Krondor the Assassins (25 page)

‘‘And you’ll be half a day behind us when they do,’’ said James.

‘‘Yes,’’ said Arutha. He looked around the room. ‘‘If you get word, go as fast as you can to where the Pathfinders indicate the Nighthawks’ nest is located. Leave clear signs along the way. You and the Pathfinders are to eliminate any sentries and open any barriers, because this time I intend to ride in with my best soldiers and crush these murderous vermin.’’

James looked at Arutha and said nothing. He knew that at that moment the Prince was thinking of his Princess, in his arms, on their wedding day with an assassin’s bolt in her back, hovering near death while Arutha was helpless to do anything.

James said, ‘‘We’ll make ready, Highness.’’

He led the others out of the room, and the captain said,

‘‘Squire, why me? The Prince has never assigned this sort of duty to me before.’’

James shrugged. ‘‘You were sent to find us, so you three already know that William and I are needed for something special. Sending you with us keeps those who know about our 221

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real purpose to a minimum. Nighthawks have the irritating habit of showing up unexpectedly in unlikely places, so keeping the number of people who know of this mission to a minimum is vital.’’ Something flickered in the captain’s expression, and James added, ‘‘And His Highness certainly wouldn’t have picked you if he didn’t think you up to the task.’’ Glancing around he said, ‘‘We’ll have time on the trail to fill you in, captain. But for now, you need to create a convincing battle problem for the garrison, and I need to make arrangements.’’

‘‘Arrangements?’’ asked William.

James said, ‘‘It will be hard enough for us to sneak up on a band of assassins, lieutenant. Doubly so if we ride up in full armor with battle pennons flying. We’ll need disguises.’’ He glanced out the window and said, ‘‘It’s almost noon now. If we’re to leave at sundown, I have scant time.’’

Captain Treggar nodded. ‘‘Squire.’’ To James he said, ‘‘Lieutenant, you come with me.’’

William said, ‘‘Sir,’’ and fell in behind the captain as he led the two soldiers away.

James headed off in a different direction, back toward his favorite exit, the servants’ gate, where he could slip out of the palace with the least amount of notice. There were some people he needed to see before he left: the sheriff’s son, and three thugs hiding in the sewer; then he had to buy quite a bit in a short time.

Sand and dust blew across the plateau, as a small band of travelers, two donkeys, a camel, and a tiny herd of goats huddled around an overburdened cart. Nomads, perhaps, to the casual eye, or a family on their way to a distant village, avoiding tolls and border guards on the patrolled highways.

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William hunkered down in his desert-style robes, the hood pulled forward to keep the stinging sand out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth as much as possible. Over the noise of the wind he shouted, ‘‘Captain, are we being watched?’’

Captain Treggar shouted back, ‘‘If they’re out there, we’re being watched!’’

Three days earlier they had left a camp near the southern end of Shandon Bay. Prince Arutha followed behind by two days, leading two hundred mounted soldiers. Out there somewhere in the blowing sands of the plateau country was a handful of Pathfinders, seeking the ruins of the ancient Keshian fortress.

James said to William, ‘‘You look lovely, dear.’’

‘‘What?’’

James raised his voice over the wind. ‘‘I said, ‘You look lovely, dear.’ ’

Being the shortest man in the company, William was dressed in the robe of a Beni-Shazda woman. The other two soldiers, also dressed as women, laughed at William’s checked irritation at James’s remark. The squire had been joking at William’s expense on and off since the young lieutenant had been handed women’s robes on the first day of the journey. William had made the mistake of voicing his complaint, while the more experienced soldiers had simply put on the robes without comment, and James had shown him no mercy since.

William had now come to realize the futility of complaint, and shook his head as he sat back on his haunches. ‘‘Just a few days ago I was strolling through the market with the prettiest girl in Krondor on my arm, gold in my purse, and a bright future ahead of me. And now I have . . . you scruffy bastards.

Of course, I also have all this lovely scenery.’’ He waved his hand around him at the barren landscape.

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Treggar said, ‘‘I’m going to hit you. Fall down and crawl away when I do.’’

Suddenly his hand lashed out, glancing off William’s shoulder. William fell over as Treggar rose up over him. ‘‘They can’t hear us, I think!’’ shouted Treggar. ‘‘Just the sound of my voice, but not the words.’’

