They had been on the road for almost a week, having left the Kings Highway just west of Ravensburg and making their way across open country to the small westward trail road Roo and Erik had used when fleeing the area two years earlier.
The travel had been uneventful and the wagons were proving sturdy and the horses sound, which had contributed to Roos increasing optimism as the days passed. If his father had judged him daft for picking a large, unwieldy cargo, he kept his opinion to himself. He was an old teamster and had driven stranger cargo than dozens of small wine casks before.
They camped each night at sundown, letting the horses graze along a picket, supplementing the grass with a small amount of grain, mixed with honey and nuts, which kept them fit and energetic. Each day Roo used what knowledge of horses he possessed to check their soundness, and more than once he had silently wished for Eriks presence, as he would find anything that Roo might miss. But Roo had been astonished to discover that his father knew as much as Erik, at least on the subject of draft animals, and each day the old man inspected right alongside his son, and each day he judged the animals fit to continue the journey.
Now Roo crab-crawled on elbows and knees, turning as he moved between the wagons, and when he had the wagons between himself and the source of the arrow fire, he stood and ran into the woods. Only two years of combat and intense training saved his life, for another bandit had moved opposite the first and tried to impale Roo on his sword point. The only thing he accomplished was to die silently; Roo hardly broke stride as he ran him through, dodging sideways into the dark woods in case there was another bandit close by.
Silence greeted him as he paused to consider his next move. He slowed his breathing and looked around. The sun had set less than an hour before and the sky to the west might still hold some glow, but under the thick trees it could have been midnight. Roo listened. A moment later he heard another arrow flight, and he moved.
Circling as quietly as he could through the darkness, he ran swiftly to the place where he thought the bowman might be hiding. At this point he was convinced he was being besieged by a pair of poor bandits, trying to pick off the two guards so they could plunder whatever cargo ventured along the small road far from the Kings justice.
Roo waited. After a few more moments of silence, he heard someone stirring in the brush ahead of him and he acted. As quick as a cat on a mouse, he was through the brush and on top of the other bandit. The struggle was quickly over. The man attempted to drop his bow and pull a knife when he sensed Roos approach from behind.
The man died before the knife was out of his belt.
Its over, said Roo.
A moment later, Duncan and Tom appeared, wraithlike in the gloom. Just two of them? asked Duncan.
If theres another, hes halfway to Krondor, said Tom. He had obviously fallen hard, as he was dirty from boot to the top of his head on his left side, and he had a bruise on his left cheek. He held his right arm across his chest, holding tight to his left biceps, and flexed the fingers of his left hand.
Whats the matter? asked Roo.
Fell damn hard on this arm, I guess, answered his father. Its all tingly and numb. He seemed short of breath as he spoke. Blowing out a long note, he added, Some time of it, that was. Not ashamed to admit I was scared for a bit.
Duncan knelt and rolled over the bandit. This one looks like a ragpicker, he said.
Few honest traders and only a few more dishonest ones brave this route, said Tom. Never been a rich outlaw I heard of, and certainly not around here. He shook his hand as if trying to wake up a sleeping limb.
Duncan came away with a purse. He might not have been rich, but he wasnt coinless, either. He opened the purse and found a few copper coins and a single stone. Walking back into the light of the campfire, he knelt to inspect the gem. Nothing fancy, but itll fetch a coin or two.
Roo said, Better see if the other is dead.
He found the first man he had encountered lying facedown in the mud, and when he rolled him over, discovered a boys face on the corpse. Shaking his head in disgust, Roo quickly found the boy without even the rude leather pouch the other bandit had possessed.
He returned to the wagons as Duncan put down the bow he had taken from the first bandit. Pretty poor, he said, tossing it aside. Ran out of arrows. Roo sat down with an audible sigh.
What do you think theyd be doing with all this wine? asked Duncan.
Probably drink a bit, said Tom. But it was the horses and whatever coin we carry, and the swords you have and anything else they could sell.
Duncan said, We bury them?
Roo shook his head. Theyd not have done the same for us. Besides, weve no shovel. And Im not about to dig their graves with my hands. He sighed. If theyd been proper bandits, wed have been feeding the crows tomorrow instead of them. Better keep alert.
Duncan said, Well then, Im turning in.
