Adversaries Together (12 page)

Before the Blockade, the Essian port of
Rikonen held sway over trade in the Novostos. It was for this
reason that the Seven Spires of Ardavass had roused the Silvincian
populace and initiated the siege more than twelve hundred days ago.
The semi-autonomous Adrenine Merchant Fleet that had made Anhra its
seat didn’t argue once its leaders realized they could continue
their business unabated and even for a slightly higher profit. Free
rangers, tinkers, rovers, highland folk with their herds and meager
crop surplus, and other itinerants were common in Anhra before the
Blockade. With the tone now more nationalist, they found themselves
a suspect minority to the sanctioned merchants, Silvincian soldiers
quartered throughout the city, and the ever-increasing numbers of
mercenaries looking to get a contract with them.

Roth didn’t wonder why two travelers from the
north, obviously from The Cathedral, would have fell prey to
highwaymen. He did wonder why they were heading to Anhra in the
first place. The Cathedral had little time for places like it and
its evangelists were certainly less than welcome. They weren’t far
from the city, likely to get there before the morning waned. It was
dark now and they were camped. The night was damp and chill; Roth
had covered Goshen with his own trench coat and sat on the soft
earth opposite Kira.

“
You think we could have a
fire?” she asked.

“
Nope.” Roth said
matter-of-factly.

“
I mean, I think we should
start a fire.” Kira asserted.

“
Be my guest.” Roth was
still a bit bitter that Kira had so easily made a fire earlier in
the day.

Kira grumbled through her teeth, “Why won’t
you start one?”

Roth let out an audible sigh as though Kira
was not just a burden but also an imbecile, “I wonder if the people
who hunted you down are out in the marsh right now? I wonder, if
they were out there, if they’d see a fire on the moor. And if they
saw the light, if they’d come over to see if it was the people who
had killed two members of their party?”

“
I don’t see why you have
to be such an ass.” Kira was getting angrier with Roth, “And to be
specific, Goshen killed three and I killed one. Don’t think I don’t
understand the danger.”

Roth chuckled to himself, “I guess it has
something to do with having my camp tromped all over, getting
beaten and ambushed, and then being dragged into being an escort
that will afford me no profit. In fact, I’m probably going to lose
coin taking you and the corpse there to Anhra.”

“
He’s not dead. Show some
respect. Goshen is an emissary of the Cathedral of Light, a noble
of the…”

“
Nah, nah, nah,” Roth
raised his hand to cut her off, “All that served him well as he was
set upon.”

“
They weren’t after
him.”

“
Oh? You? And who are you?
Come to think of it, why the hell are you two even out
here?”

“
We’re on our way to
Lappala. And then highwaymen surprised us…”

“
Cute. A little mission.”
Kira was going to protest but Roth shook his head, “And they
weren’t just bandits.”

Kira hesitated, “How do you know that?”

“
You don’t get out of your
convent much do you?”

“
I’m not…no…but, I don’t
see…”

“
The weapons.” Roth held up
a finger, “A handbow with poisoned bolts, rapiers. Highwaymen use
more…common tools, less specialized.”

“
Who were they
then?”

Roth shrugged, “I don’t know. I tend not to
traffic with thieves.”

Kira eyed him suspect, “I still think we can
have a fire.”

“
Fine.” Roth said, “I won’t
stop you.”

Kira looked down, “I can pay you for your
help.”

Roth perked up, “Can you? To build a
fire?”

“
No,” Kira shook her head
smiling a bit, as she began to make the fire, “For this, for
helping us. When we get to Anhra, I can write you a letter that you
can redeem…”

“
Credit? Credit, through
the Cathedral?” Roth laughed bitterly, “Usury. Yeah, sure, you do
that.”

“
The Cathedral’s coffers
are plentiful.”

“
Separating a priest from
his money…I’d prefer taking on those mercs.”

“
You have no respect for
the Light, do you?” Kira didn’t look at him, but kept focused on
her task. Soon, she had a flame and a full campfire.

