Page 9 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“Thank you,” I said, a flush heating my cheeks. “I…I am truly in your debt.” I gripped the charm around my neck and vowed that if this woman helped me, that I would, in fact, repay her. No matter what effort was required, I would not disappoint the faith she’d placed in me.
“What’s your name?” the woman asked.
“Brexia,” I said. “Brexia Eloise. Brex for short.”
The farrier introduced herself as Laura and took the reins of the trotter from me. “Come on back,” she said. “You’re far from home, and I think there are a few things you might want to know about the Oderisi brothers before you accept that job.”
Brothers.
I knew it. I’d thought Neo had said something about having a brother with a wife whose sister was a healer, but I’d been too focused on the sausages and the eating blade to catch the details. Now I could be certain—Neo had a brother. And I guessed the softness I’d detected in him could be attributed to affection for his sibling.
I followed Laura through a door that led to perfectly orderly stalls where a dozen horses were being cared for. She situated my mare and opened a ledger to record the services and the prices for the work the trotter would need. She called over an apprentice, who sucked his teeth when he got a look at the mare’s hooves.
“She’s a rescue,” Laura said, swatting the boy’s shoulder. “This kind young woman has given the horse a reason to hope. Let’s not penalize her for whatever marks or signs of neglect you find.” She turned to me. “Has she a name?”
I nodded. “I’ve been calling her Sara. I think she prefers it to whatever she was called before.”
Laura took gentle hold of Sara and nodded. “She’s as lovely as a Sara should be,” she said. “Todmund! Get Sara here fixed right up. Give her a thorough look, and be quick about it. Miss Eloise doesn’t have all day.”
The apprentice took charge of Sara while Laura took me under her wing. “Now,” she said. “Come with me. Let’s have a friendly chat.”
By the time Sara was ready to ride, my ears were full of stories about the Oderisi clan. The mother, wrecked by love, who’d lost not one, but two spouses over the years. Her first husband, Neoruzzi and Rainieri’s father, had died when the boys were very young. Her second partner’s illness had nearly bankrupted the family, but Laura assured me that the Oderisi gentlemen still had some means.
“That’s what worries me,” she said quietly, as though one of the family might be nearby to overhear. “The younger one, Rainieri… He married a local girl, a common scrivener, just a few months ago. She was also from a very, very troubled family.”
If trouble followed the Oderisi family, then I would fit right in. I thanked Laura for her concern and information.
“A young girl all alone so far from home,” she said, looking me over kindly. “I trust that those boys have the means to pay you. But with a wife and the wife’s sister all living under one roof, I can’t imagine why they need more household staff.”
I shrugged. “Maybe that’s why? The mistress of the manor and her sister moving in doubled the number of people living under one roof. I know I’d want to hire a girl if I were newly wed and had only my sister on hand to help.”
Laura reached a hand for me and did something that nearly broke my heart. She tipped my chin with her fingertips and looked me squarely in the face. “Be careful there, my dear,” she said. “Things in the Realm aren’t always as they appear. Put your safety first. Protect your mind, your honor, and your spirit at all costs. There’s no replacing you, you know.”
I knew that just as well as anyone but nodded my thanks. Then, in a moment of genuine appreciation, I grabbed the fingers that had touched my chin and squeezed them warmly. “Thank you, Laura,” I said, emotion clogging the words in my throat. “For being so kind to a stranger. I’ll not forget all you’ve done. And I’ll be back to pay what I owe if Lord Oderisi doesn’t handle it first.”
She nodded and squeezed my hands back. The charm at my neck seemed to warm, and I released her fingers and stroked the pendant. I took Sara back from Todmund, who looked right pleased with himself and his work.
“She’s so beautiful! She’s nearly a new animal,” I breathed. “Thank you for your good work, sir.”
The boy flushed at the praise but got right back to business. “I put a bit of ointment on that gouge on her face,” he said. “She took it like a champion, but if you can find some more, you’ll want to keep the wounds clean so they don’t get infected. She’s got a good appetite and a very pleasant temperament. I’d trust anyone I loved on this horse,” he assured me.
“We’ll use this,” Laura said, pressing a series of symbols into a smooth length of green wood. “Not all of the guildmembers can read, so we still use tally sticks in these parts. You can go ahead and put your name right here.”
I looked over the markings on the wood then pulled my own dull eating blade from my traveling pouch to carve my name into the stick, binding me to repay the amounts I owed for Sara’s care. Once my name was on the wood, Todmund split the young piece of greenwood in half, and handed one part to me. The other half he hung with an iron nail on the back wall of the shop. Mine was not the only tally stick on the wall, which made me feel quite a bit better. I tucked my half of the stick into my cloak and made a vow to myself.
This was one bill I would not run out on. This place, this farrier, had shown me kindness that might just be a sign of a fresh start. A new way.
But before I let myself be carried away dreaming of independence, wages, and a right proper purse full of hard-earned coins, there was one last thing standing in my way. I still needed to convince Neo Oderisi to give me a job.
* * *
Findingthe Orderisi manor was much easier than I expected, although Laura couldn’t give me very specific directions. She was very well-acquainted with the younger Oderisi brother, Rainieri, as he had a fondness for horses and kept a full stable. Laura generally sent me off the village roads on a path that led north.
She assured me I wouldn’t have to travel far but suggested I make haste to reach the manor before dark. “This is vengersax territory,” she’d reminded me. “If you don’t have them where you came from, you’ll do well to carry a torch in the dark or get yourself inside long before nightfall.”
I’d heard plenty of stories growing up about the beasts that roamed the Realm, “winged daggers” like the vengersax who preyed on men’s eyes and tongues after sundown. The things that went bump in the night where I’d been could compete with any beast I’d find here in Omrora. I was certain of that but would nonetheless remember her warning.
With her clean, new shoes and a belly full of fresh grass from the grounds outside the stable, Sara seemed far more comfortable, and I was able to ride her through the village and along the dusty path. Just as twilight descended over the hills, I spotted lights burning in a manor that was almost indistinguishable from the horizon of dark clouds.
