The Charnel Prince Read Online Free PDF Page B

we have the silver to pay him off.” She sighed. “But that’s not yet, and we have to eat, too. Worse, I was paid nothing today. What am I going to do tomorrow?”
    Austra patted her shoulder. “I got paid. We’ll stop at the fish market and the carenso and buy our supper.”
    The fish market was located at the edge of Perto Nevo, where the tall-masted ships brought their cargoes of timber and iron, and took in return casks of wine, olive oil, wheat, and silk. Smaller boats crowded the southern jetties, for the Vitellian waters teemed with shrimp, mussels, oysters, sardines, and a hundred other sorts of fish Anne had never heard of. The market itself was a maze of crates and barrels heaped with gleaming sea prizes. Anne looked longingly at the giant prawns and black crabs—which were still kicking and writhing in tuns of brine—and at the heaps of sleek mackerel and silver tuna. They couldn’t afford any of that and had to push deeper and farther, to where sardines lay sprinkled in salt and whiting was stacked in piles that had begun to smell.
    The whiting was only two minsers per coinix, and it was there the girls stopped, noses wrinkled, to choose their evening meal.
    “Z’Acatto said to look at the eyes,” Austra said. “If they’re cloudy or cross-eyed, they’re no good.”
    “This whole bunch is bad, then,” Anne said.
    “It’s the only thing we can afford,” Austra replied. “There must be one or two good ones in the pile. We just have to look.”
    “What about salt cod?”
    “That has to soak for a day. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry now.”
    A low feminine voice chuckled over their shoulders. “No, sweets, don’t buy any of that. You’ll be sick for a nineday.”
    The woman speaking to them was familiar—Anne had seen her often on their street, but had never spoken to her. She dressed scandalously and wore a great deal of rouge and makeup. She’d once heard z’Acatto say he “couldn’t afford that one,” so Anne figured she knew the woman’s profession.
    “Thanks,” Anne said, “but we’ll find a good one.”
    The woman looked dubious. She had a strong, lean face and eyes of jet. Her hair was put up in a net that sparkled with glass jewels, and she wore a green gown, which, though it had seen better days, was still nicer than anything Anne owned at the moment.
    “You two live on Six-Nymph Street. I’ve seen you—with that old drunkard and the handsome fellow, the one with the sword.”
    “Yes,” Anne replied.
    “I’m your neighbor. My name is Rediana.”
    “I’m Feine and this is Lessa,” Anne lied.
    “Well, girls, come with me,” Rediana said, her voice low. “You’ll find nothing edible here.”
    Anne hesitated.
    “I’ll not bite you,” Rediana said. “Come.”
    Motioning them to follow, she led the two back to a table of flounder. Some were still flopping.
    “We can’t afford that,” Anne said.
    “How much do you have?”
    Austra held out a ten-minser coin. Rediana nodded.
    “Parvio!” The man behind the tray of flounder was busy gutting a few fish for several well-dressed women. He was missing one eye, but didn’t bother to cover the white scar there. He might have been sixty years old, but his bare arms were muscled like a wrestler’s.
    “Rediana,
mi cara
,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
    “Sell my friends a fish.” She took the coin from Austra’s hand and passed it to him.
    He looked at it, frowned, then smiled at Anne and Austra. “Take whichever pleases you, dears.”
    “
Melto brazi
, casnar,” Austra said. She selected one of the flounders and put it in her basket. With a wink, Parvio handed her back a five-minser coin. The fish ought to have cost fifteen.
    “
Melto brazi
, casnara,” Anne told Rediana, as they started toward the carenso.
    “It’s nothing, dear,” Rediana said. “Actually, I’ve been hoping for a chance to talk to you.”
    “Oh. About what?” Anne asked, a tad suspicious of the woman’s