James remained seated. ‘‘Where are they?’’

‘‘On the second ridge to the west, squire. Slightly to the north of the trail. I caught a glimpse of movement against the wind. Then I caught it again.’’

James said, ‘‘Everyone, you know your parts.’’

The other two soldiers hurried around, as if ensuring everything in the camp was secured against the wind. Treggar yelled,

‘‘Crawl away, bow toward me on your knees, then get to your feet and see to the goats!’’ William did as he was instructed.

Treggar walked over to the cart, one arm holding a voluminous sleeve as a shield against the wind. He reached the cart and took down what from a distance would appear to be a full wineskin and made a show of drinking from it. He then sat with his back to one of the wheels, in the wagon’s lee.

‘‘Now come over here and look as if you’re begging forgiveness, and while you’re doing that, look up on that ridge and see if you can catch a glimpse.’’

William did so, bowing and lifting his hands in a gesture of conciliation. ‘‘I don’t see anything, captain.’’

‘‘Bow again!’’

William did so, and James sneaked around to a position at the edge of the wagon, and while he appeared to be getting something out of the wagon he studied the ridge. After a moment he saw it, a faint movement that was out of rhythm with the wind. ‘‘They’re watching,’’ said James.

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Treggar said, ‘‘You can stop bowing, lieutenant.’’

William did so and said, ‘‘I’ll get some food and pass it around.’’

‘‘Make sure you give it to me and the squire first, then the other ‘wives’.’’

The soldiers didn’t laugh as they scanned the ridges to the west while they went through the motions of working.

‘‘Tonight one of the Pathfinders should find us, and if we’re lucky, we’ll find out exactly where those bastards are hiding out.’’

Throughout the rest of the evening they played the part of a small family of travelers. The wind died out an hour after sundown, and they built a fire and cooked a modest meal. Then they turned in and waited.

At first light the next morning, the Pathfinder still hadn’t come.

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REGGAR stood up and shook the dust off of his robe.

The eastern sky had lightened and the dawn was fast approaching. As the others stirred, the captain gestured toward the rising sun. He then turned north and made another gesture.

‘‘What are you doing?’’ James asked.

‘‘Looking for our friends,’’ the captain answered as he turned to the west. ‘‘I hope this looks like some sort of morning ritual.’’

He finished with a gesture to the south, and said, ‘‘Go get the

‘women’ working.’’

James feigned a kick at William and said, ‘‘Stoke the fire and start cooking. They’ll expect us to be on the move by the time the sun’s cleared the horizon.’’

William cowered for a moment, he hoped convincingly, then hurried to obey. He fed dried dung into the flames and soon it was hot enough to cook over.

The other ‘‘women’’ prepared food and seemed intent on their chores, but their eyes were constantly searching for any sign they were being watched. James sat crosslegged, plate upon 228

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his lap, eating. As he chewed he said, ‘‘If they’re up there, I can’t see them.’’

Treggar said, ‘‘They’re up there. At least one, anyway, until they’re convinced we’re what we seem to be. If they had found the Pathfinders and thought we were involved, we’d be dead.’’

‘‘What do you think happened to the Pathfinders?’’ asked William as he leaned over Treggar’s shoulder to fill his cup from a waterskin.

‘‘I think they ran into something they couldn’t avoid,’’ said Treggar. ‘‘Either they’re dead or lying low. Maybe they’re circling back toward Prince Arutha, avoiding us altogether because we’re being watched.’’ He drank his water, then stood. ‘‘I don’t know. But I do know that we must get moving.’’ To the two soldiers he said, ‘‘While we get ready, I want each of you to go down into that gully and relieve yourselves.’’ He looked around, as if giving instructions, pointing at the goats. ‘‘Lieutenant, go over and look at the goats as if you’re ensuring they’re sound. While you’re doing that, look as if you might be leaving a mark or message.’’

William looked slightly confused at the order, but complied.

James said, ‘‘What’s the plan?’’

‘‘I think our friends up on the ridge went home last night, but they left one man to watch us. I think as soon as we’re safely on the way, he’s going to come poking around here to see if we are what we seem to be. I want him down in the rocks where the boys are pissing or searching through goat shit, looking for a message while I leave a simple sign that the Prince’s scouts can follow.’’

