Free Shadowblade by Tom Bielawski Page B

not being disrespectful. “They are the keepers of the Rhi’s peace and they do a fine job.”
    “They run everything ?”
    “Aye, even the Lord Mayor is one of them,” she said. “They come in here often enough too, if you take my meaning.”
    Zach took her meaning well enough; the Red Dragons frequented the Call to collect taxes and obtain information about the goings on of Powyss. Which also meant that the Dragons could enter the Call at any moment. Judging by her expression, the Dragons probably insisted on sampling the wares free of charge and were not well liked by the staff. And that made this a place he should return to for his own information collection, as long as his money was better than everyone else’s.
    “Don’t trust her. She’s a snitch, Zach!” whispered the voice, very low, as though not wanting to be heard. That surprised Zach, because he had begun to think that no one else could hear the voice.
    “What did you say, Levi?” said the barmaid from the other end of the bar, as she took an “order” from another patron.
    She heard it! he panicked.
    “Uh, I said this weather is too cold for a witch!” the woman seemed to accept that she hadn’t heard him properly and nodded her agreement. Deciding he had better leave before that voice got him into more trouble, Zach dropped a few gold coins on the counter and put his coat on to leave. The barmaid swooped down on the counter and snatched up the coins before anyone else could do so. He smiled at the woman and said, “Share those with the girls, please.”
    “We are a very discreet group, you know,” she said, reaching across the counter to grasp Zach’s arm. “Come back anytime you like. No one will know you are here.” Zach immediately understood what the woman was telling him; it seemed his gold was indeed better than those who paid her to tattle. That was one good thing about using Arnathian gold, it had a reputation for purity that other petty kingdoms could not match.
    “Miss,” he said, leaning close, “I would very much like for you not to be discreet about me and where I stay,” he said, handing her another crown. She smiled and nodded and let go of his arm.
    While Zach emerged from The Siren’s Call, a few Imperial crowns poorer, he was satisfied that he had planted the seed well. He hoped that if Siren told anyone of his whereabouts he would learn very quickly who they were and why they were after him. So, he resolved to continue his exploration of the Port of Powyss while his seed grew, and then he would visit the common room of the Royal Best and listen for news of the pour soul staying in room “5-F.”
     

     
    Three days had passed in Port of Powyss while Zach learned the layout of the streets and a little of those who held power, besides the Red Dragons. Zach was pleased to learn that nothing untoward had befallen the occupant of room “5-F” at the Royal Best. That told him that the barmaid at The Siren’s Call could be trusted, to an extent. Although no one else had tried to find him in his own room, he almost wished someone had; he was in a mood for murder.
    So Zach ventured out into another blustery day in Powyss and decided to continue his exploration of the dingy maze of alleyways that led away from Port of Powyss to other sections of the vast city. With the odd charms and book of spells in his coat pocket, he searched the seedy sections of Powyss where he hoped he might find the type of shop that would be interested in the trinkets he had taken from the corpse of the Red Dragon assassin.
    After wandering the back alleys, and threating a few would-be cutpurses with his dagger, Zach came across a shop that he thought would serve him well. The shop was a ramshackle one-story building, weatherworn and faded, with few windows. The door was dark and seemingly rotten and above it a sign swayed on rusty chains; Baldric’s Artifacts and Relics . The door to the shop opened just then and Zach, hand still on his