stone. “Pretty ones. Two hundred to start with.”
“Two hundred girls!” Yahey chortled. “Pretty ones! For a start! What on earth do you need so many of them for? Don’t tell me they’re all for your own town. It’s a lovely place, I’m sure, but very small.”
“Let me explain. Our town is small, but it stands on the border with Capotia. From there, it’s a short trip to Mustobrim, where girls from the Empire are hard to find.”
Yahey sat up straight. “You know the laws of Mustobrim, don’t you? The punishment for what you are proposing is death!”
“That should give you an idea how profitable it is.”
“But you need connections to move people over the border, especially if you want them to get there looking like anything.”
“My family has extensive connections. The Capotians have traditionally been the ones transporting girls to Mustobrim, but we looked into it and decided to give it a try. The market in Mustobrim is for blondes, but redheads are even better. Can you find me some nice redheaded girls?”
“Certainly! But let’s go over the details. How do you intend to pay?”
“The Halava banking house will issue a letter of credit once we view the goods.”
“Halava?” Yahey smiled. “Of course, my friend. What about delivery?”
“To the Vuravian border. We will take them from there…”
As the two men went into the details of the transaction, Vordius sat in silence and thanked his creator that Sorgius who had always helped his father in his trading business knew what he was talking about. It was unnerving for an Imperial Guard to listen in on the details of a criminal transaction, but Sorgius was like a fish in water. Vordius noted with wonder that his friend seemed to believe in the reality of what he was proposing.
“It will take time to collect the goods you want,” Yahey said. “But you can see some of the girls right away. Will that be good enough?”
“Thank you, friend. I saw a nice redhead here in the port recently. She was slender like a cypress with small breasts and a tiny waist. I saw her once and can’t forget her. She leans her head to one side when she smiles, and her voice is capricious. You would have to hear it to know what I mean.”
Vordius saw a shadow cross Yahey’s eyes, but they instantly softened again. “She sounds like the dream of any man! I have not seen her, I’m afraid, but Fire Asp will find anything you want. Perhaps not that girl, but a better one!” He looked up at the ceiling in feigned gratification.
“I bow to you from the entire Akroerty family. The barber Taney told me that our Asp is a real mensch. I see now that he was right.”
Yahey laughed courteously. “Did he tell you much about Fire Asp?” he asked craftily.
“No, he didn’t, actually. He said I’d understand when I saw him.”
“I see,” Yahey nodded. “Did you still want to see Asp?”
Sorgius shrugged. “You and I have decided everything so well already, and I don’t want to distract him from his important affairs.”
“But you are a guest,” Yahey smiled. “My master will be glad to receive you. Let me go inform him about our agreement.”
The friends were left alone in the room. The strains of music that had been coming up from the tavern below fell silent, and they could hear the sound of splashing water from outside. That, along with the barely noticeable rocking motion, indicated that they were in a part of the building that sat on a barge moored at the dock.
Vordius, tired of his taciturn role, was about to ask his friend a question, but Sorgius kicked him hard. They might be observed, and the tiniest mistake would give the game away.
Time passed, and still Yahey did not return. Sorgius looked around the room. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. Vordius stood up and walked from one end of the room to the other. He walked over to a wooden panel in the wall and knocked lightly on it.
“Look here, it’s a window!” he exclaimed. “These are the shutters.”
Sorgius was about to tell him to shut up when the door suddenly opened. The friends sighed, but their relief was premature. Four large men barged into the room and held the self-proclaimed merchants’ arms behind their backs. Sorgius cried out in pain, accidentally knocking over one of the tables. The cups rolled across the floor.
“You want to see Fire Asp, do you?” Yahey growled from the doorway. His face had changed, and not for the better. “You will see him before your deaths, which will be drawn-out and agonizing if you don’t tell me right away what happened to our friend Taney and his apprentices!”
Vordius’ eyes went red. Ignoring his pain, he gave Yahey a look of hatred. “I am an officer in the Imperial Guards on a special mission, and I have a hundred of my men in ambush around this building! If we don’t walk out of here by the next watch, they will turn this den inside out!”
Yahey gave him a sugary smile. “Ambush, you say? Let’s call them together.” He looked up at the ceiling and his voice changed to a falsetto. “Men in ambush! Come out, come out wherever you are! The port ruffians have seized your officer!” He turned back to Vordius, “Now it’s your turn. Shall I open the windows so they can hear you better?”
There was a knocking sound and the shutters on the window opened. Outside, all was silent. Instead of the lights of the city, they saw only the riverbank lined with low, wooden buildings. The building they were sitting in was a boat, and it had left the capital without their noticing.
“Why don’t you say something, officer of the Guards? Is your throat dry?” Yahey stepped up to Vordius and tossed the rest of the wine in the jug in his face. The guardsman fell back and shut his eyes.
“Scoundrels! Asses! Mangy dogs!”
Vordius was beating his head against the logs that made up the wall. His efforts barely made a sound. His hands were tied behind his back, so this was the only way he could find release for his humiliation. His friend, who was in no better a position, stared at his own stomach, as if the answer to their dilemma would come from there.”
“Maggots! How dare they touch a member of the Emperor’s guard? When I get out of here, I’ll cut down the whole lot of them!”
“Go right ahead,” Sorgius said. “But we have to get out of here first.”
“So you think this a joke, do you? That’s just like you!”
“And you are being just like yourself. ‘How dare they touch me?’”
“I suppose you already have a plan?”
“I might. I’ve got three ideas I’m working on right now.” Sorgius moaned and leaned to his left. “They tie tight nots!”
“Three ideas? You’re the one who’s been knocked in the head,” Vordius leaned against the wall and laughed. “They’re going to strangle us and feed us to the fish by morning, and you say you have three ideas!” He turned and hit his head against the logs again.
This time, it was Sorgius who laughed. “Keep at it, friend, and you’ll solve our problems. Either you’ll break a hole in the wall and we’ll escape, or you’ll bust your head open. And that would be an escape of sorts.”
“Fine, oh deep thinker. What do you have? Entertain me while we’re still alive.”
Sorgius sighed and gave up trying to loosen the ropes that bound his wrists. “Here’s the first idea: lots of people don’t consider the consequences of their actions. When you deal with a person like that, you have to hit him in the head before he knows you’re there.”
“True enough,” Vordius grumbled. “I may be guilty of that. Sometimes.”
“And the second idea. This is