Memoirs of a Fallen God

Chapter 29

In the end it wasn’t so difficult. I just had to lie through my teeth.

“Did Jeer really say he’d have our ears for eyeholes? What does that even mean?” Saintly asked, stepping through the tavern door nearly on my heels.

“Quick, damnit. And put your pants on.” Spanner and Tore had been relatively easy to gather up—they’d been playing cards in the common, both losing rather badly and happy enough for the reprieve—but Saint had been trickier. I’d had to flip the girl he’d been with an extra coin because Saintly flat out refused to pay for “something he only got to use half way”, and the girl threatened hysterics.

Still, within ten minutes we were all outside, and Saintly even had his pants on. Most of the way.

“What took so long?” came a cutting whisper I immediately recognized as Myara. She stepped out of the alley she’d been standing in and came to my side.

“Them, obviously. Where were you?”

“Scouting. A dozen more fires started while you were inside.” A hint of real worry crept into her voice. “It looks bad, Telth. Most of the homes are weedwood, so they shouldn’t burn…but there are still a lot of people in trouble back there.”

“The best thing we can do for them is to make sure fire is the only thing they have to worry about tonight.”

She nodded, but she still seemed very troubled.

A moment later she continued, “I warned a few of the tavern girls that there might be trouble at the gates tonight, and that maybe they should start sobering up some of their customers. Most laughed, but a few know me well enough to listen. They’ll do what they can—there should be a few sober heads behind the wall tonight, anyway.”

I grinned at her. “Good idea. It’s a good thing I insisted on you tagging along, isn’t it?”

She rolled her eyes once more, but she was interrupted before she could respond. Which was probably just as well for me.

“Telth,” Spanner said, walking up behind me, glancing up and down the street. “Why are you talking to yourself?”

Oh, right. The invisible thing. “Look, I’ll explain later. Everything. Just get the other two headed out the west gate—carry Saint if you have to—we’ve got to get to Rove and the wagon as quickly as we can. We’ll decide what to do from there. Please, Span.”

“Alright,” Spanner said. Level-headed, steadfast, well-intentioned Spanner. He seemed to catch the edge of desperation in my voice and didn’t argue. He wedged himself between Saint and Tore and slipped an overlarge arm over each set of shoulders and started walking toward the gate, giving the pair no choice but to walk his way or be dragged.

“Your friend is awfully big, isn’t he?” she asked, a hint of appreciation in her voice. I didn’t quite like the look in her eyes as she watched the three of them moving down the street.

“Myara? Are you ready to go?”

“One last thing,” she said. She lead the way toward the eastern gate, which was closed tightly for the night. “Stay here.” she instructed, as we passed the last few buildings before the wall. “This should be quick.”

I nodded, confused, but trusting she had a good reason for the delay. I leaned against a nearby building to wait. She darted off toward the gatehouse, threading through the shadows so neatly it seemed to me she hardly needed the advantage of her Gift at all. A few minutes later she reappeared, her mouth a grim line of satisfaction.

“What was that about?” I asked, as she began leading the way toward the gate once more.

“The guards won’t open the main gates after dark without a very good reason, but it’s easy enough to get to them to open the side door.” She grinned. “But not if it’s locked.”  With a flourish she produced a heavy metal key from one of the pockets of her cloak.