Black Orchids from Aum

Product Description Aum. City of Gates. The Lost City. The Cursed City. Come to Aum, where anything can be bought. Come ready to bargain for love, for power, for dreams. Just remember, the price must always be paid. About the Author Gerard Daniel Houarner is the auhtor of the novels The Bard of Sorcery, Road to Hell and The Beast That Was Max as well as the collections Painfreak and I Love You and There is Nothing You Can Do About It. He has also published around 180 stories. He edited the anthology Going Postal and is the fiction editor of the venerable semi-pro zine Space and Time. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Four guards bracketed Cotos Vit in the merchant's office. Cray closed the door behind her as she entered, appraised the guards with a quick glance, and smiled at the man who owed the Gate Mothers for Aum's Tongue. "Gouger," one of the guards whispered. The word hung in the silence like a particle of dust caught in a ray of lantern light coming in through a crack between the slats of the warehouse office wall. The room was gloomy, lit by the random criss-crossing rays and a single candle flickering on the table behind which Cotos Vit sat. Other than the candle, the table was bare. "The term you're searching for is collector," Cray said, looking at the guard who had spoken. She took a step forward into the office and bumped into the table. Two guards moved from behind the table, coming close enough to strike her with a draw of their short swords. "Collector," Cotos Vit drawled. "Punctual." "You have the Gate Mothers' payment?" Cray asked. She noted by his scabbard's position that the guard on her left was left-handed. The rest were right-handed. All wore padded leather armor, plate across their torsos and forearms, and close-fitting, curved helmets secured around their chins by leather straps. In the office's close confines, the smell of their sweat was thick. Cotos Vit spread his arms wide and showed her his empty palms. The gold, jeweled rings on his fingers rapped against the armor of the two guards next to him. He brought his hands back across his paunch and re-arranged his silk blouse. Rivulets of sweat coursed through the folds and creases in his face, while his black eyes, like dark pearls, caught the flicker of the candle's flame and flung the light out at her, all warmth lost. "You came for the payment," the merchant said. A guard snorted his amusement. I came because you arranged for this meeting when you found out the Gate Mothers hired me, she said to herself as she told him as much with her level glare. "The Gate Mothers gave you Aum's Tongue, they gave you the city's speech when you came through your world's Gate naked and penniless. You never paid them back. I'm here to collect." "So you are," Cotos Vit answered. "But you see, I've run into some problems since those arrangements were made. I myself am owed money. Bills have gone uncollected. I'm caught between Gate Conjunctions, and can't reach all of my troves. You must wait." "The Gate Mothers have waited. They've watched you spin words and lies into a fortune. They've waited for you to remember them. They sent me to remind you." "Consider the job done." Cray hesitated for a moment, savoring the merchant's confidence in his guards. "I don't leave without payment." "You see the table is bare," Cotos Vit said with a sweep of his hand. "I see the warehouse outside filled with bales of fabric, and jars of wine and perfumes, and crates of looted treasure for which you've traded arms and armor. I think you have enough to satisfy the Gate Mothers." "I think you see too much, gouger," Cotos said, hunching his shoulders as he leaned forward. "I think it's time my men teach you the way to see things in this part of Aum." Cray scoffed. "Just like a man, to think he can teach me something."