Crow trusted this master as far as he could throw him. No, he revised his assessment—significantly less far. Set up in the man’s dining room, eating at his table, the food should have tasted like ash in his mouth.
Compared to what they ate in the tower, however, this was quite a feast, and he was eating a bit quickly, though staying on the polite side of the border between manners and a lack of them.
He sawed off the steak, eating it while he still could. He glanced up at Kraigh warily as he stood and walked to him. He forced himself to swallow, drinking the wine to dislodge the food sticking in his throat.
Crow listened to the man advancing on him, taking a second swallow of the wine, waiting to be told why he was here, finally wearing clothes for the first time in who knows how long.
Whatever this master wanted, he hoped he could give it to him.
But when Crow heard what it was he wanted, he swallowed thickly, a third time, hoping his sudden nerves weren’t apparent.
Oh, he knew the amulet alright—a beautiful piece with scrollwork of white gold layered over a fount of rubies and diamonds, with flat obsidian backing, polished so you could see your face in it. The chain was golden too. It was the only truly powerful amulet Crow knew his father had. And unfortunately, Crow knew just where it was hidden.
It was stashed in a cache by a field in Crow’s hometown.
There were a number of reasons Crow couldn’t give this man this location, and they were all deadly serious. Crow was walking a tightrope, hiding that he’d been a hooker as a very young child. Crow’s hometown was filled with people who knew the truth, including his mother’s old pimp, and any one of them could blow the top off of Crow’s cover and cut his desirability into strips.
Better to play dumb, Crow decided.
“Thank you, sir,” he said, to buy time to prepare the ruse. “Amulet,” he intoned. He was clever. He was not going to lie obviously by claiming he’d never seen one before. “We had a few of those. Do you mean the sun ray amulets?” He named a moderately priced selection that would have been auctioned off with father’s things. He told the man as much, feigning ignorance. “Those would have been with father’s estate. I’m not sure where they would have gone from there.”
Dammit, Crow thought. Why did he have to need the one thing that I can’t safely answer? He took a sip of the wine, which was very good and he rather thought he wouldn’t be allowed to drink for much longer.