The Dragon's Path

Marcus

I would prefer to give it to Magistra bel Sarcour directly," the man said. "No disrespect, sir, but my contracts don't have your thumb on them."

He was a smallish man, the top of his head coming no higher than Marcus's shoulder, and his clothes smelled like his shop: sandalwood, pepper, cumin, and fennel. His face was narrow as a fox, and his smile looked practiced. The lower rooms of the Medean bank of Porte Oliva had Marcus, Yardem, Ahariel the stout Kurtadam, and the ever-present Roach. The weight of their blades alone was likely as much as the spicer, and yet the man's disdain for them radiated like heat from a fire.

"But since she isn't here," Marcus said, "I'm what you've got to work with."

The spicer's eyebrows rose and his tiny little lips pressed thin. Yardem coughed, and Marcus felt a stab of chagrin. The Tralgu was right.

"However," Marcus went on, "if you'll accept our hospitality for a few minutes, sir, I'll do my best to find her."

"That's better," the man said. "Perhaps a cup of tea while I wait?"

I could kill you with my hands, Marcus thought, and it was enough to evoke the smile that etiquette called for.

"Roach?" Marcus said. "If you could see our guest is comfortable?"

"Yes, Captain," the little Timzinae said, jumping up. "If you'll come this way, sir?"

Marcus stepped out the door and onto the street, Yardem following him as close as a shadow. The evening sun was still high in the western sky. The pot of tulips in front of the bank was in full, brilliant bloom, the flowers sporting bright red petals veined with white.

"You take the Grand Market," Yardem said, "I'll check the taproom."

Marcus shook his head and spat on the paving stones.

"If you'd rather find her, I can go to the Grand Market," Yardem said.

"Stay here," Marcus said. "I'll be right back."

Marcus walked down the street. Sweat pooled between his shoulder blades and down his spine. A yellow-faced dog looked up at him from the shadow of an alleyway, panting and too hot to bark. The streets were emptier now than they would be after sunset, the light driving people to shelter more effectively than darkness. Even the voices of the beggars and street sellers seemed overcooked and limp.

The taproom was cool by comparison. The candles were unlit to keep from adding even that little extra heat to the darkness, and so despite the brightness of the street, the tables of the common room were dim. Marcus squinted, willing his eyes sharper. There were a dozen people there of several races, but none of them was her. From the back, Cithrin laughed. Marcus threaded his way across the common room, following the familiar tones of her voice to the draped cloth that kept the private tables private.

"... would have the effect of rewarding the most reliable debtors."

"Only until they start becoming unreliable," a man's voice said speaking more softly. "Your system encourages debtors to extend, and if that goes on long enough, you change good risks to bad."

"Magistra," Marcus said. "If you have a moment?"

Cithrin pulled aside the cloth. As Marcus had expected, the half-Jasuru man was with her. Qahuar Em. The competition. A plate of cheese and pickled carrots sat on the table between them alongside a wine bottle well on its way to empty. Cithrin's dress of embroidered linen flattered her figure, and her hair, which had been pulled back, was spilling in casual disarray down her shoulder.

"Captain?"

Marcus nodded toward the alley door. Profound annoyance flashed across Cithrin's face.

"I could step out," Qahuar Em offered.

"No. I'll be right back," Cithrin said. Marcus followed her out. The alley stank of spoiled food and piss. Cithrin folded her arms.

"The spicer's come with the commissions for the week," Marcus said. "He won't give over to anyone but you."

Cithrin's frown drew lines at the corners of her mouth and between her brow. Her fingers tapped gently against her arms.

"He wants to talk about something else," she said.

"And not with your hired swords," Marcus said. "That's my assumption."

The girl nodded, attention shifting inward.

It was moments like this, when she forgot herself, that she changed. The false maturity that Master Kit and the players had trained her into was convincing, but it wasn't Cithrin. And the giddy young woman who shifted between overconfidence and insecurity wasn't her either. With her face smooth, her mind moving in its own silence, she gave a hint of the woman that was in her. The woman she was becoming. Marcus looked away from her, down the alley, and told himself that by doing it he was giving her privacy.

"I should see him," Cithrin said. "He's at the house?"

"Roach and Yardem are with him."

"I should hurry, then," she said, humor warming the words.

"I can give Qahuar your regrets - "

"No, tell him I'll be right back. I don't want him to leave without me."

Marcus hesitated, then nodded. Cithrin walked off down the alleyway, careful where she stepped, until she reached the corner, turned into the street, and disappeared. Marcus stood in the reeking shadows for a long moment, then ducked back inside. The half-Jasuru was still sitting at the table, chewing a pickled carrot and looking thoughtful. At a guess, the man was a few years younger than Marcus, though the Jasuru blood made it hard to be sure. The vesitigial scales of his skin and the vibrant green eyes reminded Marcus of a lizard.

"The magistra's called away for a few minutes. Small business," Marcus said. "She said she'd be right back."

"Of course," Qahuar Em said, then gestured toward the seat where Cithrin had been. "Would you like to wait with me, Captain Wester?"

