Dwalin and the Pearl

Chapter 9

It's hard to be inconspicuous when you're running around a farm town at night wearing a red velvet cloak and hood.

So I pulled Var into the mouth of an alley, and tugged at her cloak. "Button that thing up, and cover your face with the hood as best you can."

When she did, I took her to a run-down inn that catered mostly to humans-the kind with very little money. Everything in the place was oversized and shabby, but it was reasonably clean and the innkeeper displayed a satisfying lack of interest in his customers.

In our room, Var carefully removed the pearls from her hair and stowed them in a pocket of the cloak for safekeeping. They were valuable, but it would be hard to exchange them for cash without attracting attention. Ah, well, a problem for another day-a day when we got hungry, no doubt. These quick getaways were always problematic.

I watched as she began to remove more pieces of clothing. Her outfit had several layers to it, apparently. There was the outer, shiny red dress with the gold cords, and then a soft calf-length red shift underneath, plus matching stockings and red leather boots. She kept the shift and stockings on, which was depressingly modest of her.

She turned to me. "Take off your tunic and things," she said briskly. "Then climb up on the bed."

I raised my eyebrows. "What, not even going to buy me a mug of ale first?"

"Very funny. I want to make sure that the cut on your ribs hasn't opened up again."

She stood staring at me expectantly, and my face started to feel damned hot. Well, it's an uncomfortable thing to just strip off in front of someone. I raised one hand, index finger pointing downward, and twirled it. "Turn around."

She smiled, then turned in a complete circle, ending up facing me again.

I snorted. "Everyone thinks they're a comedian. Turn around." 

"Oh, stop it. It's not like I haven't seen your chest before." She came closer. "Here, I'll help you."

I fended her off. "No, I'll do it." Sighing, I removed the leather belts and straps, the dagger and its sheath, the Warg pelt, the olive-green tunic, a couple of small holsters for hideout knives, my boots (making sure the weapons and tools inside them were safe), and finally, my undershirt. There were a few little streaks of new blood on the undershirt, but nothing serious.

Then I climbed up on the bed, which was huge and lumpy. Its rope frame creaked a little, but there was plenty of stuffing and it didn't sag too much. Var climbed up beside me.

"Lie back," she ordered.

I did, tucking my hands behind my head to make it easier for her to reach my ribs. "Are you going to take advantage of me?"

I was joking, of course. I figured she'd roll her eyes, or make some exasperated sound-anything to relieve the tension of being alone together, on a bed, not wearing much in the way of clothing. But she didn't. The exasperated look faded from her face and she surveyed every last inch of my exposed flesh. My heart started beating faster.

But she didn't move toward me, either. She just stared. I swallowed and said, "So finish your story. You were saying that you sold gems and collected information."

She blinked a couple of times, then became brisk and businesslike again. "Right. Well, you know most of it now. I collect information, because it's good for business. And it's easy, usually. I don't go anywhere, I just have people over-and listen to what they tell me."

She un-knotted the old bandage, and removed the blood-soaked pad. Her fingers were deft and gentle, and I liked hearing the sound of her voice. It was so soothing. I wanted to sink into comfort of her soft touches and sweet murmurs. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on her words instead.