Prince of the Blood, the King's Buccaneer

by Raymond E. Feist

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Nicholas. He said to Marcus, ‘Pull up.’ Waving to the other wagons behind, he ran to the third, where Calis rode next to Harry. To the half-elf he said, ‘Tuka says there’s a perfect place for an ambush a half-day ahead, and Ghuda thinks that’s likely.’

  Calis nodded and jumped down without a word, setting off at a half-run. Moving to the fourth wagon, where Amos and Brisa rode, he informed them of the reason for the unexpected stop.

  Amos leaped down and said, ‘Well, Ghuda knows his craft, I’ll warrant.’

  Nakor and Anthony had been riding in the rear of the last wagon, with the men who still needed attention. They came up and Nakor said, ‘Ghuda knows enough to lead his own company, should he have the ambition.’

  Glancing around, he said, ‘Anthony. This is as good a place as any.’

  Nicholas said, ‘For what?’

  Anthony said, ‘To see if I can locate the prisoners again. I haven’t tried since the shipwreck.’

  Nicholas nodded and Anthony closed his eyes. After a long minute, he said, ‘It’s faint, but there.’ He pointed to the south.

  Nicholas said, ‘Well, that’s where we’re going.’

  Calis lay on the ground. He pointed. ‘There.’

  Nicholas squinted against the setting sun. They lay in the tall grass to the west of a large inn, surrounded by a low wall. What Nicholas strove to see was a company of men who were keeping to themselves in the far corner of the yard. After counting, he said, ‘There are twelve, I think.’

  Ghuda said, ‘There are a lot more inside, from the sound of it.’

  What they could hear were clearly celebratory, shouts and laughter, music and the playful noises of men and women enjoying themselves. Nicholas crawled backward down the hillside. They were close enough for him to take no chance of being seen, even with night rapidly approaching.

  As the others followed, they hurried back toward the waiting wagons, camped a mile down the road. Ghuda had already suggested to Nicholas that they make cold camp, in case someone at the inn was alert enough to notice light in the distance. The Ranjana had let it be known that she didn’t care much for the notion, and was even more irritated at being ignored by Nicholas.

  When they were a bit down the road, Ghuda said, ‘It’s that dozen or so hanging out by themselves in the court who make me nervous.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Nicholas.

  ‘Those are professionals, if I know my trade. They were the ones who led that raid, who coordinated its timing, and the others are … I don’t know who they are. But while they’re in the inn getting drunk and getting into fights over the whores, the professionals are outside having a meeting about something.’

  ‘Betrayal?’ asked Nicholas.

  Ghuda shrugged, the gesture clear in the falling light. ‘It’s on my mind. Those who were left to bring in the wagons were certainly abandoned to their fate. If their mission is to mess up Tuka’s master’s alliance with this Overlord, why didn’t they just kill the girl? Or why not take her to the slave auctions? Or hold her for ransom? Why not put her on the boats? And why would they leave all those jewels she’s wearing? For bandits, they’re pretty indifferent to plunder.’ Ghuda scratched his chin. ‘There are a lot of questions here, and I don’t have any answers.’

  Nicholas said little as they made their way back to the campsite. As they approached, a voice cut through the darkness. ‘Good evening, Captain.’

  Nicholas waved at the sentry, who had hidden himself behind a low scrub bush, and smiled slightly at the title. It had taken a while to get everyone into the habit of calling him Captain, but now they all did, including Amos, who seemed to like the irony of it.

  Reaching the center of the wagons, which had been drawn up into a defensive square, they found Marcus and the others eating a cold meal. Kneeling next to his cousin, Nicholas said, ‘Most of them are getting a snootful in the inn.’

  Marcus said, ‘When do we hit them?’

  ‘Just before dawn,’ answered Nicholas.

  Brisa, who was sitting next to Marcus, observed, ‘You said most of them.’

  Nicholas said, ‘There are about a dozen that look like they know what they’re doing, and they may be a problem.’

  ‘How big a problem?’ asked Marcus.

  Ghuda said, ‘They look like seasoned veterans.’ He glanced around at the faces of the sailors and soldiers who were close by and said, ‘We’ve a good number of hard men with us, too, but we’re poorly armed and some of us aren’t back to full strength yet.’

  Nicholas nodded. ‘But we do have surprise on our side.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ said Ghuda.

