The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  “Uh, I’ll take an ale.” Roland paid for his ale and went back to the back to see if this man was Warner.

  “Excuse me, I’m looking for a man named Warner.”

  “Depends on who sent you. Do you know a man named Eli?”

  “Yes, I know Eli and he knows my friend Shadow.”

  “Well, then have a seat Roland. My name is Warner. I wouldn’t drink that swill they call Ale here. Act like you’re drinking it but don’t unless you want your guts turning inside out tonight.”

  Roland sniffed his ale and his eyes watered. “Good advice.”

  “We should keep our voices down. We don’t want anyone to overhear us. I know everyone in here too so we don’t have too much to worry about. So Eli hasn’t told you anything has he.” Roland shook his head the negative. “Just like old Eli. He thinks someone is listening in on him all the time. Which they might be. You see we work for the king of Lancaster. Except very few people know we work for him. Being a king has some disadvantages. One, there is always someone wanting to take over the job. But here in Lancaster it is more like the orcs and the elves want to just kill us all.”

  “Those of us who work for the king behind the scenes are few and far between. It is hard to find people you can trust. Eli thinks you’re a trustworthy individual. If Eli thinks your trust worthy, then I think you’re trustworthy. I don’t remember a time when he has been wrong. It is hard to get good people in the different guilds. Also, you have very valuable skills. If you continue to be of help to us we can help you with some of those skills.”

  “Now, you have no idea if what I’m telling you is true or not. If I were you I would want proof of what I’m saying. So, I’m going to show you a contract between you and the king. Once you agree to the contract you will know it is the truth because the magic in the contract will confirm it in your mind. So before we go on what questions do you have?”

  Things were moving way too fast. “Well…. what if he wants me to do something against my conscience? I don’t want to make a contract if the king is evil. I grew up in the middle of nowhere and the king was always spoken of in good terms but I don’t know him.”

  “Good question. If you are given an assignment that goes against your convictions, then turn it down. The king wants to be a good king and he needs talented people. He also doesn’t want to anger you or his people. You have helped out already. Did eavesdropping in on a conversation and breaking and entering bother you?”

  So, was that a test or did they really need to know what was going on in that warehouse? “I did that for my friend. Was it really needed or was it a test?”

  “Both. We needed to know and we also needed to know if you were capable and if you could hold up to pressure. Eli has kept quiet about all your skills. We understand the need for privacy of our abilities and skills. He said your particular skills were needed by the king. He said you were unique.”

  “I’m not sure how unique I am. You talked about training. What type of training would I get?”

  “Well you were trained by Farrell right?”

  “Yes, he gave me some really good training.”

  “Well, Farrell has a waiting list to get into his training hall and the normal wait time is two years. Here.” Warner passed a small bag of coins across the table to Roland. “This should reimburse you for the training and for the knives you had made from Gimin. He never makes a knife for anyone with dwarven runes on them unless the king asks for it. You have already been the beneficiary of being a King’s Hand and you haven’t even signed the contract.”

  Roland looked in the pouch. It contained some gold and silver in it. “Is there anything you don’t know about what I’ve been up to?”

  “We have kept up with you since you showed up in Alondale with an elven knife. You got a few people raising their eyebrows over that. They didn’t realize you were half elven. Eli had to help out on that information.”

  “Why do we have to go through all this secrecy the cloak and shadow stuff? If the king wanted me to work for him all he would have to have done was to command me to work for him.”

  “Then everyone would know you are working for him. We don’t want people to know about you. Everyone knows about Eli and Evelyn. The elves know they work for the king and the mages guild. You just happen to be Eli’s apprentice. No one else has ever had Eli for an apprentice so you have some special magic that only Eli and you can do. So it is easy for you to stay in contact with Eli and show up to his house for dinner on occasion. You are very valuable to the king. Just the ability to go into the kingdom and then get back to Eli is worth more than you know.”

  “Every kingdom has some type of spying agents. Ours is very small. So the few we have they need to be versatile and they need to have some unique skills. Our country is big when you think about how much land there is and how few people there are. It wouldn’t take too much to over through the king. With people placed in the right area and if we know the threats before they show up we can eliminate most threats before they manifest. But it takes special people who can think on their feet and act with the appropriate actions.”

  “How do I know what is appropriate and what isn’t?”

  “Well, first of all you were brought up in Alondale Forest by good parents who taught you right from wrong. Second you have shown over and over again on your missions that you care for those you work with and with those you have developed friendships with. Third, and for me is the most important is that Eli thinks your right man. Eli and I go back a long ways and he has never led me astray.”

  “Ok, I’ll do it.”

  Warner handed him the contract across the table. “Sign it with your full name. Once you sign it the contract mana will take hold and you will know in your mind it is good. If you ever break with the King’s Hand, then a seal in the castle will be broken and you will never be a King’s Hand again.”

  The contract was titled “A King’s Hand Contract” it was a contract between a man or woman and between the king himself. He would protect the kingdom and its laws and the king would support him in return. He signed the contract. As soon as he signed it he knew in his mind that a magical contract was in effect. The parchment in front of him with his signature burned up.

