good-natured fluff. “Sweet thing,” he said. “A fine specimen, and well maintained. You people must do fairly enough if you can pamper a creature so much as this.”
Once more the miners were on sturdy ground, the gorge now well behind them, and all the smiles were genuine. “She’s a peach,” the old man said. “Can track raccoons in a rainstorm, and even led us straight to Doonger Wagonright’s boy after he turned werewolf a half year back. Found him curled up naked as a harpy, lying in the bone pile of the lamb he ate. Was a sore thing having to do him like we did, but least we got him before he got somebody other’n a lamb. Abigail is a blessing from Mercy round here.”
“Well, on the subject of harpies,” Major Cavendis said, “how about we deal some around and get this game aloft, now that I have met with the approval of your good Abigail here.”
“Fair enough,” the old man agreed. “Coppers only to start, no limit, and for the first hand, the harpy’s wild. Just the lady, of course.”
“A wild card? Are we children?” the major said. For the first time since Cavendis had come in, Ilbei saw a flash of the man he’d come to know these last three days.
“Round here folks start the first hand with the lady bird wild. You’ll find it the same any game in the camps. It’s for … well …,” he paused and glanced up at the tavern keeper, whose gaze dropped to the floor. No help there. “Well, it’s on account of staving off bad luck is all. Harpy ghosts and that sort of rot.”
“And I suppose next we’ll have our nannies trimming our bread crusts? Maybe stir some honey into our Goblin Tea?”
“Miners is superstitious folks, Milord, and in these parts, it’s only prudent. There’s been deaths, you know. And it is but one hand. Only the first.”
“Well, get on with it, then. I didn’t come all this way for children’s games.” He tossed a lone copper into the pot. “You can be sure that’s the last of mine this hand.”
Ilbei cringed inwardly, though there was little he could do for it. The major could afford to insult those men, for, as a nobleman, he had no care for their opinions anyway. Ilbei, on the other hand, needed to be polite. Beyond it being his nature to be so, he also needed to learn everything he could, which the major’s behavior could put in jeopardy if Ilbei didn’t get on with it straight away. So, hiding his irritation, he turned his attention fully back to the men he was talking to and got back to work.
By the time he’d learned everything he could from the two miners he was speaking to, from the tavern keeper, and from another man who entered as Ilbei was about to leave, Ilbei had a general notion of what they were up against in terms of the highway robberies. A quick glance to the ruffs table as he was leaving, however, showed that those poor miners hadn’t had a clue what they were up against playing with the young nobleman. Rich as he was, polished as he was, decked in the finest clothing and weaponry as he was, there the man sat anyway, raking in and heaping the grubby copper coins of the men before him, hand after hand and grinning all the while like some petty miser selling candies to kiddies at a carnival. It was one of the most curious sights Ilbei had ever seen.
Chapter 6
T he following morning, shortly after the golden sun began backlighting the treetops to the east, Ilbei went to the major’s tent. He was intent on procuring permission to take some men to the other two mining camps, Fall Pools and Camp Chaparral, and he was careful to conceal his irritation at having to seek that permission as he called through the canvas flap. “Major, sar. May I have a word, sar?”
“If you must, Sergeant,” came the reply. “Enter.”
Ilbei stooped and went in, and didn’t quite check the rise of his bushy gray brows upon observing the musical Decia, sleeping soundly in the major’s bed. Her sandy brown tresses webbed his pillow, and her
Once more the miners were on sturdy ground, the gorge now well behind them, and all the smiles were genuine. “She’s a peach,” the old man said. “Can track raccoons in a rainstorm, and even led us straight to Doonger Wagonright’s boy after he turned werewolf a half year back. Found him curled up naked as a harpy, lying in the bone pile of the lamb he ate. Was a sore thing having to do him like we did, but least we got him before he got somebody other’n a lamb. Abigail is a blessing from Mercy round here.”
“Well, on the subject of harpies,” Major Cavendis said, “how about we deal some around and get this game aloft, now that I have met with the approval of your good Abigail here.”
“Fair enough,” the old man agreed. “Coppers only to start, no limit, and for the first hand, the harpy’s wild. Just the lady, of course.”
“A wild card? Are we children?” the major said. For the first time since Cavendis had come in, Ilbei saw a flash of the man he’d come to know these last three days.
“Round here folks start the first hand with the lady bird wild. You’ll find it the same any game in the camps. It’s for … well …,” he paused and glanced up at the tavern keeper, whose gaze dropped to the floor. No help there. “Well, it’s on account of staving off bad luck is all. Harpy ghosts and that sort of rot.”
“And I suppose next we’ll have our nannies trimming our bread crusts? Maybe stir some honey into our Goblin Tea?”
“Miners is superstitious folks, Milord, and in these parts, it’s only prudent. There’s been deaths, you know. And it is but one hand. Only the first.”
“Well, get on with it, then. I didn’t come all this way for children’s games.” He tossed a lone copper into the pot. “You can be sure that’s the last of mine this hand.”
Ilbei cringed inwardly, though there was little he could do for it. The major could afford to insult those men, for, as a nobleman, he had no care for their opinions anyway. Ilbei, on the other hand, needed to be polite. Beyond it being his nature to be so, he also needed to learn everything he could, which the major’s behavior could put in jeopardy if Ilbei didn’t get on with it straight away. So, hiding his irritation, he turned his attention fully back to the men he was talking to and got back to work.
By the time he’d learned everything he could from the two miners he was speaking to, from the tavern keeper, and from another man who entered as Ilbei was about to leave, Ilbei had a general notion of what they were up against in terms of the highway robberies. A quick glance to the ruffs table as he was leaving, however, showed that those poor miners hadn’t had a clue what they were up against playing with the young nobleman. Rich as he was, polished as he was, decked in the finest clothing and weaponry as he was, there the man sat anyway, raking in and heaping the grubby copper coins of the men before him, hand after hand and grinning all the while like some petty miser selling candies to kiddies at a carnival. It was one of the most curious sights Ilbei had ever seen.
Chapter 6
T he following morning, shortly after the golden sun began backlighting the treetops to the east, Ilbei went to the major’s tent. He was intent on procuring permission to take some men to the other two mining camps, Fall Pools and Camp Chaparral, and he was careful to conceal his irritation at having to seek that permission as he called through the canvas flap. “Major, sar. May I have a word, sar?”
“If you must, Sergeant,” came the reply. “Enter.”
Ilbei stooped and went in, and didn’t quite check the rise of his bushy gray brows upon observing the musical Decia, sleeping soundly in the major’s bed. Her sandy brown tresses webbed his pillow, and her
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