  Harry asked, ‘How are we going in?’

  Nicholas took out his dagger and said, ‘The inn sits beside the landing, with one side right up against the river.’

  Tuka said, ‘Encosi, there is a trapdoor below the storage room, that Shingazi put in to make it easier to bring in ale and food from the river.’

  ‘You’ve been there before?’

  ‘Many times,’ said the little man.

  Ghuda said, ‘I’d say from the look of the place that the owner doesn’t expect much trouble.’

  Tuka said, ‘No, Sab. The Jeshandi ceded the land to his father years ago, and traders and travelers are putting in there most regularly. Shingazi has many friends and no enemies, as he is being a fair trader and innkeeper. It would be most difficult for any company bringing trouble to Shingazi’s Landing. It would be making them many enemies.’

  Nicholas said, ‘So if we hit these bandits there, we’re going to be making things difficult for ourselves?’

  ‘Sorry I am to be saying this, Encosi, but that is true.’

  Nicholas said, ‘If we don’t show up, someone’s going to come looking for us. Those who were left with these wagons may have been lazy and sloppy, but they couldn’t take more than another half-day to reach the landing, so by late tomorrow, someone’s going to come looking.’

  ‘And there goes our surprise,’ said Calis.

  Nicholas said, ‘Marcus and Calis, each of you take five men and all the bows. I want Calis’s group to circle around and come back up the river toward us. Marcus you’ll be coming down along the river. The rest of us will trail down the road, and leave it this side of the last ridge before we see the inn. We’ll circle around and come over that ridge opposite the main gate.’ He thought for a minute, then said, ‘If they’re drunk enough, maybe we can slip in and disarm them.’

  ‘If that dozen who were outside are all asleep,’ said Ghuda.

  ‘No, if they leave only three or four sentries.’

  ‘That low wall gives no defense, Nicholas, but it provides a little cover,’ said Ghuda.

  Nakor said, ‘I have a trick.’

  All eyes turned to where the little man sat next to Anthony. Nakor put his hand on Anthony’s wrist. ‘He’ll help me.’

  ‘I will?’

  Nakor had taken to carrying his rucksack again and he reached in and said, ‘Ha! The merchant has repaired his storage room!’ Pulling out his plunder, he held it up for all to see. ‘Anyone want an apple?’

  Nicholas laughed. ‘Sure.’ Taking a bite, he said, ‘What’s the trick?’

  Nakor said, ‘I’ll swim down the river, climb up through the trapdoor that Tuka said is there, and light a bunch of wet grass. It’ll make a lot of smoke, and when it’s really burning, I’ll start shouting “fire”!’

  Nicholas laughed. ‘I thought you meant magic’

  Nakor made a face. Nicholas half expected him to say, ‘There is no magic,’ but instead he said, ‘How do you think I’m going to get in unseen, if the trapdoor is bolted, and start the fire?’

  Nicholas said, ‘Ghuda?’

  ‘If we take out guards outside, there’s only the one door and a couple of big windows … maybe.’

  Nicholas said, ‘Let’s try it.’

  Brisa said, ‘I may be a little stupid, but why are we attacking this place?’ From the sou
nd of her question, it was clear that she didn’t like the idea. ‘Why don’t we just circle around it?’

  ‘Because that’s where the boats are,’ said Harry.

  ‘Boats?’

  ‘Which we’ll take downriver to the City of the Serpent River,’ said Nicholas. Looking at Tuka, he said, ‘How long to the city by wagon?’

  ‘Almost impossible,’ said the little man. ‘The trails south of the landing are for hunters and horsemen. There is no more road. Even if a road was being there, such a journey would be taking months. My master is expecting myself and the other wagoners to return to Kilbar with the empty wagons, after the cargo and the Ranjana were put on the boats. By the river it is taking only weeks.’

  ‘So,’ said Nicholas. ‘They’ve got the boats and we need them, and we don’t want to turn every mercenary band in this land against us, so we want to do this without damaging the inn. Having a confused, hung-over band of men scrambling to get out of a burning building in the middle of the night sounds like the best plan to me.’

  They discussed the details of the plan for an hour, then ate cold food. Nicholas was suggesting to everyone that they turn in and rest as much as they could when one of the sentries came hurrying into the camp. ‘Captain!’ he said.

  ‘What?’ asked Nicholas, seeing the alarm on the man’s face.

