Bleak Seasons

82

They did not come that night. Nor did they come the next though they sent a lot of Taglians and Jaicuri out in place of the Company.

Two mornings later Mather finally let me in on what the excitement had been about when Blade interrupted our discussion over Uncle Doj and Thai Dei. He told me, "Croaker will be here in an hour or two, Murgen. You might put in a good word."

"What?"

It was not an hour and it was not just the Old Man. Croaker was travelling with the Prahbrindrah Drah himself. He looked like he had seen a lot of hard road. I moved toward him in fits and starts, unsure where we stood after all this time.

He jumped down, said, "It is me. I'm real."

"But I saw you die."

"No. You saw me get hit. I was still breathing when you cut out."

"Yeah? The shape you was in, there wasn't no way... "

"Shouldn't have been, either. It's a long story. We can chew on it over a few beers sometime." He waved. A soldier trotted up. Croaker grabbed his spear, which was almost long enough to be a pike, shoved it at me. "Here. You left this when you ran off to play Widowmaker."

I did not believe it. Not at first. It was the lance for the standard.

"You really need to hug it?"

"It's really it! I was almost sure it was lost." Despite what I had told Mogaba. "You got no idea how guilty I felt. Although I did think I saw it that one time... It's really you?" I looked at him closely. Having seen what illusions One-Eye and Goblin could conjure I was not quite ready to accept the evidence of my own eyes.

"It's me. Really. Alive and in a mood to kick some ass. But that's not what I've got on my mind right now. Where's Lady?"

Poor boy. Blade gave him the bad news. His paramour had left more than a week ago, headed north. They missed each other on the road.

Swan and Mather were impressed by the presence of the Prince, their supposed boss. Why was he out running around, anyway? I noticed Croaker had a hard stare for Sindhu, who had stayed behind when Lady left.

The Old Man snapped, "Quit making love to that damned thing, Murgen. I need to catch up. I'm way out of touch. Will somebody take this damned butt-cruncher?"

A soldier grabbed his mount's reins.

"Let's get out of the sun."

"I want to hear your story," I said. "While it's fresh."

"Going to put it into the Annals? You been keeping them up?"

"I tried. Only I had to leave them in the city." I did not like that, either. One-Eye could promise the moon about taking care of them but would he deliver?

"I'll look forward to reading the Book of Murgen. If it's any good you've got the job for life."

Swan said something about Lady planning to write a book of her own when she got time. Croaker flung a stone at a crow. It was the first of those birds I had spotted since the albino in the night. Maybe he brought it with him. I sketched some of what had been happening in Dejagore.

"Guess it hasn't been fun for anybody. Seems Mogaba is the main problem. Better get right after him. How many people are still over there?"

"My guess is him and the Nar have a thousand to fifteen hundred men. I don't know how many people I have. Some come out every night but since I got elected prisoner here I can't keep track. Goblin and One-Eye and most of the Company are still over there." I hoped Uncle Doj and Thai Dei were using this distraction to get To Tan and Sahra and themselves on the road.

"Why would they stay?"

"They don't want to leave. They say they want to wait till Lady gets all her powers back. They say something is out here waiting for them."

"Powers back?"

"It's happening," Blade said.

"Hunh. So what are they afraid of, Murgen?"

"Shapeshifter's apprentice. That bitch from Juniper. She almost got One-Eye once already once... " How come I believed the little rat now but had not when he had told me?

I had a momentary vision of One-Eye puffing through the night with fanged death closing in. It was as solid as actual memory.

"I remember her. She was a real piece of work. Marron Shed should have taken care of her when he had the chance."

"Evidently she wants to get even with us for doing Shifter. She may be locked into the forvalaka shape, too. Which would really piss anybody off, I guess. But if you was to ask my personal opinion I think she's only an excuse. They want to stay where they are because otherwise they might have to leave something behind."

"Like what?"

I shrugged. "They're Goblin and One-Eye. They've had months to pilfer and profiteer."

"Tell me about Mogaba."

Now we got down to the grim stuff.

Before the discussion ended even nasty Sindhu condemned the Nar.

"I'll put an end to that. You want to take a message to Mogaba?"

I looked over my shoulder. He could not be asking the guy behind me. There was nobody there. "You shitting me? Not unless it's an order. And maybe not then. Mogaba wants my head. Not to mention my heart and liver for breakfast. Crazy as he is right now he might go after me with you standing right behind me."

"I'll get somebody else."

"Good idea."

"I'll go," Swan volunteered. Then him and Mather got into an argument about that. Evidently Swan had something to prove to himself and Cordy did not believe he needed to bother.