The noise redoubled, and under its cover, the castellan said, “Our greater gratitude, if you can find it in you to aid us further.”
He was gone, then, his aides and assistants surrounding him. It was some time before the cheering ceased and Blorys was able to pull the two of them aside.
“Well!” Eddis wrinkled her nose. “That was a proper show, wasn’t it?”
Jerdren looked around and shushed her anxiously.
“There’s no one close to overhear me—if anyone could in all this din. I’m not a fool, Jers!”
“Ask me,” Blorys replied gloomily, “we’ve been set up. Proper, as you say, Eddis.”
“Proper?” Jerdren looked from his brother to his co-captain, back again. “Set up? Are you both mad? D’you know what that man’s just offered us?”
“No,” Blorys said tiredly. “No idea, Brother. What?”
“What?” Jerdren eyed him sidelong, visibly puzzled. “Chance at fortune, glory, and the gods know what else!”
Blorys cleared his throat cautiously. “Um, Brother? I’m wondering, just what is there in these particular caves?”
Jerdren grinned broadly. “Orcs! Remember, our Keep men said there was supposedly some at these distant caves?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Blorys said. “Caves—except ‘our’ Keep men, as you call ’em, have never seen these caves. Frankly, everything I’ve heard is a tale told so many times no one knows what of it’s true. If anything.”
“What about the men from the East?” Jerdren asked. “Remember? Two years ago—that’s not so long. There’ll be people here those men talked to.”
“It’s still stories, Jers.”
Jerdren shrugged. He was still grinning. “So?”
“Besides,” Blorys said evenly, “think about this, before you get too excited about the possibilities. Good against bandits—we’re that. Good against orcs who weren’t expecting us—we’re that, too. What else might be out there, though. Ask yourself, Brother, before you agree to this mad venture. What’s in those caves? Sounds to me like the castellan is afraid enough that he’s willing to offer just about everything he can promise.”
Eddis shook her head. “Blor, he probably doesn’t know any more about them than anyone else—just rumor and gossip. He’s probably peopled those caves with every evil being that was ever said to walk the realm and the lands beyond!”
“Well?” Blorys asked quietly. “That’s all I’m saying, Eddis. Maybe that’s exactly what’s out there.”
He looked from her to his brother, but for once, Jerdren seemed to have nothing to say.
It couldn’t last for long, of course. By the time they were halfway across the inner bailey, Jerdren’s spirits were again soaring high.
“Look, it’s an honor, Eddis,” he said, waving the rest of their company close. “Being picked to—”
“We still don’t know what we’re supposed to do,” Eddis put in as he paused. “Jerdren, we can’t talk out here like this.”
“The tavern won’t be any better,” Blorys said. “Now the banquet’s over, the place will be packed, I’ll wager. People wanting to talk to the taverner and his wife about it, the usual crowd, and I’ll also wager there’ll be plenty of men looking for us already. Word will get around fast, Jers. People will assume that of course we’ll take the castellan up on his offer, and they know that the men who went out with us last time came back with fat purses.”
“Those who survived,” Eddis said.
“True, but the men who left family here at least got their share. Most soldiers would find that acceptable, if they weren’t going to make it through themselves.”
“What about the inn?” M’Whan asked, but Jerdren shook his head.
“There’s always men asleep in there,” Blorys told him. “Like the barracks. Personally, I’d like somewhere private, if we’re going to talk.”
“The private rooms at the inn are too small,” Eddis reminded him.
“I know,” he replied. “Wait, though. Private—that reminds me. Jers, that was our hide merchant at the far end of my table, wasn’t it? Because if so, he’ll be coming this way any time now, and they’re staying at the Guild Hall, aren’t they?”
Jerdren nodded.
“So, if you asked, he might get them to let us in, give us some place to talk this over.”
“Can’t get ale at the Guild Hall,” Jerdren reminded him.
“So? It’s a trade-off, if they’ll let us in. And there might be someone there who can answer some questions for us.” Blorys was scanning the crowd of people crossing the inner bailey. “Anyone wants a cup of ale after that, I’m for it.”
