Friesner, Esther Chicks 05 Turn the Other Chick

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

As for Coedric, he refused to speak of his past. Lorayne had always felt that he had secrets from her,
that he had a lover back home. At least if he would admit it, she would know whom to be jealous of.
She pouted some more while he tried to impress the barbarian body builders. Then the minstrel walked
by, all dressed in green silk with her Adam's apple sticking out, and she hadn't even bothered to shave
her arms. Coedric pinched her behind, and Lorayne couldn't watch anymore.
Barbara Faw plopped a pitcher of ale on the table along with a plate of roast duck and some hard rolls.
Lorayne wrenched her thoughts to the problem at hand how to save Esmerelda from Lord Guano.
The minstrel took up position in a corner of the room and began to sing, accompanying herself on the
lute. Her voice was a dusky tenor, as she breathed out the first lines of her ballad, "I made it through the
wilderness, you know I made it through-ooh-ooh."
Suddenly, Mistress Faw was at her elbow, whispering urgently. "The back door, Lorayne, hurry!"
Lorayne looked up to see a half dozen guards in Lord Guano's colors, scarlet and gold, pouring through
the Pony's front door. Mistress Faw intercepted them with an enthusiastic greeting, and two half-naked
serving boys sidled up, smiling. The Pony's patronage was nothing if not loyal. Even the displaced
footpads closed ranks around them, blocking the guards' view.
Lorayne grabbed Coedric's arm and made for the back entrance. But chaos broke out in front of them.
One of the guards shoved a barbarian body builder, and the minstrel dropped her lute and smashed a
clay pitcher over the guard's head. Another guard yanked her by the arm, and then all of the barbarian
body builders jumped into the fight. In the midst of the melee, two of Guano's guards spotted Lorayne
and Coedric making for the back door and ran to intercept them. Lorayne and Coedric elbowed through
the crowd and turned to face the guards, their swords hissing out of their scabbards.
Two guards would have been no match for Coedric the Coelacanth and the legendary Gypsy Queen,
but as fate would have it the two Muskellunge clansmen sulking at the far end of the tavern jumped up at
that moment.
"Die, Coelacanth!" they shouted with rage, when they spotted Coedric, and then their clan battle cry,
"Magnificent Mauling Muskellunge!" It took the drunken clansmen several tries to utter it.
Lorayne found herself facing two soldiers as the clansmen focused their attack on Coedric. She was a
highly accomplished swordswoman, and was able to parry their first attacks with disdainful finesse, but
she knew that before long one of them would slip under her guard.
Out of the chaos, Barbara Faw appeared. She threw a blanket over the guards' heads. Momentarily
free, Lorayne turned on the Muskellunge men and forced them back. "Coedric, come!" she yelled,
making for the back door. Reluctantly, Coedric followed.
As they ran down the alley behind the Mincing Pony, Barbara Faw followed. "Take a right!" she hissed.
Lorayne and Coedric dodged into an even smaller alley that was not more than a crevice between two
buildings, too narrow even for a horse. They heard cries behind them, booted feet pelting down the
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
alleyway, scattering gravel. Barbara opened a door cleverly hidden in the stone wall and shoved them in.
The door closed on perfect darkness just as the pursuing guards ran by. Lorayne heard one call out,
only inches away, then the voices faded.
The room was tiny, and crowded with three people in it. Something was stacked along the back wall
and from the smell Lorayne surmised it was dried fish. "Oh, goddess," she said. "I amnevergoing to get
this smell out of my leathers."
Coedric inhaled deeply, and as Lorayne's eyes adjusted she could see dimly that he had a fierce grin on
his face, only inches from her own. "The smell o' the northlands, love. That's the smell of home."
"Gross," said Lorayne, without much feeling, since she was distracted by being pressed up against
Coedric.Maybe it would work, she thought,if I just pretended . . .
"What do we do now?" said Coedric. "Go back to Amygdala's coetidel?"
"Stop that!" said Lorayne.
"What?" said Coedric.
"You know very well, what," said Lorayne.
"I coertainly do not," said Coedric.
"You did it again!"
"Hush!" said Barbara Faw, as more voices passed by in the alley. When all was quiet again, she spoke.
"This Lord Guano has your sister, Lorayne, right? And he intends to marry her?"
"Yes," Lorayne answered.
"The Serpent God he worships requires forty days of fasting and a sacrificial goat for a wedding. Guano
will be unwilling to wait. And he will be too cheap to pay for the goat. Not to mention the portrait-maker,
the flowers, and the cake. And his family would never get along with yours."
Lorayne nodded. "I hadn't thought of that. Seating arrangements would be impossible."
"There's only one place Guano can take her where the rituals will be sufficiently . . . expedited . . . for his
tastes," said Barbara.
Lorayne and Coedric exchanged glances in the dark, then said, in unison, "G'morra."
"Now," said Barbara, "We'll need disguises. Lorayne, we'll dress you as a boy "
"Forget it," said Coedric. "She could never pass as a boy."
"Here's what we're going to do . . ." said Barbara.
* * *
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
The lights of G'morra were visible miles away as Lorayne, Coedric, and Barbara made their way across
the Zyndian wastes. Barbara rode in a carriage borrowed from a certain young noble who owed
Mistress Faw a debt of gratitude for her discretion. The nature of the Mincing Pony disposed a lot of
wealthy people to be helpful to its proprietress. Coedric sat up front, driving the horses, while Lorayne
rode a horse, quietly pouting in her plain soldier's garb: leather jerkin (flat), shirt of mail, bracers,
gauntlets, leggings (not capris), rough leather boots, and man's surcoat. The unfamiliar clothing chafed
her. Barbara Faw had even denied her the comfort of foundation garments. She cast a jealous glance at
Barbara, draped in scarlet silks inside the carriage.
Barbara caught her look, "For goodness sake, Lorayne.Youcan be the Queen of Sheba on the way
home!"
Lorayne sniffed. "That's what you said last time!"
Coedric snorted, giving the reins a jiggle. "Stay in character,Loris." Coedric was disgruntled as well,
having been forced to put aside his coelacanth helm, and don the lavender livery of the imaginary nation
of Sheba.
Lorayne straightened her shoulders, cleared her throat, and attempted a masculine grunt. Her one
comfort was that she had some emergency supplies in one of her saddlebags: a compact, face powder,
hoop earrings, a very sharp razor, and some moist towelettes.
Their small delegation was welcomed through the gates, into the city of G'morra, where a festival was
held every day of the year. They drove up the main thoroughfare, towards the center of the city. G'morra,
known as Vaygas among the Southerners, was laid out in concentric circles, penetrated by spokes.
Around the inner circle were arrayed villas owned by all of the wealthy nobles of the realm. Since
G'morra was liberal in its allowance of entertainments, many of the grandest balls, tournaments, and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Archiwum