Shards of a Broken Crown
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The current here ran southeast, and Erik was forced 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 237
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to work to keep on course, trying to come in at a fishing village in a sandy cove just south of Sarth.
Roo said, “Are you all right?”
Erik pulled hard and the boat seem to jump forward. “Everything’s fine.”
The sound of breakers wasn’t loud, as the surf was relatively calm, but it still picked the boat up as the combers ran up on the shore, turning into breakers. Erik pulled and the boat seemed to be climbing a hill, only to slide backward a bit as the wave broke just in front of them.
Suddenly the bow of the boat dipped and Roo glanced over his shoulder and realized he was looking at water. “Erik!” he shouted as the wave crashed down upon him, drenching him to the skin in moments.
The boat wallowed and turned sideways as Erik fought to keep it pointed at the beach. The boat tipped to the left, then suddenly it flipped, and Erik and Roo both were tossed into the water.
Roo sputtered as he came up, and to his irritation found he was only waist deep in water. He looked around and saw Erik standing a few yards away. The boat, upside down, was being pushed into the sand by the waves.
Wading over toward Erik, Roo was about to comment on Erik’s boat-handling skills when a lantern a dozen yards away was unshuttered. Men stood at the edge of the water, visible in the lantern’s light; torches were lit. Soon, Erik and Roo could see a score of armed men, many with bows or crossbows pointed in their direction, facing them from the dry sand. In the distance, behind them, the faint outlines of the fish-
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ing village could be seen.
Roo turned to Erik and said, “Everything’s fine?”
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Eleven
Disposition
ROO SNEEZED.
Erik sipped at a hot cup of Keshian coffee. They were sitting in a large hut near the beach, warming themselves before a fire while their clothing was drying on a line strung in front of the rude stone fireplace.
The leader of the smugglers who had met them on the beach said, “Sorry for the scare, Mr. Avery.
John said to cover the cove and make sure you got ashore safely.” He was a nondescript fellow, ideal for smuggling, one whom a soldier or guardsman was unlikely to look at twice. The only thing that differ-entiated this man and his companions from common workers was the assortment of weapons they carried.
Roo said, “I wish we’d have had enough time for him to answer the note. So I would have known we were to be met.”
The smuggler’s spokesman said, “As soon as your clothing is dried out, we’ll leave.” He glanced out the door of the hut. “Or maybe a little damp, because we have to be out of here before dawn.”
“Patrols?”
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“Not so’s you’d notice,” said the man. “But there is a checkpoint up the road we need to pass, and the guards that we’ve bribed are relieved at dawn. You’ll go in place of two men who will stay here. We’ve got some goods stashed away from our last cargo and we’ll have to hurry to be in the town before dawn.
No one will suspect anything.”
Erik nodded.
Roo inspected the clothing and said, “We’ll change once we get to John’s. He’s sure to have some dry clothing.”
Erik sipped the coffee. “This tastes fresh,” he said.
“Should be. Got it off a packet boat from Durbin yesterday. It’s part of that cargo we’ll be carrying in.”
“Keshian ships are putting in here?”
“And Quegan traders, too,” said the leader.
“Kingdom ships are staying close to Port Vykor and escorting Far Coast traders to and from the Straits of Darkness.” He made a wide sweeping gesture.
“Fadawah’s got a few ships left from the invasion, and he’s keeping them up near Ylith. So there’s no one to keep ships away from these beaches, but it’s tough getting anything into the town unless you have the checkpoint guards bribed.” The leader moved toward the door. “I’ve got things to do.” He motioned to the other smugglers, who departed, leaving Roo and Erik alone.
Erik said, “I told you Vinci would get your note.”
“You had more confidence in my agents than I,”
Roo answered. “It seems your faith was justified.”
Erik said, “There are a lot of things at risk, Roo, and we need your contacts as well as our own to pull off this counterstrike.”
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“What’s the Prince’s plan for that old abbey? If Fadawah’s got any brains, it’s packed to the limit with enough men to strike down the mountain and ruin any attack up the coast.”
“Arutha’s got plans for the abbey.”
Roo shook his head. “Every time I hear any member of the royal court has plans, I’m reminded that most of the time we served involved running very hard from people who were trying equally hard to catch and kill us.”
Erik said, “That’s one way of putting things.”
They spoke little for the next hour, as their clothes dried enough to put on. An hour before dawn, the leader of the smugglers said, “We must go.”
Roo and Erik quickly dressed, their clothes still slightly damp. They went outside and gathered up bundles of goods, and climbed a steep path that cut straight up the side of a small cliff behind the village.
Fishermen were moving down toward the beach where they would launch their boats and spend their day as their fathers and grandfathers had before them. They took no notice of the smugglers, and Roo assumed the inhabitants of the village were paid a handsome sum to pretend the smugglers were invisible.
