“No more than two hundred.”
Arutha said, “ ‘Inconvenienced’ he calls it. Vandros, you’ve been with the Tsurani too long.”
Lyam laughed. “Where is the Earl Kasumi?”
“He comes now, Majesty.” Carriages could be seen entering the square as he spoke.
Arutha took aside the Duke of Yabon and said, “Tell your men to billet with the city garrison, Vandros. I want them close. When you have them bedded down, come to my quarters and bring along Brucal and Kasumi.”
Vandros caught the serious tone and said, “As soon as the men are billeted, Highness.”
The carriages from Yabon were halted before the stairs and Lord Brucal, Duchess Felinah, Countess Megan, and their ladies-in-waiting got out. Earl Kasumi, formerly a Force Commander in the Tsurani army during the Riftwar, dismounted his horse and walked quickly up the stairs. He bowed before Lyam and Arutha. Vandros quickly presented his party, and Lyam said, “Unless that pirate the King of Queg is going to arrive in a war galley pulled by a thousand little sea horses, we shall retire.” With a laugh he swept past the near-distraught Master of Ceremonies deLacy, who was vainly trying to restore order in the King’s procession.
Jimmy hung back, for while he had seen an occasional Keshian merchant, he’d never seen a dog soldier or a Tsurani. For all his worldly ways, outside the usual matters of the city and its life he was still a fifteen-year-old boy.
Kasumi’s undercommander was giving orders for the billeting of his men, and the Keshian captain was doing the same. Jimmy sat quietly on the stairs, wiggling his toes to stretch his boots. He stared at the colorful Keshians for a few minutes, then watched the Tsurani as they mustered to depart the square. Both were certainly exotic, and if Jimmy could judge, both looked equally fierce.
Jimmy was about to leave when something strange behind the Keshians caught his eye. He tried to decide what it was, but couldn’t. Some odd itch made him walk down the stairs until he was near the Keshians, all still at parade rest. Then he saw what had caused him to feel something was out of the ordinary. Retreating into the crowd behind the Keshians was a man Jimmy had thought to be dead. Jimmy was rocked to the soul of his being, unable to move, for he had seen Laughing Jack vanish into the press.
Arutha paced. Around his council table sat Laurie, Brucal, Vandros, and Kasumi. Arutha had finished his recounting of the assault upon the Nighthawks. He held out a message. “This is from Baron Highcastle, in response to my query. He says there is some unusual movement northward in his area.” Arutha put down the paper. “He goes on to give numbers of sightings, where, and the rest.”
“Highness,” said Vandros, “we had some movement in our region, but nothing of great note. In Yabon clever Dark Brothers and goblins can avoid the garrisons by turning westward once they’re past the northern limits of the elven forests. By skirting to the west of the Lake of the Sky they avoid our patrols. We send few companies into that sector. The elves and the dwarves at Stone Mountain keep that area quiet.”
“Or so we like to think,” snorted Brucal. The old former Duke of Yabon had resigned his office in favor of Vandros when the latter had married Brucal’s daughter. But he was still a fine military mind and had been battling the moredhel all his life. “No, if they move in small bands, the Brotherhood can come and go almost at will through the smaller passes. We’ve few enough men to keep the trading routes clear and a hell of a lot more ground to cover than that. All they must do is move at night and stay clear of the Hadati clan villages and the major roads. Let’s not delude ourselves by thinking otherwise.”
Arutha smiled. “That’s why I wanted you here.”
Kasumi said, “Highness, perhaps it is as Lord Brucal states. We’ve had little contact with them in recent times. They may have tired of our steel and now move in small, stealthy bands.”
Laurie shrugged. Yabon-born and -raised, the singer from Tyr-Sog knew as much about the moredhel as any in the room. “It is something to consider, that we have all these strange reports of goings on to the north at a time when moredhel hands can be seen involved with the attempts to kill Arutha.”
“I would be less troubled,” said Arutha, “if I knew that crushing them in Krondor would prove sufficient. Until we’ve uncovered the mystery of who is behind all this, I think we are not through with the Nighthawks. They may take months to re-form and be a menace, but I think they’ll return. And as I sit here, I am certain there’s some connection between the Nighthawks and what is occurring in the north.”