  ‘The inn at Shingazi’s Landing is burning.’

  Nicholas looked to the south and there a red-yellow glow could be seen just above the horizon.

  They reached the crest above the inn as the fire reached its height. Nicholas and the twenty fittest soldiers and sailors had run the mile and a half to this point, while the rest remained behind guarding the wagons.

  From their position on the hill, they could see that the entire building was engulfed in flames. And in the light of the fire, they could clearly see the bodies scattered around the courtyard.

  Ghuda counted. ‘Seems like someone had the same idea as we did, but used a real fire instead of smoke. I count thirty or more bodies in that courtyard. Those poor bastards came out the door and windows and were cut down as they did.’ He considered. ‘It’s the same tactic they used in Crydee.’

  Nicholas felt his back hairs stand up. ‘You’re right.’

  They walked down the hillside, seeing details of the carnage as they neared the inn. They stepped over the low wall and picked their way through the litter of bodies and debris. Tuka knelt to inspect the dead. After a minute, he said, ‘Encosi! These are clansmen!’

  He pointed to one man who wore a silver lion’s head on a leather thong around his neck. He moved quickly from body to body and said, ‘This man is being a Bear clansman, and this over here is from the Wolf’s clan. This is an alliance, all who must have turned against the Overlord.’

  Ghuda walked to the farthest corner of the yard, as close as he could get to the heat coming off the building and said, ‘Nicholas, over here!’

  Nicholas, with Calis, Amos, and two of the soldiers, hurried to where Ghuda stood. There he pointed at a pile of bodies, some of which were smoking in the heat from the fire. ‘There are those mercenaries I told you about.’

  ‘Damn,’ said Amos. ‘When you spin a tale of betrayal, you really know what you’re talking about.’ He glanced around. ‘Someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to get everyone involved in this caper very upset.’

  Nicholas knelt down and tried to see something. Amos followed his gaze and said, ‘Gods preserve us!’

  ‘What is it?’ asked Marcus.

  ‘That helm, there, on the man beneath those two other dead men.’

  Marcus looked. ‘The red one?’

  ‘Yes, that’s the one.’

  ‘What about it?’ asked Marcus.

  ‘I’ve seen its like, though when I last saw it, it was black.’

  Nicholas said, ‘Father’s spoken of its like. A full metal helm, covering the face, dragon crest, with two wings downswept to cover both sides, and all the rest.’

  ‘Did he tell you who wore them?’ asked Amos.

  ‘Yes,’ said Nicholas. ‘He did. Murmandamus’s Black Slayers.’

  Tuka said, ‘That’s the helm of the Red Slayers.’

  Nicholas said, ‘And what do you know of them?’

  The little man made an elaborate gesture, a ward against evil. ‘They are very bad men. They are a brotherhood of warriors and they serve the Overlord of the City of the Serpent River.’

  Nicholas glanced at Calis, Amos, and Marcus. While he seemed to be addressing everyone, he was speaking only to them. ‘We’re heading in the right direction,’ he said.

  • CHAPTER SIXTEEN •

  River

  A MAN COUGHED.

  Nicholas and the others turned toward the sound and moved quickly. Two men lay dazed against the outside of the wall, and Ghuda helped two of the soldiers pull them farther away from the fire.

  One had a cut to the head that bled copiously, and the other had taken a crossbow bolt in the shoulder.

  The man with the bolt in his shoulder was unconscious, but the man with the scalp wound was starting to move. ‘Give me some water,’ said Ghuda.

  One of the soldiers passed over a waterskin and Ghuda cleaned off the man’s face. Amos said, ‘Gods! If that isn’t the ugliest man I’ve ever seen …’

  Spitting water, the man blinked his eyes and shook his head. ‘Ooh,’ he said, putting his hand to his temple. ‘That was a mistake.’ He opened his eyes again and looked from face to face. Looking at Amos, he said, ‘You’re not exactly my idea of beautiful, either.’

  The man had a brow ridge that looked like nothing so much as an extrusion of granite. It was covered in dark hair, an eyebrow that formed a single line above the man’s eyes. They were dark pits, sunken deep below the ridge, and separated by a glob of a nose, one that might have once held a shape, but had been broken so many times since that there was no hint of its original design left. A ragged beard covered most of the jaw, but it was clear it jutted out in a pugnacious fashion, and the man’s lips were odd-looking, as if they had been struck so many times the swelling was permanent. What skin they saw above the beard had pock marks and scars and was blotched and mottled in the firelight. He was, Nicholas thought, as Amos said: the ugliest man he had ever seen.

