The Eyes of a Doll (The World of Shijuren Book 2) (24 page)

Fool, pay attention or you’re dead,
ordered another part of my mind. I shook my head clear and waited for her to respond.

“The letter said that. Gibroz grumbled, but assented. I’ll be yours as long as you need.”

Mine? Those eyes could be mine? So deep and inviting.
I sighed happily until my mental voice raged at me again, and then shook my head clear.

“Ylli and Sebastijan suggested we start with Ognyan, Ylli’s man here in Achrida.”

“That makes sense. How do we find him?”

She thinks I make sense. Excellent.
I shook my head and cursed at myself. Why could I not focus today?

Then I sighed in realization. “Please stop.”

“Stop?”

“Yes. I’ve sat across from beautiful women before and managed not to blush. I’ve also managed to concentrate on important things, like, say standing in the middle of a war between criminal lords. I can’t concentrate right now, and something doesn’t feel right. That something is you. Stay away from my emotions.”

To her credit, she did not protest innocence.

“I told Gibroz it wouldn’t work.” She smiled

I shrugged. “There’s no need anyway. I already like you. You don’t need to create that emotion. As for anything else, if I feel you mucking around in there again I won’t ever let you anywhere close again.”

I paused with a smile and some daring. “And you know, that might be a shame.”

She smiled, this time a more naturally pretty smile. She did, after all, have very nice eyes.

We sat uncomfortably for a long moment.

“Why Gibroz?”

“What?”

“You don’t seem like anyone Gibroz would have met in his normal daily life. How did he hire you in the first place? And why do you stay?”

She grew tense. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

She turned away. I drank out of the mug, discovering a vintage whose flavors contrasted dramatically with the plainness of the cup. Eventually, she looked back.

“My life with Gibroz is as pleasant as my life has ever been. I have money, respect, and a place. Leave it at that.”

I thought about pressing the question, but, honestly, I did not want my past examined thoroughly myself and I had no real need to know, simply curiosity. I nodded.

“Where were we?”

“You were talking about Ylli’s man in Achrida.”

“Yes, his name is Ognyan. He passes Gibroz’s portion of Ylli’s lake trade to one of Gibroz’s people.”

She nodded and I continued.

“Ylli gave me a list of some places to watch for him. Apparently he works from a variety of places, so we can’t simply wait at one place.”

“Inconvenient for us, but wise for him.”

“Yes. All the more inconvenient since Ylli suggested we watch him for a while, learn his habits, and see if we can deduce anything relevant from them.”

Gabrijela shook her head.

“That will take too much time. I don’t think Gibroz will wait that long.”

“Even though he now knows that Ylli is not cheating him?”

“I think that makes him more anxious to find out what’s going on, not less. At least with Ylli he could simply start fighting openly. This way, though, he has to wait, and waiting is not something Gibroz is good at.”

I chuckled. “Especially waiting to find someone brave enough to muck with both Ylli and Gibroz. Whoever is playing them off against each other will not enjoy the result if we catch them.”

Gabrijela nodded with a sour twist to her mouth.

“Something wrong, Gabrijela?”

“I hate that part.”

“What part?”

“The part of Gibroz’s business where he kills people.”

“Does it happen often?”

“Often? It’s hard to say. He cultivates the image of violent thug, which he is, but he doesn’t order people killed out of spite or anger.”

“Fortunately for me.”

“Yes, he’s been quite put out with you several times.”

“I’ve no doubt. He’s not one of my favorites either.”

She laughed. “He respects you more than most koryfoi, I can tell you that.”

“I respect him more than most criminal overlords.”

She laughed again and returned to the task. “Where do we find Ognyan?”

“The first place on Ylli’s list is a tavern called the Plucked Owl. He apparently is there more afternoons than any of the other places he might be.”

“We’ll start there. What else does he do for Ylli?”

“Ylli didn’t say, but he did say that Ognyan was more in the way of a contracted factor than one of Ylli’s sworn men.”

