Disclaimers: see chapter 1

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Lorimal's Chalice

Part One - The Exile

By Jane Fletcher

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Chapter 4: Torhafn by Night

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By the time she left the Silver Mermaid it was considerably later than Tevi had intended and, as her feet stumbled on the uneven cobbles, she realised she had drunk a little more than was wise. Not that she had any serious fears; dressed in the common clothes of the islands, soiled by work in the market, she hardly presented the appearance to attract the attention of the professional thief and, even in her present, slightly tipsy state, Tevi felt she could cope with the amateur opportunist.

Night had long since fallen and most doors were locked and shuttered. However the narrow, rubbish filled streets surrounding the docks were not deserted. Surly individuals posed aggressively at intersections, their faces lost in deep shadow. Drunken gangs of youths whispered among themselves in the light of the occasional torch, their voices breaking into shouts as they spotted friends or rivals. One fight broke out as Tevi passed through an open courtyard, but no one attempted to waylay her.

Derag was right to say she was acquiring a name in Torhafn. She had been quite pleased about it; it meant, as a result, that trouble generally left her alone. However, as that night's challenge had shown, notoriety could also attract attention. So far, her reputation had not gone beyond the circle of quay and market but, if the bosses atop the hills got to hear of her, there might well be attempts at recruitment, or elimination. It was a possibility for the future she had to consider. In the meantime, for the benefit of anyone watching with robbery in mind, she straightened her shoulders and walked purposefully through the darkened town, back to her boat, moored on the east wharf with the houseboats and the poorest fishing craft.

The east wharf was one of the more depressing parts, of a generally depressing town. The poverty, both material and spiritual, was sharply visible. Few of the craft were sea-worthy. Many were little more than lashed together rafts, the occupants of which lived in flimsy shacks tacked precariously on the deck. The area swarmed with rats and other vermin, some of it two legged. Rubbish and filth floated in what little scum-covered water could be seen between the jostling boats. Everywhere there were wide-eyed children, ragged and hungry.

The inhabitants of the wharf formed a tightly knit community, spending the whole day in and out of each other's boats. Tevi had given up trying to make sense of their family structure, deciding that it was either non-existent, or so complex and interwoven as to be incomprehensible to the outsider. Throughout the day, the air would be filled with shouts. The people seemed to need to conduct their lives at high volume to compensate for the other deficiencies.

At night Tevi would lie in the bottom of her boat, listening to the sound of cold water slopping against the hull, the creaking of timbers and the dull knock of wood on wood as boats rolled together. The only human sound would be that of a baby crying or the distant shrieking of a couple, raising their voices in domestic strife. She desperately wished she was somewhere else, but had no idea where to find anything better. In Torhafn, she had a mooring and an income, for the summer at least. Perhaps autumn would be a good time to leave the town - if she could stand it that long. Tevi paused for a moment and looked back along the squalid, filthy street - there was little she would miss about the town when she left.

Eventually she emerged from the smothering crush of houses into the comparative open of the dockside. The usual assortment of people was visible, moving to and fro between the pools of light given off by oil-soaked torches. There were guards patrolling the warehouses, vagrants curled in dark corners, a few sailors coming back from the town and whores trying to attract their attention as they passed. Further down the quay dockers were loading a ship, working into the night so the vessel would be ready to depart on the dawn tide.

Tevi passed a lamp that smoked and guttered in the offshore wind. She stood on the pockmarked flagstones and breathed in deeply. The rising moon reflected off the water on the horizon. Closer in, bands of surf showed luminous white in the moonlight. The sound of the waves was gentle, calming, and somehow honest. Tevi reached a sudden decision - tomorrow she would give the market a miss and take her boat out fishing. In the freedom of the ocean, perhaps she could find both fresh air and peace.

