Shards of a Broken Crown
Page 57
“What?”
“I don’t want to be Sheriff of Krondor any longer,” said Dash. “Find someone else to do the job for you, Talwin.”
He turned and walked across the hall to where his brother stood with Erik, Roo, and Karli. After he exchanged greetings, he said, “Roo, I could use employment.”
Jimmy said “What?”
“I’ve resigned as Sheriff.”
“Why?” Jimmy persisted.
“We’ll talk about that later,” answered Dash. To Roo he said, “Could you use some help?”
“Someone of your talents, certainly,” said Roo.
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“But the last time I employed you, it ended up costing me a great deal of money.”
Dash grinned. “Well, then I was really working for my grandfather. This time I’d be working for myself.”
“Meaning?”
“I think I would rather seek my own fortune than continue to trade on my nobility and work for the crown. I think that with the Bitter Sea Company I can find a position from which I can someday start running my own business concerns.”
“We can certainly talk about it,” said Roo. “Come to Barret’s tomorrow and we’ll discuss the matter.”
He took Karli’s arm. “Now, if you will excuse us, we need to be on our way home.”
They left and Erik promised to drop by on his way to Ravensberg. He turned to Dash and said, “Are you certain about this resignation? The King might insist you stay.”
“Not if I resign my offices,” said Dash.
Erik said, “I’ll leave you two alone to discuss this. I’m off to Ravensburg to see my wife and family.”
Jimmy grabbed his younger brother by the arm and steered him to a window, away from the others who lingered after court. “Are you mad? Resign your hereditary offices?”
“I may be mad, big brother, but I’m serious. I will have a resignation on Talwin’s desk in the morning for him to pass along to Patrick. Unless the King repeals the Great Freedom, no man can be compelled to hold office against his will. I don’t need a title. I can do fine living by my own wits.”
Jimmy looked appalled. “What about everything 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 637
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we’ve done? What about Grandfather and Father?
Are their deaths for nothing?”
Dash grew angry. “Don’t throw those deaths in my face, Jimmy. They died for what they believed in, and my choosing to go another way doesn’t diminish their sacrifice. I am just tired of living their vision of what I should be. Who I should be.”
Jimmy said, “Why don’t you come to Rillanon with me? I’ll get Patrick to name another Sheriff in your place. We’ll go to the wedding, then we’ll take ship to Roldem and visit Mother. A week or two with her and you’ll be aching to get back to your criminals.”
Dash laughed. “No doubt. No, you go. Kiss Mother and Aunt Magda and the others for me. Tell Mother I’ll come to visit someday; I know she’ll never set foot on Kingdom soil again.”
“She might if I’m crowned King,” said Jimmy.
“Maybe for that,” agreed Dash, and they both laughed.
Jimmy put his arm around his younger brother’s shoulder. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Eventually,” said Dash. “Right now I just want to get started on a life of my making. I want to use my wits for something other than getting people killed.”
Remembering the wild charge at the Keshians’
rear elements, the fighting outside the wall before Pug appeared, Jimmy said, “I can’t see much wrong with that. It’s just . . .”
“What?”
“It’s just that we’re our father’s sons.”
“I know. This isn’t easy, but once I made up my mind, I knew it was the right thing. We have duties 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 638
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to each other that are more important than our duties to a flag or a king. Can you honestly say you can work on Patrick’s behalf without question?”
Jimmy said, “I would never work for Patrick the man; it’s the crown for which I labor.”
Dash lightly poked his brother’s chest. “And that, dear brother, is the difference between us. I saw common men and women die to protect this city, and what reward is there for them?”
“They get to keep their liberty!” said Jimmy.
“You know what Keshian rule would bring to Krondor: slavery, press gangs, children being sold to brothels.”
“Are we so noble then?”
“We have problems, certainly, but we have just laws.”
Dash said, “I’ve been administering those laws for a while now, Jimmy. I’m not so sure sending a ten-year-old boy to the labor gang for stealing food is just.”
“That’s just an extreme case,” said Jimmy.
“I wish that were so.”
Jimmy said, “I have to go. We have been invited to dine with Francine and Patrick. Are you coming?”
“No,” said Dash. “I’ll send a note with my regrets. I have a lot of things to do before the morning if I’m going to turn my office over to someone else.”
Jimmy said, “I wish you’d at least wait until Patrick returns from Rillanon. Maybe by then you’ll have changed your mind. It’s not too late, you know.”
Dash was silent for a while, then he said, “If I do, that will give me more time to get my affairs in order.
Very well, I’ll wait until the Prince and Princess 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 639
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return from Rillanon and then I’ll resign my offices.”
Jimmy grinned. “I’ll talk you out of it.”
“I’m still not coming to supper. I’ll see you in the morning before you leave.”
They embraced and Dash left the great hall, heading out the main entrance and through the courtyard, toward the New Market Jail.
