‘Do I have any choice?’
‘No. As a matter of fact, you don’t.’
They rose early the next morning and gathered in the dew-drenched yard in front of Marquis Lycien’s house. The newly risen sun was very bright, and it slanted down through the trees, casting the peculiarly bluish-coloured shadows of early morning.
‘I’ll get word to you from time to time,’ Sparhawk told those who were remaining behind.
‘Be careful down there, Sparhawk,’ Kalten said.
‘I’m always careful.’ Sparhawk swung himself up onto Faran’s back.
‘Godspeed, Sir Sparhawk,’ Bevier said.
‘Thank you, Bevier.’ Sparhawk looked around at the other knights. ‘Don’t be so glum, gentlemen,’ he told them. ‘If we’re lucky, this won’t take very long.’ He looked at Kalten again. ‘If you run into Martel, give him my regards.’
Kalten nodded. ‘With an axe in the face, I think.’
Marquis Lycien mounted a fat bay horse and led the way out onto the road which passed his house. The morning was crisp, though not actually cold. Spring, Sparhawk decided, was not very far off. He shifted his shoulders slightly. The sober businessman’s doublet Lycien had lent him did not really fit very well. It bound in some places and was uncomfortably loose in others.
‘We’ll turn off just up ahead,’ Lycien told them. ‘There’s a track through the woods that leads down to my wharves and the little settlement that’s grown up around them. Will you want me to bring your horses back after you go on board ship?’
‘No, my Lord,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘I think we’ll take them with us. We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen in Rendor. We might need dependable mounts, and I’ve seen what passes for a horse in Cippria.’
What Lycien had modestly called a ‘little settlement’ turned out to be a fair-sized village complete with shipyards, houses, inns and taverns. A dozen vessels were moored at the wharves with longshoremen swarming over them.
‘Quite an operation, my Lord,’ Sparhawk said as they rode down the muddy street towards the river.
‘One has had a certain success,’ Lycien said deprecatingly. He smiled. ‘Besides, I save enough in moorage fees to offset more than the cost of keeping the place up.’ He looked around. ‘Why don’t you and I step into that tavern over there, Sir Sparhawk?’ he suggested. ‘The independent sea captains favour that one.’
‘All right,’ Sparhawk agreed.
‘I’ll introduce you as Master Cluff,’ Lycien said as he swung down from his bay. ‘It’s not much of a name, I’ll admit, but it’s fairly nondescript, and I’ve discovered that seafaring men love to talk, but they’re not always very selective in their choice of listeners. I’ve gathered that you might prefer to keep this business of yours more or less confidential.’
‘You’re perceptive, my Lord,’ Sparhawk replied, also dismounting. ‘This shouldn’t take too long,’ he said to Kurik and Sephrenia.
‘Isn’t that what you said the last time you went to Rendor?’ Kurik asked him.
‘We can all hope that this time might be different.’
Lycien led the way into a rather sedate wharfside tavern. The ceiling was low, with dark, heavy beams decorated here and there with ships’ lanterns. There was a broad window near the front, and golden morning sunlight streamed in through it, setting the fresh straw on the floor to gleaming. Several substantial-looking men of middle years sat at a table by the window, talking over brimming tankards. They looked up as the marquis led Sparhawk to their table. ‘My Lord,’ one of them respectfully greeted Lycien.
‘Gentlemen,’ Lycien said, ‘this is Master Cluff, an acquaintance of mine. He’s asked me to introduce him.’
They all looked at Sparhawk inquiringly.
‘I have a bit of a problem, gentlemen,’ Sparhawk told them. ‘May I join you?’
‘Have a seat,’ one of the sea captains, a solid-looking man with silver-shot hair, invited.
‘I’ll leave you gentlemen then,’ Lycien said. ‘There’s something that needs my attention.’ He inclined his head slightly, turned, and went back out of the tavern.
‘He probably wants to see if there’s some way he can raise the mooring fees,’ one of the captains said wryly.
‘My name’s Sorgi,’ the captain with the curly hair introduced himself to Sparhawk. ‘What’s this problem you mentioned, Master Cluff?’
