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. Yes, it is: I ll demonstrate funny for you. When? Later. You re almost back to the room.Are we going in? I don t know.Why? Nothing to do there. It s safer than out here. When have I given the least thought to my personal safety? Okay, Boss.I ll give you that one.That was funny. I am fulfilled.Let s go back and observe that house some more.That s not quite as useless asanything else I can think or So we did, and watched for a few hours as another courier or two made drop-offs.If nothing else, Iwas getting a pretty good feel for how much money was involved in this operation.It was a lot.It wascertainly enough that they wouldn t hesitate to brush aside an inconvenient Easterner.In a way, thatthought was more annoying than either the Jhereg wanting my soul, or that sorcer-ess who was after me. By all means, Boss, don t let them insult you. Shut up, Loiosh. Between the pointless walking and useless observation, I was feeling a bit better as I headed backtoward my room.I stopped and picked up a good loaf of bread, some peppers, and some sausages.There were a number of people queued up for the sausages, from which I concluded they must be allright.The woman in front of me, a frail-looking grandmother, glanced at me and said, Jancsi has beengetting busier and busier.Word must be getting out. I nodded.She said, I ve known about his sausages for thirty years, you know. Maybe you shouldn t have told all your friends. Mmm? Never mind. She gave me an odd look.A little later she said, Why are you wandering around in the middle of the day? I m permitted to leave for lunch. Oh? What do you do? I keep the books for a slaughterhouse. She nodded. That isn t bad, I suppose, if you must work for someone. What else is there? I m not the type to run a shop, or sell sausages in the street. My son is looking to buy some land.Grow some maize, maybe raise some sheep and some chickens. I nodded. How is that looking? He s a hard worker, my son.He ll get there. He works in the slaughterhouses? She nodded. And we save everything, he and I. Ah.I wish him the best of fortune. She smiled, her whole face lighting up like I d just given her the farm. Thank you, she said.Then Jancsiasked what she wanted and I was saved from further embarrassment.I ate the bread, peppers, and sausages as I walked.The sausages were dry, but good and peppery, witha bite on the lips and the front of the tongue.And there were people walking by who weren t any tallerthan I was.In fact, I was taller than a lot of them, and I rather liked that.I remembered when there were Phoenix Guards all over these streets, facing off against Easternersholding kitchen knives, ham-mers, sticks, and the occasional rusted sword.There were no signs of thatnow.Had all of the anger vanished, or was it still there, where I couldn t see it, waiting to explode again?I had no idea.Nor was I certain if I cared, except that Cawti cared, and was likely to be involved ifsomething happened.I didn t know these people people who dreamed of things like buying land.I wrapped the remnants of the sausage in its butcher s paper to give to the jhereg later, and slipped intoa place called Ferenk s.I treated myself to a Fenarian peach brandy called Oregigeret, and sat down ata table to drink it.It stung my tongue and burned my throat, and filled my nose with a harsh smokinessand something almost like pitch.It was wonderful.The Dragaerans have brandy, too, though they don t call it that.And it s right that they don t call it brandy, because if you like brandy, you won t like the stuffthey distill.When it came to brandy, I was an Easterner.Ferenk s was nearly empty, save for a couple of old men who looked like they drank professionally.Well, why else would you be here at this time of day? The one at the table next to mine nodded and gaveme a half-smile full of yellow teeth.I nodded back.Maybe I should take up drinking professionally. Is the brandy good? I asked him. I m drinking oishka. Oh.How is that? He grinned, and I tried to avoid looking at his teeth. Does the job, he said. Helps you forget your troubles? I don t have troubles.I have oishka. Good answer. Yes, there was a lot to be said for being a professional drinker.Of course, wandering around in adrunken cloud would mean I d certainly be dead within a couple of days.But they d be pleasant days. You re retired? I asked my companion.He nodded. I hurt my leg pretty good, and now my daughter and her husband support me. Hegrinned. I don t mind a bit.I worked hard enough and long enough. Doing what, if you don t mind my asking? We had some land we worked for Lord Cerulin. I nodded. What happened? The mare kicked me, bless her heart. He laughed and held up his glass for a moment, silently toasting the mare, then drained it and wanderedup to get another.I finished the brandy and thought about having a second glass, but ended up walking out onto the street.I returned to the room long enough to give Loiosh and Rocza the remains of the sausage.While they ate,I pondered.Having rejected drinking as a way of life, I was now back to trying to figure out how toapproach my problem.Or all of my problems.Or any of my problems.What I wanted to do was get hold of Kragar and have him collect information on this Crithnak.But Icouldn t lower my de-fenses long enough to reach him.It was frustrating. You could walk over there. Yeah, I ve been thinking about it. And? This disguise is pretty good in the Easterners quarter.I don t now if I want to bet my life on itin my old area. You ve always been good at sneaking around without being noticed. Yeah, good enough for most things, Loiosh.But the way they re looking for me now Well, you could break into the house and see what you can find. I could, if I leave Lady Teldra behind. Oh.Right.I imagine that s not going to happen. Doesn t seem likely. This is good sausage [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]