In the darkest hours of the night, before the sky to the east began to lighten, a single man hid in the shadows near the docks. He kept looking back, as if fearing he was being followed, and at last he ducked into a doorway, waiting to see if anyone was behind him.
Long minutes passed then he stepped out of the door, only to be slammed back against it with a dagger held to his throat. “Going somewhere, Reese?”
The thief’s eyes widened. “Sheriff! I wasn’t on the dodge, honest. I was just heading back to my hole to sleep the day.”
“I need information, and you’re going to give it to me,” said Dash.
“Sure, whatever you want”
“Who’s the new Daymaster now that Trina’s dead?”
“If I told you, it would be my life,” said Reese.
“If you don’t, it will be your life. I don’t mean hauling you to New Market for a trumped-up trial and a hanging, I mean cutting your throat right now.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Reese. “There isn’t one.
There’s barely what you’d call the Mockers since the Upright Man and Trina died.”
“Who’s the Nightmaster?”
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anymore. Even Mother’s ain’t safe no more.
Someone’s setting up a new gang near Fishtown, for boosting goods unloaded off ships. And there’s some bashers setting themselves up down near the old docks. Times ain’t what they used to be, Dash.”
“Tell me where to find the gangs in Fishtown and down by the docks.”
Reese told him what he knew, then Dash said,
“Here’s what you need to know. Things are changing in Krondor and we’re going to be the ones making the changes.”
“We?” asked Reese.
“You and m
e.”
“I get caught working for the Sheriff, I’m a dead man,” said Reese.
“Oh, before we’re done, you’ll wish it was that simple. You’re a bright one, Reese—you were smart enough to hook up with Talwin and me and get out of the work gang.”
“Well, I saw my chance and I took it.”
“Who’s another really smart lad or lass, someone who works well with the children?”
“Jenny’s got a level head and the beggars and pickpockets like her.”
“Good. I want you and Jenny to meet me by the old landing below the north wall reservoir, an hour after sundown tomorrow.” He let go of the man’s shirt and put away his dagger.
“What if I just don’t turn up?”
“Then I’ll find you and kill you,” said Dash. “An hour after sundown. Just the two of you.”
Reese said, “I’ll bring her.” He ran off into the dark.
Dash looked around to make sure he was unob-
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served, then went the other way.
* * *
Jimmy rose to depart, and Francine said, “Jimmy, may I have a word with you?” Jimmy smiled. “Anytime, Francie.”
She came over and said, “If we still had a garden here, perhaps we could go for a walk.”
“A turn around the marshaling yard?”
She laughed. “That will have to do.”
She turned to her father and Patrick, and said,
“We won’t be long.” They went down the long corridor from the Prince’s great hall to the balcony overlooking the marshaling yard. The evening air was warm and the air held a hint of blooms.
“When we return, I shall see the garden is restored as soon as possible.”
Jimmy said, “That will be nice.”
“Are you returning to Krondor in time for Midsummer’s Festival?” Francie asked.
“Probably not. I shall sail to Roldem to visit Mother. With Father dead, she’ll never return to the Kingdom.”
Francine sighed. “They never grew to love one another?”
Jimmy shook his head. “I think at best they enjoyed things about one another. She admired Father’s skills as a diplomat; Roldem’s a nation of courtiers. He was a very fine dancer, did you know?”
“I remember seeing him at a celebration in the King’s court. He cut a very dashing figure. I had a crush on him as a child.”
“He was a very fine father,” said Jimmy, sudden-
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ly missing him a great deal. “He always liked Mother’s ability to organize. If there was one guest for dinner or a hundred, she always had everything right by the time the event began. He used to joke that she’d have made a better Duke than he.”
“But they never grew close?”
“No,” said Jimmy sadly. “I know Mother had lovers, though she was always very discreet about it.
I don’t know about Father. He always seemed so occupied with whatever Grandfather set him to. He probably was too busy to really care.”
“He cared about you and Dash.”
Jimmy nodded. “I know he did. He was always generous in his affections with us.”
She put her hand on his arm. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Jimmy. I like Patrick well enough; the three of us have always been friends. I used to think I was going to marry you, back when we were children.”
He smiled. “I know. I used to find it irritating, then I found it pleasing.”
She leaned over and kissed him, lightly but lingeringly. Then she said, “Be my dear friend. I don’t know if I’ll become like your mother and ignore Patrick, or if I’ll turn my life over to raising a future King of Isles. I may take up gardening, and if I decide to have a string of lovers, I’ll make you the first one, but most of all, I’m going to need good friends.
“Everyone I know is now trying to be my friend, and I know that what they see is the future Queen of the Isles. You and Dash and a few of our good friends back in Rillanon are all I have.”
Jimmy nodded. “I understand, Francie. I’ll 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 643
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always be your good friend.”
