Page 30 of Ties of Bargains

Shrugging on his pack, he fell into step with Val once again. “Off to find me a sword?”

“Yes.” She marched onward for a few more strides before she cast him a glance. “It would be best if I did the bargaining at this next booth. I’ve gotten weapons here before. Many of the mercenaries in my Wild Hunt band have. Besides that, we’ll draw too much attention to ourselves if you—a captive human—were to procure a sword.”

“That would probably go against yourhe’s not armed as far as I knowdeniability.” Harm didn’t mind ceding this bargaining to her. She would know better what to look for when it came to bargaining for a good sword.

“That too.” Val kept her gaze forward. “Technically, it’ll be my sword that I’ll loan to you.”

He didn’t dare ask if she’d take the loan back before he was handed over to his new master. He wanted to trust her and believe that she’d let him keep it.

But she was still a mercenary, and in the end, he was just a package. He couldn’t let himself forget that, no matter how much of a thrill he got holding her hand or how hard his heart started beating around her.

Especially then.

Harm shoved the doubts away, keeping a smile plastered on his face. “Do you need some of my pottery for the bargaining? Or are swordsmiths not into that?”

“No and no.” Val still wouldn’t look at him as she scanned the booths around them, taking them down aneven darker, narrower aisle between the tents and market stalls. “As I’m doing the bargaining, I’ll provide what’s required.”

That was cryptic, but Harm wouldn’t argue if he could hold on to his pottery a little longer. He adjusted the strap where it was cutting into his shoulder. He looked forward to that evening when he could stuff his heavy pack into a magical pocket and stop having to tote it around.

As they strode down the tiny alley, thefeeënwho crept around them appeared even more disreputable, sporting even more weapons than Val did. Daisy stuck close, her hackles raised even though she had more manners than to growl at everyone. Just at the ones who stepped a little too close.

Val finally halted about nine feet away from a darkened booth with a variety of weapons piled almost haphazardly on a rickety table. The grizzled figure behind the table had huge arms and a tiny body, and Harm couldn’t have said what kind offeeënvolkhe might be.

“Stay here.” Val pointed to a somewhat sheltered spot next to the post of the booth adjacent to the weapons booth. “Right here.”

Harm nodded and placed his back to the post. With the variety of large and menacing figures tromping through this alley, he wasn’t too comfortable being left alone, even if Val would only be ten feet away.

“Daisy, stay.” Val gestured to the dog, and Daisy obligingly sat on Harm’s feet, staring out at the crowds.

Some of Harm’s tension eased. He would be far safer with the sometimes-three-headed dog protecting him.

A hand on the hilt of her knife, Val strode nearly to the end of the tether and was soon locked in what seemed to be tense bargaining with the proprietor.

Harm watched for a few moments, but then he swung his gaze to the crowd, taking in the strange sights. A booth a few yards away was made of bones while another market stall held harps that were singing. Not just playing but keening at an eerie pitch. The people in the crowd ranged from the grotesque to the macabre, yet the ones who were the most beautiful set Harm’s teeth on edge.

“It’s a strange sight, isn’t it?” A low tenor spoke from behind him.

Harm jumped and whirled as much as he could with Daisy sitting on his feet.

A young man of about Harm’s age leaned against the wall in the shadows between the two booths. He was dressed in a bland green shirt, brown trousers, brown boots, and a leather jerkin. A quiver of arrows and an unstrung bow were strapped to his back.

He held a piece of fruit in his hand. It would have resembled an apple, except that it was turquoise. Several bites were already missing from it. Even as Harm watched, the man crunched another bite, munching on it as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Who are you?” Harm clenched his fists at his sides. Should he call for Val?

“Not going to tell you that.” The young man turnedhis head to the side, revealing reassuringly normal, rounded ears. “But I’m as human as you are.”

“That could be a glamour.” Harm had learned about such things in the past few days. He couldn’t trust his eyes.

Daisy stood and approached the man, her tail wagging even if her head was low and wary.

The man held out a hand. Daisy sniffed it, and her tail wagged faster. She pressed her head into the man’s knees, wiggling as he ran his fingers over her ears. Even as he scratched Daisy behind the ears, the young man glanced at Harm. “Your dog likes me.”

“She isn’t my dog.” Harm wasn’t sure why he felt the need to make that point.

“Belongs to your mercenary guard, does she?” The man gestured with the turquoise apple at the rope around Harm’s wrist. “Is that a threefold cord?”

“Yes.” Harm didn’t see any reason to lie. He peeked at Val, but she was so locked in her bargaining that she didn’t seem to be paying any attention to Harm or who he might be speaking to.

---