Fiddler couldn’t remember if they’d caught anything that day. Hopes had a way of sinking fast once you stepped out of childhood. In any case, escaping this motley throng of soldiers, he’d scrounged a decent line and a catfish-spine hook. Using a sliver of salted bhederin for bait and a bent, holed coin buffed to flash, he trailed the line out behind the barge. There was always the chance of snagging something ugly, like one of those crocodiles, but he didn’t think it likely. He did, however, make a point of not dangling his legs over the edge. Wrong bait.
Balm wandered up after a time and sat down beside him. ‘Catch anything?’
‘Make one of two guesses and you’ll be there,’ Fiddler replied.
‘Funny though, Fid, seen plenty jumping earlier.’
‘That was dusk-tomorrow round that time I’ll float something looking like a fly. Find any of your squad?’
‘No, not one. Feels like someone cut off my fingers. I’m actually looking forward to getting back on land.’
‘You always were a lousy marine, Balm.’
The Dal Honese nodded. ‘And a worse soldier.’
‘Now I didn’t say-’
‘Oh but I am. I lose myself. I get confused.’
‘You just need pointing in the right direction, and then you’re fine, Balm. A mean scrapper, in fact.’
‘Aye, fighting my way clear of all that fug. You was always lucky, Fid. You got that cold iron that makes thinking fast and clear easy for you. I ain’t neither hot or cold, you see. I’m more like lead or something.’
‘No one in your squad has ever complained, Balm.’
‘Well, I like them and all, but I can’t say that they’re the smartest people I know.’
‘Throatslitter? Deadsmell? They seem to have plenty of wits.’
‘Wits, aye. Smart, no. I remember when I was a young boy. In the village there was another boy, about my age. Was always smiling, even when there was nothing to smile about. And always getting into trouble-couldn’t keep his nose out of anything. Some of the older boys would pick on him-I saw him punched in the face once, and he stood there bleeding, that damned smile on his face. Anyway, one day he stuck his nose into the wrong thing-no one ever talked about what it was, but we found that boy lying dead behind a hut. Every bone broken. And on his face, all speckled in blood, there was that smile.’
‘Ever see a caged ape, Balm? You must have. That smile you kept seeing was fear.’
‘I know it now, Fid, you don’t need to tell me. The point is, Throatslitter and Deadsmell, they make me think of that boy, the way he always got into things he shouldn’t have. Wits enough to be curious, not smart enough to be cautious.’
Fiddler grunted. ‘I’m trying to think of any soldier in my squad who fits that description. It occurs to me that wits might be hard to find among ’em, barring maybe Bottle-but he’s smart enough to keep his head down. I think. So far, anyway. As for the rest of them, they like it simple and if it ain’t simple, why, they just get mad and break something.’
‘You got yourself a good squad there, Fid.’
‘They’ll do.’
A sudden tug. He began hitching the line back in. ‘Not much of a fight, can’t be very big.’ Moments later he drew the hook into view. They stared down at a fish not much bigger than the bait, but it had lots of teeth.
Balm snorted. ‘Look, it’s smiling!’
It was late and Brys Beddict was ready for bed, but the aide’s face was set, as if the young man had already weathered a tirade. ‘Very well, send her in.’
The aide bowed and backed away with evident relief, turning smartly at the silk curtain, slipping past to make his way to the outer midship deck. A short time later Brys heard boots thumping from bare boards to the rug-strewn corridor leading to his private chamber. Sighing, he rose from his camp chair and adjusted his cloak.
Atri-Ceda Aranict edged aside the curtain and stepped within. She was tall, somewhere in her late thirties, though the deep creases framing her mouth-from a lifetime of rustleaf-made her look older; although something about those lines suited her well. Her sun-faded brown hair was straight and hung loose, down to either side of her breasts. The uniform of her rank seemed an ill fit, as if she was yet to become accustomed to this new career. Bugg had found her in the most recent troll for potential cedas. She had been employed as a midwife in a household in the city of Trate, which had suffered terribly at the beginning of the Edur invasion. Her greatest talents were in healing, although Bugg had assured Brys that she possessed the potential for other magics.