Day 11 - morning

Gus hurried from the training field over to the dining hall. The hall was growing crowded with the "breakfast rush", but Ojean was still fairly easy to spot. 

"C'mon, let's get goin'." 

"Go where?" Ojean looked up from his meal in confusion.

"Didn't Tara tell you? We're goin' to Cabral. But this time," Gus grinned impishly, "*I'm* in charge."

"Aw, gimme a break. You are not..." Ojean broke off as Teewith relayed the news. "No way." He grinned and, finishing his breakfast with a gulp, stood up to follow Gus. "So, let's go already."

Once out on the green astride their dragons, Ojean turned to Gus. " Are you ready to teleport?"

Gus swallowed. How the hell did she teleport? 

<Tee says to just imagine the place we want to go and then you say go and we go.>

Gus looked up to see Ojee watching him. "Oh, sorry. Sure, let's go. Land over by the meeting hall?"

Ojean agreed and Gus swallowed hard. She quickly pictured the docks in her mind and let Loki take "read" the picture.

<Got it?>

<Yes - and don't worry, my rider, I can handle this.>

<Then go!>

Loki leapt into the air, and Gus looked down at the warren before the image blurred - changing to the docks. 

<See? I told you I could handle it. Have you no faith?>

Gus chuckled as she slid down the dragon's side. 

<Can you ever forgive me?>


<I'll think about it,> Loki responded, giggling, and curled up beside Tee in the early morning sun.

Gus spied Captain Chessman deep in conversation with one of the ship captains and headed that way, aware of Ojean following behind. She waited for the portmaster to finish and turn their way.

"Captain Chessman? Can I talk to you...in private?"

Captain Chessman raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Leading the way to a small office, he gestured Gus and Ojean inside and shut the door.

"What can I do for you boys today?"

Gus reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the bag of gems. Without a word, she spilled a few into her hand. There was a gasp from both Ojean and Captain Chessman. Gus grinned. While she would be damn glad to be quit of carrying this temptation around all the time, it was a helluva lotta fun to pull this on the others. 

"Found these after the storm. Tara wants me to sell 'em and use the money for a.... Well, she called it a warren relief fund. Wants those what got put out by the storm to get a share so they can get on their feet again. So, I'd like you to gather the folks together and I can start dolin' it out, ok?"

Captain Chessman glanced up at Gus and smiled slowly. "Oh sure. Folks'll line up to see YOU giving something away. And I'll make sure everyone who comes with their hands out, deserves to get something. Deal?"

Gus smiled thinly at the portmaster's joke. "Deal."

She stood up and headed out the door, ignoring Chessman's obvious amusement at her displeasure with his humor. Once they were clear of the port offices, Ojean tugged at Gus's sleeve.

"Ok, what's my job in this?"

Gus grinned at her friend. "Why, you're the courier - aint you the Warrenlady's official voice? You're gonna keep records of all this."

"And why can't you?"

Gus flinched slightly. "Well, this looks better, see? Can't no one say I wrote it down to make me look good, right? Don't want old Jerram sayin' I robbed the warren outta nothin."

Ojean eyed his friend shrewdly. "Fair enough. So, you could do it, then?"

"Oh sure, sure. Now, we're goin' to some of my old...partners. Keep your eyes open."

Gus led the way from the docks through a maze of narrow, twisty streets. Where they were headed wasn't that far from the docks, really, but it was easy to get lost in the alleyways - unless, like Gus, you'd spent your whole life there. She walked quickly - if you looked lost around here, the vultures would descend. A brief glance over her shoulder assured her that Ojean knew, at least, how to walk without looking vulnerable. Good. She'd need all her wits to make this deal, she couldn't afford to have to babysit. She led Ojean to a small grubby building and walked in without knocking. Behind a narrow counter sat a fairly old - and thoroughly disreputable looking - man. His greying hair was hanging in scraggly locks in front of his unwashed and wrinkled face. When he saw who had come in his face creased into a broad smile.

"Well, well, well - Gus. Heard ye joined one o' them dragons...guess ye can't trust everythin' ye hear."

"Morelin." Gus said coldly. "That one was true."

"So, and who's yer friend?" Morelin's leered under his hair at Ojean. "He aint yer trade is he?"

