wide but obviously unseeing.
Corin pulled her close to tell her, “It will pass.”
“I’m blind!” she cried.
“You’re not blind. It will pass.”
“I am! And deaf as well!”
“You’ll end up dead or Ephitel’s prisoner if you don’t shut up. Stay close to me. The powder’s effects are not permanent.”
When she did not cry out again, Corin nodded and led her down the alley at a trot. There was at least another contingent of the lord protector’s guards stationed on the street, but most of them were worse off than the ones he’d left in the alley, and the rest were caught up in a crowd of curious onlookers attracted by the commotion.
Corin and the lady bumped and shoved their way against the current, then finally broke free of the press and settled into the flow of traffic two blocks over. They mixed in with the crowd, moving ever away from the tavern. When Corin judged he had at least two miles behind him and no suspicious eyes watching, he pulled the lady into the shadow of a doorway.
For some time he simply leaned against the stone wall, exhausted, while the lady caught her breath. Then he asked her, “How’s your hearing?”
“I hear the sound of bells,” she said. “But I am not deaf.”
“And your sight?”
“I couldn’t stalk a fox by moonlight, but I don’t think that’s required.”
“Not at all,” Corin said. “And whatever remains will pass soon enough.”
“That is not what troubles me,” she said.
“Then what?”
“I did not know there were manling sorcerers. It is a fearsome thought.”
Corin chuckled. “I’m no sorcerer. I’m just a man with useful friends.”
The lady’s eyes narrowed. “What manner of friends? I’ve never seen the druids do anything like that.”
“Not the druids. A dwarf from Aerome.”
“Oh, dwarves,” she said, dismissive, but a moment later her eyes went wide. “A dwarf! Was that black powder?”
“Not black powder, or everyone in that tavern would be dead. But something like it, yes. Something far more expensive.”
The lady wasn’t really listening. She tapped a finger to her chin, then shook her head. “Friends with the dwarves. No wonder Ephitel is so interested in you.”
“What?”
“The prince has sought for years to get his hands on a good supply of black powder. If he heard of a mere manling who had found a way—”
“I grow tired of that name.”
She shrugged. “It is the way of things.”
“Still, that cannot be the reason behind Ephitel’s interest,” Corin said. “I haven’t used that powder before in this…place.”
“Something about you caught his interest! He is offering a large reward for your head.”
“He brought half a regiment to arrest me.”
“And now he knows about your alliance with the dwarves.”
“I don’t have an alliance with the dwarves! I stole a leather pouch from a wizard’s study.”
“Oh.” She brightened. “Good.”
“Good?”
She shrugged. “It means you will still take me to the king. If you could have offered Ephitel black powder, he’d have bought your loyalty.”
“You overestimate his generosity and overlook the larger problem.”
“Which is?”
“He’s hunting for me now. Our only hope of thwarting him lies in the palace, and I suspect there are more than a few of Ephitel’s guards between here and there.”
“Thousands,” the lady said. “Those who aren’t on the streets are stationed—”
“In the palace?” Corin didn’t even wait for her nod. “Then I’m out of ideas. We’ll have to leave.”
A melancholy silence settled over the two of them. Corin peeked out from their nook, searching up and down the street for any sign of Ephitel’s guards, then shrank back into the shadows.
The lady was staring at him. “Leave?”
“It’s our only chance. We’ll slip out of town, find some quiet country place to hide until—”
“Country?” Her voice was shrill. “I’m not leaving the city!”
“Would you prefer to fall into Ephitel’s hands?”
“No, but—”
“Then we have to run,” Corin said. “It’s part of the game when you’re playing against powerful enemies. If we give him time to forget about us, it’ll give me a chance to learn more about the situation. Make some connections. If I had half the resources here that I commanded back home—”
“What resources?”
The lady’s question brought Corin back to himself. He shook his head. “Useful friends, again. I was well connected back home.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Connected to what?”
“The city’s darker element. There are those who trade in secrets—”
“Oh, thieves,” she said, in the same way she’d dismissed the thought of dwarves before. “You’ll certainly find more of them here than you would hiding in some manling farmer’s barn.”
“Yes, but only if I’m at liberty,” Corin said. “This