Chapter 40.5
November 20th, 2022
"I don't trust you!" Nevakko exclaimed as they passed out of ear shot of the Ziggurat and into more quiet alley ways. "You're not going to accept that deal! I won't let you."
Gerb spun on him suddenly standing face to face, breathing heavily and clenching his jaw tightly so his temples buldged. "I cam back to this shithole of a town for one reason, and one alone. No one, and I mean no one is going to get in my way." Gerb hissed at Nevakko who stood his ground unwavering in the slightest, glaring right back at Gerb. Just before Nevakko could speak Gerb continued, "But!" He said raising a finger, "Lelia is a decent person eve if she is a noble. She's not one deserving of being dragged into the Underworld. So first, I'm going to speak to her about it and get her approval."
"She'll never agree to it. She's a better person than to stoop to the whims of criminals."
Gerb snorted in mocking disbelief. "I think you'll be surprised. I can be persuasive if I need to be." Seeing the look of first horror then anger come over Nevakko, Gerb rolled his eyes before hopping along. "Not everything I do is done with my fists. I'm not going to hurt your precious Lady. I can be charming when I need to be. She'll understand and agree with me."
"I'm glad you're not a total barbarian. But in what world do you think you'd ever manage to convince Lady Sundman of anything so utterly ridiculous? I don't see that you have any leverage."
Gerb continued on for a ways, mostly heading back the way they had come until suddenly turning the entirely wrong direction. "It's simple. I'm a liability." Gerb grunted as he hopped over a particularly large pile of refuse.
"Although I'd like to be relieved that we can finally agree on something, instead I'm even more frustrated. You don't know Lady Sundman like I do. She won't just toss you aside, liability or not. Once she sets her mind on something, that's that. And for reasons only Krulnac knows, she's decided that she wants you. She's not just going to change her mind." Nevakko stated dryly.
Ignoring him, Gerb continued, "If I die, I'm just a failed assassin. Lady Sundman is not yet known to own me. If I succeed then I save my family and continue to serve Lady Sundman and no one will know it was I who did the deed."
"It's not a matter of political power. Lady Sundman has never been interested in that. It's a matter of morality. She will never concede to such a heinous act." Nevakko argued adamantly. "Also, where do you think you're going?" He finally asked curious as to why Gerb was traveling away from Lelia's residence.
"Sott isn't the only informant in this city, and not every informant sits in the underworld's pockets." Gerb said as he finally came to a simple nondescript looking terris house. NO signs or symbols adorned this house. No number or marking. It was simply a house, who's door Gerb knocked upon loudly. There was no answer.
"Beldrid!" Gerb called out. "Get your arse down here!"
The sound of wood clattering echoed from above as shutters were flung open. Gerb looked up in time to see a pair of veiny and hairy hands reach out to suddenly fling a chamber pot full of sewage into the streets below. Gerb cried out angrily, stumbling away to avoid the shit, but tripped on his crutch and went tumbling backwards. Nevakko leaped forward and caught the big man and saved him from being sprawled into another sludge of sewage.
"There's my arse for ya!" Came a voice from the window above followed by a very disheveled head of greyish brown hair which knew not where hair stopped and beard started. "No piss off! I don't do potions or readings for anyone anymore. I'm retired!" The crazed looking man shouted as he reached out grabbing the shutters to close them.
"Fuc you Beldrid!" Gerb shouted up as he regained his foot, grumbling at Nevakko in a reluctant thanks. "You'll do one more if I say so. You owe me you old hag!"
Beldrid squinted down at gerb, bristling eyebrows practically concealing his eyes entirely. "Nope. I don't deal with the dead!" He shouted before slamming the shutters closed once more.
"You really have the most peculiar acquaintances, all of which seem to be rather elderly and quite displeased to see you." Nevakko said brushing himself off and straightening his clothes unconsciously. He was too accustomed to being a soldier for nobility Gerb decided. Regular people didn't care if their clothes aligned in a straight manner.
