with the sour aroma of spilled ale. The furniture was simple, one wooden table with four chairs, a single shelf behind the table, and another small table upon which a lamp rested. Stairs led to a sleeping loft above. A faded tapestry, once residing in surroundings far finer than those in which they hung now, was the sole item of any note. It hung behind Isaac, framing him with a tableau of a meeting between princes who were exchanging gifts while notables of that day looked on from all sides.
‘Locklear,’ said Isaac, as if savouring the name. ‘What a pleasure. You’re wearing your years well. I like the moustache. You always could manage the flamboyant.’ He turned away and moved with a visible limp. ‘Sit down. I would offer you tea or coffee, but my cousin is temporarily visiting other relatives in Bas-Tyra, and I have just arrived last night, so we are not well provisioned.’
‘That’s all right,’ said Locklear. ‘How long’s it been? Since Arutha’s wedding?’
Isaac sat in a small wooden chair, and crossed his legs so that he kept his weight on his good leg. ‘The very day. You should have heard the fit old Master of Ceremonies deLacy threw when he found out I wasn’t the Baron of Dorgin’s son.’
‘That’s because there is no Baron of Dorgin,’ supplied Locklear. ‘If you’d done your research, you would have avoided that gaffe.’
‘How was I supposed to know the lands outside the dwarven enclave are the province of the Duke of the Southern Marches?’
‘Study?’ suggested Locklear.
‘Never my strong suit,’ said Isaac with a wave of his hand.
‘Well, at least deLacy was too busy with the wedding to toss you out until the next day,’ said Locklear. ‘We had a good time that night. What have you been doing since?’
‘I spent some time in the east with my family, then returned a few years ago to the west. Since then I’ve been doing odd jobs along the border. So, what brings a member of Krondor’s court so far from home with such unusual company?’
‘Certain doings, some bloody, which unfortunately point to you.’
‘Me?’ said Isaac. ‘You’re not serious.’
‘I’m as serious as a royal torturer, Isaac, and you’ll have a chance to make a first-hand comparison if you don’t answer me truthfully. I’ll have Gorath sit on you while I go fetch the local constable. We can have a pleasant talk here, or a very unpleasant one in Krondor.’
Locklear had no intention of summoning the local constable and trying to sort out his claim of rank and authority, especially with no royal writs or warrants. But Isaac didn’t know that, and Locklear wasn’t about to enlighten him.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ said Isaac, starting to slowly rise.
Gorath said softly, ‘Reach for that sword behind you and you’ll have a leg to match the other before your fingers touch the hilt, human.’
‘Damn,’ said Isaac quietly, sitting back down in the chair.
‘The ruby,’ said Locklear.
‘What ruby?’ said Isaac.
‘The one you bought from Kiefer Alescook. The one you paid for with gold heading north to buy Delekhan weapons. The ruby stolen from an important Tsurani magician. The ruby that’s the latest in a series of such transactions.’
Isaac ran a hand over his face and back through his hair. ‘Locky, it’s been hard.’
Locklear’s expression turned dark and his voice took on a menacing tone that had Owyn sitting back in surprise. ‘As hard as treason, Isaac? As hard as the jerk at the end of a hangman’s rope?’
‘Who said anything about treason, Locky?’ Isaac’s manner turned to pleading. ‘Look, we were boyhood friends before I had my accident. If our positions had been reversed, you’d know; you’d understand what it’s like to be a hired sword with a bad leg. Locky, I was nearly starving when this opportunity came along. I was too far in before I discovered who was behind it.’
‘Tell us what you know and I’ll do you a favour,’ said Locklear.
Isaac looked downfallen, and said in a contrite fashion, ‘I was in over my head before I knew who I was dealing with. Alescook is an old acquaintance. I know that from time to time he “finds” gems and jewellery that has … ah, “clouded” title is a polite way of putting it.’
‘Stolen,’ said Locklear.
Isaac squirmed. ‘Whatever the cause, the market in the Kingdom is difficult, so those gems find their way south, to Kesh or over the water to Queg or the Free Cities. I’m just a middleman, someone who can take a little trip down to the Vale or over to Krondor or Sarth and put something on a ship. That’s all.’
‘The ruby?’ said Locklear.
Isaac started to rise and hesitated as Gorath leaned forward, hand on the hilt of his sword. Isaac continued rising slowly, then mounted the stairs to the loft above. Locklear motioned with his head to Owyn, who stood up and hurried through a small door in the wall next to the tapestry. He found himself in a tiny kitchen, one dirty enough he would have to be far hungrier than he presently was to consider eating anything prepared there. He ducked through the back door and looked up at a window above, where he saw the head of Isaac disappear back inside. Owyn smiled; Locklear’s instincts had been correct. The lame ex-fighter might attempt to escape from a first storey window, but he knew he wasn’t quick enough to pull off his escape if someone was waiting below.
A moment later, Locklear called for Owyn’s return and the young magician complied. He entered the room and stopped. The hairs on his arm stood up and he said, ‘Let me see the stone.’
Isaac handed it to him and said, ‘It’s really not a very valuable item, but I get paid well.’
Owyn replied, ‘I don’t know anything about stones and their worth, but I know this one is more than it appears to be.’ He looked at it closely. ‘This ruby has been prepared.’
‘Prepared for what?’ asked Locklear. ‘Jewellery?’
‘No, as a matrix of some kind for magic. I don’t know much about this sort of thing.’ He put the stone down. ‘Truth to tell, I don’t know much about any sort of thing magical, which is why I left Stardock. The only magic I’ve learned so far was from a field magician named Patrus, a sour old character. But my father objected and last I heard Patrus headed north—’ He shook himself out of his reverie. ‘It doesn’t matter, but what he told me is that some magic is harmonic and can be focused by gems. Or stored in them. He claimed once that magic itself might exist in gem form under the right conditions. For example, you can rig a trap with certain gems, so that whoever steps into a given area is imprisoned.’
‘Can you tell what this was used for?’
‘No,’ said Owyn with a shake to his head. ‘It may be something that will be used in the future.’
‘So you think it important?’ asked Gorath.
‘I can now see why the Tsurani magician was so angry about its disappearance.’
Locklear picked up the stone and
