Rise of a Merchant Prince

by Raymond E. Feist

  RAYMOND E. FIEST

  Roo glanced at it “There are a couple of noble-men here!” Jason smiled. “Experience at Barret’s tells me they may be very slow in paying accounts.”

  He paused a moment, then added, “If you don’t mind my saying, you might just wish to let some of those debts ride until you need a favor from someone highly placed in court or with influence with another noble; that sort of thing.”

  Roo shook his head. “I don’t mind your saying.”

  Holding out another list, Jason said, “I had more trouble with this.”

  Roo looked at the second list. “What’s this?”

  “People Mr. Grindle did business with in distant cities, but whose identity is unclear.”

  Roo’s confusion was evident. “Their identity is unclear?” Jason said, “This is not uncommon. Often those who trade in valuable goods don’t wish it widely known they have rare items in their possession, or that they need to sell such. Hence the notations. It’s a code, and only Mr. Grindle knew the identities of these people.”

  Roo puzzled over the list. “Maybe Karli knows who some of these people are. She knows a great deal more about her father’s trade than I think even he was aware of.”

  Duncan said, “What are we doing now?”

  Roo found his cousin’s attitude irritating lately, as he often complained about not having as much authority as Luis. Roo wanted to give Duncan more authority, but had discovered he lacked Luis’s willingness to work hard. Luis, on the other hand, rarely complained and was always meticulous in whatever task lay before him, while Duncan often was sloppy and left things undone.

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  Biting back a nasty reply, Roo said, “We’re leaving for Salador in the morning. We have a special cargo to deliver.”

  “Salador?” said Duncan. “I know a barmaid there.”

  Roo said, “You know a barmaid everywhere, Duncan.”

  “True,” said the former mercenary. His mood seemed to brighten visibly with the prospect of a change of scenery.

  It was Luis who said, “What cargo for Salador?”

  Roo handed over a rolled-up parchment Luis snapped it open and held it up before him, and his eyes widened. “This is incredible.”

  The remark caught Duncan’s interest at last.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “We’re taking a load of goods from the palace to the estates of the Duke of Salador,” answered Roo.

  “The King’s cousin?” asked Jason.

  “The very same. I have no idea what it is we are carrying, but the Prince of Krondor is sending it by fast freight—us— and we need to make haste. But the price is too good for us not to go. And while there,” he said, holding up the list, “we’ll attempt to identify the two names in Salador.” He mused over the list. “We’ve got a half-dozen names within a week’s ride of Salador. I think we’ll deliver our cargo and then nose around some in the east.”

  To his companions he said, “I’m going home to speak with Karli, and then Duncan and I will be departing at first light tomorrow.” To Duncan he said,

  “Be here and be alert.”

  Duncan frowned, but both knew that, given a choice, he was likely to come wandering in around prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:37 AM Page 282

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  midday with a hangover.

  To Luis, Roo said, “You’re in charge while Duncan and I—”

  Duncan said, “Wait a minute, cousin. Why not take Luis and leave me here to run things?”

  Roo regarded his cousin a moment; that request could only mean Duncan had a new barmaid or serving wench who had caught his fancy. With ill humor Roo said, “Because I prefer to return here next month and find I am still in business.”

  He ignored Duncan’s dark expression as he continued his interrupted instructions to Luis. “You are in charge, and if you have any unusual needs, see Karli. Jason knows what our resources are, so if something comes your way that depletes us of our money, make certain it’s a sure thing.”

  Luis smiled. Many times he had said to Roo there were no “sure things.” “Understood,” he said.

  Roo said, “Jason, you’re doing a good job with the ledgers. Now, can you start a fresh set of accounts for me, beginning the day I took sole control of the company?”

  Jason said, “I can do that.”

  Roo said, “Good, and label them ‘Avery and Company.” He turned to the door, then stopped.

  “And don’t mention that last bit about the name change to Karli until I return.”

  Jason and Luis exchanged glances, but neither spoke. Roo left the office and began the long walk home. The city streets were crowded as sundown approached. Vendors hawked their wares, trying for that last sale before they called it a day and returned to their own homes, while messengers hurried to carry that last missive of the day.

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  Roo wended his way through the press, and by the time he reached home, the sun had set behind the buildings opposite the Grindle house. He glanced around and suddenly realized how dingy this place looked, even when not overwhelmed by shadows. He once more vowed that as soon as he could afford it, he would move his wife to newer, more sumptuous quarters.

  He opened the door and entered. Karli was in the kitchen, talking with the cook, Rendel, and Mary, the maid. Mary saw Roo first and said, “Oh, sir. It’s the lady.” Since the wedding, the maid had taken to referring to Karli as “the lady of the house,” or simply, “the lady,” as if she were the wife of nobility.

  Roo found he liked that, as well as being referred to as “the master,” or “sir.”

  Roo took a moment and then the scene registered.

  Karli stood at the large chopping block that dominated the kitchen, holding tightly to the edge. Her hand was white, she was gripping so tightly. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Rendel, a huge woman of unknowable years, said,

  “She’s off her feed, poor dear.”