The renewed bounce in her step carried Tevi swiftly along the dockside. She jumped over a coiled rope on the wharf and rounded the last warehouse. Her boat's mooring was less than twenty yards further along the quay, although the craft itself was lost from sight between the larger houseboats. For once, the east wharf was peaceful - quiet enough that her ears could pick up the desperate sobbing from the depths of a nearby stack of rubbish. The sound of crying was not uncommon on the quay. Tevi almost ignored it, and intended only the briefest glance in passing. She had no wish to be drawn into one of the petty feuds between the inhabitants of the houseboats.

The source of the noise was a young child of ten or so, huddled between two broken crates, head sunk on knees. The pitiful misery of the sight brought Tevi to a halt. Common-sense and all of Aigur's advice told her to keep on walking, but that night her sense of caution was dulled by the beer.

She went over to the child and knelt down, "It's not that bad, surely?"

A tear-streaked face was raised to hers. The first thing she realised was that the boy was not from the boats - he was too clean, too well fed. He gulped for air but "Lost." was all he could manage to say.

"And how did you get lost?" Tevi asked gently.

"Don't know." The downturn of his eyes gave rise to a strong suspicion that this was not the entire truth.

Tevi sat back on her heels and considered the boy. The inhabitants of Torhafn were always ready to leap to the worst conclusions and mistrust was second nature to the townsfolk. Tevi knew she could expect few thanks and even a charge of kidnapping if she were found with the child, yet her thoughts drew her back to the islands, where everyone was known and recognised. A stray boy would have been quickly taken back to his family hall. Tears came to her eyes as she wished she could be a child again - that somebody would come and take her home, back to Storenseg.

Tevi turned her face to stare inland. The dark, menacing bulk of the town spread out before her, full of locked doors and strangers. She looked up and down the length of the wharf, and then took a deep breath and stood.

She held out her hand to the boy saying, "Come on. Let's go and find your parents."

* * * * * *

All along the eastern wharf decayed, ramshackle jetties projected over the polluted water, spaced at irregular intervals. The jetties were joined by lashed together catwalks that formed a web of pathways between the decrepit assortment of craft. The rough-cut planks were covered with a film of green algae that made the surface difficult to walk on by day and treacherous by night. Tevi's own small boat was moored on the sea-ward side of the swaying mass, a dozen yards from the quay, and hidden from sight between two semi-derelict river barges that now each housed several families of dock workers.

After instructing the boy to wait on the dockside Tevi cautiously sidled out along the rotten timbers. The jetty swayed beneath her feet, as the larger boats were pulled by the surge of the waves. It drew tortured creaks and groans from the piles driven into the seabed. Tevi reached the point by where her boat was tethered. The tide was out and her boat was rocking gently several feet below the level of the jetty. She gripped hold of the mooring rope in one hand then swung out over the edge and dropped down into the open end of the hull.

The boat was now her home. The mast had been lowered and a waterproof tarpaulin sheet was draped over it as a roof, protecting the rear two thirds of the boat from the elements. There was just enough space to crawl under the canvas, but it was snug, clean and adequate for her needs, particularly when judged by the standards of her neighbours.

Deep at the rear was a heap of blankets and a few spare clothes under which Tevi hid her weapons. As she scrabbled beneath them her hand closed around the scabbard of her sword. She hesitated. Aigur had given many lurid warnings about the dangers of roaming Torhafn by night. It was tempting to take the sword, yet it would be wiser to avoid confrontation. A visible weapon might attract more attention than it deterred. Surely the street gangs would not expect to make much profit from an unarmed labourer and a young boy?

There were other considerations. Tevi peered out from under the tarpaulin. Through the piles of the jetty, she could see the dark hulking shapes of other boats. A few silhouettes were moving against the night sky. In what little honour they showed, the residents of the wharf did not steal from each other, but Tevi placed no trust in this honesty. She suspected the custom owed more to the fact that the boat people owned nothing worth stealing. Since she was alone and could not guard her boat by day, she avoided displaying the few valuables she possessed. After a few more seconds of deliberation she returned the sword to its hiding place under the blankets. Instead Tevi took a long knife, which she slipped inside her jerkin, out of sight.

