'Yes, I know, but whales don't make very good pets.
As soon as we get to Thalesia, I'll buy you a kitten
instead. Please, Flute, say goodbye to your whales and
make them go away. They're slowing us down.'
'Oh.' Her face was disappointed. 'All right, I suppose.'
She lifted her voice again with a peculiar trilling sound of
regret. The whales moved off and then sounded, their
vast flukes crashing against the surface of the sea, tearing
it to frothy tatters.
Sparhawk glanced around. The sailors were gaping
open-mouthed at the little girl. Explanations at this point
would be extremely difficult. 'Why don't we go back to
our cabin and have some lunch?' he suggested.
'All right,' she agreed. Then she lifted her arms to him.
'You can carry me, if you'd like.'
It was the quickest way to get her out from under the
awed stares of Sorgi's crew, so he picked her up and
carried her to the companionway.
"I really wish you wouldn't wear this,' she said, picking
at his mail-shirt with one small fingernail. "It smells
absolutely awful, you know.'
'in my business, it's somewhat necessary. Protection,
you understand.'
'There are other ways to protect yourself, Sparhawk,
and they're not nearly so offensive.'
When they reached the cabin, they found Sephrenia
sitting, pale-faced and shaken with a ceremonial sword
in her lap. Kurik, who looked a little wild about the eyes,
hovered over her. "It was Sir Gared, Sparhawk,' he said
quietly. 'He walked right straight through the door as if it
wasn't even there and gave his sword to Sephrenia.'
Sparhawk felt a sharp wrench of pain. Gared had been a
friend. Then he straightened and sighed. if all went well,
this would be the last sword Sephrenia would be forced to
bear. "Flute,' he said, 'can you help her to sleep?'
The little girl nodded, her face grave.
Sparhawk lifted Sephrenia in his arms. She seemed to
have almost no weight. He carried her to her bunk and
gently laid her down. Flute came to the bunk and began
to sing. It was a lullaby such as one would sing to a small
child. Sephrenia sighed and closed her eyes.
"She'll need to rest,' Sparhawk told Flute. "It's going to
be a long ride to Ghwerig's cave. Keep her asleep until we
reach the coast of Thalesia.'
'Of course, dear one.'
They reached the Thalesian coast at about noon the
following day, and Captain Sorgi hove to in a small cove
just to the west of the port city of Emsat.
'You have no idea how much I appreciate your help,
Captain,' Sparhawk said to Sorgi as he and the others
were preparing to disembark.
'My pleasure, Master Cluff,' Sorgi told him. 'We
bachelors need to stick together in these affairs.'
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Sparhawk grinned at him.
The little group led their horses down a long gangway
and out onto the beach. They mounted as the sailors
were carefully MdnUYring the ship out of the cove.
'Do you want to come with me into Emsat?' Talen
asked. "I have to go and talk with Stragen.'
'I'd probably better not,' Sparhawk said. 'Wargun
might have had time to get a messenger to Emsat by now,
and I'm fairly easy to describe.'
'I'll go with him,' Kurik volunteered. 'We're going to
need supplies anyway.'
'All right. Let's go back into the woods a ways and set
up for the night first, though.'
They made camp in a small glade in the forest, and
Kurik and Talen rode out about mid-afternoon.
Sephrenia was wan, and her face was drawn-looking
as she sat by the fire cradling Sir Gared's sword.
'This is not going to be easy for you, I'm afraid,'
Sparhawk said regretfully. We're going to have to ride
fast if we want to reach Ghwerigs cave before he seals it
up. Is there any way you could give me Gared's sword?'
She shook her head. 'No, dear one. You weren't
present in the throne-room. Only one of us who was
there when we cast the spell can keep Gared's sword.'
"I was afraid that might be the case. I suppose I'd better
see about some supper.'
It was nearing midnight when Kurik and Talen
returned.
'Any problems?' Sparhawk asked.
'Nothing worth mentioning.' Talen shrugged.
'Platime's name opens all kinds of doors. Stragen told us
that the countryside north of Emsat is infested with
robbers, though. He's going to provide us with an armed
escort and spare horses - the horses were my father's
idea.'
'We can move faster if we change horses every hour or
so,' Kurik explained. 'Stragen's also going to send
supplies along with the men who'll be riding with us.'
'You see how nice it is to have friends, Sparhawk?'
Talen asked impudently.
Sparhawk ignored that. 'Are Stragen's men going to
come here?' he asked.
'No,' Talen replied. 'We'll meet them a mile or so up
the road that runs north out of Emsat before sunrise.' He
looked around. 'What's for supper? I'm starving.'
