“But we just thought he was. .” said Pipper, his words falling to a whisper. But then a puzzled look filled his face and he looked at Aravan and asked, “Well, why wouldn’t he tell us so?”
“Because, my friends,” said Aravan, “the High King isn’t supposed to condone thievery, much less have one or more of his own thieves at his beck and call. Your uncle was one of these.”
“See, Pip?” said Binkton. “What we did in Rivers End wasn’t so bad after all. I mean, like uncle, like nephews.”
“Yes,” said Pipper, “but he was working for the King.”
“And who’s to say we weren’t?”
Aylis grinned and said, “For all practical purposes you were. . at least, in your own way.”
“What were they doing in Rivers End?” asked Liss.
“Taking ill-gotten gains from thieves and returning them to those who had been wronged.”
“Good!” declared Lissa.
“Speaking of those Ruck-loving, rat-eating thieves,” said Binkton, “I can’t wait to get back to Rivers End and deal with Rackburn and Tark and Queeker and the others.”
“And get our stuff back, too,” said Pipper.
“Stuff?” asked Lissa.
“The gear for our act,” said Pipper.
“All but the chain and lock and shackles now lying at the bottom of the Avagon,” gritted Binkton. “Just get me a bow and Pip a sling and we’ll make ’em pay for that.”
“Ho, now, wait but a moment,” said Aravan. “Stealing from thieves is one thing, but mayhap ye should think ere killing without a warrant. -Not that I haven’t done the same, yet-”
“Yet, nothing!” spat Binkton. “Those that deserve death will-”
Aravan threw out a hand to stay Binkton’s words and asked, “Have ye twain e’er slain brigands?”
Binkton looked at Pipper, each one paling. Finally, Binkton said, “Three on the road in Gunar. I slew two, Pipper one. Five of them tried to rob the Red Coach we were on. None of them survived.”
“It was awful,” said Pipper, his face yet ashen, his gaze lost in remembrance.
“Aye, ’tis. Taking a life in self-defense be one thing, but to murder be another thing entirely.”
“What about killing someone or something that needs killing?” asked Binkton. “I mean, surely someone like Rackburn should be laid by the heels, even without a warrant.”
“Mayhap. I admit that I have done so on occasion. Of recent when two of thy Kind had been poisoned by a wicked emir across the Karoo. Yet it is not a decision to be made lightly.”
“Well, I want Tark and Queeker to meet their just ends,” said Binkton. “I mean, they would have murdered Pipper and me had I not been quick with a piece of wire. We almost drowned as it was, but for you.”
Aravan fell into thought and after a moment said, “Let me propose this, my friends: we are on a mission that might be perilous; make no mistake about that. Yet we are not certain that the danger ever was or, if it was, yet exists; on that, we cannot say. Regardless, our mission might call for someone who can open the unopenable, and might require someone who can breach the unbreachable. Ye twain were trained by the best for doing so, and we can use such skills.”
Bink started to protest, but Aravan said, “I would have ye consider doing this: write down all ye know as to Rackburn’s illicit activities. We will then give the record to King Ryon’s agent in Port Arbalin as to the doings in Rivers End, and let him call for the High King to intervene.”
“Won’t King Ryon need witnesses?” asked Aylis. “In addition to any documents Bink and Pip might provide, I think he would ask for some people in Rivers End to speak to these vile deeds. And if the merchants and landlords and such are sufficiently cowed, then-”
“The urchins!” blurted Pipper. “Tope and Weasel and Cricket and Squirrel and the others. They’ll tell what’s going on.-Oh, and Lady Jane, too.”
“Urchins?” asked Lissa.
“Children living by their wits on the streets of Rivers End,” said Pipper. “They were our allies against the ruffians: they followed the ‘collectors’ on their rounds and found out where they lived, so that Bink and I could regain the stolen coin. The merchants were kind enough to reward us for doing so, and we in turn passed most of that compensation to the urchins for food and drink and clothes and other needs. I’m certain that they will be glad to bear witness against Rackburn and his ilk.”