She rejoined the boy on the dockside and the pair of them walked back along the quay, leaving tightly packed houseboats behind. To their left the black ocean stretched out into the night. The cold wind carried the sound of unseen waves crashing in the darkness against the crumbling harbour wall. They passed two figures arguing furtively in a doorway and another staring bleakly out to sea. There were few other people about.

When they turned the corner onto the western wharf, there was a scrum of activity beside the berth of a sea-going merchant vessel, where relays of dockers were noisily manhandling bales and crates up gangplanks and into the ship's hold. Another small band stood not far away, awaiting fresh instructions while warming themselves around a crackling fire and shouting humorous but impractical advice to their fellows. The flames snapped and flared, sending a stream of sparks up into the night sky. Hunched at one side of the fire an old woman was stirring a large pot of stew. She was filthy, wrapped in layers of rags that fluttered in the wind, but the smell of the food was tempting. Tevi stopped at the woman's side. Before going any further, it might be wise to soak up the beer she had drunk.

"Is the stew for sale?" Tevi asked.

"It's for the loaders... counts as part of their pay." The old woman looked briefly at Tevi, before turning her head to scan the dockside. Her voice dropped slightly. "Why? Did you want to buy some?"

"That would be nice."

"Well, as a favour I can let you have a couple of portions for a tin half." the woman said.

"I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I made the stew. I can sell it, but don't let everyone see. I don't want the whole dockside bothering me."

Tevi smiled and passed over the coin without comment. With the two bowls in her hands, she nonchalantly strolled to a spot behind a large mound of cargo, obscured from the view of anyone aboard ship. Of course the woman was planning on pocketing the money and the term whole dockside referred specifically to the work overseers, who would be angry if they knew - not at the theft of their employer's property, but that they did not get their cut of the profit. It was the way things worked in Torhafn.

Safely out of view, Tevi and the boy sat down on an empty crate and sipped the hot stew, using crusts of stale bread as scoops. The stew was highly spiced - probably to disguise its contents. Despite this, the food was welcome and its warmth offset the night's chill. The boy's spirits had improved considerably, bolstered by the upturn in his fortune. While he ate, he looked about with interest, obviously deciding to make the most of the adventure. His eyes finally fixed on Tevi.

"I know you. You're the strong porter from the market who unloaded our wagons. My name's Derrion, but everyone calls me Derry." he said happily.

"And everyone calls me Tevi."

"Is that really your full name?"

"More or less." Her birth name was something Tevi was quite happy to have left behind on Storenseg.

In the light of the fire, Tevi now also recognised the boy from the market, despite the dirt and the streaked lines of tears that now adorned his face. His parents had been wealthy foreign traders and, to judge from the extra payment, more generous than the local townsfolk. They might even be grateful for the return of their son.

"Do you have any idea where your mother and father might be?" Tevi asked.

"Probably at the inn." Derry said after a pause for thought.

"Which inn? Can you remember its name?"

The boy considered the question gravely. "No." After a moment's thought, he added brightly, "There was a sign hanging outside though."

"And what was on the sign?"

"It was a barrel."

"I think you'll find every inn in Torhafn has a barrel outside as its symbol." Tevi said dryly.

"Really?"

"Yes." Tevi said with a deep sigh. The question and answer session could take ages.

Derry took a mouthful of stew and grinned cheerfully. "I'm not being much help, am I?"

Tevi tried a different approach. "After leaving the market, did you cross over the river?"

"Yes. And we climbed up the hill beyond, but not quite to the top." Derry said.

This was only as Tevi expected. The west side of the river Tor was the richer part of town, where the better class of inn was found, with views overlooking the bay. It was the place one would expect wealthy traders to stay, but at least the confirmation of her guess gave her somewhere to start the search.

"Do you think you'd recognise the front of the inn if you saw it again?" Tevi asked.

"Probably."

"Well then, if you've finished your stew, we might as well be off."

But, instead of moving, Derry became unaccountably dejected. "Do you think mama and papa will be angry with me?" he mumbled.

"You know your parents better than me."

"I'm going to be in big trouble." His voice was glum.