*Chapter24
They rode out at first light, circled through the forest
lying to the north of Emsat and stopped not far from the
north road. "I hope this Stragen keeps his word,' Kurik
muttered to Talen. 'I've never been in Thalesia before,
and I don't like the notion of riding into hostile country
without knowing what's going on.
'We can ~trust Stragen, father,' Talen replied confidently.
'Thalesian thieves have this peculiar sense of
honour. It's the Cammorians you have to watch out for.
They'd cheat themselves if they could figure out a way to
make a profit out of it.'
"Sir Knight,' a soft voice said from back in the trees.
Sparhawk immediately went for his sword.
'There's no need of that, My Lord,' the voice said.
'Stragen sent us. There are robbers out there in the
foothills, and he told us to get you safely past them.'
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'Come out of the shadows then, neighbour,' Sparhawk
said.
'Neighbour!' The man laughed. "I like that. You have a
very wide neighbourhood, neighbour.'
'Most of the world lately,' Sparhawk admitted.
'Welcome to Thalesia then, neighbour.' The man who
rode out of the shadows had pale, flaxen hair. He was
clean-shaven and roughly dressed, and he carried a
brutal-looking pike and had an axe slung to his saddle.
'Stragen says you want to go north. We're to accompany
you as far as Heid.'
'Will that work out?' Sparhawk asked Flute.
'Perfectly,' she replied. 'We'll be leaving the road a
mile or so beyond there.'
'You take orders from a child?' the flaxen-haired man
asked.
"She knows the way to the place where we're going.
Sparhawk shrugged. 'Never ar
gue with your guide.'
'That's probably true, Sir Sparhawk. My name is Tel if
it makes any difference. I've got a dozen men and spare
horses - along with the supplies your man Kurik
requested.' He rubbed one hand over his face. 'This
baffles me, Sir Knight,' he admitted. "I've never seen
Stragen so eager to accommodate a stranger.'
'Have you ever heard of Platime?' Talen asked him.
Tel looked at the boy sharply. "The chief down in
Cimmura?' he asked.
'That's the one,' Talen said. 'Stragen owes Platime
some favours, and I work for Platime.'
'Oh, that explains it, I suppose,' Tel admitted. 'The
day's wearing on, Sir Knight,' he said to Sparhawk. 'Why
don't we go to Heid?'
'Why don't we?' Sparhawk agreed.
Tel's men were all dressed in utilitarian Thalesian
peasant garb, and they all carried weapons as if they
knew how to use them. They were uniformly blond and
had the bleak faces of men with little concern for the
politer amenities of life.
When the sun came up, they increased their pace.
Sparhawk knew that having Tel and his cut-throats along
might slow them considerably, but he was grateful for
the additional safety they provided for Sephrenia and
Flute. He had been more than a little concerned about
their vulnerability in the event of an ambush in the
mountains.
They passed briefly through farm country, and neat
farmsteads stood here and there along the road. An
attack was unlikely in such a well-populated area. The
danger would come when they reached the mountains.
They rode hard that day and covered a considerable
distance. They camped some way from the road and
left again early the following morning.
"I'm starting to feel a little saddle-weary,' Kurik admitted
as they set out at first light.
"I thought you'd be used to it by now,' Sparhawk said.
'Sparhawk, we've been riding almost constantly for
the last six months. I think I'm starting to wear out my
saddle with my backside.'
"I'll buy you a new one.'
'So I can have all the entertainment of breaking it in?
No thanks.'
The country became more rolling, and they could
clearly see the dark green mountains to the north now. 'if
I can make a suggestion, Sparhawk,' Tel said, 'why don't
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we make camp before we get up into the hills? There are
robbers up there, and a night attack could cause us some
inconvenience. I doubt that they'd come down onto this
plain, though.'
Sparhawk had to admit that Tel was probably right,
even though he chafed at the delay. The safety of
Sephrenia and Flute was, after all, of far more importance
than any arbitrary time limits.
They stopped for the night before the sun set and took
shelter in a shallow dell. Tel's men were very good at
concealment, Sparhawk had noticed.
The next morning they waited for daylight before setting
out. 'All right,' Tel said as they rode along at a trot. "I know
some of the fellows who hide up here in the mountains,
and they've got some favourite places for their ambushes.
I'll let you know when we start to get close to those places.
The best way to get through them is to ride at a gallop. It
takes people in hiding in ambush by surprise, and they
usually need a minute or two to get on their horses. We can
be well past them before they can give chase.
'How many of them are there likely to be?' Sparhawk
asked him.
'About twenty or thirty altogether. They'll split up,
though. They've got more than one place, and they'll
probably want to cover them all.'
