Jason pointed.
The pile of ledgers and journals before the former waiter from Barret’s was daunting. ‘Well, I’ve been through them all,’ he said as he pushed his chair back from the writing desk now established in the corner of the workshop.
Carpenters had build a set of shelves for Jason, as well as a low railing around his work area, so he could see anyone coming into the warehouse, despite some privacy. Roo had informed the youth that he would be responsible for the smooth operation of the freight business if he, Duncan, and Luis were all absent from the premises at the same time.
Duncan looked bored, as he usually did when it came to matters of business, unless it was getting paid, and Luis was his usual taciturn self. Roo said, ‘And?’
Jason said, ‘Well, you’re in better shape than you thought, if you can get some of those who owed Helmut money to pay up.’ He held out a parchment upon which he had been working for days and said, ‘I’ve compiled a list and the amounts owed.’
Roo glanced at it. ‘There are a couple of noblemen here!’
Jason smiled. ‘Experience at Barret’s tells me they may be very slow in paying accounts.’ He paused a moment, then added, ‘If you don’t mind my saying, you might just wish to let some of those debts ride until you need a favor from someone highly placed in court or with influence with another noble; that sort of thing.’
Roo shook his head. ‘I don’t mind your saying.’
Holding out another list, Jason said, ‘I had more trouble with this.’
Roo looked at the second list. ‘What’s this?’
‘People Mr Grindle did business with in distant cities, but whose identity is unclear.’
Roo’s confusion was evident. ‘Their identity is unclear?’
Jason said, ‘This is not uncommon. Often those who trade in valuable goods don’t wish it widely known they have rare items in their possession, or that they need to sell such. Hence the notations. It’s a code, and only Mr Grindle knew the identities of these people.’
Roo puzzled over the list. ‘Maybe Karli knows who some of these people are. She knows a great deal more about her father’s trade than I think even he was aware of.’
Duncan said, ‘What are we doing now?’
Roo found his cousin’s attitude irritating lately, as he often complained about not having as much authority as Luis. Roo wanted to give Duncan more authority, but had discovered he lacked Luis’s willingness to work hard. Luis, on the other hand, rarely complained and was always meticulous in whatever task lay before him, while Duncan often was sloppy and left things undone.
Biting back a nasty reply, Roo said, ‘We’re leaving for Salador in the morning. We have a special cargo to deliver.’
‘Salador?’ said Duncan. ‘I know a barmaid there.’
Roo said, ‘You know a barmaid everywhere, Duncan.’
‘True,’ said the former mercenary. His mood seemed to brighten visibly with the prospect of a change of scenery.
It was Luis who said, ‘What cargo for Salador?’
Roo handed over a rolled-up parchment. Luis snapped it open and held it up before him, and his eyes widened. ‘This is incredible.’
The remark caught Duncan’s interest at last. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘We’re taking a load of goods from the palace to the estates of the Duke of Salador,’ answered Roo.
‘The King’s cousin?’ asked Jason.
‘The very same. I have no idea what it is we are carrying, but the Prince of Krondor is sending it by fast freight – us – and we need to make haste. But the price is too good for us not to go. And while there,’ he said, holding up the list, ‘we’ll attempt to identify the two names in Salador.’ He mused over the list. ‘We’ve got a half-dozen names within a week’s ride of Salador. I think we’ll deliver our cargo and then nose around some in the east.’
To his companions he said, ‘I’m going home to speak with Karli, and then Duncan and I will be departing at first light tomorrow.’ To Duncan he said, ‘Be here and be alert.’
Duncan frowned, but both knew that, given a choice, he was likely to come wandering in around midday with a hangover.
To Luis, Roo said, ‘You’re in charge while Duncan and I –’
Duncan said, ‘Wait a minute, cousin. Why not take Luis and leave me here to run things?’
Roo regarded his cousin a moment; that request could only mean Duncan had a new barmaid or serving wench who had caught his fancy. With ill humor Roo said, ‘Because I prefer to return here next month and find I am still in business.’
He ignored Duncan’s dark expression as he continued his interrupted instructions to Luis. ‘You are in charge, and if you have any unusual needs, see Karli. Jason knows what our resources are, so if something comes your way that depletes us of our money, make certain it’s a sure thing.’
