Liavek 1 Read Online Free Page A

found she'd opened the shop. If she simply kept him out for the night, he would make another attempt on Badu's life soon after, and Snake did not care to live with the burden of unpaid debt that would be hers if he succeeded.
    Reasoned arguments aside, she felt a stubborn unwillingness to bar the doors and hide in her own house. Had she wanted to live as a cloistered woman, she would have moved to Ka Zhir and bought a veil.
    When she stopped hammering, the noise continued. Someone was pounding on the door. Her whip was still over her shoulder, and she judged the hammer in her hand a nice touch. She unbarred the door.
    "Your pardon, sir," she said to the man on the other side, and dipped him a shallow but formal bow. "I was closed for...repairs. Be pleased to honor my shop."
    He was shorter than she was, but if he found her height disconcerting, he showed no sign. His features, as well as Snake could see, were Liavekan. He had a thin, high-bridged nose, prominent cheekbones, and clear, penetrating black eyes; in combination they reminded Snake of the eagles that swept down on occasion from the Silverspine. The lower half of his face was hidden by a short black beard that looked, somehow, unintentional, as if its owner were not quite aware it was there, or hadn't yet decided what to do with it. He was deeply tanned, and creases fanned from the outer comers of his eyes. Snake found him handsome and immediately suspect.
    He wore a high-necked, long-sleeved blouse and loose trousers the color of sand, and over these a sleeveless coat that reached to midcalf made of black felt richly embroidered. Snake recognized the clothing as bits and pieces from several nomadic tribes in the Great Waste. She speculated on the weapons that could hang from his belt under the coat.
    His step over the threshold managed to convey disdain. Snake wondered what he would think if he looked up and saw the abominable glove. "I wish to see Badu nolo Vashu," he said in tones of polite command.
    Snake heard the little clock on a shelf behind her chime midhour, and realized it was half-past four.
    She tilted her head to one side. "I beg your pardon?"
    "Badu nolo Vashu," he repeated, and frowned at her. Snake had the irksome feeling that she was being taken for a servant.
    "Very sorry. She's not here."
    He raised one eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't believe you." His voice was chilly.
    "What a pity."
    "I'm prepared to see for myself, Madame..."
    "Snake," she said with a polite smile and a little nod. "And you, sir?" She was suddenly and perversely reminded of her presentation party at the age of fifteen.
    His eyes narrowed, and he seemed to study her face. She returned the stare. "Koseth," he said at last. Snake smiled in what she hoped was a skeptical fashion. It was a fairly common surname. "May I sit down?" he added.
    "I thought you were about to push past me and search the house."
    "I changed my mind."
    "Good." She stepped aside, and he went to the hearth and sat in one of the wicker chairs.
    "Can I help you find something?" Snake asked, gesturing vaguely toward the merchandise.
    Koseth, narrow-eyed and smiling, leaned back in the chair until the wicker creaked. "So, you say Badu nolo Vashu is not here?"
    "I said that."
    "Does that mean you're here alone?" he said softly.
    "Why do you ask?" At half-past four, Badu had begun the rite of investiture. Could magicians sense these things? Was Koseth a magician? Snake wished mightily that she could ask Badu.
    His reply, however, was simply, "To find out how you'd answer. The reason behind any question. And I think I shall be satisfied with 'Why do you ask?'"
    Snake wished that he would do something decisive, if he was indeed Badu's nemesis. If he wasn't, she wished he'd quit behaving suspiciously and go away. "I'm sorry, sir, but if you've come neither to look nor buy, you can go to a cafe to sit. I've work to do."
    "No doubt." Clearly, he was not easily provoked.
    But she was so startled by his next words that she