The wise choice would be to walk away. Marcus nodded his thanks and sat.

"You're the actual Marcus Wester?" the man asked, motioning to the servant boy for a mug of ale.

"Someone had to be," Marcus said.

"I'm honored. I hope you don't mind my saying, I'm surprised to see a man of your fame doing guard work, even for the Medean bank."

"I'm well enough known among a certain group of people," Marcus said. "Just walking down the streets, I could be anyone."

"Still, after Wodford and Gradis, I'd have thought you could command any price you asked as the head of a mercenary company."

"I don't work for kings," Marcus said as the servant boy set the mug onto the table before him. "It narrows my options. Since we're on good terms, you and I...?"

Qahuar nodded him on.

"I didn't know you could mix Firstblood and Jasuru," Marcus said. "You're the first I've seen."

The man spread his hands. And yet here I am.

"We're more common in Lyoneia. And there's some work people would rather give a man who has no family."

"Ah," Marcus said. "You're a mule, then? No children."

"My blessing and my curse."

"I knew some men like that in the north. You get it with Cinnae and Dartinae mixes too. Knew some men who just claimed it too. Made them more popular with the women. Safe."

"There are consolations," Qahuar said, smiling.

Marcus imagined himself reaching across the table and breaking the man's neck. It would be difficult. Jasuru were strong bastards, and fast besides. He took a long drink of his ale. It tasted of the brewery Cithrin had bought into. Clearly she'd arranged a deal with the taphouse. Qahuar cocked his head, smiling politely with his sharp-tipped teeth.

She's half your age, Marcus thought. She's still a child. But he couldn't say that either.

"How are you finding life in Porte Oliva?" Marcus said instead.

"I like it here. I miss being with my clan, but if I can bring them work... Well, it's worth the price."

"Must be an impressive clan to go against the Medean bank. Not many would do that."

"I think of it more as the Medean bank going against us. It'll be a good fight. Magistra Cithrin is an impressive woman."

"I've always thought so," Marcus said.

"Have you worked with her for a long time?"

"We met in Vanai," Marcus said. "Came out here with her."

"She's a good employer?"

"I've got no complaints."

"There was talk about you, you know. A simple branch bank, even one with a holding company like the Medean, with Marcus Wester guarding their house? People have read that as a sign that Magistra Cithrin favors a broader, more military strategy."

"What do you think?" Marcus asked, keeping voice neutral.

"What do I think?" Qahuar said, leaning back against the wall. His brow was furrowed as if he were considering his own thoughts for the first time. He lifted a finger. "I think you have chosen this work because you aren't interested in fielding a private army. And so I think the magistra isn't either."

"Interesting thought."

"You're a valuable man, Captain Wester. Many people know it."

Marcus laughed.

"Are you trying to bribe me?" he asked. "You are, aren't you? You're asking whether I can be bought?"

"Can you?" Qahuar Em asked without the slightest hint of shame in his voice.

"There's not enough gold in the world," Marcus said.

"I understand and respect that. But you understand that my duty to my clan required me to ask."

Marcus finished the last of his ale in a gulp and stood up.

"We have any more business, sir?"

Qahuar shook his head.

"Truly, I am honored to have met you, Captain Wester. I respect you and I respect your employer."

"Good to know," Marcus said, and then walked back out through the common room to wait for Cithrin on the street, and the heat be damned. When she came, hurrying down the street like a girl her own age, Marcus stepped out. Sweat beaded her skin and smudged the paints that she'd put to her eyes and lips.

"It's taken care of," Cithrin said. "It's good you came for me. That man's a pretentious ass, but he's going to be very useful."

"Your suitor in there tried to bribe me," Marcus said.

Cithrin paused, and he could see the chagrin in her eyes for less than a heartbeat, and then the mask fell back in place. She became neither the girl nor the woman-still-to-be but the false sophisticate that Master Kit had fashioned. It was the Cithrin that Marcus liked least.

"Of course he did," she said. "I wouldn't have expected any less. Captain, I may not be returning to the house tonight. If I'm not there in the morning, don't be alarmed. I'll send word."

She might as well have thrown a brick at his head. He's your enemy and I forbid you to sleep with that man and Please don't do this crowded each other out. All he could manage was a nod. Cithrin must have seen something of it in his eyes, because she put her hand on his arm and squeezed gently before she went back inside.

Marcus walked back down the street toward the house, then stopped, turned, and headed for the port instead. The sun, lazing down toward the horizon, pressed on his right cheek like a hand. Near the port, the traffic on the streets thickened. Someone had started putting up streamers of thread, the knots hung from windows and trees, the trailing ends blowing in the breeze like the tentacles of a jellyfish. The street puppeteers were staking out corners and public squares, sitting at them even when they weren't performing. The ships from Narinisle might not arrive for weeks, but the celebration was already being prepared.