Luis smiled. Many times he had said to Roo there were no ‘sure things.’ ‘Understood,’ he said.
Roo said, ‘Jason, you’re doing a good job with the ledgers. Now, can you start a fresh set of accounts for me, beginning the day I took sole control of the company?’
Jason said, ‘I can do that.’
Roo said, ‘Good, and label them “Avery and Company.”’ He turned to the door, then stopped. ‘And don’t mention that last bit about the name change to Karli until I return.’
Jason and Luis exchanged glances, but neither spoke. Roo left the office and began the long walk home. The city streets were crowded as sundown approached. Vendors hawked their wares, trying for that last sale before they called it a day and returned to their own homes, while messengers hurried to carry that last missive of the day.
Roo wended his way through the press, and by the time he reached home, the sun had set behind the buildings opposite the Grindle house. He glanced around and suddenly realized how dingy this place looked, even when not overwhelmed by shadows. He once more vowed that as soon as he could afford it, he would move his wife to newer, more sumptuous quarters.
He opened the door and entered. Karli was in the kitchen, talking with the cook, Rendel, and Mary, the maid. Mary saw Roo first and said, ‘Oh, sir. It’s the lady.’ Since the wedding, the maid had taken to referring to Karli as ‘the lady of the house,’ or simply, ‘the lady,’ as if she were the wife of nobility. Roo found he liked that, as well as being referred to as ‘the master,’ or ‘sir.’
Roo took a moment and then the scene registered. Karli stood at the large chopping block that dominated the kitchen, holding tightly to the edge. Her hand was white, she was gripping so tightly. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
Rendel, a huge woman of unknowable years, said, ‘She’s off her feed, poor dear.’
Roo frowned, not being quite sure he liked having his wife referred to as if she were livestock. ‘Karli?’
She said, ‘It’s some sort of stomach problem. I just walked in a moment ago and the smell of food …’ She grew even more pale, and suddenly her hand came to her mouth as she fought to keep whatever was in her stomach down. She turned and left the kitchen, hurrying out the back door toward the jakes.
Mary, a simple enough young woman of modest intellect, said, ‘I’m so worried about the lady.’
Rendel laughed and turned back to the vegetables she was washing in a bucket in the sink. ‘She’ll be fine.’
As Roo looked at them both, obviously unsure what to do next, Mary said, ‘Sir, should I go see to the lady?’
Roo said, ‘No. I’ll go,’ and he went after his wife out the rear door of the home.
The plain facade of the house hid, along with the interior of the home, the rich little garden that lay behind it. Karli spent a great deal of her time in the garden, which was equally divided between vegetables and flowers. At the far wall stood the modest little outhouse, from which issued the sound of Karli’s retching.
As he reached the door, it opened and a pale Karli emerged. ‘Are you all right?’ said Roo, at once regretting the question.
Karli’s expression showed it to be one of the more stupid questions of Roo’s life, but she said, ‘I’ll be fine.’
Roo said, ‘Should I send for a healer?’
Karli smiled at his obvious concern. ‘No, it’s nothing a healer can help.’
Panic revealed itself in Roo’s face. ‘My gods! What is it?’
Karli couldn’t help but laugh, despite her obvious physical discomfort. She allowed him to offer an arm and let him walk her to a tiny stone bench next to a modest fountain. ‘It’s nothing to be alarmed over, Roo,’ she said. When they sat she told him, ‘I wanted to be sure. You’re going to be a father.’
Roo sat speechless for a minute. ‘I need to sit down.’
Karli laughed. ‘You are sitting.’
Roo stood, said, ‘Now I need to sit down,’ and sat down again. Then his narrow face split in the widest grin Karli had ever seen. ‘A baby?’
Karli nodded, and Roo suddenly realized he had never seen her look so lovely. He kissed her on the cheek. ‘When?’
‘Seven more months,’ she said.
Roo calculated, and his eyes widened. ‘Then …’
She nodded. ‘The first night.’
Roo said, ‘Imagine that.’ He sat motionless and speechless for a long moment. Then a thought crossed his mind, and he said, ‘I shall have Luis change the sign to “Avery and Son” at once!’
