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The doors to the palace opened, and down the steps came a well-dressed young man with a court retinue following behind. Then Roo noticed that the retinue was arranged in a loose circle around an elderly woman. Easily in her eighties, she still moved with a sure step and carried herself erect She held an ornate walking stick with a golden hilt, but it was as much for effect as for support. Her grey hair was swept up in a fashion new to Roo, and set with jeweled pins of gold.
The young man moved to where Erik waited, and Erik bowed. “My lord.”
“Grandmother,” said the young man to the elderly woman, “it’s here.” The two large doors next to the steps opened, and servants in the livery of the ducal household ran forth. The young man waved his hand toward the wagon and they began to untie the tar-paulin covering the cargo. The six large boxes were carefully handed down.
The woman pointed to the first box. “Open it.”
The servants complied; the woman poked into a loose assortment of clothing and moved it around with her walking stick. “This isn’t much to show for a lifetime, is it?”
Roo and Duncan exchanged glances, and the young man said to Erik, “Tell cousin Patrick we are all grateful for this. Grand-mother?”
The old woman smiled, and Roo saw a hint of youthful beauty that must have been something to behold. “Yes, we are thankful.”
She motioned for her servants to pick up the boxes and said, “Arutha . . . he was always special to me. After my husband, I miss him most of all.” She seemed lost in thought, then said, “Duncan.”
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Duncan stepped forward, confusion on his face, as the young man said, “Grandmother?”
“Ma’am?” asked Duncan.
The old woman glanced at the two men and smiled. “I was speaking to my grandson, sir,” she said to Duncan Avery. “I take it your name is also Duncan?”
Duncan removed his hat and swept into his most courtly bow. “Duncan Avery at your service, ma’am.”
To her grandson the woman said, “Tell your father I shall join his court shortly, Duncan.”
The young man nodded, glanced at the other Duncan, then hurried up the stairs. Coming to stand before Duncan Avery, she peered into his face. “I know you,” she said quietly.
Duncan smiled his most charming smile.
“Madam, I hardly count that possible. I am certain had we met I would have no doubt about it”
The woman laughed, and Roo found it a surprisingly youthful sound from one so old. She tapped his chest with her finger. “I was right. I do know you. I married you.” She turned away and, as she returned to the waiting retinue, said, “Or someone very much like you, once, a long time ago.” Without looking back she added, “And if I ever see you within speaking distance of any of my granddaughters, I’ll have you horsewhipped from the city.”
Duncan looked at Roo with fleeting alarm crossing his face. Then the old woman looked at him as she mounted the first step, and Roo saw the mischief in her smile as she said, “Or brought to my quarters.
Have a pleasant trip, gentlemen.” To Erik she said,
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these keepsakes of my brother.”
Erik saluted. “M’lady,” he said.
Roo went over to Erik. “Who was that?” he asked.
Erik said, “The Lady Carline, Dowager Duchess of Salador. The King’s aunt.”
Duncan laughed. “She must have been something once.”
Roo elbowed his cousin in the ribs and said,
“Seems she still is.”
They returned to the wagons and Duncan said,
“So that was the precious cargo? Some old clothes and whatever?”
Roo mounted the wagon and said, “So it seems.
But she certainly seemed to set great store by it.”
Duncan mounted the wagon and Roo called out,
“Where to now, Erik?”
Erik said, “Inn of the Nimble Coachman. We passed it on the way here. They have the royal account.”
Roo knew that meant he and Duncan would stay the night at the Prince’s expense, and he smiled.
Every coin he saved now would be put back into the business, to compensate for the riches lost when Helmut was murdered. At the thought of his former partner’s murder, Roo’s thoughts turned dark again, and he found his merriment fleeing.
The inn was modest but clean, and Roo enjoyed a hot bath after the long journey. Duncan found his willing barmaid and Roo found himself left alone with Erik and the squad of soldiers. Roo motioned for Erik to sit with him, and when he was sure he was out of earshot of the soldiers, he asked in a low prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:37 AM Page 294
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voice, “Do you know what’s going on?”
Erik said, “About what?”
“This ‘rush’ shipment of old clothing.”
Erik shrugged. “I think it’s just some things belonging to the old Prince that Prince Patrick thought his great-aunt would want to have.”
“That part I understand,” said Roo. “I understand why they want me to bring things into the palace.”
He left unsaid what they both knew about that contract “But this cargo could have gone to anyone, and why the rush?”
“Maybe the old woman is ill?” said Erik.
Roo shook his head. “Hardly. She looked like she might yank Duncan’s trousers down.”
Erik laughed. “She was kind of outspoken, wasn’t she?”
Roo said, “Is de Loungville doing me a favor?”
Erik shook his head. “Not him. He has nothing to say in this; fact is, no one in the military does, either our command or the palace. Your selection was handled by the office of the Chancellor.”
“Which means Duke James.”
