The Merchant and the Menace (32 page)

Izgra spun and retreated from the chamber. Sulgor
bowed low and watched the warlock depart.

“One last thing, my lord .... “ said Sulgor.

 Izgra halted without turning.

“Ader Light Wielder accompanies the boy,” continued
the Malveel. “Our asset believes Methra was lost to the Guide, but was unable
to verify this.”

Izgra paused.

“Methra would have died at the hands of the Light
Wielder a millennia ago if not for Amird’s interference in the battle,” snarled
Izgra. “Our good graces allowed him to serve Chaos and the purpose for which he
was made a thousand years more than he should.

“Ader made a mistake by calling attention to
himself. He emerges from the shadows at a most opportune time. Kill the old
Seraph when you kill the new. Their deaths will be double the triumph,” said
the black figure as he disappeared behind the curtains of the chamber.

In the morning, Kael was once again the last to
wake. The clearing was filled with the hazy gray of predawn. A mist hung in the
air. Flair had saddled their horses and given each the remainder of the rubdown
he was forced to forgo the night before. One thing was for sure about Flair. He
was a hard worker. Kael knew Hamly’s ranch produced quality horses, and now he
knew why. Flair worked himself to the bone to make sure these horses were
properly cared for.

Flair led the chestnut over and helped Kael into
the saddle. Eidyn tossed an apple to Kael and the young man deftly snatched it
out of the air.

“Cold rations this morning, my friend,” said Eidyn.

“Anything will do,” smiled Kael.

Manfir put his heels into the flanks of the black
stallion and the group moved forward. They wound their way around the brambles
and thickets that populated this area of Zodra. It was tricky riding in the semidarkness
before sunrise. The group climbed a small embankment and stood on the Great
Northern Trade Route. Manfir surveyed the road in either direction. Kael saw no
one on it. The big man turned to the group.

“We will arrive in Quay within the hour. I suggest
Granu ...” began Manfir.

Kael turned to survey the group as well. Granu was
not amongst them.

“It’s disconcerting when the lone Keltar in our collection
slips away like that,” grumbled Manfir to Ader.

“Disconcerting? I call it self-preservation,” returned
Ader.

Manfir led them down the road toward Quay. It
seemed a short span indeed before they came upon the outlying structures of the
town. A large dog howled at them from a nearby farm. The smell reminded Kael
why hog farmers always built furthest from the town center. Recent events were
so foreign that the familiar smell of hogs comforted him.

They passed a few more small farms and an old mill
set against a creek that wound into the countryside. Kael noted how early it
was. None of the farmers were working outdoors yet. The sun left the eastern
horizon and a sliver of sky shown underneath it.

Finally, several hundred yards ahead, Kael saw a
cluster of buildings and a few people moving amongst them. The group slowly
made its way into town. They passed the local tannery and waved a swarm of
flies from in front of their faces. The blacksmiths shop stood across the road
and his apprentice, outfitted in a heavy leather smock stood at the bellows
stoking the fire blazing hot for the day’s work.

The boy looked up as the group passed. Kael noticed
how the young man appraised them and their mounts. A satisfied look passed over
his face and then he looked to the horse’s hooves. The boy stepped from the
blacksmith’s shed.

“Master Elf! Are your horses in need of any
shoeing? Your young master’s mount carries his front left awkwardly,” said the
boy pointing to Eidyn’s stallion.

Teeg reined in and the group followed suit.

“Perhaps you should take a look, my good man. We
would hate for him to pull up lame while far from the nearest town,” called
Teeg.

The boy smiled and approached Eidyn’s white
stallion. He bowed low as he came close.

“Is he of a good nature, my lord?” the boy asked
Eidyn.

“The finest,” smiled Eidyn.   

The apprentice nestled in next to the horse’s left
forearm. He grabbed the stallion’s leg and lifted it back.

“What news in these parts, my friend?” asked Teeg
amiably.

