Storm Season- - Thieves World 04 Read Free Page A

slaver was not asking; he demanded.
    "Never."
    Jubal's hand moved smoothly, swiftly past his hip, then hesitated as he realized it was not holding the dagger. Only then did his conscious mind understand that Saliman had his weapons. He sought to catch his aide's eye, to signal him, before he realized that his ally was deliberately avoiding his gaze.
    "I have applied a poultice to slow the spread of the infection," Alten went on, unaware that he might have been dead, "as well as applied the juice of certain plants to deaden your pain. But we must proceed with treatment without delay."
    "Treatment?" the slaver glared, the edge momentarily gone from his temper. "But you said I wouldn't be able to use my legs-"
    "You speak of your legs," the healer sighed. "I'm trying to save your life though I've heard there are those who would pay well to see it ended." Jubal heard the words and accepted them without the rush of fear other men might feel. Death was an old acquaintance of all gladiators. "Well, what is this treatment you speak of?" he asked levelly.
    "Fire," Stulwig stated without hesitation. "We must burn the infection out before it spreads further."
    "No."
    "But the wounds must be treated!" the healer insisted.
    "You call that a treatment?" Jubal challenged. "I've seen burned legs before. The muscle's replaced by scar tissue; they aren't legs-they're things to be hidden."
    "Your legs are finished," Stulwig shouted. "Stop speaking of them as if they were worth something. The only question worth asking is: do you wish to live or die?"
    Jubal let his head sink back until his was staring at the hovel's ceiling. "Yes, healer," he murmured softly, "that is the question. I'll need time to consider the answer."
    "But-"
    "If I were to answer right now," the slaver continued harshly, "I'd say I'd prefer death to the life your treatment condemns me to. But that's the answer a healthy Jubal would give-now, when death is real, the true answer requires more thought. I'll contact you with my decision."
    "Very well," Alten snarled, rising to his feet. "But don't take too long making up your mind. Your black skin makes it difficult to judge the infection-but I'd guess you don't have much time left to make your choice."
    "How much?" Saliman asked.
    "A day or two. After that we'd have to take the legs off completely to save his life-but by then it might only be a choice of deaths."
    "Very well," Jubal agreed.
    "But in case I'm wrong," Stulwig said sud-'denly, "I'd like my payment now." The slaver's head came up with a jerk, but his aide had fore-reached him.
    "Here," Saliman said, tossing the healer a small pouch of coins, "for your services and your silence."
    Alten hefted the purse with raised eyebrows, nodded and started for the doorway.
    "Healer!" Jubal called from the floor, halting the man in mid-stride. "Currently only the three of us know my whereabouts. If any come hunting us and fail to finish the job, one, or both, of us will see you suffer hard before you die." Alten hesitated then moistened his lips. "And if someone finds you accidentally?"
    "Then we'll kill you-accidentally," Saliman concluded. The healer looked from one set of cold eyes to the other, jerked his head in a half-nod of agreement and finally left. For a long time after his departure silence reigned in the hovel.
    "Where did you get the money?" Jubal asked when such thoughts were far from his aide's mind.
    "What?"
    "The money you gave Stulwig," Jubal clarified. "Don't tell me you had the presence of mind to gather our house-funds from their hiding places in the middle of the raid?"
    "Better than that," Saliman said proudly, "I took the records of our holdings." From the early beginnings of Jubal's rise to power in Sanctuary, he had followed Saliman's advice-particularly when it concerned the safety of his wealth. Relatively little of his worth was kept at the estate but was instead spread secretly through the town as both investments and caches. In a town like Sanctuary