And a fine breakfast we had. I tipped the innkeeper another
piece of silver. He must have thought me mad.
Half a mile up the road One-Eye called a halt. “You just
going to leave them?” he asked.
“What?”
“Those people. First Taken comes down this way is going to
find out everything we did.”
My heart flip-flopped. I knew what he was getting at. I had
thought about it earlier. But I could not order it. “No
point,” I said. “Everybody in Meadenvil is going to see
us put out.”
“Everybody in Meadenvil don’t know where we’re
headed. I don’t like the idea any better than you do,
Croaker. But we have to cut the trail somewhere. Raven
didn’t. And we’re on to him.”
“Yeah. I know.” I glanced at Asa and Shed. They were
not taking it well. Asa, at least, figured he was next.
“Can’t take them with us, Croaker.”
“I know.”
He swung around, started back. Alone. Not even Otto joined him,
and Otto has very little conscience.
“What’s he going to do?” Asa asked.
“Use his magic to make them forget,” I lied.
“Let’s move along. He can catch up.”
Shed kept giving me looks. Looks like he must have given Raven
when he first found out Raven was in the body business. He did not
say anything.
One-Eye caught up an hour later. He busted out laughing.
“They were gone,” he said. “Every blessed one,
with all their dogs and cattle. Into the woods. Damned
peasants.” He laughed again, almost hysterically. I suspect
he was relieved.
“We got two days and some gone,” I said.
“Let’s push it. The bigger head start we have, the
better.”
We reached the outskirts of Meadenvil five hours later, not
having pressed as hard as I wanted. As we penetrated the city, our
pace lagged. I think we all sensed it. Finally, I stopped.
“King, you and Asa wander around and see what you hear.
We’ll wait at yonder fountain.” There were no children
in the streets. The adults I saw seemed dazed. Those who passed us
moved by as widely as they could navigate.
King was back in two minutes. No lollygagging. “Big
trouble, Croaker. The Taken got here this morning. Big blowout down
at the waterfront.”
I glanced in that direction. A ghost of smoke rose there, as if
marking the aftermath of a major fire. The sky to the west, in the
direction the wind was blowing, had a dirty look.
Asa returned a minute later with the same news and more.
“They got in a big fight with the Prince. Not over yet, some
say.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a fight,” One-Eye
said.
“I don’t know,” I countered. “Even the
Lady can’t be everywhere at once. How the hell did they get
here so fast? They didn’t have any carpets.”
“Overland,” Shed said.
“Overland? But . . . ”
“It’s shorter than the sea trip. Road cuts across.
If you ride hard, day and night, you can make it in two days. When
I was a kid, they used to have races. They stopped that when the
new Duke took over.”
“Guess it doesn’t matter. So. What now?”
“Got to find out what happened,” One-Eye said. He
muttered, “If that bastard Goblin got himself killed,
I’ll wring his neck.”
“Right. But how do we do that? The Taken know
us.”
“I’ll go,” Shed volunteered.
Harder looks you cannot imagine than those we bent upon Marron
Shed. He quailed for a moment. Then: “I won’t let them
catch me. Anyway, why should they bother me? They don’t know
me.”
“Okay,” I said. “Get moving.”
“Croaker . . . ”
“Got to trust him, One-Eye. Unless you want to go
yourself.”
“Nope. Shed, you screw us over and I’ll get you if I
have to come back from the grave.”
Shed smiled weakly, left us. On foot. Not many people rode
through Meadenvil’s streets. We found a tavern and made
ourselves at home, two men staying in the street to watch. It was
sundown before Shed returned.
“Well?” I said, signaling for another pitcher of
beer.
“It’s not good news. You guys are stuck. Your
Lieutenant took the ship out. Twenty, twenty-five of your guys were
killed. The rest went out on the ship. The Prince
lost . . . ”
“Not all of them,” One-Eye said, and tipped a
pointing finger over the top of his mug. “Somebody followed
you, Shed.”
Shed whirled, terrified.
Goblin and Pawnbroker stood in the doorway. Pawn had been carved
up some. He limped over and collapsed into a chair. I checked his
wounds. Goblin and One-Eye exchanged looks that might have meant
anything, but probably meant they were glad to see one another.
The tavern’s other customers began to fade. Word who we
were had gotten out. They knew some bad people were hunting us.
“Sit, Goblin,” I said. “King, you and Otto go
get some fresh horses.” I gave them most of the money I had.
“All the staples that will buy, too. I think we got a long
ride ahead. Right, Goblin?”