  Roo frowned, not being quite sure he liked having his wife referred to as if she were livestock. “Karli?”

  She said, “It’s some sort of stomach problem. I just walked in a moment ago and the smell of food .

  . .” She grew even more pale, and suddenly her hand came to her mouth as she fought to keep whatever was in her stomach down. She turned and left the kitchen, hurrying out the back door toward the jakes.

  Mary, a simple enough young woman of modest intellect, said, “I’m so worried about the lady.”

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  she was washing in a bucket in the sink. “She’ll be fine.”

  As Roo looked at them both, obviously unsure what to do next, Mary said, “Sir, should I go see to the lady?”

  Roo said, “No. I’ll go,” and he went after his wife out the rear door of the home.

  The plain façade of the house hid, along with the interior of the home, the rich little garden that lay behind it. Karli spent a great deal of her time in the garden, which was equally divided between vegetables and flowers. At the far wall stood the modest little outhouse, from which issued the sound of Karli’s retching.

  As he reached the door, it opened and a pale Karli emerged. “Are you all right?” said Roo, at once regretting the question.

  Karli’s expression showed it to be one of the more stupid questions of Roo’s life, but she said, “I’ll be fine.”

  Roo said, “Should I send for a healer?”

  Karl smiled at his obvious concern. “No, it’s nothing a healer can help.”

  Panic revealed itself in Roo’s face. “My gods!

  What is it?” Karli couldn’t help but laugh, despite her obvious physical discomfort. She allowed him to off
er an arm and let him walk her to a tiny stone bench next to a modest fountain. “It’s nothing to be alarmed over, Roo,” she said. When they sat she told him, “I wanted to be sure. You’re going to be a father.”

  Roo sat speechless for a minute. “I need to sit down.”

  Karli laughed. “You are sitting.”

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  Roo stood, said, “Now I need to sit down,” and sat down again. Then his narrow face split in the widest grin Karli had ever seen. “A baby?”

  Karli nodded, and Roo suddenly realized he had never seen her look so lovely. He kissed her on the cheek. “When?”

  “Seven more months,” she said.

  Roo calculated, and his eyes widened. “Then . . .”

  She nodded. “The first night.”

  Roo said, “Imagine that.” He sat motionless and speechless for a long moment. Then a thought crossed his mind, and he said, “I shall have Luis change the sign to ‘Avery and Son’ at once!”

  Karli’s eyes narrowed. “Change the name of the company?”

  Roo took her hand and said, “My love, I want the world to know I have a son coming.” He stood up. “I must tell Duncan and Erik, before I leave tomorrow.”

  He was halfway across the garden when she asked, “Leave tomorrow?”

  He halted. “I’m going to run a special cargo to Salador for the Prince. I’ll tell you about it when I get back, but I need to tell Erik and Duncan I’m going to be a father.”

  He dashed out of the garden without waiting for a reply. Karli sat quietly for a moment, then stood slowly. She asked herself, “What if it’s a daughter?”

  In the failing evening light, she returned to the only home she had known her entire life, feeling nothing so much as a guest in her own house.

  Roo groaned. Duncan laughed as he snapped the reins, urging the horses out the city gates. Duncan, Luis, Erik, and Roo’s other friends had feted their prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:37 AM Page 286

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  friend on the announcement of his coming father-hood and now Roo was paying the price. He had been helped home by Duncan and had fallen into bed nearly comatose next to Karli. Without comment she had roused him the next day when, against expectations, Duncan had arrived on time.

  They had made their way in the predawn light to the shop, hitched up the wagon, and headed out to the palace. At the gate a squad of men waited and they quickly loaded the cargo for Salador.

  Then, to Roo’s surprise, Erik rode up with a squad of horsemen, an escort for the cargo. All he said was “I don’t know what’s in there, either.”

  Now it was midday and the wagon rattled along at a good rate over the King’s Highway, starting the long climb up into the foothills of the southern end of the Calastius Mountains. Roo said, “We need to rest the horses.”

  Duncan reined in the team and shouted, “Erik.

  Time for a break.”

  Erik, who had been riding a short way ahead, nodded as he turned his own horse and dismounted, signaling to the other guards to do the same. He picketed his horse by the roadside and let it crop grass.

  Duncan took a large waterskin and drank, then handed it to Roo. He poured a bit over his face and wiped it off, then drank.

  Erik came over and asked, “How’s your head?”

  “Too small to hold the pain inside,” Roo replied.

  “Why did I do that?”

  Erik shrugged. “I sort of wondered myself. You seemed to be working very hard at being happy.”

  Roo nodded. “Truth to tell, I’m scared witless.

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  Me, a father.” Taking Erik away from the wagon, he said to Duncan, “Check the horses, will you?”

  When they were out of earshot, Roo said, “What do I know about being a father? All my old man ever did was beat on me. I mean, what am I supposed to do when the baby gets here?”

  Erik said, “You’re asking the wrong man. I never had any sort of father.”

  Panic surfaced on Roo’s face. “What am I going to do, Erik?”