A knock at the door preceded Gardan’s entrance. “I have searched everywhere, Highness, and can find no sign of Squire James.”
Laurie said, “Last I saw him, he was standing upon the steps next to Swordmaster Fannon while the Tsurani were making their entrance.”
Gardan said, “He was sitting on the steps after I dismissed the troops.”
From a high window a voice said, “He’s now sitting above you.”
All eyes turned to see the boy sitting in a high-arched window overlooking Arutha’s chamber. Before anyone could speak, he nimbly leaped down.
Arutha’s expression showed mixed disbelief and amusement. “When you asked to explore the roofs, I thought you would be needing ladders and…help….”
Jimmy’s manner was serious. “I saw little sense in waiting, Highness, and besides, what sort of thief needs ladders or help to climb walls?” He came up to Arutha. “This place is a warren of nooks and niches a man could secrete himself in.”
“But first he must get onto the grounds,” said Gardan. Jimmy gave the captain a look indicating that that feat presented no difficulty. Gardan lapsed into silence.
Laurie picked up the dropped thread of conversation. “Well, while we don’t know what’s behind the Nighthawks, at least they’ve been destroyed here in Krondor.”
“So I thought myself,” said Jimmy, looking about the room. “But this afternoon, as the crowd began to break up, I saw an old friend in the square. Laughing Jack.”
Arutha looked hard at Jimmy. “It was my understanding you left that traitor to the Mockers dead.”
“As dead as any man with a six-inch hole in his chest from a steel bolt is likely to be. It’s difficult getting out and about with half your lungs missing, but after what we saw at the whorehouse, if my own dear dead mum came to tuck me in bed tonight I wouldn’t be surprised.” Jimmy spoke in a distracted fashion as he prowled around the room. With a slightly theatrical show he said, “Aha!” and pressed down on something behind a decorative shield on the wall. With a groan a section of wall, two feet wide and three high, swung open. Arutha went over to the opening and peered in.
“What is this?” he asked Jimmy.
“One of many secret passages throughout the palace. Back when we were hiding out together, Highness, I remember the Princess Anita talking of how she fled the palace with the aid of a serving girl. She once mentioned ‘taking a passage,’ and I’d thought nothing of it until today.”
Brucal looked about the room. “This may have been part of the original keep, or one of the first additions. Back home we had a bolt-hole out of the keep to the woods. I don’t know of a keep that doesn’t.” He looked thoughtful. “There may be more such passages.”
Jimmy smiled. “A dozen or more. You walk around the roof a little and you’ll see some very wide walls and odd bends in passages.”
Arutha said, “Gardan, I want every foot of these passages mapped. Take a dozen men and uncover where this one leads and where else it may empty. And see if the royal architect has a clue if any of these passages are shown in old plans.”
Gardan saluted and left. Vandros appeared deeply troubled. “Arutha, in all this I have had little time to adjust to thoughts of assassins and Dark Brothers secretly working with them.”
“That’s why I wanted this talk before the festivities get under way.” Arutha sat down. “The palace is overrun with strangers. Every noble in attendance will have dozens of people in his retinue. Kasumi, I wa
nt your Tsurani in every key location. They would be impossible to infiltrate and are above reproach. Coordinate with Gardan, and if needs be we’ll have only Tsurani, men I know from Crydee, and my personal guards inside the central palace.” To Jimmy he said, “By rights I should have you strapped for this little escapade.” Jimmy stiffened until he saw Arutha smile. “But I warrant anyone who tried would end up with a dagger in the ribs to show for his efforts. I heard of your confrontation with Squire Jerome.”
“That snot thinks himself boss cocky of the yard.”
“Well, his father’s very upset, and while he’s not a very important member of my vassalage, he is certainly very loud. Look, you leave Jerome to play head rooster all he wants. From now on, you stay close to me. I’ll tell Master deLacy you’re relieved of further duty until I say otherwise. But keep your prowling under control until you tell Gardan or myself you’re going up on the roof. One of my more excitable guards might put an arrow into you before he recognized you. Things have been somewhat tense around here of late, in case you failed to notice.”
