Implied Spaces Read Free

bells chimed and his voice slurred around the tusks.
    Aristide flowed to his feet in one swift, easy motion. Surprise swept across the ogre’s face at the speed of the swordsman’s movement.
    “I wish only the pleasure of your company,” Aristide said, “on the journey to Gundapur.”
    The single eye narrowed. “You wish to hire me to protect you?”
    “I have no money to speak of,” said Aristide. “But a long journey is best taken in company, and when I leave for Gundapur, in another twelve or fifteen turns of the glass, I hope you will join me.”
    “I won’t need to smash you,” Nadeer said. “The bandits will take care of that on their own.”
    “There is sufficient force here to deter any bandits.”
    The ogre snarled. “Not this pack of fools! Under a single leader, perhaps, but as things stand—” He began to maneuver himself back into his apartment. “I will return to my slumbers.”
    “Under a single leader, exactly,” Aristide said. “And why shouldn’t that leader be Nadeer the Strong? Nadeer the Master? Nadeer the Formidable?”
    Nadeer made a snarling noise. “I offered to fight the other leaders for the leadership of the caravans, but the degenerate fools said no! I wash my hands of them!”
    With the laughing of bells, the ogre inserted himself into his apartment and lay supine.
    “May I talk to the others on your behalf?” Aristide asked.
    “Say anything you like. I’m going to sleep. Goodbye. “ The last word bore the unmistakable sound of finality.
    Aristide left the ogre’s company and found the leader of another caravan, a blue-skinned woman named Eudoxia. She had rings in her ears and another ring in her septum, a ring so broad that it hung over her lips and touched her chin.
    “My name is Aristide,” he said, “by profession a traveler. In another dozen or so turns of the glass I will begin the journey to Gundapur, in the company of Nadeer and his caravan. I wonder if you would be willing to accompany us?”
    Eudoxia favored Aristide with a suspicious scowl. “Why would I want to accompany that green-skinned imbecile to Gundapur or anywhere else?”
    “Because there is safety in numbers, and because you are losing money every moment you delay here.”
    She cocked her head and regarded him. “Is anyone else leaving?”
    “You’re the first I’ve approached.”
    Eudoxia chewed on her nose-ring a moment. “I’ll talk to Nadeer,” she said.
    “He’s settled in for a nap. If you wake him he might crush your head.”
    She sneered. “I suppose he’ll insist on being in charge?”
    “That seems to be the case.”
    Eudoxia cursed and spat, then stomped on the spittle.
    “Very well,” she said finally, “but only if the others agree.”
    “Perhaps you would like to join me when I speak to them?”
    The timekeeper’s gong struck nine, ten, eleven, and twelve while Aristide had similar conversations with the other caravan masters. The swordsman returned eventually to Masoud, who coughed in derision for a long while before, after a good deal of complaint, agreeing to join the others under Nadeer’s leadership.
    Thus it was that Aristide was able to wake Nadeer with the news that he had become the leader of nine caravans and their assorted guards.
    “Perhaps you should confer with your lieutenants,” Aristide said. “As I know nothing of the business of caravans, I will excuse myself. I have talked a great deal and need refreshment.” He bowed and turned to leave, then hesitated.
    “Allow me to give you a word or two of counsel,” he said. “They are yours—be magnanimous. Let them talk to their heart’s content. If they speak sense, you can agree and appear wise. If their counsel is foolish, you may order things as you please.”
    “It will take patience to put up with their nattering,” Nadeer said, “but I shall do as you advise.”
    Aristide ate one of the free meals offered by the servants of the sultan: olives, cheese, bread, and stewed lamb with