“Sumto!”
I strode on. I had a mission to accomplish and a time limit to accomplish it in. Sheo, the acquaintance who hailed me in the street would not, I knew, be able to help me with that. The streets were busy and noisy enough that I could realistically pretend not to have heard him, and with any luck he would not be able to catch up to me through the throng because of his ruined leg. A horse had fallen on it years ago and he had not then been able to afford a healing. Ironically, though he now hated and feared horses with a manic passion, he was damned to ride them if he wanted to make progress at any speed. A few months after the fall he had inherited a small fortune from one of his few surviving relatives, but by then the damage had healed as well as it was going to. He walked with a pronounced limp. I ignored his second hail, stepping out at a brisk pace in the wake of Meran who was clearing a path for me by the simple expedient of looking fierce and keeping his cudgel on the move. I was shocked and appalled when someone reached out of the crowd and grabbed my arm.
“Get your bloody hand off me… Kerral!” This last exclaimed as I recognized who it was who had caught me and plucked me from the crowd. A grin leapt unbidden to my face. I was peripherally aware that Meran spun about, cudgel raised, and that Sheo was rapidly gaining ground. Neither one mattered to me, though I was just as glad to see Meran relax. He might be a rangy and useful fighting man but Kerral was lethal. You will have seen short men who are unnaturally broad of chest and shoulder. Well, Kerral was my height and built that same way. He filled a doorway side to side, though not top to bottom. I have seen him pick up an anvil by the horn and hold it out at arm's length, a small smile playing about his lips and showing not the least strain.
“Sumto, my friend.” His voice was softer than you would guess from his size, though deep as a chasm.
“Kerral,” the hug was entirely spontaneous. It's not my custom to be over-familiar or physical, especially with men, but it's hard not to love a man who has saved your life. “How are you here? I thought you had been exiled! Why didn't you write?”
He grinned at me as he grabbed me and held me at arm's length. “So I was, but I managed to redeem myself. And I did write, at least once, I'm sure.”
“Sumto!” Sheo had caught up with me and I turned my face to him, smile still in place.
“Sheo! Good to see you.” I paused for a beat and then let the day go for now. “Let's go for a drink.” Yelian Shen was right of course. Drink has ever been my downfall, the cause and solution to all my problems.
“Good idea,” Kerral chipped in. “I'll buy.”
I heaved a mental sigh of relief at that, turned and gestured Meran to lead the way. “Find us an alehouse. The Damned Hangman is round the corner,” I reminded him.