They climbed the cliffs until they reached the plateau above, a large stretch of dirt and grass they quickly crossed to reach the road. They moved swiftly down the road until they came in sight of a barricade. It was a sturdy affair of dirt, reinforced with wood and stones, sporting an impressive array of steel-tipped wooden stakes to repulse riders. To pass it, the smugglers had to move to the side of the road, step down into a shallow gully, then circle around to 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 242
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the back of the barricade. A wagon or a man on foot could easily negotiate it, but attackers up the road would be forced down to the cliffs on the sea side, where another large barricade was erected, or into thick woods steeply rising up the side of a small mountain, impassable by any but the occasional goat or deer.
As they hurried past the guards, the leader of the smugglers stopped and handed over a pouch and nodded, without a word, to a soldier who was equally silent.
Then they were past the checkpoint and down the road into the town of Sarth.
The rear door to the storage room closed after the last smuggler departed. It was attached to the back of John Vinci’s shop, the second floor of which was his home. A single lantern illuminated the room, which was stacked with small boxes and bundles of goods he would sell in his shop: cloth, needles, thread, iron goods—kettles, pots, and pans— rope, tools, and other necessities for those living in and around Sarth.
Vinci turned and said, “Bad news, Roo.”
“What?”
“Lord Vasarius has agents in town.”
Rupert said, “Damn. Any who know me from my visits to Queg?”
“Almost certainly. You’ll have to keep a very low profile,” Vinci said. “You can stay out back in the smaller worker’s shed. I have no one using it now.
Vasarius’s men are due to sail back to Queg by the end of the week. Once they’re gone, you should be able to move about freely.”
&
nbsp; John Vinci was the son of an escaped Quegan gal-
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ley slave who had made his way to the safety of the Kingdom. He spoke the language of the island nation like a native, and traded with smugglers and sea captains attempting to avoid Kingdom customs officers.
He had come to Roo’s attention when he had gained possession of a valuable necklace, one which Roo had eventually used to ingratiate himself to Lord Vasarius. He had then achieved several profitable trades with the Quegan noble, leading up to planting a rumor of a treasure fleet which had caused the leading nobles of Queg to dispatch their warships to attack the fleet of the Emerald Queen as it exited the Straits of Darkness the previous Midsummer’s Day. The most powerful lords of Queg had seen the vast bulk of their ships sent to the bottom, the single most devastating naval defeat in their history.
Most knew that Rupert Avery of Krondor somehow had a hand in this, for while there was no direct line proving he engineered the ruse, there were ample reports of rumors started by men who served on his ships, or who worked for his agents. Without being told, Roo knew he was a marked man in Queg and that to be discovered outside Kingdom protection meant his life would be measured in hours, if not minutes. Even in the Kingdom he would have to forevermore be vigilant against assassins hired by Quegan gold.
Roo looked at John. “I can hide out until we have to depart, if necessary. But Erik needs to look around. Can you provide believable cover?”
John looked dubious. “I don’t know. There are so many strangers in Sarth, perhaps. If he could pass as a Quegan or Keshian mercenary, no doubt. But all Kingdom citizens who bear arms are known to the 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 244
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local soldiers.”
Erik said, “I don’t have to go armed. If I’m one of your workmen . . .”
Vinci shook his head. “I only employ casual labor, Erik. Things are a little slow now, given the occupation.” He said, “Let me think about this. You two sleep and take it easy. I’ll send one of my children out with some food in a while, then sleep.
Maybe by tomorrow morning I’ll have thought of some reason to be walking around town with someone as noticeable as Erik.”
“Buy something,” said Roo.
John’s eyebrows went up. “What?”
“Buy something. A building, a business, a house.
Something over on the other side of the town that will let you move back and forth. Make Erik . . . a builder. Someone you’re going to pay to repair things.”
Vinci said, “There are several businesses that are abandoned or for sale.”
“Good, let it be known you’re taking the opportunity to seize profit, and are willing to buy whatever anyone has to sell.”
“How, by the way, am I paying for this?”
“If you actually have to buy something, John, you’ll pay for it as you always do, with my gold.”
Vinci grinned. “It usually comes back with a profit attached.”
“True,” said Roo, returning the grin. “That’s why you’re doing so well.”
John opened the door to the front part of his store, and the stairs leading up to the living quarters above, and said, “Food will be here shortly. After you finish, head out that rear door to the shed on the other side 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 245
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of the yard and get some sleep.”
Erik turned to Roo as the door closed. “A builder?”
“Just pick up some loose wood, look at it, toss it aside, and grunt. Take along some parchment or paper and scribble on it. Look around a lot. If any of the soldiers start talking like they know something about carpentry, nod in agreement.”