Tevi was about to assure him that no one would be too hard on a boy, but stopped. Maybe, on the mainland, a boy might be treated no more gently than a girl. Her face softened and she tussled his hair. "Even if they are angry, you can't stay here forever." Tevi said sympathetically, reaching out for his hand. "Come on, let's go."

After returning the empty bowls, Tevi led the way into the maze of houses behind the docks. The sinking moon lit the wider roads but did not penetrate the small alleys running between silent houses. There were fewer street gangs than earlier in the evening, although they were more blatantly ill-willed. They watched the pair pass with hostile eyes, but made no move to intercept them. Voices were raised in angry shouts a few streets away, then abruptly a scream cut above the sounds of fighting. Tevi was glad their route did not lead in the direction of the brawl.

The market place was now deserted as they skirted its edge on their way to the main bridge over the river. The shop-fronts and warehouses were blank and lightless. Even the gangs seemed to have melted into the darkness, leaving only a threatening silence. Derry was jittery and ill at ease. Tevi put her arm around the boy's shoulder.

"It will be better once we cross over the bridge." she said, trying to encourage him.

However, they did not get that far. The narrow passageway from the market opened out onto a riverside wharf for unloading barges. The open expanse of cobbles was about 10 yards wide and five times as long. The moon lit the side nearest the water's edge, but the shadows of warehouses covered the other side in thick darkness.

Derry suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed. "There they are." Despite his excitement, the oppressive, darkened town had affected him and his voice was barely a whisper.

Tevi followed the direction of Derry's outstretched arm and saw his parents at the far end of the wharf, near to the water's edge. That was not all she saw. The well cut clothes and obvious wealth of Derry's parents had not gone unnoticed. Silently emerging from a dark passage, half way down the wharf, were two stocky figures. The thugs crept furtively through the thick shadows, cudgels in hand. Tevi propelled the boy into a darkened doorway. "Stay here and don't make a sound." she whispered. Derry stared back at her with wide-open eyes, but said nothing.

The hilt of her knife felt reassuring as Tevi pulled it from her jerkin and slipped it into her belt. Then she too began to edge around the side of the yard, keeping to the shadows.

The two traders were deep in conversation and completely unaware of the danger when a third figure stepped into the moonlight.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" A light, woman's voice delivered the mocking cliché with real menace.

The words jolted Derry's parents. They looked up startled and then nervously backed away - unknowingly retreating straight towards the other two thugs. At first, the other footpad stood her ground, hands on hips in jaunty belligerence, then she raised a hand and snapped her fingers. At the signal, the two accomplices stepped from the shadows, menacingly swinging their cudgels. The sound of footsteps behind them rooted the pair of traders to the ground, as they realised they were trapped. The leader of the gang began a slow advance towards her victims, clearly enjoying the game.

"Now why don't you behave yourselves, and hand over all your money, and anything else that you think I might like?"

The thieves' attention was fixed on the traders. No one noticed Tevi's stealthy approach. As the leader of the gang got to within a few feet of Derry's parents Tevi made her move, leaping forward. The nearest thug was hoisted into the air and literally hurled against the other, sending the pair of them smashing into a brick wall with a bone-breaking crack. The two collapsed to the ground in a mound of arms and legs.

Tevi did not bother to wait and see if the thugs would offer further resistance. Hopefully, Derry's parents would have the presence of mind to claim the dropped cudgels for themselves. She turned and charged past the traders, bearing down on the third thief, only to be confronted by a drawn sword.

The years of training took over. Even before Tevi realised, her knife was in her hand and outstretched before her. She dropped to a defensive stance and met the gang leader's angry eyes. The pair of them glared at each other for long seconds.

Tevi broke the silence, saying steadily, "Why don't you go and find someone else to play with?"

"Why don't you get out of my way?" For the first time the woman sounded rattled, upset by the unexpected interruption, however she was clearly not ready to back down. Slowly the two adversaries began to circle, each watching for an opening.