“Sworn men? You make it sound so noble. So… so… normal and koryfoi. Almost like someone serving the Emperor.”

“I don’t know how else to put it,” I muttered.

She laughed at me, and soon I laughed with her.

“You said Gibroz would not likely be patient enough for us to just watch Ognyan. In that case, what do you suggest we do?”

Gabrijela sipped some wine.

“We go in and talk with him. I’ll see if my talents can tell us anything.”

“Won’t that warn him we’re trying to find him cheating on Gibroz?”

“Not if we have a good reason to be there.”

I nodded for her to continue.

“My suggestion is that you claim to be a new factor sent from Basilopolis wanting to listen and learn.”

“Do I know enough to be able to fool people?”

“It takes about four weeks for a caravan to make it to the Great City from here.”

“Well that is certainly important to know. What will I be selling?”

“Cotton fabric.”

“Cotton fabric? Why cotton fabric?”

“Because Gibroz keeps saying people will buy more cotton fabric here in Achrida. And because he had some samples I brought that we can show if people ask.” She pointed at a satchel sitting along the wall.

“That’s what’s in the bag?”

She nodded.

“And you, Gabrijela? If I’m the factor, who are you?”

“I’m your assistant.”

“You seem to have all the answers.”

“Of course I do, and don’t you forget it.”

She laughed pleasantly. And put her hand on my knee for a moment.

She did have such nice eyes.

Gabrijela and I agreed to meet the next midday at a particular intersection on the Trade Road. For as long as we continued, we determined, we would set the next day’s meeting place when we separated for the evening.

I finished my wine and left. Once outside, I took a deep breath. The air in this neighborhood was hardly fresh and sweet, but I felt like I had not breathed in hours. I started walking to the west and the Trade Road, the street stretching emptily before me.

I had a half-breath of warning before I was slammed to the side into a building. The blow was heavy but not stunning. I turned to strike back, but my attacker had turned to something else.

Jovanka’s longer dagger fit nicely in my hand as I stepped away from the building to look around.

The person who had struck me was Radovan, and he now stood confidently, sweeping a heavy cudgel before himself.

One of the four cutpurses before him jumped in with his own long dagger. Radovan swung his cudgel negligently and missed as the thug jumped back, but clearly Radovan had anticipated the following strike from another cutpurse. His cudgel crunched heavily into the man’s arm. My mind idly tried to name the Helper who focused on broken bones as the man with the broken arm shuffled away in agony.

I stepped forward to cover Radovan’s left flank. One of the cutpurses stepped to my left, trying to separate me from him. Initially I simply let him float away, but Radovan grunted at me.

“I’ve no fear of two of them.”

With a languid flip of his cudgel he drove the two in front of him back a step, and I moved toward the third.

Our blades were evenly matched, but the cutpurse was used to mugging merchants and tradesmen, not a thegn of the Seven Kingdoms trained with a saex almost from birth.

He jabbed at me, and I flipped my blade downward and swept it left to block. I then stepped inside of his thrust, almost turning my back to him, and grabbed his wrist with my left hand before he could pull his arm back. I sliced deeply into his forearm, and his blood poured into my hand as his dagger dropped to the ground. Before stepping out of range, I hammered my elbow into his nose.

I turned to face him directly again, but he was already staggering off, awkwardly holding his forearm with his left hand.

I turned my attention back to Radovan and his pair. The cutpurses had watched me drive their companion away with ease and clearly were losing interest in the fight. Radovan took advantage of their momentary distraction by completing one of his cudgel flips with a step forward and a drive into the leg of the rightmost assailant.

A louder crunch told everyone Radovan had broken the man’s leg. The final cutpurse decided he had a pressing engagement elsewhere and raced off.

With a heaving chest, I looked at Radovan.

“Thank you. I never saw you, and I looked.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve guarded a blind sheep’s dick.”

I laughed. “Apparently not. And it’s just as apparent you’re going to call me sheep’s dick whether I want you to or not.”

He laughed and nodded, but his face suddenly clouded. “But I wonder why there are only four.”

