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You couldn’t,I say, knowing that as much as it hurt, it’s the truth.Not without giving us away.
He breathes hard, his forehead resting against mine.I don’t want you to ever doubt how I really feel about you,he says.
I nod rapidly.I won’t.
Good. With a quick but bruising kiss, Lo’zar takes my rope and drags me back out of the alley to make a good show of his new prisoner. We start off again down back streets, orcs and trolls alike gaping at me as we pass. A few of them jeer, but no one approaches.
It feels like we walk forever uphill, until Lo’zar abruptly stops in front of a low building. He heads up the steps and I follow tentatively behind as he leads us to a small round door. There, an odd gizmo sits where one might expect a knob or a handle.
Lo’zar fiddles with it, turning one gear to the left, then another gear to the right, and a third gear to the right all the way around. With aclick, the mechanism releases, and the wooden door is unlocked. He pushes it open and we step inside a small, dim house.
Is this your house?I ask. He shakes his head.
My friend’s.Inside, the clay hut is modest, with a fire pit and a few large chairs clearly meant for a trollkin, seated around a small table. Lo’zar leads me to a back room behind a curtain, where the occupant’s bed takes up most of the space. He undoes my rope and gestures to the bed.
Why don’t you rest for a while?he says.Graz won’t be home anytime soon.
What about you?I ask.You’ve been sleeping on the ground just like I have.
I’m stronger than you.I feel like I should take this as an insult, but he’s right. I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the pile of soft furs stacked on the bed.
Okay.I fall into it, allowing myself to be absorbed. Whoever this guy Graz is, I like his idea of relaxing. I’m so exhausted that within moments, the soft furs take me away into darkness.
Chapter17
Lo’zar
While Rimi sleeps in the other room, I light a candle and sit down at the fire pit. There’s a hole in the roof of the house that lets out the smoke, with a leather tarp strung tight above it so rain can’t get in.
I should sleep, but arriving in Kalishagg has sent the blood running too warm in my veins. There are dangers everywhere here, and that guard at the entrance to the city... I curse to myself. If I could have strangled him without revealing our little ploy, I would have. Rimi’s terrified face will forever be branded on my memory.
And then there’s Graz. I’ve brought a strange human into his home. I’d like to believe he would have my back, as old friends who grew up street rats together, but clan loyalty is strong, too.
Perhaps it’s less about loyalty and more about fear. If Gusak knew I was here, if he thought Graz might be sheltering me...
I don’t want to think about that. I have to hope that nobody’s seen us yet, and that Graz won’t turn us in.
When it grows dark outside, there comes a clicking at the door. Graz is home. I try to appear as non-threatening as I can so I don’t surprise him too badly. Finally he comes inside, not even noticing the candle is lit, then turns to close the door behind him.
Graz is certainly no thief. He could walk straight through a herd of elephants and probably not notice them.
“Graz,” I say quietly, and he spins around. His eyes land on me with horror.
“Lo’zar?” He takes a few uneasy steps back. After he’s recovered a little from his shock, the big orc shakes his head furiously. “That’s really you?”
“Who else would I be?”
He groans. “What are you doing in Kalishagg after what you did? Are you a moron?”
I want to skip all this. “Think about it. The fact it’s stupid is what makes it brilliant. Gusak isn’t looking for me here.”
“What if I turn you in?” Graz doesn’t sit down, pacing the room instead. “I could hand you over to him easily. I’d probably get a pretty penny for it, too.”
“Then do it.” I cross my arms. “If my own childhood friend is willing to get me killed, then I deserve it.”
Graz stills. When he looks at me again he seems sad and defeated.
“Why would you do this?” he asks. “All... all for a human? You risked everything, Lo’zar. And you’re an idiot for coming back.”
