Light to see by, growing quickly as she applied the tinder to the wick of a lamp. As the lamp opened up the darkness like a folded blanket, he saw first his hand around the hilt of a sword, and beyond that something like a sack or a pile of bedclothes, slumped at the base of the cart’s front wheel.
‘Who the hell are you?’ said the woman’s voice, somewhere above his head.
He’d have answered if he could. Instead he knelt down and turned the body over. Interestingly, the cut started just under the right ear and carried on down to the collarbone. Of course, that may have been pure random chance.
‘He’s dead,’ he announced, superfluously.
‘Fuck,’ the woman said. ‘Oh, that’s bloody marvellous, that is.’
This time he looked round, surprised at her tone of voice, which suggested a lame horse or a broken wheel. She was holding the lamp up in front of her, so all he could see was a vague reflection of light off her face and one white hand. He wondered whether it would be safe to put his sword away, then realised he’d just done it.
‘Bloody marvellous,’ the woman repeated. ‘Now what am I going to do?’
All he could think of to say was, ‘I’m sorry,’ because he was. That didn’t seem to impress the woman very much.
‘You’re sorry,’ she said. ‘Thank you, but that’s a fat lot of good. What the hell did you have to go and do that for?’
He looked at her. ‘He was trying to kill me,’ he said.
‘Was he?’ She didn’t seem surprised, or particularly interested. ‘He always was a bloody fool, and a liability. I should never have let him get his hands on the stuff. God knows, he was dumb enough sober. Oh hell,’ she added. ‘Just my typical rotten luck.’
Maybe if he’d still had his memory, he’d have known how to cope with the situation. Just then the lamp guttered – the rain, presumably, or the wind – and went out. He caught his breath. He’d never have a better chance to make a run for it, and surely it had to be the most, the only sensible thing to do. Instead he waited patiently while she scraped and swore at the tinderbox.
‘Let me try,’ he heard himself suggest.
‘Get lost.’ There was the orange glow again, followed by ivory lamplight. ‘There used to be a glass bell for this lamp, but the bloody fool dropped it. Never knew anybody quite so clumsy. Here, let’s have a look at you.’ She swung the lamp towards him; this time he caught the instinct in plenty of time and suppressed it, letting his hand fall off the sword hilt and back to his side. ‘My God,’ she said, ‘what the hell have you been up to? You look like you just went for a swim in the slurry pit.’
‘Thank you,’ he replied. ‘Actually, that’s not far off . . .’
‘Whatever.’ She moved the lamp a little closer to his face. He made an effort to keep still. ‘Who did you say you are?’
‘I was asleep,’ he replied. ‘Your cart nearly ran me over.
Then he came after me with a sword. When he got too close, I must have just lashed out. I’m sorry.’
‘You keep saying that.’ He could just make out her eyes, by the reflection of the lamp in them. ‘And that’s not what I asked. Who are you?’
This time he couldn’t resist saying it, because it had been a long day and he was past caring. ‘You know,’ he said, ‘that’s a very good question.’
Meet the Author
K.J. Parker is a pseudonym. Find more about the author at www.kjparker.com.
THE FENCER TRILOGY
Colours in the Steel
The Belly of the Bow
The Proof House
THE SCAVENGER TRILOGY
Shadow
Pattern
Memory
THE ENGINEER TRILOGY
Devices and Desires
Evil for Evil
The Escapement
The Company
The Folding Knife
The Hammer
Sharps
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A PREVIEW OF SHADOW
MEET THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2000 by K.J. Parker
Excerpt from Shadow copyright © 2001 by K.J. Parker
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Orbit
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Published by Hachette Digital 2009
First ebook edition: May 2013
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-316-23323-1