Binkton let out a burst of air and said, “But, Pip, I’d rather personally see Rackburn and the others get what’s coming to them, instead of putting the burden on our friends.”
“What about the city watch?” asked Aylis. “Where were they when these ruffians were afoot?”
“Ar, the watch was deep into the pockets of Rackburn and company,” growled Binkton.
“Oh, it’ll take the Kingsmen to set things right,” said Pipper. “I mean, we had decided to go to High King Ryon straightaway after we finished with Rackburn, but his henchmen caught us in the act.” Pipper turned to Binkton and said, “Oh, don’t you see, Bink, we were going to get the High King to clean up the city anyway, and Captain Aravan’s plan will do the very same thing.”
“Yeah, but we won’t be there to see it, to see Rackburn and the others get what they deserve, especially Tark and Queeker.”
Pipper frowned and then brightened. “Tell you what, Bink: let’s sail with the Eroean on this mission. I mean, Captain Aravan says he can use someone of our skills, and who better than the nephews of a King’s thief? And when we get back, well, we’ll just go and visit Tark and Queeker in the High King’s gaol and show them that they failed to kill us, and tell them what we did to bring about their downfall.”
Binkton smiled. “Oh, that would be sweet. I can just imagine the surprise on their faces.”
“If they haven’t been hanged,” said Aravan.
“Oh,” said Binkton. “I hadn’t thought of them being hanged.”
Aylis’s heart reached out to these Warrows as she looked at the buccen’s faces, gone ashen at the thought of anyone being hanged, even the two who deserved it.
Finally, Binkton looked at Pipper and nodded, and Pipper turned to Aravan and said, “Well, Captain, it seems you have two more crew to feed.”
“Welcome aboard,” said Aravan, smiling.
And even as the buccen grinned and Lissa clapped her hands, the foremast lookout called, “Land ho, Cap’n. Port Arbalin be dead ahead.”
41
Fair Warning
ELVENSHIP
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
When the Isle of Arbalin hove into view, Aravan called for the Eroean to heave to and, as the ship glided to a halt, he ordered a general muster. After the crew entire had assembled, warband and sailors alike, Aravan stepped to the forerail of the aftdeck and said, “I remind ye of the oaths ye have taken. Do ye affirm?”
All called out their yeas, including a Pysk and two Warrows, as well as a female Mage.
“This then I would tell ye: in the City of Janjong, Lady Aylis came upon a jade statuette”-Aravan held the figurine up high-“and wound ’round the base is a strange poem, Ryodoan in nature, yet the words are not written in that tongue. The carver who fashioned the statue claims that he knew not what they meant, yet carve them he did, for they came to him in a compelling dream. Lady Aylis translated the verse, and these are the words:
“Thrice I dreamt the dream
From the City of Jade I fled
Nought but shades now dwell.”
A mutter murmured about the deck, Humans and Dwarves looking at one another, and glancing at Warrow and Pysk as well.
“This we do know,” continued Aravan, recapturing the quiet. “The City of Jade lives in legend-a place rich in that precious stone. Yet where the city lies, none seems to know. But on the base of this carving are lines which might or might not represent its locale.
“Lady Aylis, Lady Aylissa, and I went to the libraries in Caer Pendwyr, and we did find something else of the City of Jad
e: ’twas an ancient clay tablet that warns the citizens of Jung to beware.”
Aravan turned to Aylis and nodded, and she stepped forward to stand beside the captain and intoned, “ ‘In the near west lies the City of Jade, a place rich in spoils, but with a dreadful past. Only shades and shadows now dwell therein. Citizens of Jung, beware.’ ”
Again a ripple of muttering washed throughout the crew. As it died down and before anyone could ask, Aylis added, “We know not why the city was abandoned, be it disease, madness, drought, war, or other such. The clay tablet might have been written simply to keep looters away.”
From amid the crew, Dinny called out, “Wot be these here shades, Cap’n? Be they ghosts? I mean, a shade is a ghost or suchlike.”
Several of the sailors made warding signs at this suggestion.
