cottages in lower Dullitch with rental possibilities. That, of course, was if you were endowed with luck, knew how to play, and carried loaded dice.
Jimmy wasn’t, didn’t, and hadn’t. He’d been carried from the pits of Primo Don barely three hours after he went in, having parted with two shoes, one sock, and his left eyebrow. The latter, he’d been assured, he could claim back at a later date in exchange for the seventeen crowns he owed Logoff the Merchant. Additionally, to form a nice creamy topping on his elephantine disaster of a day, he now found himself hungry and alone in a part of the city he had hitherto only seen on the secondhand maps outside the cartography school.
He was about to make a move, when a frighteningly familiar voice said: “You’re up, then?”
Jimmy turned slowly on his heels and found himself staring into the beak of the barrowbird.
“Leave me alone !”
“Shan’t.”
“Damn you!”
“Nice.”
“No, I mean it! Damn you to hell.”
“Colorful; do you blaspheme professionally or are you still on the amateur circuit?”
Jimmy extended a finger to support his annoyance. “Stuff this in your beak and curse you, you emaciated feathered twit.”
“Listen, you can damn me all you like. I told you last night that I wouldn’t be easy to shake off.”
“Yes, but what do you want?”
“Your friend with the limp.”
“But I don’t know where he is!”
“Then find him, and I’d be pretty sharpish if I were you. I’m not a patient bird.”
Jimmy fell against the alley wall and allowed himself to slide down. “This is ridiculous!” he gasped. “Do you have any idea how big Dullitch is? He could be anywhere!”
“He’ s your friend. You must know where he hangs out.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Thieves aren’t like that,” he said. “They only come to you when they need something, and I’ve already done Grab a favor, remember?”
The barrowbird flapped a bit, then appeared to reach a decision. “You’ll have to go back to the tavern,” it squawked.
Jimmy shrugged. “It’s a long shot.”
“Do you know any short ones?”
“No.”
“Then get movin’!”
TWENTY
V ISCOUNT CURFEW SIGHED DEEPLY . “I take it you have some bad news, Spires?”
His royal secretary paused in the doorway, unsure of whether he should risk an entrance. “Wh-why do you say that, lord?”
“You only come to see me on such occasions.”
“Oh, I …”
Curfew raised an eyebrow. “Well? Do go on.”
“Um, right, er, the fact is, that, in fact, the point being …”
“Quickly, please. Before one of us dies.”
“Yes, sir. Of course. What would you like first? The atrocious end of the news or its abysmal beginnings?”
“Start with the atrocious and work your way backward. That way you have at least a thirty percent chance of survival.”
Spires closed the door to the chamber behind him and took a seat on the base of a marble plinth, clearing his throat in the process.
“A short while ago I fired one of the scribes, a young lady by the name of Lauris.”
“On what grounds?”
“Um … the palace grounds, sir.”
“No, you idiot, what grounds did you have to fire her ?”
“Oh right, I see. Well, our people were watching her for some time, and I knew, at second hand, of at least three activities that she could have been fired for, but I actually caught her signing import orders.”
“ Import orders ? For what?”
Spires scratched nervously at his arm. “Machinery, sir. Tin, iron; some enchanted bronze too, if I recall; all sorts of nonsense. Unfortunately, she burnt the paperwork shortly before we confronted her, and now we can’t find out where she stored these … supplies . Wherever it was, they’ve probably been moved on by now.”
“And the girl?”
“She disappeared, sir. The spies observed that several palace-stamped scrolls disappeared at around the same time.”
“Why on earth wasn’t she fired before?”
“Well, the fact is,
Jimmy wasn’t, didn’t, and hadn’t. He’d been carried from the pits of Primo Don barely three hours after he went in, having parted with two shoes, one sock, and his left eyebrow. The latter, he’d been assured, he could claim back at a later date in exchange for the seventeen crowns he owed Logoff the Merchant. Additionally, to form a nice creamy topping on his elephantine disaster of a day, he now found himself hungry and alone in a part of the city he had hitherto only seen on the secondhand maps outside the cartography school.
He was about to make a move, when a frighteningly familiar voice said: “You’re up, then?”
Jimmy turned slowly on his heels and found himself staring into the beak of the barrowbird.
“Leave me alone !”
“Shan’t.”
“Damn you!”
“Nice.”
“No, I mean it! Damn you to hell.”
“Colorful; do you blaspheme professionally or are you still on the amateur circuit?”
Jimmy extended a finger to support his annoyance. “Stuff this in your beak and curse you, you emaciated feathered twit.”
“Listen, you can damn me all you like. I told you last night that I wouldn’t be easy to shake off.”
“Yes, but what do you want?”
“Your friend with the limp.”
“But I don’t know where he is!”
“Then find him, and I’d be pretty sharpish if I were you. I’m not a patient bird.”
Jimmy fell against the alley wall and allowed himself to slide down. “This is ridiculous!” he gasped. “Do you have any idea how big Dullitch is? He could be anywhere!”
“He’ s your friend. You must know where he hangs out.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Thieves aren’t like that,” he said. “They only come to you when they need something, and I’ve already done Grab a favor, remember?”
The barrowbird flapped a bit, then appeared to reach a decision. “You’ll have to go back to the tavern,” it squawked.
Jimmy shrugged. “It’s a long shot.”
“Do you know any short ones?”
“No.”
“Then get movin’!”
TWENTY
V ISCOUNT CURFEW SIGHED DEEPLY . “I take it you have some bad news, Spires?”
His royal secretary paused in the doorway, unsure of whether he should risk an entrance. “Wh-why do you say that, lord?”
“You only come to see me on such occasions.”
“Oh, I …”
Curfew raised an eyebrow. “Well? Do go on.”
“Um, right, er, the fact is, that, in fact, the point being …”
“Quickly, please. Before one of us dies.”
“Yes, sir. Of course. What would you like first? The atrocious end of the news or its abysmal beginnings?”
“Start with the atrocious and work your way backward. That way you have at least a thirty percent chance of survival.”
Spires closed the door to the chamber behind him and took a seat on the base of a marble plinth, clearing his throat in the process.
“A short while ago I fired one of the scribes, a young lady by the name of Lauris.”
“On what grounds?”
“Um … the palace grounds, sir.”
“No, you idiot, what grounds did you have to fire her ?”
“Oh right, I see. Well, our people were watching her for some time, and I knew, at second hand, of at least three activities that she could have been fired for, but I actually caught her signing import orders.”
“ Import orders ? For what?”
Spires scratched nervously at his arm. “Machinery, sir. Tin, iron; some enchanted bronze too, if I recall; all sorts of nonsense. Unfortunately, she burnt the paperwork shortly before we confronted her, and now we can’t find out where she stored these … supplies . Wherever it was, they’ve probably been moved on by now.”
“And the girl?”
“She disappeared, sir. The spies observed that several palace-stamped scrolls disappeared at around the same time.”
“Why on earth wasn’t she fired before?”
“Well, the fact is,
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