He nodded.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Whisper and Limper turned up this morning. Came with
fifty men. Company men. Looking for us. Made enough fuss we heard
them coming. The Lieutenant sent word to everybody ashore. Some
didn’t get aboard in time. Whisper headed for the ship. The
Lieutenant had to cut loose. We left nineteen men
behind.”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I volunteered. Went over the side off the point, swam to
shore, came back to wait for you guys. Supposed to tell you where
to meet the ship. Ran into Pawn by accident. I was patching him up
when I seen Shed poking around. We followed him back
here.”
I sighed. “They’re headed for Chimney,
right?”
He was surprised. “Yeah. How’d you know
that?”
I explained briefly.
He said, “Pawn, better tell them what you know. Pawn was
caught ashore. Only survivor I could find.”
“This is a private adventure with the Taken,” Pawn
said. “They snuck down here. Supposed to be somewhere else.
Figured it was a chance to get even, I guess, now we’re not
on the list of the Lady’s favorites.”
“She doesn’t know they’re here?”
“No.”
I chuckled. Despite the gravity of the situation, I could not
help that. “They’re in for a surprise, then. The old
bitch herself is going to turn up. We got another black castle
growing here.”
Several of them looked at me askance, wondering how I would know
what the Lady was doing. I had not explained my dream to anyone but
the Lieutenant. I finished patching Pawnbroker. “You’ll
be able to travel, but take it easy. How’d you find that
out?”
“Shaky. We talked some before he tried to kill
me.”
“Shaky!” One-Eye snarled. “What the
hell?”
“I don’t know what the Taken told those guys. But
they were cranked up. Wanted our asses bad. Suckers. Most of them
got killed for their trouble.”
“Killed?”
“Prince what’s-it got righteous about the Taken
walking in like they owned the place. There was a big
fight with the Limper and our boys. Our guys practically got
wiped out. Maybe they’d have done better if they
could’ve rested first.
Funny. We talked it over like those men and we had not
somehow become mortal enemies, sympathizing. And, in my case,
feeling bitter toward the Taken for having turned and squandered
them.
“Shaky say anything about Juniper?”
“Yeah. They had a real old-fashioned blood bath up there.
Not much left of anything. Counting us, the Company was down six
hundred guys when the Lady finished with the castle. Lot more guys
was killed in the riots that came after, when she cleaned out the
Catacombs. The whole damned city went crazy, with that Hargadon
leading the rebellion. Had our guys trapped in Duretile. Then the
Lady lost her temper. She wrecked what was left of the
town.”
I shook my head. “The Captain guessed right about the
Catacombs.”
“Journey took over what was left of the Company,”
Goblin said. “They was supposed to pull out with the plunder
as soon as they got it all together. City is so wrecked there
isn’t no reason to stay around.”
I looked at Shed. A bleaker face could not be imagined. Pain and
questions twisted inside him. He wanted to know about his people.
Did not want to speak for fear someone would accuse him. “Not
your fault, man,” I told him. “The Duke asked the Lady
in before you got involved. It would have happened no matter what
you did.”
“How can people do stuff like that?”
Asa gave him the odd look. “Shed, that’s dumb. How
could you do all the stuff you did? Desperate, that’s what.
Everybody’s desperate. They do crazy things.”
One-Eye gave me a how-about-that? look. Even Asa could think
sometimes.
“Pawn. Shaky say anything about Elmo?” Elmo remained
my main regret.
“No. I didn’t ask. We didn’t have much
time.”
“What’s the plan?” Goblin said.
“We’ll head south when King and Otto get here with
the horses and supplies.” A sigh. “Going to be hard
times. I got maybe two leva. How about you guys?”
We catalogued our resources. I said, “We’re in
trouble.”
“The Lieutenant sent this.” Goblin deposited a small
sack on the table. It contained fifty silver castle coins from
Raven’s horde.
“That’ll help. Still going to make it on prayer,
though.”
“I have some money,” Shed volunteered. “Quite
a bit. It’s back where I was staying.”
I eyeballed him. “You don’t have to go. You’re
not part of this.”
“Yes, I am.”
“For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been
trying to run away . . . ”
“Got something to fight for now, Croaker. What they did to
Juniper. I can’t let that go.”
“Me, too,” Asa said. “I still got most of the
money Raven gave me after we raided the Catacombs.”
I polled the others silently. They did not respond. It was up to
me. “All right. Get it. But don’t dawdle. I want to
pull out as soon as I can.”
“I can catch you one the road,” Shed said. “I
don’t see why Asa can’t too.” He rose. Shyly, he
extended a hand. I hesitated only a moment.
“Welcome to the Black Company, Shed.”
Asa did not make the same offer.
“Think they’ll come back?” One-Eye asked after
they left.
“What do you think?”
“Nope. I hope you know what you’re doing, Croaker.
They could get the Taken after us if they get caught.”
“Yeah. They could.” I was counting on it, in fact. A
vicious notion had come to me. “Let’s have another
round here. Be our last for a long time.”
