Where should I seek them? asked Erik.
Calis said, Go see the King before he leaves Krondor. If you ask him nicely, he may give you a warrant so you can steal the Border Barons best men from them. The Barons will not be happy when you do this, but if we lose this war, invasion from the Northlands is the last thing well need worry about.
Erik, remembering the map of the Kingdom in Williams office, said, That means a journey to Northwarden, Ironpass, and Highcastle.
Start with Ironpass, instructed Calis. Youll have to move fast, and while youre bringing the men south, march them through the Dimwood and avoid Sethanon. Get them here as soon as you can. Then with what Erik had come to think of as Caliss evil grin, he said, You have two months.
Erik suppressed a groan. I need three!
Kill some mounts getting there if you must, but you have two. I need another six hundred good men, two hundred from each of those garrisons here in Krondor in two months.
That will leave them with less than half their standard garrison! All of the Barons will object.
Of course theyll object, said Calis with a laugh. Thats why you need the Kings Warrant.
Erik hesitated, then set off in a jog, leaving a startled Calis behind. Where are you running to?
Krondor, said Erik. I need all the time I can squeeze, and theres someone I must say good-bye to.
Caliss laughter faded into the background as Erik continued to run. He was still running when he passed a startled Alfred and the men marching back to camp.
Erik had spent a difficult day with the King and then with Kitty. While the King wasnt too adverse to stripping his northern garrisons of soldiers needed there to defend his realm from the marauding goblins and dark elves, he was less than enthused with Calis entrusting the task of selecting those men to a sergeant. He reminded Erik that he carried court rank now, and he shouldnt let any of the Barons question his right to carry out those orders, but silently Erik wondered how he would force a nobleman with nearly four hundred armed men trained to obey to do what Erik wanted should the Kings Warrant prove insufficient.
He told Jadow that Calis would be returning later with the men who were to be reassigned to the Princes garrison, and then left to find Kitty.
She took the news of his two-month absence with a calm exterior, but Erik had come to know her well enough to see she was upset. He wished he could spend one more day with her, but knew that Caliss time limit was nearly impossible.
They slipped out of the inn and spent an emotional hour together, and at the end Erik had come as close as he dared to breaking his word to Calis about not repeating what he suspected. He just warned Kitty that should he not be around when that something big she suspected finally happened, she should slip out of Krondor and head to Ravensburg. He knew that when word of the invaders finally reached the city, there would be a little time to flee before the Prince ordered the city sealed. Kitty was smart enough to know what he meant and she would head to the Inn of the Pintail in Ravensburg to be with Freida, his mother, and Nathan, his stepfather. He promised he would find her there.
Erik left two hours before sundown. He knew he would have to put up at an inn along the way, but every hour he could steal would be worth the extra expense. Besides, he was spending the Kings gold, not his own.
Sundown found him still an hour from the nearest inn. The little moon was up, so it wasnt completely dark, and the Kings Highway was a clearly marked way, but Erik walked his horse rather than risk an injury by having the animal stumble.
His horse was a tough little roan gelding he had selected himself. It wasnt as strong or as large as most of the horses in the Princes stable, but it was likely to possess more endurance than most of the animals Erik might choose.
He would switch mounts often on this journey, and he would be in the saddle from before dawn to after dusk for nearly two weeks to reach Ironpass, and even then he would have to push the horses to the end of their endurance, but it could be done.
Silently Erik cursed his Captain and rode into the night.
Nakor pointed. There, again!
Sho Pi nodded. As it was last time, Master.
Nakor resisted the impulse to tell the young man to cease calling him master. It was as pointless as telling a dog not to scratch fleas.
Keshian patrols along the south coast of the Sea of Dreams, observed Nakor. Last time Calis informed the garrison commander, yet here again we see Keshian lancers riding with their colors unfurled. After a moment, he laughed.
What is funny, Master?
Nakor struck the young man lightly with the back of his hand on Sho Pis shoulder. Its obvious, boy. Lord Arutha has made a deal.
A deal? asked Sho Pi as the boats Captain turned his craft toward the shore.
Youll see, said the little man.
