by John Norman
“They would not believe me,” said Bombastico. “I told them I was not really Bosk of Port Kar, but no one believed me.”
“Perhaps your performance had been too authentic,” said Clitus.
“That must be it,” said Bombastico. “I was foiled by the unsurpassable excellence of my own art. I was betrayed by my own talent. It was that which led to my downfall.”
“Perhaps some believed you, but declined to admit it,” I said.
“What is the nature of my imminent role?” he asked.
“Just be quiet and come along quietly,” I said.
“I shall be so quiet,” he said, “that none will even notice me.”
“You do not have to be that quiet,” I said.
Chapter Sixty-Two
The Governor Grants an Interview
“They have been searched, and all their weapons have been removed?” asked Archelaos.
“Yes,” said he who was first amongst the guards.
“Admit them,” said Archelaos.
Thurnock, Clitus, and I, with Bombastico, were conducted into the private audience chamber in the gubernatorial place. I remembered the chamber from shortly after my arrival, long ago, in Sybaris, in particular the map table.
“Leave us,” said Archelaos, dismissing the guards.
They withdrew, but, I suspected, to no great distance.
“You are surprised to see us?” I said.
“As certain reports have not reached me,” he said, “no.” He stroked the long strings of a mustache on either side of his chin.
“You are gracious to grant this audience,” I said.
“How could it be refused to one who has captured the famous pirate and outlaw, Bosk of Port Kar?” he said.
Bombastico straightened up, and looked properly chagrined, and fierce.
“It was thought he had been torn to pieces by the crowd,” said Archelaos.
“I have read such on the public boards,” I said.
“It is not too late to arrange that,” said Archelaos.
Bombastico paled, and trembled, actions which I suspected were not feigned.
“That would save amending the public account,” I granted him.
“I am not truly Bosk of Port Kar,” said Bombastico, hastily, if unhelpfully.
“You will do,” said the governor.
Bombastico cast me a frantic look.
“It is my surmise,” I said, “that Glaukos, proprietor of The Living Island, was importantly involved in the recruitment, supply, and organization of the corsairs, and that it was he who engaged, or had engaged, the services of our friend, Bombastico.”
“Incredible,” said Archelaos, drily.
“In some quarters, too,” I said, “it is conjectured that the noble Glaukos was little more than the tool of a higher, more obscure figure.”
“As governor,” said Archelaos, “I must look into this.”
“Do not look too carefully,” I said. “Glaukos knows much.”
“In any snare he sets,” said Archelaos, “he, too, would be enmeshed.”
“You must rejoice,” I said, “in the victory of your friend, Nicomachos, over the corsairs.”
“Nicomachos is a noble fool,” said Archelaos, “the naive dupe of honor and duty. He has dabbled in matters of which he knows not. He has gone to Cos, to be rewarded by Lurius himself, for clearing the seas of the dreaded Bosk of Port Kar. He will have his ceremony, and receive his decoration, and then, to his dismay, be put to what amounts to exile, be consigned to practical banishment, be sent to be again Admiral of the Fleet of the Farther Islands.”
“A hero, he is not popular in Cos?” I said.
“Not in the court of Lurius,” said Archelaos. “Heroes do not fit in. They are an embarrassment. They have no place in the vicinity of a throne. They detract from the prestige of their superiors.”
“They may even accrue a populace’s love which is more properly bestowed on a loftier object,” I ventured.
“That is always a danger,” said Archelaos.
“At least,” I said, “the great Lurius of Jad, Ubar of Cos, regards the clearing of the sea with delight?”
“Doubtless,” said Archelaos.
“It is my conjecture,” I said, “that the resources of the corsairs were considerable, in both wealth and ships.”
“It seems so,” said Archelaos.
“Surely far beyond the means of Glaukos, a taverner,” I said.
“And even beyond the means of the governor of Thera?” asked Archelaos.
“Yes,” I said, “even beyond the means of the governor of Thera.”
“Do you think you will leave this room alive?” he asked.
“It is my intention,” I said.
“Who are you, really?” asked Archelaos.
“A simple merchant of Brundisium, Kenneth Statercounter,” I said.
“And how much do you know, of dark things which you should not know, noble Statercounter?”
“Little more than other men,” I said, “say, that he who employs a tool may himself be the tool of another.”
“And you conjecture a higher craftsman,” said Archelaos.
“Much higher,” I said.
“How high?” he asked.
“As high,” I said, “as the occupant of a throne.”
“You have permitted yourselves to be disarmed, most unwisely disarmed,” said Archelaos. “I shall summon the guards.”
“Do not act in haste,” I said. “There are three men in this chamber, other than our prisoner, any one of whom could kill you with his bare hands before guards could reach you.”
“If I am slain, you will never reach the outer gate alive,” he said.
“I can understand,” I said, “why Lurius of Jad, fat with avarice, insatiable for wealth, corpulent with greed, would secretly organize, support, and protect marauders, that some percentage of loot would find its way to his private coffers, but why this pointless, extravagant hoax of attributing these raids and depredations to Bosk of Port Kar?”