And a fine breakfast we had. I tipped the innkeeper another
piece of silver. He must have thought me mad.
Half a mile up the road One-Eye called a halt. “You just
going to leave them?” he asked.
“What?”
“Those people. First Taken comes down this way is going to
find out everything we did.”
My heart flip-flopped. I knew what he was getting at. I had
thought about it earlier. But I could not order it. “No
point,” I said. “Everybody in Meadenvil is going to see
us put out.”
“Everybody in Meadenvil don’t know where we’re
headed. I don’t like the idea any better than you do,
Croaker. But we have to cut the trail somewhere. Raven
didn’t. And we’re on to him.”
“Yeah. I know.” I glanced at Asa and Shed. They were
not taking it well. Asa, at least, figured he was next.
“Can’t take them with us, Croaker.”
“I know.”
He swung around, started back. Alone. Not even Otto joined him,
and Otto has very little conscience.
“What’s he going to do?” Asa asked.
“Use his magic to make them forget,” I lied.
“Let’s move along. He can catch up.”
Shed kept giving me looks. Looks like he must have given Raven
when he first found out Raven was in the body business. He did not
say anything.
One-Eye caught up an hour later. He busted out laughing.
“They were gone,” he said. “Every blessed one,
with all their dogs and cattle. Into the woods. Damned
peasants.” He laughed again, almost hysterically. I suspect
he was relieved.
“We got two days and some gone,” I said.
“Let’s push it. The bigger head start we have, the
better.”
We reached the outskirts of Meadenvil five hours later, not
having pressed as hard as I wanted. As we penetrated the city, our
pace lagged. I think we all sensed it. Finally, I stopped.
“King, you and Asa wander around and see what you hear.
We’ll wait at yonder fountain.” There were no children
in the streets. The adults I saw seemed dazed. Those who passed us
moved by as widely as they could navigate.
King was back in two minutes. No lollygagging. “Big
trouble, Croaker. The Taken got here this morning. Big blowout down
at the waterfront.”
I glanced in that direction. A ghost of smoke rose there, as if
marking the aftermath of a major fire. The sky to the west, in the
direction the wind was blowing, had a dirty look.
Asa returned a minute later with the same news and more.
“They got in a big fight with the Prince. Not over yet, some
say.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a fight,” One-Eye
said.
“I don’t know,” I countered. “Even the
Lady can’t be everywhere at once. How the hell did they get
here so fast? They didn’t have any carpets.”
“Overland,” Shed said.
“Overland? But . . . ”
“It’s shorter than the sea trip. Road cuts across.
If you ride hard, day and night, you can make it in two days. When
I was a kid, they used to have races. They stopped that when the
new Duke took over.”
“Guess it doesn’t matter. So. What now?”
“Got to find out what happened,” One-Eye said. He
muttered, “If that bastard Goblin got himself killed,
I’ll wring his neck.”
“Right. But how do we do that? The Taken know
us.”
“I’ll go,” Shed volunteered.
Harder looks you cannot imagine than those we bent upon Marron
Shed. He quailed for a moment. Then: “I won’t let them
catch me. Anyway, why should they bother me? They don’t know
me.”
“Okay,” I said. “Get moving.”
“Croaker . . . ”
“Got to trust him, One-Eye. Unless you want to go
yourself.”
“Nope. Shed, you screw us over and I’ll get you if I
have to come back from the grave.”
Shed smiled weakly, left us. On foot. Not many people rode
through Meadenvil’s streets. We found a tavern and made
ourselves at home, two men staying in the street to watch. It was
sundown before Shed returned.
“Well?” I said, signaling for another pitcher of
beer.
“It’s not good news. You guys are stuck. Your
Lieutenant took the ship out. Twenty, twenty-five of your guys were
killed. The rest went out on the ship. The Prince
lost . . . ”
“Not all of them,” One-Eye said, and tipped a
pointing finger over the top of his mug. “Somebody followed
you, Shed.”
Shed whirled, terrified.
Goblin and Pawnbroker stood in the doorway. Pawn had been carved
up some. He limped over and collapsed into a chair. I checked his
wounds. Goblin and One-Eye exchanged looks that might have meant
anything, but probably meant they were glad to see one another.
The tavern’s other customers began to fade. Word who we
were had gotten out. They knew some bad people were hunting us.
“Sit, Goblin,” I said. “King, you and Otto go
get some fresh horses.” I gave them most of the money I had.
“All the staples that will buy, too. I think we got a long
ride ahead. Right, Goblin?”
