Chapter 20 #2
The woman laughs, making the scar across her cheek jump. “The sentiment is mutual. Come on.”
The group tramps over to a side-street and then down it to an open-ended road by a stable no one appears to be attending to at the moment.
The three who haven’t spoken so far spread out as if to watch for unwelcome interruptions.
The man dips his knobby chin to us. “Since you trusted us enough to come along, we can do the first introductions. I’m Emor, and this is Voleska.
We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get these Order of the Wild pricks out of our city since they first showed up. ”
Voleska studies us. “You aren’t from Pima. I’d have noticed you before.”
I’m not ready to give her our names yet, but I’ll acknowledge that point. “We were in the capital when the palace there was attacked. When we heard about the uprising in Eppun, we came to see what we could do to help before the situation gets even worse.”
Emor hums and glances over his shoulder toward the smoke still wafting up toward the sky. “You’ve made a decent start of it, I’ll give you that.”
“What have you been doing?” Rheave asks. “You have gifts—can you use those?”
He nods to the obvious signs of their dedication sacrifices: Emor is missing a little finger and Voleska her left thumb.
It’s not generally considered polite to prod people about their gifts, but I can’t help being glad Rheave didn’t know that—because I’d like the answer too.
Emor doesn’t show any sign of being offended. He rubs the stump of his missing finger. “Unfortunately, mine isn’t good for much other than ensuring our people have decent meals.”
He glances at Voleska a little awkwardly, but she simply shrugs. “I didn’t receive a gift, and fairly so. I was a lot more selfish at twelve than I’ve learned to be since.”
Yikes, Julita murmurs.
Rheave’s eyes widen. I don’t know if he was aware that not every sacrifice is recognized by the godlen it’s made to.
I suppress a shudder at the thought of losing a whole thumb for nothing, but Voleska spoke without rancor. I guess a situation like that would make you rethink a lot of things about your life.
The daimon-man cocks his head. “So you want our help because we can do more than you can.”
I give his arm a light swat to try to tell him to ease up on the attitude, but Casimir speaks before I can.
“Our friend might not be the politest of gentlemen, but he does raise our main concern. Why did you approach us? It’ll be easier for us to decide how to respond if we know where this conversation is going. ”
Voleska clicks her tongue. “Straight to the point. Fine. You are clearly working with some impressive gifts. But we have the local connections. We could accomplish a lot more if we combined forces and tackled these assholes together.”
Julita lets out a skeptical sound. I don’t know. This bunch seems awfully… rough around the edges.
I restrain a snort. The small apartment Hanie found for us to squat in didn’t come with a mirror—my ghostly passenger has no concept of how scruffy I must look at this point.
Rough around the edges could be exactly what we need.
But we still have to be careful about it.
I raise an eyebrow. “We’ve gotten by all right without extra connections. What could yours tell us that we don’t already know?”
Emor smirks. “I’m sure you’ve heard all the victory celebrations, but did you know that one of the king’s magical advisors, a fellow named Lothar, has come with the latest troops to try to negotiate with the Order?”
Lothar—the royal advisor Stavros said specializes in potions… and hunting down riven sorcerers. The one who sacrificed an entire arm for whatever his gift is.
Has the king sent him to try to learn more about the scourge sorcerers’ illicit magic?
A chill ripples down my spine. “I didn’t know that, but how does it help us?”
“It shows how ineffective the royal army’s been,” Voleska says in a sneering tone. “Sending all these soldiers out here, and they either get cut down or have to retreat. At this rate, they’ll negotiate the whole province away just to save the rest of the country. We have to do something big.”
“That’s right.” Emor rubs his hands together.
“And because we’ve lived here our whole lives, we also know the best ways to appeal to our neighbors.
We just don’t have the power to speak to them without getting dragged off and tossed in a ditch.
We need to show the people of Pima that someone can get the upper hand over the Order of the Wild. ”
Voleska jumps back in with a triumphant smile. “And we know that the Order is planning some big meeting tomorrow morning. That’ll give us the perfect opportunity to make a stir when there are fewer of their stooges looking to bash dissenters’ heads in.”
I hadn’t known about the meeting either. A flare of hope lights inside me.
Casimir slips his hand around mine with a light squeeze as if to say he’ll stand with me. The subtle smile he shoots me suggests he’s ready to trust this bunch at least a little farther.
I’ve thought so many times about how difficult it’ll be for us to take on the scourge sorcerers alone. How can we dismiss any advantage that presents itself?
I let my lips curl with a small smile of my own. “I like the sound of that. Let us check with our companions, but maybe we can meet up later tonight and form a real plan.”