The Ghost's Crusade

XIX: Akkali (cont.)

The boarding home at Sonnes sat on the completely opposite end of the town to the Antenox outpost, though it was a rather straight line down the main cobblestone thoroughfare of the moderately-sized border town to reach it. It was also twice as large as the outpost, though most of the worthwhile areas there were located in a series of underground rooms and bunkers hacked out of the bedrock a generation or so before Sonnes was even considered a trading post. All that appeared on the surface was a two-story stone dwelling, a stable, and a fenced yard with goats, a few milking cows, and enough chickens to stuff a dozen pillows.

By contrast the boarding home was obviously meant to impress. It was a large painted complex of whitewashed brick and lumber which undoubtedly catered to the wealthy on holiday. Each of the upper rooms had a small balcony, and each of the lower opened onto a ivy-laden veranda with neatly trimmed hedges of red holly for decoration. She made a note to herself to collect some of the berries on her way out; they made a terrific base for a number of poisons and were always useful to have on-hand.

She didn't miss the numerous suspicious or outright disturbed looks she received as she walked across the town. While she never really cared to look at her own reflection she was supposed it remained a fairly gruesome sight, what with the two-inch knitting gash and all the applicable bruises discoloring half her face. The wound no longer hurt and the stitches had been removed, but it itched fiercely enough to distract her from the constant throbbing of her markings and make her concentrate on not scratching the scab off.

Akkali had never been further west than Baedorn and the fact that she didn't know if there was a Returner guildhall in the vicinity was starting to irritate her the longer she spent out in the open. Typically they always set themselves up in larger cities where the traffic volume consisted more frequently of people and imported goods rather than sheep and logging wagons, but it wasn't unheard of for them to keep safehouses in the border cities to stash slaves out of sight of the constabulary which couldn't be bribed to look the other way. From what she had read Morvayne actually enforced the anti-slavery treaties of Oribian, with cheap labor in the duchies provided by indentured servants seeking citizenship for whatever children they may happen to have while serving in the country. Seeing as how it was one of the most stable nations in the region it was a desirable place to settle and raise a family, a fact that the ruling dukes and duchesses no doubt exploited to stock their treasury with taxes.

It was actually an intriguing system, all things considered, but Akkali couldn't devote the time to learning more about it. She had to check on Hallia, make sure Tiernan hadn't done anything unscrupulous to her, and then get back to her clan to start her survey of the northern tunnels. The man could watch his own back no matter what Drystan had to say to the contrary and she wasn't going to waste what time she did have on him.

After ascending the tiled stairway and letting herself into the boarding house foyer, yet another white-paneled area dominated by a sweeping staircase and a chandelier made of bleached deer antlers, she received the standard distrustful glare from the woman in charge of the place. She was wrinkled and spotted with age but still strode about upright and proud, wearing a green and blue high-waisted dress which ballooned out to such a ridiculous size that it likely didn't fit through the house's front doors even when both were removed from their hinges. A hammered steel circle of Junan hung from a weighty silver chain draped around her neck. Immediately Akkali knew why the Inquisitor had been able to secure himself lodgings in such a lavishly appointed place despite never having had more than a quarter ingot in his pockets both times she had picked them for amusement.

Zealots board for free, probably, she mused as she answered the woman's glare with an annoyed smile. Wonder how many indulgences they give this hag for that privilege.