The Ruby Knight

  ‘All right,’ Talen said.

  ‘You think of everything, don’t you, Platime?’ Sparhawk said.

  ‘In my business you have to. People who don’t tend to wind up dangling unpleasantly.’

  They all reached the harbour shortly after sunrise the following morning, and after they had seen to the loading of the horses, they went on board.

  ‘You seem to have picked up another retainer, Master Cluff,’ Captain Sorgi said to Sparhawk when he saw Talen.

  ‘My man’s youngest son,’ Sparhawk replied truthfully.

  ‘Just as an indication of the friendship I bear you, Master Cluff, there won’t be any extra charge for the boy. Speaking of that, why don’t we settle up before we set sail?’

  Sparhawk sighed and reached for his purse.

  There was a good following wind as they sailed out of the Gulf of Acie and around the promontory that lay to the north. Then they entered the straits of Thalesia and left the land behind. Sparhawk stood on deck talking with Sorgi. ‘How long do you think it’s going to take to get to Emsat?’ he asked the curly-haired seaman.

  ‘We’ll probably make port by noon tomorrow,’ Sorgi replied, ‘- if the wind holds. We’ll furl sail and rig sea-anchors tonight. I’m not as familiar with these waters as I am with the Inner Sea or the Arcian Strait, so I’d rather not take chances.’

  ‘I like prudence in the captain of a ship I’m sailing on,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘Oh, and speaking of prudence, do you imagine we might be able to find some secluded cove before we reach Emsat? Towns make me very nervous for some reason.’

  Sorgi laughed. ‘You see those cousins around every corner, don’t you, Master Cluff? Is that why you’re under arms?’ Sorgi looked meaningfully at Sparhawk’s mail-shirt and sword.

  ‘A man in my circumstances can’t be too careful.’

  ‘We’ll find you a cove, Master Cluff. The coast of Thalesia is one long secluded cove. We’ll find you a quiet beach and put you ashore so you can sneak north to visit the Trolls without the inconvenience of having cousins dogging your heels.’

  ‘I appreciate that, Captain Sorgi.’

  ‘You up there!’ Sorgi bellowed to one of the sailors aloft. ‘Look lively! You’re up there to work, not to daydream!’

  Sparhawk walked a ways up the deck and leaned on the rail, idly watching the intensely blue rollers sparkling in the mid-day sun. Kurik’s questions were still troubling him. Had the chance meetings with Sorgi and Platime indeed been coincidence? Why should they both have been in Acie at precisely the same time that Sparhawk and his friends had made good their escape from the palace? If Flute indeed could tamper with time, could she also reach out over tremendous distances to draw in people they needed at precisely the right moment? How powerful was she?

  Almost as if his thought had summoned her, Flute came up the companion way and looked around. Sparhawk crossed the deck to meet her. ‘I have a question or two for you,’ he said.

  ‘I thought you might have.’

  ‘Did you have anything to do with bringing both Platime and Sorgi to Acie?’

  ‘Not personally, no.’

  ‘But you knew they’d be there?’

  ‘It saves time when you deal with people who already know you, Sparhawk. I made some requests, and certain members of my family arranged the details.’

  ‘You keep mentioning your family. Just exactly – ’

  ‘What on earth is that?’ she exclaimed, pointing off to starboard.

  Sparhawk looked. A huge surging was just beneath the surface, and then a great flat tail burst up out of the water and crashed down, sending up a great cloud of spray. ‘A whale, I think,’ he said.

  ‘Do fish really get that big?’

  ‘I don’t think they’re actually fish – at least that’s what I’ve heard.’

  ‘He’s singing! Flute said, clapping her hands in delight.

  ‘I don’t hear anything.’

  ‘You’re not listening, Sparhawk.’ She ran forward and leaned out over the bow of the ship.

  ‘Flute!’ he shouted. ‘Be careful!’ He rushed to the rail at the bow and took hold of her.

  ‘Stop that,’ she said. She lifted her pipes to her lips, but a sudden lurch of the ship made her loose her grip on them, and they fell from her hands into the sea. ‘Oh, bother,’ she said. Then she made a face. ‘Oh, well, you’ll find out soon enough anyway.’ Then she lifted her small face. The sound that came from her throat was the sound of those rude shepherd’s pipes. Sparhawk was stunned. The pipes had been simply for show. What they had been hearing all along had been the sound of Flute’s own voice. Her song soared out over the waves.

