[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Apparently this was enough.
On the voyage home the weather was gray and stormy, with half a gale blowing
most of the time. With a small and inexperienced crew neither Blade nor Gursun
got much sleep or peace of mind. Fortunately the same gray weather that gave
them both gray hairs also kept patrol ships at a safe distance. They had four
days' unmolested voyaging, then anchored safely in a small bay about thirty
miles south of Karanopolis.
From the map, they were about eight miles by road from Pardes' country estate.
Unfortunately it was not a simple case of getting ashore and walking off to
their goal. The first and easiest thing to get was disguises.
"What sort of man can tramp around the countryside these days with no
questions asked?" said Blade.
"Soldiers, of course. So we all put on armor and weapons from the cargo, and
there we are, a patrol of the good soldiers of His Sacred Majesty Jores VII."
Gursun laughed. "What about the three sailors?" He made his usual
throat-slitting gesture.
Blade shook his head. "We'll strip and bind them like slaves captured while
escaping. That can be our business if we need to answer questions. We're
returning three escaped slaves to the estate of Duke
Pardes."
Gursun shook his head. "Blade, you sure you hate the Karani as much as you
say? You play tricks just like they do, and just as good."
Blade grimaced. "I knew a great deal about intrigues before I came to Karan. I
didn't much like them then. I don't like them now. I wouldn't go on with them
to sit on the Coral Throne itself, if I didn't have to."
When they had ferried the freed slaves and the captive crewmen ashore, Blade
and Gursun set Green
Gull's mainsail. Then they set her on course out of the bay toward the open
sea and lashed her steering oar in place. They watched Green Gull sail out
into the darkness, then rowed ashore.
The shore was not well-patrolled these days, since it was not from the sea
that Karan was in danger. But
Page 75
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
they ran into their first patrol of soldiers before they had covered three
miles.
Blade stepped forward at "Who goes there?" and faced the eleven soldiers who
blocked the road.
"We are of the household of Duke Pardes. We return from the shore with three
slaves of his."
The sergeant commanding the patrol grunted in disgust. "Lots of those bastards
think this is the time to make a run for it. Good work you caught them this
close to home. All right, pass on."
They passed on, and passed through two more patrols without incident. Dawn was
in the sky before they reached Pardes' estate. Blade hoped the household
guards would not look too closely at the new arrivals before sending them on
to the duke. By daylight the ex-slaves looked a good deal less like soldiers
and the sailors less like slaves than they had by night.
He also hoped that Pardes himself was still at his country estate and that
Descares was not. If Pardes had already returned to Karanopolis, all they had
done might still be in vain and all they had hoped for lost forever. They had
very little hope of making their way through the Golden City to Pardes'
palace.
The estate was built around two courtyards. An outer one held the guardhouses,
kitchens, storerooms, and the rest. The inner one held Pardes' own apartments
and gardens.
To get into the outer courtyard was simple. Once again their story about
returning some escaped slaves was enough. In a household the size of Padres',
it was hardly to be expected that every guard would recognize every house or
field slave.
In the outer courtyard, Blade could see that Gursun was getting nervous. He
himself was more tense than he would have liked to admit. At least they were
past the stronger gate. The outer gate was massive timbers and iron hinges, a
foot thick and twenty feet high. The inner gate was delicate, gilded iron
latticework, more ornamental than protective.
While Gursun kept an eye on the rest of the party, Blade went over to the four
guards at the inner gate.
Under his cloak he had the message tube, lashed to his sword belt.
"I bring a message for the eyes of Duke Pardes," he said.
The senior guard looked coldly at him. "Duke Pardes never receives messages
before breakfast. He will receive you in an hour."
Blade shook his head. They could not afford to wait around in the courtyard
for even half that time.
Someone was certain to notice something peculiar about either the "soldiers"
or the "slaves."
"Minutes may count, my friend. I do not think Pardes will be grateful to you
if he learns you have delayed this message. Do you know what his ingratitude
can mean?"
The guard obviously did. His face paled slightly, and he licked his lips. But
he also held his ground. "Sir, I can't let you in. I just-no, wait a minute.
If I call the duty officer, maybe he can go in and persuade
Pardes to see you. Will that do?"
"If you stop talking and do it quickly, yes."
The guard dashed off as if wolves were chasing him and vanished into one of
the guardhouses. Blade
leaned against the wall, trying to look as relaxed and casual as possible. He
watched three slaves push a large silver-decorated cart with four
jewel-studded wheels out of the cookhouse. On top of the cart was an array of
silver dishes.
"What's that?" Blade asked, pointing.
"His Grace's breakfast," replied one of the guards. It was hardly surprising
Page 76
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
that Pardes' massive frame required an equally massive amount of food. Still,
the size of that breakfast was slightly awe-inspiring.
Then Blade froze. Coming out of the guardhouse was the guard who had gone off
to get the duty officer. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]