She Is the Darkness: Book Two of Glittering Stone: A Novel of the Black Company (45 page)

The Old Man did not sleep in. He and Lady, Otto and Hagop, Swan, Mather and
Blade, the Nar, Clete, Longo and Loftus and all the rest of the Old Crew and
their bodyguards, with some of Lady’s longtime followers, were on the road to
the Shadowgate when I dragged myself out. It was still dark enough that
Croaker’s outriders carried torches. “That son of a bitch really wants to get a
head start.”

Thai Dei was awake already. He was boiling water to make breakfast mush. He
looked downhill and grunted.

Big Bucket stumbled up, yawning, rubbing sleep out of his eyes with the back of
one hand. “That the Old Man already?”

“Mudsucker’s eager, isn’t he? Everything set?”

“Completely. I’ll go drag Sparkle and Wheezer out of the sack.”

“Wheezer? What the hell is he doing up here?”

“Came up during the night. Took off early from over there because he didn’t
figure he could keep up with the Old Man this morning. Didn’t want to get left
behind.”

“The old boy’s got balls,” I said. Once again I had underestimated the man. With
no direct evidence I had assumed he had passed on during the summer. I should
have known better. He had been dying when he latched on seven years ago. Every
day seemed like it had to be the one when he coughed up his last lung, but
something kept him going. “Where’s Red Rudy?”

“Sent him to check the perimeter.”

“One more time, eh?” That damned perimeter had been checked and rechecked five
hundred times since I had been in charge. It is a military kind of thinking,

never trusting anything but the situation right this minute. Time is the
implacable eater of all preparations.

“All hands standing by?” I asked.

“Said everything was set.” He looked into Thai Dei’s pot. “Looks tasty, my man.”

Thai Dei had no sense of humor and little ability to recognize sarcasm. He
nodded. “A little salt, a little sugar. A handful of tuloc grubs or shredded
monkey jerky would improve the flavor.”

“Twolock grubs?”

I would not have asked myself.

“You find them in rotten logs. In the swamp we fell trees so they will have a
place to grow.”

I asked, “Are you nervous?”

Thai Dei gave me his hard look, like how on earth could I think he would be
bothered by anything?

“You’re chattering like a flock of crows.”

Thai Dei grunted, recognizing the truth. He went back to being himself.

“Beetle grubs,” I grumbled. “Only the Nyueng Bao would think of farming them.”

“What’s wrong with grubs?” Bucket asked. “You fry them in butter, toss in a
couple sliced mushrooms . . . It’s time to play the game.”

Croaker and Lady were climbing the slope now. I could see them clearly enough to
tell that they were dressed in their Widowmaker and Lifetaker costumes with all
the showoff spells alive and crawling. They rode the stallions from the stables
of the Tower at Charm. Those giants’ hooves struck sparks every time they hit
the ground. Their eyes shone red. Their nostrils puffed breath that seemed
somehow more than just steam in the cool of the morning. Trumpets, cymbals and
drums seemed appropriate but Lady and the Old Man never went in for that kind of
thing. Those two, and every man behind them except the prisoners, carried a
small arsenal of bamboo.

Howler was in a small wheeled wooden cage drawn by a brace of black goats. He
and Lady must have reached an accommodation because no obvious control measures
had been added to the bars. Although he was surrounded by a half-dozen soldiers
who could bathe him in fireballs before he could get off any really ugly spell.

Longshadow endured similar confinement but he and Lady had not reached any
agreement. His mouth had been sewn shut. His fingers had been sewn together. If
he was going to cast any spells he would have to do so by wiggling his ears. But
the nervous soldiers nearby would roast him before he could do much more than
twitch.

The guys were rattled because he was in such a state. He kept tearing at the
bars of his cage while trying to scream incoherently through his sealed lips.

Longshadow did not want to go up the mountain.

The Prahbrindrah Drah was being treated well. Willow Swan and Cordy Mather
flanked him, doing their duties as Royal Guards, while Otto, Hagop, the engineer
brothers and the Nyueng Bao bodyguards who tagged along after everybody formed a
larger diamond around those three. Longinus and Loftus conversed with the Prince
as though this venture was nothing remarkable.

