Memory by K. J. Parker Read Free Book Online Page B

probably asking yourself,’ he said, ‘why I made up all that garbage on the coach; like I didn’t know you, and so forth. Actually, it’s very simple. I already knew you’d lost your memory, and that the chances were you wouldn’t recognise me. I’d also figured that if you’d gone this long without remembering anything, it was a fair bet it’s because you don’t really want to. Of course, I didn’t know how much you’d found out about yourself since; partly, that’s what the charade was in aid of. Luckily, I’ve always been easy to talk to. I do this boisterous, likeable idiot thing very well, and there’s nothing like a long wagon ride for striking up conversations, often about things we wouldn’t normally discuss with strangers.’ He speared a slice of lamb with the point of his knife. ‘So, how much have you found out? I know you went home for a year.’
    Poldarn stared. ‘How the hell do you know about that?’
    â€˜Good question,’ Aciava said with his mouth full. ‘How many people in the Empire even know about the islands in the far west, where the raiders come from? I can’t be sure about this, but my guess is, three. Two of whom,’ he added, ‘are drinking beer from the same jug. Refill?’
    Poldarn shook his head. ‘How could you possibly know?’ he said. ‘Who in God’s name are you, anyway?’
    But Aciava only smiled. ‘Now that’s interesting,’ he said. ‘Anybody else in the world, in your shoes, his first question would’ve been, Who in God’s name am I? But you’re more concerned with me. Haven’t you been listening? I can tell you who you are. Your name.’
    Poldarn kicked his chair back and stood up. ‘I asked you a question,’ he said.
    Aciava scowled. ‘Sit down, for heaven’s sake. Eat your dinner before it goes cold. This is going to be hard enough as it is without melodrama.’
    So Poldarn sat down. ‘You’re lying,’ he said. ‘This is what you do for a living. You get talking to people on coaches. They tell you something, like me telling you about losing my memory; then you think up some scam—’
    â€˜Fair assumption,’ Aciava replied. ‘And your scepticism does you credit. But it seems to me you’re trying suspiciously hard to make excuses for not asking me the sort of thing you should be wanting to know. Who am I? What did I do for a living? Where do I live?’
    â€˜I told you,’ Poldarn said hesitantly, ‘I’m not sure I want—’
    Aciava put his knife down on his plate. ‘Your real name,’ he said, ‘is, of course, Ciartan. Your father’s name was Tursten, but he died before you were born. You were brought up by your grandfather, at Haldersness. You had to leave home because of some trouble over someone else’s wife, which is why you came to the Empire in the first place.’ He frowned. ‘Look, if you’re going to hit me with something, please don’t let it be the beer jug; that’s solid earthenware, you could do me an injury.’
    Poldarn sat back and stared at him.
    â€˜That’s better. Now,’ Aciava went on, ‘I don’t actually know if any of that stuff is true, because it’s only what you told me, many years ago, in an out-of-bounds wine shop in Deymeson. But it ought to knock the itinerant con artist theory on the head, don’t you think?’
    Poldarn nodded without speaking.
    â€˜By the way,’ Aciava went on, ‘if you think this is easy for me, just because I’m being all laid back and relaxed about it, think again. This is just my defences, like all the wards and guards we learned back in the second year. We had to pretend it was someone else in the ring sparring with sharp blades, not us, or we’d have died of fright. Remember? No, of course you don’t. You still