The Lord of Misrule

Chapter 15

Ami's words lingered in the air, heavy under the contemplation of its many implications. The obvious questions rankled them both with all the subtlety of a stampeding horde of wild boars. What was the reputable town banker doing with an extortion list? Why was he safe-guarding it with extra security? Why couldn't he have afforded an Illerian cosmetician to pretty up that ugly mug of his?

Judging by the formality of the names and the staggering payment amounts, it wasn't a ragtag group of brothel owners that were being extorted for protection money.

They walked in silence, threading their way into town, past the Church of St. Korin, with its familiar tombstones and grave markers cluttering the yard behind it, through the residential district, where they gingerly avoided a veritable obstacle course of clotheslines and sewage water pooling onto the street.

Even the affluent neighborhoods boasted cobblestone roads that were pockmarked with jagged stone edges, centuries worth of cart traffic eroding the surface. The heavy wooden doors barring entry into large houses betrayed signs of woodrot at the corners. As they stepped deeper into the rougher neighborhoods of Totnes, they could see that the woodrot had started to seep into the thick wooden support beams that held the overhanging living quarters of the upper stories in place.

The upper floors of the apartment buildings hung over the street in an effort to squeeze more living space. The resulting tunnel shrouded the edges of the street in darkness, hiding the festering garbage and chamberpot sludge caking the corners of the walls. Ami pulled the neckline of her cloak over her nose, quickening her pace when they saw daylight cutting through the shadows at the end of the alley.

"So what now?" she mumbled from behind her mask.

Mikael, who had slowed his pace to a casual saunter when he realized Ami's predicament, snickered under his breath when she gave him a look of exasperation. "Why, we go to the Sheriff's office, of course. Then we find that fat, slobbering whoreson, string him up by the ankles -- using a sophisticated pulley system to accommodate his weight, of course -- and demand an explanation."

They rounded a steep bend that twisted the alleyway and stepped out into the piercing summer glare. Immediately, they were accosted by the lively bellows of butcher-hands and by the dogged haggling of buyers swarming the meat market. One of the little pests shoved a raw chicken in front of their faces, throwing Ami a bawdy grin, revealing a row of crooked, yellowed teeth that looked like a palisade that had taken a beating from a catapult.

"Unless you want that chicken crammed up your arse beak-first, I'd scurry behind your stall and continue to be a waste of space," Ami said, looking him over with a tight-lipped glare.

"Ey ey! Got meself a fighter 'ere, lads!" He leered at her with a smug twitch of his lips, casually reaching forward with his free hand to push back her cowl.

In a flash, she grabbed two of his fingers in her fist and jerked her elbow upwards, bending his fingers backward at an impossible angle. The kid let out a strangled yelp and tried desperately to claw at her fist with his other hand, feeling his body sink lower from the pain. Ignoring him, she swung her left leg around and kicked the back of his knee with her shin. It buckled his right leg instantly. He crumpled to the floor in an undignified heap. She gazed at him with the same tight-lipped, deadpan expression, watching him clench his hand and muffle a scream against his shoulder.

"Wha' in Korin's name is wrong with you!" He grimaced, rising slowly from the ground, his sore fingers jammed between his other hand and his thigh. "You could 'ave just said you ain't hungry, you crazy witch!"

"Looks like you're going to have to learn to use your other hand to get your rocks off for the next little while, Casablanca," Mikael said.

"Keep a leash on her!" the kid yelled, scampering backwards when Ami took a threatening step forward. He gave them both a dirty scowl and crawled back into whatever hole he came from.