“Little news here,” replied the boy. “We’re too far
from anything important for anything worth talking about to happen. It looks as
if a stone shard is lodged under the shoe.”

The boy removed a small pry bar from a sack tied to
his waist and worked it into the white stallion’s shoe.

“What of business then, is it slow?” questioned
Teeg.

“Now that’s a bit different. Business is good,”
smiled the boy as he looked up to Teeg.

“Brisk eh?” said Teeg. “Why so?”

The boy grunted a few times as he worked the pry
bar under the horse’s shoe.

“Unusual amount of travel on the road,” stated the
boy. “Plenty of people heading north.”

“People?” said Teeg.

“Men mostly. Some riding and some walking. Those
riding often require a bit of work on their mounts. Those walking need plenty
of other things repaired. Plenty of shoddy workmanship down South. Reattached
three skillet handles this week. They don’t take kindly to setting on the flame
of an open fire. You can’t control the heat that way. Handles just pop off,”
said the boy. “Plenty of sword repair as well.”

“Sword repair? Someone looking for a battle, master
blacksmith?” asked Teeg.

The boy blushed and glanced back at the shed.

“Uh, I’m not the blacksmith,” stammered the boy.
“The smith is, uh, still asleep in the back. If you’re nervous, I’ll call him
up to work on your mount?”

“No, no. Don’t bother him. I‘m sure he is a busy
man. Your services are more than adequate. But what is this of a battle?”

The boy smiled with the compliment and worked on
the horse’s hoof.

“Oh, lots of those moving north are members of the
Southern militias. King Macin called them up and they’re bound to obey. Many of
those swords haven’t seen duty in years. Took me fifty turns of the sharpening
stone to take the rust off of some of them.” said the boy.

“Fifty turns! Ho, those were old blades. Heavy in
rust eh?” laughed Teeg. “Any other unusual travelers on the road?”

The boy halted his work and looked up at Teeg once
more. Kael noted a difference in his expression. He no longer looked at the
group as customers he might help in return for a bit of coin. It was as if he
now recognized the group for what it was. The boy’s eyes narrowed and he
answered slowly.

“No... just the usual merchants and tinkers, my
lord.”

The boy glanced at Ader with some uneasiness. After
a moment of silence the old man smiled at the boy and addressed him.

“You look uneasy, lad. Did you begin work on an empty
stomach? Never a sound idea,” smiled Ader.

“Forgive me, my lord, but you look familiar to me.
I apologize for my impertinence, but have we conducted business in the past?”
asked the boy.

“Two summers ago you purchased the leather hide
used to make the forging bellows from me. You just began working as Boon’s
assistant,” smiled Ader.

The boy’s eyes drifted off and a look of
recognition entered them.

“Master Jasper?“

“Excellent memory, lad,” said Ader.

The boy turned to Manfir and nodded.

“And your son, Master Rin. I apologize for not
recognizing you, but you changed your station in life dramatically. Such
beautiful mounts. And where is the old nag and cart?” the boy asked Ader.

“The nag is put out to pasture, and the cart is no
longer needed,” replied Manfir.

The boy appeared stunned to hear Manfir speak.

“And in the company of Elven royalty. Things
certainly changed for you,” stated the boy. “Congratulations.”

The apprentice bent over once more smiling and
shaking his head. He was obviously pleased with the good fortune of Jasper the
tinker and his son Rin. Teeg’s face grew into a broad smile and Kael knew
immediately the old Elf was planning something.

“Tell me, my boy, any unusual weaponry amongst the
travelers?” asked Teeg.

“Not too much,” replied the boy as he forced the
stallion’s shoe away from the hoof. “Mostly blades with the usual Southern
style. Not much sophistication. I saw a few dozen arrows made by the river
folk, very distinctive heads of steel. Some cutlass from the Erutre. I assume
the owners bartered for them. The Erutre keep a good deal of contact with the
Southern towns that border their lands. A few unusual crossbows, but people
make them all different ways anyhow.”

