Page 53 of A Skirl of Sorcery
By the time I’d recovered enough to return to full speed, Thane had grabbed Bin’s cloak and hauled him backwards until he was gripping the trow by his upper arm.
Panting slightly, I caught up to them. Thane glanced at me. ‘Thought you’d been training lately?’
I rolled my eyes in mock irritation; I was fit and I could run fast, but I wasn’t super human. My throbbing ankle proved it.
Bin was already screeching, ‘Lemme go!’ He twisted against Thane’s hold but couldn’t break free, so he switched tactics and started kicking repeatedly at Thane’s shins.
‘Hey! Stop that!’ Thane tried to angle his body away but Bin was determined. Some of those sharp kicks must have hurt.
I moved until I was facing the trow. ‘Enough,’ I growled. The menace in my tone made him falter. ‘You’re outnumbered here, buster, and we’ve got some questions that you will answer before we consider releasing you.’
There was a polite cough behind me. ‘Actually,’ said a clipped female voice. ‘I think you’ll find that you two are the ones who are outnumbered and thatyouwill answer some questions beforewelet you go.’
I turned around slowly and gazed at the miniature army of trows. Several were holding weapons and all of them looked cross. ‘This doesn’t concern you,’ I told them snippily.
One of the trows stepped forward, probably the one who’d already spoken. She was wearing a bonnet like the other women but she had a heavy gold chain around her neck. Nobody else was displaying such visible jewellery.
I made an educated guess. ‘You’re the mayor of Green Humbleton?’
Her eyes glittered in the darkness. ‘I am, therefore this matter concerns me. Binhamatin is one of ours. You have no right to assault him in this manner.’
Bin emphasised the trow mayor’s words by launching another series of kicks at Thane. ‘Exactly!’ he said shrilly. ‘Let me go!’
‘I think that he’s the one who’s guilty of assault,’ Thane grunted. ‘All I’ve done is stop him from running away before we can speak to him.’
I nodded. ‘He’s not the upstanding citizen you think he is. He’s guilty of a series of thefts across Coldstream. Binhamatim here is a criminal.’
The mayor’s expression was placid. ‘I know,’ she replied. ‘Who do you think put him up to it?’
I blinked at her. ‘You?’ I asked stupidly.
‘Desperate times call for desperate measures.’
I stared at the assembled trows. None of them were backing down. I turned to Thane and met his gaze. He acknowledged my glance and cleared his throat. ‘All of us need to sit down,’ he said, ‘and have a serious conversation.’
Perceivedwisdom suggests that embattled parties joining together for talks should meet on neutral ground because to do otherwise gives one side an unfair advantage. In theory, that was true for Thane and me. Entering the underground network of concealed trow living spaces could have been a very bad idea indeed; we didn’t know the layout and it would be easy for them to gain the upper hand and attack us both. And given that Thane’s height meant he would have to stoop, he was already at a disadvantage.
On the other hand, there were reasons why walking into a trow space wasn’t such a terrible idea. For one thing, I used to be an assassin and my job had centred around enteringenemy territory to complete my missions. For another, offering the small concession of literally yielding ground to the trows would relax them, and if they felt less threatened they’d be less unpredictable. And, of course, we didn’t have much choice in the matter. We could have walked away, but given Keres’ condition that wasn’t really an option. Although it was possible that Bin and the other trows had nothing to do with the stolen magic, this was the only real lead we had.
The mayor, who formally introduced herself as Tanavantia, took us to an unmarked spot in the centre of the empty Green Humbleton field and waved her hand. There was a brief rumbling sound and a moment later a narrow gap opened up leading downwards. We squeezed in after her and found ourselves in a wide space lined with wooden benches. Doubtless this was the trow version of a town hall.
Tanavantia offered us space on a bench near the front and I eyed it dubiously. Trows were relatively small creatures and I wasn’t convinced it would hold my weight, let alone Thane’s, so I elected to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of it. After a moment’s pause, he joined me.
As soon as we were seated, six trows flanked us to the left and the right, their expressions grim. Although I wasn’t daft enough to underestimate their abilities, I wasn’t worried. Not yet, anyway.
Tanavantia gestured at Bin and he shuffled forward, a bag in his hands. I recognised it immediately as the same drawstring bag he’d been carrying when I’d confronted him in Danksville. He moved to the centre of the room and emptied its contents.
‘There you go,’ Tanavantia said. ‘Take what is yours.’
I gave her a steady look. ‘None of it is mine.’
She sighed and jerked her head at Thane. ‘You, then. Take what belongs to you.’
He didn’t hesitate. ‘None of it is mine, either.’
Her gaze switched between us. ‘You are not members of the Magical Enforcement Team, and you are not stalwarts from the druids, the witches or the vampires,’ she said, naming the three largest and most cohesive Preternatural groups. ‘You,’ she said to Thane, ‘are a lone werewolf. And you,’ she addressed me, ‘are a cat sith.’
I didn’t bother looking at Bin; I already knew he was the one who had informed the mayor as to what I was. ‘We might be independent beings who are not aligned with any other groups but that doesn’t mean we are not community minded,’ I pointed out.
