He remained in that dumbstruck silence for a moment, blinking through the veil of saliva dribbling down his eyelid as he slowly, calmly licked his lips.
‘Right,’ he said, ‘so, anyway, we’re leaving.’
‘Leaving.’ Togu levelled a scowl at Bagagame. ‘Leaving. Why leaving?’
‘I don’t—’
The king made a sweeping gesture back to the portal he had emerged from. ‘Go and get the coals.’
Bagagame offered a bob of his head, scurrying off to the shadows and leaving the larger Owauku to sigh and stalk toward his throne, keeping one large eye upon the companions. Lenk watched him with some befuddlement; he wasn’t quite sure how he expected the king to take the news, but he wasn’t anticipating such calmness.
Then again, he wasn’t sure he had ever actually anticipated having to explain anything to a feathered lizardman.
‘Naturally, I’m a bit curious,’ Togu said. ‘Have we not done all we could to establish our hospitality?’
The quality of the king’s speech should likely have provided some comfortable familiarity, Lenk thought. Contrasted against the other Owauku, it merely made him seem all the more peculiar.
‘Well, yes,’ Lenk replied, ‘but surely, you must have known we’d have to leave sometime.’
‘Of course.’
The king deftly leapt onto the armrest of his throne, nearly slipping from the wax before sliding up to perch on the velvet-lined back. His position, combined with his feathers, lent him an avian appearance that was only made more ominous as he reached down with a foot to slide the cloak off the stout figure seated in the throne. A truly massive waterpipe was revealed, seated smugly on the red velvet as Togu reached down to pluck up the hose and bring it to his scaly lips.
‘I suppose I was hoping that, against better judgement, you would linger for a while. It has been nice to have humans about in the village again.’
‘And your hospitality has been …’ Don’t say ‘horrifying’. ‘—lovely,’ Lenk said. ‘But we’ve got other places to be.’
‘And there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise, I’m assuming, or you would not have come to me.’
A great yellow eye swivelled to the portal, regarding Bagagame sourly as the smaller Owauku came teetering out with a tiny censer full of smouldering coals. He quickly applied them to the waterpipe, the rich scent of flavoured tobacco filling the air almost instantly as the water burbled inside its vase. Togu drew in a breath that lasted for ages, his chest inflating to a size preposterous for a creature his size. When he did speak again, his words came out on a cloud of smoke that made him resemble some great, fire-breathing beast.
‘Which does make old Togu wonder why you have come.’
Bagagame cringed at even the brief, dismissive wave Togu offered him and quickly ran, bowing apologies to both of the companions as he scurried between them and out the door. Lenk watched him go only until he was exactly three and a half feet out of earshot then turned back to Togu.
‘Well, as you may have noticed, we aren’t in much shape to be getting anywhere,’ he explained. ‘We had been expecting a …’ Don’t say ‘hired peon.’ ‘—friend to come retrieve us, but we haven’t seen any sign of a black ship lately.’
‘Have you?’ Kataria chimed in.
Togu coughed slightly, apparently choking on a stray ash that had crept its way into his hose. He shook his head, thumping his chest gently.
‘Not as such, no,’ he said. He appeared to furrow his scaly ridges in thought, Lenk thought, but that might just be some other emotion too deep for eyes the size of grapefruits to convey. ‘No … no … the Gonwa would have spoken of such a boat.’
‘Ah, well, that seems—’
‘Lies.’
A cold ache crept through him, a frosty hand wringing his spine for a moment before releasing it. He shook his head, as he might shake snow from his hair.
‘Discouraging,’ Lenk finished, his voice degenerating into a mutter. ‘I suppose it might have been helpful if the Gonwa had actually told us first, though.’
‘They are … a complex people,’ Togu replied, scratching his chin. ‘They come from Komga, an island with too many trees, not enough sun and, as such, they lack our “sunny” disposition.’ He grinned at his own joke. ‘They must be more than a little irritated at having moved here, anyway, but Teji will grow on them.’
‘And why did they move here, exactly?’ Kataria asked, drawing a glance from Lenk.
That does seem important … Should … shouldn’t I have asked that?
‘Why would you?’
That’s usually my thing.
‘Worrying? Let someone else do it.’
Togu’s eyes rotated to regard her carefully. ‘Feel free to ask them.’
She accepted the retort with what would appear, to anyone else, as a cool silence. Lenk, however, could see the faint tremble of her upper lip, the minuscule twitch of her eyelid, and a tiny, distinct quiver of her ears.
‘Sees. Hears. Lies.’
‘What?’ he whispered inwardly.
‘Point being,’ Togu continued, ‘Teji warms all and all warm to Teji, in time.’ He settled back, taking another deep puff of his pipe. ‘I’m sure you could find your place in it, if you wished.’
‘Point being,’ Lenk retorted, ‘that we don’t. We appreciate the hospitality inasmuch as we can appreciate having loincloths slapped on us, but—’
‘We are mending your clothes. It takes time when we lack thread.’
‘That, too, is appreciated, which brings me to my next point,’ he continued. ‘We were wondering if we could ask a little more of you.’
Togu’s eyes shifted to him. ‘Ask away.’
‘A sea chart to find the nearest shipping lanes to the mainland, a boat to take us there, food to make it there and—’
‘Sword.’
‘And …’
‘Sword.’
‘Something …’
‘Need.’
‘Pants,’ Kataria interjected. ‘We want our pants back.’
‘Pants?’ Togu began to mutter, clouds of smoke roiling out of his nostrils. ‘Pants, pants, pants … It’s always pants with humans, isn’t it?’
‘What is it with lizardthings and calling me human? I’m not human!’ She took her ears in her hands, pulling them out for display. ‘Look at these things! They’re huge!’
‘Can you get us that sort of thing or not?’ Lenk asked with a sigh. ‘You can keep whatever it is you found from our wreckage in payment or we can work something out.’
‘What sort of something?’ Togu asked.
‘We can do … things.’
‘Such as?’
‘Kill stuff,’ Kataria said, sniffing, ‘mostly.’
‘We do other things,’ Lenk countered with a glare.
‘Like what?’ she asked, sneering.
‘Things, you know …’ He leaned back, twirling his hand in what he hoped was at least vaguely thoughtful. ‘Such as … well, Denaos, I know, can play the lute. You probably have something like that, right?’
‘Ah, yes, the tall one,’ Togu said, inclining his head approvingly. ‘My people are quite fond of him. Does he have anything to say about your decision to leave?’
‘Nothing worthwhile,’ Kataria replied. ‘The only thing missing by him, or the rest of them, not being here is a bunch of whining and probably some attempt at innuendo or something stupid like that.’ She frowned, shrugging. ‘So can we have the boat or not?’