Page 15

T here were repeat customers, although Viv supposed “customer” might be too strong a word while the drinks were free. When they opened, the washerwoman and the rattkin were back. The woman had a friend in tow, and there were four others behind them.

The rattkin scurried inside first, wafting a cloud of flour, and pointed wordlessly at the latte on the menu. Tandri brewed for the first rush of customers, while Viv watched the street, nodding to herself as a few stragglers joined the short line.

Business stayed reasonably steady, too, with only a few gaps where one or the other of them wasn’t pulling a fresh shot.

“Seems like the fishing is good,” murmured Tandri as she passed by with emptied mugs in hand.

“You’re the angler,” said Viv, smiling. “I guess you’d know.” She leaned out to peer into the dining area, where a scattering of sleepy folk murmured in tentative conversation.

She glanced behind her and found that Tandri was up on a footstool with chalk in hand, adding a new line to the bottom of the slate menu.

Free Samples Today Only!

When she stepped down, she caught Viv’s questioning gaze and said, “Let’s see if the hook is really set.”

* * *

They were still doing slow business as the morning crept toward noon when the Ackers student from the previous day reappeared.

He stepped smartly inside, registered surprise at the people sipping their drinks in the dining area and, with only a distracted glance at Viv and Tandri, hurried to a spot in a vacant booth.

He unloaded his book satchel again and resumed his scribbling and the cryptic consultation of his palm.

For the next hour, the man did nothing but avail himself of the seating, and Viv grew increasingly irritated. “What is he doing?” she asked Tandri in a loud whisper.

She shrugged. “Coursework? Research? Although why he’s doing it here , I have no idea.”

“Yesterday, I was almost happy to have him, just to fill a seat, but… if he’s only going to take up room.”

“Easy enough to find out,” said Tandri, as she rounded the counter.

He gave her a distracted glance as she approached, clenching his hand closed. “Can I help you?” he asked, a bit waspishly.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” said Tandri. “Thanks so much for visiting, and two days in a row. I’m just checking to see if you’d like a sample. I assume that’s why you’re here?”

Viv had drifted across the room to overhear.

“A sample?” His eyes flicked between her horns and tail, and he seemed puzzled, as though he hadn’t been asked the same question the previous day.

“Coffee? A latte? You’re aware this is a shop that serves drinks?”

“Oh!” He seemed to recover. “Yes, well, there’s no need.” He smiled as though conferring a favor. “I’ll be just fine without!”

Tandri’s polite smile thinned away, but then she deliberately appeared to apply a new one, at a significantly higher wattage.

Viv got the distinct impression that Tandri was unveiling the barest edge of something she normally kept cloaked.

With a subtle purr, she asked, “Can I ask what you’re doing, Mister. …?”

“Uh. Er. Hemington,” he stammered. “I, um. Well, I would love to, but it’s all very technical.” He attempted to look apologetic.

“I’m very interested in technical matters,” said Tandri. “I’ve sat in on a few classes at Ackers. Try me, maybe?”

“You have?” Hemington blinked. “Ah! Well, er, it’s to do with ley lines, you see.

” He warmed to his subject as Tandri slid into the booth across from him and rested her chin on interlaced fingers.

“They crisscross Thune, and Thaumic Thread Theory is preoccupied with the radiant effects on the material realm. That’s a fascinating intersection with my area of study. ”

He uncurled his hand, and the imprint of a ring of sigils glimmered a faint blue there. The symbols writhed on his palm, reshaping in little licks of light.

“A ley-compass,” said Tandri, pointing at it. Viv started at that.

“Well, yes!” he replied, clearly pleased at her recognition.

“But what I’m finding here is truly anomalous.

We see scattered minor line nexuses throughout the city and westward toward Cardus, but I’ve found a nexus right here that is giving some terribly interesting readings. Ley lines pulse, of course.”

“Of course,” agreed Tandri.

“But this nexus holds firm . It’s really quite extraordinary. So I’m taking some measurements, assembling some notes. This could be the foundation of a fascinating paper, detailing their interactions with ward-glyphs.”