Karli’s eyes narrowed. ‘Change the name of the company?’
Roo took her hand and said, ‘My love, I want the world to know I have a son coming.’ He stood up. ‘I must tell Duncan and Erik, before I leave tomorrow.’
He was halfway across the garden when she asked, ‘Leave tomorrow?’
He halted. ‘I’m going to run a special cargo to Salador for the Prince. I’ll tell you about it when I get back, but I need to tell Erik and Duncan I’m going to be a father.’
He dashed out of the garden without waiting for a reply. Karli sat quietly for a moment, then stood slowly. She asked herself, ‘What if it’s a daughter?’
In the failing evening light, she returned to the only home she had known her entire life, feeling nothing so much as a guest in her own house.
Roo groaned. Duncan laughed as he snapped the reins, urging the horses out the city gates. Duncan, Luis, Erik, and Roo’s other friends had feted their friend on the announcement of his coming fatherhood and now Roo was paying the price. He had been helped home by Duncan and had fallen into bed nearly comatose next to Karli. Without comment she had roused him the next day when, against expectations, Duncan had arrived on time.
They had made their way in the predawn light to the shop, hitched up the wagon, and headed out to the palace. At the gate a squad of men waited and they quickly loaded the cargo for Salador.
Then, to Roo’s surprise, Erik rode up with a squad of horsemen, an escort for the cargo. All he said was ‘I don’t know what’s in there, either.’
Now it was midday and the wagon rattled along at a good rate over the King’s Highway, starting the long climb up into the foothills of the southern end of the Calastius Mountains. Roo said, ‘We need to rest the horses.’
Duncan reined in the team and shouted, ‘Erik. Time for a break.’
Erik, who had been riding a short way ahead, nodded as he turned his own horse and dismounted, signaling to the other guards to do the same. He picketed his horse by the roadside and let it crop grass.
Duncan took a large waterskin and drank, then handed it to Roo. He poured a bit over his face and wiped it off, then drank.
Erik came over and asked, ‘How’s your head?’
‘Too small to hold the pain inside,’ Roo replied. ‘Why did I do that?’
Erik shrugged. ‘I sort of wondered myself. You seemed to be working very hard at being happy.’
Roo nodded. ‘Truth to tell, I’m scared witless. Me, a father.’ Taking Erik away from the wagon, he said to Duncan, ‘Check the horses, will you?’
When they were out of earshot, Roo said, ‘What do I know about being a father? All my old man ever did was beat on me. I mean, what am I supposed to do when the baby gets here?’
Erik said, ‘You’re asking the wrong man. I never had any sort of father.’
Panic surfaced on Roo’s face. ‘What am I going to do, Erik?’
Erik grinned. ‘You’re only going through what we all go through, I bet. It’s a big change. First a wife, now a child.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘I’ve wondered what I would do if I fell in love and got married, had children.’
‘And?’
‘I really don’t know.’
‘Some help you are.’
Erik put his hand upon Roo’s shoulder. ‘Well, I did come up with one thing. I imagine if I’m ever a father and something happens that I don’t anticipate, I’m going to ask myself, “What would Milo do now?"’
Roo pondered that a moment. Then he smiled, ‘He’s the best dad I’ve ever seen, the way he treated Rosalyn and you as kids.’
‘That’s how I figure it,’ said Erik. ‘If I start to get confused, I’ll just imagine what Milo would do and try to do that.’
As if this somehow made the prospect of being a father less fearful, Roo brightened. ‘Well, I think I’ll have another drink of water.’
Erik laughed. ‘Take it easy, Roo. You have a lot of time to recover from last night.’
Roo turned back toward the wagon. ‘So why are you in charge of this escort?’ he inquired.
‘I asked for it,’ said Erik. ‘Things are under control back at the palace, and the Prince seems to think this cargo needs special protection, and I haven’t been home in a year.’
Roo blinked. ‘It has been a year, hasn’t it?’
Erik said, ‘This way we’ll have two visits: a short one on the way through, and we can probably steal an extra day on the way back for a proper get-together.’
