smiled at the boy’s brashness and the girl’s affection as Helen moved to close the door behind him. As it latched, he realized something: if his calculations were accurate, the invaders would be in sight of Kingdom soil in seven months.
Acting Corporal Garret had looked dubious, but he accepted Erik’s orders without comment. After questioning Duga and his men all the previous day, Erik had decided on a course of action. He ordered Garret to lead half the men requisitioned from the Border Barons on a slow march to Krondor, while Erik kept the remaining half with himself. They had turned in their tabards when they left their previous commands, but they still looked like soldiers.
Erik then had them swapping clothing with the captured mercenaries, and after a while judged the results sufficiently chaotic to give the illusion of this being a very large company of mercenaries.
Duga gave his approval: ‘They look like my boys.’
Erik had spent the previous evening talking with Duga. He had come to like the man, a simple no-nonsense captain with a company of eighty men who had come to realize they were in over their heads. It had taken all night, but Erik had at last convinced him that it was in his own best interest to give more than his parole; rather, he should switch sides. Several of his men seemed dubious, and Erik had marked those and sent them off with Garret’s squad, while the rest stayed with Erik and Duga.
Later that same day, the second contingent of Kingdom soldiers had ridden past, and Erik instructed them to follow Garret’s company. When Duga saw the third company of two hundred come past early the next morning, he commented that he and his men had been led to believe they were invading a country of weak, ill-prepared cities.
Erik had gone on at great length, patiently explaining how things were different here in the Kingdom, and while he downplayed the relative sizes of the two armies, he emphasized the training and equipment of the Kingdom soldiers. Fortunately for his case, he had been aided by the sight of six hundred of the toughest veterans in the King’s Army riding by.
Duga gladly accepted the rations carried by Erik’s men, which they shared for breakfast. ‘You know,’ he commented as he ate, ‘there’s not a lot keeping the Queen’s army together but fear.’
Erik nodded. ‘I saw that at Maharta.’
‘It’s gotten worse.’ He glanced around. ‘Some of the captains tried to desert after that, when we got word we were turning east toward the City of the Serpent River.’
‘I heard what happened,’ said Erik. Prince Patrick’s spies had reported about the captains being impaled along with some randomly selected soldiers.
‘It’s as if we’re all guarding each other. No one wants to be there, but everyone’s afraid to say anything.’ He shook his head. ‘No, if you say the wrong thing to the wrong man, you’ve got a stake pounded up your arse.’
Erik considered his next question. ‘Has anyone asked why you’re sent halfway around the world?’
‘There’s nothing left at home,’ he said. ‘Not much plunder when a city’s burned to the ground.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I don’t believe this, but those snakes that stay close to the Queen have been telling everyone who’d listen that this is the richest place in the world, that there’s this city called Sethanon’ – he pronounced it ‘Seeth-e-non’ – ‘where the streets are marble, the door handles and latches are all gold, and they use silk for curtains.’ He sighed. ‘After what I’ve seen for the last ten years, I can understand why men want to believe, but you’ve got to elect to be stupid to believe that nonsense.’ He lowered his voice even more. ‘Some of the captains … we’ve talked about trying to do something, but …’
‘But what?’
‘But she’s just got too much control.’
‘Tell me about this,’ urged Erik.
He motioned with his chin that they should take a walk. When they were out of earshot of the men, Duga said, ‘I’ve probably got an agent or two of hers in my company now. You never know. This General Fadawah, he’s a bloody genius with his tactics and knowing when to send the men and the like, but he’s also a murderous dog. You heard what happened to General Gapi?’
Erik nodded. ‘Staked out naked over an anthill because he failed.’
‘And most of the generals and captains had to watch.’ He hit himself in the chest with his thumb. ‘I was one of them. It wasn’t pretty, I can tell you that.’
Duga looked frustrated as he tried to explain. ‘It’s the way they’ve got us all,’ he said, closing his hand slowly to demonstrate. ‘At first it was just another fight. You’d sign up at the rendezvous and go fight, loot, then spend your money. Then we started sacking cities. I remember Calis’s Crimson Eagles were on the other side at … where was it?’
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