Six Heirs (27 page)

He watched the three of them as they grew distant in the woods. Bowbaq’s presence was definitely one of the reasons for Léti’s new docility, but all the same, someone of such strength could be a valuable asset.

Grigán jumped into the saddle and Yan followed suit, still surprised.

“Why don’t we bring Bowbaq?”

“He doesn’t like to fight. Let’s go.”

“Neither do I! And he’s so strong.”

“He has sworn to never kill anyone.”

“What? But why?”

Yan was going from surprise to surprise. It was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

Grigán responded a little brusquely, “I’ve never asked him, so he’s never told me. That’s the whole story. Now let’s go, or we’ll never make it on time.”

Rey was starting to get nervous. Not only did he feel the minor apprehension he experienced before every performance, it was genuine worry: he wondered if he would remember his lines, if his performance would be good, if the audience would like him.

That was the main question today: would his audience like him?

Not that he absolutely needed to make the heirs like him. In fact, he more or less didn’t give a margolin’s ass what they thought, and even scoffed at these ridiculous traditionalists and their stories from the last century. But he needed their help, and their information.

He’d seen the Züu. He’d witnessed the Grand Guild’s omnipresence. And he’d come to this conclusion: if there were any chance of salvation, it wasn’t in fleeing, but in direct confrontation.

The surviving heirs had to join forces in order to find out who had commissioned the assassins. And take care of the problem, one way or another.

His only hope was to find attentive ears and minds not too sluggish. If not, well, then he would make do on his own, as usual.

He stood up from the comfortable bank of fine sand he was lying on and walked around a bit, keeping his eyes on the edge of the forest. The apogee had already passed, and it wouldn’t be long before he had visitors. At least, he might.

He came back to the sand dune and sat down, patiently accepting his situation. He was awarded for his patience shortly thereafter, when the young Kaulien from the night before finally emerged from the forest.

Rey breathed a sigh of relief, waving to him. Despite his own resourcefulness, he didn’t want to keep fighting alone for much longer.

Yan stopped his horse a few dozen feet away. Rey didn’t move.

“You’re not alone, I imagine? Tell them to come here, this isn’t a trap.”

“You must first lay down your arms,” Yan announced in an apologetic tone.

Rey expected nothing less. He detached the sword hanging on his back, then the knife he wore at his waist. For good measure, he pulled out the dagger he had concealed on his ankle.

“There. Go on now, tell them to come, I feel naked like this. I could catch a cold.”

Yan smiled at the joke and signaled toward the forest, where Grigán appeared on foot with his bow drawn.

“My! He looks like an intimidating fellow,” Rey laughed. “Ha! I know him, he’s the guy who doesn’t like pyromaniac children. That’s just my luck!”

Yan smiled again. With both the actor and Bowbaq, the group would soon be a lot more lively.

“There aren’t just two of you, are there?” Rey continued. “All right, he has a bow, but that just might prove to be a bit insufficient for taking on Zuïa and the Grand Guild.”

“There are three others, and one of them has a knife,” Yan replied, laughing loudly.

“Oh good, we’ll be fine. For a moment there, I was worried.”

Grigán finally joined them. He wasn’t at all in the same joking mood as the other two.

“Is it him?” the warrior asked Yan.

“It’s him. Suffice it to say, I really had to look at him up close to be sure, but it’s him. Speaking of that, these clothes suit you much better than the others—they were in dire need of a good washing.”

“Thank you,” Rey answered, with a slight bow.

“I don’t recognize you,” Grigán interjected with a serious tone. “Who are you?”

“You know, you don’t have to threaten me with an arrow to get an answer.”

“Well?”

Rey gave his real name, and convinced Grigán by giving him a plethora of details about his grandmother, Zatelle, and his cousin, Mess, and a few snippets of memories from the gatherings. The warrior finally lowered his bow.

“Do you still have the urge to light fires?” he asked, in a tone he meant to be jocular.

“No one ever understood that it was an accident. That’s the story of my life,” Rey pretended to complain. “All right, so we’re good, you believe me now?”

“I believe you.”

“Good. I’ll warn you, no sudden moves please, I have to pick something up.”

Rey didn’t move toward his weapons, as could be expected, but leaned over and cautiously lifted up a loaded crossbow, just barely hidden underneath a layer of sand.

“You can never be too careful, don’t you agree?”

Grigán didn’t answer. Yan, who was getting to know Grigán quite well, knew that the warrior was going to consider it a defeat. Too bad, Rey seemed like a resourceful guy.

“You only could have shot one of us,” Grigán said finally.

“You’re right. Who, do you think?”

The warrior stared the actor down for a moment. Rey didn’t even notice, busy as he was rearming himself from head to toe. Then, Grigán turned to go back to the forest.

Yan waited for Rey to get ready to leave, letting his eyes wander over the horizon. Only an eight-day journey away, and the sea was a different one from Eza’s. The same water, the same waves, but a different sea.