"That's cause the old ones are the smartest and most capable to have survived so long. In the land of need, the cunning live the longest. In the land of abundance, even the stupid survive." Gerb said as he picked his crutch up. He returned to the door and banged on it some more, shouting up at Beldrid to let them in. They were met with utter silence. So Gerb continued to harrase the old man, and Nevakko became more and more uneasy. Someone down the alley shouted at Gerb to cut it out, which Gerb promptly ignored.
"I'll keep you up all night if I have to Beldrid! I've come to collect on your debt! Now let me in!"
"For the love of the dead" Another resident shouted. "Just let the fucker in Beldrid!" More and more people began to raise a ruckus until, finally, the door opened.
Out stepped a doddering man, hunched of back and so hairy that he looked more akin to a beast than a man. The hair grew from atop his head, down to his beard, and poppued up out the back of his shirt and his chest in such great quantity that Nevakko couldn't tell beard from chest hair. All through out, hair grew and grew giving him a look more like a bush than a beast, with numerous leaves and flowers seemingly woven into his hair, or simply tangled up. Nevakko couldn't quite tell which. The old man's nails were long, and his teeth were brown. On top of all that, he was very short.
But worse of all was the stentch. Nevakko had to swallow and hold his breath to resist gagging. He'd though the stench of the streets was bad enough, yet here there was a stench of such vile intensity that Nevakko wasn't sure if he could enter this man's abode. There was such a horrid mix of smells that so thoroughly assaulted him that Nevakko's body didn't know what to do with it all. There was dust, filt, rotten flesh and sewage to name a few, but also roses and fresh baked bread and citrus fruits all jumbled together into the most offensive melody.
"Alright, alright!" Beldrid called out silencing the neighborhood. He turned his bushy gaze upon Gerb. "I hate you." He said flatly.
"Glad to see you haven't changed." Gerb replied before pushing his way into Beldrid's home.
Beldrid grumbled as Gerb pushed by, and glowered at Nevakko who, very confused and flabbergasted, hesitantly followed Gerb into this wretched abode wondering how two such crotchety men can live in the same city.
Beldrid closed the door loudly letting his ire be known to all who were shouting earlier, and followed them into his own living room. "Come on in! Take a seat! Put your feet up on my furniture and eat my food!" Beldrid said mockingly before twitching in unhidden disgust as Gerb did exactly that, reaching out and grabbing some stale looking biscuits before flopping down into an arm chare, the only one that wasn't cluttered with a bit and a bob of everything, before thumping his big foot down upon the coffee table. "Cause apparently the sanctity of a man's house is worth nothing to brutes." Beldrid finished sourly.
"Mighty find of you to open up your home to us like this Bell. Always were such a pleasant chap." Gerb said as he reclined and took a bite out of the biscuit.
"My sincerest apologies." Nevakko started, "I'm entirely unsure of why my 'associate'," he said through gritted teeth, "Is behaving so poorly."
Belrid looked at Nevakko for the first time, and raised an eyebrow in disbelief as he scrutinized Nevakko with a long and searching gaze.
"This one queer or rich?" Beldrid asked Gerb suddenly though he did not avert his gaze.
"There's a difference?" Gerb asked.
"Suppose not." Beldrid muttered. "Though at least he demonstrates some semblance of manners!" He said turning away and shuffling in short but rapid steps into another room.
"Manners are for the wealthy! And you live in a pigsty!" Gerb called after him to which Beldrid retorted, "At least I have the right to own a pigsty!" He popped his head around the corner adding, "Ya traitorous exile."
Before Gerb could answer Beldrid ducked away again, causing a commotion of clinking glassware.
Nevakko went to stand by Gerb's side, not knowing where else to go as he feared a wrong step would send such a tumble that he may get buried alive under the heaps and heaps of strange paraphernalia, and never be found, only adding to the stench of the place in days to come. There were crystals and gems of unknown value, books and scrolls containing unknown knowledge. Clothes, scraps of wood and metal, string, rope, dried herbs and fresh herbs, discarded food, mold and critters of some kind which Nevakko did not wish to examine more closely. Through and through though, the most prevalent items were vines. They twisted and coiled up the door frames, over the furniture and across the ceiling and along the floor. All along these creeping vines, growing up and out over everything, were brilliant flowers blooming and pollinating in a variety of every color and scent Nevakko could imagine. He'd never once in all his life, seen a plant sprout more than one kind of flower. At first he thought he must not be seeing things correctly, but examination after examination revealed only the same thing again and time again. Along a single twisting vine grew a plethora of flowers. Roses, snap dragons, violets and lavenders just to name a few. Nevakko did not know so many kinds of flowers existed, though he began to suspect that some of these flowers shouldn't exist, or only existed here of all places.
