Prince of the Blood, the King's Buccaneer

by Raymond E. Feist

  Praji fell silent awhile, then said, ‘When we get there, we’d best find you someplace to put up; a company’s got to have a place potential employers can find it.’ He said, ‘You got any objection to simple living?’

  Nicholas said, ‘No. Why?’

  ‘Well,’ answered Praji, ‘you’ve got more gold than sense, from what I can see, and a small company living too high is a beacon for trouble. Wouldn’t do to put up at the priciest hostel in the city and have a couple of hundred fighters come visiting the second or third night. But if you live too plain, then folks will think you’re broke or cheap.’ He thought about it a minute, then said, ‘I think I know the place. Just off the bazaar. Modest, not too dirty, and the hostler won’t rob you blind.’

  Nicholas smiled. ‘I assume it’s someplace we might be able to hear a thing or two?’

  ‘You can assume all you like,’ said Praji with his broken-toothed grin, ‘but the trick isn’t hearing stuff, it’s sifting out the truth from the rumors from the lies.’ He yawned. ‘In twenty years on the road, I’ll tell you I’ve never seen anyplace quite like the City of the Serpent River. Now, you take Maharta, for one. Clean city, brisk trading town, lot of civic pride. They call it the Queen City of the River, and yet a man can get murdered for a copper coin there as easily as anywhere else.’ Praji continued his speculations on the strengths and weaknesses of different cities he had visited, while Nicholas watched the approaching city begin to take form in the distance. Where only a vague shadowy greyness had been visible on the horizon, now towers and walls began to be visible.

  There were marshes all around the lake, and low rush beds, making it difficult to see where water ended and land began. Somewhere beyond the edge of the lake, a series of low earthen mounds rose, all barren except for a few tough-looking plants. To the right, the western side of the lake, the ground rose away from the marshes. Some broken masonry proclaimed that once someone had built there, but the area was completely deserted. Above it stood a small cliff face, perhaps fifty feet high, and on that Nicholas could see some activity, though it was too distant to make out what it was.

  ‘Farms,’ said Praji, as if reading Nicholas’s mind. ‘You’ll see lots of small ones in close to the city, for protection. A few burned-out ones on the far side of the river. It’s tough land to defend, and the Overlord’s soldiers won’t stir unless someone’s attacking the walls or he’s in the mood.’ He spit over the side.

  After a while they entered the eastern river and picked up speed as the currents increased. As they skirted the edge of the city, they saw a burned-out farmhouse on the east bank. ‘I see what you mean,’ said Nicholas.

  ‘Wasn’t raiders did that,’ said Praji. He pointed to a hill a half-mile away upon which a large estate house rose, surrounded by a high wall. ‘That’s the estate of Dahakon. When he’s not in the Overlord’s palace, that’s where you’ll find him, though why anyone would want to is beyond me.’ He made a good-luck sign. ‘He decided the farm was too close to his estates and ordered it burned by the Red Slayers.’

  After they passed under a bridge that led to the magician’s estate, they entered an area of huts and houseboats clustered along both sides of the river. These were poor people by the look of things, fishermen, workers in the city who couldn’t afford to live there, and some farmers with terraces of land behind their huts. Small boats darted here and there, running errands and carrying foodstuffs. From several of the boats, children waved and laughed as the river caravan passed, and Nicholas waved back.

  The farther downriver they moved, the more boats crowded around them. Near the landing, Nicholas saw that some of the riverside buildings were old, built up to two and even three stories high. From the balconies of several, women in varying states of dress sat, displaying themselves and calling out their names to the rivermen.

  ‘Whores,’ said Praji indifferently.

  Nicholas blushed as one called out to him and suggested something he hadn’t realized was possible. Praji saw him turning red and laughed. ‘Captain,’ he said dryly.

  The eastern bank fell away as the river’s mouth broadened, and they entered an estuary. Holding tightly to the right-hand shore, they followed it around until they encountered the first of a large series of docks and quays. A small boat cut across their bow, heading for a ship anchored out in deeper water, and the helmsman of Nicholas’s boat cursed the man at the tiller of the smaller craft as they barely missed colliding.

