Harry Turtledove - Through the Darkness

Ealstan was still shaky on his feet. The young Forthwegian gauged how sick hed been by how long he was taking to get better. He also gauged how sick hed been by the medicine with which Vanai had helped him break his fever.

When his wits came back, he scolded her: You went out. You shouldnt have done that. You shouldnt have taken the chance. The Algarvians might have grabbed you and. . He didnt want to go on.

Vanai glared at him. Her gray-blue eyes flashed. People said Kaunians didnt get so excited as Forthwegians. Living with Vanai had proved to Ealstan that people didnt know what they were talking about. What should I have done? she demanded. Stayed here and watched you die and then tried to go out?

I wasnt going to die. But Ealstans comeback wasnt so persuasive as he would have wanted, even to himself. He couldnt remember the last time hed been so sick. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw how the flesh had melted from his swarthy, hook-nosed face. Circles almost as dark as his eyes lay under them.

Anyhow, it worked out all right, Vanai said. I went out, I found an apothecary, I got what you needed, and I came back. Nothing else happened.

No? Ealstan said, and now she had trouble meeting his gaze. He pointed at her. What was it? How bad was it?

Nothing else happened, she repeated, and slamming doors and falling bars were in her voice. A long time before, when theyd first got to know each other, hed decided he would be wise not to ask her what shed gone through in Oyngestun. This was liable to be another time when trying to force truth from her would do more harm than good.

Let it go, then, he said with a weary nod. He was still weary all the time. He was so weary, a couple of days could go by without his having any interest in making love. Before he got sick, he wouldnt have believed such a thing possible.

But, weary or not, he had to go out to buy food, for the cupboards in the flat were nearly empty. If he didnt go out, Vanai would have to. Shed done it once. He didnt want her to have to do it twice, not when the redheaded occupiers of Forthweg had made her kind fair game.

Moving like a man four times his age, he walked to the market square to buy beans and dried peas and barley and lentils. As long as he and Vanai had enough of those, they wouldnt starve. The trouble was, he couldnt carry so much as he had before, either. That meant he had to make two trips to bring back the food he should have been able to take in one. By the time he finally got through, he felt ready for the knackers yard.

Vanai fixed him a cup of mint tea. After hed drunk it, she half dragged him to the bedroom, peeled his shoes off him, and made him lie down. He hoped she would lie down beside him, or on top of him, or however she chose. Instead, she said, Go to sleep.

He did. When he woke, he felt much more like himself. By then, Vanai did lie curled beside him. Her mouth had fallen open; she was snoring a little. He looked over at her and smiled. She didnt just know what he wanted. She knew what he needed, too, and that was liable to be more important.

A couple of days later, he started going out and about through Eoforwic, seeing the people for whom he cast accounts. He discovered hed lost a couple of them to other bookkeepers: inevitable, he supposed, when he hadnt been able to let them know why he wasnt showing up. That hed kept as many clients as he had pleased him very much.

Ethelhelm the singer and drummer wasnt in his flat when Ealstan came to call. The doorman for the building said, The gentleman has taken his band on tour, sir. He did give me an envelope to give you if you returned while he and his colleagues were away.

Thanks, Ealstan said, and then had to hand the fellow a coin for doing what he should have done for nothing. Ealstan took the envelope and went off before opening it; whatever it held, he didnt want the doorman knowing it.

Hello, the note read.

Im hoping youve come down with something. If you havent, the Algar-vians have probably come down on you and your lady. You can get over the one easier than the other, I think, the way things are these days. If you re reading this, everything is probably all right. If you re not, then I wish you were. Take care of yourself.

The band leader had scrawled his name below the last sentence.

Ealstan smiled as he refolded the note and put it in his belt pouch. Ethel-helm enjoyed speaking in riddles and paradoxes. And Ealstan could hardly find fault with this one. Better to have any natural sickness than to let the Algarvians know he was harboring Vanai.

That point got driven home when he came back to his own sorry little street. A couple of overage, overweight Algarvian constables were standing in front of the block of flats next to his. One of them turned to him and asked, You knowing any Kaunian bitch living in this street here?

No, sir, Ealstan answered. I dont think any of the stinking blonds are left in this part of town. He did his best to sound like an ordinary Forthwegian, a Forthwegian who hated Kaunians as much as King Mezentios men did.

The other Algarvian spoke in his own language: Oh, leave it alone, by the powers above. So we didnt get to have her. The world wont end. She paid us off.

Bah, the first constable said. Even if all these buggers say they never saw her, we both know shes around here somewhere.

After King Mezentios men took Gromheort, Ealstans home town in eastern Forthweg, theyd made academy students start learning Algarvian instead of classical Kaunian. That no doubt helped make the students better subjects. It also sometimes had other uses. Ealstan made a point of looking as dull and uninterested as he could.

Digging her out is more trouble than its worth, the second constable insisted. And if we try digging her out and dont come up with her, well be walking the beat around the city dump till the end of time. Come on, lets go.

Though he kept grumbling, the constable whod spoken Forthwegian let himself be persuaded. Off he went with his pal. Ealstan stared after them. If they were talking about anyone but Vanai, he would have been amazed.

But they werent going to call in their pals and try to unearth her. Ealstan clung to that. As he walked upstairs, he wondered if he ought to mention what hed overheard. He decided that was a bad idea.

When Vanai let him in after his coded knock, she clicked her tongue between her teeth in dismay. Sit down, she said in tones that brooked no argument. Youre worn to a nub. Let me get you some wine. You shouldnt have gone out.

I have to keep my business going, or else we wont be able to buy food, he said, but he was glad to sit down on the shabby sofa and stretch his feet out in front of him. Vanai fetched him the wine, clucking all the while, and sat down beside him. He cocked his head to one side. You dont need to make such a fuss over me.

No? She raised an eyebrow. If I dont, who will?

Ealstan opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had no good answer, and was smart enough to realize as much. If they didnt take care of each other here in Eoforwic, no one else would. Things werent as they had been back in Gromheort for him, with his mother and father and sister to worry about him and his big brother to flatten any nuisances he couldnt handle himself.

And having Vanai fuss over him wasnt like having his mother fuss. He had trouble defining how and why it wasnt, but the difference remained. After another sip of wine, he decided that Vanai, even though she fussed, didnt treat him as if he were two years old while she was doing it. As far as his mother was concerned, he would never be anything but a child.

He took one more sip of wine, then nodded to Vanai. Thank you, he told her. This is good. Its what I needed.