‘I spent some time in the east with my family, then returned a few years ago to the west. Since then I’ve been doing odd jobs along the border. So, what brings a member of Krondor’s court so far from home with such unusual company?’
‘Certain doings, some bloody, which unfortunately point to you.’
‘Me?’ said Isaac. ‘You’re not serious.’
‘I’m as serious as a royal torturer, Isaac, and you’ll have a chance to make a first-hand comparison if you don’t answer me truthfully. I’ll have Gorath sit on you while I go fetch the local constable. We can have a pleasant talk here, or a very unpleasant one in Krondor.’
Locklear had no intention of summoning the local constable and trying to sort out his claim of rank and authority, especially with no royal writs or warrants. But Isaac didn’t know that, and Locklear wasn’t about to enlighten him.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ said Isaac, starting to slowly rise.
Gorath said softly, ‘Reach for that sword behind you and you’ll have a leg to match the other before your fingers touch the hilt, human.’
‘Damn,’ said Isaac quietly, sitting back down in the chair.
‘The ruby,’ said Locklear.
‘What ruby?’ said Isaac.
‘The one you bought from Kiefer Alescook. The one you paid for with gold heading north to buy Delekhan weapons. The ruby stolen from an important Tsurani magician. The ruby that’s the latest in a series of such transactions.’
Isaac ran a hand over his face and back through his hair. ‘Locky, it’s been hard.’
Locklear’s expression turned dark and his voice took on a menacing tone that had Owyn sitting back in surprise. ‘As hard as treason, Isaac? As hard as the jerk at the end of a hangman’s rope?’
‘Who said anything about treason, Locky?’ Isaac’s manner turned to pleading. ‘Look, we were boyhood friends before I had my accident. If our positions had been reversed, you’d know; you’d understand what it’s like to be a hired sword with a bad leg. Locky, I was nearly starving when this opportunity came along. I was too far in before I discovered who was behind it.’
‘Tell us what you know and I’ll do you a favour,’ said Locklear.
Isaac looked downfallen, and said in a contrite fashion, ‘I was in over my head before I knew who I was dealing with. Alescook is an old acquaintance. I know that from time to time he “finds” gems and jewellery that has … ah, “clouded” title is a polite way of putting it.’
‘Stolen,’ said Locklear.
Isaac squirmed. ‘Whatever the cause, the market in the Kingdom is difficult, so those gems find their way south, to Kesh or over the water to Queg or the Free Cities. I’m just a middleman, someone who can take a little trip down to the Vale or over to Krondor or Sarth and put something on a ship. That’s all.’
‘The ruby?’ said Locklear.
Isaac started to rise and hesitated as Gorath leaned forward, hand on the hilt of his sword. Isaac continued rising slowly, then mounted the stairs to the loft above. Locklear motioned with his head to Owyn, who stood up and hurried through a small door in the wall next to the tapestry. He found himself in a tiny kitchen, one dirty enough he would have to be far hungrier than he presently was to consider eating anything prepared there. He ducked through the back door and looked up at a window above, where he saw the head of Isaac disappear back inside. Owyn smiled; Locklear’s instincts had been correct. The lame ex-fighter might attempt to escape from a first storey window, but he knew he wasn’t quick enough to pull off his escape if someone was waiting below.
A moment later, Locklear called for Owyn’s return and the young magician complied. He entered the room and stopped. The hairs on his arm stood up and he said, ‘Let me see the stone.’
Isaac handed it to him and said, ‘It’s really not a very valuable item, but I get paid well.’
Owyn replied, ‘I don’t know anything about stones and their worth, but I know this one is more than it appears to be.’ He looked at it closely. ‘This ruby has been prepared.’
‘Prepared for what?’ asked Locklear. ‘Jewellery?’
