30. Now Name
NOW: NAME
We had stayed up half the night, sitting in the wagon, grinding the moss into paste, and putting it into tins.
Ilsit and Tessa then distributed it. As I had already been caught by the Vyggian collecting mother’s moss, we decided it would be better if they took over this part of the criminal undertaking.
The Vyggian aside, we had to proceed with caution for other reasons.
Ilsit complained of Gerard’s having ridden by our wagon more than once and Tessa agreed, saying that Bertram had watched her walk to and from the bread lines on many nights.
In the morning, I took our waste bucket to the daily latrine dug by the lowest-ranking Perpatanian soldiers. I was early in my pursuit and the only person at the ditch. As I poured piss from at least three of us into the latrine, I heard his voice over the slap of the liquid in the dirt.
“Shall we call a truce, midwife?”
I turned, half-lurching towards where he stood just behind me, droplets of piss flying at his knees from my abrupt spin.
Still poised, he took a step back, that placid look fixed on his features, his eye on me assessing but not quite alert, as if he had made up his mind about me and no longer had a need for that relentless scrutiny.
I found myself strangely disappointed. “What does a truce look like?” I asked. “If it means you will finally leave me alone, I readily agree.”
The Vyggian took his first and middle fingers and looped them into the neckline of his hooded jerkin, pulling the hood tighter around his head now tilted to one side.
“I mean that I will not pursue you so ruthlessly. I mean that I will trust you if you will trust me.” He gave me one of his careless little smiles.
“I have no choice,” I said. “I have to trust you.”
“And I you,” he countered.
We stood staring at each other.
“Does my brother try his luck out on you, madam?” said the Vyggian with the braid, striding into view and clapping his brother on the shoulder. “He’s surprisingly good with women, but I sense not with you.” He grinned at me and then flicked his eyes to the one-eyed man, who stood completely still.
“Good morning,” I said rather stiffly and made to walk past them back to our wagon.
“Hold on,” said the long-haired Vyggian, stepping towards me.
I paused.
“My brother means no harm,” he continued, sidling up to me. “He may have gotten a bit rusty in his ability to woo. It has been a while since I’ve seen him chase a woman. Would you say that is so, Reed?”
A name, I thought.
“Keir,” answered the one-eyed man, his stance growing even more relaxed. “You assume so much. I wouldn’t try my luck with a viper even if it was a particularly beautiful serpent.”
I scoffed, looking past the braided Vyggian and saying, “You call me viper? You are marked twice with the shape of a snake and I only once.”
Keir snorted. “Such mean language, man.”
“What foul language is Reed using?” came another voice.
I turned towards the camp to find the tall lady and the big Helmsman striding towards us. I tried not to flinch as they both looked me up and down.
“He insinuated that this poor woman had the bite of a serpent. A viper,” said Keir. “And meanwhile, she is the only healer on this whole damn caravan.”
“Fool,” said the Helmsman, but there was warmth in his voice.
Reed finally took his eye from me and flicked it to the big man.
“There are two physicians with the army,” I said.
The lady huffed. “Oh forgive me, madam. They’re only good for stitching up a cut. And they’d as soon cut your whole limb off first. Grim, the lot of them. Thinking their god is punishing anyone with a sprained ankle.”
I fought a smile.
She was so cheerful, this lady warrior with a sword hanging from her waist. Her face was round, the apples of her cheeks prominent, almost eclipsing her small eyes when she smiled.
“We lot—” She stopped to point to herself and the three others. “We’ll be coming to you for aches and pains first. I myself want some lightleaf for my courses if you’ve any.”
“I’ll sell you some,” I offered. “But just the leaf. I have to keep the oil for emergencies. And you did not get it from me. It’s outlawed in Sheridan. Smoke it where you can be hidden.”
“They don’t want folk getting a little happy and light now and again?”
As I opened my mouth to answer the big Helmsman, trying not to show my intimidation at his size and tattooed face, I was interrupted.