  Shadow was a bit upset. He was outside the city tracking down his dinner. “What did you just do? I can feel that you have made a pact and you didn’t ask me about it.”

  “I made a pact between the King of Lancaster and myself. I work for him but few men will ever know I work for the king.”

  “Next time Roland ask me before you make a pact. It effects, me was well as you. We are bound. So if you bind yourself to another I am bound also.”

  “I’m sorry Shadow. I didn’t think it would affect you.”

  “It is ok Roland. Like I said, this time it is fine. Next time talk to me.”

  Roland was feeling bad about not thinking this wouldn’t effect Shadow. They just did everything together. Shadow always deferred to Roland on things involving humans. But, the biggest thing that struck him was how Shadow had spoken to him. It was just like he would have spoken. The bond was really effecting him as much as it was effecting Roland.

  Warner was watching Roland and on how he reacted. “Roland, here are some drop points in this city. Go to them and make sure you know how to find them. When you’re in this city go to these points. If we have a message for you it will be in one of these three points. Don’t let anyone see you checking these points. When you go to other cities or towns you will be given other points in those places.”

  Roland looked at the drop points. One was behind a lose brick behind a building. The second was under the table they were sitting at. Roland put his hand under the table and it took a bit but he finally found the hidden draw and how to open it. The third was a mile marker a mile outside of town. He remembered seeing that specific mile marker.

  Warner then handed him a mission from the Adventurer’s Guild. “You being in the guild also helps. We will get
missions for you that no one else in the guild will get. If someone asks about it, tell them it was posted as you were looking at the board. Imala in the capitol helps us out at times. She isn’t a King’s Hand but she is paid to pass missions and messages to guild members. Take the messages but don’t say anything to her. She doesn’t know who you are. All she knows is you get messages.”

  “If you don’t have any more questions we are done here. Go find those drop points and then when you’re ready go on the mission. This mission is urgent. We suspect some underhandedness is going on. Particularly here in Port Orchard.”

  Roland got up and exited the Vulgar Bard. He found the drop point behind the lose brick. It was empty. Shadow found the mile marker. He said the stone hadn’t been moved in quite a while. He was sure it had a hollow center. When he stepped on the marker it wasn’t as stable as a rock of that size should be.

  They met back in the room. Roland looked at the mission and it was to scout to the west in the Great Grass Sea to determine orc movements. Shadow and Roland realized this was to determine if the orcs were coming to raid Port Orchard.

  Several decades ago the orcs had come together under a strong shaman. He untied several of the tribes and they raided Port Orchard. The town had almost been destroyed. The men rallied and a mage from the mages guild saved the city. Since then the walls were built up to fend off the orcs. There has never been another raid like that since. The only weak area for the city is where the wall meets the water. Water isn’t the friend of construction and the waves have weakened the walls.

  Because of the pirate problems Port Orchard has spent more time working on the defenses against the pirates instead of working on defenses against the orcs. They were beginning to feel like the proverbial problem “Between a rock and a hard place.”

  Roland and Shadow spent the night in the guild house. Breakfast was just a bland as the meals in all the guild houses. You would have thought that at least one guild house would have hired a cook that could make a decent meal.

  He went and picked up some jerky, trail bread, spices, and some dried fruit. There wasn’t much else to do. So he spent the day walking around Port Orchard exploring the city. They had decided to wait until night to leave the city. Obviously someone had been reporting when they left the capitol. Maybe someone was watching people in this town too. Better to be safe than sorry. They found that they could get around the wall surrounding the city next to the sea. There was enough room that three men could get through the gap at one time. Or at least when the tide was out.

  The docks were crowded. Ships were being loaded and unloaded. There were vagrants all over the dock. Shadow kept the pick pockets from getting too close. There were several people who seemed to be watching the docks closely. If Roland was staying the city for any amount of time he would have spent time down here at night. The shadow that threatened the thieves in the capitol might show up here sometime.

  They had lunch at a small café in the better part of town. It was much better than what he could get at the guild house. The mages guild was in the better part of town, which wasn’t too surprising to Roland. They always seemed like they had something to prove with their opulence. The roads in the upper part of the city were paved very nicely with stones. The roads near the docks were paved too but they were missing about half the stones that were once paved.

  By the time evening came around they had walked almost every street and ally way in the city. They had back tracked multiple times and no one was watching them. It made Roland feel better that no one had taken notice of his meeting with Warner. He was a bit jumpy. The idea of being a King’s Hand still caused him to think about what this was going to do to him and how it was going to change his life.

  They ate at the guild house that night. They went to bed early but only Shadow got any sleep. They left after midnight. The guild hall was absolutely deserted. Roland cast the shadow illusion on them as they left the guild hall. There were only a few people out and they were thieves looking for a mark near the docks. Roland avoided them because they didn’t want any attention at all. If the shadow from the capital showed up now too many connections could be made.