Roo said, ‘Well, you’ve got your mother and Nathan, Milo, Rosalyn. Lots of friends.’
‘You’ve also got some friends, Roo.’
Roo smiled. ‘I wonder how Gwen is doing?’
Erik’s brow furrowed. ‘You’re a married man, Roo.’
Reaching under the buckboard, Roo pulled out a bag of provisions and dug out some bread. Yanking off a piece, he stuffed it in his mouth and washed it down with another gulp of water. ‘I’m not that married,’ said Roo.
Erik’s expression turned dark. Roo held up one hand. ‘I mean I’m not so married I can’t be civil to old friends just because they’re women.’
Erik studied his friend’s face a moment, then said, ‘If that’s what you mean.’
Duncan returned from looking over the horses and reported, ‘Everything’s fine.’
Roo climbed back up on the buckboard and said, ‘Well, let’s get moving again. The Duke of Salador is expecting this cargo and we’re getting a bonus for speed.’
Duncan sighed; the buckboard was about as comfortable as a moving block of stone. ‘I hope it’s a very good bonus,’ he said with poorly concealed ill-humor.
The journey went smoothly. Twice the presence of Erik’s guards had speeded up accounting with the local constabulary, saving Roo precious hours. The visit in Ravensburg had been a hasty one, with them rolling into Milo’s Inn of the Pintail after sundown, and leaving before sunrise, without seeing Rosalyn and her family. Erik promised his mother he would linger on the way back.
In Darkmoor, if the local guards recognized Erik or Roo they said nothing. Still, Roo found he felt considerably better once that city had fallen behind them.
As a child, Roo had accompanied his father on the journey to Salador only twice, and now he saw the Eastern Realm with the eyes of an adult. The lands through which they passed had been cultivated for centuries. Farms were tidy to the point of appearing like miniatures painted by artists when seen from the distant road. Compared to this, the Western Realm was still rough-hewn, and the lands across the sea primitive and wild.
They reached the city gates at noon and Erik hardly slowed as he passed the City Watch, shouting, ‘Cargo from the Prince for the Duke!’
One of his soldiers had carried a pennant, which was now unfurled; it bore the crest of the Prince of Krondor. That morning the soldiers had donned the tabards they had carried in their saddlebags, and Roo saw that his escort was comprised of not just city troops but Prince Patrick’s own household guard. Roo wondered again what his cargo was, but knew that he might never find out.
They rode through the city and Roo was astonished at the number of people. Krondor might be the capital of the Western Realm, but it was dwarfed in size by several of the eastern cities. Salador was the second largest city in the Kingdom after Rillanon, and it took more than an hour for Roo’s wagon to roll through the press of the crowds and reach the ducal palace.
The Prince’s palace in Krondor sat atop a suddenly rising prominence hard against the harbor. Salador’s ruler’s home also sat atop a hill, but over a mile from the harbor. A long, sloping hillside led down into the heart of the city, and far beyond that, Roo could see the harbor.
‘I always forget how damn big it is,’ said Duncan.
‘I never realized,’ was all Roo said.
They reached the palace and Erik announced them to the palace guard. The guard waved the wagon through while another ran to the main hall to inform the Duke. A third guard directed Roo’s wagon to a large double-door entrance set off to one side of a sharply rising broad flight of stairs.
Duncan said, ‘Must be important people who get to walk up those steps.’ He leaped down from the wagon and with a nod of his head toward the door said, ‘For the common folks.’
Roo said, ‘Did you expect anything else?’
Duncan sighed, rubbing his backside in exaggerated relief. ‘All I know is that tonight I want a hot tub to soak in and a hot woman to keep me warm the rest of the night.’
Roo smiled. ‘I’m sure that can be arranged.’
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 tarpaulin 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. Grandmother?’
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.’
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, ‘Sergeant, tell my grandnephew I am grateful for 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 wagon 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 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.’
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 Grindle. 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. 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 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 smile broadened. ‘Owner? How’d you manage that?’
Roo mentioned the death of his partner, and in the telling of his story, he overstated his own skills only 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 Ellien’s car. 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.
‘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 hall. 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.
Letting the sheets drop away, Gwen stretched, 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 porcelain 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.’
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.