Viv had a sick feeling in her stomach and couldn’t stop herself from glancing to where the Scalvert’s Stone was hidden. She couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t responsible somehow, and if this student continued with his readings—the mention of a compass was unnerving—then where might that lead him?

“That is fascinating, Hemington,” said Tandri.

“It is? It is, isn’t it.”

“But, this is a place of business,” she continued. “Of course, we’d love to have you as a customer, but the seating here is really intended for patrons….”

Hemington adopted an expression of annoyed consternation. “I… don’t really drink hot beverages.”

Tandri ignored his protest and smiled at him sweetly. “… and fortunately for you, today’s samples are free.”

“Yes. Well. I, uh. I suppose,” he grudgingly allowed. “I… will… take advantage of that.”

“Excellent. I’ll bring you a cup.” She rose to return to the counter, but then turned back. “Oh, and as a reminder, this is the last day of the promotional period. Only a half bit for our flagship beverage. Thanks ever so much!”

* * *

As Tandri brewed a cup, Viv whispered, “You were an Ackers graduate?”

“Not a graduate, as such. Just took a few relevant classes.”

“Relevant to what?”

“To personal interests,” she replied evasively.

Viv didn’t press.

Tandri delivered the drink to Hemington, who stared at it dubiously and made no move to drink it.

After tapping her chin for a moment, Tandri took up the chalk and added another line to the menu.

*Purchase Required to Enjoy the Dining Area

* * *

Hemington eventually departed, leaving his untouched drink on the table.

At least he had the decency to hover over it for a moment, clearly trying to decide which was least embarrassing—leaving it where it was or bringing the full cup up to the front.

As he slunk past the counter, he noted Tandri’s fresh addition to the sign.

“You know, I would buy something. It’s just, as I said, I don’t much care for hot drinks.

Perhaps if there was something to eat ,” he said, a note of pleading in his voice.

“Hm,” said Viv, in her best impression of Cal. “I’ll take it under advisement.”

After he left, though, she glanced at the stove the hob had installed, and something niggled at her, a nascent idea.

She let that percolate as she went to retrieve Hemington’s mug.

The shop had mostly emptied, although one old dwarf sat tucked away in the back, nursing his drink while he slowly ran his finger over a broadsheet, moving his lips as he read.

Viv turned and stopped short. An enormous, shaggy creature sat in the center of the shop, sprawled in a square of sunlight. Tandri stood on its other side, eyes wide.

The beast had to weigh ten stone and was as big as a wolf, but it looked like nothing so much as an enormous, shaggy, and slightly sooty housecat.

“It just… appeared,” said Tandri weakly. “I didn’t see it come in.”

“What in the hells is it?” asked Viv.

The massive animal ignored them both but yawned, extended all the claws in its forepaws, and arched its back in a languorous stretch.

“Dire-cat,” a voice piped up from behind Viv.

The elderly dwarf looked over from his paper. “Don’t see ’em nummore, these days. S’posed to be lucky.” He squinted. “Or mebbe unlucky. I forget.”

“You’ve seen one before?”

“Aye. Used to be more around when I was wee. Good ratters.” He coughed. “Also kep’ the stray dog population down.”

Tandri blanched. “Should we… try to move it?”

The dire-cat regarded first Tandri, then Viv, with green eyes like saucers. Slowly they drifted to slits, and the rumble of a distant landslide filled the room. Viv realized it was purring .

She thought of the thumps on the roof tiles and Laney’s pilfered cake. She thought about the lines of verse and the Scalvert’s Stone.

“Honestly,” said Viv. “If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that if a beast isn’t angry yet, don’t get it started. I think I’ll leave it be. Maybe it will wander off? I’m pretty sure it lives around here.”

Tandri nodded dubiously and edged behind the counter.

The elderly dwarf folded his broadsheet under his arm, hopped down, and strolled past the cat, giving it a scratch behind one of its enormous ears. “Aye, a good girl,” he said. “Missed seein’ ’em around.”

“How can you tell it’s a girl?” asked Tandri.

The dwarf shrugged. “Guessin’. But I ain’t gonna lift ’er tail to find out for sure.”

* * *

The dire-cat did not leave, but Viv did manage to lure it to a less central corner of the shop with a dish of cream.