She took his arm in hers and snuggled into his shoulder. “Thank you, Jimmy. Now, let’s go back and rejoin the Prince.”
Jimmy knew at that point that he also would eventually marry for reasons of state. He said a silent prayer to any God who would listen that the woman fate had in store for him was the match of the one holding onto his arm at this moment. And prayed she would also prove as good a friend as Francine.
Two nights later thieves drifted into Mother’s.
Many looked around for boltholes, for by general consensus Mother’s wasn’t safe anymore. Still, a few lookouts hung outside, keeping an eye out for the Prince’s men.
Reese stood up on a table and said, “Is everyone here?”
From the back of the room, someone shouted,
“Everyone who’s coming!”
That brought some guarded chuckles from a few, but no one felt easy enough to really enjoy the weak humor.
Reese said, “We’ve got new rules.”
“Rules!” shouted a large man in a corner. “Whose rules?”
“Mockers’ Rules!” shouted a young woman entering from a far door. She was solidly built, and plain of features, but she was known for being one of the smarter thieves in the guild. Her name was Jenny.
“Who says there’s a Mockers to make rules for?”
asked another man.
“The Upright Man!” shouted Reese. “He says.”
“The Upright Man’s dead!” said a man from the 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 644
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back of the large room. “Everyone knows that.”
From deep within the shadows behind Reese, a deep voice said, “The Upright Man’s died before, and always returns.”
“Who’s that?” said the beefy man in the corner.
“One who knows you, John Tuppin. You run the bashers.”
The man looked pale at the dark figure knowing his name.
A thin man in the rear said, “Everyone knows Tuppins. He’s too big to miss!”
Others laughed, but a few glanced around, worried expressions on their faces.
From the shadows the voice said, “I know you, too, Rat. You’re the best point lookout in the Mockers. I know you all.
“I know every thief, cutpurse, dodger and basher, every toffsman and whore who calls Mother’s home.
And you know me.”
“It’s the Upright Man,” whispered someone.
“You can claim to be whoever you want,” said John Tuppin, “but claiming and being ain’t the same.
I could claim to be the Bloody Duke of Krondor, but that don’t make it so.”
From out of the shadows the voice said, “The Fishtown gang was run today.”
Suddenly people throughout the room were talking. Reese picked up a large wooden club and slammed it against the wall. “Shut up!”
Silence fell, and the voice from the darkness said,
“Tomorrow the Sheriff will run the Old Dock bashers. No one works the streets of Krondor without my permission.”
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“I’ll believe you’re who you say you are.”
“I will too,” shouted the man called Rat.
“Pass the word,” said the voice. “The Keshian renegades who sell drugs out of the caravansary will be run. The swine who grab kids to sell to the Durban slavers will be run. Anyone not doing business with the Mockers will be run.”
A few in the room cheered.
You have a problem, you bring it to them.”
More cheers, then Reese said, “Get out there!
Pass the word, the Upright Man is back!”
The thieves dispersed until only three people remained at Mothers.
Dash stepped out of the shadows. “You did well.
Tell Tuppin and Rat they did well, too.”
“It’s a hard sell, “ said Reese. “You’re going to have to bust a lot of heads before they get it.”
“I’ve a couple of months before the Prince returns and installs a new Sheriff,” said Dash. “Between now and then we’ll get organized.”
The girl said, “I don’t get one thing. Why are you taking on this job? You’re the son of the Duke of Krondor! You’re never going to be as rich on the dodgy path as you could be on the straight. If we get caught, we do time in prison, or the work gang. If you get caught, you get hung for treason. Why are you doing this?”
Dash said, “A promise.” Jenny seemed about to ask another question, but Dash cut her off. “You have a lot of work to do and so do I. You need to get someone into the palace and close to Talwin. You need to get him followed, and that won’t be easy. We have to find his contacts and identify his agents. He’s 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 646
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going to be the worst threat to the Mockers we’ll face.”
“I have just the girl,” said Jenny. “Young, innocent looking, can wash and sew, and will cut your heart out for a copper piece.”
“I’ve got a man I can get into the kitchen,” said Reese.
“I’ll get them inside,” said Dash. “Now, go.”
They left and Dash ducked out the back way. He waited, and when he was satisfied no one had seen him depart the thieves’ headquarters, he knew that his life would never be truly his own.
He knew he’d earn riches as a merchant, and marry some well-thought-of young woman, one whom he would probably love, and father children.
It would be, to outward appearances, a good life.
Publicly he would be a man of importance, one worthy of envy. But he also knew he would live in two worlds, and that most of his life would not be his own.
More than his duty to the crown, given to him at birth without his consent by his father and grandfather, this duty to a ragged bunch of thieves and thugs was far more binding upon him, for it was a duty he elected, one chosen as a matter of honor, and he knew he would never fail in that duty short of death.