Gus was aware of Ojean's flinch - reasonably well-concealed though it was - but ignored it. It was too easy to let Morelin get under your skin - and then he made the deal he wanted, not yours. She shrugged.

"Maybe next time. How're you fixed on jewels?"

"Aaah, sorry, Gussie. I'm swimmin' in 'em." His face looked sad, but Morelin's eyes were alight with hunger. "Of course, for an old...friend like you, I'll take a chance."

"No, no, Morelin. I couldn't do that to you. I'll try elsewhere." Gus nudged Ojean and headed toward the door. Out of Morelin's sight, she winked at the boy. He stifled a grin. 

"You win again, Gus. Lemme see what ye got."

Gus spun on her heel and leaned against the counter. She pulled out the bag and poured the gems out. Morelin picked one up and held it close to his eye. He did likewise with another and then met Gus's eyes. The smile had completely left his face and Ojean paused, thinking something had gone wrong. 

Morelin then named a price that Ojean thought was reasonable, but Gus only snorted in disgust and countered with an astronomical sum. Morelin neither laughed nor smiled, simply repeated his previous offer. Gus shrugged and scooped the gems up.

"Sorry we couldn't deal, Morelin. I'll go see if Jervis can." She was no more than half a step towards the door when Morelin called out.

"Dammit, Gus, wait. Ye can't go to that bloodsucker - not after our history."

"After our history, I oughta never give you nothin'."

Morelin actually turned a sickly grey. "Now, you aint holdin' that agin me are ye? I always give ye fair price, ye know that."

Gus stood and stared at Morelin for several minutes. Finally, the old man broke and named a sum just a fraction lower than Gus's offer - but more than double what Morelin had offered before. With an evil grin, Gus spat on her hand and held it out - with an alacrity that suggested she would have taken much less. Morelin growled but completed the deal.

"Yer a sneaky bastard, Gussie." There was a world of admiration - and no small amount of chagrin - in his voice.

"Damn straight. Write it all down, Ojean."

While Morelin handed over several heavy bags of gold coins, Ojean neatly wrote down the price paid and the gems turned over. Then he and Gus headed out of the door, leaving Morelin fondling the gems and chuckling softly.

"Gussie?"

"Say it again and you'll lose some teeth."

Ojee laughed and Gus made a face. The deal with Morelin had been easier than she thought. Jervis must have gotten the better of him lately. Gus hadn't expected that card to turn up aces, but she knew better than to argue with good luck. Still, it left them with some free time.

"Chessman won't have gotten folks together this fast. Got some time to kill. Hungry?"

"Of course," Ojean grinned.

Gus led the way back to the docks and the small bazaar off to one side. There were stalls selling just about anything, but Gus directed them to the one selling batter-fried apples. The latest batch was fresh out of the ovens and burned the tongue, but oh, the sweet-tartness of it was too good to quibble over a little pain. 

"Damn, but it feels weird to pay for that," Gus muttered, frowning. She'd caught herself thinking there was nothing like home. How the hell could she think of this as home??? This was hell, she reminded herself. The warren was her home now. She deliberately turned so she could no longer see the roofline of the Scarlet Pleasure looming over the northeast end of the docks.

Ojean looked at Gus sadly. "Never before?"

"Nah, never had the money." Gus shrugged. "Anythin' you wanna get?"

"Well....maybe I can find something for Cill."

Gus laughed. "Got it bad, Brat?" Ojean made a face that only made Gus laugh harder. Sniggering and wiping the tears from her eyes, she started around the various stalls. Her eye was caught at Fortia's booth. Fortia had been a well-known artisan in Cabral for close onto 30 years. Her creations of nacre and silk were impressive. What caught Gus's eyes this time was a tiny model ship in a bottle. Down to each thin spar in the rigging, the ship could have been the Marquesa. Without thinking it through, she bought it. While she was carefully stowing her precious purchase away, Ojean happily bought a pair of hair combs delicately carved and adorned with the iridescent nacre. 

Gus headed back to the meeting hall, stopping once to purchase a cheap but pretty hair ribbon in bright yellow. She wasn't sure Delia would still like that color after the storm, but the only other ribbon available was scarlet. Gus shuddered at the thought. She could only hope Delia's experience in the storm hadn't made her hate yellow the way Gus hated red. Ojee grinned broadly and ribbed Gus about the present until Gus nudged him and mentioned the combs. They stowed their purchases on the dragons.