“You’re gifted with a keen eye for detail,” smiled
Teeg. “A good deal of information to be gained by noticing the weapons a man
carries.”

“More than not it’ll tell you where a man has been
and whether he keeps coin in his pocket,” smiled the boy.

“Coin?” asked Kael.

The boy turned to Kael and nodded.

“A poor farmer or merchant doesn’t retain money to
spend on the mending and maintenance of a weapon,” explained the boy. “If he’s
traveling, he ought to keep a weapon in its finest condition in order to
protect himself. If he doesn’t, he’s either an addlebrained idiot or too poor
to get it done. Since I pick out the addlebrained idiots once I talk to them,
I’m able to determine which ones simply can’t afford it.”

The boy clenched his teeth and applied pressure to
the stallion’s hoof. The pry bar popped and a rock shard shot from beneath the
horse’s shoe and landed on the street.

“There we go,” exclaimed the boy. “That’ll take the
pain out of his step. Hold here a moment.”

The boy stepped into the blacksmith’s shack and
returned with a bucket of water. He washed down the hoof and scrubbed out the
area that held the rock.

“You don’t want him to get infected,” he commented.
“He should be just fine.”

“It was the ring on my young friend’s hand?”
interrupted Teeg pointing to Eidyn.

The boy stood, wiped his hands on a rag and for a
moment looked confused. Comprehension crept across his face.

“His ring, my lord?” smiled the boy.

“Come, come Master Hindle. How did you know we were
Elven royalty? We might be any two Elves traveling on our good King Leinor’s
business. Messengers. Military men. Craftsmen sent to Rindor. You knew we were
royalty,” stated Teeg.

“The young prince wears the crest of the House of
Leinor on his ring finger,” stated Hindle. “I’m a blacksmith’s apprentice. I
notice beautiful metal work immediately. Tis quite a remarkable piece. I wager
it was given to Prince Eidyn when he came of age.”

Kael and Flair looked at one another in
astonishment. Ader coughed loudly and Teeg just beamed.

“I did not tell you my companion’s name,” smiled
Teeg.

“You didn’t need to tell me. Your companion is young
by Elven standards. There is only one heir to the throne of Luxlor, and only he
wears the crest of his family on his hand,” stated Hindle. “In turn, I never
gave you my name, Master Elf. How did you come upon it?”

“Tis my business to know many a place and those who
are important to those places. I daresay I was required to search my memory for
the blacksmith’s apprentice in Quay, but you moved yourself to the top of the
list in this small town,” said Teeg turning to Ader. “A remarkable boy don’t
you agree, Lord Ader?”

The old man grunted and nodded his approval. Hindle
cast a probing glance over the old man and Manfir. He was unable to reconcile
the pair from what he knew of their past. Teeg interrupted his deliberations.

“Well, my boy. We must be about our business. Is
the stallion’s shoe set?”

The boy smiled and returned his gaze to the horse’s
shoe. Hindle produced a small hammer from the sack tied to his waist and
hammered the shoe back into place.

“What do I owe you for such fine work, young man?”
asked Teeg.

The boy hesitated and swept his gaze across the
group once more.

“However much it pains me to pass on some coin,”
frowned Hindle. “I’ll charge you nothing. I’m not a knight or prince of the
realm, but I too am Zodrian. I never stood toe to toe with an Ulrog pack, and I
don’t expect to. However, I’m thankful to those who do and I wish to contribute
to the fight in anyway I can. Instinct tells me you’re important, far more
important than I might imagine. Therefore, I render my services happily and free
of charge. May Avra bless your proceedings.”

Hindle bowed deeply and stepped back from the
group. Teeg quickly glanced to Ader and the Guide nodded.

“The town of Quay requires a bit of competition in
its sleepy streets,” stated Teeg. “While your master, Boon the blacksmith,
spends most of his day sleeping, and the remainder swilling ale, you do the
work of the blacksmith of this village. Perhaps a new blacksmith’s shop is
needed here.”