“What do you mean?”

“A larger group followed you from the amphitheater. At least nine. Maybe more. Where did they go?”

“To the house with Gabrijela.”

I started running back down the road toward the house. I heard a shriek from the fallen man behind me, but I did not look to see what Radovan was doing to him.

The door to the house was wide open, and I charged up the stairs to find four bodies, two of them moaning, and another pair wrestling on the floor, but no evidence of Gabrijela.

A crash and yell from deeper in the house launched me forward. Two bodies slowed my pace along the way, and it was only in the farthest room that I found her.

She was defending herself feebly with a dagger against two men. Her haggard face and wild hair told epic tales of the past few minutes.

I jumped forward, hoping to blindside one of the two, but both saw me advance. As they turned to me, I saw Gabrijela collapse to her knees out of the corner of my eye.

No time to think, I continued my rush at the first man, batting at his blade with my left hand. Its brief bite barely intruded into my awareness, and I slammed the longer dagger into the cutpurse’s chest.

In my haste, fear, and anger, my thrust was much harder than I needed or wanted. The dagger embedded itself firmly in the dying man’s body, and as he fell I could not hold onto it.

This sort of thing had happened to me before. I reached for the knife that I kept in my boot, briefly struggling with the long Imperial tunic. Fortunately, my rush had knocked back the other thug, and I had time to get the blade and set myself.

The cutpurse looked for an escape route, but when he found none he attacked me.

I moved to deflect the attack and get inside his reach, but his assault was merely a feint to get me to move out of the way. I had obliged him enough, and I landed only a light slash along one arm as he ran away.

A loud cry of despair and surprise, followed by the heavy thunk of wood striking a body, suggested Radovan had followed me.

Again, I caught my breath. A sharp pain reminded me of the cut on my left hand. Fortunately, the cut was not deep, though it ran the length of my palm.

By the time I had cut off a piece of the dead man’s tunic and sheathed my knife, Gabrijela had arrived to wrap the scrap around my hand.

“Are you hurt?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“You look terrible.”

She chuckled softly. “Sometimes magic is hard.”

“What happened here?”

“Just after you left, they crashed through the door. Gibroz had two men here to guard me. They defended me but couldn’t hold, and the others broke through into the house.”

“You used your magic.”

She nodded, fatigue muting every movement. “I convinced one he loved me, and he defended me.”

“You did that to me.”

She smiled weakly. “Not the same thing. I forced it on him. I don’t know that I’m strong enough to force you. I was only barely able to force him, and I threw everything I had into the spell.”

“So you could only use that trick on one.” She nodded. “But that helped quite a bit, I’m sure.”

“I suppose. I was too busy to really pay attention, but he probably didn’t warn his friends before sticking his dagger into them.”

Suddenly she staggered into me, and I instinctively held her up.

“I need to sit down.”

I assisted her into a side room. As I was settling her into a chair, Radovan came to the door.

“Is she hurt?”

I shook my head. “Tired. Used her magic and now needs to rest.”

He nodded. “The house is safe for now. The only people left alive that matter are us and one of Gibroz’s men.”

“Is he healthy enough to send for Kapric and Zvono?”

Radovan burst out laughing. Gabrijela even chuckled.

“The queasies? You’re as foolish a sheep’s dick I’ve ever met.”

“Then what do we do with the bodies?”

“We sure as the dark earth don’t get any Imperial officials.”

“Silly koryfoi.” Gabrijela chuckled.

Radovan continued, “I’ll let Gibroz figure out what to do. I’ve sent his lad off to rustle up some help.”

“Won’t someone else report this to Kapric? Someone from one of the houses here?”

“In this neighborhood. Don’t be silly.” He laughed again. “Gibroz will do as he wants to.”

I shrugged. Undoubtedly they knew best.

“I’ve a present for you, Sevener.”

“Yes, Radovan?”

“Come with me.”

I hesitated, but Gabrijela had already closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. I could do nothing for her so I followed Radovan. We now had three bodies to step over in the hallway.