Tom and Roo sat before the fire. Because of his age, Roo and Duncan allowed Tom the first watch. The man with the second had it roughest, having to awake for a few hours in the dark, then turn in again. Roo also knew that dawn was the most dangerous time for attack, as guards were the sleepiest and least alert and anyone contemplating a serious assault would wait for just before sunrise. Chances were near-certain if Tom had morning watch, should trouble come hed be sound asleep when he died.
Tom said, Had a stone like that one Duncans got, once.
Roo said nothing. His father rarely talked to him, a habit that had developed in childhood. Rupert had traveled with his father many times as a boy, learning the teamsters trade, but on the longest of those journeys, from Ravens-burg to Salador and back, hed rarely had more than ten words for the boy. When at home, Tom drank to excess, and when working, remained sober but stoic.
I got it for your mother, said Tom quietly.
Roo was riveted. If Tom was a quiet man when sober, he was always silent about Roos mother, sober or drunk. Roo knew what he did about his mother from others in the village, for she had died in childbirth.
She was a tiny thing, said Tom. Roo knew his diminutive status was a legacy from his mother. Eriks mother had mentioned that more than once. But strong, said Tom.
Roo found that surprising. She had a tough grit to her, continued Tom, his eyes shining in the firelight. You look like her, you know. He held his right arm across his chest, clutching his left arm, which he massaged absently. He peered into the fire as if seeking something in the dancing flame.
Roo nodded, afraid to speak. Since he had struck his father, knocking him to the ground, the old man had treated him with a deference Roo had never experienced before. Tom sighed. She wanted you, boy. The healing priest told her it would be chancy, with her being so tiny. He wiped his right hand over his face, then looked at his own hands, large, oft scarred, and calloused. I was afraid to touch her, you know, with her being so small and me having no gentleness in me. I was afraid Id break her. But she was tougher than she looked.
Roo swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to speak. He finally whispered, You never speak of her.
Tom nodded. I had so little joy in this life, boy. And she was every bit of it. I met her at a festival, and she looked like this shy bird of a thing, standing on the edge of the crowd at the feast of Midsummer. I had just come up from Salador, driving a wagon for my uncle, Duncans grandfather. I was half-drunk and full of myself, and then she was right there before me, bold as bright brass, and she says, Dance with me." He sighed. And I did.
Roo swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to speak. He finally whispered, You never speak of her.
Tom nodded. I had so little joy in this life, boy. And she was every bit of it. I met her at a festival, and she looked like this shy bird of a thing, standing on the edge of the crowd at the feast of Midsummer. I had just come up from Salador, driving a wagon for my uncle, Duncans grandfather. I was half-drunk and full of myself, and then she was right there before me, bold as bright brass, and she says, Dance with me." He sighed. And I did.
He was silent awhile. He hugged himself, and his breath seemed labored, and he had to swallow hard to speak. She had that same look you do, not fetching with her thin face and uneven teeth, until she smiled then she lit up and was beautiful. I got her that stone I was speaking of for our wedding. Had it set in a ring for her.
Like a noble, said Roo, forcing his voice to a lighter tone.
Like the Queen herself, Tom answered with a shallow laugh. He swallowed hard. She said I was mad and should sell it for a new wagon, but I insisted she keep it.
You never told me, said Roo softly.
Tom shrugged and was silent. He took a deep breath, then said, Youre a man now. Showed me that when I woke to find you standing over me at Gastons. Never thought youd amount to much, but youre a shrewd one, and if you can beat the Kings own hangman, and learn to handle yourself so I cant bully you, why, I figure youll turn out all right down the road. Tom smiled slightly and said, Youre like her that way; youre tougher than you look.
Roo sat in silence a minute, not knowing what to say, then after a bit he said, Why dont you turn in, Father. I have some thinking to do.
Tom nodded. I think I will. Got a pain in my neck. He moved his left shoulder as if to loosen tight muscles. Must have really twisted it hitting the ground when those lads started shooting arrows at us. Hurts from my wrist to my jaw. He wiped perspiration from his brow. Broke a bit of sweat, too. He sucked in a large breath and blew it out, as if just standing had been exertion. Getting too old for this. When you get rich, you remember your old father, hear me, Roo?