In icy calm Tevi reviewed Blaze's advice on how to fight when your weapon was outmatched, "Let your opponent make the moves. She'll be over-confident. She'll let her guard slip. Take no risks. Watch what she does. Wait for the mistake." It was the style of combat in which Tevi knew she was at her worst. The memory of countless defeats on the practice field assailed her, but this time her life was at stake.

The footpad's sword flicked out in a few feints to test Tevi's defence. They were amateurish efforts, easily blocked, and the sureness of Tevi's response drew a frown from her opponent. It was clear that Tevi was not an untrained novice, making free with someone's kitchen utensils. For her part Tevi was surprised at how easy it was. It was as if she could hear Blaze's voice, offering advice.

"She's going for your throat!" Blaze screamed in Tevi's ear, even as the woman made a more ambitious high thrust. In automatic reflex Tevi ducked and knocked the blade aside. She swung across sharply in riposte with her knife, and was rewarded by feeling the point make contact. The footpad gasped and lurched a few steps backwards. They both knew it was no more than a flesh wound, but the woman was unnerved and her eyes flicked anxiously around the square.

The traders were frozen in paralysis. The cudgels still lay where they had fallen. Fortunately, the two thugs were in no condition to make use of them. They had barely recovered enough to clamber to their feet, one moaning, the other hanging onto the wall. At last, this sight provoked a reaction the traders. They began to shout loudly.

"Help! Watch!"

"Call the watch!"

Tevi grimaced. Like all Torhafn residents she knew the town watch were very unlikely to come to anyone's aid, unless by chance some members of the Protectorate guild were on patrol. However the sound further alarmed her opponent.

"Shut them up." the gang leader snapped to her accomplices. However, another quick glance showed that she could expect no support from them. One appeared to have a broken arm. The other, with a blood smeared face, was still braced against the wall for support. The leader's bravado had almost completely gone, when the new sound of running feet reverberated around the walls.

The circling action had taken Tevi and her opponent through 180 degrees. Over the footpad's shoulder, Tevi could see that the approaching footsteps, amplified by the echo, belonged to Derry. He was running down the wharf, wildly swinging a wooden stake he had found. Fortunately, the thief did not stay to investigate the nature of the arriving reinforcement. She jabbed her sword forward again. Tevi parried easily, but the action forced her to step to one side as she did so. This was what the gang leader had intended, clearing her escape route. After one last wild swing of her sword she rushed past Tevi. Her figure disappeared down the same dark alley she had originally emerged from.

With the leader gone, Tevi turned to the two thugs. She gestured with her knife in their general direction. "You can clear off as well."

No second bidding was needed. The pair hobbled in pursuit of the first thief with whatever speed they could manage. The sound of their uneven footsteps faded away.

Tevi's gaze was caught by the dark smearing of blood on the tip of her knife. She looked at it thoughtfully, before wiping the blade clean on her leggings. Over by the water's edge Marith had caught hold of Derry and was simultaneously hugging him while wresting the wooden stake from his hand. Verron's face was pale in the moonlight and beaded with sweat on his upper lip, but a relieved smile was starting to spread over his features.

Tevi slipped her knife into her belt and walked towards him. Suddenly, into her head came Blaze's voice, hammering out one of her favourite lessons, "No matter how defeated she seems, never, never, never turn your back on an enemy."

Tevi spun toward the entrance of the alleyway, turning just in time to see a dark figure swinging its arm down in an arc. Without time to think Tevi pitched backward, aiming her dive to collide with Verron and knock him down. Before they had even hit the paving the thrown knife flew overhead, passing harmlessly through the space Verron had just been occupying. The knife's trajectory carried it far across the wharf before it fell to the ground and skittered across the cobbles. Tevi pushed up onto her feet at the end of the rolling dive, in a fast fluid motion. However, even before she was upright, the figure was gone.

Tevi took a long step back to steady herself, only to feel her heel hit a mooring ring anchored into the flagstones beside the water. There was the sudden knowledge that the diving roll had taken her a lot closer to the river than she had realised. The mooring ring wedged between sandal and foot, twisting her ankle. Her arms flailed out in a desperate bid for balance, but there was no longer paving beneath her second foot as it came down. Helplessly, Tevi tumbled backwards into the river.