'Your plan isn't bad, Tel,' Sparhawk said, 'but I think
I've got a better one. We ride through the ambush at a
gallop the way you suggested until they start to come
after us. Then we turn on them. There's no point in
letting them join forces with others farther up on the
trail.'
'You're a bloodthirsty one, aren't you, Sparhawk?'
"I've got a friend from up here in Thalesia who keeps
telling me that you should never leave live enemies
behind you.'
'He may have a point there.
'How did you learn so much about those fellows up
here?'
"I used to be one of them, but I got tired of sleeping out
of doors in bad weather. That's when I went to Emsat and
started working for Stragen.'
'How far is it from here to Heid?'
'About fifty more leagues. We can make it by the end of
the week if we hurry along.'
'Good. Let's go then.'
They rode up into the mountains at a trot, keeping a
wary eye on the trees and bushes at the side of the road.
"just ahead,' Tel said quietly. 'That's one of their
places. The road goes through a gap there.'
'Then let's ride,' Sparhawk said. He led the way at the
gap. They heard a startled shout from the top of the bluff
on the left side of the road. A single man stood up there.
'He's there alone,' Tel shouted, looking back over his
shoulder. 'He watches the road for travellers and then
lights a fire to signal on up ahead.'
'Not this time he won't,' one of Tel's men growled,
unslinging a longbow from across his back. He stopped
his horse and smoothly shot an arrow at the lookout atop
the bluff. The lookout doubled over when the arrow took
him in the stomach and toppled off the bluff to lie
motionless in the dusty road.
'Good shot,' Kurik said.
'Not too bad,' the archer said modestly.
'Do you think anyone heard him yell?' Sparhawk
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asked Tel.
That depends on how close they are. They probably
won't know what it meant, but a few of them might ride
down here to investigate.'
'Let them,' the man with the bow said grimly.
'We'd better go a little slowly along here,' Tel advised.
"It wouldn't do to go around a corner and come face to
face with them.'
'You're very good at this, Tel,' Sparhawk said.
'Practice, Sparhawk, and I know the ground. I lived up
here for more than five years. That's why Stragen sent
me instead of anybody else. You'd better let me have a
look around that bend in the road just ahead.' He slipped
down off his horse and took his pike. He ran ahead at a
crouch, and just before he reached the bend, he eased his
way into the bushes and disappeared. A moment later he
reappeared and made a few obscure gestures.
'Three of them,' the man with the bow translated in a
muted voice. 'They're coming at a trot.' He set an arrow
to his bowstring and raised the bow.
Sparhawk drew his sword. 'Guard Sephrenia,' he told
Kurik.
The first man around the bend toppled out of his
saddle with an arrow i
n his throat. Sparhawk shook his
reins and Faran charged.
' The two other men were staring at their fallen
companion in blank amazement. Sparhawk cut one of
them out of the saddle, and the other turned to flee. Tel,
however, stepped out of the bushes and drove his pike at
an angle up into the man's body. The man gave a
gurgling groan and fell from his horse.
'Get the horses!' Tel barked to his men. 'Don't let them
get back to where the other brigands are hiding!'
His men galloped after the fleeing horses and brought
them back a few minutes later.
'A nice piece of work,' Tel said, pulling his pike free of
the body lying in the road. 'No yelling, and none of them
got away.' He rolled the body over with his foot. "I know
this one,' he said. 'Those other two must be new. The life
expectancy of a highway robber isn't really very good, so
Dorga has to find new recruits every so often.'
'Dorga?' Sparhawk asked, dismounting.
'He's the chief of this band. I never really cared for him
very much. He's a little too self-important.'
'Let's drag these into the bushes,' Sparhawk said. "I'd
rather not have the little girl see them.'
'All right.'
After the bodies had been concealed, Sparhawk
stepped back around the bend and signalled to
Sephrenia and Kurik to come on ahead.
They rode on carefully.
'This may be much easier than I'd thought,' Tel said. "I
think they're splitting up into very small groups so they
can watch more of the road. We should go into the woods
a ways on the left side of the road just ahead. There's a
rock-slide coming down on the right side, and Dorga
usually has a few archers there. Once we get past them,
I'll send a few men around behind them to deal with
them.'
'is that really necessary?' Sephrenia asked.
"I'm just following Sir Sparhawk's advice, lady,' Tel
said. 'Don't leave live enemies behind you - particularly
not ones armed with bows. I don't really need an arrow
in my back, and neither do you.'
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They rode into the woods before they reached the
rock-slide and continued at a very careful walk. One of
Tel's men crept out to the edge of the trees and rejoined
them a few minutes later. 'Two of them,' he reported
quietly. 'They're about fifty Paces up the slide.'
'Take a couple of men,' Tel instructed. 'There's cover
about two hundred paces up ahead. You'll be able to get
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