oozing holes in the neck of Zupan Petre's son. Her head began to ache. She dreaded the discussion she'd planned to have with Leesil. For a month, she'd been putting it off, always waiting for a better time. But this last job made her wonder how much longer she could stall. She was getting tired of it all, and Leesil was getting careless. Things were becoming a little too unpredictable.
"Before you drink too much, we need to talk," she said quietly.
"I never drink too much, always just enough." He squirted another mouthful from the wineskin. He was about to take another gulp, when the tone of her voice made him stop halfway. He lowered the wineskin. "What about?"
She reached inside her pack and took out a folded parchment, slightly crumpled. "There's a bank in Belaski where I put money when we pass through, and where I have messages sent to wait for my next visit."
Leesil's expression went blank. "Messages? What are you talking about?"
She held out the folded parchment to him. "This is from a land merchant."
Leesil took the parchment, slack jawed with surprise. "You've been hoarding money away?"
"He's been looking for a certain kind of tavern for me, somewhere along the coast… seems he's found one." She paused. "I'm buying a tavern in a Belaskian town called Miiska."
Leesil blinked as if he didn't understand a word. "What?"
"I didn't want to tell you until the right place was found. I never planned to run the hunter game forever, and I'm tired."
"You saved money?" Leesil shook his head. "I don't believe it. All I've got is what's in my pouch."
Magiere rolled her eyes. "That's because you drink it all, or waste it at a card table."
Then she heard him suck in his breath and the words began to flow.
"Just like that?" he nearly shouted, ignoring her answer.
"No warning. Not even a 'By the way, Leesil, I've been saving for a tavern." And you never mention it. How much have you been putting… no, never mind. We're in this together. I say we do four or five more villages and then talk about quitting."
"I'm done," she answered softly. "I want something of my own."
"What about me?"
"You'll like the town," she rushed in. "We just head for the coast and turn south. It's ten leagues down the coast from the capital city of Bela. I'll handle the drinks. You can run the gaming. I've heard you talk about running a faro table… every time you lose your last coin at one."
Leesil waved her off with his hand and a disgruntled scowl.
"Chap can watch over things," she continued, the dog lifting his head at his name. "We'll sleep inside every night and stop taking all these risks."
"No! I'm not ready to quit."
"You'll be the card master…"
"It's too soon."
"… a warm bed, plenty of ale and mead…"
"I don't want to hear any more."
"… and mulled wine from our own hearth."
Leesil became quiet. She could see him working his thoughts, examining the possibilities. He wasn't stupid, quite the opposite. Finally, he let out an exasperated grunt, or perhaps it was a burp.
"Can we talk about this in the morning?" he asked. Still sulking, he took another long drink.
"Yes, if you like."
And with that, Leesil rolled his back to the fire. Magiere leaned over, snatched up the parchment he'd never even bothered to look at, and tucked it away again inside her vestment. As she settled down, Leesil suddenly sat up and looked about as if lost, startling Chap to his feet.
"How could you have saved that much money?" he blurted out in confused exasperation.
"Oh, shut up and go to sleep," Magiere snapped.
Leesil rolled over again, grumbling under his breath.
Sleep wouldn't come quickly enough, and Magiere felt restless and anxious. Leesil wasn't going to easily give in to this sudden change of plans. That much she'd expected, but he was at least thinking about it now. It wouldn't be too hard, she hoped, to push him the rest of the way, though it might take a little while. Waiting until he had coin in his pocket was the best time. With an empty purse, he would have been more resistant, wanting to wait for another ill-gotten windfall.
Magiere watched the small fingers of fire dancing before her. She noticed Chap had not curled up next to Leesil as he usually did, but sat a little ways apart, looking off into the trees. Finally fed up with watching him watch nothing, she closed her eyes. She didn't see him