The vines at least gave some reason for the horrendous stench of the place. It seemed as though Beldrid intended to grow things 'naturally' instead of in post like a sensible person would. Instead he piled dirt on the floor and furniture and let his plants grow out of those piles which clearly were 'self fertilized'.
"WHo is this guy?" Nevakko asked Gerb quietly as he gawked around this nightmarish home.
"An old 'acquaintance' of mine. From days better left in the past."
"Then what are we doing here?"
"Asking questions about hte past." Gerb replied shortly. Nevakko wanted to inquire further but the shuffling of Beldrid stopped him as the strange man came shuffling back into the living room, not carrying a try of refreshments.
"Now..." Beldrid said groaning as he began to seat himself. Much to Nevakko's amazement, all the clutter and filth that occupied the chair seemed to flutter, crawl or wriggle out of the way, allowing the strange man to sit upon a clear, if not clean, chair. As he settled however, Nevakko could not help but get the sense that he looked more weary for having seated himself than standing.
"Now, how can I get you to fuck off as fast as possible." Beldrid stated flatly.
Gerb swallowed another bite of his biscuit before planting his foot on the ground and leaning forward. "I have this question about the past, and I need a reading."
"I already told you, I'm done with readings." Beldrid said quickly as he raised a hand to silence Gerb's protest. "I'm not doing them. The Twisting has already claimed enough of me as it is. I might owe you, but I'm not going to go any more mad for you. Questions though, questions I can answer."
"The Twisting?" Nevakko asked, frowning as he was pointedly ignored by both men.
"If you don't have the answers I seek, then I'll have to insist on a reading."
"Oh? Will you now? And what are you going to do? Shout and fuss until the guards come? Or are you going to try to wiggle my fingers for me and force the magic to come out hmm?" Beldrid asked mockingly. "If I don't have the answers you seek, you'll have to find another sage and pay them the fair price. More than you ever paid me I might add."
"Crotchety old bugger." Gerb complained. "This is the thanks I get for securing trade for you? I set you up. I made you successful. You owe me everything."
"Piss off." Beldrid replied. "You coerced and strong armed me into accepting your 'business deals' and took an exorbitant cut from my profits!"
"You're the one who wanted Satle Weed. I had the goods you needed to buy. Without my help you'd have never made a name for yourself."
"A name which you can ill afford to ruin. For if you ruin me, I'll destroy the only thing you love."
Gerb clenched his jaw and fists, suddenly taught and tense. "You know where my family is?" He asked in a cold, dead tone.
Beldrid scoffed at him. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I am a sage seer. I know many things and can always learn more. Now I don't do readings anymore, but if you ruin my name, what have I left to lose from retribution?"
Nevakko stood there, bewildered and dumbfounded. However, he had maintained his composer and having seen how quickly things turned to threats, was tense and ready to leap into action at a moment's notice. Just as quickly as it came, it passed. Gerb sat back untensing and Beldrid ran his fingers through his chest-beard hybrid.
"What do you know of Old Man Sott's current position and strength?" Gerb asked cutting to the chase.
"Not much. Ostensibly his role hasn't changed, but his influence has grown. He knows a lot. Too much." Beldrid answered.
"What do you mean 'too much'?" Gerb pressed.
"As in he's gone and planted more than he can weed. He's got his fingers in so many pies he can't stop someone from kicking him between the legs. Not that he's got any left thanks to a certain shite of a man who knows no manners."
"So he's vulnerable." Nevakko said speaking up. Beldrid snorted a laugh that sounded more bovine than human.
