of voles and worms. After he'd lost his parents, Kit had become his family. She was all he had left. If there were times, such as during his turbulent adolescence, when he tried to drive everyone else away, Kit always did as she chose. No one could sway her once her mind was made up. In that they were much alike, to his constant chagrin.
"Forgive me." He turned onto one of Low Town's many crooked, unnamed streets. "What interests are those, dear lady?"
A pair of drunken merchant marines passed him in the gathering dusk. If they thought him odd for talking to himself, they said nothing, but murmured behind his back once they were past. Caim chewed on the inside of his cheek and ignored the itch in his palms.
"Hubert's on his way to the Vine," Kit announced.
He touched the heavy lump of the purse inside his shirt. "Good. That's where I'm headed now."
"And he's not alone."
"Is that right?"
"He's got a whole gang of roughnecks with him. Most of them look like vagrants, but a couple might be able to handle themselves. One is the disinherited son of a former pimp."
Caim smiled to himself. Ever since he had taken up his current lifestyle, Kit had endeavored to be useful to him. He had to admit she was an exemplary judge of people's capabilities. She could look at someone and spy out what they hid from others. That ability had saved his ass too many times to count. The trouble was that Kit couldn't be relied upon to always be where he needed her. She had a disturbing penchant for leaving him for days at a time and, even more unnerving, showing up with knowledge of things she shouldn't know, things no one could know.
"Should I be worried?"
Kit shrugged, turning around to stand right side up again. "He seems in a good mood. I'd say he was scheming something, but not against you."
"Then I have nothing to worry about."
The faded sign of the Blue Vine appeared around the next corner. One of the oldest wineshops in Othir, it had been owned by innumerable men and women over the centuries, passed down through families and sold off dozens of times. The current owner was Mistress Clarice Henninger, but everyone called her Mother.
She spotted Caim as soon as he pushed through the rickety door. "Caim!"
He held open his arms as she waddled across the common room to wrap him in a fierce embrace. A thick-waisted woman on the hoary side of fifty, she was every bit as saucy as a wench half her size and a third her age. The money purse tucked in his shirt ground against her massive breasts.
"Happy to see me, sweetling?"
Kit giggled while Caim disentangled himself as politely as he could manage. The Vine's taproom was dim, its windows tightly shuttered. The only light came from small oil lamps suspended from the ceiling and two stone-lined hearths. Thick shadows clung to the brick-and-niter walls. It was crowded this night. Most of the Vine's patrons were teamsters and porters, large men who made their living by the sweat of their brows and the strength of their backs. A few nodded his way. He returned the gestures with a slight dip of his chin.
"Want your usual table?" she asked.
Mother led him to a dim corner, swaying her wide hips with every step. Caim took off his cloak and slid around the table to sit with his back to the walls. From here he could see the front entrance as well as the door to the back room where the wine casks were stored.
"A cup of Golden Swan?"
Caim started to nod, but stopped himself. "No, I'll have the Asper tonight. In a clean cup, please."
She laughed, grasping her breasts with both hands. "Of course, sweetling. All Mother's cups are clean!"
A pair of oldsters in shabby coats cackled over their stones game as she waddled back to the bar to fetch his order. Kit perched on the table and regarded Caim. Her large eyes glowed like purple jewels in the dim lighting.
"So you took another job?"
He flipped a penny to the wench who delivered his wine. She flashed him a welcoming smile, but he returned only a curt nod and leaned back into the shadows.
As the girl flounced off, he said, "You were eavesdropping?"
Kit twirled a wisp of silver hair in her fingers. "Mathias talks so loud I could hear him half the world away. I thought you were going to take a