He went back to the main room and I recognized the cutpurse whose leg Radovan had broken in the street. He was sobbing in his pain, huddled in a corner.

“You carried him over? Why?”

“I drug him by an arm, actually. I thought even an idiotic sheep’s dick of a koryfoi might want to ask him some questions.”

I felt stupid, but I nodded. I went over to the shuddering man.

“Can you talk?” He looked up with no understanding in his eyes. “Can you talk?”

He shook his head, and Radovan leaned over to ask, “Can you talk if I kick you in the leg?”

His apparent horror at the prospect was almost comical, and he nodded quickly. “I can talk.”

“Excellent, then I suggest you answer this fool’s questions.”

He leaned back and I stepped forward.

“Who do you work for?”

He shook his head so I repeated the question.

He started to shake his head again but Radovan leaned forward. “Kick him?”

“Not yet.”

The power of the threat was almost sickening. I could barely allow Radovan to make the threat, and I avidly hoped I would not have to make good on it. Especially if I had to watch the result.

I repeated my question a third time, and he stammered a reply.

“Dr…Dragan.”

“And who is that?”

“My cousin.”

Radovan touched me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear, “He’s one of Gibroz’s minor thugs.”

“Gibroz?”

Radovan nodded, and I turned back the sobbing man.

“You work for Dragan, who works for Gibroz?”

“D…don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?”

“Don’t know who Dragan works for. I just… I just…”

We waited.

“I just do what he says.”

“And he told you to attack us?”

A loud sob accompanied his nod.

“You were supposed to kill me?” I asked.

He forced another nod.

“You were supposed to kill Gabrijela.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know Gabrijela.”

“You were supposed to kill someone here in this house.”

He shrugged again. “Dragan left us for you, that’s all I know.”

“He’s lying. Can I have just one kick?”

The main wailed, “No no no no!” and tried to curl up away from Radovan.

“Are you lying to me?”

He shook his head wildly.

“Dragan told you to kill me and sent others to this house to kill whoever was here?”

He nodded frantically. The sobbing man at my feet probably had told me what he knew, but that knowledge made no sense to me. Why would Gibroz’s men attack each other?

Whatever the answer, there was nothing to be gained by terrorizing the man any farther.

“Leave him be for now, Radovan.”

He nodded and I looked around the room. Five dead men littered the floor. I sighed. I began to appreciate Ylli’s philosophy about messes.

“Thanks again.”

He nodded. “Sebastijan wouldn’t like me letting you get killed.”

I chuckled. “He’s an interesting man.”

“You’ve no idea, sheep’s dick.”

“You say Dragan is one of Gibroz’s?”

Radovan nodded.

“Only works for Gibroz?”

“As far as I know, but I don’t know him well.”

“I’m working for Gibroz and Gabrijela, one of Gibroz’s main people, was the target here.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “By the Aoidos of the Dead, you lead an interesting life. First Pal, now Gibroz?”

“Next time Honker asks me for a favor, I’ll tell him no.”

He laughed.

“Radovan, who’s guarding them?”

“Honker and his family?”

I nodded.

“Sebastijan’s other three men are staying at the Faerie.”

“Anything happening there?”

He shook his head. “Haven’t seen anything. This is the most excitement I’ve had for weeks.”

“Why aren’t you there?”

“You. I know more now than I did, but clearly you and Sebastijan are working on something. With the other three, Ragnar, Zoe, and the Pathfinders and Lakewardens eating there constantly, I won’t make a difference. A sheep’s dick wandering around alone, on the other hand…”

With a fervent nod I agreed. “I didn’t see anything until you hit me.”

“They hid themselves well. I only saw them in the press of the crowd at the amphitheater.”

“Wouldn’t the crowd have made it harder?”

“They moved wrong. It’s hard to explain. I saw some, then looked for more, and made sure I was around when they did something.”

“Fortunately for me.”

“How did they know I would be there?”

“No idea, ask him.”

He shrugged at the cowering figure in the corner.