by Pedro Urvi
“I hope you succeed in your quest. I have arranged for Captain Olsen to meet you in the port city of Usedol, as we had agreed. I hope you have reached the city and that this letter finds you in the pink of health. I have asked the good captain for absolute discretion. I cannot guarantee that he will keep the secret, but I hope that he will. He is a man of honor who respects you, and I do not believe he will betray you. You will find him at the Inn of the Lame Navigator, in the eastern area of the harbor.
“Good luck on your voyage. I regret that I am unable to come with you. It is better like this. We will not arouse suspicions.
“Greet the Turquoise Queen from me, and give her my love and respect.
“Eicewald.
“P.S. Destroy this letter. There must be no trace of our plans.”
“Good news,” Lasgol told them. “Olsen’s here in the city, at the Inn of the Lame Navigator.”
Viggo was looking thoughtful “To give his love to the Turquoise Queen … interesting …”
“What do you mean by that?” Ingrid asked. She could guess where the comment was leading.
He spread his arms wide. “Nothing. But if the Queen’s short on love … and the Mage isn’t going …”
She gave him a glare of hatred. “Stop right there!”
“What have I done now? I’m just saying that if we have to bring love, and particularly to the Turquoise Queen …”
“Who’s hundreds of years old,” Ingrid reminded him.
“But she doesn’t look a day over twenty, and is exquisitely-preserved. Her beauty rivals –”
Ingrid gave him a glare of such hatred that he fell silent. His gesture indicated that he would say no more.
Ingrid turned on her heel and left.
“She’s incredibly beautiful,” Viggo whispered to Lasgol. “I’m only saying what’s true.”
Lasgol waited until Ingrid was out of earshot. “She really is.”
They both smiled, and at that moment Ingrid turned round and caught them.
“You’re all the same!” she said savagely.
A little later, Lasgol took Camu and Ona behind the Inn at the eastern end of the quay. It was a deserted space, well-hidden. Meanwhile Ingrid and Viggo waited in front of the inn with the horses.
Camu, you can stop the skill and get your energy back.
Okay. I stop.
Both creatures became visible, and Lasgol petted them affectionately.
I’m going to get Olsen. I’ll be back right away.
He was about to go into the inn when the door opened and Captain Olsen came out. When he saw Lasgol, he raised his arm in greeting.
“I thought it was you!”
“You saw me?”
“I’ve been glued to the window for days, waiting for you.”
“Well we’re here now,” Lasgol said. He waved to Ingrid and Viggo, who came to join them.
“I’m glad to see you,” Olsen said to him. “You look well.”
Lasgol smiled. “I can say the same to you. Eicewald sent you, I suppose?
“That’s right.”
“Do you know the situation?”
Olsen nodded. “The good mage explained everything.”
“Good. Can we count on you?”
“Yes, you can count on me, and my discretion.”
“That’s good to know.”
“I owe it to you. You were very good to me. You saved me when the pirates attacked us. I haven’t forgotten that.”
“Now we have to go back to the domains of the Turquoise Queen and rescue Astrid.”
“I guessed as much. I knew you weren’t going to just leave her to her fate. I’ve got everything ready. I arrived a few days ago in my ship, but we’re not going to go there in it. It might reach Norghanian ears, and we don’t want them to know about this expedition.”
“If we don’t have your ship and your crew, how are we going to get there?”
“I’ve hired the services of a captain, with a large ship. He’s Rogdonian, and so is the crew. That way we won’t arouse suspicions. They don’t know where we’re going. I’ve given them approximate directions, but not the exact destination.”
“Oh, that’s a brilliant idea. Good thinking.”
“That’s what Eicewald recommended I should do. He gave me the gold to pay for the Rogdonian ship. We leave this evening, and everything’s ready. We’re just waiting for you, the most important part of the expedition.” He smiled.
“That’s great news!”
“Right then, I’ll take you to the ship. They have a couple of cabins, and I’ve hired them so we can have some peace and quiet. You know, because of your four-legged friends …”
“A thousand thanks!”
With the sunset, the great merchant ship cast off and left the port of Usedol. The three-master was of Rogdonian design, solid and efficient. The hull was deep, with an enormous cargo hold and four cabins. One was for Captain Alfons, a seasoned Rogdonian merchant captain with a stern expression. He was tall, with plenty of grey in his brown hair, and blue eyes. He must have been about fifty, and his arms looked strong. Olsen was sharing a cabin with Viggo, while Ingrid, Lasgol, Camu and Ona were in the third one. The fourth cabin, which they did not need, was empty.
The route Olsen and Alfons had chosen to follow was more secure than the one they had taken on their previous voyage, in the hope that they would not run into pirates. A hope that could easily remain just that, a hope. The first days on board the ship were quiet, and the group spent their time getting to know the vessel, which was very different from the Norghanian ones they were used to. With three masts and three sails, it was making fast, safe progress.
“I’m not too keen on this nutshell,” Viggo said as they stared out at the sea from the bow.
“Care to tell us the reason why?” Ingrid asked.
“This isn’t a warship. It’s a cargo ship. Easy prey for pirates.” He folded his arms.