  The whale rose again and rolled slightly over on one side, his vast eye curious. Flute sang to him, her voice trilling. The enormous creature swam closer, and one of the sailors aloft shouted with alarm. ‘There be whales here, Captain Sorgi!’

  And then there were other whales rising from the deep as if in response to the little girl’s song. The ship rocked and bobbed in their surging wake as they gathered about the bow, sending huge clouds of mist from great blow-holes in the tops of their heads.

  One sailor ran forward with a long boat-hook, his eyes filled with panic.

  ‘Oh, don’t be silly,’ Flute told him. ‘They’re only playing.’

  ‘Uh – Flute,’ Sparhawk said in an awed voice, ‘don’t you think you should tell them to go home?’ He realized even as he said it just how foolish it sounded. The whales were home.

  ‘But I like them,’ she protested. ‘They’re beautiful.’

  ‘Yes, I know, but whales don’t make very good pets. As soon as we get to Thalesia, I’ll buy you a kitten instead. Please, Flute, say goodbye to your whales and make them go away. They’re slowing us down.’

  ‘Oh.’ Her face was disappointed. ‘All right, I suppose.’ She lifted her voice again with a peculiar trilling sound of regret. The whales moved off and then sounded, their vast flukes crashing against the surface of the sea, tearing it to frothy tatters.

  Sparhawk glanced around. The sailors were gaping open-mouthed at the little girl. Explanations at this point would be extremely difficult. ‘Why don’t we go back to our cabin and have some lunch?’ he suggested.

  ‘All right,’ she agreed. Then she lifted her arms to him. ‘You can carry me, if you’d like.’

  It was the quickest way to get her out from under the awed stares of Sorgi’s crew, so he picked her up and carried her to the companionway.

  ‘I really wish you wouldn’t wear this,’ she said, picking at his mail-shirt with one small fingernail. ‘It smells absolutely awful, you know.’

  ‘In my business, it’s somewhat necessary. Protection, you understand.’

  ‘There are other ways to protect yourself, Sparhawk, and they’re not nearly so offensive.’

  When they reached the cabin, they found Sephrenia sitting, pale-faced and shaken with a ceremonial sword in her lap. Kurik, who looked a little wild about the eyes, hovered over her. ‘It was Sir Gared, Sparhawk,’ he said quietly. ‘He walked right straight through the door as if it wasn’t even there and gave his sword to Sephrenia.’

  Sparhawk felt a sharp wrench of pain. Gared had been a friend. Then he straightened and sighed. If all went well, this would be the last sword Sephrenia would be forced to bear. ‘Flute,’ he said, ‘can you help her to sleep?’

  The little girl nodded, her face grave.

  Sparhawk lifted Sephrenia in his arms. She seemed to have almost no weight. He carried her to her bunk and gently laid her down. Flute came to the bunk and began to sing. It was a lullaby such as one would sing to a small child. Sephrenia sighed and closed her eyes.

  ‘She’ll need to rest,’ Sparhawk told Flute. ‘It’s going to be a long ride to Ghwerig’s cave. Keep her asleep until we reach the coast of Thalesia.’

  ‘Of course, dear one.’

  They reached the Thalesian coast at about noon the following day, and Captain Sorgi hove to in a small cove j
ust to the west of the port city of Emsat.

  ‘You have no idea how much I appreciate your help, Captain,’ Sparhawk said to Sorgi as he and the others were preparing to disembark.

  ‘My pleasure, Master Cluff,’ Sorgi told him. ‘We bachelors need to stick together in these affairs.’

  Sparhawk grinned at him.

  The little group led their horses down a long gangway and out onto the beach. They mounted as the sailors were carefully manæuvring the ship out of the cove.

  ‘Do you want to come with me into Emsat?’ Talen asked. ‘I have to go and talk with Stragen.’

  ‘I’d probably better not,’ Sparhawk said. ‘Wargun might have had time to get a messenger to Emsat by now, and I’m fairly easy to describe.’

  ‘I’ll go with him,’ Kurik volunteered. ‘We’re going to need supplies anyway.’