The traders rushed to the embankment and a line was thrown to help Tevi climb back onto the quay, where she knelt, wiping water from her eyes and trying desperately hard not to think about how filthy the river looked in daylight. In response to the barrage of concerned questioning she simply shook her head ruefully. It was exactly the sort of ending she knew her mother would have predicted for her first serious duel.

* * * * * *

The lodgings the traders had taken were small but very comfortable, easily the most luxurious place Tevi had ever seen in her life. She stretched out her feet towards the fire and sunk back into the cushions on her chair. Her eyes roamed around the room. It was currently empty apart from herself. Her rinsed and cleanish clothes were hanging on a rack above the chimney-breast. They appeared to be drying nicely, waving slowly in the rising warm air. Amber firelight from the burning logs in the grate danced cheerfully over an array of tapestries and furniture. Tevi's toes dug into the thick sheepskin rug on the floor. It occurred to her how austere life on the islands was; even the Queen's hall could not match the casual display of wealth about her. Yet, she knew that, by the standards of the mainland, Verron and Marith were well off, but not rich.

The door to the boys' bedroom opened and Verron emerged. He sank into a chair with a sigh.

"Are they asleep?" Tevi asked.

"Pretending to be. I think they just wanted me to go, so they could talk." Verron replied.

"Have you sorted out how Derry got lost?"

Verron shook his head, "I doubt we'll ever get the full story, I don't think he's too certain how it happened himself. I'm just so relieved to have him back safe." Contrary to fears about his parents' anger, Derry's only ordeal had lain in being smothered by the repeated hugs and kisses he had received.

"I guess you'll be wanting to sleep soon as well. Once my things are dry I'll leave. You can have these back." Tevi said, indicating the borrowed clothes she had on.

"Please, you're welcome to keep them. They're only some old garments we had lying around. They were due to be thrown away." Verron said, insistently.

"They may be cast-offs to you, but if I start walking around Torhafn wearing these, I'll soon attract the same sort of attention you did."

Tevi was not sure that she would not attract attention anyway. By the time she had escorted the family back to their lodgings she had been shaking from the twin effects of the cold dunking and the ebbing adrenaline. On the other hand, the traders had regained some of their self-assurance and insisted that she come inside. Then, they had badgered the innkeeper into providing food, drink and a hot bath. The last of these had been a completely new experience for Tevi. She was still trying to evaluate whether or not she liked it. Whatever her final decision, it was certain that the effect of the bath would make her stand out from the rest of the market workers for at least a week.

From the corridor outside the room Marith's voice was heard, calling to someone indistinctly, then the handle turned and she entered, bringing with her a bottle of sweet brandy and three round glasses.

"Is the innkeeper calm now?" Verron asked.

"Reasonably." Marith said, while pouring out three generous measures of the brandy.

"And you didn't pay him double for the late meal?"

"Of course not." Marith snorted at the idea. She distributed the drinks and sat down between the other two.

"I could have warned him that separating you and money is like getting a limpet off a rock." Verron teased affectionately.

"That's not true. For example, I'm going to try again to get Tevi to accept a reward."

Marith's indignant tone made Tevi grin. However she still shook her head. "I don't want paying."

"But I insist." Marith said, firmly.

"I don't particularly like money."

The answer left Marith nonplussed and speechless. In the resulting silence Verron asked, "We were told at the market that the people on your home island make a potion that gives you your strength. Do you think they might trade for it?"

"Never." Tevi had absolutely no doubts of her answer.

"We'd pay well. You might mention it when you return. Do you have any idea when that might be?"

"Never."

It took a second for Verron to realise Tevi was not merely repeating her previous assertion. "But surely your family will miss you and..."

Tevi fought to keep the expression of pain from her face. From the way Verron's voice trailed off she knew she had failed. The two traders discretely exchanged confused glances while Tevi concentrated on the bottom of her glass.

After a few seconds of silence Marith took up the conversation. "So you're planning on staying in Torhafn?"