<It is not so bad here, with me, is it?>

Gus smiled fondly and rubbed Loki behind the eye ridges. Nothing could be that bad, could it? She had Loki now - someone she could love and who would never leave her. She gave him an affectionate shove and headed into the hall.

*****

Same day, late afternoon

Gus stretched slowly, her back aching from so many hours sitting behind a table handing out coins to people. She'd recognized a lot of the folks - and even those she didn't know seemed to know her - and Chessman had sat nearby, vouching for them. Gus glanced over at Ojean, who was rubbing his cramped hand. It had taken the rest of the day, but it was done. She had done what Tara asked of her - and could prove her honesty on it. She didn't even try to smother her smile. Sometimes, life was good.

Delia came charging up with a happy giggle. "Gus!"

Grinning, Gus swung the little girl up and around. For once she wasn't overly worried about being caught with the portmaster's granddaughter. The hall was mostly empty and Chessman would never say anything - the man was famed for being tight-lipped. Besides, Delia would never have allowed her "hero" Gus to leave without paying her some attention.

"Got you somethin', Delia sweet."

Gus pulled out the ribbon with a flourish and presented it to the little girl, who squealed with delight and demanded that Gus put it in her hair RIGHT NOW. Ignoring Ojean's snickers, Gus carefully tied the ribbon and gave Delia a pat on the head.

"There now, sweetlin', go show your Ma how pretty you look."

Delia danced off, singing. Gus turned just in time to see both Chessman and Ojean wipe broad smiles from their faces.

"Let's go home, Ojee."


******

Gus was a little worried about the teleport back. While she could call up a picture of Cabral, she didn't know the warren as well yet - what if she made a mistake? After all, they had training in this - it couldn't really be this simple, could it?

But, the water of Cabral's port shifted to Jasra's beach and Gus shook her head. Once the dragons had landed, she slid down.

"Hell, this teleportin' stuff aint so hard, after all."

Ojean froze and swiveled his head to stare at Gus. "What do you mean "aint so hard"? You did practice it in training with Jerram, didn't you?"

Looking around at a strangely empty green, Gus didn't notice the warning note in Ojean's voice. "Uh, no. Was that important?" Unconcerned, Gus peered around the warren. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"Was it IMPORTANT?" Ojean squawked, quickly forcing himself to lower his voice, lest someone overhear. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you just got me in?"

Gus spun to face her friend, her face falling. "Trouble?"

"You aren't supposed to teleport until you're trained and now I...oh!" Ojean's voice trailed off in fury and chagrin. 

Gus frowned. Dammit, another rule broken and she'd never even known it was there. <Loki? Don't tell no one 'bout portin' into Cabral.>

<Got it. My lips are sealed..... What does that mean, anyway?>

"Ojee, I didn't know it was gonna get you in trouble, honest. I won't tell no one - and Loki won't neither."

"I can't believe you would..."

"Ssh! Here comes Jerram. Yell at me later."

Jerram stomped angrily towards them and Gus winced. Had he found out already? Damn, how was she gonna get Ojean out of this?

"Where the hell have you been?" Jerram demanded. "The trial is already starting. Now, come on!"

He grabbed Gus around the arm and started hauling her towards the dining hall. In her relief at not having gotten Ojean in trouble, Gus completely forgot to yell at Jerram about grabbing her. The tables had been pushed back in the dining hall to make a sort of courtroom. Gus flinched. Trial? She was tugging backward against Jerram, ready to bolt when she noticed the sailors who'd attacked Elly lined up and guarded. 

Thank the gods, it aint me on trial, she thought.

<Of course not, silly. They haven't caught you at anything yet.>

Gus chose to ignore Loki's commentary and yanked free of Jerram's grasp. Corwin, Elly and the strange tattooed woman from the shipwreck were seated near the front of the "court". Gus started to head that way when she heard a growl and a scream from the prisoners.

"You little thief! Gimme back my ring!"

Colm, the sailor she'd fought, charged her, waving the cast on his arm like a club. Those guarding the prisoners were unable to react quite fast enough to stop him. Reflexively, Gus sidestepped Colm's charge and spiked the back of his neck as he went by. He dropped, moaning.

"Thief," he managed hoarsely. "The boy stole my ring."

{Tag, John. One trial in progress.}

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Katrina