  ‘All right. Let’s go back into the woods a ways and set up for the night first, though.’

  They made camp in a small glade in the forest, and Kurik and Talen rode out about mid-afternoon.

  Sephrenia was wan, and her face was drawn-looking as she sat by the fire cradling Sir Gared’s sword.

  ‘This is not going to be easy for you, I’m afraid,’ Sparhawk said regretfully. ‘We’re going to have to ride fast if we want to reach Ghwerig’s cave before he seals it up. Is there any way you could give me Gared’s sword?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, dear one. You weren’t present in the throne-room. Only one of us who was there when we cast the spell can keep Gared’s sword.’

  ‘I was afraid that might be the case. I suppose I’d better see about some supper.’

  It was nearing midnight when Kurik and Talen returned.

  ‘Any problems?’ Sparhawk asked.

  ‘Nothing worth mentioning.’ Talen shrugged. ‘Platime’s name opens all kinds of doors. Stragen told us that the countryside north of Emsat is infested with robbers, though. He’s going to provide us with an armed escort and spare horses – the horses were my father’s idea.’

  ‘We can move faster if we change horses every hour or so,’ Kurik explained. ‘Stragen’s also going to send supplies along with the men who’ll be riding with us.’

  ‘You see how nice it is to have friends, Sparhawk?’ Talen asked impudently.

  Sparhawk ignored that. ‘Are Stragen’s men going to come here?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ Talen replied. ‘We’ll meet them a mile or so up the road that runs north out of Emsat before sunrise.’ He looked around. ‘What’s for supper? I’m starving.’

  Chapter 24

  They rode out at first light, circled through the forest lying to the north of Emsat and stopped not far from the north road. ‘I hope this Stragen keeps his word,’ Kurik muttered to Talen. ‘I’ve never been in Thalesia before, and I don’t like the notion of riding into hostile country without knowing what’s going on.’

  ‘We can trust Stragen, father,’ Talen replied confidently. ‘Thalesian thieves have this peculiar sense of honour. It’s the Cammorians you have to watch out for. They’d cheat themselves if they could figure out a way to make a profit out of it.’

  ‘Sir Knight,’ a soft voice said from back in the trees.

  Sparhawk immediately went for his sword.

  ‘There’s no need of that, My Lord,’ the voice said. ‘Stragen sent us. There are robbers out there in the foothills, and he told us to get you safely past them.’

  ‘Come out of the shadows then, neighbour,’ Sparhawk said.

  ‘Neighbour!’ The man laughed. ‘I like that. You have a very wide neighbourhood, neighbour.’

  ‘Most of the world lately,’ Sparhawk admitted.

  ‘Welcome to Thalesia then, neighbour.’ The man who rode out of the shadows had pale, flaxen hair. He was clean-shaven and roughly dressed, and he carried a brutal-looking pike and had an axe slung to his saddle. ‘Stragen says you want to go north. We’re to accompany you as far as Heid.’

  ‘Will that work out?’ Sparhawk asked Flute.

  ‘Perfectly,’ she replied. ‘We’ll be leaving the road a mile or so beyond there.’

  ‘You take orders from a child?’ the flaxen-haired man asked.

  ‘She knows the way to the place where we’re going.’ Sparhawk shrugged. ‘Never argue with your guide.’

  ‘That’s probably true, Sir Sparhawk. My name is Tel – if it makes any difference. I’ve got a dozen men and spare horses – along with the supplies your man Kurik requested.’ He rubbed one hand over his face. ‘This baffles me, Sir Knight,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve never seen Stragen so eager to accommodate a stranger.’

  ‘Have you ever heard of Platime?’ Talen asked him.

  Tel looked at the boy sharply. ‘The chief down in Cimmura?’ he asked.

  ‘That’s the one,’ Talen said. ‘Stragen owes Platime some favours, and I work for Platime.’

  ‘Oh, that explains it, I suppose,’ Tel admitted. ‘The day’s wearing on, Sir Knight,’ he said to Sparhawk. ‘Why don’t we go to Heid?’

  ‘Why don’t we?’ Sparhawk agreed.

  Tel’s men were all dressed in utilitarian Thalesian peasant garb, and they all carried weapons as if they knew how to use them. They were uniformly blond and had the bleak faces of men with little concern for the politer amenities of life.

