in.”

Jena snorted, muttering “Lady.”

“
Yeah, that’s what I
said.” Moria turned her attention back to Addison, “Tanner’s been
gone for weeks now and I’ve gotten no word. You need to go check on
him.”

“
I said I would and I
will…”

“
You need to stop saying
it and go do it.” Moria stuck her finger in his face, “I’m running
this place alone—as always—but I still need him here.”

“
Where was he off to?”
Jena asked.

“
None of your concern,”
Moria snapped.

“
Easy now,” Addison held
out his hand, “Moria, I’ll be heading up there in a couple of days.
Likely once I get on my horse, he’ll show up back in town with Colm
in tow.”

Jena bit her lip and hide her face in her
glass. Moria wasn’t sated, “Not likely. You go up there and soon
and you tell that bastard to quit loafing. It isn’t a retreat. He’s
needed here and now.” She turned on her heel and left.

“
That woman is difficult.”
Addison mumbled.

“
All you men think that
about any woman that knows what she wants.” Jena scoffed,
“Especially the closer you get to Bandra.”

Addison raised an eyebrow, “The Cathedral
has clear rules about the place of women.”

“
Yeah,” Jena poured the
last of the raki into her and Addison’s glasses, “They most
certainly do.”

“
But not everyone in the
Light sees things that way.” Addison gave her a knowing look. He
sipped his drink and the two sat in silence for a few
moments.

“
So, if you’re still
around, do you want to come along?” He finally asked.

“
What? Where?”

“
On my little errand for
Moria. If I said you helped, might get her to knock off a few
silvers from your tab.”

Jena hesitated as she brought her glass to
her lips, “I don’t think she’d care for that too much. Or me.”

“
She doesn’t care too much
for anyone. Besides, if you stay here you will end up in tussle
with Heston. And that just means I’ll have a mess to clean up when
I get back. If you come with me…”

“
You postpone the mess?”
Jena smirked.

Addison shrugged, “It’s clear you’re here
for a reason. Clear to me that you’re not the kind of person who
should be here. And I suspect that the longer you’re here, the more
likely the gifters lazing about will feel the urge to test
themselves against a real ranger.”

“
You could just throw me
out of town.” She offered.

He nodded, “That’s a way to make a mess of
things.”

“
My business here won’t
take long. I’ll be gone before your ‘gifters,’ is it? Before your
gifters can make a fuss.”

Addison stood taking the last piece of
lavash and folding it a few times. He torn off a bit and popped it
into his mouth, “Fair enough, but I’m just off that crossroads
where we talked if you change your mind. Don’t get too drunk.” He
winked at her and left.

Moria was behind the bar shooting daggers at
him as he walked out. Looking around, Jena couldn’t spy Heston
anywhere. She took her time finishing the last of the raki. No one
else came in and no one else left. This looked to be it, about
twelve people including herself and the staff she had seen. Jena
reasoned that there’d be some folk in the kitchen she hadn’t met,
maybe a cook and a prep. No more than fifteen people in the
building.

She could handle this, she told herself. She
hadn’t expected any of this but, of course, what she didn’t do was
expect anything at all. Jena cursed herself for not planning. She
could hear Roth in the back of her mind telling her she needed to
get out of there, just get away. She also knew that Roth wouldn’t
have left, that he’d be doing exactly what she was doing. Or, at
least, doing some version of it.

She hadn’t thought of him, had deliberately
driven the thoughts away, since she had returned to the Cruor. Was
he in the taiga now or still traveling down the river? Would Colm
be able to handle the cold? Would he come back, would he want her
to come to him? Jena was angry with Roth more often than not. Yet
she couldn’t get him out of her mind, couldn’t stop thinking about
him and the others.

She stood abruptly and strode across the
room and out the door. Moria’s gaze had snapped away from what she
was doing and fixed on Jena. When she had left, Moria barked for
Jej, who appeared seemingly out of thin air.

“
That one.” Moria
said.

“
The lady
adven…”

“
Yes, yes,” Moria cut her
off, “She keeps her room locked?”

“
Quite tight. Even now,
the door won’t budge an’ I used the skeleton key.”

“
Yes, they have tricks.”
Moria let herself relax a bit, “Addison is going to bring Tanner
back soon so make sure to redd-up Colm’s room.”

Jej smiled and nodded, “And the lady
adven…”

“
Stop calling her that.”
Moria said exasperated. She shook her head, “Keep an eye on her. I
don’t want trouble here and that one, she reeks of it.”

“
I donna think she wants
to cause problems.” Jej said innocently enough.

“
They never do, it just
always seems to find them.” Moria said more to herself than to Jej.
“Well? Go on, then.”

She shooed Jej on and set a bottle of some
dark amber liquor on the bar. Pouring herself a glass, she watched
as Heston snaked casually out of the shadows and out the door.

“
No, they never go seeking
it do they.” She whispered.