Croaker
stopped me."
Zouad? Where had I heard that name? Connected with the Limper.
Colonel Zouad. The Limper's number one villain. Political liaison,
among other euphemisms. His name had occurred in a few overheard
conversations between Raven and the Captain. Zouad was Raven's
intended fifth victim? Then the Limper himself must have been
behind Raven's misfortunes.
Curiouser and curiouser. Also scarier and scarier. The Limper is
not anybody to mess with.
The Limper's man shouted, "I want this man arrested." The
Captain gave him a look. "He murdered two of my men."
The bodies were there in plain sight. Raven said nothing. Elmo
stepped out of character and volunteered, "They were raping the
child. Their idea of pacification."
The Captain stared at his opposite number. The man reddened.
Even the blackest villain will feel shame if caught unable to
justify himself. The Captain snapped, "Croaker?"
"We found one dead Rebel, Captain. Indications were this sort of
thing started before he became a factor."
He asked the sot, "These people are subjects of the Lady? Under
her protection?" The point might be arguable in other courts, but
at the moment it told. By his lack of a defense the man confessed a
moral guilt.
"You disgust me." The Captain used his soft, dangerous voice.
"Get out of here. Don't cross my path again. I'll leave you to my
friend's mercy if you do." The man stumbled away.
The Captain turned to Raven. "You mother-lorn fool. Do you have
any idea what you've done?"
Wearily, Raven replied, "Probably better than you do, Captain.
But I'd do it again."
"And you wonder why we dragged our feet taking you on?" He
shifted subject. "What are you going to do with these people, noble
rescuer?"
That question had not occurred to Raven. Whatever the upheaval
in his life, it had left him living entirely in the present. He was
compelled by the past and oblivious to the future. "They're my
responsibility, aren't they?"
The Captain gave up trying to catch the Limper. Operating
independently now seemed the lesser evil.
The repercussions began four days later.
We had just fought our first significant battle, having crushed
a Rebel force twice our size. It had not been difficult. They were
green, and our wizards helped. Not many escaped.
The battlefield was ours. The men were looting the dead. Elmo,
myself, the Captain, and a few others were standing around feeling
smug. One-Eye and Goblin were celebrating in their unique fashion,
taunting one another through the mouths of corpses.
Goblin suddenly stiffened. His eyes rolled up. A whine slipped
past his lips, rose in pitch. He crumpled.
One-Eye reached him a step ahead of me, began slapping his
cheeks. His habitual hostility had vanished.
"Give me some room!" I growled.
Goblin wakened before I could do more than check his pulse.
"Soulcatcher," he murmured. "Making contact."
At that moment I was glad I did not own Goblin's talents. Having
one of the Taken inside my mind seemed a worse violation than rape.
"Captain," I called. "Soul-catcher." I stayed close.
The Captain ran over. He never runs unless we are in action.
"What is it?"
Goblin sighed. His eyes opened. "He's gone now." His skin and
hair were soaked with sweat. He was pale. He started shaking.
"Gone?" the Captain demanded. "What the hell?"
We helped Goblin get comfortable. "The Limper went to the Lady
instead of coming at us head on. There's bad blood between him and
Soulcatcher. He thinks we came out here to undermine him. He tried
to turn the tables. But Soulcatcher is in high favor since Beryl,
and the Limper isn't because of his failures. The Lady told him to
leave us alone. Soulcatcher didn't get the Limper replaced, but he
figures he won the round."
Goblin paused. One-Eye handed him a long drink. He drained it in
an instant. "He says stay out of the Limper's way. He might try to
discredit us somehow, or even steer the Rebel toward us. He says we
should recapture the fortress at Deal. That would