and hanging him.’
‘No witnesses,’ offered Duncan.
‘Right. And there’s the issue of why there were these killings.’
‘Why were there?’ asked Roo. ‘Destroying my wine would have been clear enough warning.’
Robert motioned for them to pass through a door into the soldiers’ mess as he said, ‘Well, that’s what the Duke and the Knight-Marshal are asking themselves this very minute, I’m betting.’
Roo saw Erik and Jadow standing at one end of the mess while a bunch of soldiers in grey tunics and trousers sat eating. He waved and Erik came over. ‘Sergeant?’ he asked, to see if there were orders.
‘Tell Jadow to keep an eye on those recruits, and join us.’
Erik did as he was ordered, and when he was seated with the others, castle serving boys hurried over with food and ale. Robert dug in and said, ‘I think we’re going to have a bit of fun tonight.’
Roo said, ‘Fun?’
‘Well, if I can judge the Duke,’ said de Loungville, ‘I think he’s going to come to the conclusion that there’s been just a little too much killing going on of late, and it’s time to do something about it.’
‘Do what?’ asked Duncan. ‘The Mockers have been in control of parts of this city since … since before I was born, I know that much.’
Robert said, ‘True, but then, there’s never been a Duke of Krondor like Lord James, that’s also a fact.’ He smiled and bit into a cold joint of mutton. Speaking around the mouthful, he said, ‘Better stoke up your fires, lads. I think we’re going to have a long night ahead of us.’
Roo asked, ‘Us?’
Robert said, ‘You’ll want to come along, Avery. It’s your gold we’re trying to recover, isn’t it? Besides, what else have you got to do that’s better?’
Roo sighed. ‘Right now, nothing.’
‘We’ll give you a bunk for the afternoon so you can get your beauty rest,’ said de Loungville. ‘I think we’re going to be up most of the night.’
Roo shrugged. ‘If there’s a slim chance to get my gold back, I’ll take it. It’s about what I started with, so I’ll be even – not counting my time.’ He looked at Erik. ‘That bit of gold you gave me was part of it, too.’
Erik shrugged. ‘You don’t invest thinking any venture’s a sure thing. I knew that.’
‘I’ll get it back for you somehow,’ Roo promised. He turned his attention to the men at the far end of the hall. ‘Those your new band of “desperate men,” Sergeant?’
De Loungville smiled. ‘Not desperate enough, but then we haven’t really gotten started with them. Right now we’re just weeding out those who don’t have what it takes, right, Erik?’
‘Right, Sergeant,’ Erik agreed. ‘But I’m still not quite sure what the three of us are supposed to be doing.’
‘We’ll figure it out,’ said Robert in a noncommittal tone. ‘With luck, Trenchard’s Revenge should be coming into port any day now, and maybe some more of our boys will be aboard.’
Duncan raised an eyebrow in question, but no one volunteered any details to him.
Roo said, ‘Where’s the Captain?’
Robert shrugged. ‘He took off with Nakor, for Stardock. He should be back in a few more weeks.’
‘I wonder what he’s up to,’ mused Roo.
Robert de Loungville’s expression changed to one that Roo knew well, and Roo instantly regretted his words. Everyone at the table, save Duncan, was privy to secrets known only to a few, and such lapses would put Roo into more trouble than he wished should he again speak out of turn.
Erik glanced at Roo and years of friendship communicated all Roo needed to see to understand that Erik also wished Roo to remain silent.
Roo cleared his throat. ‘I think I could use that nap if we’re going out tonight.’
Robert nodded and Erik smiled, and Duncan seemed not to notice any of the exchange, and table talk turned to the mundane.
Calis looked over the rail and said, ‘See that?’
Nakor squinted against the late afternoon sun. ‘Keshian patrol.’
Calis and his companions were on a river boat, hugging the coast of the Sea of Dreams, a few miles away from Port Shamata. Calis said, ‘They’re quite a long way on the wrong side of the border if we can see them from here.’
Nakor shrugged. ‘Kingdom, Kesh, always fighting over this area. Good farmland, rich trade routes, but no one ever gets crops in and no one drives caravans through the Vale of Dreams because of the border raiders. So it lingers, like an old man too sick to live but not ready to die.’ He looked at his companion. ‘Tell the garrison commander at Shamata and he’ll send a patrol out to chase the Keshians south!’ he added with a grin.
Calis shook his head. ‘I’m sure someone will eventually mention it to him.’ He smiled a wry smile. ‘I don’t think I need say anything to him. If I do, he might feel the need to impress the Prince of Krondor’s special envoy by starting a war for my amusement.’
Calis’s eyes stayed fixed on the horizon long after the Keshian patrol vanished from view. Poor Shamata was visible in the distance to the southeast, but they wouldn’t be there for another hour, given the light wind of midday.
‘What do you see out there, Calis?’ asked Nakor, his voice hinting at concern. ‘You’ve been moody since we got back.’
Calis didn’t need to explain many things to Nakor, who probably understood more about the Pantathian serpent priests and their evil magic than any man living. He had certainly seen some of the worst manifestations of it. But Calis knew that right now Nakor wasn’t speaking of anything that had to do with Calis’s concerns over the distant threat to the Kingdom. It was a more personal issue that weighed on Calis’s mind.
‘Just thinking of someone.’
Nakor grinned, and looked over his shoulder at Sho Pi, the former monk of Dala, who at Nakor’s insistence now slept upon a bale of cotton. ‘Who is she?’
‘You’ve heard me speak of her. Miranda.’
‘Miranda?’ asked Nakor. ‘Heard of her from several men. A woman of mystery by all reports.’
Calis nodded. ‘She is a strange woman.’
‘But attractive,’ added Nakor, ‘also by all reports.’
‘That too. There’s so much I don’t know about her, yet I trust her.’
‘And you miss her.’
Calis shrugged. ‘My nature is not common –’
‘Unique,’