  Nicholas followed the craft and then his eyes settled on something in the harbor. ‘Marcus,’ he called.

  Marcus moved forward. ‘What?’

  ‘Tell Amos to look over there.’ He pointed.

  Marcus looked, then nodded and went back to the stern of the boat. He shouted to the second boat, where Amos sat. ‘Nicholas says to look over there.’

  Amos shouted back. ‘Tell him I already saw it. It’s the same one.’

  Marcus returned and said, ‘Amos says it’s the same one.’

  Nicholas nodded. ‘I thought so.’

  Riding high at anchor, her hold empty, the black ship sat like a beacon for them. Nicholas turned to Marcus. ‘We did make the right choice.’

  Marcus put his hand on Nicholas’s shoulder and said nothing.

  They left the boats and made their way through the crowded dockside, down a broad street that led to a huge open-air bazaar. Praji and Vaja led the party through the press in the market, telling them to stay close lest they get lost.

  Nicholas’s senses were dazzled by the exotic display of costumes and wares. The people were as diverse as those in Krondor or the north of Kesh. Men and women of all colors, from fair-skinned and blond to dark as night, thronged the market, shouting the value of their wares and haggling over price. The dress of the locals was diverse enough that the outlandish dress of Nicholas’s crew did not attract notice. Garish colors were common, so even Harry’s choices of colors drew no attention.

  Praji turned the company south at a large intersection of two open malls and down through another quarter of the bazaar. Soon they left the market and passed through a narrow street, to another, where they found themselves before the hostel. Praji entered with Nicholas and shouted, ‘Keeler!’

  A stout man, with a scar running down his left cheek, appeared from a back room. ‘Praji!’ he said, picking up a meat cleaver. Slamming it down into the wood of the bar for emphasis, he said, ‘I thought I’d seen the last of your miserable face a month back.’

  Praji shrugged. ‘Got a better offer.’ He indicated Nicholas with a bob of his head. ‘This is my new captain.’

  Keeler squinted at Nicholas through beady blue eyes, then scratched his stubbly chin. ‘Very well. What do you need … Captain?’

  ‘Quarters for forty of us.’

  ‘I’ve room for fifty,’ he said. ‘Six private rooms that will hold up to four each and a common sleeping room for twenty-six. You can squeeze a few more in if you’re friendly,’ he added with a smile.

  ‘We’ll take them all,’ answered Nicholas. ‘I’m seeking new recruits.’ They had agreed that this story would give them a few days to sit and apparently do nothing. Mercenary companies did not tarry long between assignments, and to linger in the city beyond a few days would begin to attract suspicion. Nicholas and Keeler agreed on a price, and Nicholas gave the hostler a small pouch of gold as security against the bill.

  Nicholas signaled to Harry, who stood at the door; Harry passed word and the company entered. The Ranjana threw Nicholas a black look as she came in with her maids and inspected the hostel common room. Nicholas had not shared with her the details of why the Overlord’s soldiers had come to Shingazi’s Landing. The girl had expected to be taken straight to the Overlord’s palace and was outraged that she was being required to continue another day in Nicholas’s company. Putting her under Brisa’s watchful eye proved the proper solution; the Freeport street girl informed the Ranjana that if she caused a fuss, Brisa would be happy to cut her tongue out.

&n
bsp; Once they were in their quarters, Nicholas inspected the hostel. They had use of the common room, its courtyards – which Nicholas judged would be sufficient for the men’s drilling – the stable, which was currently empty, save for a shaggy donkey who viewed the approach of strangers with beatific indifference, and the common room. It was traditional for the company occupying a hostel to decide if the common room would be open to outsiders or not. That was the first topic of conversation for his first meeting with those he decided would act as staff: Marcus, Ghuda, and Amos, as well as Praji. Nicholas had concocted a story about their being from a very distant city on the other side of the continent, which Praji seemed to accept at face value; the lands between the city-states were so chaotic that men seldom traveled more than a few hundred miles from the place of their birth, and even widely traveled soldiers for hire such as Praji had journeyed only as far away as the city of Lanada, home of a Priest-King who was the current cause of regional unrest, for he was involved in a three-way war with the Raj of Maharta and the Overlord of the City of the Serpent River.