Aravan glanced at Aylis, and she shrugged. “We know not what is meant by shades and shadows dwelling therein,” replied Aravan. “Referring to ghosts might merely be to keep seekers away. ’Tis a mystery, I say, for we found nought else in the libraries concerning the City of Jade but the fables told to children at their mothers’ knees.”
Pipper leaned over to Binkton and murmured, “I think fables often have their roots in things real.”
“Pshh,” scoffed Binkton. “Like the River Serpent, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Oh, that was real,” said Pipper, his eyes wide in memory.
“Bah. It was nothing but a wave.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, then, Bink, why did you cry out like a youngling?”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did-” But Binkton fell silent as Aravan went on.
“This then I say: the Eroean will sail from Port Arbalin in but three days. Any and all who would not dare this found warning may stay behind, with no disgrace attached. As to whatever peril might be, it can be but something there or not. If not, then no doom will befall; if there, it might strike. If it strikes, mayhap we will defeat it, mayhap not. Even if we defeat it, there might be nothing of consequence to find. If we do not defeat it, we might all be slain, though some might live to flee. As ye can see, there are many unknowns, and so, upon this great lack of information, each of us must within three days decide to go on or not. It is a decision only each of us individually can make.
“Remember thine oaths and say nought in Port Arbalin as ye take shore leave, nor ought in all the days thereafter, lest I give ye leave. Yet know this: the Eroean sails on the evening tide three days hence.”
With that he dismissed the crew and called for the ship to make sail again. And within a candlemark or so, the Eroean hove into the harbor at Arbalin Bay to drop anchor under the light of the moon.
42
Spy
DARK DESIGNS
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
Has the vile Dolh yet taken the bait? Surely, he must have. The jade carving is in his murderous, god-slaying hands, and he would not resist the challenge.
From leagues away, an incorporeal Nunde watched as the Eroean sailed into the bay at Port Arbalin.
Nunde did not dare fly any closer, for Aravan’s trollop could invoke ‹sight›, and Nunde would not risk being revealed. No, he would stay a safe distance away. In fact, from now on, he would track the ship in the candlemarks following mid of night, when the slattern was most likely to be asleep, or at least in her quarters wildly rutting with that execrable Dolh.
Nunde glanced up at the half-moon slipping toward the west, the lit face ebon to his astral gaze, and then he turned eastward to speed toward the place where he had commanded Malik to lie in wait.
Leagues passed and leagues more, but at last he came to the site, and indeed Malik and the Chun were there, just as Nunde had ordered.
The Necromancer chortled unto himself, for surely none would escape this trap. Yet, if by some miracle the foul Dolh and his crew managed to prevail, there was always the dread creature in the tower, and that would of certain prove fatal to Aravan.
43
Augury
ELVENSHIP
EARLY SUMMER, 6E9
On the evening tide of the third day after mooring in Arbalin Bay, the Eroean weighed anchor and raised sails and haled away from the port city. During their stay, Binkton and Pipper had written all they knew of the corruption in Rivers End, listing dates and places and names, including those they thought would bear witness-urchins and landlords and merchants alike-against Rackburn and his minions. Aravan had then escorted the two Waerlinga to the High King’s representative in town, a realmsman named Tanner.
After he heard the buccen’s tale and accepted their documentation, he said, “We knew that something was amiss in that city, but not that it had gotten this far. After the war, with the loss of realmsmen, we found ourselves quite shorthanded-still are, in fact-and I believe that Rivers End is one place where the station is yet vacant. But, as with other places, it was and is left up to the mayor and the city watch to see things remain orderly.”
Binkton snorted and said, “The watch? The mayor? Pah! Rat-eating Ruck-lovers all.”
Tanner smiled and said, “Obviously, from what you have seen, indeed they have succumbed to bribery.”
“What now?” asked Pipper.
“We’ll dispatch these papers to King Ryon on the next packet to leave.”
“What about the birds?” asked Pipper.
Binkton looked at his cousin as if he had gone quite batty. “Pip, what in the-?”
“Don’t you remember, Bink?” said Pipper. “Uncle Arley told us that the realmsmen have messenger birds.”
“Oh, right,” said Binkton, catching up to Pipper’s thought.
