2 - The Ruby Knight

by The Ruby Knight [lit]

this place.'

  They rejoined the others, and they all set out, going

  north along the lake. They saw peasants in the fields, but

  no signs of any other Zemochs. They rode at a walk with

  Ulath and Kurik in the lead.

  'Any guesses about what those people were up to?'

  Kalten asked Sparhawk. The blond knight was driving

  the wagon, the reins held negligently in one hand and

  with the other pressed against his injured ribs.

  "I'd imagine that Otha's having his men keep an eye on

  anybody poking around the battlefield,' Sparhawk

  replied. 'if somebody happens to stumble across

  Bhelliom, he'd definitely want to know about it.'

  'There may be more, then. It might not hurt to keep our

  eyes open.'

  The sun grew warmer as the day progressed, and

  Sparhawk began almost to wish for a return of the clouds

  and rain of the past week or more. Grimly, he rode on,

  sweltering in his black-enamelled armour.

  They camped that night in a grove of stately oaks not

  far from the Pelosian border and rose early the following

  morning. The guards posted at the boundary stood aside

  for them respectfully, and by mid-afternoon they crested

  a hill and looked down on the Pelosian city of Paler.

  'We made better time than I thought we would,' Kurik

  noted as they rode down the long slope towards the city.

  'Are you sure that map of yours is accurate, Sparhawk?'

  'No map is entirely accurate. About the best you can

  hope for is an approximation.'

  'Knew a map-maker in Thalesia once,' Ulath said. 'He

  set out to map the country between Emsat and Husdal.

  At first he paced everything off very carefully, but after a

  day or so he bought himself a good horse and started

  guessing. His map doesn't even come close, but

  everybody uses it because nobody wants to take the

  trouble of drawing a new one.'

  The guards at the south gate of the city passed them

  after only the briefest of questions, and Sparhawk

  obtained the name and location of a respectable inn from

  one of them. 'Talen,' he said, 'do you think you'll be able

  to find your way to that inn by yourself?'

  'Of course. I can find any place in any town.'

  'Good. Stay here then, and keep your eyes on that road

  coming up from the south. Let's see if those Zemochs are

  still curious about us.'

  'No problem, Sparhawk.' Talen dismounted and tied

  his horse at the side of the gate. Then he strolled back out

  and sat in the grass at the side of the road.

  Sparhawk and the others rode on into the city with the

  wagon clattering along behind them. The cobbled streets

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  of Paler were crowded, but people gave way to the

  Knights of the Church, and they reached the inn within

  perhaps half an hour. Sparhawk dismounted and went

  inside. The innkeeper wore one of the tall, pointed hats

  common in Pelosia and had a slightly haughty expression.

  'You have rooms?' Sparhawk asked him.

  'Of course. This is an inn.'

  Sparhawk waited, his expression cold.

  'What's your trouble?' the innkeeper asked.

  "I was just waiting for you to finish your sentence. I

  think you left something out.'

  The innkeeper flushed. 'Sorry, My Lord,' he mumbled.

  'Much better,' Sparhawk congratulated him. 'Now

  then, I have three injured friends. Does there happen to

  be a physician nearby?'

  'Down at the end of this street, My Lord. He has a sign

  out.'

  'is he any good?'

  "I really couldn't say. I haven't been sick lately.'

  'We'll chance him, I guess. I'll bring my friends inside

  and' go and get him.'

  "I don't think he'll come, My Lord. He has a very high

  opinion of himself. He thinks it's beneath his dignity to

  leave his quarters. He makes the sick and injured come to

  him.'

  'I'll persuade him,' Sparhawk said bleakly.

  The innkeeper laughed a bit nervously at that. 'How

  many in your party, My Lord?'

  'Ten of us. We'll help the injured inside, and then I'll

  go and have a chat with this self-important physician.'

  They aided Kalten, Tynian and Bevier into the inn and

  up the stairs to their rooms. Then Sparhawk came back

  down and walked resolutely towards the end of the

  street, his black cape billowing out behind him.

  The physician maintained his quarters on the second

  floor over a greengrocer's shop, and entry was gained by

  way of an outside stairway. Sparhawk clanked up the

  stairs and entered without knocking. The physician was

  a weaselly little fellow dressed in a flowing blue robe. His

  eyes bulged slightly when he looked up from his book to

  see a grim-faced man in black armour enter uninvited. "I

  beg your pardon,' he objected.

  Sparhawk ignored that. He had decided that the best

  course was to cut through any possible arguments. 'You

  are the physician?' he asked in a flat voice.

  "I am,' the man replied.

  "you will come with me.' It was not a request.

  'But - '

  'No buts. I have three injured friends who require your

  attention. '

  'Can't you bring them here? I do not customarily leave

  my quarters. '

  'Customs change. Get what you'll need and come

  along. They're at the inn just up the street.'

  'This is outrageous, Sir Knight.'

