A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 1

least.'
    'So? Is that so unusual?' Apsalar asked casually.
    'It is,' he grumbled. 'Did you feed Moby as I asked?'
    She nodded. 'The grapes?'
    'Yes.' He placed his hands on his hips. 'Strange. Maybe Rallick knows something about it.'
    'Who's Rallick?'
    'An assassin friend,' Crokus replied distractedly.
    Apsalar shot to her feet, her eyes wide.
    'What's wrong?' Crokus asked, stepping close. The girl looked positively terrified. He glared around, half expecting to see some demon rise out of the floor or the cupboard, but the room was unchanged – a little messier than usual, though. Moby's fault, he assumed.
    'I'm not sure,' she said, relaxing with an effort. 'It was as if I was about to remember something. But it never came.'
    'Oh,' Crokus said. 'Well, we could—'
    A knock sounded on the door.
    Crokus brightened, walking over to it. 'Oh, he probably lost his keys or something,' he said.
    'It was unlocked,' Apsalar pointed out.
    Crokus opened the door. 'Meese! What're you—?'
    'Quiet!' the big woman hissed, pushing past him and shutting the door. Her gaze fell on Apsalar and her eyes widened. Then she turned back to Crokus. 'Good I found you, lad! You've seen no one since getting back?'
    'Why, no. That's just it—'
    'A stabler,' Apsalar said, frowning up at Meese. 'Have we met?'
    'She's lost her memory,' Crokus explained. 'But, yes, we stabled Coil's horse.'
    'Why?' Meese demanded, then as Crokus was about to elaborate she went on, 'Never mind. The stabler shouldn't prove a problem. Well, we're in luck!'
    'Dammit, Meese,' Crokus said. 'What's going on?'
    She met his eyes. 'That D'Arle guard you killed the other night. The one in the garden. They've got your name and description, lad. Don't ask me how. But the D'Arles are talking high gallows when you're caught.'
    The blood left Crokus's face. Then his head jerked to Apsalar. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. No, she truly didn't remember. But it must have been her. He collapsed into Mammot's chair.
    'We've got to hide you, lad,' Meese said. 'Both of you, I guess. But don't you worry, Crokus, me and Irilta, we'll take care of you till something can be worked out.'
    'I don't believe this,' he whispered, staring at the wall opposite him. 'She betrayed me, damn her!'
    Meese looked questioningly at Apsalar, who said, 'It's a guess, but I'd say a girl named Challice.'
    Meese closed her eyes briefly. 'Challice D'Arle, the court's honey these days.' Compassion softened her face as she looked down on Crokus. 'Oh, lad. That's the way of it, then.'
    He jerked in the seat and glared up at her. 'It isn't any more.'
    Meese grinned. 'Right. For now,' she said, arms folded over her chest, 'we just sit tight till night, then it's the rooftops for us. Don't worry, we'll handle things, lad.'
    Apsalar rose. 'My name's Apsalar,' she said. 'Pleased to meet you, Meese. And thank you for helping Crokus.'
    'Apsalar, huh? Well,' her grin broadened, 'guess the rooftops will be no problem for you, then.'
    'None,' she replied, knowing somehow that she was right in this.
    'Good enough,' Meese said. 'Now, how about we find something to drink?'
    'Meese,' Crokus asked, 'do you know where my uncle might have gone?'
    'Can't help you there, lad. No idea.'
     
    She wasn't sure about the old woman on the steps, but the one immediately below, tucked into a shadowed niche and steadily watching the tenement building – that one would have to be taken care of. It seemed that this Coin Bearer had protection.
    Serrat was not unduly concerned. Next to her lord, Anomander Rake, she ranked the deadliest among the Tiste Andii of Moon's Spawn. Finding this boy-servant of Oponn's had not proved difficult. Once her lord had given her the necessary details, Oponn's magical signature had been easy to find. It helped that she'd encountered it before – and from this very boy – on the rooftops two weeks past. Her agents had chased the Coin Bearer that night, abandoning him once he'd entered the Phoenix Inn – but only at her command. If she'd suspected then what she now knew, Oponn's presence would have ended that very night.
    Ill luck, Serrat smiled to herself, taking a more comfortable position on the rooftop. They'd move at night, she suspected. As for the woman hiding below, she'd have to be removed. Indeed, with a spell of blurring and enough in the way of shadows, she might as easily take the woman's place.
    There'd be no suspicion from the other woman, then, the one presently inside with the Coin