‘Fine,’ Annev said, and Crag reached for the pouch with eagerness. ‘And I’ll take the rest of the supplies in exchange for guiding you out of the Brake.’
Crag jerked his hand back. ‘I already discounted your wares on account of helpin’ me! This far south, that pile of coins would barely cover the sticks alone. And the resin is even more expensive, even in Northern Odarnea.’
‘But you’re not in Northern Odarnea,’ Annev said. ‘You’re lost in the Brakewood, and you can’t sell anything to anyone, at any price, without my help.’
Crag shook his head. ‘You’re a cheat and a thief. Your bloody villagers told me I couldna leave without an escort – and now you charge for it? Bah!’
‘You can go,’ Annev said, his tone cool, ‘with or without an escort. But you’ll be lost in the Brake for weeks without my help. I know these paths, and you know my price.’
The pedlar sniffed. ‘You’re insultin’ me, boy. All I have to do is push south and east until I come to the Brake Road. From there it’ll be easy enough.’
‘If it was easy, you’d already have done it,’ Annev countered. ‘If you head south-east you’ll get lost again. Could be days before you find the Brake Road, if you find it at all. You probably noticed the trees play tricks with the light?’ Crag looked up and Annev knew he had him. ‘You think you see the sun rising in the east so you head towards it, but really you’re heading due north and you end up right back where you started. That sound about right?’
Crag squinted at him, as if seeing him for the first time, not as an errand boy or a simple guide, but as another trader. An opportunist.
‘You’re a mite smarter than you look,’ Crag said. ‘Phoenix indeed. All right then, boy, what’s your price? How much of that coin will you pocket afore you help me outta this wood?’
Annev opened his palm, showing the coins in his hand. ‘Ten sticks of palm vine and four bottles of dragon’s blood tree resin … for eight moons.’
Crag poked at the coins, counting. ‘You’re one staff short.’ He eyed Annev’s empty pouch then shrugged. ‘I would have preferred ten, but this will do.’ He scooped the coins into his hand and they disappeared into his cloak with barely a clink. Then he pulled back a stitch of canvas covering the top of the wagon’s contents.
‘How’d you pull that heavy cart all the way from Odarnea?’ Annev asked, watching Crag sift through his wares.
‘I had a mule,’ Crag said, pulling out the dried palm vine and bright red tree sap. ‘Lost her in the Brake last night, though. I was makin’ camp, unharnessed Cenif from the cart. Fed her, watered her, and was just about to tie her back up when somethin’ spooked her. Just ran off into the dark.’ Crag eased the supplies into a cloth sack, taking care to wrap the bottles in rags, and held it out to Annev. ‘To tell the truth,’ he whispered, ‘it spooked me, too. Didna see or hear nothin’, but Cenif and I both felt it. Nothin’ natural.’
A deep silence seemed to blanket the forest just then, emphasising Crag’s words. Annev stared at the dark shadows at the end of the path and imagined the tendrils of some vast and invisible being unravelling itself, stalking towards them, whispering at the soles of their boots. He thought of the shadepools again and shifted uncomfortably.
He eased the sack from Crag’s hands and hefted it onto his back. ‘I’ll drop this at the treeline then come back,’ he said, heart thumping. Crag nodded, though he didn’t seem keen on being alone just then.
Annev jogged back to the treeline and deposited the sack on the other side of the standing stones. He’d shaken off the sense of foreboding, but then he remembered his true task – the merchant’s death – and his uneasiness returned.
How would he do it? When would he do it? Tosan had given him a whole day and a half, though Annev could do the deed in the next hour if that’s what he chose. Crag had already explained why he was wandering through the Brake, he had no prior knowledge of the village, and Annev had secured the supplies. There was only one task left undone.
I’ll take him down the road for a bit, Annev thought. Ask him some questions. Once his guard is down, I’ll do it.
But how? He’d thought to break Crag’s neck, but the man was so fat Annev wasn’t sure it would work. The same went for choking. If he’d had a knife or a rope, then perhaps … but he didn’t. A blunt stone would have to do. If he hit him hard enough, the man would drop like a rock. From there, Annev could probably find a tool in the pedlar’s cart – a knife or some other sharp instrument – and he could end it.
‘Thank you for the supplies,’ Annev said, returning to the pedlar’s side. ‘I’m sorry about your mule – and about you getting lost – but it’s almost over now. I can help pull your cart, and you can get another animal when you reach Hentingsfort.’ The lie felt bitter on his tongue.
Crag laughed. ‘I s’pose that’ll have to do – not like you left me much choice, and you already got your goods. Seems I’m at your mercy.’
The pedlar’s choice of words gave Annev pause: did he know, or was the turn of phrase a coincidence? He swallowed, feeling less certain.
‘I don’t know,’ Annev said, trying to act natural. ‘I thought you got a fair deal.’
Crag cackled at this. ‘And how would you know that, seein’ as how you live in a secret village? I’m surprised you know the value of your coin, let alone the worth of my goods.’
Annev smiled back. ‘I’m certainly not used to bartering with it. Sodar’s taught me a bit, though, so I’m not completely ignorant. I know the currency of the realm, even if I don’t— Crag?’
The merchant’s face had gone very pale.
‘What name was that?’ Crag whispered.
‘What?’
‘You said Sodar.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
‘Yes,’ Annev said, trying to sound casual. ‘He’s my mentor.’ As Annev spoke, he could almost hear Sodar rebuking him for sharing secrets with strangers. Only Sodar would never rebuke him again, and Crag would be dead within the hour.
‘Sodar,’ Crag said slowly. ‘And you’re Ainnevog. Phoenix.’ A strange grin spread across the fat merchant’s face and Annev found he didn’t like the man’s sudden interest.
‘Let’s go, lad,’ the merchant said, still smiling. Annev watched as Crag bent low beneath the handcart’s push-rail, leaning into the heavy load. Annev joined him, filling up the little remaining space. ‘Which way?’
Annev nodded straight ahead. He hadn’t come this way since last summer, but the landmarks hadn’t changed. ‘We take the first right.’ They began pushing the laden cart down the forest path.
‘So tell me about your village, Annev.’
‘It’s nothing special. We just keep to ourselves.’
Crag grinned. ‘I don’t doubt that, given the way you treat travellers. Doubt you get many repeat visitors.’ Annev said nothing and let the man talk. ‘Must be something special about it, though.’
‘Why do you say that?’