Page 90 of Swordheart
CHAPTER 29
The next day passed easily enough. The day was cold and frost lay on the leaves long past noon. It was not until early evening that trouble struck them.
Zale inhaled sharply, looking ahead. Sarkis saw the flash of indigo cloaks and his heart sank.
“Them again,” he said.
“They are persistent,” muttered Zale. “Like flies returning to a turd.”
“Making us the turd?”
“Well…”
“Halt!” said the man in the lead, the one Sarkis was thinking of as Red.
Brindle did not halt, but given that the ox was moving only slightly above a dead stop at any given time, the Motherhood men didn’t seem to notice.
“We must insist that you allow us to inspect your wagon for contraband,” said the one Sarkis called Scar.
“And I must insist that you do nothing of the sort,” said Zale, drawing themselves up to their full height. “We have been over this. You have no authority here.”
“The Motherhood is charged with rooting out wickedness,” said Scar. “We have the authority of our goddess.”
“The Hanged Mother has no authority over the Rat.”
“On this road, the Mother has authority overeveryone,” said Red. He crowded his horse closer. “The Archon trusts to our discretion.”
“This is tyranny!” Zale fumed. “You overstep yourself!”
“If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear,” said Scar.
Sarkis had heard that line before, usually in the mouths of men who had a great deal to hide themselves. He ground his teeth.
Attack and you can probably take them both. Neither has a bow. But they’re mounted and you’ll only get the advantage of surprise on one. There’s a chance Halla or Zale could get injured.
And supposing you do kill them, what then?
He doubted that anyone would cry for the priests, but the others of their Motherhood might come looking. And as far as a speedy getaway was concerned… well, perhaps if they all got out and pushed.
Zale’s thin hand closed over Sarkis’s wrist. He hadn’t realized that his hand had been drifting toward the hilt of his sword. The priest looked him in the eye and clearly made a calculation.
“Fine,” grated the priest. “Look all you want. Brindle, stop the wagon.”
The gnole guided the ox to a stop by the side of the road. “Haw!” he called, and then, finally, “Whoa!” The ox obeyed, deeply unimpressed.
There was a secret compartment in the wagon. Sarkis found out about this when one of the Motherhood men went straight to it and pulled it up out of the floor.
They knew there was a compartment. Probably they’ve seen wagons like this before.Sarkis kept his hand away from his sword, eyes locked on Zale, waiting for a signal.
“And what have we here?” asked Scar, hefting a small bag.
“Money,” said Zale, not at all perturbed. “You carry it to buy things with.”
“Why are you hiding it?”
“Are you really asking why I keep my money in a safe place in the wagon rather than dangling it off my belt where any bandit can see it?”
Sarkis’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword again. Zale gave him a warning look.
