Page 43 of Truth's Blade

“Melodie.” Theo stood, angling out of the nook and putting a hand on Kandra Gus’s shoulder to stop him getting up.

“It’s all right.” She kept her voice soft. “He’s not going anywhere. Question is, does he have a helper, because if that had landed on you, how would he have taken us both?”

“Had what landed on me?” Theo’s gaze swept the tap room.

“The net.” Melodie inched out herself. “See anyone suspicious?”

“Maybe.” His gaze locked on someone close to the side door, and as Melodie got free of the table, she caught the back view of a woman, pushing the doors open and escaping outside.

“I’ll get her. Can you bring him with you to the stables?” Theo was already moving.

“Yes.” Melodie was careful not to touch the net. “Come now, Gus, let’s go outside. Follow me.”

He stood compliantly and did exactly as she asked. The crowd had thinned since the breakfast rush and it was easy enough to take the exit closest to the stables.

As they walked to the door, she checked the patrons to see if they were watching the drama, but either no one had been looking their way, or they didn’t think it that strange.

Once they’d made it outside, she blinked against the brightness of the sun. Despite the cloudless day, the air was cool,and she shivered a little after the warmth of the inn. She needed her jacket or at least a vest over her shirt.

Gus stumbled on the uneven cobbles, and she took his arm, leading him to the large, well-built stables set along the side of the inn.

“Here.” Theo’s voice came from around the corner of the building, and Melodie steered Gus along with her, and found Theo holding a woman up against the back wall, completely out of sight of the courtyard between the stables and the inn.

“So, you and Kandra Gus are a team?” Melodie said. “What’s your name?”

The woman was thin, wiry, and older than Melodie had originally thought. About the same age as Gus himself. The clothes she wore looked a little more worn than Gus’s and she looked less sleek and prosperous.

“Name’s Nena, and we’re not a team.” The woman spat to the side. “He pays me, and tries to undercut the final amount. That’s how things work between us.”

“And what was he paying you to do today?” Theo asked.

“To grab her.” Nena nodded to Melodie. “He said he would have you under control, and would lead you outside, and I was to bring the woman along, and pretend like we were going to help you.” She lifted one shoulder. “Looks like you managed to turn the tables on him.”

“Looks like,” Melodie agreed.

There was a beat of silence, and Nena’s eyes moved from Gus to Theo to her, and she looked frightened.

“I know he meant you harm. I’m not stupid. But he pays me, and I need the money. I know you got no cause to feel friendly toward me, but if I tell you what I know, will you let me go?”

“Depends if, after you tell us what you know, we believe you.” Theo sounded as grim as an executioner.

Nena hesitated, then gave a nod, her eyes sliding over and over to Gus, as if she couldn’t believe his demeanor.

He stood, smiling slightly, swaying a little in place, but otherwise completely placid.

“Gus here comes through Warven at least twice a month, sometimes more. I live just outside town, and he’s used me a few times to help him.” Her eyes darted away, and Melodie wondered what that help had entailed. “He takes his orders from someone who lives nearby, and he comes and goes between Taunen and Illoa, and sometimes even further, for whoever it is he works for. He buys things or collects things, and drops them off. And every now and then, he does something a little more hands on than just delivering packages.”

“Like this time,” Theo said.

She gave a nod. “He arrived very late last night, to tell me to be at the inn early, and I was to have breakfast in the tap room and wait for him to give me the signal.”

“Where would you have taken us?” Melodie asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been to the big boss’s house,” she said. “Gus calls him Marchant. He lives down the road from me. At least, I think he does. But then, this place was always a little muddled, you know? I’ve felt more myself since yesterday evening than I have for a while.”Nena rubbed at her arms. “A lot of people are feeling that. I heard the talk this morning in the tap room.”

“How long have you had this arrangement with Kandra Gus?” Melodie asked.

“Three years,” she said, and there was a depth of bitterness to her voice that told Melodie she had hated every minute of those years.

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