Jerdren looked at his companions. “Sounds good to me. Why don’t you all head out, and I’ll see if I can’t find the man. If not, Blor, you should be able to catch him at the gates. If you can’t, we’ll head over to the Guild Hall.” He was gone before his brother could form a reply.
“He’s right. No reason for us to wait right in the middle of everyone’s way, is there?” Blorys asked as Jerdren vanished into the crowd, and started back the other direction. “So. Eddis, I think we’re of the same opinion. But the rest of you—any thoughts yet?” He smiled faintly.
“I…” Eddis sighed. “I just don’t know about this, Blor. I’ll wait to make up my mind until I hear something that doesn’t start with ‘I’ve heard’, or ‘they say’.”
One of the Keep men spread his hands. “It’s more of the same, I expect. All any of us knows is what we told you, out there. Old tales from the days when Lord Macsen first began to build here, about caves and the monsters that live in ’em. Stories all differ about the size of the caves, where exactly they are, what lives there and why. The only thing they all say is that if you travel far enough along the east road, you’ll find them. Or the creatures that live there will find you.”
“Don’t forget the other tale,” another man said. “Those traders who came from foreign lands east of here. The castellan and his advisors talk to any strangers who come in from distant lands, and it’s certain they talked to those men.”
“That’s better than a story passed through half a dozen mouths,” Eddis said with a shrug. “Though it would be better to my thinking if I’d had the chance to talk to those men myself.” She looked up as Jerdren came hurrying through the gates. He was smiling widely.
“Found him!” he announced, “and he said he’d be happy to ask. Just asked that we give him time for that, then follow. If no one minds?”
Eddis cast up her eyes, shrugged.
“Well, then?” He started off, but Blorys caught hold of his arm, dragging him to a halt. “What?”
“Brother, give the poor merchant time to reach the Guild Hall, will you? Maybe even ask the favor?”
“Oh, right. Sure.” Jerdren looked around, waved at a clutch of people who were smiling at him and talking in low voices, finally strode over to the fountain, and hoisted his backside onto the rim, one leg jiggling. The rest of the company followed. Eddis settled cross-legged on the paving. “Now, I say first thing is, we separate fact from tales. Best we can, of course. Any argument?”
“What—you’re not going to demand we choose to go right now?” Eddis asked dryly.
“Well, sure I am. Why not? Even if we didn’t find these caves or anything out there to fight, we’d still get decent equipment and provisioning out of it,” Jerdren replied promptly. “C’mon, Eddis, why not? If we do find caves and monsters and all that—well, we get better at what we do, we probably find a lot of gold and gems they’ve stolen from travelers, and we come back heroes.” He waited. She cast up her eyes. “Hey, Eddis, same terms as this last time—equals in everything, huh? Wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“The pay was all right,” she said. “Though I’m not sure I like Ferec’s idea of a reward. Say we did find caves and all. Say we did win through. I don’t want to think what the man would consider a proper reward for that. It doesn’t matter, because until I know more than I do right
now, I’m not jumping either way.”
“She’s right, Brother.” Blorys settled down next to her. “If we’re even going to think about fighting orcs and worse things, we need to have some idea what to prepare for. We lost men on this last journey. This one—well, if we underestimated the enemy, none of us might come back.” He glanced at Eddis. “I wouldn’t like that much.”
“You need to talk to the castellan tomorrow,” Eddis told Jerdren. “Find out what they actually know, if they talked to those foreigners, what they learned. Anything that’s fact. The rest of us can split up tomorrow, talk to people, especially anyone like us who’s come in with a caravan. Maybe someone should visit the chapel. Didn’t Ferec say the cleric would help us? They should have records, if there’s anything known.”
“Don’t forget the Guild Hall,” M’Baddah said. “They also keep records, and they learn much from the merchants who come here.”
Jerdren nodded. His leg was still jiggling up and down. “We can work that out tonight.” He looked around, up at the sky. “Been long enough, hasn’t it?”
“May as well go,” Eddis said and pushed to her feet.