The animal approached with magisterial grace, surveyed the room, and then emptied the dish with a tongue as big as a spade.

Then it resettled in a great, shaggy heap, the sound of its rumbling purr trebled, and it fell asleep.

Tandri was visibly relieved to have the creature out of the way.

The café was empty again, in what Viv was beginning to suspect would be the slowest part of the day, although she was hopeful they’d get at least a visitor or two.

But the one who appeared at the threshold was the last person she wanted to see.

Fennus strode into the shop, hands behind his back, his perfume trailing like a cloak. His hair was pinned up fashionably, expression arch. The elf had always possessed a regal bearing. Viv couldn’t understand how he managed to look down his nose at her, even though she was two heads taller.

She’d crewed with him for years, and neither had warmed to the other.

Viv tried to chalk it up to personality conflict, but deep down, she knew that it was mutual dislike.

Fennus always found ways to make her feel less-than with the barest twist of inflection or a carefully chosen word slipped like a knife between the ribs, so sharp you didn’t notice the wound until you looked up from a lapful of blood.

And Viv wasn’t above a blunt riposte, even if it often came far too late.

She’d assumed she’d never see him again and would have been glad of it. The fact that he was darkening her doorway meant he wanted something. She very much hoped she was wrong.

Still, she forced a smile. “Fennus! Surprised to see you here.”

His smile was even more false than hers, although it hardly marred his beauty. “Viv. I’d heard from Roon that you’d set up an….” He glanced around with a perfectly wrinkled brow. “… enterprise . I thought I’d see for myself.”

“And how is Roon?”

“Oh, well. Very well.” He ran a finger along the counter top and inspected it.

Tandri watched the exchange with pursed lips and clearly noticed the electric buzz of tension. Leaning on the counter and adopting a smile, she addressed the elf. “Hello, there! I don’t want to interrupt, but would you care for a sample? It’s a grand opening promotion.”

“ Grand opening?” Just the slightest quirk to the first word, the tiniest caress of amusement. “Ah, is this that gnomish beverage you were so taken with?” He glanced at Viv with an indulgent smile. “No, not for me, thank you kindly. I’m just stopping in to see an old friend.”

“A pleasure,” said Viv.

It wasn’t.

“Yes, so excellent to see you off to such a promising start.” The elf surveyed the conspicuously empty dining area, maintaining his smile. He delicately rapped a knuckle against the coffee maker and cocked an ear at the subtle tone it generated. “It does indeed have the ring of fortune about it.”

Viv froze.

Then suddenly, a furry bulk stalked past her to stand in front of Fennus, and the rocks-down-a-washboard sound of its purr became something altogether more menacing. The dire-cat’s hair stood on end, making it look half-again as large, and it hissed louder than the coffee maker ever had.

Fennus eyed the animal uncertainly. “Is this thing… yours?”

Tandri leaned further forward and surprised Viv with her tone of politely savage delight. “She is. A bit of a shop mascot.”

He wrinkled his nose in distaste, and then his eyes flicked to Viv. “Charming. Well, I suppose I’ll be on my way. I only wanted to deliver my congratulations. Best wishes, Viv.”

She silently watched him leave, and Tandri came around the counter to hunker in front of the enormous cat, which was now licking one forepaw with regal deliberation and looking pleased with itself.

Tandri’s prior apprehension forgotten, she scratched behind the dire-cat’s ears, eliciting a deeper purr, and murmured, “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? You know a dickhead when you see one.” She looked at Viv. “Old coworker? No love lost between you two, I guess.”

“Something like that. Being the best of friends isn’t a requirement for the work I used to do.”

Tandri returned her attention to the cat. “Mmmmm, you need a name. How about… Amity ?”

Viv snorted, unable to suppress a small smile. “Why not, since you’re already such fast friends?”

“Not like you and him .” Tandri jerked a thumb toward the recently departed elf. “What do you think he really wanted?”

Viv didn’t answer, instead thinking of what Fennus had said. Her hand went to the folded scrap of verse she kept in her pocket.

Well-nigh to thaumic line,

the Scalvert’s Stone a-fire

draws the ring of fortune,

aspect of heart’s desire.