A/N: CAUTION!- This fic contains Bloodhound spoilers. So if you have not read it and do not wish to know what happens until you read the book, I highly advise you not to read this fic until you've finished. Just wanted to give you a head's up!

For those of you who have read it, or don't care about spoilers, the story continues… :D

Chapter Two: Throwing Knives

After slamming the door behind him, Rosto threw himself down on his bed. He was curst sore and angry just thinking about it. She had only known the spintry, what? Three days?! And already she was sharing the sarden tarse's bed?

Rosto slammed his fist down. Was the girl crackbrained? From the reports and what he's found out elsewhere, Dale Rowan had a reputation amongst mots that stretched as long as the Olorun River itself. From what he'd heard, he was never with a mot for more than a week…and never without one for more than a few days. The craven scut probably bedded them and their sisters before the first mot even found out, and when she did, he was already off in another city, wooing the women there with his fribbety words and hollow promises.

For a moment, Rosto was reminded of his own behavior since the first messenger had arrived from Port Caynn, when the messenger had told Rosto how that spintry had pulled Beka into his lap as he played at his gambler's game, then danced with her in a city square later. Just the thought of him handling Beka like the doxies Rowan was no doubt used to taking around was enough to make Rosto angry. She was her own mot, not some bank courier's toy.

Rosto thought of the doxies he had entertained in the past two days. Unlike Master Cocksure, he did not make any promises or murmur sweet, false words into the women's ears. Nor did they expect it, or in truth, want it. In truth, they just wanted their coin, like any working mot or cove that needed to survive in the city. It was a harsh reality, and not at all respectable, but many either had little ones to support or were greedy for more coin in a quicker fashion.

At least he, however, did not chase after honest, innocent mots and charm them into his bed with his flowery words and leave them as soon as the rooster crowed! No, Dale Rowan was the kind of cove that mother's always warned their innocent young gixie's about, the ones with the sweet tongues that oozed honey as easily as slavers could sell children. Rowan was the kind of scummer that suddenly disappears with the morning tide after you have shared his bed once or twice.

Before, Rosto had been plenty angry, but there had been a part of him that took into consideration that Beka was indeed on a hunt. She would have to step out of her boundaries to get the information she needed, and perhaps she had found a link through Rowan. Through reports, he'd heard that Dale Rowan sometimes gambled with Peal Skinner herself, so he was doubtless welcome in her Court. Mayhap that was Beka's angle?

But now…surely she would not have to go so far as to share the sarden cove's bed! Beka was one of the cleverest mots he knew, surely there would be another way!

Unless she actually liked the tosspot…

Instantly, Rosto was back on his feet, pacing the room. A gambler! And probably a cheatin' one at that! Gamblers were no more honest than the worst rushers! They lied straight to your face- the best could look in your eyes with nary a feeling!- just to win your hard-earned coin. Would Beka soon find out that it was the same with people? Dale Rowan could probably steal a mot's heart as easily as cheat someone at a game of cards. Then he'd move on. At least rushers lied to save their lives!

Rosto was so sore now, that not even a mot's company could take his mind away from what was happening in Port Caynn anymore.

The thought made his blood boil- and it was not in Dale Rowan's favor. Rosto unsheathed his many knives from his body and grabbed them by the hilt, flicking his wrist to make the blades flip through the air, embedding them deeply in the wooden wall of his room. There was a special section on his wall he kept for specifically that purpose, to practice throwing his knives, but there were now many more cuts in the wood where there had been very few before…

Wednesday September 19th, the day after the messenger from Port Caynn

"Kora, give me a piece of your hair," said Aniki, holding her hand out.

"What for, you're no mage," Kora replied. She was feeding Fuzzball a fish pasty in the common room of the Dancing Dove. It was early in the afternoon, and the room was only starting to fill with people.

Aniki rolled her eyes lazily. "I just want to make sure my sword is sharp enough," she replied, taking a stone to the blade.

"That's the thirtieth time you've sharpened that today. By now it's either sharp enough to cut granite, or it's going to snap like a reed in the wind," said Kora. Then her eyes sparkled and the corner of her mouth hiked up in a grin. "Surely it was sharp enough for you to kill the unlucky cove or mot you took it from."

Laughing wickedly, Aniki grinned, "I told you I bought it yesterday, Kora, with my own coin. It has yet to be tainted by blood."

Ersken, who sat beside Kora, shook his head at Aniki. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"What?" asked Aniki innocently. "I said yet."