“Why would you think?” he asked.
“At least,” I said, “to associate such villainy with some figure, any figure, remote from the Farther Islands, that to divert suspicion from Thera, and, for such a purpose, Bosk of Port Kar, I suppose, would do as well as any other.”
“Not quite as well as any other, my friend,” said Archelaos.
“I see,” I said, “he, selected, a hated enemy, would deepen the friction between Cos and Port Kar, an enmity valuable to, and exploitable by, say, the court in Jad.”
“You see the footprint of the sleen,” said Archelaos, “but you do not see the beast itself.”
“Speak,” I said.
“Have you something to do with Bosk of Port Kar?” asked Archelaos. “Much would become clear were that the case. Are you an agent for him?”
“I know him,” I said.
“Those of my party,” said Archelaos, “see in the defeat of the corsairs the hand of the true Bosk of Port Kar.”
“Port Kar,” I said, “is far off, on the continent itself, on the Tamber Gulf, on the eastern shore of Thassa.”
“We think,” said Archelaos, “he is somewhere on the Farther Islands, in any one of a hundred ports.”
“Have you detected a foreign fleet in your waters?” I asked.
“We have noted over the months a dozen traces of his work,” said Archelaos.
“Surely the defeat of the corsairs is the work of Nicomachos,” I said.
“Who,” asked Archelaos, “sped the coordinates of the corsair fleet to Nicomachos? Who led him at just the right moment to the waters of Mytilene?”
“Do you not conjecture implausibly, recklessly?” I asked.
“I am sure that he, the true Bosk of Port Kar,
is somewhere in the Farther Islands,” said Archelaos.
“Perhaps somewhere,” I said.
“You know him, you said,” said Archelaos.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then know,” said Archelaos, “and inform him, that he is a fool and a dupe.”
“How is that?” I asked.
“Does he truly think that great Lurius of Jad, the glorious Ubar of Cos, would promote the fortunes of thieves and pirates for a mere percentage of their booty? Far more is afoot, cities and fleets, fields of diamonds, seas of gems, rivers of silver and mountains of gold.”
“I do not understand,” I said.
“Bosk of Port Kar was essential to our plans,” said Archelaos.
“How so?” I asked.
“You have heard of Talena, the egregious traitress, the perfidious Ubara of Ar, she who betrayed her Home Stone, who did treason to her city, who brought proud Ar into vile subjection, who opened its gates to Cos and Tyros?”
“I have heard of her,” I said.
“After the restoration of Marlenus of Ar, rightful Ubar of Ar, she disappeared from the city.”
“I have heard that,” I said.
“A reward was offered for her capture and return to Ar,” said Archelaos, “a reward of ten thousand tarns of gold, tarn disks of double weight.”
“An unbelievable fortune,” I said.
“What you may not know,” said Archelaos, “is that she was discovered far from Ar, in unlikely Port Kar, improbably and brilliantly hidden, kept as a publicly displayed tavern slave. Who would think of her other than a common paga girl? But she was noted by one of the few hunters, one of the few pursuers, who could recognize her features. Her false identity compromised, she was removed for safekeeping to the stout holding of Bosk of Port Kar, a veritable fortress on the delta.” At this point, Archelaos regarded me, closely. “Are you disturbed?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“Bosk of Port Kar was feared,” said Archelaos. “It was deemed perilous to storm the holding, a redoubtable feat in any case, while its master was in residence. Accordingly then, Bosk of Port Kar was duped, lured to the Farther Islands, to deal with raids and ravaging allegedly perpetrated by him.”
“And what then?” I asked.
“Are you well?” asked Archelaos.
“I do not think Bosk of Port Kar would be pleased to hear these things,” I said.
“The holding was stormed,” said Archelaos. “In the confusion Talena slipped away with a man named Seremides, in the expectation of being carried away to riches and honor, liberty and safety, in the court of her former ally, Lurius of Jad.”
“Then she is safe,” said Bombastico.
“Lurius of Jad is now negotiating with Marlenus of Ar,” said Archelaos, “arranging for the delivery of Talena, stripped and in chains, to Ar, and the payment of the reward.”
“With such wealth,” said Thurnock, “Lurius of Jad could not only build fleets but hire armies to ravage the continent.”
“It seems,” I said, “Bosk of Port Kar is indeed a fool and dupe.”
“He could have done little but what he did,” said Clitus.
“Should he have remained in Port Kar,” asked Thurnock, “and permitted the continued burning of villages and the slaughter of hundreds?”
“Intervention was imperative,” said Clitus.
“We had hoped, of course,” said Archelaos, “that the intervention of Bosk of Port Kar would have proved unsuccessful.”
“What is to be the fate of the Lady Talena?” asked Bombastico.
“Hideous tortures, publicly inflicted over several days, followed by a slow impalement,” said Archelaos.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Something past the twelfth Ahn,” said Archelaos.
“I think then it is time for us to take our leave,” I said.
“Gross bravado is but a sorry jest,” said Archelaos.
“Recall,” I said, “any one of three in this room could kill you before the arrival of guards.”