Roo started to smile and say something when his fathers eyes rolled up into his head and he fell forward, facedown into the fire. Roo yelled, Duncan! and with a single move yanked his father out of the flames.
Duncan was over in an instant and saw the waxy pallor of Toms face, the white eyes, and smoldering burns on his cheek and neck. He knelt next to Roo, then said, Hes dead.
Roo remained motionless as he silently regarded the man who had been his father, and who had died still a stranger to him.
Chapter Four Setback
Roo signaled.
Duncan reined in the second wagon, coming to a halt behind the first. Roo turned, stood, and shouted, Krondor!
They had been traveling this way since burying Tom, in a grave Roo had dug with his bare hands, covering him with stones to keep scavengers away. Duncan had become a fair driver. He had remembered a few things taught to him by Tom when he was a boy, and Roo had increased his skill until he no longer had to spend every minute worrying about the second wagon and its cargo.
Roo was still troubled by his fathers death. He couldnt escape the feeling that he had glimpsed something in his father when he had been speaking about Roos mother. Roo knew there was a great deal about his own history he didnt understand. His father had always been an aloof man when sober and abusive when drunk, and in part Roo now understood why: each time Tom looked at his son he saw a reminder of the wife he had loved beyond measure, taken from him at Roos birth.
But there had been more, and Roo now had dozens of questions, none of which his father would ever answer. He vowed to return to Ravensburg and try to find those few people in the town Tom might have called friend, to ask them those questions. Perhaps he might travel to Salador to visit with Duncans branch of the family. But he wanted answers. Suddenly Roo had been made aware that he really didnt know who he was. Pushing aside that thought, he insisted to himself it wasnt as important who one is as who one becomes, and he was determined to become a rich, respected man.
Duncan tied off the reins and jumped down from his wagon, walking to where Roo stood. Roo had come to like his cousin, though there was still the rogue in his manner, and Duncan didnt bring out any strong sense of trust, the way Roo trusted Erik or the other men he had served with under Calis. But he liked the man and thought he might be useful, for he had enough experience with nobility to tutor Rob in manners and fashion.
Duncan climbed up on the first wagon and looked at the distant city. Were going in tonight? he asked.
Roo glanced at the setting sun and said, I dont think so. Id have to find a stable yard to house this wine until we could move out in the morning. Were still more than an hour from the gate now. Lets make a camp and well head in at first light, try to sell some of this before the inns get too busy.
They made camp and ate a cold meal before a small fire, while the horses, tied in a long picket, grazed along the roadside. Roo had given them the last of the grain and they were making satisfied noises. What are you going to do with the wagons? asked Duncan.
Sell them, I think. Roo wasnt sure if he wanted to depend on other shippers, but he didnt think his time was best spent actually driving the wagons back and forth between Ravensburg and Krondor. Or maybe hire a driver and send you back for another load after we sell off this lot.
Duncan shrugged. Not much by way of excitement, unless you count those two hapless boy bandits.
Roo said, One of those boy bandits almost put an arrow through my head he tapped the side of his skull if you remember.
There is that. Duncan sighed. I mean by way of women and drink.
Well have some of that tomorrow night. Roo glanced around. Turn in Ill take the first watch.
Duncan yawned. I wont argue.
Roo sat by the fire as his cousin grabbed a blanket and crawled under one of the wagons to protect himself from the dew that would form during the night. This close to the ocean it wasnt a possibility, it was a certainty, and waking up wet wasnt either mans idea of a pleasant way to start the day.
Roo considered what he would do first in the morning, and made up several speeches, rehearsing each and discarding this phrase or that as he tried to determine which sales pitch would work best. He had never been a focused thinker in his youth, but so much was riding on his doing well that he became lost in his thinking, and didnt realize how much time had passed until he noticed the fire burning down. He considered waking Duncan, but decided instead to reconsider some of his sales pitch, and just stuck some more wood in the fire.
He was still practicing his pitch when the lightening sky finally took his attention from the now merely glowing embers of the fire and he shook himself out of his half-daze, half-dreaming, and he realized that he had not truly slept all night. But he was too filled with excitement and too ready to rush forward into his new life and he figured Duncan wouldnt object to the extra rest. He rose, and found his knees stiff from sitting in the damp, cool night air without moving for hours. His hair was damp, and dew shone upon his cloak as he shook it out.