"Define vulnerable! Does he have enemies? Yeah. Pretty much every single person in the city is his enemy. But does he have allies? Yes! Pretty much every single person in the city is his ally." Seeing Nevakko's confusion Beldrid sighed. "it's how informants maintain their security. They only engage with enemies of enemies. Everyone in the city would gain from him being offed. Consequently, assisting him and protecting him from potential threats may earn you his favor. So for every assassination attempt, there are nine factions fighting to defend him. If anyone is suspected of turning against him, they'll be destroyed by everyone else. He is the one who holds the balance of the city in his hands."
"Which is why he wants me in his favor." Gerb added. "I'm unaligned. I have no faction or allegiance. So if someone were to hire me to assassinate him, no one would know who gave the order. Equally, I can kill whoever he needs and no one could pin it on him." Gerb concluded.
"Trying to hire you eh?" Beldrid asked chuckling cruelly. "Why the fuck did you go to him first and not me?"
"Cause I don't know who is and isn't alive and how is and isn't my ally. I knew you owed me at the very least, so I figured you were my best bet. I also knew that I'd have to make a ruckus to get your attention which would undoubtedly draw attention to me. Trust me, I wouldn't have gone to either of you if I had a choice."
Beldrid continued to laugh. "What a pickle!" He exclaimed. "Oh I like seeing you like this. The great and mighty Gerb, Champion of Death, King of Blood, limping in the shadows begging ghosts of the past for help."
Gerb ground his teeth staring daggers at the hideous man. Pushing on and trying to ignore Beldrid's ridicule, Gerb asked, "And my family? Do you know if they yet live? Where are they?"
Wiping his eyes, Beldrid regained his composure. "That I do not know. At least, the second part. As to the best of my knowledge, your family yet lives. Your wife used to come to me often, for a potion or two every few ports. The last time though was oh...many ports ago, if not revolutions now."
"IS she ill? Is she okay? Why would she come to you?" Gerb asked in rapid succession. Beldrid's countenance fell however, and Gerb's tension yet grew.
"Whisper Tea." Beldrid said quietly, not looking Gerb in the eye. Nevakko's eyes were wide, horror and concern came to him, followed shortly by pity. Whisper tea, a brew that women of the nights used to protect themselves from a growing family. "Wasn't much in the way of work for a widowed woman with a family. Had to feed the mouths of your kids somehow. Better than starvation. I helped where I could, until my name began to grow too large. Wasn't good for business or the books to be loosing money each port to a woman of the night. I kept trying of course. Discrete meetings and services. However, once she found out that my assistance was harming my reputation, she started coming to me less often. Once she moved, I lost all contact with her. I tried to get her to tell me where she lives, but she refused. Then, she stopped coming all together. I check The Wall every port, to see if her name is written there. But it hasn't shown up yet. She's around here somewhere. My advice? Pay a few bribes at a few of the brothels. She probably can't be working anymore but someone might known something as to where she is."
A bird chirped from the kitchen, the only noise that cut the still silence as Gerb sat statuesque. Stunned, speechless, flabbergasted, disgusted or elated, Nevakko could not tell. So he just stood there, watching Gerb intently.
"If you think of anything else, speak to Lady Lelia. I am now her slave. And for the love of my wife, keep my presence here a secret." Gerb pleaded.
Beldrid shrugged. "Who knows? I don't do readings anymore. And what use is a sage that doesn't do readings?" He exclaimed through up his arms in the air dramatically. "Fucked if I know! Certainly no good as a trustworthy and well informed friend."
Gerb smiled ruthlessly. "I hate you." He said standing and getting ready to leave.
Beldrid laughed again, shuffling after Gerb, all the clutter and filth returned to exactly where it once had been, and Beldrid groaned a sigh, sinking further towards the ground. "It's good to see you too." Beldrid said standing in the doorway and waving to Gerb, blocking the exit from Nevakko. Beldrid shut the door and turned around. "Oh!" Beldrid exclaimed in surprise, jumping with fright and clutching his chest. "What the fuck are you still doing here you creep! Get outta here!" He gripped as he yanked open the door and pushed Nevakko out after Gerb. Nevakko stumbled, more baffled and confused than ever before in his entire life.
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