Chapter Four #3
Zaria flicked an ear. “It’s like you said. He never wanted
you, resented the time and coin you stole, and his only obligation to your
livelihood was the debt of his brother.”
“He raised me! He took me off my mother’s corpse! He was
there for me when no one else in the world would bother!”
“To me, it sounds like he beat you hand and foot.”
“The trials and lessons he put me through were for a
purpose! I wasn’t just some hostage for him to vent his anger!” Isaac attempted
to breathe. “Why would he spend decades raising me as a mage if he just wanted
to kill me without question?”
“Dunno,” Zaria said, shrugging. “But how do you explain the
wyrms and the water?”
With his hands tied, Isaac clenched one fist inside the
other. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
She held out a palm. “Easy, Isaac. I may not know your
business, but I know mine, and I know a setup when I see one. It looks wrong, is all. Might be you’d consider that, if you weren’t so
desperate for his approval.”
He noted the poleaxe at her back and the dagger at her hip.
Some reason returned to him, and he sat back. “Of course you’d think that way.
Some common pirate like you would assume the worst of everyone. We’re all just
trying to take advantage of each other, aren’t we?”
“Suppose you aim to prove me wrong.”
“No. Why should I? It’s exactly what you did. You dug
through my belongings and saw my map, thought you’d have a chance to get rich,
and threatened to leave me for dead if I didn’t lead you down to buried
treasure. You’re threatening my life’s mission just to line
your own pockets. I’d say you’re a perfect example of cutthroats the world
over.”
Her ears flattened against her skull. “I don’t have a
choice. Some of us don’t got the luxury for morals.”
“You could walk away with your life at any time. You are
choosing to do this.”
“I betrayed my crew! Do you know what pirates do to
traitors? They’ll flay my hide, and spill my guts, and tell all the onlookers
exactly what happens to them that kill their mates! Right now, half the
gods-damned ships in the region are combing the desert for yours truly, and if
they find me, they’ll end up throwing what’s left to the dogs!”
“Hide in a town, then. Try an honest profession.”
“You mean the towns that all got wanted posters with my furry
visage? All that waits for me in civilized society is a cot and piss bucket in
a dungeon. That’s what being an outlaw means, in case you weren’t aware. It
means if I got an army of thugs wants to kill me, then I have no recourse but
death, on their side or mine.”
Isaac shook his head. “None of that requires you to pillage
a tomb full of necromancy. You have no idea of the dangers that lurk in those
halls. It’s a fool’s errand, and you’re a fool for dreaming of it.”
“That make you a fool, too?”
“The difference is that I was trained for it. You were not.”
She breathed out through her teeth. “That gold ain’t just a
dream of mine. That gold is power. It’s peace of mind. It’s the only bloody
chance I got left to buy some measure of safety. It’s bribing a magistrate for
asylum, paying a smuggler to ship me off to sea, or just plain hiring enough
protection that I don’t got to look over my shoulder the rest of my life. If I
don’t find that treasure—if you don’t help me get it—then I’m
dead. No question, no chance.”
Isaac stared back at her, meeting a gaze that was lined with
teeth, scars, and fury.
“Now you listen to me, Isaac, and you listen well.”
“I will not submit—”
“Shut your fuckin’ mouth.”
The way she said it startled him. All at once, her voice was
rough and low, her teeth peeling into view, her eyes gleaming like coins. Her
hand settled on the pommel of her dagger.
Isaac tried not to panic.
“I’m sorry for doing this to you,” Zaria said. “Truly. If I
weren’t so desperate, then I’d have sent you on your way with no harm or
malice. For the record, I think highly of your mission. Despite your efforts,
I’m startin’ to think highly of you, too. And if my word means anything at all,
then I promise to honor our deal. I help you rescue your father, we split the
treasure, and say goodbye. I got no intentions, otherwise.”
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees.
“Here’s how this will play out. Your hands will remain bound
until I can trust that you won’t blow me to cinders while my back is turned. If
a situation arises where your hands need to be unbound, then they will be so
with a dagger at your back, lest you try something stupid. I will be watching
sharp for any indication of treachery. And if I find any inclination of such—”
Before he could blink, she drew her dagger and pressed it to
his throat.
“I will not hesitate to end your life.”
Above, the sky had turned the color of blood.
“Do we understand each other?”
Isaac felt the edge of the blade as he swallowed. “I suppose
so.”
“Good.” Without removing her dagger, she reached into her
pack and pulled out a wheel of rope, tossing it into his lap. “Tie your ankles
to your wrists.”
“Why?”
“So you can’t slit my throat while I slumber.”
Isaac glanced down at the rope, rubbing it through his
fingers. “I, uh. . . .”
“What is it?”
“I. . . .”
“Spit it out,” she said, pressing the dagger close.
“I don’t know how to tie a knot.”
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
All at once, Zaria burst into laughter, letting her dagger
arm fall to the sand. She tried to speak, managed a few breathless words, and
fell to cackling again. It echoed loudly across the dunes. “Of course you
don’t,” she said, still snickering. Her canines pressed against her snout in a
toothy grin. “I mean, why should you? Probably wipe your arse with magic
instead of leaves.”
Isaac couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or relieved.
“Scoot your legs out. I’ll do it.”
She returned the dagger to her hip and began to tie several knots
into the rope, fast as a sailor. She formed two loops, fastening them around
his ankles. By the end, his legs were as bound as his arms, and both were
connected together by a single line of rope that ran along his torso. It wasn’t
tight enough to force him to bend, but he would certainly have trouble doing
anything other than flopping on his belly.
Zaria returned to her position on the slope. “Why do you
have to make me say things like that, Isaac? I was enjoying our talk.”
He tested the new range of his limbs. It was not very far.
“This is my fault, is it?”
“Oh, quite so, squire. Just so things are clear—if I weren’t
growing fond of you, I’d have you hogtied and spittled.”
“Ah,” Isaac said, calm as he could. “Well, then. I will
certainly . . . continue my charm.”
She gave him a smile that wasn’t entirely false. “I hope
so.” She nestled herself into the sand, folding her arms and closing her eyes.
“Well, good night. Don’t let the sandwyrms bite.”
Isaac watched her for several moments. “Is . . . that it?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, not opening her eyes.
“You just threatened me with a knife, and now you’re going
to sleep?”
“Sure.”
“. . . really?”
“Isaac,” she said. “For you, that might’ve been the first
time someone’s imperiled your life. For me, that was a standard greeting.”
He blinked a few times. He tested his restraints again. He
watched her chest rise and fall.
“Stop staring at my tits, by the way.”
He quickly lay down in the sand, trying to pull his
sweat-soaked shawl into a blanket. “Right, yes. So . . . goodnight?”
“Sweet dreams,” she replied.
Isaac felt his body sink into a shallow depression. By now,
the sand was pleasantly warm. The liniment had soothed his burns. For the first
time in nearly a week, he had slaked his thirst and calmed his hunger. Around
him, the dying light crawled its way up the dunes in rich shades of pink and
orange.
He watched the sky until the stars appeared. After a while,
Zaria began to snore. A short time later, exhaustion finally took hold, and he
fell into a dreamless sleep.