  Nicholas sat with his lieutenants in the common room, while Harry oversaw getting the men into their rooms and stowing their gear. Nicholas said, ‘Praji, what’s the best choice? Keep the commons open or close it?’

  Praji said, ‘If you close it, with you not being well known, that’ll make people curious. If you open it, you can figure that within an hour of sunset this place will be crawling with whores, thieves, pickpockets, beggars, and a bunch of spies for different clans, guilds, factions, and other companies.’

  Nicholas said, ‘Amos, what do you think?’

  Amos shrugged. ‘It’s been my experience in places like this that you can either go out and look for information or wait and let it come to you.’

  Nicholas nodded. ‘Let’s open up the commons, but I want it made clear that any man who drinks too much and says the wrong thing is going to answer to me.’ He tried to sound menacing, but felt foolish. Still, no one at the table smiled at the remark.

  Looking at Praji, Nicholas asked, ‘Why would other companies come snooping around?’

  Praji says, ‘Maybe you’ve a contract they can poach. If you’re onto something big, then maybe they can cut a better deal with your contract holder; maybe they’re going out on a job that needs a bigger company and they’re looking for another small company or two to join forces with.’ Praji fixed Nicholas with a steady gaze. ‘You don’t need to tell me what you’re here for, as long as we’re getting paid and you don’t get us hung for something I didn’t have anything to do with, but for a company of mercenaries you’re looking pretty raw.’ He hiked a thumb toward Ghuda. ‘He looks like he knows his way around, but the others’ – he glanced over his shoulder to where a pair of sailors from Amos’s ship were entering the commons – ‘they’re somethin’ else. From the way they jump to when they get orders, and keep to themselves and never get into serious arguments or fights, regular army is my guess.’

  Nicholas said, ‘You’re no fool.’

  ‘Never said I was. I just let people guess what they will, and usually it’s to my advantage.’ Gesturing to where the bulk of the men were making ready their quarters, he added, ‘Those boys are probably good soldiers, but as mercenaries they don’t look convincing. Now, Ghuda’s a convincing mercenary.’

  Praji looked Nicholas in the eyes. ‘There are three types of captains: the first are mean bastards who’ll scare their men into doing what they tell them to; the second are the kind that make their men rich; the third are the kind that men follow anywhere, because their captain keeps them alive. You don’t look convincing being the first; sorry, but you couldn’t scare my old granny. You’re not throwing gold around and wearing jewels on your fingers, so no one will think you’re making your men rich – so you better work on convincing anyone who asks that you’re the third kind.’

  Nicholas said, ‘I’ve studied tactics and strategy all my life, Praji, and I’ve led men into combat.’ He didn’t add that his experience began only a few days before meeting Praji.

  Standing up, Praji said, ‘You talk a good fight. When you want to tell me what’s going on, I’ll tell you if Vaja and I want in. Until then I’m going to get some sleep.’

  After he was gone, Nicholas said, ‘Can we trust him?’

  Ghuda said, ‘Well, he’s not the type to swear undying loyalty to the crown, but he’ll fight for whoever holds his bond, or,’ he added with a grin, ‘against whoever ends up on his “list”. I think he’s what he seems to be.’

  Marcus said, ‘What next?’

  ‘We need to find out where the prisoners were taken. With that many prisoners being offloaded here, someone had to see where they’ve gone. We just need to be careful in how we ask.’

  Amos said, ‘I think I should nose around down at the docks.’

  ‘Take Marcus with you, and start looking for a ship to steal.’

  Amos grinned. ‘We’re pirates again?’

  Nicholas returned the smile. ‘As soon as we find out where Margaret, Abigail, and the others are, we’re buccaneers. ’

  Amos and Marcus left, and Nicholas said, ‘Ghuda, can you make the men look more like mercenaries?’

  Ghuda stood up as Harry and Brisa walked into the commons. As they approached the table, Ghuda said, ‘I’ll talk to all of them in twos and threes and give them some idea of what to expect and how to act.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Nicholas as he left.

  Harry and Brisa sat down and he said, ‘All right, what do we do now?’

  Nicholas said, ‘Well, first thing, I’ve got to figure out what to do with the Ranjana.’

