While it was unglamorous work, it apparently paid off handsomely for
Hertha's home was nicer than Ehlissa's and was in the nicest
neighborhood in that quarter. Advantageously located, their home was
spared the scent of blood and offal that went with their profession
and benefited instead from a small bakery down at the end of the
street. The wind was blowing just right so that Ehlissa had a whiff
of freshly-baked bread that tem****arily overpowered the stench from
the gutters. The two ladies had exited the house quickly without
further encounter with Welmer, though he and Joyhdee had surely heard
the door open and shut from the sitting room. No doubt she would hear
from Joyhdee for this further abandonment, Ehlissa knew, but she also
sensed that Hertha wanted to tell her something im****tant and that it
might have to do with spells.
Initially, Ehlissa began to doubt her intuition as Hertha began making
small talk again, but as they walked down toward the bakery, Ehlissa
had the feeling that Hertha was simply dancing around the subject she
really wanted to discuss. When Hertha grabbed Ehlissa's arm, she
thought this might be the moment Hertha finally opened up, but instead
Hertha was focused on some people ahead of them.
At the bakery was a good-looking man in a leather jerkin, hose pinned
tight to his legs, a sword sheathed at his side, and his head brazenly
uncovered. His smooth chin reminded Ehlissa of Tenser's, but his face
was narrower and his hair lighter. Next to him was a halfling, a
round-looking fellow no larger than a child, wearing a dagger like a
sword and chewing on a piece of bread. "What ho! Gorgeous ladies!"
the man called out.
Hertha started to tug on Ehlissa's arm. "Come, let's go back," Hertha
said, but turning around, Ehlissa and Hertha saw their way back
blocked by a more darkly-tanned fellow with a bristly black beard,
crooked nose, and fat lips. This man wore a short ****rt of quilted
armor and had a hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed dagger. The
man said nothing, but shook his head menacingly.
"Don't leave already, ladies!" the first man called out sarcastically
as he and his small companion caught up. "Hertha, I'll think you
don't like me, turning your back like that."
"I'm not interested in you, Ham," Hertha said without looking at him.
"Leave us alone."
"But I'm interested in you," Ham persisted, "and my friends Balgo and
Hermon are interested in your friend, aren't you, boys?"
"Very interested," Balgo chirped in. Hermon, behind them, just
grunted approvingly.
"This is a very public thoroughfare," Ehlissa protested. "You can't
talk to us this way. We shall scream for the town watch."
Hermon responded by drawing his dagger.
"It will go worse for you both if you do," Ham suggested with mocking
sweetness. "Hertha, you don't want to see your friend get hurt, do
you?"
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