Jimmy ignored the sarcasm. “The fellow would have to see me first, Highness.”
Brucal slapped the table. “Got a tongue in his head, that one,” he said with a guffaw and approving nod.
Arutha smiled as well. He found it difficult to stay out of sorts with the young rogue. “Enough. We’ve receptions and banquets for the next week. Perhaps our concerns are for naught and the Nighthawks are no more.”
Laurie said, “Let us hope.”
Without further discussion, Arutha and his guests dispersed to their own rooms.
—
“Jimmy!”
Jimmy turned and saw the Princess Anita coming down the corridor in his direction, accompanied by two of Gardan’s guards and two ladies-in-waiting. When she caught up with him he bowed. She presented her hand and he kissed it lightly, as he had been shown by Laurie.
“What a young courtier you’ve become,” she observed as they resumed walking.
“It seems fate has taken an interest in me, Princess. I have never had ambitions above becoming a power in the Mockers, perhaps even the next Upright Man, but now I find my life has much broader horizons.”
She smiled while her ladies whispered behind their hands. Jimmy hadn’t seen the Princess since her arrival the previous day, and again felt the faint tugging inside he had known the year before. He had put his boyhood infatuation behind, but he still liked her very much.
“Have you developed ambitions, then, Jimmy the Hand?”
In feigned scolding tones he said, “Squire James of Krondor, Your Highness,” and they shared a laugh. “Look, then, Princess: this is a time of change in the Kingdom. The long war with the Tsurani robbed us of quite a few men with titles. Earl Volney is acting the part of Chancellor, and there are no Dukes yet in Salador or Bas-Tyra. Three dukedoms without masters! It seems possible for a man of wit and talent to rise high in such an environment.”
“Have you a plan?” Anita asked, her delight at the boy’s impudence showing in her bright green eyes and her smile.
“Not as yet, not fully at least, but I can see the possibility someday of a title beyond Squire. Perhaps, even…Duke of Krondor.”
“First Adviser to the Prince of Krondor?” Anita said in mock astonishment.
Jimmy winked. “I am well connected. I am a close personal friend of his betrothed.” They both laughed.
Anita touched his arm. “It will be good to have you here with us. I’m pleased Arutha found you so quickly. He didn’t think it would be easy locating you.”
Jimmy faltered a half-step. It had never occurred to him that Arutha wouldn’t tell Anita of the assassin, but now he realized he hadn’t. Of course, Jimmy thought to himself, he wouldn’t needlessly throw a pall over the wedding. Quickly he recovered his poise. “It was more an accident than anything. His Highness never said anything about looking for me.”
“You’ll not know how Arutha and I worried about you all the time after we left Krondor. Last we saw you, you were fleeing across the docks from Guy’s men. We had no word of you. We passed through Krondor so quickly on our way to Lyam’s coronation, we had no way to discover what had happened to you. Lyam sent warrants pardoning Trevor Hull and his men and giving them a commission for helping us, but no one knew what became of Jimmy. I didn’t think he would make you a squire just yet, but I knew he had plans for you.”
Jimmy felt genuinely moved. This revelation added double meaning to Arutha’s remark before that he liked to think they were already friends.
Anita halted their walk, indicating a door. “I am to stand for a fitting. My wedding gown arrived from Rillanon this morning.” She leaned over and kissed him lightly upon the cheek. “Now I must go.”
Jimmy fought down strange, and frighteningly strong, emotions. “Highness…I am also glad to be here. We shall have a grand time.”
She laughed and passed through the door with her ladies, the guards taking up position outside. Jimmy waited until the door was closed, then walked away whistling a light tune. He reflected upon the last few weeks of his life and judged himself happy, despite assassins and tight boots.
Rounding a corner into a less frequented hallway, Jimmy halted. His dagger was instantly in his hand as he stood regarding a gleaming pair of eyes in the half-shadows before him. Then with a snuffling sound the owner of those nearly glowing red eyes ambled out. Covered in green scales, the creature bulked about the size of a small hound. His head resembled an alligator’s, with a rounded snout, and large wings were folded across his back. A long, sinuous neck allowed the creature to look backward past an equally long tail as a young voice shouted from behind, “Fantus!”