He nodded.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Whisper and Limper turned up this morning. Came with
fifty men. Company men. Looking for us. Made enough fuss we heard
them coming. The Lieutenant sent word to everybody ashore. Some
didn’t get aboard in time. Whisper headed for the ship. The
Lieutenant had to cut loose. We left nineteen men
behind.”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I volunteered. Went over the side off the point, swam to
shore, came back to wait for you guys. Supposed to tell you where
to meet the ship. Ran into Pawn by accident. I was patching him up
when I seen Shed poking around. We followed him back
here.”
I sighed. “They’re headed for Chimney,
right?”
He was surprised. “Yeah. How’d you know
that?”
I explained briefly.
He said, “Pawn, better tell them what you know. Pawn was
caught ashore. Only survivor I could find.”
“This is a private adventure with the Taken,” Pawn
said. “They snuck down here. Supposed to be somewhere else.
Figured it was a chance to get even, I guess, now we’re not
on the list of the Lady’s favorites.”
“She doesn’t know they’re here?”
“No.”
I chuckled. Despite the gravity of the situation, I could not
help that. “They’re in for a surprise, then. The old
bitch herself is going to turn up. We got another black castle
growing here.”
Several of them looked at me askance, wondering how I would know
what the Lady was doing. I had not explained my dream to anyone but
the Lieutenant. I finished patching Pawnbroker. “You’ll
be able to travel, but take it easy. How’d you find that
out?”
“Shaky. We talked some before he tried to kill
me.”
“Shaky!” One-Eye snarled. “What the
hell?”
“I don’t know what the Taken told those guys. But
they were cranked up. Wanted our asses bad. Suckers. Most of them
got killed for their trouble.”
“Killed?”
“Prince what’s-it got righteous about the Taken
walking in like they owned the place. There was a big
fight with the Limper and our boys. Our guys practically got
wiped out. Maybe they’d have done better if they
could’ve rested first.
Funny. We talked it over like those men and we had not
somehow become mortal enemies, sympathizing. And, in my case,
feeling bitter toward the Taken for having turned and squandered
them.
“Shaky say anything about Juniper?”
“Yeah. They had a real old-fashioned blood bath up there.
Not much left of anything. Counting us, the Company was down six
hundred guys when the Lady finished with the castle. Lot more guys
was killed in the riots that came after, when she cleaned out the
Catacombs. The whole damned city went crazy, with that Hargadon
leading the rebellion. Had our guys trapped in Duretile. Then the
Lady lost her temper. She wrecked what was left of the
town.”
I shook my head. “The Captain guessed right about the
Catacombs.”
“Journey took over what was left of the Company,”
Goblin said. “They was supposed to pull out with the plunder
as soon as they got it all together. City is so wrecked there
isn’t no reason to stay around.”
I looked at Shed. A bleaker face could not be imagined. Pain and
questions twisted inside him. He wanted to know about his people.
Did not want to speak for fear someone would accuse him. “Not
your fault, man,” I told him. “The Duke asked the Lady
in before you got involved. It would have happened no matter what
you did.”
“How can people do stuff like that?”
Asa gave him the odd look. “Shed, that’s dumb. How
could you do all the stuff you did? Desperate, that’s what.
Everybody’s desperate. They do crazy things.”
One-Eye gave me a how-about-that? look. Even Asa could think
sometimes.
“Pawn. Shaky say anything about Elmo?” Elmo remained
my main regret.
“No. I didn’t ask. We didn’t have much
time.”
“What’s the plan?” Goblin said.
“We’ll head south when King and Otto get here with
the horses and supplies.” A sigh. “Going to be hard
times. I got maybe two leva. How about you guys?”
We catalogued our resources. I said, “We’re in
trouble.”
“The Lieutenant sent this.” Goblin deposited a small
sack on the table. It contained fifty silver castle coins from
Raven’s horde.
“That’ll help. Still going to make it on prayer,
though.”
“I have some money,” Shed volunteered. “Quite
a bit. It’s back where I was staying.”
I eyeballed him. “You don’t have to go. You’re
not part of this.”
“Yes, I am.”
“For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been
trying to run away . . . ”
“Got something to fight for now, Croaker. What they did to
Juniper. I can’t let that go.”
“Me, too,” Asa said. “I still got most of the
money Raven gave me after we raided the Catacombs.”
I polled the others silently. They did not respond. It was up to
me. “All right. Get it. But don’t dawdle. I want to
pull out as soon as I can.”
“I can catch you one the road,” Shed said. “I
don’t see why Asa can’t too.” He rose. Shyly, he
extended a hand. I hesitated only a moment.
“Welcome to the Black Company, Shed.”
Asa did not make the same offer.
“Think they’ll come back?” One-Eye asked after
they left.
“What do you think?”
“Nope. I hope you know what you’re doing, Croaker.
They could get the Taken after us if they get caught.”
“Yeah. They could.” I was counting on it, in fact. A
vicious notion had come to me. “Let’s have another
round here. Be our last for a long time.”