She nodded, resting her cheek against his chest. ‘I sometimes think I know what is going on, Erik, as I piece together bits of things heard here and there. Other times I’m not sure even what I’m doing here. Since Bobby died I often think I’m in one of those places the priests talk about, one of the lesser hells. I can’t leave the inn unless I’ve a pair of guards with me. The Mockers have put the death mark on me, but they’re the only family I’ve known.’
Erik couldn’t think of anything to say. He hugged her. ‘If I get some time off soon, I’ll take you somewhere, someplace different, away from the city.’
She clung to him a minute, then said, ‘I have to get back.’
He walked toward the rear door of the inn and removed his arm from around her waist when they got there. Saying nothing, he followed her inside. She silently moved through the kitchen and took her usual station behind the bar.
Jadow Shati and Owen Greylock still sat at the table, but Roo had departed.
‘Where’s Roo?’ Erik asked as he sat.
‘When you didn’t come back, he, Jimmy, and Dash left. Something about an important appointment,’ answered Greylock.
‘Did Nakor find you?’ asked Jadow innocently.
‘Yes,’ answered Erik as he sat.
‘Not at too awkward a moment, I hope,’ said Jadow, his face splitting into a wide grin.
Erik blushed and said, ‘No.’
‘That’s good,’ said Jadow. Then he exploded into a laugh so infectious Greylock and Erik were forced to join in.
Kitty approached with a fresh pitcher of ale. ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.
Her tone was one of potential injury, and her expression spoke volumes: if she was the butt of some joke told by Erik, some brag of conquest, no repair would ever be possible to the damage done.
Adroitly Greylock said, ‘Nakor,’ and started to laugh again.
‘Oh,’ said Kitty, as if that explained everything. She smiled at Erik and he returned the smile.
After she left, Jadow said, ‘So there is something going on with you two?’
Erik nodded. ‘And it scares the hell out of me.’
Greylock held up his fresh ale, as if in a toast. ‘That’s serious.’
Jadow nodded sagely. ‘Very serious, man. It can only be one thing.’
‘What?’ said Erik, a tone of worry in his voice.
‘Oh, man, he does have it bad,’ said Jadow.
‘That’s the truth,’ answered Greylock.
‘What?’ demanded Erik.
Greylock said, ‘Never been in love before?’
Jadow retorted, ‘He’s too stupid to know if he has.’
Erik sat back and said, ‘I guess not.’ His brow furrowed and he stared into his ale as if he’d find an answer in it. Then suddenly he grinned and looked at the faces of his two friends. ‘I guess not.’
He turned to gaze at Kitty, who was busy cleaning behind the bar, talking quietly with another of the working girls, then turned back to his friends. ‘I’m in love,’ he said as if it were a revelation.
Suddenly Greylock and Jadow couldn’t contain themselves and started laughing again. After the mirth died, Jadow said, ‘Come on, boy. You need another drink.’
Greylock shook his head and sighed. ‘Ah, to be young again.’
Erik just sat silently, wondering at all the odd feelings of delight and uncertainty within. He stole a glance at Kitty and saw her watching him. He smiled at her and she returned it, and he felt joyous inside.
Then while Jadow and Greylock exchanged witty remarks, a dark cloud descended over Erik, as he considered the coming battle. How could he afford the time for anything other than that, he wondered to himself.
Sylvia bit Roo playfully on the neck.
‘Ow,’ he said, half in jest, half in real pain. ‘That was too hard.’
She pouted. ‘I need to punish you. You’ve been gone too long.’
She snuggled down into the crook of his arm as he said, ‘I know. The closer we get –’ He caught himself. He was about to say ‘to the invasion.’
‘Closer to what?’ she asked, very attentively.
He studied her face in the candlelight. He had come to her house late and they had gone straight to bed. Her father was away on business, she said, so he planned on spending the entire night, rather than returning to his town house before dawn, as was his habit when Jacob Esterbrook was at home. Thinking about what he had found about her father’s advantage over Roo’s companies in trade with Great Kesh, he again wondered if he was saying anything that she was repeating to her father. He pushed aside the concern. ‘I mean, as I get closer to this goal I have, controlling all shipping on the Bitter Sea, I seem to have less time for anything else.’
She bit him on the shoulder again, this time hard enough to make him genuinely cry out. ‘Explain that to your wife,’ she said, indicating the teeth marks she’d left. She got out of bed, and Roo marveled at the sight of her naked body. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered, and in the light of the single candle she seemed sculpted from living marble, without flaw. He thought about his own wife’s pudgy body, without a hint of strength in the muscle, the marks on her left by childbirth, and he found himself astonished by his ability to make love to Karli.
As Sylvia put on her robe, he said, ‘What’s gotten into you?’
‘You have time to spend with Helen Jacoby, but you spend days away from me.’
Roo said, ‘You can’t possibly be jealous of Helen?’
‘Why not?’ She turned, an accusatory expression on her face as he sat up in her bed. ‘You spend time with her. She’s not unattractive in a raw-boned peasant-girl fashion. You’ve mentioned you respect her wit, far too many times for my liking.’
Roo got out of bed, and said, ‘I killed her husband, Sylvia. I owe her some comfort. But I have never touched her.’
‘You’d like touching her, I wager,’ said Sylvia.
Roo tried to put his arms around her, but she brushed him aside and moved away. ‘Sylvia, you’re being unfair.’
‘I’m being unfair?’ she said, turning and allowing her robe to fall open.
Roo found himself beginning to become aroused at the sight of her.
‘You’re the man with the wife, children, and reputation. I was one of the most eligible daughters in the Kingdom until I met you.’ Pouting, she moved toward him, letting her breasts rub against his bare chest as she said, ‘I’m the mistress. I’m the woman of no status. You can leave whenever you want.’ Her hand began tracing small circles on his stomach.
Roo’s breath came hard as he said, ‘I would never leave you, Sylvia.’
Reaching down, she stroked him and said, ‘I know.’
He pulled off her robe and carried her so quickly to the bed he almost tossed her onto the covers. Quickly taking her, he pleaded his undying love while Sylvia looked at the canopy overhead, fighting off a yawn. A self-satisfied smile then formed on her lips that had nothing to do with physical pleasure, and everything to do with power. Roo was on his way to being the most important merchant in the history of the Kingdom, and he was clearly under her power. She listened to Roo breathe more rapidly as his passion mounted and she detached herself from the