“We’re not going to be attacked by pirates,” Lasgol promised. He was watching Olsen and Alfons beside the helm. They were chatting easily like two old sea-lions, even though they were not particularly old and looked in perfectly good condition to be in charge of a ship.
“What do you think of the new captain?” Viggo asked.
“He seemed to me very correct,” Ingrid said, “and you can tell he’s an experienced seaman.”
“He’d better be. The crew seems incredibly dull … all such hard workers … just looking at them makes me feel frustrated.”
“Because they’re organized and good at what they do, and you’re a hopeless mess?”
“I improvise. It’s one of my valuable skills.”
“Yeah … messing things up is your most valuable skill.”
Lasgol was looking up at the three sails billowing in the wind. “With this captain and this ship, I think we’ll be able to make the voyage in a lot less time.”
“Yeah, looks like it,” Ingrid agreed. “Besides, leaving from Rogdon the route is straighter and shorter.”
“Thinking about your beloved?” Viggo said to Lasgol.
“Well, yes … I’m very worried. I’d give anything to know she’s okay, that nothing’s happened to her. I don’t know if the Turquoise Queen will keep her word …”
“She will,” Ingrid promised.
“I thought you didn’t like her,” Viggo said to prod her.
“I never said I didn’t. I think she’s a strong, intelligent woman, someone who defends her own people, and very capable. I do like her, and she’ll keep her word. Nothing to do with the fact that she has you all spellbound with her beauty and her magic. Which is not surprising, because you’re men…”
Viggo chuckled softly. “Yeah, I’m a man … what can I do about it?” He smiled, as if it were a curse.
“I hope she keeps her word, and that we find Astrid well,” Lasgol said hopefully.
“And that she lets us come back with her,” Viggo added.
“She has no reason not to,”
Ingrid pointed out.
“Well, since she’s the Turquoise Queen, who knows what she has in mind for us?”
“Something good, I hope,” Lasgol said.
I climb masts, Camu said.
No way. You stay here quietly with us.
Here boring. Mast fun.
Camu!
I come back quickly.
Lasgol grumbled under his breath.
“What’s up, weirdo?” asked Viggo, who had noticed this.
“Camu …”
“Up to his antics again?”
“I’m afraid so. He’s gone up to play on the masts.”
“Well, if he scares any of the sailors climbing up there, you wait and see …”
Camu, don’t frighten the sailors, they could fall!
Not frighten, came the message, but Lasgol was not at all easy in his mind.
Chapter 26
Nilsa, Valeria, Gerd and Egil had left the city of Asofi behind at a gallop days before, heading southwest. The mission had been a success, and they now had the information Egil had been searching for. They had to disappear, avoiding both the Guild and the Zangrian soldiers. They had been as careful as possible, avoiding any human being they might glimpse in the distance. If nothing went wrong, they would reach the Thousand Lakes after another day’s ride.
Somewhat calmer now, they rode on at a trot, allowing the horses to keep to an easy pace after the demands they had made on them in their haste during the last few days. Every now and then Nilsa turned in her saddle to check that they were not being followed.
Gerd had become aware of this. “Everything all right?” he asked her.
“Yeah … it’s just that …”
“Are we being followed?” The giant turned to see as far into the distance as he could. “All I can see is open fields and a forest to the east.”
Valeria too turned in her saddle. “If either the Guild or Zangrian soldiers were following us, we’d see them a league away.”
“I know … it’s just that I have a strange feeling …”
“What kind of feeling?” Gerd wanted to know.
“As if we were being spied on.”
“Since that business with the bookkeeper?” asked Valeria.
“Yeah … well, that too … but I’d say even before that.”
“That’s odd,” said Gerd. “I haven’t seen anybody.”
“I haven’t noticed anything unusual,” Valeria agreed.
“It’s probably just my imagination. You know … I’m a bit restless and nervous to start with …” She shrugged and glanced back once more without seeing anything of interest.
“Well, you take it easy,” Gerd said. “We’ll keep our eyes open just in case.”
Nilsa nodded. Valeria winked at her and smiled.
They rode on. Now that they were a little calmer and the road was free both ahead and behind, the doubts all of them had in mind could wait no longer. Gerd was the first to question Egil.
“You weren’t going to let him die, were you?” he asked. He was looking seriously worried, and there was doubt in his voice.
“I take it you mean Belgorio, the bookkeeper of the Guild we went to visit during the night?”
“Yes, him, obviously.”
“Well … we have to take into consideration the fact that the subject in question is a criminal, with everything that entails. The consequences of his association with a guild of assassins are obvious, and he was well aware of them.”
“He was just an accountant,” Gerd objected.
“If you’re the accountant to a group of assassins, you’re a criminal yourself. You know what your work involves. He had no excuse. He was helping a criminal organization which commits murder for gold. That makes him a criminal too.”
“He didn’t commit the murders,” Gerd pointed out.
“But he kept a record of them, and his work helped them to be committed.”
“I agree with Egil there,” Nilsa put in. “That coward was as guilty as the people who carried out the murders. Not only was he an accomplice, but he also helped the guild to prosper through his work.”