  Brisa said, ‘Sell her to someone.’ From her cheerful smile, Nicholas was almost sure she was joking.

  Harry said, ‘Why not hang on to her for a while and see if we need to get into the palace?’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Nicholas.

  ‘Look,’ said Harry, ‘it’s hard for me to imagine that a ship like that could come sailing into this harbor with a couple of hundred captives and not involve some official notice. Maybe this Overlord’s in on this thing himself.’ He shrugged. ‘If he is, what better way to get in to see him than to bring him his wife-to-be?’

  ‘But he tried to kill her,’ Nicholas pointed out.

  Brisa said, ‘That was out there.’ She waved in the general direction of the north. ‘He can’t very well kill her in the palace and blame it on the clans, can he?’

  Harry nodded. ‘The palace is the safest place for her in the city.’ He leaned forward. ‘Look, hang on to her for a couple of days, and if we don’t need to go to the palace, you can pack her off back to her father on the next river caravan heading north. If you do need to get in, she’s your entrance.’

  ‘Seems pretty indifferent to the girl,’ said Nicholas.

  Brisa snorted. ‘Girl? That bitch has a hide tough as a turtle’s shell. Never mind the big eyes and pouty mouth, Nicky, she’d cut your heart out and smile while doing it. She may look like someone’s spoiled darling, but there’s a toughness in her you surely can see, given you hardly look at her above the neck.’

  Nicholas’s eyes narrowed. ‘Wait a minute!’

  Brisa waved the objection away. ‘She’s a beauty, I know, but she’s not what she seems.’

  Harry nodded. ‘I’ve talked to her and there’s something … cold about her.’

  Nicholas decided to ignore Brisa’s accusation. ‘Well, I won’t decide anything today. Why don’t you start snooping around. Brisa, you know your way around streets like these, and Harry, you can scrounge a bit.’ He took some gold out of his purse and pushed it across the table toward him. ‘Buy anything you think we might need – and take Anthony with you to replenish his supplies.’ He looked around. ‘Speaking of which, where is he, and where is Nakor?’

  Harry said, ‘I saw Anthony in one of the back rooms looking over Vaja’s wound. I haven’t seen Nakor since we got here.’

  Nicholas waved them off and sat
alone with his own thoughts for a while. Calis appeared and sat down unbidden, saying, ‘You look troubled.’

  Glancing around the room, Nicholas said, ‘Let’s go for a stroll.’

  They rose and left the common room, entering the short street that led directly to the bazaar.

  The bazaar was a giant square, divided by an open roadway running north and south, and by another running east and west. At the intersection a large plaza had been built, and on the steps of that plaza an assortment of beggars, fortune-tellers, and entertainers clustered. The road leading from Keeler’s hostel entered the bazaar from the south. There were a half-dozen roads entering from all sides, save the east, which fronted on a wall that marked the outer boundary of the Overlord’s palace.

  Entering the press of humanity that thronged the bazaar, they passed by stalls erected for the day and listened to the calls to examine pottery, jewelry, sweets, cloth, and every other imaginable commodity. Calis said nothing as Nicholas made a pretense of examining some of the weapons that were being offered by a one-legged man. As they pushed past a fruit seller’s cart, Nicholas said, ‘I’m feeling … out of place.’

  Calis nodded. ‘I understand.’

  ‘Do you?’ asked Nicholas, looking at the half-elf.

  ‘I’m a little older than your older brothers, yet I look your age,’ said Calis. Yet, to my people, I’m little more than a child.’ He glanced around the bazaar. ‘All this is alien to me. I’ve visited Crydee many times in my life, and save for when your uncle Martin and Garret or the occasional ranger from Natal visited Elvandar, I’ve never spoken to a human for more than one or two evenings at a time.

  ‘Yes, I know what it is to feel out of place.’ Then he gave Nicholas a rare smile and said, ‘But that’s not what you’re talking about, is it?’

  Nicholas shook his head. ‘No. I feel like an impostor pretending to be Captain to a company of mercenaries.’

  Calis shrugged. ‘You shouldn’t. At least, I don’t think you should. The others have accepted your leadership and so far you’ve done nothing to show their judgment is wrong.’