She’d half expected the man’s excitement—rudeness, to her thinking—to get them turned away. If the merchant had even asked, of course. The man might feel Jers had put him in a difficult position. But as they walked back around the inn and along the stables and barracks, she could see the hall and light shining through an open door. Two tall men-at-arms flanked the door, and just within, clearly awaiting them, was an elderly but vigorous-looking man with long, white hair and very blue eyes.
He smiled and inclined his head as they came up. “I am the master of this house. Welcome. I recognize each of you from your entry to the Keep yesterday morning. You are Jerdren, you Eddis, and these the men and elves who went with you after the bandits.”
Eddis wasn’t quite sure what the protocol was. She bowed her head much as the master had, as he stepped aside to let them enter a hallway that stretched to both sides.
“The hide merchant tells me you need a quiet place to talk for a time. I fear we cannot offer you strong drink, or indeed food at this hour, but—”
“We need nothing, save a quiet place to talk,” Blorys assured him.
“That you shall have.” He stepped back to let the two men-at-arms lead the way down the hall and through a door. The passage here was narrow, and nearly as long as the first, with a flight of stairs at its end. The steps curved out of sight to the right.
It was dark here, except for the master’s lamp behind them and another carried by one of the armsmen. At the top of the stairs, another empty hall with a closed door at its end. One of their guides opened the door for them, then the two men-at-arms went back down the hall and could be heard clattering down the stone steps. The master remained while they were shown into yet another hallway and from there into a long, windowless chamber. A narrow bed, a desk and several chairs were the only furnishings. A fire burned low in the fireplace along one wall. The second-floor guard knelt to build up the fire. The master gazed around the room, nodded as it apparently met his standards, then went back to the door.
“If there is anything you need, these men will be nearby,” he said. “I will see that fresh water and some fruit are sent up for you.”
“Ah, sir,” Eddis said, ducking her head politely again. “One additional favor, if we may. It’s said that your people may have some knowledge of these caves—caverns?”
“Not so much knowledge as rumor,” the master said. “But what we have, my clerks will find for you. I fear you will need to read it here, as we have no spare copies of such old records.”
“That will be acceptable,” Blorys said. “Our thanks, sir. And when we’re ready to leave?”
“The guards will escort you down and into the open once more.”
He was gone moments later, the door quietly closing behind him and the two guardsmen. Jerdren eyed the door thoughtfully, finally shrugged.
“We’re speaking no secrets here, small matter if anyone listens, and we won’t be constantly interrupted, unlike any other place I can think of within these walls. Good enough, I’d say.” He glanced at his brother, then at Eddis. “I suppose you two want to wait for whatever the man’s clerks can turn up?”
“Not necessarily,” Blorys said. “We can talk about it. I’m not going to be swayed by the castellan’s fine speech and all that cheering, though, Jers. I know—that wasn’t all that took your eye, it was the adventure itself. All the same. I want as much idea of what we’re getting in for as we had this last time. Makes it easier to decide on who and what we need to take.”
“It’s vital that we know as much as we can,” Eddis said evenly. “Not knowing could get us all killed, and there is nothing heroic about foolishly throwing your life away.”
They talked generally, the Keep men reminding each other of various rumors they’d heard over the years. Most of it was like the things they’d mentioned in the inner bailey after the feast, Eddis thought. Eventually, the men ran out of what they’d heard. Then one of the hunters tugged at his ear.
“Don’t know what reminded me of it. There was a feller who came through here—must be three years ago, now. Claimed to be a monster-fighter, just come down from wiping out a clan of kobolds up north somewheres.”
“Huh,” Jerdren said shortly. “Unless kobolds seriously outnumber you, anyone can do that.” Blorys tugged at his sleeve, and he subsided.
“Well, what he said, at least. Don’t remember as any of us were so impressed with him and his tales, ’cept I remember him tellin’ us at some point that if you’re fighting goblins and one of ’em yells out, ‘Bree-yark!’ that means they give up.” He blinked in surprise as Blorys and Jerdren broke out laughing. “What?”
“He must have been army, wager anything!” Jerdren said finally. He was still chuckling. “We got told that when our company first went north to fight orcs. Bunch of green recruits, most of us were, and that nearly got us killed!”
