Nakor shook his head. “Would that it were true.
Men have been put to death for preaching good.”
Arutha said, “Well, at least not in the West while I’m Duke of Krondor.” Looking at Dominic he said,
“If I can find this entrance to the old abbey, can you get us inside?”
Dominic said, “I can. The entrance is locked from within. But there is a secret control that will open it from without. Your father found that control.”
Arutha smiled. “He always claimed he was the best thief in the history of Krondor.”
“Skill or luck, he recognized it, disarmed a trap, and activated the entrance. Almost gave one of our brothers a heart attack when he showed up inside our library.”
Arutha said, “The question becomes how many men to bring with us.”
Dominic said, “I know only a little of warcraft.
You must bring a small enough company that we are not detected while moving through the mountains and large enough that once inside we stand a good chance of securing the abbey.”
“Can you draw me plans of the abbey?”
“I lived there fifty years, Duke Arutha. I can show you every hallway and closet.”
“Good. I will have a scribe visit with you in the morning. If you can have them finished by the end of the week, I would be appreciative. If we’re going to be in position to get inside the abbey when Owen strikes up the coast at Sarth, we need be on the way up the eastern trail along Nightmare Ridge by then.”
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Dominic bowed and said, “I am at your disposal.
If someone could show me to a room? It’s been a long journey from Rillanon.”
Arutha rang a small bell and a page opened the door to his office. “Show Brother Dominic to my quarters and bring him whatever he needs.”
“Your quarters?” asked the Ishapian.
“I will not be needing them tonight, I’m afraid. I have many things to do before first light tomorrow.
Perhaps a nap after the morning court.”
Dominic nodded and bowed again, following the page out of the room.
Nakor said, “At least you’ve enough sense to put a bedroll behind your desk, if you need to catch a nap.”
Arutha smiled. “You don’t miss much, do you?”
“I’m a gambler, remember? If I missed things I’d be broke or dead.”
“Are you coming with us?”
“No,” said Nakor. “It sounds interesting, but I think I need to be here. Dominic brings a great gift from the Ishapians. They will share the power they gain from the Tear of the Gods with us. When we have found the true leader of our temple, we will send him to Rillanon and there he will be given this power.
“That power will turn my little warehouse into a true temple, where prayers will be answered, and miracles performed. Men will learn of good and then help recreate the Good Lady.”
Arutha said, “A worthy undertaking.” He rose. “If you’ll excuse me, Nakor, I do have work. And if you need anything for your temple and I can help before I go, I will do my best.”
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“Thanks,” said Nakor, as he walked to the door.
“Come back alive, if you would. A new Duke might not be so willing to listen to me.”
Arutha laughed as he opened the door to his office. “Well, as much as I’d hate to inconvenience you by getting killed, I think I would be even more inconvenienced.”
“True. See, it’s to both our benefit if you stay alive.” Arutha laughed again as he closed the door behind Nakor. Still chuckling, he sat back down behind his desk and considered the mountain of work before him. The smile faded as he picked up the first report he needed to review and, after scanning it, placed it in a pile to review with his clerk in the morning.
He picked up the next piece of paper.
“Jimmy!” called Francie as he started down the hallway.
Jimmy turned and saw her hurrying after him.
“Hello,” he said coolly.
She slipped her arm in his and said, “I haven’t seen you for a while. Has your father had you out and about?”
Jimmy said, “No, I’ve been working here, but have little time of my own.” Very gently and slowly, he disengaged his arm from hers.
“Jimmy, what’s wrong?” she asked.
Jimmy felt his color rise, and suddenly he was choking on unexpected emotions. “What’s wrong is it isn’t appropriate for me to be overly familiar with the future Queen of Isles.”
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would tell you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
She looked up at him, and her eyes were rimming with moisture. “I don’t know. I didn’t know . . . how you’d take it. Before I came to Darkmoor, I thought I knew how I felt about you . . . about us. Then when I saw you, and we dined together and those walks together . . . I don’t know. Things just didn’t seem the same as they did when we were children.”
Jimmy said, “That’s because they’re not the same. We’re not children.”
She looked him in the eyes, then impulsively leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You were always my best friend, Jimmy. I love you more than any boy I’ve known. I want you to be happy for me.”
Jimmy flushed. “Happy because you’re going to be Queen, or because you’re going to marry that ass Patrick?”
“Don’t be that way,” she said softly. “Daddy says someone has to keep Patrick in line, and that’s why he wants me to be a strong Queen. It’s one of the reasons the King wants me to marry Patrick.”
Jimmy said, “Look, I don’t know what to say. I only know that whatever we want doesn’t matter, and that you’ll marry Patrick, and I’ll marry whoever Father tells me to marry, and that will be the end of that. It’s never been any other way.”
She squeezed his hand. “Be my friend?”