James nodded, stood up and started fastening the tie-downs over the wagon’s cargo.

Treggar went to the wagon, removed the waterskin, and 229

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poured it over the fire. As the steam hissed and white smoke rose into the sky, he kicked sand over the fire, dislodging embers and moving the stones around the fire pit.

James came over and pointed at the goats, as if speaking about them, and said, ‘‘That’s a message?’’

Treggar said, ‘‘Yes. Old army trick. Different messages depending on which quarter of the circle is broken. North means

‘wait here.’ West would mean ‘come fast.’ East would mean ‘go back.’ South means ‘bring help.’ As soon as we’re out of sight, we’re leaving the cart and animals and heading back up into those rocks to the southwest to see what we can find.’’

James sighed. ‘‘I was afraid of that.’’ He glanced at the fire circle and saw the south side was broken.

Treggar said, ‘‘Squire, by all reports you’re an adventurous lad who is no stranger to risk.’’

James said, ‘‘Yes, but somehow it seems less dangerous and stupid when I’m the one who thinks these things up.’’

Treggar gave out a sharp laugh, then said, ‘‘Let’s get moving!’’

Soon, the unseen onlooker saw a ragged band of Keshian travelers continuing their journey toward the west.

It took them most of the day to be certain they were no longer being watched. Treggar called a halt half an hour before sundown and said, ‘‘Let’s double back to that wadi we passed a half-mile back and leave the wagon and the animals.’’

James said, ‘‘At least we’ve discovered the location of their hideout.’’

Treggar said, ‘‘How do you reckon that, squire?’’

James knelt and drew in the dust. ‘‘Here—’’ he made a point with his finger ‘‘—is about where I judge they picked us up, about an hour before we made camp.’’ He drew a line a few 230

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inches to the left and made another point. ‘‘Here is where we camped last night.’’ He drew another point and said, ‘‘Here is where our unseen friend stopped following us.’’

‘‘And?’’ prompted the captain.

James said, ‘‘Remember the map?’’

Treggar said, ‘‘Yes.’’

‘‘At midday we were due north of a large plateau, one that gives a commanding view of this entire area for miles in every direction.

‘‘That wadi you want to leave the animals in runs up into the hills to the south. A half-mile from the trail we’re on, it swings to the southeast as it rises up to . . . ?’’

‘‘The plateau!’’ William finished.

‘‘And the ancient fortress!’’ said Treggar. ‘‘Yes, it’s a natural sally-port! Only one way in or out.’’

‘‘It’s the only possible location around here.’’

‘‘So what next?’’ asked William.

Treggar said, ‘‘Squire, care to state the obvious so it seems less dangerous and stupid than it would if I did?’’

James winced, then said, ‘‘We scout the wadi. If Prince Arutha comes riding through here and sees signs we’ve gone that way, he could be riding into a trap. We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.’’

‘‘Sir?’’ asked one of the soldiers.

‘‘Yes?’’ answered Treggar.

‘‘If that wadi is the way in, what do we do with the wagon and the animals?’’

Treggar looked at James. ‘‘We can’t leave them around here where they might be found.’’

William said, ‘‘We three will stay then?’’

James nodded. ‘‘One man will have to drive the cart, and 231

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we can tie the camel to the back of it. The other will have to herd the goats along.’’

Treggar gave that order to the two soldiers. ‘‘Keep moving until an hour past sundown,’’ he finished, ‘‘and stay in camp for three days. If someone doesn’t make contact, return to Krondor the best way you can. Try for the outpost on the southern shore of Shandon Bay, or get to Land’s End. Report what we’ve found here. But get back to Krondor.’’

The soldiers saluted, and their grim expressions showed how likely they judged that outcome.

Stripping off his heavy robe, Treggar looked like a common mercenary, wearing a tunic and leather jerkin, a sword at his side, and no helm or shield.

James was likewise dressed except that his baldric held a rapier. William’s choice of weapon was a heavy hand-and-a-half sword, carried on his back.

Treggar looked around and said, ‘‘We stay close to the south side of the trail, hugging the rocks just in case we’re not alone.’’