LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

with him after all. No sign of the Tari?'

      'Not a one. I think we've got away with using that circle.'

      The settlement was in a large valley. A couple of big stone buildings in the main street were surrounded by horribly tumbledown little buildings of wickerwork and mud. Both women had heard that the Seagani did not build permanent structures for they moved their settlements every couple of years so that the land could renew itself. These buildings looked a long way past their useful age and yet people were clearly living in them.

      'Perhaps the Mirayans have outlawed roaming,' Marigoth snorted, only half seriously. Later they discovered that that was indeed the case.

      It was quite dark though it was not very late in the day. Despite the sounds of habitation and lights in some of the hovels, there was no one on the paved road. The streets that led off it were dusty tracks that smelled of manure.

      'Erk,' Marigoth said, walking invisibly at Yani's side. 'This is worse than that city.'

      'The worst I've seen,' agreed Yani, who had often witnessed in Dania how disgusting streets got when too many people lived in one place. It would be even worse after it had rained.

      'Look up there,' she said suddenly. 'A tavern.'

      'You want to drink?' Marigoth asked.

      'Taverns have places to sleep too,' Yani said. 'Though an ale wouldn't go astray.'

      'You're going to go into a room full of strangers?'

      'Of course. I did it all the time in Dania. It's a great way to find out things.'

      'If you say so. I think I'll stay hidden, thank you very much.'

      For a moment Yani was going to retort that a tavern was no place for a little girl anyway, but she thought better of it and held her tongue. She was becoming quite diplomatic these days.

      The tavern was a substantial-looking wooden building. Inside, men were seated at long benches along grubby trestle tables with earthenware jugs and beakers in front of them. Despite the greasy straw on the floor, the place had a cheery atmosphere. Someone was playing a harp in the corner and several men were singing along.

      The harp fell silent the moment Yani came in. Unsurprisingly, everyone turned and stared. She walked through the room, doing her best to look unconcerned. They must have reached Southern Seagan for these people wore the facial whorl tattooed on their cheeks. How would the bad blood between the Southern Seagani and the Tari over the death of the three mages and the destruction of Olbia affect them? Well, Yani thought, too late to worry about that now.

      She looked for a place to sit. No one spoke to her and all of the tables were occupied. She felt uneasy about joining a group. Through an open door she saw a lighter room. She passed through into it. This room was cleaner and there were flagstones on the floor. It did not have as nice an atmosphere as the outer room, but there were only about a dozen men and a couple of empty tables.

      Yani approached the Seagani tavern wench who was leaning drearily in a doorway and asked the price of a meal and a drink. For a moment the woman simply stared at her. When she finally spoke, her voice was drowned out by a loud remark from a nearby table about the sudden stench in the room.

      Yani looked round. The speaker was a thickset, curly-haired man. His two companions, a tall man with vacant-looking eyes and a little, rat-faced man, were nodding. They were all staring pointedly at Yani.

      The raven cawed in the back of Yani's mind. She felt the brief exhilarating tingle of danger, but it would be sheer self-indulgence to rise to the fellow's insults. She should try and keep out of trouble before she got to Olbia. Elena's freedom was more important than her honour.

      'May I have ale, please?' she asked the wench.

      'Ooh,' his tormenter said. 'May I have ale, please? Oooh, isn't he nice. Doesn't he have a fine opinion of himself.'

      Yani turned in annoyance. 'Why are you being so rude? I've done nothing to you.'

      The bullyboy was slightly taken aback by this unusual attack, but he recovered all too quickly. 'Who do you think you are, native, to come back here and drink with your betters?'

      Grins of agreement flashed around the room.

      'Betters?' Yani asked, genuinely mystified. She sized the three up and thought that Ratface was probably the one to watch. She should… No, she couldn't resist it.

      'Stop being such an arsehole!' she said, and turned her back invitingly.

      'Uppity shit, we'll show you!' Bullyboy shouted. He sprang at Yani.

      Yani spun around, ducked Bullyboy's blow and landed him a good punch in the gut. But there were three of them on her and Ratface managed to get in a kick which knocked her off balance and gave Big One a chance to get hold of her arm and twist it up behind her back.

      Leaning back into him, Yani kicked high, catching Ratface in the chin and sending him sprawling. She drove her free elbow up backward, hard as a hammer, and caught Big One a solid blow beneath the ribs. He staggered and she twisted out of his grasp and got a good hit on his jaw. He went down.

      'Bye bye, Big One,' Yani said under her breath as she threw herself, fist first, at Bullyboy.

      The two smaller men were dirty fighters. They rained a fury of punches and kicks down on her and Ratface even bit her on the arm. But Yani was stronger than either of them. A couple of punches knocked Ratface out, and with a clever duck and a twist she threw Bullyboy over her back. He landed on the floor, winded.

      'Just hold it right there!' a voice behind her said.

      She swung round. A mage stood in the archway that led back to the front room. Seagani men crowded close behind him. He seemed to be addressing the men in the room with her, all of whom had risen from their seats.

      'It was a fair fight,' the mage said. 'Three against one and the stranger has won fairly. I say we leave it at that. We Mirayans can recognise a gallant fighter after all.'

      A couple of the Seagani behind him grimaced. The men in the room sat back down and turned their heads away. A low murmur that might have been a cheer came up from the Seagani in the doorway.

      'That was well fought. Let me buy you a drink,' the mage said.

      'Great!' Yani said, wiping the sweat off her brow. She sat on the chair with the feeling of a job well done.

      The mage sat down with his long slim legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle and his staff draped casually across them. The others in the room ignored them pointedly, except for the wench who quickly pulled an ale and brought it over.

      'It's Busynose,' whispered Marigoth, who was suddenly standing unseen at her side. 'The one who's been following us.'

      Yani had thought he looked vaguely familiar. He was a tall man with curling, light brown hair and a hawkish face. Definitely a Mirayan face, thought Yani, young and not bad looking. His legs were nice, but he had a mage's skinny physique.

      'You fought well,' he said, lifting his cup in a toast.

      Yani shrugged. 'I'm stronger than I look,' she said. She took a sip from her ale and winced slightly when she realised her lip was cut. But the ale tasted good and yeasty.

      'You must be,' the mage said. 'The name's Ezratah.'

      'I'm Yani. Thanks for the drink. Do you think these fellows were just looking for a fight or did they have a problem?'

      'I believe this room is reserved for Mirayans,' the mage said. 'Out here in the backwoods, we Mirayans tend to stick together.'

      'Ah!' Yani said, suddenly understanding everything. 'Then I have had a narrow escape and I should thank you for more than just the ale.'

      She looked around the room. Could she have managed nine more of them? Probably - with Marigoth's help. The Seagani in the other room were going back to their seats with curious backward looks. Would they have helped her or left her to her fate? They had seemed to support her, but Queen Sharma had told her that

Скачать книгу