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Wasen was begi
She leaned forward and, keeping her hands draped in the sumei, gestured at one of the dried items. It was a type of sea creature that clung to rocks in the surf zone. Fairly rare on the continent, wasen was one of the major trade goods of the Lemmar Alliance, and one of the reasons for the recent successful effort to take Strem away from the Lemmar. Besides the use for which she intended it, it was employed in various industries, including textiles.
In a place like this, however, it would be bought only for less acceptable uses. Less acceptable, at least, to the Krath.
* * *
Cord looked at the dried bit of what looked like meat and pointed in turn.
"How much?"
He had learned as a boy traveling to far Voitan that along with "Where water?" and "Where food?" that was one of the three most important phrases any venturer could learn in the local dialect.
The merchant held up fingers indicating a number that certainly sounded outlandish to the shaman. But that was what bargaining was all about, and he automatically quoted a return price one-third the suggested one.
The merchant screamed like a stuck atul and grabbed his horns. The offer must have been just about right.
* * *
As Cord, with obvious reluctance, pulled out a pouch and started measuring silver against the merchant's weights, Pedi leaned forward and picked up the hand-sized mass of wasen. She noticed immediately that it was unusually hard, and after she brought it under her robes and broke it, she wanted to scream in anger. Instead, she leaned forward and pulled urgently at Cord's arm.
"Not good," she hissed in the little People she knew. "Bad quality. Old. Not good."
Cord turned around and fixed her with a glare.
"You use?" he asked.
"Too much," she insisted furiously. "Bad quality. Too old."
Cord turned back to the merchant.
"She say stuff too old," he snarled. "No can use."
"First quality wasen," the apothecary spat back. The rest of the sentence was too fast for the shaman to catch, but one word sounded particularly bad.
The apothecary didn't speak too rapidly for Pedi, though. She managed not to break into Shin, but after a moment's spluttering, she launched over the seated Cord and grabbed the merchant by the horns.
"Kick your ass, modderpocker!" she screamed, using the only Imperial curses she knew—so far. "Kick your ass!"
"Barbarian whore!" the merchant shouted back. "Let go of me, you bitch!"
Cord grabbed one of his erstwhile bodyguard's arms and disengaged it from the merchant, then pushed the Krath to the ground.
"Here's your silver," he said with a growl. "I'll keep the copper as a charge for calling my wife a whore."
"Barbarian sathrek," the merchant snarled.
Cord looked around at the other merchants. Some of them had started to come to the apothecary's aid, and he pulled the still cursing Pedi down the way until they were out of sight of the scene of the confrontation.
"Listen to me," he grated in a mixture of Imperial and People. "Do you want to kill us all? You want to kill your asi?" He could tell from the drape of her sumei that she had crossed all four arms under the muffling folds.
"Bad quality," she hissed. "Too much. And ..." She stopped and stamped a foot. "Modderpocker," she muttered.
"What did he say?" Cord asked. "That was what really set you off, wasn't it?"
"He say ... he say ..." She stopped. "Don't know Imperial. Don't know People. Don't want say, anyway. Bad."
"What was it?" Cord asked. "I've been called some pretty bad things and survived."
"Was ... was having season with slimer. With baby."
Cord thought about what she meant for a second, then fingered the peacebonds on his spear while he did a dinshon exercise to control anger.
"The Imperial term is pedophile," he said after a moment, once he was certain of his own composure. "And 'modderpocker' means having season with your own birther. If you should happen to be interested."
Pedi thought about that for a moment, then grunted a faint laugh.
"Wish pocking merchant speak Imperial," she said much more cheerfully, and Cord shook his head and sighed.
"Pedi Karuse, you are a lot of trouble."
* * *
Poertena flipped over the hole card and scooped in the pot.
"That was a a lot of trouble for a measly few coppers," Denat growled, as he scooped up the cards to begin shuffling.
"Wha'ever it take," the Pinopan replied, leaning back with a shrug. "You not out looking por trouble?"
"You don't have to look with this lot," the barbarian said. "Most obnoxious group I've ever dealt with."
"You sure it's just one way?" Julian asked carefully. He usually sat out Poertena's card games—the Pinopan was deadly with a deck—but the waiting was getting on his nerves. And, apparently, on Denat's. "You've been pretty ... touchy lately."
"What do you mean?" Denat shot back sharply. "I'm fine."
"Okay, you fine," Poertena agreed. "But you have to admit, you been pretty short temper lately."
"I am not short tempered," he insisted hotly. "What in nine hells are you talking about? When haveI been short tempered?"
"Ummm ... now?" the Pinopan replied easily. "And you nearly kill t'at Diaspran yesterday."
"He shouldn't have snuck up behind me! It's not my fault people go creeping around all the time!" Denat threw the cards down on their crate-card table and jerked to his feet. "I don't have to put up with this. You can just find somebody else to insult!"
"So," Julian asked as the Mardukan stalked away. "Did we start that, or were we right?"
"I t'ink you right," Poertena replied uneasily. "He didn' even insult me when he lef'. I t'ink we gots a problem."
"Should we talk to Cord about it?"
"Maybe." The Pinopan rubbed his head. "Cord pretty wrap up wit' his girlfrien', though. Maybe I ask Denat later. He might cool down, decide to talk. It could work."
"Better not let Cord hear you call her his 'girlfriend,' or Denat will be the least of your worries."
* * *
They had managed to secure better clothing at a small textile shop without even a single additional disaster. And at an herbalist, they had found some mysterious emollients. Not far from the herbalist's, Pedi had surreptitiously directed Cord's attention to two small swords, which he'd also purchased. These transactions had been relatively simple, although the locals were notably hostile towards both of them.
With those minimal supplies collected, Cord had unilaterally headed back to their assigned quarters, forcing Pedi to follow. The Shin clearly would have liked to have spent more time in the massive, dusky market, but the shaman was sure that something else would set her off if he allowed her to. She was the most difficult female it had ever been his misfortune to encounter. Smart, yes, but very headstrong, and unable or unwilling to rein in her temper. She'd shown some capacity to back up that temper, on the Lemmar ship, and the swords—which she had indicated she had some knowledge of—were to test whether or not she was all talk.
Back at their quarters, she snatched the packages—including the dual swords and the mysterious wasen— and disappeared into her private room. They had been scheduled to test their martial skills against one another after their shopping trip, but Cord found himself cooling his heels for some time while the sun glow moved across the clouds. In fact, the bright, pewter-gray light had swept low in the west before Pedi reemerged.
Her appearance had ... changed.
The rough, dark rims at the bases of her horns were gone, and the overall color of the horns had faded slightly, to an even yellower honey with just a touch of rust. The mystery of the emollients' purpose was also revealed, for her skin had developed an even finer coating of slime. The clothing turned out to be a set of baggy pants and a vest that draped to her midsection, co