The Inquisitives [2] Night of Long Shadows by Paul Crilley Page A

whippedeverybody’s eyes upward. Wren watched the players, noting those who took advantage of the distraction to check out their opponents’ cards. He yawned and stood up, nodding at the shocked dealer.
    “Excuse me.”
    He left the gambling room and turned to the right. A wide staircase led up to the bedrooms. Another scream echoed through the brothel. A half-dressed man stumbled past Wren, looking over his shoulder in fear. Wren winced. Savia wasn’t going to be happy with this. She’d want compensation.
    A small crowd had gathered outside one of the bedrooms. The bugbear from the front door was gripping the handle, getting ready to break down the door.
    “Wait!” shouted Wren. He hurried over to the room. Courtesans looked at him, fear clear on their faces. Wren felt a twinge of guilt. This was one of the things courtesans feared the most—psychotic customers.
    “Wait,” he repeated. “Is that Lia’s room?”
    The bugbear frowned at him. At least Wren thought he was frowning at him. It was hard to tell.
    “It is,” said one of the girls.
    “Then I know who is in there with her. An ugly little dwarf. I saw him come up here. He was
drooling
and muttering to himself.”
    “I heard that!” shouted a voice from inside the room. “Don’t make me angry! I don’t want to hurt her, but I will if I have to!”
    Wren shouldered his way past the bugbear. “What do you want?” he asked. “Just tell us. We can work something out.”
    “I want to talk to Savia. Right now.”
    Wren turned to the closest girl. “You heard him! Fetch Savia. Hurry!”
    “But she’s sleeping—”
    “Are you mad? You have an insane dwarf rapist in there! I think she’d want to know about it.”
    The girl let out a squeal of fear and ran up the flight of stairs to the next floor. Wren leaned on the door and looked up at the bugbear. The creature looked upset. Probably because his brain was having to do a bit of work.
    “Don’t worry about it,” Wren told him. “Once Savia’s here, you can beat him around a bit.”
    This seemed to cheer the creature a bit. Wren turned his attention to the girls clustered around in various states of undress. “Better be careful, ladies. This kind of weather, you’ll catch a chill.”
    A few moments later, the courtesan appeared at the top of the stairs, followed closely by Savia. Wren watched her appreciatively as she descended the stairs. The woman was tall, her dark hair showing flecks of gray that somehow enhanced her looks. Wren usually liked his women younger than Savia, but there was something about her. She had an air of confidence about her, an aura of intelligence. Not to mention an
incredibly
fine body.
    Savia hurried past the girl, pulling a robe around herself. She reached the bottom of the stairs and caught sight of Wren. Her eyes narrowed. Wren could see numerous emotions flashing across her face. First relief, then anger, then a touch of amusement, and finally calculation as she tried to figure out what Wren was up to.
    She walked up to them. “You can go, Baras,” she said to the bugbear, touching him lightly on the arm.
    “I promised him he could beat up Torin a bit.”
    “Did you now?”
    “Just a little bit.”
    “False alarm,” Savia said to the girls. When they lookeddoubtful, she raised an eyebrow at Wren. “If you’d be so kind?”
    Wren knocked on the door. “You can come out now.”
    The door swung open to reveal a contrite Torin. Lia sat on the bed behind him, filing her nails. She looked up and smiled.
    “I’ll deal with you later,” said Savia. “I hope you made it worth her while, Wren.”
    “Of course!” said Wren, offended.
    “Good. You can go now, Lia. That goes for all of you. Get back to your rooms.”
    She waited until the corridor was empty before turning her attention back to Wren. “I suppose you’d better come up to my chambers and tell me what this is all about.”

    Despite his best efforts, Wren had never been inside Savia’s rooms.