He nodded. “I’ll always be that, Francie.”
A tear formed and started down her cheek. “I’ll need friends like you when I’m Queen in Rillanon.”
He found his own feelings rising and said, “It’s just . . .”
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“What?”
Softly he said, “We’ll never know what we could have been, don’t you see?”
She nodded. “I see. But there’s never been a choice for either of us, has there? We can’t let our feelings distract us from our duty.” She looked into his eyes a moment, then added, “I will always love the boy who used to play with me in the palace at Rillanon, and who used to laugh when I beat up his little brother. I’ll cherish the time we spent sneaking into all those places we weren’t supposed to go. I never forgave you for being boys and getting to do boy things, while I had to learn to be a lady.” She sighed. “But I will never be able to fall in love, my dearest Jimmy. And neither will you. Don’t mourn for something that never was. Just be my friend.”
Without another word she released his hand and hurried back down the corridor.
Jimmy stood quietly for a long minute, then slowly turned and resumed his walk down the corridor.
Dash signaled and Jimmy turned and waved.
They were a hundred yards ahead of the first column heading into Krondor. A delegation of Duko’s men were waiting a mile outside the city and Jimmy wanted the column to wait until an exchange of documents was completed.
Jimmy urged his horse forward and rode to a point just before the obvious leader of the group.
Jimmy saluted and said, “I am Baron James of the Prince’s court.” He recognized the man as being one
of Duko’s captains. Then he remembered his name.
“How are you, Captain Boyse?”
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and hair, nodded. “Well, Baron James.”
Jimmy reached into a pouch sewn into his cloak and pulled a thread, unraveling the top seam. He reached into the pocket and pulled out a sheaf of documents. He handed them to Boyse. “This is the final communication between Prince Patrick and our newly named Lord Sutherland. This will confirm his appointment to office—the ceremony will be held when Patrick returns to the city. There are several orders and instructions, but they just reaffirm what the Duke already knows.”
Captain Boyse stroked his chin. “You know, when Duko . . . I mean the Duke, first told me of this deal, I would have bet my life it would never take place.” He shrugged. “What do I know?” He pointed to the southwest. “A troop of five hundred men, foot and horse alike, are already on the march toward Land’s End. We will occupy that fortress by week’s end.” He smiled. “I understand we may have to dislodge a few Keshians who have wandered into that town from the desert?”
Jimmy nodded. “Bandits, mostly.”
“You’ve brought the replacements?”
“Up the road,” said Jimmy.
“Good.” He handed the documents to one of his lieutenants, and said, “I will happily trade this garrison duty for some scrapping along the frontier. Some of my men are city men, who were carpenters or masons, fishermen and the like, back home, but I was always a soldier.” He looked around as if trying to see beyond the limits of his vision. “Duko’s a thinker; he talks about this nation of yours. He tells us this new pledge of loyalty is a good thing.” He looked at Jimmy. “I do not know of such things. I am 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 255
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trained to fight and kill and die if needed. But I trust Duko. He has been my leader for more than half my life, and he was not much more than a boy when I pledged service to him. So, if Duko says we are now servants of your Prince, and that we fight for this nation we tried to take last year, then we shall serve your Prince and fight for this nation. I don’t claim to understand it, but I will do as Duko orders, for he is my General.”
Jimmy nodded. “I understand.
And for that reason, he will continue to be your General.” Then Jimmy smiled. “And perhaps someday he
will have a son, who will grow up to also be your General.”
Boyse laughed. “That would be something, wouldn’t it, Baron James?” He turned his horse around and said, “Call your men. Let us ride into Krondor together.”
Jimmy signaled and Dash rode forward, and the column behind him also moved up. When they were formed up with Boyse and his companions, they started forward, and for the first time in almost a year, the agents of the Prince of Krondor were reclaiming his city for the crown.
Dash hurried along the street, dodging workers and peddlers. Life was returning to Krondor, and there were endless tasks before them. Several hundred mercenaries from outside the walls had been given employment and sent to the borders to the south. Others were being recruited for caravan escort and garrison duty in the area between Darkmoor and Shamata, replacing soldiers who were being sent to 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 256
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this front.
Workers, shopkeepers, and some minor nobles had returned in the last two weeks. Two messengers from Fadawah had been intercepted, and reassuring reports returned by other messengers, soldiers loyal to Duko who could be trusted to report only what Duko wanted Fadawah and Nordan to know.
Dash judged it would be only a matter of two or three weeks more before it was obvious to Fadawah and Nordan that Duko had turned coat. The story that a big wedding in Rillanon would keep the Prince away from the West for a year, and that Keshian agitation along the border would keep the Kingdom from attempting to retake Krondor, had been widely circulated. Duko’s latest message to Fadawah included a note that a Keshian agent had made preliminary contact with him inquiring about the possibility of formal treaty with the “King of the Bitter Sea,”
which Duko hoped would keep Fadawah overconfi-dent for a while longer.