  The moon was a quarter full. The stars were bright and only a small thin cloud could be seen in the northern sky. Insects were buzzing and clicking. The waves striking the rocks but the sound was disappearing as they started into the plains. They hadn’t gone more than a half mile when they came to the Great River. It emptied into the bay where the docks of Port Orchard were. They traveled up the river till they found a large tree branch they used to cross the river with.

  Roland placed his pack on the log to keep it dry. He slowly made his way across the river. Shadow didn’t waste any time. He went straight across and explored the far bank. When Roland finally made it across Shadow was sure nothing dangerous was close by.

  They traveled the rest of the night heading to the northwest right into the Great Grass Sea. It was generally flat and the grass was waist high. Looking across the plains you wouldn’t think there was any place to hide. However, there were lots of places the land would slowly dip a bit or would climb just a bit. It was in areas like this were you could almost hide an army. Roland and Shadow found a very small dip in the grass and stopped for the day. They would travel at night and sleep in the day time.

  When they stopped Roland cast an illusion over them so that it looked like a flat piece of ground instead of the small dip with a wolf and a half elf sleeping in it. Sleep came quickly for Roland but he had to recast his illusion every two hours. It wasn’t bad but he wished he could sleep longer than two hours at a time.

  As they started to out the next night they began smelling smoke. They were close to the first camps, villages or whatever you would call a gathering of orcs. To Roland they looked more like a camp than they did a village. There weren’t any guards so they must have felt safe in their own land.

  The living areas were just firs fixed into a lean-to. They had fires just beyond the lean-tos. They were cooking meat on most of the fires. The firs on the lean-tos looked to be buffalo and deer pelts. The orcs wore loin cloths made of firs. The male orcs carried clubs and maces. The females all seemed to have some type of knives made of stones. This particular camp didn’t seem to have much going on at all. How was he supposed to find out what they had planned?

  They continued on finding more and more camps. The camps were picking up and moving during the day. They were all headed to the east. Maybe something was going on. Roland and Shadow kept watch on the movements and moved along with the camps. The further east they went the more orc camps were joining the trek east. Things weren’t looking good.

  Finally, Roland cast an orc illusion on himself. There were just too many orcs in the area and avoiding them was almost impossible. He cast an illusion on Shadow that made him look like the grass they were walking through. He was almost the same height as the grass so it worked out well.

  The fourth day of following the movement of the orcs they came to a bluff overlooking the ocean. The area directly below the bluff had a large grass area where hundreds of orcs were gathering. The camps spread out all the way to the beach. They found a good spot overlooking the area that gave them cover and Roland cast an illusion on moth of them making them blend in to the rock cliff.

  They spent two days observing the orcs. They decided that there were seven tribes present. There were three shamans with the group. The adult males counted to be about 750. It was hard to get an exact count. At night the shaman would make loud speeches and the orcs would howl. Roland couldn’t figure out what they were saying but he understood the word kill and the word men. He felt this was the information that was needed by the people of Port Orchard.

  That night they headed back to Port Orchard. They followed the beach back to the city. It took two days of travel to get back. If the orcs came this direction they should be able to have some time to prepare. They made it back in the morning just as the gates were opening up.

&n
bsp; Because Roland wasn’t sure how to find Warner he went to the Vulgar Bard Tavern. Surprisingly it was still open. The bar tender didn’t think twice about him ordering ale first thing in the morning. He sat at the table and wrote out a message for warner. He left the message at the drop under the table. He did wait for a bit before he left. He had been dumping the ale down a hole in the floor. He didn’t want it to look like he didn’t drink it.

  Instead of heading to the guild hall he went to a boarding house he had seen while exploring the city. It was just up the street from the guild. It offered a room to himself, a bath, and they washed cloths for a bit extra. He also purchased lunch and dinner for himself. Shadow went back out the gate to keep an eye on the beaches to the north.

  The lady who leased rooms at the boarding house was an elderly woman her name was Dagmar. She treated him more like a son than someone leasing a room from her. She sent his cloths out to be laundered. She provided water and soap and some oil for his armor. He worked the rest of the day getting his equipment ready to go. He was sure he would be using it shortly. Then the Dagmar came out to check on him.

  “Roland!! I know you’re in the adventures guild but why would you need so many knives?”

  Roland looked down at the table. He had been wiping down the knives. They had become such a part of himself that it didn’t seem weird to be carrying 12 knives. “Well Dagmar, I believe one can never have enough knives.”

  “Oh, well I just wanted you to know dinner would be served as the sun sets.” She backed away with a look of concern on her face.

  The meal was wonderful. The cost of staying here was a bit more than the guild house but he could afford it and the food was wonderful. That and the laundry service was nice. He left right after dinner and went to the Vulgar Bard.

  He ordered his normal ale and sat at what he now considered his table. His not was gone so Warner surly knew he was back in town. The tavern began filling up. He was a bit surprised how full it got. The crowed looked to be mainly people who worked near the docks and sailors. It was a hard bunch. Roland cast an illusion on his face. He made himself look as ugly and tough. The few people who walked back toward him took detours once they saw his face.