“Wait a Brother-blessed moment,” interjected the lady. “Why would Reed call you a viper?” She turned to Keir. “What has gotten into him?”
I was surprised at her casual reference to the Tintarian god.
Keir shrugged. “Like I know what goes on between those magic ears.”
“Reed is not as mysterious as he seems,” said the Helmsman, nodding at me. “I like a fine man with a quiet manner, but he hides nothing.”
“You like a fine man with any manner,” Reed murmured, but the corners of his lips quirked upward.
The Helmsman put his hand over his chest. “I have an open mind.”
“And a hard prick,” added Keir.
The four of them began to laugh together.
Before I could slink away, Keir called out, “I see you travel with all women? Am I correct?”
I hesitated. “Yes. Four others and myself. Though our place on the list is marked as three. Two of my party are considered dead.”
My bitterness was obvious, my words a challenge to them.
“Terrible nonsense. Cruel,” said the lady. She stepped closer to me. “I am called Evangeline. The one with one eye is Reed. The one with the braid is Keir. And the best-looking one is Dermid.”
The Helmsman sniggered.
“Oh please,” said Keir. “I am the best-looking by far. No offense, brothers.”
“None taken,” said Reed. “After all, without your face, what do you have?”
“A hard prick,” said Evangeline, and the four of them laughed again.
I turned to go, but Keir said, “What I asked was do you need the protection of a man? At least the occasional ride by your wagon?”
“Is that the business of a scout?” I asked.
He flicked his shiny, black braid over his shoulder. “It is the business of a man not raised to look down on women but who finds himself among folk who do and sees a party of all women, sees their vulnerability.”
“We’re just fine,” I said lightly, trying to make my shoulders relax.
“You sound sinister. You’re scaring her,” said Evangeline, her tone scathing, with a glare cast at Keir.
She drew herself even closer to me. “I’ll ride by your wagon in the afternoons.
Just to see how you fare. I’m as strong as any man and mean you no harm.
And I’ll pay anything you ask for the leaf. ”
“Keir doesn’t care about their safety,” said Dermid. “He wants to feast his eyes on the slender one always dressed in blue. The quieter woman.”
I flinched, a fierce protection for Jade rising in me.
Keir smiled. “I’m caught. But I do worry for their safety.”
“Is that why you bother the lady, Reed?” Dermid shot at the one-eyed man. “You want to ogle this one but are passing it off as interest in her safety?”
Reed blinked and smiled. He brought a hand to the side pocket in his jerkin and hooked a thumb inside. “I certainly don’t think she acts with enough caution.”
I rounded on him. “What does that mean?”
He pursed his lips a little, the way a parent does before explaining something simple to a child. “It means you are not very stealthy, madam.”
“You don’t know me, salt man. You don’t know all that I have gotten away with for winters. Perhaps I wanted you to catch me in the woods. Perhaps that was a distraction. You do not know what I am about or what I—”
“I know you are a piss-poor criminal easily caught,” he said almost kindly.
I gawped, irate and flustered again. “And you asked for a truce? I am so glad I did not agree to one, because if that is how you speak to someone you have declared peace with—”
“Ignore him,” Evangeline said, cutting me off. “Do you agree to my protection?”
I stared at her, unsure of how to answer.
“Please,” she continued. “For my own peace of mind?”
The four of them watched me.
I mumbled something to show my acquiescence and stumbled away from them, fury in me at the one-eyed man.
Not the one-eyed man, I thought. Reed. “Stupid name,” I said to myself. “It’s the name of a plant, not a person. Idiot. Stupid idiot man.”
“My gods,” I heard the Helmsman say in his Hintercliff lilt. “Reed, you’ve lost your touch with womenfolk. I mean I have to assume you don’t want to bed her. Not if you’re talking to her like that.”
“I would agree,” replied Keir. “But while his mouth is vinegar, his eye is all honey. He looks at her like she is a cake and he wants sticky fingers.”
Dermid snorted a laugh and Evangeline said, “Such filth.”
“You made it filthy, not me,” protested Keir.