Slathbog's Gold - Forman Mark L. Страница 36

“About Varlo,” the old man replied, looking over his shoulder again. “Information that may prove profitable.”

“I will tell him,” said Alex carefully. “However, I can’t say if he will speak to you or not.”

“I will come tonight, after you have eaten,” said the old man. “When the locals have left the inn, I will speak with your leader.”

“As I said,” Alex replied, turning to close Shahree’s stall. “I don’t know if he’ll talk to you or not.”

There was no reply to his words. When Alex turned around, the old man was gone.

Alex left the stable, worried by the old man’s words. He found the others waiting for him just outside the inn. Tantic and Bregnest were deep in conversation about the horses, and Alex knew he would have to wait before he could tell Bregnest about the old man.

“It’s true we have few horses these days,” Tantic said as Alex approached. “The city guards have taken most of them. They think they can catch the bandits if they have horses of their own.”

“And they have not been able to catch the bandits?” questioned Bregnest.

“They don’t know the land as well as the bandits do,” Tantic replied, spitting in the dirt. “And they don’t ride or take care of their horses as well either.”

“Then we have done a service to Techen,” replied Bregnest in casual tone.

“A great service,” Tantic agreed. “Though the magistrate will be suspicious of it. He won’t like the fact that you’ve done what his guards could not. I doubt he’ll offer you any reward.”

“But we were not chasing bandits. They came to us,” said Bregnest with a smile.

“True enough,” Tantic admitted, leading them all into the inn. “Still, the magistrate will not be happy about it. He’ll be even less happy when he finds out I’ve already bought the horses from you.”

“Then we must settle on a price,” said Bregnest in a more businesslike tone.

Tantic rubbed his chin, muttering numbers to himself. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, taking no notice of Bregnest or the rest of the company for several minutes.

“I’ll give you twenty-five gold for each horse,” said Tantic, a satisfied look covering his face. “Though I’ll tell you straight, the magistrate will pay me at least thirty.”

“Twenty-five for each horse?” Bregnest repeated, his tone uncommitted. “And for the saddles and trappings?”

“Twenty-seven for all then,” Tantic answered quickly. “And room and board for the night as well.”

Bregnest considered the offer for several minutes, watching Tantic closely, but the innkeeper did not fidget or change his offer.

“A fair price,” Bregnest agreed. “Shall we have a drink to seal the bargain?”

“Indeed, yes, my friends,” said Tantic, a broad smile on his face. “And a second drink to the magistrate’s unhappiness.”

Alex followed the rest of the company into the main bar, his thoughts still on the old man from the stable. He wanted to talk to Bregnest right away, but knew he would have to wait.

“The bargain,” toasted Tantic, lifting a glass.

“The bargain,” Bregnest and the rest of the adventurers repeated, raising their own glasses.

Alex swallowed the liquid from his glass and his throat began to burn. The drink was something he had never tasted before, and for a moment it took his breath away. His throat tightened and he had to struggle for a minute to catch his breath.

“To trouble for the magistrate,” said Tantic, raising his glass a second time.

Alex was unable to repeat the words because he couldn’t seem to find his voice, but he did manage to raise his glass.

“A strong brew,” said Skeld, slapping Alex on the back.

“Yes,” Alex managed to reply with a cough, his eyes watering.

“You should be more careful when you don’t know what’s in the glass,” said Skeld, laughing happily.

Alex nodded. He set his glass down and left the rest of the drink untouched.

“You seem troubled,” said Arconn, stepping up to Alex’s side. “And by more than the strong drink.”

“I need to speak with Bregnest,” replied Alex, lowering his voice. “There was an old man in the stable. He says he has information.”

“Hold your thoughts,” said Arconn. “I’ll let Bregnest know, and we’ll find a quiet place to talk.”

Bregnest collected their payment from Tantic and turned to face the company. As he turned, Arconn spoke softly into his ear. Bregnest nodded but didn’t look in Alex’s direction. He moved to a round table near a large fireplace and sat down. The rest of the company spread out around the main room, taking seats and ordering drinks for themselves.

Bregnest called them to him one at a time to give them their share of the payment, calling Alex last of all. As Alex approached Bregnest he noticed that Arconn remained seated next to Bregnest.

“Here you are,” said Bregnest, pushing a pile of coins toward Alex. “Sixty-seven gold and six silver. Not bad for so little work.”

“It seems a fair price,” replied Alex, taking a seat and putting the coins into the small pouch he’d bought in Telous.

“What do you have to tell me?” Bregnest questioned, leaning toward Alex and lowering his voice.

“There was an old man in the stable,” Alex reported. “He said to tell you he had information about Varlo, and that it would be profitable for you to listen.”

“It seems our adventure has been guessed by at least one,” Arconn commented softly.

“And profitable information is seldom free,” Bregnest added. “What more did this old man have to say?”

Alex thought for a moment, trying to remember the exact words. “He said he would come tonight, after we had eaten and the local people had left the inn. He said he would come and speak to you, Bregnest.”

“Did he call me by name?” Bregnest asked, concerned.

“No,” Alex replied quickly. “He said he would speak to the leader of our company. I tried to tell him that I didn’t know if you’d talk to him or not, but he didn’t seem to care.”

“Well, then, we can do nothing but wait,” said Arconn.

“We will wait,” Bregnest repeated. “And tonight we will see what this old man has to say.”

“He will want money, of course,” Arconn said flatly, echoing Bregnest’s own words. “Information is almost never free.”

“We will hear what he has to say before we agree to pay for anything,” replied Bregnest, a stern look on his face. “For now, let’s see what Tantic has for a midday meal.”

Tantic had a great deal for the company’s meal, and Alex was pleased that his nose had not lied to him earlier when he had smelled such wonderful things cooking. He was surprised the food looked as good as it smelled, and tasted even better.

“It is only simple Techen cooking,” said Tantic in an apologetic tone. “We don’t often serve a midday meal, though tonight there should be a fair crowd. And if you had arrived on a feast day, well . . . If you really want to experience Techen food, you should visit on a feast day. But it has been some time since we’ve had a proper feast day.”

“The food is most excellent,” said Bregnest. “A blessing on your ovens, we shall all spread their fame.”

Tantic seemed pleased with the praise and bowed to Bregnest and the rest of the company before leaving them to their meal.

As Alex and his friends were finishing their meal, the city magistrate appeared in the doorway. He was a tall, thin man dressed in dark green robes. He had a gold chain hanging around his neck and an annoyed look on his face. His face grew tight with anger when he learned that Bregnest had already sold the horses to Tantic, but he managed to control his feelings and the tone of his voice.

“No law against that,” said the magistrate stiffly. “And if you did indeed kill a number of bandits, we should be grateful to you.”

“You are very kind,” replied Bregnest in his most businesslike tone.

“Yes, well, it is no small thing,” the magistrate continued. “The city guards seem unable to do anything about the bandits, who have ruined our trade with the south. Perhaps the city should hire you and your company to hunt down the rest of these troublemakers.”