He and his disciple had taken ship from Krondor and sailed through the inlet into the waterway between the Bitter Sea and the Sea of Dreams. They were now on a river boat heading to Port Shamata, where they would buy horses and ride to Stardock. Nakor carried documents for Lord Arutha and orders from Prince Patrick and Duke James. Nakor had a nagging suspicion he knew what was in those documents, for several of them bore the Kings own crest, not that of the Prince.
The balance of the journey passed uneventfully, and eventually, Nakor and Sho Pi found themselves on the raft that served to carry passengers and goods across the Great Star Lake to the island of Stardock, and the community of magicians that resided there.
Arutha, Lord Vencar, Earl of the Kings Court and son of Duke James, met them at the landing. Nakor, Sho Pi! Its good to see you two again. He laughed. Our last meeting was far too brief.
Nakor also laughed. He had spent less than two minutes in the newly arrived Earls company before departing with Sho Pi and Pug to travel to Elvandar.
As they jumped the narrowing gap between barge and dock, Nakor said, I have messages from your father.
Arutha said, Come with me, then.
How did you know we were on the barge? asked Nakor.
As they walked to the huge building that was Stardock, the man the King had sent to administer the island of magicians said, Something mundane. Our lookout saw you from up there. He pointed to one of the windows in a high tower. He sent word to me.
Must be one of my students, said Nakor, nodding.
Inside the building, they traversed a long hall and moved toward what Nakor knew would be Aruthas office. It was the same one he had taken when he had been placed in charge of the island by Calis. Are Chalmes, Kalied, and the others giving you any trouble? asked Nakor.
At mention of the Keshian-born traditionalist who resisted the idea of this islands being subject to the Kings law, Arutha shook his head and said, None worth mentioning. They grouse a bit now and again, but as long as theyre free to teach and do their research, they dont complain too much about my administration.
Nakor said, I suspect theyre plotting.
No doubt, agreed Arutha as they reached his office, but I think it wont amount to much without outside help. Theyre too spineless to attempt to secede from the Kingdom without a strong ally.
Once inside the office, Arutha closed the door. And were prepared for that, said the Earl as he took the packet of documents his father had sent. Excuse me a moment, he said, and broke the seal on the first of those, a personal message from the Duke.
As he read, Nakor studied the Earl. He was as tall as his father, but looked more like his mother, with fine features and an almost delicate mouth. His eyes, though, thought Nakor, were his fathers; they were dangerous. His hair was like his fathers, too, as it had been when James was a young man: tight dark brown curls.
After a moment, Arutha said, Do you know whats in here?
No, said Nakor, but I can guess. Erland has just returned from Kesh. Did he pass this way?
Arutha laughed. Not much gets by you, does it?
When youve lived by your wits as long as I have, said Nakor, you learn to pay attention to everything.
Yes, Erland stopped for one night on his way home.
Then youve made a deal with Kesh.
Arutha said, Lets say weve come to an understanding.
If Sho Pi was lost in the conversation, he gave no sign, seemingly content to let his master and the Earl speak uninterrupted.
Nakor laughed. Your father is the most evil, dangerous man Ive ever met. Its a good thing hes on our side.
Arutha looked rueful. Youll get no argument from me in that regard. My life has never been my own.
Nakor took the message as Arutha handed it across the desk. You dont seem particularly bothered by this, observed the gambler.
Arutha shrugged. I had the usual rebellious nature most young men possess, but truth to tell, most of what my father had me do was interesting; challenging even. My sons, as you may have gathered, were a completely different case. My wife is quite a bit more forgiving of adventuresome natures than my mother was. He stood up as Nakor read the Dukes message. I have often thought what Fathers life must have been like, to be literally raised a thief in the sewers of Krondor. He glanced out a small window that overlooked the shoreline. Ive heard enough Jimmy the Hand stories to last a lifetime.
I didnt think your father was much on bragging, observed Sho Pi as Nakor continued to read.
Not from Father, but from others, said Arutha. Father has changed the history of the Kingdom. He fell into a thoughtful silence. It can be a difficult thing to be the son of a great man.
Nakor said, People expect much of a great mans son. He put the document on the desk. You want me to stay?