Dash turned a corner, heading into a burned-out portion of the city that was far down the list to be rebuilt. The note he had received had been short and to the point. No signature had been affixed, but he had no doubt who had sent it.
Dash worried about the presence of Keshian agents in the city. The transfer of soldiers was taking place slowly. The logistics of getting those patrols to pre-determined locations, having those men switch clothing with Kingdom regulars, and change places, was very complex. To any casual observer, it appeared that a half-dozen or so patrols rode out throughout the day and returned later. What wasn’t apparent was that they were composed of different 52893_~1.QXD 8/30/2002 10:02 AM Page 257
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men. The one place Duko’s men remained was at two checkpoints south of Nordan’s position in Sarth.
So far there had been no mistakes.
Dash reached the appropriate place and stepped inside the burned-out shell of a tavern. As soon as he was inside the fire-blackened walls, a voice in the shadows said, “You come alone, Puppy?”
Dash’s expression let Trina know what he thought of being called “Puppy.” “I’m alone.”
She jerked her head to one side, indicating a door to a rear room. He moved toward it, and it opened.
John Tuppin stood in front of the doorway and said,
“Sword.”
Dash removed his sword from its scabbard and handed it to him. “Through there,” he said, indicating another door.
Dash moved to that door, and when it didn’t open, he tripped the latch. Inside he found the Upright Man sitting at a table, a half-drunk flagon of water next to him.
“Nephew,” he said with dry humor. His voice was as raspy as Dash remembered.
“Uncle,” said Dash with the same dry humor.
“Have you news for me?”
Dash sighed. He sat in the second chair at the table without being asked. “As you can see, we were not in need of your help in taking the city. Duko gave it willingly.”
“At no small price, I hear,” said Lysle Riggers with a chuckle. “Duke of the Southern Marches.”
“There’s to be a general amnesty.”
The old man studied his great-nephew and said,
“I don’t hear the ‘but,’ though it is there.”
“It’s to be applied only to those who fought
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against the Kingdom, as they swear loyalty to the crown. It will also be extended to any man who volunteers for service now.”
“But not petty thieves such as the Mockers.”
“Only if you join the army,” said Dash. “I tried.
My father has no need to be busying himself or his judges with accusations of crimes before the war.”
Dash shrugged. “Fact is, anyone likely to bring complaint is no longer living here. When merchants return, who is to say what was taken before the war and what was looted or lost during the sacking of the city?”
Lysle chuckled. “True. All true. However, there are those among our brethren who have the death mark on them already, and who are known to your father’s constables.”
Dash let out a long sigh. “I know, but if they’ll serve the crown, they’ll be pardoned for their crimes.”
“I’m a little old to serve, don’t you think?” asked the Upright Man.
Dash said, “I don’t think there’s anyone besides myself, Jimmy, and Father who has an inkling of who you might be. And while I’m sure there is a very long list of crimes for which you might be hung, why bother?” He looked at his great-uncle and said, “If Grandfather
didn’t want you taken, why should we?”
“Your grandfather needed me alive to control the Mockers,” said Lysle. “It may be some time before the Mockers are effective enough to be in need of controlling again.” He let out a long, tired sigh. “I most certainly will not be here to see it. And I do not know if the next Upright Man, or whatever he calls himself, will care to make deals with the crown.” He 258
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pointed a finger at Dash. “You and your father are clever enough, but once I’m gone, you’ll not be able to make demands of the Mockers the way your grandfather made of me.”
Dash said, “I know. If you have nothing more, I have a great deal to do.”
The Upright Man waved him away. “We’re done, Dashel Jamison. From now on, we are Mockers and you are the Prince’s man. If you come back into the Poor Quarter after dark, you are as much at risk as any other man.”
“I understand,” said Dash. He returned to the door, then paused and said, “But if there’s something I can do without compromising my oath to the Kingdom, send me a message, will you?”
The old man laughed. “I’ll consider it. Now go.”
Dash moved into the second room and found John Turpin gone. His sword hung over the butt end of a burned-out timber. He retrieved it and moved through the next door. As he expected, Trina wasn’t in the outer part of the building either. He left the devastation of the inn and moved away. He paused a moment and tried to remember the name of that particular inn, then it came to him. It had been called the Rainbow Parrot, and it had once been owned by a friend of his grandfather’s, a man named Lucas.
Caught up for a moment in reflection on old stories of his grandfather, Dash almost didn’t hear the foot-steps behind him.
He spun and had his sword out before the man came within a half-dozen paces. The man coming at him was dressed like a rag picker and was thin and dirty. He came to a halt and, putting up his hands, backed away, then turned and ran.
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