“They say,” Ogi remarked, “that happiness is pretending you always wanted what you’re getting. “
Rap chuckled, but he kept his gaze on the flames.
Ogi began to feel worried. If the kid was out of sorts, then tonight’s operation might turn into a disaster. Before he could explore that possibility, Rap spoke.
“You’re an imp. Why d’you live among these maniacs?” Ogi twitched nervously. “I suggest you don’t say that word too loud, friend. And you shouldn’t ask questions like that here. “
“Oh! Sorry! Didn’t think.”
“It’s all right with me. I’ll just tell you to mind your own business—”
“But a jotunn would knock my head off,” Rap finished. “That’s what I meant.”
“And you don’t need to ask anyway. The only possible reason a non-jotunn would live here is that it’s pleasanter than the imperor’s jails. Come on, lad—it’s a great life! Space and freedom! Women? You don’t get women in jail unless you’re real rich. Enjoy it!”
None of which was true in Ogi’s case. He had never fallen afoul of the law, and he lived in Durthing simply because he loved the sea and loved being a sailor. Trouble was, the only possible explanation for that was much harder to talk about than a criminal past would have been. He knew his grandfather had died when jotunn raiders razed Kolvane; his father had been a posthumous baby. Although the family would never discuss the matter, and although Ogi himself was impishly short and broad and swarthy, he was quite certain that he must be one-quarter jotunn. To say so would greatly boost his standing in Durthing and among Stormdancer’s crew, but it would increase his risks, too, and the kidding would never end. Ogi was not enough of a jotunn to find such matters funny.
“But they are maniacs,” Rap muttered. “Kani’s still after me to go pick a fight with someone. Why, for the Good’s sake? I’ve shown I’ll defend myself!”
Ogi began flipping fish over with the point of his dagger. He hadn’t meant to raise the matter yet, and the kid wasn’t close to drunk. “Well, there’s a difference, Rap.”
“What sort of difference?”
He passed the wine. “Here—you’re not drinking your share! Yes, you’ve had a couple of fights. But they don’t really count.”
Rap put the jar down on the ground beside him and fixed a cold gaze on his companion. “Don’t count? Why not?”
The carp were done. Feeling his mouth watering already, Ogi began scooping them onto the platters with his dagger. At least he need not look his friend in the eye while doing so. He hoped they would still be friends tomorrow.
“You know the standings round here,. Rap. Lowest are the non-jotunn, like me. Especially me, ‘cause jotnar rank imps just barely above gnomes. Then the part jotunn, like you. Fauns are quite well thought of, actually—probably because they’re so pigheaded that they never know when they’re beaten—and you’re almost jotunn size, so you rate just below pure jotunn.” He waited, but got no comment. He worked more on the fish. “And then they have their own levels. Tops are the Nordland-born, like Brual—”
“And Kani’s a third-generation southerner and hates himself for it. So? So what are you getting at?”
“Well, I know a couple of guys decided to try you out. You did very well, too, but Dirp is a third-generation exile, like Kani, and old Hagmad is a second, and neither is much thought of as a fighter. Besides, they were just playing.”
“It didn’t feel like play,” Rap growled. “It bloody hurt!” Ogi had scraped the griddle clean. He had no option but to hand Rap his platter and meet his eye.
“Tell me the worst,” Rap said sourly. “I’ve lost my appetite already. “
Ogi sighed. “You want them off your back? Well, then, you’ve got to have a punch party with a full-blooded, Nordland-born jotunn. One of the good ones. ”
“Oh, great! I used to think Gathmor was bad—”
“I’m not finished. You’ve got to pick the quarrel, not him. Your fight, see? And you’ve got to make him mad. Really mad! We can’t settle for just a playful testing to see what’s in the uppity faun mongrel. You bait him till he’s one man-eating, homicidal, kill-crazy jotunn, who really wants to smash you. Then—no mercy! You beat him to a jelly.”
“You lost me right at the end there.”