A small boy, no more than six years old, came dashing forward to throw his arms around the creature’s neck. He looked up at Jimmy with serious dark eyes and said, “He won’t hurt you, sir.”
Jimmy suddenly felt awkward holding his dagger and quickly put it away. The creature was obviously a pet, albeit an unusual sort. “What did you call it…?”
“Him? Fantus. He’s my friend and he’s very smart. He knows lots of things.”
“I guess he does,” agreed Jimmy, still uncomfortable under the creature’s gaze. “What is he?”
The boy looked at Jimmy as if he were the living incarnation of ignorance, but said, “A firedrake. We just got here, and he followed from home. He can fly, you know.” Jimmy only nodded. “We have to get back. Momma will be angry if we’re not in our room.” Pulling the creature around, the boy led him away without another word.
Jimmy didn’t move for a full minute, then looked around as if seeking someone to validate the vision he had witnessed. Shrugging off his astonishment, the boy thief continued walking along. After a little while he could hear the sound of lute strings being plucked.
Jimmy left the hallway and entered a large garden, where Laurie was tuning his lute. The boy sat upon the edge of a planter, crossing his feet under him, and said, “For a minstrel, you’re a sorry sight.”
“I’m a sorry sort of minstrel.” Laurie did look less than his usual spirited self. He fiddled with his lute strings and began a solemn tune.
After a few minutes Jimmy said, “Enough of this dirge, singer. This is supposed to be a time of cheer. What’s gotten you so long in the face?”
Laurie sighed, his head cocked to one side. “You’re a bit young to understand—”
“Ha! Try me,” interrupted Jimmy.
Laurie put up his lute. “It’s the Princess Carline.”
“Still wants to marry you, huh?”
Laurie’s jaw dropped. “How…?”
Jimmy laughed. “You’ve been around nobles too long, singer. I’m new to all this. I still know how to talk to servants. More important, I know how to listen. Those maids from Rillanon were fit to bust to tell the maids here all about you and Princess Carline. You’re quite an item.”
Laurie seemed unamused by Jimmy’s mirth. “I suppose you’ve hea
rd the whole tale?”
Jimmy took on an indifferent manner. “The Princess is a prize, but I grew up in a whorehouse, so my views on women are less…idealized.” As he thought of Anita, his voice dropped a little. “Still, I must admit princesses seem different from the rest.”
“Nice that you noticed,” Laurie commented dryly.
“Well, I’ll say this: your Princess is the finest-looking woman I’ve seen and I’ve seen a lot of them, including your better-paid courtesans, and some of them are pretty special. Most men I know would sell their darling mothers to get her attention. So then, what’s your problem?”
Laurie looked at the boy for a minute. “My problem is this business of being a noble.”
Jimmy laughed, a genuine sound of amusement. “What problem? You just get to order people around and blame mistakes on someone else.”
Laurie laughed. “I doubt Arutha and Lyam would agree.”
“Well, kings and princes are a different sort, but most of the nobles around here show me nothing. Old Volney has some wits, but he’s not too anxious to be here anyway. The rest just want to be important. Hell, musician, you should marry her. You might improve the breed.”
Laurie swung playfully at Jimmy, laughing as the brash youngster easily ducked away, also laughing. A third laugh caused Laurie to turn.
A short, slender, dark-haired man in fine clothing of simple cut stood observing the proceedings. “Pug!” Laurie exclaimed, jumping up to embrace the man. “When did you arrive?”
“About two hours ago. I’ve had a brief meeting with Arutha and the King. They’re off with Earl Volney now, discussing preparations for tonight’s welcoming banquet. But Arutha hinted there was something strange going on and suggested I look for you.”
Laurie indicated Pug should take a seat, and he sat beside Jimmy. Laurie made the introduction, then said, “I’ve much to tell, but first: how are Katala and the boy?”
“Fine. She’s in our suite now, gossiping with Carline.” Laurie again looked depressed at mention of the Princess. “William ran off somewhere after Fantus.”
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