The girl was still frowning up at him. “You were trying out as a model? I thought you said just now that you were a physician.”
“I was. I am. There were a series of misunderstandings- originally I was supposed to be applying for a physician’s job in the temple. Do you mind if I sit down?”
“No.” She moved over slightly on the bench, adjusting her baggy peasant trousers. “Except that I have things to do, and I ought to get up and do them-did the sculptor hire you, then?”
Kasimir sat down. “No. It seems that something about my attitude displeased the great artist, Robert de Borron. Perhaps he didn’t like my shape any better than my attitude. What about you?”
“Did you deliberately displease him?” Her frown vanished. “I’m glad, I would have liked to do that too-but I couldn’t afford to. So he hired me. I’m to start modeling for him tomorrow.”
“I’m pleased for you, if you are pleased. You don’t sound exactly overjoyed about it.”
“Oh, I am, though. Getting this job was absolutely essential for me.” It was said in a tone of heartfelt seriousness.
“Then I can rejoice with you.” At this point, inspiration came to Kasimir. “By the way, I missed my breakfast this morning-would you care to join me in an early lunch? We could at least get in out of this drizzling rain somewhere.”
Her greenish eyes appraised him thoughtfully. She stood up from the bench. “That sounds like an excellent idea, thank you.”
They went into a nearby wine shop, where sights and aromas provided an intriguing menu. Sausages were hung invitingly from the rafters, and cheese and fresh, crusty bread were displayed on a counter.
They sat at a table, and ordered wine and food. The young woman’s name, she told Kasimir, was Natalia. As he had surmised, she was originally from a small village. But she had visited Eylau several times before moving here a few months ago. Economic conditions at home were poor. She ate hungrily-though not like one actually on the verge of starvation-of bread and cheese, but sipped sparingly at her wine. She also persisted in turning the conversation around to him.
“Have you been a physician long?”
“About five years. How long have you been a model?”
She smiled at him. “My experience in that line is very limited. I expect the hardest part will be just holding still for a long time. Well, the hardest part besides . . .”
“I understand.”
Natalia tossed back her awkward braids. “I did study at a White Temple for a while. Not modeling, of course, but medicine.”
“Really? Then we might have been colleagues.”
“I never had the chance to finish.”
“Sorry. Where did you study?”
She named a small city that Kasimir had barely heard of, hundreds of kilometers to the west.
Kasimir chewed a mouthful of his sandwich. “It’s easy to tell that you’re well educated.”
“Thank you.”
“But short of money just now.”
Her green eyes questioned him. “I might have landed a different kind of job in the Red Temple, without too much trouble. But I’d like that even less than posing.”
“Of course, of course. I sympathize.”
During their lunch Kasimir, sounding out his companion as gradually and carefully as he could, at last admitted to her that he had had an ulterior motive in trying to get a job inside the Red Temple. Yes, he was really a physician-but his main occupation at this time was a partnership with the well-known dealer in antique and special weapons, Ching Hao.
Natalia blinked her green eyes, as if she had never heard of the famous Ching Hao-small wonder-but wasn’t quite ready to admit the fact, because she realized she ought to be impressed.
Ching Hao, Kasimir went on to relate, was particularly interested just now in locating and buying a certain special sword, an ancient and very valuable weapon. There was reason to suppose that this sword might have come into the possession of the Red Temple, or perhaps even the hands of Robert de Borron, for whom Natalia would presently start modeling. It would be worth some money to Ching Hao and his partner-more money than a model was likely to get paid-if an insider at the temple could find some evidence that the sword was really there.
Natalia didn’t respond at once, except to look at Kasimir thoughtfully.
He pressed on: “We wouldn’t be asking you to take any risks. And it’s not a matter of getting anyone in trouble. It would just be a matter of keeping your eyes open and reporting to me.”
“How would I know this sword if I saw it?”
Kasimir drew in a deep breath. “It’s an impressive-looking weapon, to begin with. The blade is a full meter long, of mottled steel. The hilt is plain black, with a simple white image on it, depicting a wedge splitting a block.” He hesitated briefly. “Most importantly, the blade has the magical ability to cut stone, any stone, very easily.”
The greenish eyes were wide, really impressed at last. “The magic must be very powerful, I suppose. Does this sword have a name?”
Probably out there in the remote lands to the west they weren’t altogether caught up on what happened out in the great world. Evidently their ignorance extended even to the history of the Twelve Swords.
“Yes,” said Kasimir. “Some people call it Stonecutter. Or the Sword of Siege.”
Natalia, thinking the matter over as she finished her lunch, eventually agreed to act as Ching Hao’s agent. She would receive a small advance now, an additional payment every time she reported to Kasimir, and a substantial reward if she could provide some useful information about Stonecutter. They made arrangements for their next contact, which would be in the White Temple.
When he left the wine shop, Kasimir, taking what he considered rather ingenious precautions against being followed, returned by a somewhat indirect route to the Inn of the Refreshed Travelers.
He felt reasonably well pleased with himself for what he had managed to get done today. He might, he thought, possess a hitherto undiscovered knack for this sort of thing. It hadn’t taken him long to conclude an arrangement with a young woman who was going to be one of Robert de Borron’s models. Of course it would still be possible for him to go back to the temple and try again for the physician’s job. But now it seemed to Kasimir that that would probably be unnecessary; with Natalia in place inside the temple he would be free to help Wen Chang in some other way.
Nor was that all he had accomplished today, Kasimir thought with satisfaction. He had discovered also that the sculptor, Robert de Borron, had a large reputation, and the ability to justify it. Also that de Borron was under intense pressure from the Red Temple authorities to complete his work; it seemed highly probable that he would suffer financial and other penalties if he failed to do so in time. When it came to business matters, Kasimir had observed, the Red Temple was likely to be as grasping and unyielding as the Blue. And sometimes, if the truth be told, the White could hold its own with either.
The day was getting on toward midafternoon when Kasimir returned to the inn. The place was busy, but as far as he could tell everything was peaceful. Lieutenant Komi and a few of his men were on guard in their second-floor room, seated around a table near the stairway where they played at some tribal card-game. A couple of the other troopers slept on cots. Three or four were absent, and Kasimir assumed that these were off duty, enjoying whatever they might be able to afford of the delights offered by the big city.
Komi looked up as Kasimir walked in. The officer appeared glad to see him, and tossed a casual salute without rising from the table.
“Ching Hao has not yet returned,” Komi announced, giving the name of the supposed merchant a slight emphasis, as if he thought the physician might need to be reminded of the alias. “He left this note for you. Also there is a man waiting out in the courtyard now, who says he wants to see either the merchant or his assistant.”
Kasimir accepted the casually folded square of paper but did not immediately open it. Close under the windows of the inn a street vendor screamed, hawking his dried fruit. “A man waiting? Who is he?”
“An elderly fellow who looks to me as if he might possibly have money. Beyond that I have no idea who he is- that is why I insisted he wait in the courtyard and not in any of our rooms. But he says that he is interested in possibly purchasing antique weapons from you.”
“If he wishes to buy weapons then he can hardly be trying to sell Stonecutter.” Kasimir spoke freely in front of the card-playing soldiers at the table; all the members of Komi’s squad had been informed of the essentials of their mission. “Still, for the sake of appearances, I suppose I’d better see him.”