Fanuilh by Daniel Hood (best books for students to read TXT) 📕

it hang in the air of the shop, competing for preeminence with the musty smell of dried herbs.

"Hm. So it is," the druggist finally said, nodding himself. "He did not seem the sort of man who would care much for Uris-tide. A nonbeliever, he seemed to me, Hierarch."

"Ah, well, the ends of the gods are often served by those who do not know them," Liam said hastily.

"Still ... Tanaquil was a strange tool for the gods, if you ask me. A filthy man, of filthy habits."

"How filthy? Evil? Did he serve the Darker Gods?"

"No, no, not that," the druggist said quickly, his hands finally leaving the counter to protest the accusation. "Simply not a godly man. A worldly man, like so many, given to his pleasures, and not much bound by the heavens' laws," he continued bitterly. "And proud, very proud. He would not listen to others. I meant nothing else."

"You knew him well, then?"

"Better than most, I suppose. We had reasons for dealings—I sold him certain roots he had difficulty attaining."

Liam gave a sigh of relief. "Then you knew of his business. Tell me, did he—" He got no further, stopped by Viyescu's dark scowl.

"I did not know his business, Hierarch," he said flatly. "Oh." He did not need to fake disappointment, only a reason. "I had hoped ... you see, the work he was engaged in was very· important, and when 1 heard he was dead, I thought he might have confided in a colleague."

"We were not colleagues. He was a wizard; l am an apothecary. The two are not the same." Viyescu spoke coldly, crossing his arms firmly on his chest, but Liam sensed something beyond the distinctions of professional pride.

"I know, but there are no other wizards· in this benighted city, and I thought, 'Who else would a wizard have dealings with?' and thus came to you. And when I saw Uris on your sign, I allowed myself to hope." He also allowed himself a small sigh.

Viyescu relented a little, letting his hands drop to the counter. "I am sorry, Hierarch, but my business with the wizard extended only to selling him certain roots, and occasionally procuring the rarer types for him. No more, Hierarch, no more."

"Yes, I see, I see." His head dropped, deep in troubled thought. "You wouldn't by any chance have sold him any Percin's Bane, would you?" Percin's Bane was very rare, Liam knew, and only grew in the King's Range; he chose it because it was uncommon.

"No," Viyescu responded immediately. "There is no Percin's Bane in the south."

Liam waited, hoping the druggist would go on, but Viyescu showed no sign of continuing, so he shook his head resignedly and walked to the door. As he was opening it, the druggist's voice stopped him.

"May I ask, Hierarch, how you know Tanaquil was murdered?"

"I was there," Liam answered, and then hurried on: "At his house, yesterday. The morning, actually, after he had been killed. One of the Sheriff's men told me about it. I was quite shaken. The enchantment was so important to us." He let the door close and turned back, trying to inject innocence into his question. "Is the death not common knowledge? I would think the death of a wizard as powerful as Master Tanaquil would be instantly known."

"Tarquin was very reclusive. I doubt if half the town even knew he was alive."

"May I ask how you know of his death?" He arched an eyebrow politely, but Viyescu still stiffened.

"The Aedile—the Sheriff—told me of it when he came to question me. He apparently had the same thought as you."

Liam gnawed a knuckle worriedly. "I can only hope he was not killed by those who would stop our work. Tell me, had he any enemies? Perhaps among the foes of religion?"

Viyescu laughed harshly, like crunching gravel. "The foes of religion were least likely to be his enemies, Hierarch." He stopped and thought, weighing something, and then went on firmly. "Though I cannot imagine any others who would be. He was very jealous of his privacy, as I've said."

Considering this for a moment, Liam gnawed more. "Tell me, if you would, when did you see him last?"

"Only a week or so ago, Hierarch. I went to see him on an unimportant matter."

"I thought you only had business dealings with him?"

"Well," Viyescu said slowly, "yes, only business dealings. Yes." He tugged at his bushy beard, chewing a little at the end of his mustache. He was considering some—' thing of even greater importance than before, and finally spoke uneasily, choosing each word with care, measuring the effect on Liam. "There was a woman, really a girl only, who was in trouble." Liam assumed a questioning air, and the druggist went on reluctantly. "Caught in sin, Hierarch. Pregnant." He spit the distasteful word out.

"And so you went to see Master Tanaquil? I don't understand."

"The girl came to me, trying to buy an herb called santhract. It can destroy a pregnancy, Hierarch."

Liam meant only to show curiosity, but Viyescu seemed to misread his expression, and his cheeks burned red with anger beneath his upward-creeping beard.

"I do not sell this herb, Hierarch, and so I told her! I told her only to pray, but she cursed me, and said some. thing about Tarquin, so l went to him to warn him of her sin." He spoke thickly, indignation and righteous anger and something else, maybe desperation, making him slightly frightening.

"You did right, Master Apothecary," Liam said softly.

"Thank you, Hierarch," Viyescu said, still angry, and Liam detected more disappointment than gratitude in the words. He murmured some thanks of his own and headed for the door.

In the street, with the thick door between him and the angry apothecary, he breathed a deep sigh of relief, and offered up an apology to Uris on her sign for impersonating one of her priests. Then he apologized to his fluttering stomach. Though his face felt cool and there was no sweat on his forehead, the back of his neck was