  'We're not going to argue about this, are we, neighbour?'

  Sparhawk's voice was deadly quiet.

  The physician flinched back. 'Ah - no. I don't believe

  so. I'll make an exception in this case.'

  "I was hoping you'd feel that way.'

  The physician rose quickly. 'I'll get my instruments

  and some medicines. What sort of injuries are we talking

  about?'

  'One of them has some broken ribs. Another seems to

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  be bleeding inside somewhere. The third suffers mostly

  from exhaustion.'

  'Exhaustion is easily cured. Just have your friend

  spend several days in bed.'

  'He doesn't have time. Just give him something that'll

  get him back on his feet.'

  'How did they receive these injuries?'

  'Church business,' Sparhawk said shortly.

  "I'm always eager to serve the Church.'

  'You've got no idea of how happy that makes me.'

  Sparhawk led the reluctant physician back up the

  street to the inn and on up to the second floor. He drew

  Sephrenia aside as the healer began his examinations.

  "It's a little late," he said to her. 'Why don't we hold off on

  visiting the tanner until morning? I don't think we want

  him to be rushed. He might forget things we need to

  know. '

  'Truly,' she agreed. 'Besides, I want to be sure this

  physician knows what he's doing. He looks a little

  unreliable to me.'

  'He'd better be reliable. He's already got a fair idea of

&nb
sp; what's going to happen to him if he isn't.'

  'Oh, Sparhawk,' she said reprovingly.

  "It's really a very simple arrangement, little mother. He

  fully understands that either they get healthy, or he gets

  sick. That sort of encourages him to do his best.'

  Pelosian cooking, Sparhawk had noticed, leaned

  heavily in the direction of boiled cabbage, beets and

  turnips, only lightly garnished with salt pork. The latter,

  of course, was totally unacceptable to Sephrenia and

  Flute, and so the two made a meal of raw vegetables and

  boiled eggs. Kalten, however, ate everything in sight.

  It was after dark when Talen arrived at the inn.

  'They're still following us, Sparhawk,' he reported, 'only

  there are a lot more of them now. I saw maybe forty of

  them on top of that hill just south of town, and they're on

  horses now. They stopped at the hilllltop and looked

  things over. Then they pulled back into the woods.'

  'That's a little more serious than just four, isn't it?'

  Kalten said.

  "It is indeed,' Sparhawk agreed. 'Any ideas,

  Sephrenia?'

  She frowned. 'We haven't really been moving all that

  fast,' she said. 'if they're on horseback, they could have

  caught up with us without much trouble. I'd guess that

  they're just following us. Azash seems to know something

  that we don't. He's been trying to kill you for

  months, but now He sends His people out with orders to

  just follow us at a distance.'

  'Can you think of any reason for the change in tactics?'

  'Several, but they're all pure speculation.'

  "we'll have to be alert when we leave town,' Kalten

  said.

  'Maybe doubly alert,' Tynian added. 'They might be

  just biding their time until we come to a deserted stretch

  of road where they can ambush us.'

  'That's a cheerful thought," Kalten said wryly. 'Well,

  I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to bed.

  The sun was very bright again the following morning,

  and a freshening breeze blew in off the lake. Sparhawk

  dressed in his mail-shirt, a plain tunic and woollen

  leggings. Then he and Sephrenia rode out from the inn

  towards the north gate of Paler and the tanyard of the

  man named Berd. The people in the street appeared for

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  the most part to be common workmen carrying a variety

  of tools. They wore sober blue smocks and the tall,

  pointed hats.

  "I wonder if they realize just how silly those things

  look,' Sparhawk murmured.

  'Which things were those?' Sephrenia asked him.

  'Those hats. They look like dunce-caps.'

  'They're no more ridiculous than those plumed hats

  the courtiers in Cimmura wear.'

  "I suppose you're right.'

  The tanyard was some distance beyond the north gate,

  and it smelled vile. Sephrenia wrinkled her nose as they

  approached. 'This is not going to be a pleasant morning,'

  she predicted.

  "I'll cut it as short as I can,' Sparhawk promised.

  The tanner was a heavy-set bald man wearing a canvas

  apron stained with dark brown splotches. He was

  stirring at a large vat with a long Paddle as Sparhawk and

  Sephrenia rode into his yard. 'I'll be right with you,' he

  said. His voice sounded like gravel being poured across a

  slate. He stirred for a moment or two longer, looking

  critically into the vat. Then he laid aside his paddle and

  came towards them, wiping his hands on his apron.

  'How can I help you?' he asked.

  Sparhawk dismounted and helped Sephrenia down

  from her white palfrey. 'We were talking with a farmer

  named Wat down in Lamorkand,' he told the tanner. 'He

  said you might be able to help us.'

  'Old Wat?' The tanner laughed. 'is he stil alive?'

  'He was three days ago. You're Berd aren't you?'

  "That's me, My Lord. What's this help you need?"