“I guess,” answered Erik, suddenly yawning. “I’m tired. Why don’t you worry about this tomorrow.
Besides, who cares if it’s a pointless job, as long as it pays well?”
He stood and motioned for his men to retire for the night Roo sat alone for a long minute, and a barmaid came over to see if he wanted anything. She smiled at him. He inspected her with a young man’s eyes, then shook his head.
To the chair Erik had just vacated, Roo at last said, “I care.”
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Back in Ravensburg, the homecoming was far more festive than before. Knowing that Roo was returning, the locals planned a small party.
Erik and his guards had left Salador the morning after the delivery, while Roo and Duncan had set out to track down some of the mysterious accounts on the ledger Jason had found. A few of them had been known to Karli, and by using deduction during the conversation with those people, Roo identified all those in the Salador area in quick order. With each of those accounts he discovered a different reason for the discretion exhibited by Helmut Grindel. All but one had agreed to continue doing business with Roo’s new company, and that one had paid off his account in full. Roo was satisfied with the overall outcome.
Erik had ridden ahead so he could spend a few days in Ravensburg. Roo felt no pressing need to linger in the town of his boyhood and was content to spend but one night there before moving on back to his new home in Krondor.
At least sixty people were crowded into the common room of the Inn of the Pintail, and Erik was grinning at the attention. Roo watched his friend from across the crowded room, feeling envy. Always something of a rogue in Ravensburg, Roo knew everyone but had few friends. Erik, on the other hand, had always been everyone’s friend, including Roo’s.
Roo smiled despite his somewhat subdued mood.<
br />
Erik’s mother Freida, long the resident rain cloud in Roo’s life, came into the room through the kitchen door looking like a sunburst. She smiled at the sight of her son and husband talking together. Marriage prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:37 AM Page 296
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certainly had agreed with Freida, Roo was forced to concede. He wondered if he would ever find such pleasure in wife and family. Thinking of Karli, he felt some concern, yet women had been having babies since the dawn of time and what could he accomplish by being near her? Making his fortune, providing for her and the child, that was the most important thing Roo could do.
“You’re lost, aren’t you?” asked a feminine voice.
Roo glanced up to see a familiar face. He smiled.
“Gwen, hello.”
The girl sat down. An old friend, she reached across the table and patted Roo’s hand. “Thought I might run into you and that cousin of yours,” she said. Then with a twist of her head, she indicated Duncan at the other side of the room, deep in conversation with a young girl unknown to Roo. “Seems Ellien found Duncan first.”
“Ellien? Bertram’s little sister?” Roo looked again at the girl and saw that she was a little younger than he had thought her to be when Duncan first began flirting with her. The last time he had seen the girl, she had been shapeless. Now, given the plunging neckline of her blouse, he could see some shape had definitely manifested itself over the last three years.
Gwen twirled a strand of her hair absently as she said, “What about you?”
Roo said, “I’m doing fine. I’m owner of a freight company now.”
Gwen’s smiled broadened. “Owner? How’d you manage that?”
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a little. Freida came by and filled Roo’s wineglass, smiling at him while she did.
Roo said, “She’s changed.”
“She’s found a good man,” said Gwen.
“What about you?” asked Roo, taking a deep drink.
Gwen sighed dramatically. Like most of the town girls his own age, Roo knew, she had spent her evenings down by the fountain in the center of town flirting with the local boys, and unlike most girls, she was still unwed. “The good ones are taken.”
She feigned a pout Drawing a fingernail across the back of Roo’s hand, she said, “Things haven’t been the same since you and Erik left Ravensburg.”
Roo grinned. “Getting dull?”
“You could say that.” Gwen glanced over at Duncan, who now was whispering something into Ellen’s ear. The girl’s eyes widened and she blushed, then burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. Softly Gwen said, “Well, that’s one little flower that’s going to get plucked tonight.” Her sour tone wasn’t lost on Roo. It was now obvious that Gwen had heard Duncan was here and had come looking for him.
As a boy, Roo had slept with the girl a few times.
Gwen was one of the more agreeable girls in that regard in the town, which had probably contributed to no boy’s asking for her hand in marriage. Roo thought it was more likely that there simply were more girls than boys his age as he grew up. There were bound to be those who didn’t find husbands.
Still, he liked Gwen.
“Leave your father’s house and find a position at an inn,” advised Roo.
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“And why should I do a thing like that?” asked Gwen.
Roo grinned as the wine warmed him. “Because then you might find a rich merchant passing through, whose fancy you might catch.”
Gwen laughed. She took a sip of wine. “Rich like you?”
Roo blushed. “I’m not rich. I’m working hard at it, though?’
“So you’re going to be rich someday?” she pressed.
Feeling his spirits lifting, he said, “Let me tell you something about what I’m going to do.”
Gwen motioned for Freida to bring more wine and sat back to listen to Roo spin his tales of ambition.