I admired the Prahbrindrah Drah. He was a good man and a sound one. It was a
pity we could not let him go home. After his years in the field he had the
self-confidence and willpower to stand up to his sister and take up the reins of
the state. He had learned enough and had developed the strength of character to
resist the extortion efforts of the senior priests.

The panther that used to be a woman was in a cage that was more like a coffin.

She could not stand up. At no time would she be able to use the full leverage of
her powerful muscles. She could do little but lie there and be angry.

The Captain did not believe in taking chances. He had seen what the forvalaka
could do ages ago.

All our enemies would share our adventure. And our fate unless they elected to
warn us about something.

Rudy slipped down the slope to meet the Captain, alerted by Bucket’s remark
about it being game time. I did not look back.

I knew he meant that Sleepy had come out of the bunker and was sprawled against
the wall by the door again. Just the way we wanted.

Rudy would ask the Old Man to have his crowd make a racket coming into my shanty
monarchy.

One of Bucket’s favorite Taglian lieutenants, stuck with the name Lhopal Pete to
distinguish him from a sergeant everybody called Khusavir Pete (both “Petes“

deriving from the center syllable of an eleventeen-syllable Gunni godname), came
to tell his leader he would need to bring up a lot more water if the men were
going to take care of all the cleanup I wanted them to do while I explored
beyond the Shadowgate. Bucket told him, “Wait till that bunch of aristocratic
assholes gets on up here. We don’t want anybody to get trampled.”

“Yes, sir.” Lhopal Pete collected his work party and took them around behind my
bunker where they would be out of the way till Croaker arrived and made enough
noise to cover the bunch sneaking up on Sleepy.

I started spooning mush into my mouth. “You’re right, Thai Dei. Even grubs and
bugs couldn’t hurt this stuff. Give me a bowl for Sleepy.”

I took it over myself. “Here you go, kid.”

Sleepy just stared. I moved the bowl up under his nose. “You better get well
enough to feed yourself, kid. I’m in no mood to keep doing it for you.” I
glanced back to see how close Croaker was. There was enough light now that
torches were becoming superfluous.

In minutes he was close enough. The racket was loud enough. I dropped the wooden
spoon into Sleepy’s lap, seized his wrists, clamped down. The guys came out from
behind the bunker. One grabbed Sleepy’s hair and yanked his head back. Another
shoved a wad of dirty rag into the kid’s mouth.

Soulcatcher fought. But the surprise was complete. She never had a chance. “All
wrapped up,” I told the Old Man when he stopped his mount beside us.

“You use every piece of rope you had?”

Catcher did look like a victim of excessive enthusiasm.

“Don’t want to take any chances, boss. I wish you’d brought another one of those
cages.”

“Now that would’ve been a dead giveaway, wouldn’t it? Even if I’d known what you
planned.”

Lady stopped right behind Croaker. She had her Lifetaker helmet on. There was no
way to tell what she was thinking. She never said a word, just stared at the
sister who had caused her so much trouble for so long.

Catcher did not abandon the Sleepy form. She was not a natural shapeshifter so
maybe changing was difficult to do. I did not count on that, though. She had a
history of altering her appearance. I asked, “She have to stay this way as long
as we’ve got her tied up?”

Lady did not respond. She just stared.

“I mean, I wouldn’t want her turning to jelly and oozing away when I wasn’t
looking. I guess I could stuff her into a big jar. If I had a jar. If it had a
lid that could be sealed.”

Croaker said, “I don’t think she can do anything as long as she’s gagged and her
hands are tied.”

“Want we should cut off her fingers?”

“I think she’ll behave. For now. Won’t you?”

Catcher did not respond.

She was over her surprise. Already I could sense calculation and the beginnings
of what might be amusement.

Bucket asked, “Any of you geniuses decide what to do with her now that you’ve
caught her?”

I said something real intelligent like, “Huh?”

“Like Murgen said, you should of brung a cage. Or was you just going to let her
walk?”

The Old Man’s mood blackened. “Make a litter. She always wanted to be treated
like a queen. She can even have her own royal guards. Swan! Mather! You guys can
carry the lady.”

“Aw, go fuck yourself,” Swan said.

Cordy said, “Take it easy, Willow.”