“I’m serious, Rap. Eat up. More important—drink up! You’re new. They give new boys time, but you’ve got your rower’s arms now. You’re looking sort of ready, so you’re going to be measured soon. Today? Tomorrow? Best to pick your own match, right? The important thing is to try for the highest standing you can possibly hope to hold on to. In the end that’ll mean a lot less pain and blood than if they’re all using you for practice on the way up.”
Rap laid the platter aside and crossed his arms. “What’s your part in this?”
This was where Ogi could give the kid some good news. He spoke with his mouth full. “Important! I found out who Verg and that crazy Kani had picked out for you: Turbrok! Or even Radrik! Gods! They’d have gotten you maimed or killed.”
Rap put his elbows on his knees and scowled sideways at his companion. ”And you won’t?”
“Hope not. This fish is delicious. Try it—you need the strength. No, I took over, and you can trust me. Sure, I’ve been setting you up, Rap, I admit, but I know what I’m doing. “ Well, he was three-fourths sure he did. ”Setting me up?”
“Who suggested you take the charming Wulli to the dance?” Rap straightened, taut and furious. “You told me she wasn’t anyone’s girl! So did she!”
“Yes, well, she would. They do, here. But what I said was right, so far as I know. No engagements or understandings. How far have you got with her, by the way?”
“Mind your own Evil-begotten business!”
“Awright! But the previous dance she went to with Grindrog. He’s been at sea, so he hasn’t squired any ladies since.”
Rap groaned. He had turned pale, understandably; in fact his face held a sort of greenish tinge in the fire’s dancing glow. “So he’ll assume I’m muscling in?”
“Well, you are, in the way things are done here. Grindrog never dropped her, you see. His choice, never hers. And of course, she’s pure jotunn, and you’re not. Mongrels aren’t allowed near—”
“Bastard! But I should’ve thought of that, at least. God of Liars! You did set me up, you sneaky bunch of bastards! And I really don’t like her much. She’s all `Yes, Rap,’ `No, Rap,’ without an original thought in her head.”
Wulli was a mouth-wateringly sweet kid, about sixteen, with the sort of face and body that the sailors called a shipping hazard—breathtaking, in fact. No male jotunn would worry at all about her mental processes, pro or con.
“Maybe Grindrog doesn’t like her either. But that’s irrelevant.”
“Petrel? He’s bosun on Petrel?”
“Right. Don’t let your meal get cold—”
“About twenty-four, twenty-five? Twice my size, with a cast in one eye and his nose pushed over to the right? That one?”
“That’s him.”
“And Petrel just berthed. I suppose there’s no chance that he might not find out?”
“None whatsoever,” Ogi said complacently. “Kani’s making sure he gets the news right away, as soon as she beaches, while all his crewmates are still around to sympathize.”
Rap picked up his platter absentmindedly and began to eat, staring into the fire again. “I’ve saved up about half an imperial, Ogi. It’s on the rafter over the hammock. You and Kani are my best friends, and I d like you to share that. My boots are worth—”
“Oh, shut up! Do you think I’d do that to you?”
Rap glanced seaward. “Someone’s coming now. He’ll be here in a minute. Yes, it’s Kani, running. Coming to tell you that the trap’s set? So out with it—what’s the ploy?” He seemed to be taking this better than he had done a moment before.
“You can have one boot, and Kani the other.”
“Shut up! Listen—Grindrog hasn’t fought in over a year now! He challenged Rathkrun himself. Rathkrun put him to sleep for a week.”
Rap gulped, as if swallowing fish bones.
“But,” Ogi said triumphantly, “he hasn’t picked a fight since! Now I happened to notice him baiting a hook, last time he was in port. He held it right up here, on his left. Real close. And he’s right-handed! “
Rap chewed in thoughtful silence.
“Rathkrun kicked his head about quite a bit! Rap, I don’t think he can see worth a cod’s ankles! I’ve been watching him. He trips over things. He slobbers when he talks. And if you get him mad enough tonight, he’ll be fighting in the dark.”
“That’s cheating!”
Absurd! If the kid thought like that then he wasn’t old enough to be allowed out alone, certainly not in a jotunn communityand yet Ogi had half expected that objection.