“
I have no respect for
those who claim to know ‘the Light.’” Roth was suddenly aggressive,
“Anyone can see.”

“
I don’t agree” Kira said
flatly.

“
Believe what you want.
It’s late; we’ll make Anhra before the morning is over. You should
sleep now.”

“
What about
Goshen?”

Roth softened his tone as he stared into the
flames, “The clay-peat has held the bleeding in check and soaked up
some of the poison. The yarrow tea has helped a bit though not much
to keep his fever in check. He still needs a proper healer, someone
to clean the wound so it doesn’t get infected. He seems strong
though, so as long as we don’t run into any troubles in the morning
he should pull through.”

“
What about you?” Kira
asked tentatively.

“
Oh, I’m strong too.” Roth
scoffed.

“
No, I mean when are you
going to rest?”

“
Don’t worry about it,”
Roth looked at her and spoke in a kinder tone, “You’re safe, he’s
safe, get some sleep.”

Anhra Harbor,
43
^nd
of Lammas

The inn was full of sailors, merchants,
transients, and common folk. A strong scent of salt spray mixed
with the bodily warmth of sweat and the rich fragrance of the large
stone fireplace. Roth leaned on the bar surveying the room, then
turned back to the barkeep.

“
So have you seen him?” He
asked in a low tone.

“
Adamix? No, I haven’t with
my own eyes.” The bartender replied curtly.

Roth gave an exasperated sigh, “But you know
whereabouts…”

“
You could find him? Sure.”
He nodded.

Roth waited patiently, then released the fist
he had been propping himself up on over the bar. Several silver
coins fell on to the pockmarked wood. Roth made an open-handed
gesture with a bit of a snide flourish and waited.

“
I’d probably try Meg’s
place, just off the docks,” the barkeep said, casually sweeping the
coins up.

“
Then I shall.” Roth nodded
and tipped his hat. Turning he made his way through the exuberant
crowd with ease barely betraying the fact that he now walked with a
renewed sense of purpose.

Meg’s place was called All Shadows, a tall
and narrow inn at the end of the docks besieged by a steady stream
of lonely travelers, mostly men. Here they found a few hours of
leisure for tidy though fair prices among the hosts and hostesses.
The flesh trade was tolerated in Anhra as it was in all seaports;
few of the locals frequented the establishments as most came from
the Spires and Cathedral. Most cities made it a point to take
advantage of the Cassubian Cathedral’s hypocrisy, and Anhra was
especially fortunate in that it had a steady stream of brutally
lonely soldiers from Silvincia coming through as well. Roth was
familiar with the venue and with its Adrenine mistress, Meg
Ridgcaller. It wasn’t just flesh trade; there was gaming, song, and
medicine. Essentially, all the things a dullard seafarer could blow
their entire share on were available.

Meg made it a point to run her house with
free souls; these weren’t flesh slaves. Each one was paid a true
wage with a homestead outside the city. She was fair and she took
care of her people, but Roth still hated dealing with it. Coming
upon the inn, he surveyed several couples mingling outside,
apparently in the first stages of their acquaintance. He tried to
avoid any extended eye contact with the hosts and hostesses, but he
made it a point to survey the patrons. He gaze fell upon a pruned
halfling. Diminutive like all Adrenines with dark skin and blonde
wiry hair, he was in the process of regaling three marginally
interested hostesses with the exploits of a very tiny
adventurer.

“
Adamix.” Roth said in a
clear, even tone.

The Adrenine looked up when he heard his
name, his wide grin quickly faded into a sort of resigned
smirk.

“
Roth. Surprised to see you
here.” Adamix turned to the hostess on his right, “Well, not really
surprised. Roth here knows all about…”

“
Adamix, I need to speak
with you in private.” Roth cut him off.

“
Yeah, well, I’m trying to
speak to these young ladies.” He ran his hand along the thigh of
the hostess to his left, “In private.” The woman looked bored yet
committed to her task. Roth sighed, rolled his eyes as he reached
down picking the tiny man up off the divan by his
collar.