For a while, said Arutha. I need someone trustworthy here when this all breaks out. I need some reassurance that Chalmes and the others dont react badly.
Oh, theyll react badly enough when they see what your father and Prince Erland have cooked up, said Nakor with a small laugh, but Ill make sure no one gets hurt.
Good. Ill leave next week, after Ive seen to a few more necessary details.
You need to return to Krondor? asked Nakor.
Arutha nodded. I know my father.
Nakor sighed. I understand.
Arutha said, You have the same rooms as before, so rest and Ill see you at dinner.
Sensing they were being dismissed, Sho Pi rose and opened the door for Nakor.
After they had left the Earls office, Sho Pi said, Master, what did you mean by asking Lord Arutha if he needed to return?
His father ordered him to Rillanon, on a thin pretext of carrying messages to the King, said Nakor as they turned a corner leading to the suite of rooms set aside for them. Climbing a flight of stairs, Nakor continued, Arutha knows his father is unlikely to leave Krondor when the fighting starts. He wants to see that his sons dont stay with their grandfather.
I know war is risky, said the former soldier, but why should the Dukes grandsons be at any greater risk than anyone else?
Because it is unlikely that anyone who is in Krondor when the Queens fleet arrives will survive, Nakor answered flatly.
Sho Pi remained silent as they reached their quarters.
Erik signaled and the riders stopped. One of his scouts was riding back toward him. He had spent the better part of two months raiding the Border Barons for their best men, and now almost six hundred men rode in three columns spread out over twenty miles and a half behind him. It had been an exhausting ride, and Erik was cursing Calis with almost every mile of it, but he had his men.
Each Border Baron he had visited had read the Kings Warrant with a mix of disbelief and outrage. Each Baron was unique in that he was a vassal of the Crown, answerable to no Earl or Duke. To have a mere sergeant major of the Princes garrison walk in with orders to let him handpick men to be taken away, while promises of replacements were vague at best, was more than they could withstand.
Baron Northwarden had even considered attempting to hold Erik for confirmation of the order, but by then Erik had an armed company of nearly two hundred men with him and the Baron thought better of it.
At Highcastle, the Baron merely looked as if another weight had been added to his already abundant burden, and complied with a minimum of complaint. Erik suspected the company of four hundred men wearing the livery of Northwarden and Ironpass also convinced him.
They had ridden through the vast grasslands of the High Wold, home to nomadic tribesmen, herding their sheep and trading with the Barons and those small villages that survived this close to the Northlands. Several times they had found camps recently abandoned, as if the approach of so many armed men had caused bandits to flee into the hills.
After the third such camp had been encountered, Erik had ordered two of the men from Ironpass to ride advance scout. Erik found it slightly discomforting to think of any problems this far within the border of the Kingdom, but of all the lands between the Far Coast and the Kingdom Sea, those lands between the Teeth of the World the great northern mountain range and the boundary of the Dimwood were among the most hostile. Raiding parties of goblins and dark elves were known to have traveled as far south as Sethanon in the years before the Riftwar, and no matter the frequency of Kingdom patrols through these areas, they still remained wild and inhospitable.
They were presently riding through light woodlands, leading toward the far denser Dimwood, and now Erik had lost count of the ideal places for ambush he had ridden past.
The first scout reined in and said, An armed camp, Sergeant Major. At least a hundred men.
What? said Erik. Did anyone see you?
No, they post no scouts and seemed unconcerned about it; I believe they think themselves alone here.
Could you mark them?
No banner flew and they wore neither uniform nor tabard. They look like brigands.
Erik dismissed the scout and turned to the man he had named acting Corporal, a sergeant from Ironpass named Garret. I want a skirmish line behind us by fifty yards half the men. At the first sound of trouble, I want them to sweep in from either side. The rest should ready themselves to hit hard up the middle if needed, by column of two. Get four of your best and ride with me.
At least a decade Eriks senior, the man showed no hesitation in taking orders from the younger man. Erik liked his attitude and his discipline and planned on making him a sergeant as soon as possible, because in Garret he sensed someone whod keep his men alive.