“Is that Ji out there?” he asked Rey.

“That’s it. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know a god who wouldn’t charge too much to sink it into the depths of the sea, along with its curse, would you?”

“Its curse?”

“It’s a hunch that I have. That I’ve had for twenty-six years,” he added. “Ji is a jinx, you know.”

Yan watched the small patch of darkness amid the blue-gray water. It looked like nothing more than a rocky island.

“Have you been there before?”

Rey, now equipped with his weapons and the bags he’d retrieved from nearby, shot him one last look.

“No. But something tells me this dreadful shortcoming will soon be rectified.”

Despite his lack of respect for the actor, Grigán decided to strike up a conversation. He needed some answers.

“What’s your story?”

He didn’t want to sound so confrontational, but too late now, it was done. A hint of a smile spread across Rey’s face, and he let some time pass before he responded.

“I don’t mean to offend you, Grigán, but I would just as well like to wait until everyone is here. We need to talk about a lot of things, and despite my taste for telling stories, I would rather not have to tell mine twice in the same day.”

Grigán let out a solitary “All right,” that sounded more like a crotchety growl than any human language. Yan hurried to interrupt a potential argument.

“Have you been in Berce for a long time?”

“For more than a dékade. I was starting to wonder if I were the last one alive.”

“You didn’t see a single heir?”

“No, I mean, I didn’t recognize anyone, but that doesn’t mean anything. Someone on the hills signaled Berce with flashes from a mirror, for a couple of days. But he kept moving around, and neither I nor the Züu could find him.”

“So we’re more clever than you,” Grigán interrupted in a cynical tone.

“You found him?” Rey said, unsurprised. “Did you run into him by accident or something?”

Yan answered smiling, “Running into him would be an accident. Maybe you remember him? His name is Bowbaq.”

“That name must mean something to you, I guess, but for me it means about as much as my tenth harlot.”

Yan explained, “Since everyone else seemed to know who he is, I figured...He’s an Arque, a giant. They say he can talk to animals, maybe that will help you remember?”

“Oh, I see now. He must be very popular with some of you.”

“With that kind of attitude, you certainly won’t be,” said Grigán, who had understood the allusion and didn’t much appreciate it.

Then he stood directly in front of the actor and continued.

“Our group is currently stable, and made up of only good company. I will personally hunt down the first who decides to sow discord in our group, or who puts us in danger. Heir or not. You understand?”

“If you’re thinking of me, have no fear,” Rey responded just as seriously. “I won’t mix myself up with you any longer than required to fix our little problem, maybe even just the time it takes to talk about it.”

“Excellent.”

Grigán finished the conversation the same way he always did, by turning his back and storming off. He moved so fast his horse could barely keep up.

“Do you think he would get mad if I tell him that his accent is thicker than a Mestèbe sailor’s?”

The Kaulien, frozen with fear at the mere thought, responded, “If I were you, I would hold off on that...He isn’t kidding, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it. That’s why it’s so funny.”

Yan figured these next few days were going to be full of emotions. Between his own dispute with Léti and the obvious antipathy between the actor and the warrior, Corenn was going to have to deploy all of her diplomatic talents to keep the peace.

“Master Rey, was it you who responded to Bowbaq’s signs?”

“By the gods! Stop being so formal with me! Do I look old or uptight enough to deserve that?”

“No, no...”

“Anyway, to answer your question, yes, it was me who responded to his signals. For three days. But I could never find this Bowbaq. I’m curious to see what the fellow looks like.”

“Master Rey...uh, I mean, Rey, you might be surprised.”

“All right, you’re getting better! Now say the same thing but with a curse word thrown in for good measure.”

Yan looked at him, not getting the joke.

“I’m just kidding. You’re too gullible, you know? I have a feeling we’re going to get along. Actually, which one of our ancestors has the honor of having you as a descendant? Is it possible we’re cousins?”

“No, I’m not one of yours. Just two dékades ago I hardly knew a thing about the whole story.”

“Lucky man! So are you here just out of curiosity?”

“I wanted to accompany my friends. It was going pretty well until a certain corpse was abandoned in a certain stable in Berce...”

“That’s funny! The same thing happened to me just last night. That means we already have something in common!”

Yan smiled. It was a bit hard for him to follow the Lorelien’s conversation, but once he understood his sense of humor, he enjoyed it.

Hopefully the others would agree.

Corenn filled Bowbaq in on everything he needed to know about the Züu. The giant’s good mood progressively faded as she spoke, and completely vanished when the Mother listed the victims’ names. It wasn’t her intention to hurt him, but it was her duty to tell him the truth.

After a few comforting words, Corenn left the giant alone to reflect in silence, dragging Léti along to give him space. Poor man. He had abandoned his family, traveled for several dékades, endured loneliness, hoping to warn a few friends of the danger that threatened them, even though it was already too late.