  'We've been going around talking to people who know

  stories about that big battle they had around here some

  years back. There are some people up in Thalesia who are

  distantly related to the man who was their king during

  that battle. They want to find out where he's buried so

  they can take his bones back home.'

  'Never heard of no kings involved in the fights around

  here,' Berd admitted. "Course that don't mean there

  wasn't a few. I don't imagine kings go around introducin'

  theirselves to common folks.'

  Then there were battles up here?' Sparhawk asked.

  "I don't know as I'd call 'em battles exactly - more what

  you might call skirmishes an' the like. Y see, My Lord,

  the main battle was down to the south end of the lake.

  That's where the armies drew up their lines of regiments

  an' battalions an' such. What was goin' through up here

  ,was small groups of men - Pelosians mostly at first, an'

  then later, the Thalesians started to filter on down.

  Otha's Zemochs, they had out their patrols, an' there

  was a bunch of nasty little fights, but nothin' as you could

  really call a battle. There was a couple not far from here,

  but I don't know as any Thalesians was involved. Most of

  their fights went on up around Lake Venne, an' even as

  far north as Ghasek.' He suddenly snapped his fingers.

  'Now that's the one you really ought to talk to,' he said.

  'Can't think why I didn't remember that right off.'

  'Oh?'

  'Of course. Can't imagine where my brain had went.

  That Count of Ghasek, he went to some university down

  in Cammoria, an' he got to studyin' up on history an' the

  like. Anyhow, all the books he read on that there battle,

  they sorta concentrated on what went on down to the

  south end of the lake. They didn't say hardly nothin' about

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  what happened up here. Anyhow, when he finished up

  his studyin', he come back home, an' he started goin'

  around collectin' all the old stories he could come across.

  Wrote 'em all down, too. He's been at it for years now. I

  expect he's gathered up just about every story in northern

  Pelosia by now. He even come an' talked to me, an' it's

  some fair distance from Ghasek to here. He tole me that

  what he's tryin' to do is to fill in some mighty big gaps in

  what they teach at that there university. Yes, sir, you go

  talk to Count Ghasek. If anybody in all Pelosia knows

  anythin' about this king you're lookin' for, the count

  woulda found out about it an' wrote it down in that there

  book he's puttin' together.'

  'My friend,' Sparhawk said warmly, "I think you've just

  solved our problem for us. How do we find the count?'

  'Best way is to take the road to Lake Venne. The city of

  Venne itself is up to the north end of the lake. Then you

  go north from there. It's a real bad road, but it's passable

  particularly at this time of year. Ghasek ain't no real

  town. Actual, it's just the count's esta
te. There's a few

  villages around it - mostly belongin' to the count hisself but

  anybody up there can direct you to the main house more

  like a palace, really, or maybe a castle. I've been

  past it a few times. Bleak lookin' place it is, but I never

  went inside, though.' He laughed a rusty-sounding

  laugh. 'Me an' the count, we don't exactly move in the

  same circles, if you take my meanin'.'

  "I understand perfectly,' Sparhawk said. He took out

  several coins. 'Your work here looks hot, Berd.'

  "It surely is, My Lord.'

  'When you finish up for the day, why don't you get

  yourself something cool to drink?' He gave the tanner the

  coins.

  'Why, thankee, My Lord. That's uncommon generous

  of you.'

  "I'm the one who should be thanking you, Berd. I think

  you've just saved me months of travel.' Sparhawk helped

  Sephrenia back onto her horse and then remounted

  himself. "I'm more grateful to you than you can possibly

  imagine, Berd,' he said to the tanner by way of farewell.

  'Now that turned out extremely well, didn't it?'

  Sparhawk exulted as he and Sephrenia rode back into the

  city.

  "I told you it would,' she reminded him.

  "yes, as a matter of fact, you did. I shouldn't have

  doubted you for a moment, little mother.'

  'it's natural to have doubts, Sparhawk. We'll go on to

  Ghasek, then?'

  'Of course.'

  "I think we'd better wait until tomorrow, though. That

  physician said that none of our friends is in any danger,

  but another days rest won't hurt them.'

  will they be able to ride?'

  'Slowly at first, I'm afraid, but they'll grow stronger as

  we go along.'

  'All right. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning.

  The mood of the others brightened considerably when

  Sparhawk repeated what Berd had told him.

  "Somehow this is beginning to seem too easy,' Ulath

  muttered, 'and easy things make me nervous.'

  "don't be so pessimistic,' Tynian told him. 'Try to look

  on the bright side of things.'

  "I'd rather expect the worst. That way, if things turn

  out all right, I'm pleasantly surprised.'

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  "I suppose you'll want me to get rid of the wagon then?'

  Talen said to Sparhawk.

  'No. Let's take it along just to be on the safe side. If any

  one of these three takes a turn for the worse, we can

  always put him back in it.'

  "I'm going to check the supplies, Sparhawk,' Kurik said.