It’s a challenge to look intimidating standing in a small rowboat. To accomplish the task, sacrifices must be made, both of stability and of comfort. Neal had found the best way to do so and create the air of authority and menace he was seeking was to stand with one foot on the bench and the other planted firmly on what could only generously be called the prow of the little boat. He arched his back slightly to relieve the cramp that maintaining the position caused, and tried to give off the impression that he naturally preferred to stand in a boat for an hour after he had tied it up, scarcely maintaining his balance against the bobbing movements the river’s current caused as it knocked the little boat against the floating pier, rather than getting off the thing. In truth, he not only wanted to look intimidating; he wanted to be ready to run. The boat was tied with a quick-release knot. It could unravel with a single tug.
Neal ground his teeth together and tried to stay steady as he watched for motion on the shore. The moon was gone and there were no lights here, far downstream of the busier docks of the city. The few buildings were visible only for the dark holes they cut in the curtain of stars. This intimidating act was not the sort of thing Neal normally went for, but he had been given to understand that with the Enforcer, first impressions were important.
A dark form moved along the shoreline, low to the ground. It was too long and low to be a man, and Neal would have dismissed it, but it was massive. Too big for a dog or a cat. Neal squinted. It could not be a horse; the movement was all wrong. The creature lifted its head and Neal drew back instinctively as its eyes flashed the starlight back at him.
“Who are you?”
The voice came from the pier right beside him, full volume, uncomfortably loud in the quiet of the night. Neal started and lost his balance almost completely, his foot falling off the prow of the boat to land by the other with a loud clomp. The voice’s owner was a big man, but it was so dark that even though he was standing feet away Neal could not tell much else about him. Neal hoped it was the darkness had hidden his clumsiness as well as the surprise on his face. He took a breath to make sure his voice would sound sure and said. “Useph sent me.”
“Yes.” the man, who must be the Enforcer himself, had a deep, menacing voice. “Who are you?”
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“Neal.”
“I don’t know you.” The big man shuffled about. Neal couldn’t tell what he was doing, but didn’t see any glints of light that might mean a weapon. “The token?”
“Oh, ah,” Neal dug in his pocket. Remembering his own concern about a weapon, he moved very slowly and drew out the palm-sized coin Useph had given him as proof of his alliance to the Thief Lord. It occurred to him that he might ask for the other’s token as well, but he was aware his impression on the Enforcer had not gone as planned so far. Best at this point to be thought of as cooperative rather than belligerent. It seemed being thought of as weak was now a given.
The Enforcer snapped his fingers and Neal tossed the coin to him. There was a short silence while he studied it. Neal heard a splash and whipped his head round, seeking the source. The large animal had moved along the shoreline to the pier, and seemed to be drinking. Its eyes glinted in the blackness. Neal looked up at the big man, who was now biting the token, but he didn’t seem to notice the animal, or if he did, he did not care.
The Enforcer grunted and flicked the coin at Neal. His movement was so sudden Neal almost missed the catch. No sooner had he stuffed the coin back in his pocket than the man moved again and a dark shape sailed from his hand to the stern of Neal’s boat. The boat rocked as it received the weight, forcing Neal to step down off the bench to keep his feet. Whatever it was, it was heavy.
Neal edged over to the object and placed his hand on it. It was something hard, covered in a cloth that had stiffened with some dried, crusty substance. Neal lifted his head, not sure if he should ask about that. The man was already walking away along the pier. He paused and whistled once at the shoreline, and the dark, long shape of the animal followed him away into the night.
Neal could not resist the temptation to open the cloth as he rowed back to Useph’s boat, even after his slim candle revealed his unpleasant suspicion about the dried substance on the cloth. The object was all wrong for a head, so Neal felt whatever it was wouldn’t horrify or disgust him too much.
It wasn’t disgusting, but puzzling. The cloth was wrapped around an amphora, filled with oil most likely, and could be valuable, but why the Enforcer would have been sent to get something like this, and brought it in a most-probably blood covered bag, was beyond Neal’s imagination. It was at least beyond the range he wanted to put his imagination to.
The torches were lit on the foredeck of Useph’s boat, and the lord’s new wife’s bell-like laughter drifted down to Neal’s boat as he pulled alongside the dark rear of the boat, where another hooded agent of the Thief Lord waited to welcome him aboard.