you’ve guessed, judging from her looks—but I know precious little of her background aside from that. Those two came in together six years ago looking for a guild and work, and I took them on because of Conli’s medical skills. I haven’t once regretted that decision, either. Although there are days when I do wonder what they’re doing with us…” she trailed off, her own eyes straying up the stairs to where the two in question were still fast asleep. “With Conli’s doctoring skills, he can work wherever he wishes to. I’m thankful to have him, mind, and certainly don’t wish to see the back of him. I just don’t understand what I did to gain him, either.”
“Your stunning and dynamic personality?” Hammon offered artlessly, with an innocent blink of the eyes.
She threw her head back and laughed. “That I doubt! But I thank you for the flattery.” Actually, while Denney was upstairs and still asleep, this would be a good time to warn Hammon of certain things. “Hammon, have you ever been to Wynngaard before?”
“I was three at the time,” he answered with a wry shrug. “I don’t remember much.”
“Ahhh. Then you might not know this.” She waved him closer and lowered her voice to a more confidential murmur. “I want you to be on your toes as we reach Wynngaard. There’s a stigma attached to people like Denney, who obviously have mixed blood. They mistake her for a prostitute or some lower-class worker all the time. If she stumbles into a crowd of Teheranians, it’s especially bad, which might happen in Quigg. There’s quite a large neighborhood of them in the city.”
Hammon raised a hand in a staying motion. “Wait, why?”
“As it was explained to me, there’s one thing that Wynngaardian and Teheranian culture have in common: they don’t tolerate half-bloods. Those poor souls that are born to mixed parents are in for a rough life afterward. I think that’s why Denney chooses to stay in Robarge, as we don’t have that prejudice.” That was pure guesswork on her part, though, as Denney had never said a word one way or the other. “Regardless, when we’re in Wynngaard, keep an eye on her and step in if you need to.”
He gave her a solemn nod and promised, “I will.”
“Good man.”
“Ahhh…speaking of her….” Hammon’s eyes started twinkling in a devilish fashion. “I was promised a story that I never got to hear. Something about her falling off the cart while on the path and getting lost for several days?”
Siobhan’s expression melted into an evil smile. “Oh, that? True, I do need to tell you that. To serve as an example and prevent you from repeating her mistake, of course.”
“Of course,” he agreed with a straight face.
“It happened about, oh, two years back.” Siobhan relaxed in her chair, crossing her hands over her stomach, and prepared to tell the tale. “We were taking a small caravan from Cymer to Kaillmark, then escorting them back again. On the way back, Denney got concerned about one of the dogs not being seated properly, and as she moved to adjust the dog, she lost her balance and fell straight off the side of the cart. Tran and Beirly both saw her going over and called a halt right there, but when a person leaves a path, you can’t see them. Grae marked the spot, but he couldn’t just stop, as our clients had a ship to make in Dykes. So we went all the way through the path and took them to Cymer, then Dykes. That took about an hour, mind you. I split the guild up so that half made sure the caravan got loaded on the ship as they were supposed to, then I took Grae and Tran back with me to go get Denney.”
Just remembering the whole situation made her shake her head.
“Grae had run some calculations and did a little wizardry, and he figured out more or less where she must have landed. We took a smaller path he already had built and he took us to the right area. Or what should have been the right area, if Denney had stayed put. But no, in her infinite wisdom, she’d decided to walk the remaining distance to Cymer and save us some trouble.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Hammon’s brows were furrowed in bemusement, “but isn’t the distance between Kaillmark and Cymer about ninety spans?”
“Indeed it is,” she assured him, like a proud teacher of a pupil. “Someone paid attention