Youll need to demonstrate that loyalty I currently find lacking, magician, if youre to regain this courts favor.
Demonstrate? said Pug softly. I have labored to my utmost to prevent the destruction of all we hold dear.
Patrick said, Ive read the reports. Ive heard the tales. Demons and spawn of the lower hells. Yes, magic to warp the world to darkness, and all the rest of it.
Arutha looked from one man to the other, saying, Highness! Grandfather, please! We have much to do and contention in our ranks does us no good.
Pug looked at his grandson, and slowly he said, I am not attempting to contend, Arutha. My only purpose has been, from the first, to serve.
He stepped forward and his voice was filled with menace. If you command, my prince, I will obey. I will take the time to visit with the King. If you are not satisfied with my performance in recent months, perhaps he will be persuaded that the price I paid demonstrates my commitment.
Perhaps! said Patrick. He spat hot words. You gave away a duchy that by all reports you have neglected, and I have a city lying in ruins, as well as my entire Principality to the west in thrall to hostile forces. Who between us has lost the most?
Pugs throat burned as color rose in his cheeks. In a hoarse whisper he said, Lost? You dare speak to me of loss? Stepping up so that he was mere inches from the Prince, Pug looked up at the taller, younger man. I lost nearly everything, you child! I lost a son and a daughter, and the man she loved who was as another son to me. William, Gamina, and James gave their lives for Krondor and the Kingdom. You sit this throne for a few years, Patrick. When youve lived as long as I have, should you be that fortunate, remember what you said here.
Patrick appeared embarrassed as he realized he had overlooked the death of Pugs family in the war. Still, his temper got the best of him, and as Pug turned to walk away, Patricks voice thundered, I will not be addressed in that manner, magician! Duke or not, royal cousin or not, you will come back here and beg my pardon!
Pug spun. Before he could speak, Arutha turned and stood directly before his Prince. Highness! He put a restraining hand on Patricks shoulder. In a whisper he said, This brings nothing good! Calm yourself and well revisit this tomorrow. Whispering, he added, Patrick, your father will not be pleased at this.
Before the Prince could speak, Arutha turned and said, Grandfather. If you and your lady would dine with me tonight, we can discuss exactly what sort of communication with the crown shall be undertaken. To the remaining courtiers in the hall, he said, That will be all today. This court is adjourned.
He hustled Patrick through a door to the apartment set aside for him during his stay in Darkmoor, not allowing the Prince to further inflame the situation. Pug turned to Miranda, who said, That boy needs some training.
Pug said nothing, merely offering his arm to his wife and leading her to the rooms put aside for them. He knew his grandson would come to see them as soon as the Prince had been placated.
Arutha looked like a man aged years in a few hours. His eyes, normally bright and alert, were now deeply sunk with dark circles under them. He sighed and nodded thanks as Miranda handed him a goblet of wine.
The Prince? asked Pug.
Arutha shrugged. Its difficult. During the war he seemed content to follow Father and Uncle Williams lead. The preparations for the city were underway by the time he arrived in Krondor, and he simply agreed to whatever Father wanted.
Now, hes out of his element. He is being asked to make decisions that would have taxed the wits of the best generals in this Kingdoms history. He sipped his wine. Partly its my fault.
Pug shook his head. No, Patrick is responsible for his own actions.
But Father would have
Pug interrupted. You are not your father. He let out a slow sigh. No one is James. James was unique. As was Prince Arutha. The Western Realm may never again see men as able as them gathered together at one time. Pug grew reflective. It all began with Lord Borric. I have never known a man his equal. Arutha was his equal in many ways, perhaps his superior in some, but on the whole, Borric raised two sons the Kingdom needed.
But from there we are seeing a diminution of the line. King Borric was seasoned in his travels to Kesh, but nothing like his father the Prince. Pug looked out a window at the distant torchlight along the palisades of the castle. Perhaps its just the years passing, the ability to think back with historys perspective, but at the time of the Riftwar there was a sense in the West that eventually we should prevail. Now I realize that came from Prince Arutha, your father at his brashest and most reckless, others who led and those who followed.