  When the sun came up, they increased their pace. Sparhawk knew that having Tel and his cut-throats along might slow them considerably, but he was grateful for the additional safety they provided for Sephrenia and Flute. He had been more than a little concerned about their vulnerability in the event of an ambush in the mountains.

  They passed briefly through farm country, and neat farmsteads stood here and there along the road. An attack was unlikely in such a well-populated area. The danger would come when they reached the mountains. They rode hard that day and covered a considerable distance. They camped some way from the road and left again early the following morning.

  ‘I’m starting to feel a little saddle-weary,’ Kurik admitted as they set out at first light.

  ‘I thought you’d be used to it by now,’ Sparhawk said.

  ‘Sparhawk, we’ve been riding almost constantly for the last six months. I think I’m starting to wear out my saddle with my backside.’

  ‘I’ll buy you a new one.’

  ‘So I can have all the entertainment of breaking it in? No thanks.’

  The country became more rolling, and they could clearly see the dark green mountains to the north now. ‘If I can make a suggestion, Sparhawk,’ Tel said, ‘why don’t we make camp before we get up into the hills? There are robbers up there, and a night attack could cause us some inconvenience. I doubt that they’d come down onto this plain, though.’

  Sparhawk had to admit that Tel was probably right, even though he chafed at the delay. The safety of Sephrenia and Flute was, after all, of far more importance than any arbitrary time limits.

  They stopped for the night before the sun set and took shelter in a shallow dell. Tel’s men were very good at concealment, Sparhawk had noticed.

  The next morning they waited for daylight before setting out. ‘All right,’ Tel said as they rode along at a trot. ‘I know some of the fellows who hide up here in the mountains, and they’ve got some favourite places for their ambushes. I’ll let you know when we start to get close to those places. The best way to get through them is to ride at a gallop. It takes people in hiding in ambush by surprise, and they usually need a minute or two to get on their horses. We can be well past them before they can give chase.’

  ‘How many of them are there likely to be?’ Sparhawk asked him.

  ‘About twenty or thirty altogether. They’ll split up, though. They’ve got more than one place, and they’ll probably want to cover them all.’

  ‘Your plan isn’t bad, Tel,’ Sparhawk said, ‘but I think I’ve got a better one. We ride through the ambush at a gallop the way you suggested until they start to come after us. Then we turn on them. There’s no point in letting
them join forces with others farther up on the trail.’

  ‘You’re a bloodthirsty one, aren’t you, Sparhawk?’

  ‘I’ve got a friend from up here in Thalesia who keeps telling me that you should never leave live enemies behind you.’

  ‘He may have a point there.’

  ‘How did you learn so much about those fellows up here?’

  ‘I used to be one of them, but I got tired of sleeping out of doors in bad weather. That’s when I went to Emsat and started working for Stragen.’

  ‘How far is it from here to Heid?’

  ‘About fifty more leagues. We can make it by the end of the week if we hurry along.’

  ‘Good. Let’s go then.’

  They rode up into the mountains at a trot, keeping a wary eye on the trees and bushes at the side of the road.

  ‘Just ahead,’ Tel said quietly. ‘That’s one of their places. The road goes through a gap there.’

  ‘Then let’s ride,’ Sparhawk said. He led the way at the gap. They heard a startled shout from the top of the bluff on the left side of the road. A single man stood up there.

  ‘He’s there alone,’ Tel shouted, looking back over his shoulder. ‘He watches the road for travellers and then lights a fire to signal on up ahead.’

  ‘Not this time he won’t,’ one of Tel’s men growled, unslinging a longbow from across his back. He stopped his horse and smoothly shot an arrow at the lookout atop the bluff. The lookout doubled over when the arrow took him in the stomach and toppled off the bluff to lie motionless in the dusty road.

  ‘Good shot,’ Kurik said.

  ‘Not too bad,’ the archer said modestly.

  ‘Do you think anyone heard him yell?’ Sparhawk asked Tel.

  ‘That depends on how close they are. They probably won’t know what it meant, but a few of them might ride down here to investigate.’

  ‘Let them,’ the man with the bow said grimly.

  ‘We’d better go a little slowly along here,’ Tel advised. ‘It wouldn’t do to go around a corner and come face to face with them.’