“But you are fortunate,” said Archelaos. “I am prepared to offer you an arrangement.”
“Do so,” I said.
“I am spared,” he said, “and you are free to leave, safe and undeterred.”
“A splendid proposal,” I said.
“My life for yours,” he said.
“Excellent,” I said.
“Beware,” growled Thurnock.
“Kill him now,” said Clitus.
“We have your word for this?” I asked.
“Of course,” he said.
“As a man of honor?” I asked.
“Certainly,” he said.
“As soon as guards are between us,” said Thurnock, “he will sound the alarm and have a hundred men set upon us.”
“It is unlikely we could cut our way to the first gate,” said Clitus.
“But we have his word,” I said.
“Better the word of an urt or ost,” said Thurnock.
“Civilization cannot survive without trust,” I said.
“That is true, noble Statercounter,” said Archelaos, whose forehead seemed damp, presumably with perspiration.
“I am pleased that we have reached this understanding,” I said, “as it means that lovely Sybaris and its mighty harbor, and a thousand or more ships, will not perish in flames before nightfall.”
“What are you saying?” asked Archelaos.
“I, too, have an arrangement,” I said, “one which somewhat antedates yours.”
“What is that?” inquired Archelaos.
“Surely your spies have informed you that my men were not at the ships this morning,” I said.
“What arrangement?” pressed Archelaos.
“At the time,” I said, “I did not realize you were a man of honor, so I arranged that if I and my companions were not back on the dock before the fourteenth Ahn, the city and harbor, the piers, ships, and all, would be set afire.”
“I do not believe you,” said Archelaos, one hand grasping and twisting one of the dangling strands of his mustache.
“Lurius of Jad would not be pleased,” I said, “to learn that Archelaos, loyal and esteemed governor of Thera, was responsible for the destruction of the city, ships, and harbor.”
“There is no such arrangement,” said Archelaos. “You are bluffing.”
“More than two hundred men, stationed about,” I said, “are waiting with ignitable fire vessels and accelerants.”
“I do not believe you,” said Archelaos.
“Then let us maintain our small stand-off,” I said, “until the Fourteenth Ahn, at which time we will kill you and, possibly, escape in the flames and confusion.”
“Two hundred men,” said Archelaos, “are not enough to enfire so much, a city, wharves, and ships.”
“One is enough,” I said. “Fire fathers fire. A pinch of burning oil can bring about the ruin of a warehouse, a brand of tinder the loss of a palace, a toppled candle the destruction of an impregnable fortress.”
“Let us kill him now,” said Thurnock, “and then take our chances at the fourteenth Ahn.”
“That will not be necessary,” said Archelaos, quickly. “I will have your weapons returned, and have you escorted in safety to your ships.”
“I find that satisfactory,” I said.
“I think you are bluffing,” said Archelaos.
“But you do not know, do you?” I asked.
“No,” he said angrily.
The guards left us at the dock where the Dorna and the Tesephone were moored.
Thurnock, Clitus, Bombastico, and I watched them take their departure.
“I played my part well, did I not?” asked Bombastico.
“Brilliantly,” I said.
“You should have seen me in The Trial of Hesius and The Four Secrets of Enrobion, Baker of Turia,” he said.
“I missed them,” I admitted.
“The true actor prefers a good part to a good meal,” said Bombastico.
“Only if he is not hungry,” said Thurnock.
“Our enemies play a fine and cruel kaissa,” I said.
“Our moves were forced,” said Thurnock.
“Our crews will be aboard shortly,” said Clitus.
“It is near the fourteenth Ahn,” I said.
“I wish to congratulate you, dear Captain,” said Thurnock. “Your quick thinking and wily bluff brought us safely out of the palace. The governor feared to call your bluff.”
“My dear friend,” I said, “your compliment is much appreciated, but, I confess, undeserved.”
“How so?” he said.
“I arranged with Tab to arm and distribute the crew of the Dorna and with Sakim to arm and distribute the crew of the Tesephone in such a manner as to fire Sybaris, the harbor, and ships, if we were not back by the fourteenth Ahn. Their absence, too, was intended to encourage contact with messengers from the governor. What I did not anticipate was the appearance of an assassination squad.”
“Then I hope our crews will report soon,” said Clitus.
“The sooner the better,” I said. “We must cast off as soon as possible.”
“I had not thought, hitherto,” said Clitus, “that Archelaos was so great a hero.”
“How is that?” I asked.
“He has saved a city, a harbor, and a great many ships,” said Clitus.
“I see Tab approaching, and Sakim, and men,” said Thurnock.
“Prepare to cast off,” I said.
Chapter Sixty-Three
We Set Our Course for Port Kar
“Captain Tab has cleared the harbor,” said Thurnock.
“Are there signs of pursuit?” I inquired.
“None, Captain,” said Thurnock.
“Archelaos may fear incendiaries still in the city,” said Clitus.
The Tesephone, smaller and quicker, more responsive, than the larger Dorna, lay a pasang out, south, beyond the harbor, that she might warn the Dorna of danger and, if necessary, cover her flank.