Erik leaned his chair back, so that he balanced on two legs, resting his head against the wall. “Well, it’s a better plan than I have. I hope things back in Darkmoor are working out smoother than they are here.”
Jimmy shouted, “No!”
Arutha said, “There will be no argument!”
Dash stepped between his brother and father and said, “Calm down, both of you.”
Arutha said, “My orders are not subject to your approval, James!”
Jimmy said, “But you, leading a raid . . . it’s pre-posterous.”
Nakor and Father Dominic stood nearby, watching the exchange. Arutha said, “I am the only one here who remembers Father’s story about the secret entrance into the abbey at Sarth. I don’t remember all of it, but I stand the best chance of having things come back to me as I walk around the base of that mountain.”
Jimmy looked at Father Dominic. “Don’t you know the way?”
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find the entrance from the outside. It’s been twenty years since I’ve even been down to the base of the mountain.”
Jimmy was about to speak when Dash said,
“What do you want us to do?”
Arutha said, “I need someone in Krondor overseeing the rotation of troops. When Von Darkmoor and Avery get back from their scouting mission at Sarth, I want to be able to strike before Nordan sees the attack coming.”
“Which is why Greylock is already up at the forward lines getting ready,” said Jimmy.
“Yes,” replied Arutha. “I’ll give you details before you go, but by midday tomorrow I want you on the road west.”
Jimmy said, “I don’t like this one little bit.”
Nakor grinned. “You make that obvious.”
Dash said, “Come on. We have to get our kits together.”
As the boys reached the door out of Arutha’s office, Arutha said, “Jimmy, Dash.”
They stopped at the door. “Yes?” asked Dash.
“I love you both very much.”
Jimmy hesitated a moment, then returned to embrace his father. “Don’t do anything stupid and heroic,” he whispered to his father.
“Aren’t I supposed to be saying that to you?”
asked Arutha.
Dash hugged his father and said, “You know it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Stay alive, both of you,” whispered Arutha.
“You, too,” said Jimmy.
The brothers left the room. Arutha turned to Dominic and said, “What does the Ishapian Temple 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 247
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have to say to us, Brother?”
Dominic, a man nearly eighty years of age, but appearing barely twenty-five due to the healing magic of the Lifestone, said, “Many things, my lord duke. May I sit?”
Arutha indicated they both should, and Dominic said, “It took some persuasion, but I am living proof of my claims. Besides, I was seniormost in rank in the West and my words carried some weight.”
“And your warning saved your library at Sarth.”
“To be frank, that was not entirely providential.”
“What do you mean?” asked Arutha.
“I don’t think it a breach of trust to reveal it was your grandfather who warned us to be ready to move the library when certain things occurred.”
“Really?” said Arutha.
Dominic got a perplexed expression on his face.
“But what I find odd was when he arrived at Sarth to find me and take me to Sethanon, prior to our confrontation with the demon, he didn’t seem to remember he sent us the warning.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” said Nakor.
“Why?” asked Arutha.
“Because maybe he hasn’t sent the warning, yet.”
Dominic said, “Time travel?”
Nakor shrugged. “Possibly. He’s done it before.”
/> Arutha nodded. “That’s possible. I get the feeling there’s a great deal more to all this than Grandfather has told me, or than you’ve told me.”
Nakor said, “True. But that’s for your own good.”
Arutha laughed. “You sound like me, talking to my children.” To Dominic, “So, will the Ishapian Temple support Nakor’s efforts?”
“Yes,” said Dominic, “though they are somewhat 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 248
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dubious as to the net effect. Yet they understand the need.”
“I’m dubious, too,” said Nakor, “and I started the Temple of Arch-Indar.”
Arutha said, “You are the most amazing man.
What is the exact purpose of your order, again?”
“To bring about the restoration of the Goddess of Good, as I told you before.”
“Yes, you are a wonder,” said Arutha dryly.
Nakor said, “Yes, I am, aren’t I? But I think my little temple will not be what it needs to be until we find the real head of the order.”
“I thought you were the high priest of Arch-Indar,” said Arutha.
“Only until the real one shows up. Then I’ll return to doing what I do best, traveling and learning things.”
“Well, until this person puts in an appearance, what are you going to do?”
Nakor said, “Do tricks, tell stories, provide food, get people to listen to the message of the Good Lady.”
Dominic said, “First must come belief. When people begin to understand that good flows from Arch-Indar, then they will begin the long task of bringing her back to us.”
“I don’t pretend to understand everything involved with temple politics,” said Arutha. “I have read notes left by my father and Prince Arutha, and I get the distinct impression they were privy to secrets that were not passed along to me.”
Dominic said nothing.
“Very well,” said Arutha. “I will trust that nothing in this poses a threat to the Kingdom, which is my 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 249
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charge and area of concern. Besides, it seems to me that spreading the doctrine of doing good can harm no one.”