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.An appropriate name, since the main ingredient of everydrink was water.The name was crudely painted on a board thathung behind the bar.Of course, about three hours after the openingthey had shortened it to the Hole, and dirty jokes and innuendosabounded.Lorcko smiling at you meant you were permitted to sit down atthis most coveted of places.For today.Lorcko speaking to you meantthat you needn t ask anymore.The rules were never formulated.Theyhad been promulgated and were maintained by cynical looks, raisedeyebrows, yawns, questions that remained unanswered, suddenlyhalting conversations, or boisterous laughter when you passed.That day there were about eight of them.Lorcko smiled, laughed,or nodded, whichever was most suitable, at exactly the right moment, Bonds of Fear 73but in fact he was observing another, much smaller group at a littletable next to one of the windows.Ambrick of Keyld was having ananimated conversation with two friends.One of them, he was almostcertain, was Sterff, the future count of Rivrant.The other one hedidn t know.Strangely enough, none of them had ever tried to jointhe golden table.Oh well, he was not too proud to make the firstmove.Whatever they were discussing, it had to be something the threeof them were excited about, as the frequent laughter, broad gestures,and constant grinning indicated.It was the most remarkablething.That ordinary, plain, good natured face with the crookedteeth and the slightly askew nose, came to life when Ambrick wastalking to his friends.You couldn t call it handsome by any stretchof the imagination, but it definitely gained a certain charm andattractiveness.When Ambrick s two companions stood up and said goodbye,he excused himself and lazily went over to the table by the window.His friends knew better than to join him, nor were they surprised,since most of them knew about his occasional attraction to nature sstepchildren. Ambrick.I saw your friends had to go.May I replace them andkeep you company? he asked, flashing his most charming smile. Ah, Iramid.What a surprise, Ambrick answered, totally notsurprised. We re not on duty anymore, so you don t have to speak tome, you know. He was going to make this difficult.Good, Lorcko loved achallenge. I know, so it must be that I want to talk to you, mustn t it? Andsince we re not on duty anymore, please, call me Lorcko. 74 Andrew AshlingAmbrick raised his eyebrows. Now I m really getting worried, he said, and he chuckled. Please, sit down. Thank you. What exactly is it that you want? Stubbornly staying recalcitrant was a tactic that left Lorckoindifferent. Why would I want something, Ambrick? During last week I gotto appreciate you and now I d like to get to know you better.But first,can I offer you something to drink? Ambrick looked at him as at a strange child that needed to beindulged. If you insist, Ira eh, Lorcko.A cup of what passes for winehere, please. When he returned with the two cups of wine, he took care to leanover Ambrick s shoulder as he put his drink in front of him, lettinghis long, raven black hair fall against his companion s cheek.Afterwashing it, he had rinsed it a few times with lilac scented water. You smell nice, Ambrick said, not totally devoid of sarcasm. Abit like a garden.Lucky for you it s winter, or you would have a beeproblem. Thank you, Lorcko said, although he had caught the mockingundertone, managing to nevertheless lay a whole world of gratitudein those two words.He flickered his white, very straight and regular teeth at Ambrick. Don t you think it s strange.We ve been on duty together formost of the week and we know so little about each other.Let s makeup for that. Bonds of Fear 75Ambrick smiled his crooked teeth.Lorcko looked fascinated atthe thin mouth. Well, what do you know? There s real charm there, he thought,surprised. I find that hard to believe, Lorcko.I may not know you thatintimately, but I know enough about you.Your reputation haspreceded you. And what have you learned from that, precisely? he asked,smiling, refusing to fall into the trap and become peeved or angry. Let s see.One, you are a bit of a flirter.Two, you re veryhandsome, and that nobody had to tell me as I have eyes.In fact,you re extremely attractive and you know it.You also use it. I have not heard anything too terrible, so far, Lorcko said withwhat was meant to be calm confidence, but he couldn t prevent somedoubt seeping through. No, of course not, Ambrick conceded graciously
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