Tanner shook his head and held up the papers and said, “There is much too much here for a bird to carry.”
“Couldn’t an eagle do it?” asked Pipper.
Tanner laughed and said, “We only have pigeons at our beck, Pip.”
“Oh,” said Pipper, somewhat glumly.
Tanner glanced at Aravan and shook his head in amusement, then said, “Regardless, a packet will get the papers to the High King rather quickly; I thank you for what you have done. And as far as stealing from thieves and returning the ill-gotten gains to those so wronged, well, let me just say, nicely played, lads. Nicely played. I believe the High King himself might even pin medals on your chests.”
Pipper looked at Binkton, grinned, and received a smile in return, and Aravan said, “They come by it honestly, Realmsman Tanner. Mention to King Ryon that their granduncle is one Arley Willowbank. The King might have to look into the records of his sire and grandsire to find that name, yet it has a bearing on this duo.”
Tanner cocked an eyebrow, and Pipper blurted, “Uncle Arley was a King’s thief.”
Binkton nodded his agreement.
“Ah, I see,” said Tanner. “Then he was a realmsman-or, rather, a realmsWarrow.”
Binkton sighed and murmured to Pipper, “Uncle Arley and his secrets. Why, he was a hero, don’t you think?”
Pipper’s eyes flew wide and he turned to Binkton and said, “The rider!”
Binkton threw up his hands in exasperation and demanded, “What in all of Mithgar do you mean by that?”
“Uncle Arley’s pension. The Human who brings it to the Boskydell Bank. It’s a High King’s stipend.”
Enlightenment filled Binkton’s gaze. “Ohhhh. Why, Pip, I do believe you’ve hit upon it.”
Even as the buccen nodded to one another and whispered about Uncle Arley and his secrets, Realmsman Tanner dashed off a quick note and placed it and the Warrows’ document into a small leather bag and locked and sealed it with wire and wax. Then he and the Warrows and Aravan went to the docks where a mail runner was moored, and they gave over the pouch to the captain, with instructions to deliver it straightaway into the hands of the High King.
After that, they all four went to the Red Slipper for a celebratory mug of Vornholt ale. The Warrows and the full of the Elvenship complement, along with the captain and his lady, spe
nt the rest of that day and the following two, as well as the nights between, in that wild bordello and inn, where, in the depths of the second dark night, Brekk and Dokan and the Dwarves, as well as Lissa the Pysk, officially inducted Binkton and Pipper into the Eroean ’s warband.
The next day the buccen’s heads did ache, but they grinned in spite of the pain.
But on the evening tide of the third day they did sail, and the entirety of the crew-sailors and warband alike-came aboard. In spite of the warning of an unknown danger that might or might not be waiting, they all were eager to be off.
As crewmen sailed the ship westerly ’pon the indigo waters of the deep blue Avagon Sea, “Where be we bound, Cap’n?” asked Long Tom.
He stood at the map table in the captain’s salon, along with others of the crew-Nikolai, Fat Jim, Tarley, James, Noddy, Dokan, and Brekk. There also were the scouts, Lissa and Binkton and Pipper-Lissa on the tabletop, the buccen standing in chairs, all the better to see.
“Here,” said Aravan, stabbing a finger down onto the spread-out map, indicating a coastline of a realm, the interior of which was largely blank. “ ’Tis a land that has had several names throughout the eras: Amanar, Dinou, and Ladore among them. But whatever its name, it lies between the realm of Jung to the east and that of Bharaq to the west.”
Aravan then pointed to where the chart showed the mouth of a river out-flowing into the Sindhu Sea. Here, too, the map beyond the river outlet showed nought of the river course itself. “I deem from the marks on the bottom of the statuette”-he gestured at the figurine sitting in the mid of the table-“represent this very river, for the coastline corresponds.”
Long Tom reached out and took up the jade carving and turned it upside-down and aligned the etching thereon to that of the map. After a moment of comparing the two, he grunted his approval and passed it to his left, where Noddy stood.
“Aye,” said Noddy, after his own examination, “but how do y’know that this be the particular river, Cap’n?”
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