“Simple question,” Taniel said. “Are you the toughest, father-stabbing, goat-raping, inbred son of a whore in this place?”
Fesnik turned away from Taniel, a half smile on his face. He came back around quickly, knife drawn. Taniel drew both pistols. One barrel went in Fesnik’s mouth, cracking teeth and bringing the man’s knife thrust up short. Fesnik’s eyes went wide. The other pistol pointed at the first Watcher to climb to his feet.
“My name’s Taniel Two-Shot,” Taniel said loudly. “And I’m here to see my best friend, Bo. Tell me kindly where he is?”
“Taniel Two-Shot?” a voice asked. “Why didn’t you damn well say so? Bo’s up the mountain.”
“That true?” Taniel asked Fesnik.
The man nodded, eyes crossed from staring at the pistol barrel in his mouth.
Taniel holstered both pistols.
“Sorry,” Fesnik said, checking his teeth. “Bo said not to let any powder mages know where he was. Nobody but you, that is. Said you might come looking for him.”
Taniel tried to keep the scowl off his face. “Sorry about the teeth,” he said. Louder, “Drinks on Field Marshal Tamas!”
A general cheer went up around the room. Taniel gestured Fesnik closer. “You say he’s up the mountain?”
“He went up there almost two weeks ago. Right after an inspector fellow came up from Adopest to see him.”
“When did he say he’d come back down?”
“He didn’t.”
Taniel scratched his jaw. He’d not shaved since starting his hunt for the Privileged in Adopest. The thick curls on his neck itched. “Why’d he go up?”
Fesnik shook his head.
Taniel felt a sharp fear run up his spine. Bo knew that Tamas would send someone to kill him.
“And he told you to tell only me?”
“Yeah. He’s told us a lot about you. Said you two have been chums for years.”
That felt like a knife thrust to Taniel’s gut. He clenched his teeth and forced a smile on his face. Psychological warfare on Bo’s part? Or just drunken chatter? “That’s right. How long does it take to reach the top of the mountain?”
“Well, he won’t have gone all the way to the top,” Fesnik said. “There’s a monastery up there for the pilgrims, a couple miles short of Kresim Kurga. He’ll have stopped there.”
Kresim Kurga. The Holy City. It was a name out of legends. Taniel hadn’t heard the name since his nurse had taken him weekly to Kresimir’s chapel when he was a child. Even then, he’d never believed it really existed.
Taniel brought himself back to the present. He couldn’t wait here. He would have to go up after Bo and leave him buried in the snow. Taniel would be back in Adopest before they discovered Bo was dead.
“I’ll go up and see him,” Taniel said.
“This time of year?” Fesnik shook his head. “Not even a seasoned Watcher will guide you up, and believe me, without a guide you’ll walk into a snowstorm and never come out. The roads are treacherous well up until early summer.”
“My father mentioned a man named Gavril,” Taniel said. “Old friend of his. Said he was the best mountain man in the Nine. What?”
Fesnik had started to laugh. “Gavril, he might do it. If he’s sober enough to see but drunk enough not to think straight. I’ll try to find him for you.”
Fesnik went off into the barroom crowd. Taniel returned to the street, where he found Julene glaring at Ka-poel. Ka-poel was staring up at the mountain above them.
“Bo’s up there,” Taniel said, pointing to the mountain. “We’re going up after him.”
Julene’s eyes narrowed. “It’s probably a trap. He must know Tamas would send someone.”
“He does. But he told the Watchers to let me know where he was if I came. No one else. That means he trusts me.”
“Or he trusts himself to kill you before you can get off a shot.”
“I know Bo. It means he trusts me.” He took a deep breath. “Worse luck for him.”
“We’ll need supplies and mountain gear,” Julene said. “And winter clothing.”
“You’re not coming.”
“What?” Julene stared at him hard.
“You almost got me killed more than once,” Taniel said.
“How dare you.”
“Shut up. I’m going up there with Pole; we’re going to do in my best friend and come right back down. Carefully, quietly. You start throwing around sorcery up there and not only will the entire Mountainwatch know what we’re doing but you’ll likely bring an avalanche down on us.”
Julene sneered. “I don’t trust you. You’re weak. You won’t be able to pull the trigger.”