The Hidden City

I’ll make more money if I do.’
    ‘That doesn’t make sense.’
    ‘Look, Col,’ Senga explained patiently, ‘when I came here before, I only had one cart-load of beer. I could get any price I asked, because my beer was so scarce.’
    ‘I guess that makes sense.’
    ‘I’ve got an almost unlimited supply now, though, so I’m making my profit on volume instead of price.’
    ‘That’s what doesn’t make sense.’
    ‘Let me put it this way. Which would you rather do—steal ten crowns from one man or a penny from each of ten thousand men?’
    Kalten did some quick counting on his fingers. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Now I see what you’re driving at. Very shrewd, Senga.’
    Senga puffed himself up a little. ‘It never hurts to think long-range, Col. My real concern is the fact that it’s not really all that hard to make beer. If some clever fellow’s got a recipe, he could set up his own brewery right here. I don’t want to get involved in a price war just when things are starting to go well for me.’
    They had left Narstil’s camp at daybreak, and so it was midmorning when they reached Natayos. They passed unchallenged through the gates, rumbled by the house with barred windows, and set up shop again in the same square as before.
    As Senga’s closest associate, Kalten had been promoted to the position of Chief of Security. The reputation for unpleasantness he had established early on in Narstil’s camp ensured that none of the outlaws would question his orders, and the presence of Bevier, patch-eyed, lochaber-armed, and obviously homicidal, added to his authority.
    ‘We ain’t likely t’ accomplish too much here, Col,’ Caalador muttered to Kalten as the two of them stood guard near one of the busy beer-carts. ‘Ol’ Senga’s so worried ’bout some feller slippin’ by ’thout payin’ that me’n you is tied down tighter’n a couple o’ dawgs on short leashes.’
    ‘Wait until later, Ezek,’ Kalten advised. ‘We’ll be able to move around a little more freely after everybody gets drunk.’
    Bevier slouched over to join them, his short-handled lochaber in his fist. People automatically got out of his way for some reason. ‘I just had a thought,’ he said.
    ‘You want to kill somebody?’ Kalten suggested.
    ‘Be serious, Col. Why don’t you take your friend Senga aside and suggest that he set up a permanent establishment here in Natayos? It’s the logical thing to do, and it’d give the three of us an excuse to stay here. If we cleaned out one of these ruined buildings and opened a tavern, we could stay here and run it. It makes more sense than selling beer off the tail-gate of an ox-cart.’
    ‘He’s got hisself a point there, Col,’ Caalador said. ‘Ol’ Shallag here, he looks like he drinks blood for breakfast, but his head’s still a-workin’ in back o’ that there eye-patch.’
    Kalten thought about it. ‘It would set us up right here in Natayos, wouldn’t it? We’d be able to keep an eye on things.’ He looked around. ‘Senga’s a little worried that somebody here might start his own brewery,’ he said for the benefit of nearby soldiers. ‘If the three of us are right here, we could probably persuade anybody who does that to take up another hobby. I’ll go talk with Senga and see what he thinks of the notion.’
    He found his good-natured friend sitting at a makeshift table behind one of the ox-carts. The outlaw was counting money with an almost dreamy expression on his face. ‘Oh, this is just fine, Col,’ he almost crooned.
    ‘They’re only pennies.’
    ‘I know, but there are so many of them.’
    ‘Shallag came up with an idea.’
    ‘He wants to thin out the crowd by hacking the head off every third man in line?’
    ‘Shallag’s not really that bad.’
    ‘Oh, really? Every man in camp has nightmares about him.’
    ‘He hasn’t killed a single man since he came to Arjuna.’
    ‘He’s saving up. He’s just biding his time until he can gather up a few thousand of us all together and kill all of us at once.’
    ‘Do you want to listen to his idea or haven’t you finished making bad jokes yet?’
    ‘Sorry. Go ahead.’
    ‘He thinks we ought to clean out one of these empty ruins and set up a permanent tavern.’
    ‘You mean like a real business? With a counter and tables and chairs and all that?’
    ‘Why not? Now that your brewer’s working full time, you’ve got access to a steady supply, and this is where your customers are. If you set