Blood for Coins by Cam Wolfe

Author:Cam Wolfe [Wolfe, Cam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Cam Wolfe Books
Published: 2023-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

E nzo stepped into the gap among a group of nobleguard. Judging by the trim of their coats and their bronze tans, they were Beglan.

‘Beglans on land—however did you sods get so unlucky?’

All three turned to look at the stranger who had just intruded on their conversation. Each was at least two heads taller than Enzo and had hands large enough to lift him by the face. One of the men had long, dark, sea-washed locks, but the other man and the woman had their hair trimmed to the scalp. Enzo swallowed hard. The female of the group thrust an arm out and pushed aside Enzo’s jacket to better see the shirt beneath.

‘This is Beglan thread, Sabre.’ She smiled, her voluminous, dark lips spreading wide over slightly spaced teeth. Enzo froze. It had been so long since someone so fine had smiled like that in his direction. He suddenly became aware of how he had looked in the mirror. Thin, weak. He could feel the state of his teeth, the smell of the trough he had dunked his head in. None of the Beglan guards seemed to mind. The men were staring, as Beglans were wont to do, but they seemed curious at most. The woman looked nothing other than kind—like she understood how many meals a man must miss before he looked like Enzo. More importantly, why or how that could happen.

‘Yes, yes, we like the sea,’ said one of the men, the one with the long hair. ‘We aren’t fish, you know. You fools seem to forget we live on land too.’ He didn’t look angry or even annoyed. He was actually laughing.

‘My apologies,’ Enzo said, returning the chuckle. ‘These other guards made it sound as though you Beglan can barely walk on two legs once there’s no water below. I thought they were spilling shit from their lips, of course, but then I’ve only ever known one Beglan, the fine man who made me this shirt.’ Enzo pulled at the bottom of his bright red button-down shirt, decorated with stitches of white shin-lilies. It really was quite a piece. The Beglan guards’ smiles melted from their faces and their brows creased dangerously.

‘Who said this about us?’ demanded the man with the shaved head.

‘Oh, friends’ Enzo replied, throwing up his hands, ‘you know how bored guardsmen can chitter. In truth, I think Lord Rovlan’s men think little of all of us, not just you.’

Enzo could hear the skin stretching as all three guards clenched their fists. There were many things Beglan people were known for—a fierce loyalty to their home was most certainly one of them.

‘Well,’ said Enzo, as casually as one finishing a visit, ‘I’d best be off. My employer is paying me good coin to keep an eye on his carriage.’ He slapped both Beglan men on the shoulder as he turned to leave, ‘Give my best to the mad-eyed tailor when you get home. I should like to show him patronage sometime soon; my collection of shirts grows low.

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