“
Damn it…hey!” Adamix
squirmed but couldn’t break Roth’s grip.

“
Come.” Roth winked at the
women and tossed a small coin purse at the spot vacated by
Adamix.

The halfling scowled and cursed but Roth
showed no outward sign of caring. Adamix knew he’d get no help from
anyone in the establishment. Roth kept pushing Adamix along like he
was a reluctant child, until the two of them were behind the
cottage and well out of sight or sound.

“
Ya know, Roth, you’re a
real shit sometimes.” Adamix pointed at him, his wrinkled face even
more twisted.

“
Am I?” Roth had to laugh a
bit.

“
Yeah, you are. You think
those three were cheap?” Adamix ran his hands over his chest and
sleeves. He made a production of getting himself straightened
up.

“
Yes, yes I do.” Roth
grinned.

“
You know what I
mean.”

“
And you know what I
mean.”

The halfling threw his hands up realizing
Roth was going to give him no quarter, “So what’s all this about
then? I thought you were off in the highlands.”

“
For a bit, I was.” He
nodded.

“
So then why are you back
here? When you left…what? Last Mabon,” Roth gave a nodding shrug,
“You said you were done with the Lowlands. That you were going to
head back north. We drank on it, man.”

They had indeed. It had been at Meg’s place
on or around Lammas of last year. Although Roth abstained from the
host and hostesses that Adamix seemed intent on plying him with, he
had not had such reservation about the brew served. The two had
closed down the place and wandered into the street, the tiny
Adrenine singing louder and more pleasantly than one would have
imagined. Roth led them to a nearby fisher’s wharf where the two
had split the last of Adamix’s flask of Novosar wacholder, a vile
and potent gin, as they talked through the small hours. It was then
that Roth decided to return north, to forget about the Siracenes,
and pull himself out of the muck that was the Lowlands. He’d do one
more ranging, get the coin he needed, and then he’d head out. Now
he was back again.

“
I ran into someone.” Roth
said resigned.

“
Yeah, I hear that
happens.” Adamix smirked. “You’re never going to get out of here
are you? You’re always going to be hanging around the Siracenes or
the Lowlands.”

“
A missionary.” Roth shook
his head obviously ignoring Adamix’s questions. “Two missionaries
actually. An alm and a paladin.”

“
You getting religious on
us? Gonna go praise the Light and all that hullaballoo?” he
snickered. “I doubt your brethren would be too happy about
that.”

“
No. No, I am not.” Roth
gave a slight smile to encourage the little man’s new jocular mood,
“She ran into a spot of bother and I helped her out of
it.”

“
Oh? She. Oh, lovely,
something out of an illuminated manuscript. Rescuing an alm,”
Adamix ribbed his friend, “sounds like the Cathedral owes you. Cash
in now, they’re good for it.”

“
Yeah, maybe…she’s on her
way to Lappala she says. I can’t take her there…”

“
Can’t?” Adamix was
skeptical.

“
Well, won’t…don’t want
to…you know how it is.” Roth let his guard down a bit and spoke in
a casual almost conspiratorial manner.

“
Yeah, yeah…” Adamix
nodded, “So I s’pect you want me to find you someone to take charge
of her?”

“
Yes. Yes, I
do.”

Adamix nodded and began to pat down his vest
pockets, “You know you could’ve just asked in…” He gestured to the
inn.

“
No, I don’t talk business
in front of those people. Besides…it improves your reputation.”
Roth smiled.

“
Humph,” Adamix rolled his
eyes, “Reputation. An Adrenine who drinks, fucks when he’s flush
with coin, and manhandled for information by bigguns like you is
nothing new.”

“
I’m sorry for being an ass
in there, it’s been a while since I’ve actually been around folk.”
Roth apologized.

“
No worries.” Adamix had
produced several small bits of onionskin paper from his pocket; he
looked them over shuffling through. Occasionally he paused but he
inevitably went to the next note. Finally, he held one out for
Roth, “Jena is in town.”

Roth winced, “Yeah?”