The smell of the port itself was brine and fish guts. Marcus threaded his way past sailors and longshoremen, beggars and queensmen, to the wide square just past the final dock. Two taphouses and a public bath pressed for attention at the edges of the square, bright cloth banners and bored-looking women in too little cloth. At the farthest edge, a crowd stood enthralled around a theater cart. Master Kit wore a flowing robe of scarlet and gold and a wire-worked crown. He held Sandr's unmoving body in his arms, a thin trickle of red-tinted water dripping down the boy's flank.

"How? How have I let this be? Oh Errison, Errison my son! My only son!" Master Kit called out, his voice breaking carefully so that all the words were still clear, and then slipped gracefully into verse. "I swear, dear boy, and heed this call! By dragon's blood and bones of God, Alysor house shall fall!"

Kit froze then, and a moment later, applause rang out. Marcus shifted forward through the crowd as Cary and Smit took the stage, Smit in a mockup of steel armor made from felt and tin and Cary in a tight black dress that had clearly been cut for Opal. Marcus watched through the long final act as the ancient rivalry between noble houses slaughtered first the guilty and then the innocent, mothers killing their daughters, fathers falling to poisons meant for their sons, and the world in general crashing in until at last Master Kit stood alone, all the other players lying at his feet, and wept. By the time the company rose, grinning to take their bows and gather the coins thrown to them, Marcus's mind was almost back in order.

As the company broke down the stage, Marcus walked to the back. Master Kit had changed back to his more customary clothes and was leaning against the seawall and wiping his face with a soft cloth. He smiled when he saw Marcus.

"Captain! Good to see you. What did you think of the show?"

"Convinced me," he said.

"I'm glad to hear it. Hornet! Watch the line there. No, the one you're standing on!"

Hornet danced to the side, and Master Kit shook his head.

"Some days I'm amazed that boy hasn't broken his leg getting up from his bedroll," Kit said.

"Cary's getting better."

"I think she's more comfortable now. By the end of the season I expect she'll have all Opal's old roles in place. I'm still hoping to find a girl to replace Cary, though. I can put Smit in fancy dress and high voice, but I'm afraid it gives the tragic scenes a somewhat lighter tone."

"Any luck?"

"Some," Kit said. "I've talked with a couple of girls who might be good. One's more talented, but she lies. I find that being a good companion on the road is more important than being a good player on the stage. Theater craft is something I think I can teach. How to be a decent person seems to be a harder thing."

Marcus sat, his back to the wall. In the west, the sun had fallen behind the roofs, but the clouds overhead still glowed gold and orange. Kit took a last swipe at his eyes and tucked the cloth into his belt.

"There's a tavern just the other side of the wall," Master Kit said. "We're staying in the back free of charge every night we play one of the comedies. We're on our way back there now, if you'd care to join us."

"I'll think about it."

Master Kit folded his arms. Concern showed in his eyes.

"Captain? All's well with the bank, I hope? Everything I've heard suggests that our girl is doing quite well."

"People keep bringing her money," Marcus said.

"That's what we'd hoped for, isn't it?"

"Is."

"And yet?"

Marcus squinted toward the bathhouse. Two Kurtadam men were shouting at each other, gesticulating toward the house, their words running over each other. A gangly Tralgu girl ambled by, watching them.

"I need a favor," Marcus said.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'd like you to tell me again how this is her mistake to make. And that I shouldn't be trying to strap padding to every sharp edge she runs at."

"Ah," Master Kit said.

"She's playing at higher stakes than she knows," Marcus said, "and against people who have decades of experience. And..."

"And?"

Marcus ran his hand through his hair.

"She's wrapped herself in it. She doesn't have any idea how much of herself she's putting into this scheme. When it falls out from under her... I want to stop it now. Before she gets hurt."

"I hear you saying that you want to protect her."

"I don't," Marcus said. And then a moment later, "I do. And I have a poor record protecting women. So I want you to tell me that I shouldn't be trying to."

"Why not take this to Yardem? He knows you better than I do, I expect."

"I know what he's going to say. I even know the tone of voice he's going to say it in. No point going through those motions."

"But you think you'd believe me?"

"You're persuasive."

Master Kit chuckled and squatted down beside him. Cary shouted, and the actor hauled the stage up on its hinges, the wooden planks transforming from floorboards to the side of a tall cart. Sandr went to harness the mules. The salt breeze stilled for a moment, then shifted, cool against Marcus's cheek. The clouds greyed, losing the sunlight. It wouldn't be long before the taverns and brothels and bathhouses all hung out their colored lanterns, trying to draw coins and customers the way they drew moths. The queensmen would be out. And Cithrin. Marcus tried not to think what Cithrin would be doing.

Slowly, he laid out everything to the actor. Cithrin's business plans, her ambitions for the bank and the escort fleet, her courting a relationship with her half-Jasuru rival. Master Kit listened carefully, and when Marcus ran out of words, he pursed his lips and looked up at the darkening sky.

"I'll say this, Captain, because it's true. I believe that Cithrin has all the tools and talents she needs to make this work. If she pays attention, uses her best judgment, and gets only a little bit lucky, she can do this."

"Can is a lovely thing. Do you think she will?"

Master Kit was silent for four long breaths together. When he spoke, his tone was melancholy.

"Probably not."