"For the summer. Maybe I'll move on after that."

"Then you must accept a reward, to see you through winter, when work dries up. We can really never thank you enough for finding Derry, and rescuing us from the footpads."

"It was nothing, I only regret leaving my sword behind tonight."

"You've got a sword!" Marith said in surprise.

Tevi's composure had recovered. She grinned. "And a shield, a short spear and a hunting bow."

Marith pursed her lips thoughtfully while she swilled the brandy around in her glass. "I guess you have to be well armed in a town like this."

At that Tevi laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of walking around the streets with all that on me. But is Torhafn so much worse than anywhere else on the mainland?"

"Definitely. You've picked just about the nastiest town I know." Marith said.

"So where else would you recommend going?"

"Anywhere - it would have to be an improvement."

"Except the Halvia peninsular." Verron chipped in with a laugh.

"What's wrong with Halvia?" Tevi asked.

"A family of dragons."

"Oh."

"But there's lots of other places you could go to and make a decent living. With nothing to tie you to one spot there are so many things you should see." It took little encouragement for the two traders to launch into an enthusiastic account of their travels, which rapidly turned into a mutual nostalgic review, their audience forgotten.

"You remember the first time we met?" Verron asked his partner.

"You won't let me forget it."

"There you were, hanging over the rail on the aft deck. I don't know about the ship, but you were certainly eight sheets to the wind."

"I was seasick, not drunk!" Marith said indignantly.

"So you said at the time, but I've never seen you have trouble with sailing since."

Tevi settled back into the chair and closed her eyes. She had been working at the market since first light that morning. The voices faded to a quiet background hum as the warmth and the brandy overpowered her in a softly enveloping cocoon of sleep.

* * * * * *

Some time later she awoke with a start. The fire had burned down to a dull glow, and the even pale colour of her clothes indicated that they were dry. While she had slept Marith and Verron had shifted away a little and now they were talking quietly, their heads close together.

Tevi hauled herself upright in her chair and said, "I must be off."

At Tevi's words the two traders exchanged small nods of agreement, a decision seemed to have been reached.

Marith spoke for them both. "Actually we've got a proposition to put to you. Tonight has brought home to us that we're very vulnerable. Normally we'd have hired a couple of mercenaries as guards, but due to local difficulties they're in short supply at the moment. We desperately need extra protection."

"You want to employ me as a bodyguard?" Tevi asked.

"Ah... well..." Marith hesitated. "It's not quite that simple. We're members of the Protectorate Guild of Traders and Merchant Adventurers. Our guild has a negotiated agreement with the Guild of Mercenary Warriors so that, except in certain defined situations, we're only allowed to hire their members to guard us or our property. In return we get discount rates. If we were caught breaking the rules we would be flung out of our guild, and all our loans would be revoked."

"Then what is your proposition?" Tevi asked frowning. A month before, Marith's words would have been complete gobbledegook to her. Her time in Torhafn gave her some insight, however she was still more than a little confused.

"Well, there's nothing to stop you coming with us as a friend. We could treat you to a guided tour of the sights to be seen along the way. We could even pay you a reward, as long as we make it very clear that it is purely for finding our son." Marith said.

"But of course, if we were attacked by bandits we'd be very pleased if you were to defend yourself." Verron added brightly.

Tevi frowned as she considered what the traders had said - and what they probably meant. She thought she understood. "Isn't that what they call 'bending the rules'?"

Marith shrugged and smiled. "Oh no. Just being a little imaginative in interpreting them."

While she turned the idea over in her head Tevi watched the embers twinkling on the burning logs. She did not know the identity of the thieves she had clashed with, but it was certain she had made enemies that night. Leaving Torhafn might be a very good idea - and sooner rather than later. The two traders also seemed to be the nearest thing to reputable company she had met since leaving Storenseg.

"OK, I agree. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow. Will that be all right?""

"I've got a boat in the harbour. I'll have to get rid of it somehow." Tevi said.

Verron smiled broadly. "Well if you like, Marith will help you sell it."

Continued in chapter 5.

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