Looking at his grandson, Pug said, You must step forward, Arutha. You will never be the man for whom you were named, and you will never be your father, but nature didnt intend for you to be either of those men, no matter how worthy they were. You must become the best man you are capable of. I know the war took as much a toll on you as it did me. You alone of all those here know what I feel. Men like Owen Greylock and Erik von Darkmoor must rise to meet the needs of the nation. He smiled as he added, You are more capable than you think. You will be a fine Duke of Krondor.
Arutha nodded. His mother, Gamina, was Pugs daughter by adoption, but he had loved and treasured her as much as he had his son, William. To lose them both within days of one another had been terrible. I know that it was worse for you, Grandfather. I mourn my parents. You mourn your children.
Pug said nothing, swallowing hard and gripping Mirandas hand. Since the end of the war he had been revisited time and again by a wave of profound sorrow and pain, and as much as he hoped for the sense of loss to pass, it didnt. It grew muted at times, even forgotten for hours at a stretch, but in any quiet, reflective moment, it returned.
Even his marriage to Miranda had been hastily conducted, as if any delay might steal moments away from them. Pug and his new wife had spent as much time together as possible, dealing with the revelations of their past lives and the need to discuss their future. Yet every moment together, no matter how joyous, was overshadowed by the sense of loss, the sense of work yet undone, and the sense that nothing could ever return to them that which was lost.
Pug nodded at his grandsons words. He sighed. Arutha, you and I have never had the opportunity to be close. After my first wifes death I distanced myself from your mother. Watching her grow old was a fate I tried to avoid. He looked deep into his grandsons eyes. There is much of both your parents in you. I know your father trained you from birth to serve, and your life was never your own, but I also know he would have found a less demanding role for you had he found you lacking; you would not be allowed to follow after him had you been less a man than what you are. So, again I say, you must step forward. Patrick may prove a worthy ruler someday, but that day is not here yet. And it has often been our history that one in the role of advisor limited the choices placed before the rulers. Remembering the rule of mad King Roderic, Pug said, Perhaps we could have used more of such men in the past.
Arutha said, Ill try, Grandfather.
Miranda said, I dont presume to advise, as Ive never done well with obeying rulers in my day, but youll have to do more than try before were done.
Arutha looked as if he was ready to wilt. I know.
A servant announced supper was ready, and they adjourned to the next room. As Pug preceded his grandson, he knew one of the reasons Arutha was so fatigued: from worry over the whereabouts of his own sons.
Jimmy looked around. A series of patrols had been coming through the area for the last two days. They had tried to enter the city and discovered that no one was being allowed through the established checkpoints. Whoever was in charge inside Krondor, General Duko or someone else, had decided that Kingdom infiltration was a serious threat and had sealed the city.
Those mercenaries and traders who had gathered outside the city walls were not troubled, as long as they didnt cause trouble. A brawl had erupted the night before at a large bonfire some distance away, over a gambling debt, woman, or insult, Jimmy didnt know, but it had quickly been quelled by a detachment of warriors from the city who rode out and scattered everyone in sight. There had been nothing gentle or orderly about it, a simple raid to disperse, conducted with speed and efficiency. A half dozen men lay dead, while others were moaning and nursing injuries as the strike force returned to the city, but order had been restored. Most of the men outside the walls had come for booty, the opportunity to loot, or to gain steady pay, not to storm a well-fortified city.
Jimmy had judged the city fairly easy to retake should Patrick and his army be sitting outside the walls, but they werent. They were in Darkmoor or en route, and by the time they reached Krondor, the fortifications would be reaching daunting proportions. Workers freemen or prisoners, Jimmy didnt know which were up each day at dawn, repairing the damage from the final assault on the city the previous summer.
He had chanced a leisurely ride past the main eastern gates, and saw that they had been successfully replaced. While not as grand as the originals, the new gates looked stout and well crafted. Accomplished carpenters were among those working for the invaders, as most every man of fighting age on the distant continent of Novindus had been pressed into the army.
It was nearly sundown on their second day when Malar asked, Young sir, are we to find a safe place to sleep?
Jimmy shook his head. I think Ive seen enough outside. Its time to go inside the city.