Blorys shook his head. “It’s an old army joke. Just about every green village recruit in that company I ever talked to had heard that one. I’m not certain what it really means, but it’s something like, ‘Hey, you idiot!’ Bad insult, anyway. We didn’t get nearly killed, Jers. None of us was fool enough to stop fighting and wait for ’em to toss down their weapons, were we?”
“Stupid kind of joke,” the hunter said earnestly. “What if a man took it serious like?”
Eddis bit back a smile. Shed already noticed most of the Keep guards lacked a sense of humor. Blorys tipped her a wink, then went to open the door as someone tapped at the panel. A nearly bald old man in clerk’s robes came in with a small basket containing several dusty scrolls and another containing a stoppered ewer of water and plain wooden cups. The man murmured something rather anxiously. Blorys nodded and took the basket. The clerk scurried off, closing the door behind him.
“Wanted to know if we needed anyone to read Common,” Blor said as Jerdren raised an eyebrow. “Said some of these are old, the writing’s bad, and some are fading.”
“I’ll try,” Eddis said. She unrolled the first, shifting around until light fell on it, and pored over the contents. “Here,” she said at last. “This is from when Lord Macsen first began to build the Keep. He sent a large armed company on a long scouting party up the east road to see how far they could safely journey and what was there. And with orders—” her gaze flicked toward Jerdren—“to not take serious chances or engage the enemy, if there was one, because they were there to bring back information.
“Macsen’s men took their lord at his word—particularly the last words, because most of them returned alive. They’d spoken of orcs in a long, deep ravine where the road went northeast, of kobolds and something very large and dark that followed alongside them, back in the trees where all they could make out was the general size and shape and speed of it. It hadn’t come close, perhaps fearing their numbers, good arms and armor. They h
adn’t gone after it, nor had they ever strayed from the road. They’d built large fires at night and kept watches by twos and threes, had heard plenty of wolves and other odd, disturbing cries in the night but saw only a huge flying shadow cross the fire once, nothing else.”
The second scroll yielded nothing but most of the rumors they’d already heard and a few new ones.
“Eater of men?” Jerdren scoffed. “That could be nearly anything! Orcs, lizardmen, ogres, too, though it’s said they prefer dwarf, and …” He faltered to an embarrassed silence, eyed Willow and Mead from under his brows.
“And elves,” Willow said dryly. “We know. Never mind, Jerdren.”
The third scroll was newer than the other two, less dusty. Eddis examined it for some moments, then glanced up. “I think I’ve found something. It’s—let me see—a new copy of a very old scroll, one Lord Macsen brought with him when he came here. There’s some notes here, see?” She indicated the beginning of the neatly written text. “It says, ‘I Veriyan, make this fair copy of a scroll scarce ten years old but damaged by the damp, and it was in turn a copy of one brought to these lands by the Lord Macsen himself. Some say the lord had that scroll from a kinsman who rode these lands and saw in person the wonders written down here. Others say that he bought the scroll or was given it, and this I believe to be true, since it was not ordered to be placed with histories.’”
Jerdren cleared his throat impatiently. Eddis shrugged and began scanning down the document as quickly as she could.
“Ah,” she said finally, “here is the most detailed thing so far. ‘To me it was told by one who journeyed there, a hero who knew nothing of the caverns until he drew near them and was accosted by dire and diverse enemies. Vast they are, with many ways in, and often the passage in is the only way out. Many the sorts of monster which dwelleth there, but like men and monsters, oft the varieties of these do not or cannot live together. For many long, weary days did this man and his followers battle the small dog-men armed with spears who withdrew from bright lights and fled from greater numbers. There they found the hyena who stalks on two legs and bears weaponry. Here were orcs, and traps, and the strange creatures that often inhabit the dark places of the world, and serve no one but themselves and their own hungers.’” Her nose wrinkled. Caves were all right, but nasty creatures lurking in the darkness… “‘And in yet another place, a vast silence and stench and a fear so great even the hero himself would not tread the darkness there.
Keep on the Borderlands Page 15
