Page 132 of Silverbow
“The rest when I see it.”
The gold, worth more than the entire ramshackle hut, disappeared into the dark interior. A small square of parchment returned in the palm. Oryn plucked it up and scanned the text, holding it up to the light to examine the embossed scribemaster’s seal.
“The owner won’t report it missing?”
The man spat.
“Good.”
He handed over the purse and squelched back toward the city proper. As it was unlikely he would be able to wash away the Foreshore, Enya bloody Silverbow could subtract a new pair of boots off whatever tally she was keeping of his debt.
Enya
Enya walked with her arm looped through Liam’s as they threaded through the press. She found it kept the feeling she might be squashed at bay and Colm’s quiet presence on her other side was a steady reassurance.
“The celebration will start tonight with a parade full of puppeteers and marionettes in the streets,” he said as they walked. “Tomorrow, the revelry will start in earnest, from dawn until after dark.”
Enya heard what he did not say and swallowed.Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be her best chance.
They skirted around Blackash Keep, the black dome rising high above the outer wall like a stone bubble belched from the earth. The crimson banners of Davolier House flapped from the guard towers. There was only one gate facing the direction of the keep in the distance - a massive archway with a raised portcullis.
“There are no guards?” She asked, nodding up at the empty walls.
“Not when Drulougan is at home.”
Because no one would be foolish enough to approach.Enya swallowed. “And the gate?”
“An open invitation to lunch,” Liam muttered.
“I’ve seen enough.”
Liam had learned much of Misthol while he’d been waiting for her to arrive. He pointed out various landmarks and shops, and Colm explained what they were - tributes to dead queens, sacred places, places not to wander after dark, places not to wander at all. It was he who explained how the city was divided and steered them toward the Cloth Quarter as Liam’s eyes roved over the women in corsets with wide sleeves and skirts. It made her smile. Much had changed, but not all. Liam was still Liam, and that felt like a balm on her aching, wounded soul.
Mistress Alys would have fainted at the price Enya paid for two shirts, divided skirts, and a blessedly new pair of stockings, but she still had a few coins to her name. She leaned against the outside of a tailor’s shop with Colm as Liam haggled over a new coat inside.
Enya cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you tell me you told Liam where to meet us?”
“If he didn’t remember on waking, I didn’t want you to be disappointed,” Colm answered.
“I thought he was dead.”
“I had difficulty finding him after we met Hylee. I only found him again the night before last.”
Enya chewed her lip. Colm did like his secrets, but as long as he guarded hers, she supposed she could live with it. “Tomorrow, will you come with me?”
His brows rose. “And the others?”
“Just you.”
Colm rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m a fair sword Ansel, but if it’s steel you need, you want Adar or Pedron. If it’s something else…any of them have more useful methods.”
Enya shook her head. She would not give Oryn the opportunity to stop her and she had to fulfill her end of the bargain alone. “I don’t need weapons. Just…a friend.”
“And Liam?”
“He’ll provide a distraction. And should it go poorly, I don’t want him to see.”
Colm nodded gravely. “I am honored to be counted asa friend.”