Forgive my ignorance, but if each gate and breach is manned in the fashion we have observed so far, how do you propose to do this thing?
Jimmy said, There are more ways in and out of Krondor than are apparent. My grandfather knew them all, and he made sure Dash and I knew of every one of them before we left.
Is your brother likely to find a similar entrance?
He motioned for his servant to follow him, and they walked slowly past a group of sullen-looking fighting men, getting ready to settle in for another cold night around a campfire with little food or prospects. Knowing Dash, hes already in the city.
Dash sat with his back against the dirty stone wall. The other prisoners did likewise. Men crowded together on both sides, but he didnt object; the weather was still cold and his captors spared no fuel to keep the slave pen heated. He wore only his undershirt and trousers. His boots, jacket, cloak, and all the other possessions he had carried were taken from him.
He had managed to evade the patrol that had followed him and had ridden to the edge of Krondor. There he had found a thriving community of traders, thieves, camp followers, and others assembled outside the gates of the city. The invaders had closed the city to anyone not among their own forces and an odd truce existed along the eastern wall.
With many breaches in the walls, the peace was kept by patrols riding among those gathered outside the walls: a mix of Kingdom deserters, displaced farmers, workers, and mercenaries looking for employment. Among the invaders and Kingdom soldiers no small number of Keshians, Quegans, and fighters from the Free Cities of Natal were in evidence.
Dash had made the mistake of attempting to sneak into Krondor. If a man could enjoy freedom outside the walls, inside the walls only those who had served in General Dukos army were freemen. He had managed to stay out of sight for a day, but had run into a patrol and while being chased had ducked into a seemingly empty building which in reality had housed a half-dozen armed soldiers who were off-watch. They held him until the patrol caught up and, without even asking his reasons for being in the city, had beaten, robbed, then incarcerated him.
That had been three days before. Dash was letting his bruised and aching body recover; he had no doubt that given half a chance he could escape, and this time he wouldnt make the mistake of thinking the city was deserted. It wasnt. In fact, it was turning into something far more lively than he would have thought from Jimmys report.
He had spent two days working on restoring a fortification on the north wall. He had tried to overhear the guards gossip, but the fact was he could barely understand them. His brother had the gift for language. Dash could speak passable Keshian and Roldem, after having both languages drilled into him as a boy in the Kings court in Rillanon.
But he had barely been exposed to the Quegan, Natalese, and Yabonese dialects which, although descended from Keshian, were almost other languages to his ear. And this common tongue of Novindus was even more removed from Kesh than those.
Still, he was able to judge that something odd was happening or about to happen. The soldiers on patrol and those inside the city seemed as concerned about what was taking place to the north as they were concerned about what might be coming from the east.
Time to go, said a voice next to Dash.
Dash nodded to the man as he stood. The man was named Gustaf Tinker, though his last name suggested a grandfathers trade, for he had been a mercenary soldier from the Vale of Dreams. Dash had found out the first night that most of the prisoners were hapless locals, townspeople, fishermen, and farmers from nearby. Gustaf was something of an oddity, as the Kingdom soldiers had been segregated from the other prisoners. They didnt get worked, but they werent executed either. Dash had no idea what General Duko thought he might do with them; use them for hostages, perhaps. But as a result of the segregation, Gustaf and perhaps one or two others among the fifty or so men herded nightly into a room designed for a half dozen might prove useful allies when Dash made his break for freedom.
Another of the men, Talwin, was almost certainly a thief, but Dash had avoided too much conversation with him. Once into the sewers of the city, a local thief might prove a useful guide, but as long as they shared a cell together, Talwin would just as likely turn Dash in to the guards as a Kingdom spy as not for an extra ration.
The door opened and the men gratefully left the cramped room and shuffled out into the hallway. They were housed in a half-burned tannery in the North Quarter of the city. Most of the rank-smelling businesses slaughterhouses, dyers, fish mongers, among others were clustered here, so the area provided two benefits to invaders: large relatively undamaged buildings, and a close proximity to an area of the wall which badly needed repair. In the East Quarter, Dash suspected the workers were being housed in abandoned stables and sheds.