with you for a horse and the price of passage to the Kingdom, but I couldn’t promise to stay with you after that. You’ve given me too many good reasons to say no.” He paused for a moment. “In fact, I think I’ll say no right now and avoid the trouble.”
Flynn shrugged. “Very well. Try to leave.”
Kaspar jumped down from the wagon, his sword still in his hand. “What do you mean?”
“We won’t stop you,” said Flynn. “That’s not what I meant.”
Kaspar started to circle the three men. When he reached the door of the warehouse he said, “I bid you good fortune gentlemen, and hope we may hoist a drink together in a Kingdom tavern some day, but I doubt we will; this commission has all the hallmarks of a doomed undertaking and I’ll have none of it, thank you.”
He turned, pushed the door open, and tried to step through.
He couldn’t.
SEVEN
DECISION
Suddenly, Kaspar hesitated.
He wanted to step through the door, but something made him wait. He turned and said, “All right, I’ll think about it.”
Flynn nodded. “You can find us here, but we have to be on the road by the day after tomorrow.”
“Why?” asked Kaspar.
“I don’t know,” said Flynn. “We just can’t stay in one place too long.”
Kenner added, “You’ll understand.”
Kaspar shrugged off the compulsion to stay and left the warehouse.
He wended his way through the early morning throng and found a cheap inn where the ale wasn’t too dreadful. He rarely drank before his midday meal, but today he made an exception. He spent more of his meager purse than he should have, but deep inside he already knew he would join Flynn and the others. Not because of some nonsensical magical coercion, but because he wanted to; these men could get him closer to home in the next six months than he could manage on his own over the next two years: he was no sailor, and would have to work for months to save the cost of his passage, and ships plying the waters between Novindus and Triagia were scarce in any case. Even taking a vessel to the Sunset Islands would cost him the local equivalent of two hundred gold coins—that was half a year’s work for a skilled craftsman in Olasko.
No, this way he would at least gain a horse and his passage to the Kingdom. From there he could walk home if he must.
He finished his ale and returned to the warehouse, finding the three men waiting. “You’re with us?” asked Flynn.
“To Port Vykor,” said Kaspar. “After that, we’ll have to see. I want a horse, enough gold for decent lodgings and food along the way, and my passage from Salador to Opardum. You can keep the rest of your wealth. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” said Flynn. “Now, we should prepare to leave at first light tomorrow. There’s a caravan heading south loaded with supplies for the military and while we can’t join it officially, we can shadow it for a while; it would keep bandits away from us.”
“Very well,” said Kaspar. “But first we have to find a coffin.”
“Why?” asked Kenner.
“Because down here people bury their dead, they don’t burn them, so a coffin under the tarpaulin will attract a lot less curiosity than that…thing will.” He pointed to the wagon. “You could drive it all the way to the City of the Serpent River without one, but I doubt you’ll get it past customs at Port Vykor. A late companion being brought home to rest, though—where do they bury the dead in the Kingdom?”
“Up around Quester’s View, I think.”
“That will have to do,” said Kaspar. He regarded his three new companions. “And if we do manage to get to the City of the Serpent River we will have to spend some of your booty on clothes. You gentlemen need to look more like cultured men of commerce than brigands and ruffians.”
McGoin ran his hand over his five days’ growth of beard and said, “You’ve the right of it, Kaspar.”
“Do you sleep here?”
Flynn and the others nodded. Flynn said, “We tried sleeping
Flynn shrugged. “Very well. Try to leave.”
Kaspar jumped down from the wagon, his sword still in his hand. “What do you mean?”
“We won’t stop you,” said Flynn. “That’s not what I meant.”
Kaspar started to circle the three men. When he reached the door of the warehouse he said, “I bid you good fortune gentlemen, and hope we may hoist a drink together in a Kingdom tavern some day, but I doubt we will; this commission has all the hallmarks of a doomed undertaking and I’ll have none of it, thank you.”
He turned, pushed the door open, and tried to step through.
He couldn’t.
SEVEN
DECISION
Suddenly, Kaspar hesitated.
He wanted to step through the door, but something made him wait. He turned and said, “All right, I’ll think about it.”
Flynn nodded. “You can find us here, but we have to be on the road by the day after tomorrow.”
“Why?” asked Kaspar.
“I don’t know,” said Flynn. “We just can’t stay in one place too long.”
Kenner added, “You’ll understand.”
Kaspar shrugged off the compulsion to stay and left the warehouse.
He wended his way through the early morning throng and found a cheap inn where the ale wasn’t too dreadful. He rarely drank before his midday meal, but today he made an exception. He spent more of his meager purse than he should have, but deep inside he already knew he would join Flynn and the others. Not because of some nonsensical magical coercion, but because he wanted to; these men could get him closer to home in the next six months than he could manage on his own over the next two years: he was no sailor, and would have to work for months to save the cost of his passage, and ships plying the waters between Novindus and Triagia were scarce in any case. Even taking a vessel to the Sunset Islands would cost him the local equivalent of two hundred gold coins—that was half a year’s work for a skilled craftsman in Olasko.
No, this way he would at least gain a horse and his passage to the Kingdom. From there he could walk home if he must.
He finished his ale and returned to the warehouse, finding the three men waiting. “You’re with us?” asked Flynn.
“To Port Vykor,” said Kaspar. “After that, we’ll have to see. I want a horse, enough gold for decent lodgings and food along the way, and my passage from Salador to Opardum. You can keep the rest of your wealth. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” said Flynn. “Now, we should prepare to leave at first light tomorrow. There’s a caravan heading south loaded with supplies for the military and while we can’t join it officially, we can shadow it for a while; it would keep bandits away from us.”
“Very well,” said Kaspar. “But first we have to find a coffin.”
“Why?” asked Kenner.
“Because down here people bury their dead, they don’t burn them, so a coffin under the tarpaulin will attract a lot less curiosity than that…thing will.” He pointed to the wagon. “You could drive it all the way to the City of the Serpent River without one, but I doubt you’ll get it past customs at Port Vykor. A late companion being brought home to rest, though—where do they bury the dead in the Kingdom?”
“Up around Quester’s View, I think.”
“That will have to do,” said Kaspar. He regarded his three new companions. “And if we do manage to get to the City of the Serpent River we will have to spend some of your booty on clothes. You gentlemen need to look more like cultured men of commerce than brigands and ruffians.”
McGoin ran his hand over his five days’ growth of beard and said, “You’ve the right of it, Kaspar.”
“Do you sleep here?”
Flynn and the others nodded. Flynn said, “We tried sleeping
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