Page 70 of Lake of Sorrow

“There isn’t a ladder, and I don’t see a manhole or a way through those bars.”

“Let’s look closer. My nose is ready to escape this miasma of stenches. Another minute, and it’ll be permanently damaged, and I’ll lose all my ability to be an effective chef.”

“You’ll still have your tastebuds.”

“A good chef uses all of his senses to cook.”

“Really? I haven’t seen you stir a pot with your ears.”

“I’ve used my lips when my hands were full.”

“A skill Lady Ghara would swoon over.” Kaylina stopped a few steps from the opening, listening for horses, wagons, or anything else that might be above. They didn’t need witnesses spotting them climbing out of the sewer. She touched the variegated and slick growth on the wall, doubting she could climb it. “Are you going to boost me up?”

“You know how great my strength is.”

“So, you want me to boost you up.”

“Probably. I—” Frayvar stopped as a shadow blocked the grate.

Kaylina hadn’t heard whatever it was approach, but she stood still, hoping it would move on. It didn’t. Snuffling sounds came from above.

“Is that… a taybarri?” she whispered, though it was too dark to make out fur or the shape of a head. “Or a stray dog?”

An indignant whuff floated down.

“Not a dog,” Frayvar said.

“Crenoch? Or Levitke?” Kaylina couldn’t recognize any of the taybarri from a whuff alone and was guessing.

The answering whuff sounded like one of agreement.

“How did they find us?” Frayvar whispered, though they couldn’t tell if there was more than one.

“I don’t know. You can’t tell me the scent of my honey is detectable with the other odors down here overpowering it.”

“It might be. Animals have better noses than we do.”

A clink came from above as taybarri fangs wrapped around two bars of the grate.

“Uhm,” Frayvar said.

A great wrenching of metal sounded, and pieces of brick and mortar trickled down as the taybarri tore the grate out.

“Whoa,” Frayvar said. “I didn’t know their jaws were that strong.”

“A reason not to piss them off.”

“Oh, I already had a list of reasons not to do that.”

The shadow—the head—disappeared from view as the taybarri flung the grate away. Kaylina winced when it clattered on the cobblestone street. She hoped it was as late as she believed and that nobody was around to hear or see that.

“I’ll take that boost up now.” She stepped under the opening.

“I thought you were boosting me,” Frayvar grumbled but came forward. “Please tell me you don’t want me to get on hands and knees to be a stool. The ground here is disgusting.”

“We’re going to need a bath after this anyway.”

“Yeah, but will we get the opportunity for one?”

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