Roo winced at the sound of someone slamming a door down the hail. Then he shuddered as someone pounded on his bedroom door.
“What?” he croaked.
Erik’s voice came from beyond the door. “Get dressed. We leave in an hour.”
Roo felt the way he had the day they had left Krondor. “I’ve got to stop doing this,” he groaned.
“What?” said a sleepy voice next to him.
Suddenly Roo was wide awake and sober. He looked to his right and saw Gwen wrapped up in the bedsheets.
“Gods!” Roo whispered.
“What?” asked Gwen.
“What are you doing here?” said Roo as he scrambled out of bed, reaching for his clothing.
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showing off her body to good effect, and said, “Well, come back here and I’ll show you ... again.”
Roo pulled on his pants. “I can’t! Gods! I didn’t .
. . did I?”
Gwen’s expression clouded as she said, “You most certainly did, more than once. What is the problem, Roo? It’s not the first time you and I have sported.”
“Ah . . .“ he said, not certain what he could possibly say to explain this away. He sat and pulled on his boots as quickly as he could. “Well, it’s just . . .“
“What?” said Gwen, now certain she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear.
Draping his shirt over his arm and grabbing his coat off the floor, Roo said, “Well, it’s just ... I thought I might have mentioned it last night . . . but
. . . I’m married.”
“What!” came the shriek as he opened the door.
“You bastard!” she shouted as she threw the porce-lain washbowl that had rested a moment before on the nightstand next to the bed. It shattered loudly as Roo hurried down the stairs.
He found Duncan outside and said, “Is the wagon ready?” Duncan nodded. “I told the smith’s apprentice to hitch it up when you didn’t come down for breakfast this morning.”
Seeing the agitated condition his cousin was in, Duncan said, “Is something wrong?”
As if to answer his question, a loud shriek of outrage could be heard from inside the inn.
Freida, Nathan, and Milo, who had been saying good-bye to Erik, glanced back at the inn, but Roo didn’t look back. He climbed up into the wagon, took the reins, and said, “We’re leaving.”
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Erik nodded, signaled his squad to form up, and motioned them to follow after Roo’s wagon, while Duncan had to jump to get up on the wagon before it left him behind.
“What was that?” asked Duncan with a grin.
Roo turned and warned, “You will say nothing.
Not a thing, do you understand?”
Duncan only nodded and laughed.
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The baby squirmed.
Erik smiled as he stood at Roo’s side, while the priest of Sung the White, Goddess of Purity, blessed the child on her naming day. At the appropriate moment, Roo quickly handed the child back to Karli.
The priest said, “Abigail Avery, in this, your pure and innocent time of life, know that you are blessed in the sight of the goddess. If you remain true and good, doing harm to no one, then shall you abide in her grace. Blessed be her name.”
“Blessed be,” Roo, Karl, and Erik repeated, completing the ritual of greeting.
The priest nodded and smiled and said, “She’s a beautiful girl.”
Roo forced a smile. He had so expected a son that when, a we
ek before, Karli had begun her labor and produced a girl, he had been completely unprepared.
They had argued for hours about the boy’s name, Roo wanting to call his son Rupert after himself, so that he could look upon himself as the founder of a dynasty, but Karli holding out for Helmut, after her 301
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father. Then, at the moment Karli had asked, “What shall we name her?” Roo had stood dumbfounded, without an answer.
Karli had asked, “Might we name her Abigail after my mother?” and Roo had nodded, not having words to express himself.
The priest left the bedchamber, and Karli put the child at her breast. Erik motioned for Roo to follow him and led his friend out of the room.
“She’ll be a fine daughter,” said Erik.
Roo shrugged as he walked down the stairs with Erik. “I guess. Truth to tell, I expected a boy. Maybe next time.”
Erik said, “Don’t be too disappointed. I think Karli would be very upset if you were disappointed.”
“Do you?” said Roo, glancing up the stairs.
“Well, I’ll go back and fuss a little over the child and pretend I’m thrilled.”
Erik’s gaze narrowed, but he said nothing. He moved toward the door and retrieved his cloak and a broad-brimmed slouch hat. It was raining in Krondor, and he had gotten soaked coming to witness the ceremony. “I guess I might as well tell you now,” he said as his hand rested on the door latch.
“What?”
“I probably won’t be seeing you for some time.”
“Why?” asked Roo, his face betraying something close to panic. Erik was one of the few people in the world he felt he could trust and rely upon.
“I’m leaving. Soon. It was supposed to be Jadow, but he broke his leg last week.” He lowered his voice.
“I can’t tell you where, but I think you know.”
Roo’s expression revealed concern. “How long?”
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ahead of us, and well, it may be a very long time.”
Roo gripped his friend’s arm as if to hold him there. After a moment he squeezed Erik’ s arm and said, “Stay alive.”
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