"How 'bout we keep it that way?" suggested Ersken feebly.

Aniki only laughed. "It's not me you should worry about," she told him as she used her finger to test the blade. The slightest touch and it brought blood; she grinned with satisfaction. "Our dear Rogue seems about to bite someone's head off…mayhap a couple."

When Ersken asked them more about it, Kora and Aniki filled him in on what he had missed the night before. When they were finished, Ersken did naught but raise his eyebrows for a time. Then he leaned toward them and whispered, "Beka stayed the night with that cove?" His voice betrayed his astonishment.

"It seems so," replied Aniki.

Kora nodded. "And you've seen how Rosto's been these past days, goin' from mot to mot. It's even worse now, as you can probably imagine. He's not even shown himself this mornin'. And there were no mots in his room last night. They were all grumblin' because of it down here." She spoke of the doxies that frequented the Court. The Rogue and those closest to them usually had the most money available, so the highest priced doxies always stuck around. According to Kora, it wasn't long before they left for the bordels that were popular with the nobles. It was the cheap trulls that walked the mucky city streets. No one seemed to linger last night at the Dancing Dove, given Rosto's temper.

"I swear he was throwin' those sarden knives at his wall all night long," added Aniki. "The steady thump of them in the wood was what finally put me to sleep. They no doubt need sharpening."

As if their talk summoned him, soon they heard the heavy sound of Rosto's boots coming down the stairs. Aniki turned to Kora and Ersken. "If I was you, I'd buy that house soon. It's not going to be any bed of roses living here," she told them, seeing Rosto's face.

His face was tight, his eyes hard, and it looked like he had gotten little rest. He grabbed a tankard of the strongest ale available and stomped over to his chair, dropping into it with a thud. He said nothing as he tipped his head back and drank. No one approached the dais, nor did Rosto acknowledge anyone. He just drank his ale in brooding silence.

It wasn't until after his third refill that a cove called out, "Would y' like t' join us, Majesty?" The cove was sitting with a group of folk all playing some gambling game. Apparently he did not hear about the Rogue's foul mood, nor did he seem to take notice. The looby.

Getting up out of his chair, Rosto crossed the room to the table where they played. Each player had a hand of cards, some with numbers and other with faces on them. Not recognizing the game, Rosto asked what they were playing.

"It's called Gambler's Chance," replied the cove who had called him over. "It's the biggest game out of Port Caynn."

Paying more attention to the cards in his hand than Rosto, the cove did not see the muscles of Rosto's jaw draw taut. His already flinty black eyes grew even harder.

Then Rosto spoke, his voice mirroring the look in his eye. "Pack it up and move your game elsewhere. There will be no playin' it in my Court."

He started to turn when the cove protested, "But Your Majesty-" He stopped when Rosto gave him an ice cold glare that could rival Beka's. The man immediately shut his gob. His friends were already packing up their game.

Seeing that he would get no more objections, Rosto turned and stormed away. Instead of returning to the dais, he marched back up the stairs to his quarters.

A few of the cove's gambling friends scuffed the man on the back of the head as they left the Dancing Dove.

Ersken, Kora, and Aniki exchanged looks from where they had witnessed the whole scene. A moment later, they heard the familiar dull thud of something hitting a wall.

"Sounds like he's throwing his knives again," remarked Ersken.

Aniki listened for a moment. Then she replied, "And they still need to be sharpened."

"At least he hasn't gotten out of practice," said Kora. Fuzzball swatted at her hand for more food. She grabbed another fish pasty from in front of Ersken, who protested.

"I pity the looby who crosses his path," said Aniki. "Dale Rowan had better watch his hide and stay out of Corus. Otherwise he'll be receiving a very unfriendly visit from our Rogue, and then he'll find out that knives speak louder than coin."

"But perhaps he's not a bad sort," suggested Ersken. "Mayhap we'd even like him."

Both Aniki and Kora looked at him. Ersken shrugged, "It could be."

"Mayhap," replied Aniki, "but Dale Rowan could be Mithros himself and Rosto wouldn't care. He'd still have just as good a chance of ending up with a cut throat. Of course," said Aniki with a wink at Ersken, "there's no need to worry. Rosto would never do such a thing."

Ersken gave her a skeptical look and then looked at Kora. "So where did you think we should buy a house?"

A/N: Rosto really paints Dale as an ugly picture, eh? Jealousy is a big, ugly monster alright. :D Hope you enjoyed it, I'll have the next chapter up soon!