Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

I looked up at Ben with a mixture of amusement and horror. "Maybe we should go ask someone else."

Abla stiffened before she spun around to face us. She marched in our direction and wagged a finger at me. "Not yet! Not until I've earned that coin!"

Ben clutched the bag close to himself as she stopped before us. "Then you know where this Dakin is?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Of course I do. He's just down that way." She nodded at a narrow path to our left that led deeper into the sunken area of the city. "Take that for a mile and you'll find some caves in the ground. He's the third cave on the right."

Ben smiled and dug into his coin bag. He tossed a baron at the woman who eagerly caught it in both hands. "Many thanks to you."

He tucked the coin back into his pocket and guided me away from the carnage. The women were just waking up as Abla moved over to them and kicked them with her foot. "Come on! Get up, you abyad! We have some shopping to do!"

"Heathens. . ." Qita muttered as he led the way up the path.

The trail was so narrow that Ben took the middle of our group and I stayed on his heels. The ground was a mixture of upturned stone and stand, and I felt as though we were climbing over rubble to get through.

"So do I need to worry about getting hit over the head by a ball of magic or were we just lucky to see that fight?" I asked Ben as I stepped over a hole in the ground. It was filled with some unmentionable trash items.

"Magic is outlawed in much of the capital," he explained as he turned to help me over a large stone. "The Huthala is the exception. Many of the dhaka reside there, so it's to be expected that such fights would occasionally break out."

"And the king is fine with that?" I wondered as I accepted his hand and let him guide me over the rock.

"He has little choice, as their numbers are quite formidable," Ben explained as I dropped down beside me. He looked ahead of us and pursed his lips. "Though it appears he has an advantage over them now that he's forced them through the Kneeling Stone ceremony."

"What is this Kneeling Stone, anyway?" I wondered as we continued on our way. There was only the occasional door inset into the walls, but no windows.

Ben shook his head. "I'm afraid that's a mystery to me, as well, as is this whole ceremony. I'm curious to know where Ramaal discovered the magic transfer process."

"You think this Dakin might know?" I mused as the wall to our right began to change. The yellowed dried mud fell away and was replaced by solid natural stone. The ground, likewise, changed from sandstone to rock.

"We'll make inquiries, but we shouldn't expect him to know anything else beyond who may have cursed Salah's family." He dropped his eyes to my hands. "Are you alright?"

I looked down at what he was staring at and found that I had been rubbing my right hand around my left wrist. I gave him a sheepish grin. "I guess I'm still not used to the ribbon not being there."

He stared ahead and pursed his lips. "We'll get it back."

"And the flute," I reminded him as I winced. "I'd hate to leave behind a treasure of Validen."

"What's this about a treasure?" Qita spoke up.

"Merely my beloved's wedding ring," Ben replied. The cat wrinkled his whiskers but turned away from us.

The path widened slightly and we found ourselves at a bend in the road. The street curved leftward, but not before opening to a small clearing. A large ring of fire stones sat in the center, and around that were logs and overturned crates. A few figures huddled over a fire with something that resembled a chicken roasting over the flames.

They looked up at our coming and we were met with dirty looks, in both the literal and figurative senses. Their mud-stained cloaks and blackened hands bespoke a life living under the stars and in the caves that popped out of the ground at the bend in the street. Half a dozen round holes led at various slopes down into the earth. Blankets were used as doors, and some were open to reveal small hovels with clean floors covered in ragged blankets.

One of the burlier of the company stood to face us. The man was about sixty and as tall as Ben, with unruly shoulder-length hair that was speckled with gray. A scar ran down his left cheek and his left eye was covered with the tale-tell signs of blindness. The man seemed to favor one leg over the other, telling me he had a bit of a limp, as well, on that left side.

His dead eye didn't lessen the keen look he gave us. "What's wanted?"

"We're looking for a friend who we were told lived in the third cave," Ben told him.

The man narrowed his eyes at us. "He ain't here."

Ben gestured to two empty crates that sat side by side. "Might we stay until he arrives?"

Qita looked aghast at him. "Stay here? Have you lost your senses?"

Ben smiled as he nodded at the bird on the spit. "Perhaps, but not my appetite, and I must say that animal smells delicious."

"You won't get it for free," the burly man countered.

I nudged Ben's arm with my elbow. "You might as well keep that purse out until we leave this place."

He chuckled as he removed his coin pouch. "So it would seem. How much for a seat and a plate?"

The man held out his hand. "A couple of pieces of silver will get you that."

Ben rummaged through the purse before he drew out his fisted hand and set the coin in the man's palm. "I haven't much small change, so will this do?"

The man's eyes widened as he beheld a baron resting in his hand. "This much?"

Ben smiled and nodded at a tankard of clean water that sat near the fire. "Refreshing water is worth quite a bit, and my companion and I are parched."

I couldn't deny that my lips were already cracking in the dry desert air. The man shrugged as the coin disappeared into his pocket. "Suit yourself. Take as much water as you want, but the meat you'll be having to share."

Ben bowed his head and led us over to the boxes where we took our seats. Qita hopped onto the crate beside me and leaned forward to glare across me at Ben. "You take too much liberty with your wealth."

Ben chuckled as he tucked his pouch into his pocket. "The advantage of being wealthy is you needn't worry about taking too much liberty with it."

"So what are you wanting with the guy who owns that hole?" the burly fellow asked us as he resumed his place at the spit.

Ben shrugged. "We were just seeking his advice. Jania told us he could be of some help."

The man's eyebrows shot up as a crooked smile slipped onto his lips. "She did, did she? How'd you pry that info out of her?"

"Let's just say she, too, has received some coins for her service and wants a few more," Ben mused.

The man slapped his bent knee and laughed. "That's just like her. That prince must be paying out the well for her help."

A look of interest flashed across Ben's eyes. "Then you know where she is?"

The man nodded as he took up a knife and began to slice bits off the meat and onto a plate. "Yep. I make it my business to know where people like her end up." He held out the plate to us. "Here's your part."

Ben accepted the plate and sat back down. Qita leaned forward and sniffed the meat before he wrinkled his whiskers. "Not fit for a cat. . ."

"That's all you're getting until we find some more," I scolded him.

Qita turned his head away and lifted his chin. "Then I'll wait."

Ben munched on a small bit while he kept his attention on the older man. "Then do you happen to know where this Dakin is?"

The man grinned as he set out passing out more food to the others around the fire before getting his own meal set. "Of course I do. He's me."

I furrowed my brow and gave the man a good look over. "You?"

The stranger drew out a long knife and stuck the point into the hefty bit of meat on his plate. He took a big bite and talked with his mouth full. "Am I not what you were looking for?"

I shrugged. "I-I don't really know what I was expecting."

He swallowed his food and chuckled. "But it wasn't this, was it? A lame old man with a dead eye."

"You show signs of having experienced life the hard way," Ben mused.

Dakin eyed him. "Aye, and you've got something yerself, don't ya?" Ben opened his mouth, but our ‘host' held up his hand. "Don't go making lies or half-truths, boy. I've lived a sight longer than you and have had my fair share of ‘em."

Ben smiled at him. "So I see. Then I'll be blunt. We came here to ask you about a curse on the household of Sharif."

Dakin's good humor dropped away faster than a boulder over a cliff. He set his plate down and tucked the knife into his coat before he stood. "That's something best said indoors. Come with me."