‘No, as a matrix of some kind for magic. I don’t know much about this sort of thing.’ He put the stone down. ‘Truth to tell, I don’t know much about any sort of thing magical, which is why I left Stardock. The only magic I’ve learned so far was from a field magician named Patrus, a sour old character. But my father objected and last I heard Patrus headed north –’ He shook himself out of his reverie. ‘It doesn’t matter, but what he told me is that some magic is harmonic and can be focused by gems. Or stored in them. He claimed once that magic itself might exist in gem form under the right conditions. For example, you can rig a trap with certain gems, so that whoever steps into a given area is imprisoned.’
‘Can you tell what this was used for?’
‘No,’ said Owyn with a shake to his head. ‘It may be something that will be used in the future.’
‘So you think it important?’ asked Gorath.
‘I can now see why the Tsurani magician was so angry about its disappearance.’
Locklear picked up the stone and tossed it in the air a couple of times while he was thinking. After a moment he put away the stone and turned to Isaac. ‘Tell us what else you know.’
Isaac looked defeated and said, ‘Very well. The stones come through the rift on an irregular basis. Sometimes a bunch, sometimes a single one like this one. Money comes to me in Krondor by various means; never the same twice. There’s a new gang in Krondor, run by someone calling himself the Crawler, and he’s causing the Mockers fits.’
‘Mockers?’ asked Gorath.
‘Thieves,’ said Locklear. ‘I’ll explain it later. Go on,’ he said, looking at Isaac.
‘Someone in Krondor is paying for gems. The Tsurani bring them in and hand them over to the moredhel. They run them over to Alescook and I go get them and bring them to Krondor. It’s a fairly simple arrangement.’
‘But someone’s running this. Who and where?’
Isaac sighed. ‘There’s a village south of Sarth. Called Yellow Mule. Know it?’
‘Villages like that don’t put up signs, but if it’s on the King’s Highway, I’ve ridden through it.’
‘It’s not. About twenty miles south of Sarth there’s a fork in the road, and if you go inland, you’re heading toward an old trail up into the mountains. About five miles along that road is where you’ll find Yellow Mule. It’s why the moredhel are using it. No one travels through there, and it’s easy for his kin –’ he indicated Gorath with a jerk of his chin ‘– to get there without being seen.
‘There’s an old smuggler turned farmer named Cedric Rowe now living there. He knows nothing of loyalty to anyone, or anything but gold. He rents out his barn to a Dark Brother named Nago.’
‘Nago!’ said Gorath. ‘If we take him, then we have an opportunity to escape his minions. Without him, they are blind and we can get to Krondor.’
‘Maybe,’ said Locklear. ‘But certainly, if we leave him there, the closer we get to Krondor, the easier it is for his agents to find us.’
‘Why?’ asked Owyn.
‘He’s tightening the noose, lad,’ said Isaac. ‘Less land for his men to cover.’
Locklear said, ‘Now Quegans make sense. This Rowe has probably been dealing with Quegan pirates all his life and just sent word to someone in Sarth. First ship outbound to Queg passes word and within a month he’s got as many sea-hardened bully-boys as he needs. And if Nago is throwing gold around, there are more Quegans along the roads to Krondor than a beggar has lice.’
‘And Quegans aren’t likely to run to the King’s soldiers if something goes sour; worst they do is skulk back to the nearest port and find a ship heading out. Little chance of being betrayed by someone going cold in the feet,’ added Isaac.
‘What else?’ asked Locklear.
‘Nothing,’ said Isaac. He stood up and took a cloak off the peg. ‘As soon as I pen a note to my cousin, I’m bound for Kesh. I’ve just set Nago’s assassin on my trail, but he doesn’t know it yet. Each hour I steal before he does, I stand a better chance of reaching Kesh.’
‘I said I’d do you a favour, Isaac, and I will. I’ll let you run for Kesh, for old times’ sake and for keeping up your end of the bargain, but only if you tell us everything.’
‘What makes you think there’s anything else?’
Locklear pulled his sword suddenly and had the point at Isaac’s throat. ‘Because I know you. You always hold something back, just in case you need an edge. I’m guessing this little bit of theatre is to give you a chance to be out of town before us, just in case you can find one of Nago’s agents and get him set on us before they figure out you’ve sold them out. Something like that.’