  His unconscious companion, on the other hand, was as handsome as the other was not. Dark hair, a neatly trimmed moustache, and a fine profile were evident in the firelight.

  Ghuda gave the ugly man a hand to rise to his feet and asked, ‘What happened?’

  The man put his hand to his head. ‘All sorts of murderous treachery.’ Glancing around the group, he said, ‘And I don’t think that’s much of a surprise to you, judging how you’re armed.’

  Nicholas, seeing that all his soldiers were still holding their weapons at the ready, gestured to them to put up their weapons.

  ‘Who are you?’ asked Marcus.

  The man said, ‘I’m Prajichetas, and this is my friend Vajasiah. Call us Praji and Vaja.’

  Ghuda said, ‘Were you part of this band of mercenaries?’

  He said, ‘Not so you’d notice. We were looking for passage up river, heading for the wars –’

  ‘Wars?’ asked Nicholas.

  ‘Who’s this?’ asked Praji of Ghuda.

  ‘He’s the captain.’

  ‘Him? Looks like a boy –’

  Nicholas said, ‘Talk to me.’

  ‘He’s the captain,’ said Harry.

  Praji said to Ghuda, ‘I’ll believe he’s your son, or your pet, or your –’

  Nicholas had his sword point at the man’s throat. ‘I’m the captain,’ he said softly.

  Praji looked him up and down, then carefully moved the point aside with his hand. ‘Anyway, Captain,’ he said to Nicholas, ‘we were heading upriver to the wars –’

  ‘What wars?’ interrupted Amos.

  The man turned quickly to look at Amos and put his hand to his head. Closing his eyes, he said, ‘That was a bad idea. Anyone here h
ave a drink?’

  Nicholas said, ‘Sorry, but we do have water.’

  ‘That’ll have to do,’ said Praji. He took the offered waterskin and drank deeply. Anthony came over and examined his friend, opening up his tunic. ‘This isn’t bad,’ he judged. ‘He’s wearing a mail shirt under this tunic. It took most of the blow.’ He managed to pull the crossbow bolt out of the man’s shoulder and staunched the blood flow with a rag from a pouch he had prepared against the consequences of the raid. ‘He’ll live.’

  ‘Good,’ said Praji. ‘We’ve been through too much for the bastard to die without me.’

  ‘You were speaking of wars,’ said Marcus.

  Fixing him with a squinting eye, he said, ‘Was I?’

  ‘You were heading upriver,’ supplied Amos.

  ‘And we were looking for passage to a village called Nadosa, between Lanada and Khaipur, on the Vedra. We hooked a ride with a wool trader who dropped us off a few miles south of here, and we hiked in here. We were going to journey up to the western headwaters of the river – there are always wagon caravans heading from there to Khaipur – anyway, we found this merry band of cutthroats and clan boys, and when the drinks started flowing, we joined in. Someone was buying for the house, and I’m not one to pass up free ale.’

  ‘So you’re not with this group?’ asked Nicholas.

  ‘If we had been,’ he said, ‘we’d be over there.’ He pointed to the bodies that were now smoking near the burning wall of the inn.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Nicholas.

  The man sighed. ‘We was sitting around and drinking with a bunch of foolish children, and some regular mother-murderers, and the bloke who’s been buying all the ale comes over and whispers that there’s some work for us and we should join the other professional soldiers outside the inn. We didn’t like the way it sounded, so we came out, but we headed a little away from the others, keeping the bulk of them between us and the guy who called us out.

  ‘Suddenly there’s shouting and crossbow bolts are flying everywhere. Vaja and I jumped over the wall and landed hard. I saw him get hit and suddenly everything went dark.’ He frowned and reached inside his tunic. Feeling around, he found what he had been looking for and pulled out a pouch. ‘Good,’ he said as he loosened the drawstring. He took out a tiny roll of parchment, less than three inches wide, and a finely pointed piece of wood. He licked the end of the wood, which Nicholas noticed had been blackened, and unrolled the little parchment. Looking down a line of scrawls, he poised the writing tool over the parchment and said, ‘Is Overlord one word or two?’