Shadow of a Dark Queen. Raymond E. Feist

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ for something besides getting drunk and beating up on him.

      Erik looked down the long winding road known as the King’s Highway. They had turned south after Grindle had passed the last toll station, entering the road near a town called Haverford. Twice before that patrols of armed soldiers had ridden past, but at no time did they even pause to look at Roo or Erik.

      As Roo snapped the reins and the wagon started down the road toward the city, a patrol of city guardsmen rode toward them. Erik sat as calmly as he could in the rear, attempting to look as much like just another wagon guard as possible. Roo’s hands knotted on the reins and the rear left horse snorted at the tension in the line, not sure if she was asked to change pace or direction. Roo forced himself to relax and the two of them watched as the soldiers approached. Then, abruptly, the guards pulled up. ‘There’s a long wait,’ said the guard sergeant.

      Grindle asked,’ ‘What’s the holdup?’

      ‘The King has entered the city. South gate by the palace is sealed off for his retinue. Everyone else is forced to use the north gates.’ he said, waving in the general direction Grindle’s wagon was headed. ‘And the gate watch is searching the wagons.’

      Grindle swore as the guards rode off.

      Roo and Erik exchanged glances. Roo shook his head slightly, indicating Erik should say nothing about the wagon search. In conversational tones, he said, ‘That’s some city.’

      ‘That she is,’ replied Grindle.

      Krondor sprawled at the head of a large bay, beyond which an expanse of blue stretched off to the horizon: the Bitter Sea. The old city was walled, but an extensive foulburg – the part of the city outside the walls – had grown up over the years, until now it was much larger than the inner city. Inside the walls, the view was dominated by the palace of the Prince of Krondor, which sat atop a hill hard against the south side of the bay. Ships, looking like tiny white slips of paper, rested at anchor or sailed in and out of the bay.

      Roo said, ‘Master Grindle, what do you think are the best commodities to ship from this city?’ Erik suppressed a groan as the merchant began his long answer. In the days since joining up with Grindle, Roo had been pestering the merchant for ideas on making money. At first the man was reluctant, as if Roo would somehow steal a thought from him and he’d be the poorer for it. Roo made several statements as if they were fact that got the old merchant going, telling the youth he was an idiot and would end up ruined before he was twenty years old. When challenged as to why, he’d open up with a sound argument. By cleverly asking questions, Roo would turn the conversation into an ongoing lecture on how to conduct business.

      ‘Rare, that’s the thing,’ said Grindle. ‘You can hear there’s a shortage of hides for making boots in Ylith. So corner all the hides in Krondor you can. By the time you reach Ylith, you find some lad from the Free Cities has already imported ten wagonloads of hides and you’re ruined. But rarities! There are always rich men looking for fine cloth, precious gems, exotic spices, and the like.’ Glancing around to see he was not overheard, he continued. ‘You can build volume in commodities. You can be the largest wool shipper in the West, but one plague of anthrax on the sheep herds, one ship sunk on its way to the Far Coast, and bang!’ He slapped his hands together for emphasis. One of the horses cocked an ear at the noise. ‘You’re ruined.’

      ‘I don’t know,’ said Roo. ‘People may not have money to buy luxuries, but they have to eat.’

      ‘Bah!’ said Grindle. ‘Rich people always have money to buy luxuries. Poor people often don’t have money to buy food. And rich people may eat better than poor, but one man can only eat so much, no matter how rich.’

      ‘What about wine?’

      Grindle launched into a discussion, and Erik sat back, turning his mind to the last few days. At first bored by the chatter, Erik discovered there was a lot about the business world that was interesting, especially in terms of risk versus reward. Grindle claimed he was only a modest merchant, but Erik was beginning to believe that was intentional understatement. The cargo in the wagon was an odd mix, a half-dozen bolts of embroidered silk, a dozen small jars carefully lashed together with huge amounts of cotton wadding for protection, some wooden boxes with heavy cord tied around them, and some odd sacks. The boys never asked what was in the packages and Grindle never volunteered. From the course of the recent discussion, Erik assumed the man traded in precious goods, small but of high value, and wore poor clothing and drove a modest-appearing wagon to throw off suspicion. Erik suspected Grindle might have gems or some other cargo of small bulk and large value there.

      The first night together, Erik had noticed that while the wagon was dirty on the outside it was clean in the back where the cargo lay, and it was very well repaired. The wheels had recently been reset and the work had been first-rate, with the hubs properly packed and the iron bands on the wheels carefully attached with more than the minimum number of nails. The horses were likewise more than they seemed. Grindle kept them modestly dirty, though not enough to pose a health problem, but they were scruffy-looking animals until you examined them closely. Their hooves were trimmed at the proper angle and the shoeing was absolutely masterful, as good as any Erik had seen. The animals were more than sound, they were fit and well cared for; every night Grindle supplemented their roadside grazing with fresh grain from a bag he stored under the wagon seat.

      Roo clucked and rustled the reins and the wagon rolled forward again, moving in behind a long line of wagons that were stretching along the highway toward the city. Grindle said, ‘This is the longest damn wait I’ve seen in my life!’

      ‘It doesn’t look like we’re moving any time soon. I’ll go look.’ Roo handed the reins to Grindle.

      Erik said, ‘I’ll go with you,’ and leaped down off the wagon, following after Roo.

      As they moved along, several wagon drivers were standing up in their seats, attempting to see what the delay ahead might be. Ten or so wagons ahead of Grindle’s, they encountered a teamster heading back toward the end of the line, muttering curses.

      ‘What’s the holdup?’ asked Roo.

      The man didn’t even look at them as he said, ‘Some damn nonsense if you ask me. They’re searching the wagons before they even reach the outer edge of the foulburg. Couldn’t do it at the city gate, proper like. No, they set up a second search point down at the creek bridge. I guess they just have to ruin a man’s chances of a hot dinner. It’ll be hours before we get through.’ The man reached his own wagon, five ahead of Grindle’s, and swung up to take the reins from his apprentice. ‘Prince’s funeral – every noble in the West and half from the East in town – and market day, yet they’re climbing through every wagon and looking at every man coming in like they were on the hunt for the King’s own murderer.’ The man’s comments descended into general muttering, peppered by some colorful obscenities, as Erik motioned for Roo to come away.

      Out of earshot of anyone in the waiting line of wagons, Roo said, ‘What do we do?’

      Erik said, ‘I don’t know. With all this funeral stuff going on, it may be something else they’re on the watch for, but it could be our necks if they are looking for us.’ He thought a minute. ‘Maybe we wait until dark, circle away from this road, and see if there’s another way into town less watched. And there’s still the problem of getting into the city proper behind the wall.’

      ‘One at a time. If we can get into the foulburg, we can find a way through the walls, I’m certain. There’s always a way in and out of a city for folks who don’t want too much attention drawn to themselves.’

      ‘Thieves СКАЧАТЬ