“He deserved to die,” Valeria added.
“I don’t know … the way it was done was so …” Gerd lapsed into a thoughtful silence.
“Effective?” Valeria suggested. “I thought it was masterly!”
“Yeah, really good,” Nilsa agreed. “I’d never have thought of it. That system would make anybody talk.”
“That’s what I thought when I worked it out,” Egil said. “I have a couple of rather interesting variants on it which might come in handy in the future.”
Gerd was shaking his head, looking horrified. “I’m not sure whether I want to know about them.”
“Actually, you showed a lot of sang-froid,” Nilsa admitted. “I don’t know if I could’ve let the snake bite him. D’you have it with you?”
“Yeah, she’s in her pouch in my saddlebag.”
Nilsa looked worried at this. “Suppose it escapes? And bites you? D’you have more antidote ready?”
“Well, not exactly …”
“What do you mean, not exactly?” Gerd asked in alarm.
“Well … I have to confess … to a small deceit,” Egil began.
“Deceit?” Nilsa repeated warily.
“The antidote wasn’t actually that at all. It was a placebo.”
Gerd put his hands to his head. “Oh, no! You let him die!”
“You didn’t give him the antidote?” Nilsa was shaking her head in horror. “Why?”
Valeria was looking at Egil, intrigued. “Did you set yourself up as judge and condemn him to death?”
“No … I haven’t set myself up as either judge or executioner, although there were moments when I’d have liked to.”
“And so? I don’t follow you,” said Nilsa.
“What did you do, Egil?” Gerd said accusingly.
Egil raised his hands. “Keep calm. It’s not what you think. There’s a logical explanation which doesn’t involve death.”
“Did you pardon his life?” Val asked, sounding intrigued.
“Yes. The antidote wasn’t that at all because it wasn’t necessary. The viper has no poison. I’d taken it out.”
Gerd gave a violent snort. “Thank goodness!”
“Egil!” Nilsa was shaking her head, equally relieved. “For a moment there I thought you’d executed him in cold blood!”
“What a shame,” Valeria complained. She did not appear to find the ruse satisfying.
Egil smiled. “It’s a strategy that’s taken me a while to perfect. I gave all the possible scenarios a lot of thought, and in my calculations it works seven times out of ten.”
“This time it worked, and really well,” said Nilsa.
“Had you tried it before?” Gerd wanted to know.
“Well, no, this is the first time, so for the moment its efficiency is remarkable. One out of one.”
Valeria laughed. “We’ll have to try it again to see if your calculations are accurate.”
“Let’s see what circumstances we come up against in the future, and the chances of using this trick again,” Egil said, and he was not joking, he meant what he had said.
“Suppose it hadn’t worked? Suppose he hadn’t given you the information?” Gerd asked. He looked as though he was afraid of the answer.
“Then I’d have used another trick,” Egil replied with perfect calm.
“The same sort of thing?”
“Something like it. A little more dangerous.”
“I like that,” said Val enthusiastically.
Gerd shook his head. “I don’t. Not at all.”
“How dangerous?” Nilsa asked.
“I’d have to use something more convincing. More real.”
Gerd made a dismissive gesture. “I’m not sure why, I don’t really want to know.”
“There are things a man fears more than death,” said Egil.
“Torture, for instance,” Vale
ria suggested, and he nodded.
Nilsa looked aghast. “You wouldn’t have tortured him, would you?”
“Given the situation, I’d have done whatever was necessary to get the information that was vital to me,” Egil said. His voice was as cold as that of a trained assassin, and Nilsa and Gerd exchanged troubled glances.
Valeria came to his support. “Of course, you would!”
“Thank you,” Egil said with a polite bow.
“Egil,” Gerd asked, “did you get the name you were looking for? The person who put the contract on your head with the Guild?”
Egil nodded. “I got it.”
“Who is it? Who?” Nilsa asked impatiently.
“Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that.”
“What do you mean?” Gerd and Nilsa asked at the same moment.
“The name I have implies betrayal. I must make sure before accusing him.”
“Will you be able to?” Valeria asked him.
“Of course, he will,” Nilsa said instantly, “it's Egil”
“Egil smiled. "I'm not at all sure, I'll have to study it." “Well, that’s a bit of a let-down,” Nilsa said sadly.
“Don’t worry, it’s a great step forward.”
“Is it? I don’t see much of a step forward if we still don’t know who it is.”
“We’re at the final stage. We only need to decipher the name, then we’ll have it.”
“I’m glad that at least you’re optimistic,” she said with a smile.
The horses, a little tired by now, relaxed their pace. Gerd looked enquiringly at Egil to see whether he wanted them to go faster.
“Let’s not force them. We could have problems further on. They can rest a little.”
Gerd was looking ahead. “I can see a stream and some large boulders not far from here where we can hide and let the horses freshen up.”
“Good idea. And a rest won’t come amiss for all of us.”
“And the chance to eat something,” Valeria added. “I’m starving.”
Nilsa laughed. “I thought I’d never come across anyone who ate as much as Gerd does, but I see I was mistaken!”
“I don’t eat as much as the big guy!” Valeria protested.