“What the fuck’s he gonna do, Cordy? Drag me off to Khatovar?”

Lady tugged her reins. Her mount turned till she was facing Swan and Mather.

After a moment Swan said, “All right. All right.” Ten minutes later he was
carrying the downhill end of a litter. He never stopped grumbling but he was far
enough behind me that I did not have to listen. Hagop let Swan and Mather start
rotating with others after a few miles.

I went through the Shadowgate first. Croaker followed. After a few dozen yards,

he said, “Stop here. I want to experiment. Lower the Lancehead to the black
path.” He dismounted as I did that. He took his silver Company badge off his
cloak, held it to the Lance for a moment, then knelt and pressed it against the
ribbon of black. His knees creaked. He grunted and strained.

I asked, “What’s that all about?”

“I’m not sure. Lady thought it couldn’t hurt.”

So the killer shadows could pick us out of the crowd? Or maybe the other way
around. Lady’s instincts were sound. She had been around since before the
original Company came down this mountain.

Croaker told me, “Stay here till everybody goes by. Have all our guys get their
badges blessed. And don’t forget yourself.”

Lady dismounted, followed the Old Man’s example. Then she remounted and
continued up the slope, following Croaker, single file.

Man by man and animal by animal the column filed past. I got puzzled looks from
the Company guys and black looks from everybody else. I checked to see where the
Old Man was. In Nyueng Bao I told Thai Dei, “If you want you could touch the
Lancehead, then that spot on the ground. The others, too.”

He thought about that. “I wish Uncle was here to make a ruling.”

“What’s it gonna hurt? And it might be some kind of protection. You don’t have
to count it as some big-ass commitment to Company fortunes.”

He thought some more, probably wondering if we were not sucking them in little
by little, then he shouted at the other Nyueng Bao. He gathered them round, told
them they had the option and that taking the blessing might offer a measure of
protection once the sun went down.

Many of the Nyueng Bao did not like the idea.

Sparkle came past leading a string of overburdened but infinitely patient
bullocks. “You going to bless the animals, too?” He was being sarcastic but I
wondered if it might not be worthwhile. Shadows seldom bothered animals in the
world outside if human prey was available. But we were not in that world
anymore.

The Nyueng Bao argued heatedly but so softly I could not make out a word. Thai
Dei eventually had enough. “You do as each of you wishes.” He stalked over,

slapped his palm against the head of the Lance, dropped and slapped the black
trail, got up and took his place beside me.

I expected the Old Man to start bellowing any second but he never bothered to
look back.

Howler trundled past. When he reached for the Lance I lifted it. “Keep moving.

Friends of the Company only.” I touched each of his black goats on the noggin
with the Lancehead. Longshadow came along. The Shadowmaster seemed to be
paralyzed. His eyes stared into infinity. I had seen that stare before, but only
from guys who had suffered too much terror on the battlefield.

Fifty people may not sound like a big gang but when you add in all the animals
and whatnot necessary to make a long journey it turns into a pretty good parade.

Lady and the Old Man were almost to the top when Rudy and Bucket came up as the
rearguard. Rudy asked, “You want we should kiss that thing, too?”

“If you think it’ll help.”

“I’ll give it a handjob if that’s what it takes to get me through the next three
or four nights.”

“I’ll let you know. I got to get back up front.” By now all the Nyueng Bao had
made their decisions one way or another and had dealt with the standard
according to their choices.

I hurried through the routine myself, with Rudy’s help.

As he neared the top Croaker halted but not to give me a chance to catch up.

Good old Murgen would get out front, where he could be the first one to get his
head kicked in, only because the Captain had to wait for the troops to adjust to
the road so the carts and wagons could make the climb. “ ’Scuse me. ’Scuse me
there,” I said as I clambered past the engineer brothers. “Do a good job so you
don’t have to do it again on the way back.”

A lot of people stood around watching. Construction was not what they did. They
felt no urge to learn the trade at this late date. Swan told me, “Lugging this
stretcher wasn’t such a bad idea after all.” Mather, though, was working. Cordy
Mather was a good man. I wondered how much the Radisha missed him. I wondered if
she spent much time trying to figure out why he had not come back.