Sparhawk coughed slightly as if a little embarrassed. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it all started a few months ago. I happened to hear about a lady who lives not far from here,’ he began, embellishing as he went along. ‘Her father is old and very wealthy, so the lady stands to inherit a sizeable estate. One of my problems has always been the fact that I have some expensive tastes and very little in my purse to support them. It occurred to me that a rich wife might solve that problem.’
‘That makes sense,’ Captain Sorgi said. ‘That’s about the only reason I can think of for getting married at all.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘Anyway, I wrote her a letter pretending that we had some mutual friends, and I was a little surprised when she answered my letter with a great deal of warmth. Our letters grew more and more friendly, and she finally invited me to call on her. I went even deeper in debt to my tailor and set out for her father’s house in high spirits and splendid new clothes.’
‘Sounds to me as if everything was going according to plan, Master Cluff,’ Sorgi said. ‘What’s this problem of yours?’
‘I’m just getting to that, Captain. The lady is of middle years and very wealthy. If she were even remotely presentable, someone would have snapped her up years ago, so I didn’t have my hopes too high on that score. I assumed that she was plain – perhaps even homely. I had not, however, expected a horror.’ He feigned a shudder. ‘Gentlemen, I cannot even describe her to you. No matter how rich she was, it wouldn’t have been worth waking up to that every morning. We spoke together briefly – about the weather, I think – and then I made my apologies and left. She has no brothers, so I wasn’t worried about the possibility of someone looking me up to object to my bad manners. What I didn’t count on, though, was all her cousins. She’s got a whole platoon of them, and they’ve been following me for weeks now.’
‘They don’t want to kill you, do they?’ Sorgi asked.
‘No,’ Sparhawk replied in an anguished tone. ‘They want to drag me back and force me to marry her.’
The captains all roared with laughter, pounding on the table in glee. ‘I think you’ve outsmarted yourself, Master Cluff,’ one of them said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.
Sparhawk nodded glumly. ‘You’re probably right,’ he admitted.
‘You should have found some way to get a look at her before you sent the first letter,’ Sorgi grinned.
‘I know that now,’ Sparhawk agreed. ‘Anyhow, I think it’s time I left the country for a while until the cousins stop looking for me. I’ve got a nephew living in Cippria in Render who’s been doing fairly well of late. I’m sure I can impose on him until I can get my feet on the ground again. Is it possible that one of you gentlemen might be sailing there soon? I’d like to book passage for myself and a couple of family retainers. I’d go to the main docks in Madel, but I’ve got a strong feeling that the cousins are watching them.’
‘What say you, gentlemen?’ Captain Sorgi said expansively. ‘Shall we help this good fellow out of his predicament?’
‘I’m going to Rendor, right enough,’ one of the others replied, ‘but I’m committed to Jiroch.’
Sorgi thought about it. ‘I was going to Jiroch myself,’ he mused, ‘and then on to Cippria, but I might be able to rearrange my schedule just a bit.’
‘I won’t be able to help,’ a rough-voiced sea captain growled. ‘My ship’s having her bottom scraped. I can give you some advice, though. If these cousins are watching the main wharves in Madel, they’re probably watching these as well. Everybody in town knows about Lycien’s docks here.’ He tugged at one earlobe. ‘I’ve smuggled a few people out of a few places in my time – when the price was right.’ He looked at the captain who was bound for Jiroch. ‘When do you sail, Captain Mabin?’
‘With the noon tide.’
‘And you?’ the helpful captain asked Sorgi.
‘The same.’
‘Good. If the cousins are watching the docks here, they may try to hire a ship and follow our bachelor friend. Have him openly board Mabin’s ship. Then, when you’re downriver a ways and out of sight, transfer him to Sorgi’s ship. If the cousins decide to follow, Mabin can lead them off towards Jiroch, and Master Cluff will be safe on his way to Cippria. That’s the way I’d do it.’
‘You’ve got a very ingenious mind, my friend.’ Sorgi laughed. ‘Are you sure that people are the only things you’ve smuggled in the past?’
‘We’ve all avoided customs officers from time to time, haven’t we, Sorgi?’ the rough-voiced captain said. ‘We live at sea. Why should we pay taxes to support the kingdoms of the landsmen? I’d gladly pay taxes to the King of the Ocean, but I can’t seem to find his palace.’
‘Well said, my friend,’ Sorgi applauded.