  Erik grinned. “You’re only going through what we all go through, I bet. It’s a big change. First a wife, now a child.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ve wondered what I would do if I fell in love and got married, had children.”

  “And?”

  “I really don’t know.”

  “Some help you are.”

  Erik put his hand upon Roo’s shoulder. “Well, I did come up with one thing. I imagine if I’m ever a father and something happens that I don’t anticipate, I’m going to ask myself, ‘What would Milo do now?’”

  Roo pondered that a moment. Then he smiled,

  “He’s the best dad I’ve ever seen, the way he treated Rosalyn and you as kids.”

  “That’s how I figure it,” said Erik. “If I start to get confused, I’ll just imagine what Milo would do and try to do that.”

  As if this somehow made the prospect of being a father less fearful, Roo brightened. “Well, I think I’ll have another drink of water.”

  Erik laughed. “Take it easy, Roo. You have a lot of time to recover from last night.”

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  Roo turned back toward the wagon. “So why are you in charge of this escort?” he inquired.

  “I asked for it,” said Erik. “Things are under control back at the palace, and the Prince seems to think this cargo needed special protection, and I haven’t been home in a year.”

  Roo blinked. “It has been a year, hasn’t it?”

  Erik said, “This way we’ll have two visits: a short one on the way through, and we can probably steal an extra day on the way back for a proper get-together.”

  Roo said, “Well, you’ve got your mother and Nathan, Milo, Rosalyn. Lots of friends.”

  “You’ve also got some friends, Roo.”

  Roo smiled. “I wonder how Gwen is doing?”

  Erik’ s brow furrowed. “You’re a married man, Roo.”

  Reaching under the buckboard, Roo pulled out a bag of provisions and dug out some bread. Yanking off a piece, he stuffed it in his mouth and washed it down with another gulp of water. “I’m not that married,” said Roo.

  Erik’s expression turned dark. Roo held up one hand. “I mean I’m not so married I can’t be civil to old friends just because they’re women.”

  Erik studied his friend’s face a moment, then said,

  “If that’s what you mean.”

  Duncan returned from looking over the horses and reported, “Everything’s fine.”

  Roo climbed back up on the buckboard and said,

  “Well, let’s get moving again. The Duke of Salador is expecting this cargo and we’re getting a bonus for speed.”

  Duncan sighed; the buckboard was about as comfortable as a moving block of stone. “I hope it’s a prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:37 AM Page 289

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  very good bonus,” he said with poorly concealed ill-humor.

  The journey went smoothly. Twice the presence of Erik’s guards had speeded up accounting with the local constabulary, saving Roo precious hours. The visit in Ravensburg had been a hasty one, with them rolling into Milo’s Inn of the Pintail after sundown, and leaving before sunrise, without seeing Rosalyn and her family. Erik promised his mother he would linger on the way back.

  In Darkmoor, if the local guards recognized Erik or Roo they said nothing. Still, Roo found he felt considerably better once that city had fallen behind them.

  As a child, Roo had accompanied his father on the journey to Salador only twice, and now he saw the Eastern Realm with the eyes of an adult. The lands through which they passed had been cultivated for centuries. Farms were tidy to the point of appearing like miniatures pai
nted by artists when seen from the distant road. Compared to this, the Western Realm was still rough-hewn, and the lands across the sea primitive and wild.

  They reached the city gates at noon and Erik hardly slowed as he passed the City Watch, shouting,

  “Cargo from the Prince for the Duke!”

  One of his soldiers had carried a pennant, which was now unfurled; it bore the crest of the Prince of Krondor. That morning the soldiers had donned the tabards they had carried in their saddlebags, and Roo saw that his escort was comprised of not just city troops but Prince Patrick’s own household guard.

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  that he might never find out.

  They rode through the city and Roo was astonished at the number of people. Krondor might be the capital of the Western Realm, but it was dwarfed in size by several of the eastern cities. Salador was the second largest city in the Kingdom after Rillanon, and it took more than an hour for Roo’s wagon to roll through the press of the crowds and reach the ducal palace.

  The Prince’s palace in Krondor sat atop a suddenly rising prominence hard against the harbor.

  Salador’s ruler’s home also sat atop a hill, but over a mile from the harbor. A long, sloping hillside led down into the heart of the city, and far beyond that, Roo could see the harbor.

  “I always forget how damn big it is,” said Duncan.

  “I never realized,” was all Roo said.

  They reached the palace and Erik announced them to the palace guard. The guard waved the wagon through while another ran to the main hall to inform the Duke. A third guard directed Roo’s wagon to a large double-door entrance set off to one side of a sharply rising broad flight of stairs.

  Duncan said, “Must be important people who get to walk up those steps.” He leaped down from the wagon and with a nod of his head toward the door said, “For the common folks.”

  Roo said, “Did you expect anything else?”

  Duncan sighed, rubbing his backside in exaggerated relief. “All I know is that tonight I want a hot tub to soak in and a hot woman to keep me warm the rest of the night”

  Roo smiled. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”