《Impressor》


 1. Skiving off never has repercussions

    It was the sort of glorious day that spring occasionally brings forth to surprise us all. Nedric had decided that nobody would really miss him and had left the keep as soon as he could get away. The path at the back of the keep led quickly into thin woodland and he was soon away from the sounds of woodsmen and axemen. The rich green trees contrasted well with the blues and whites of the forest flowers and the clear, brisk stream was a companion to the otherwise peaceful day. Even the birds seemed to have taken the day off and the world was as peaceful as Nedric could wish.


    The plan was simple; in earlier explorations Nedric had found a pleasant and secluded glade, well away from the normal traffic around the area. Because it required a clamber over the rocks down which the stream fell as a minor cataract, the path was unlikely to be chosen by anyone on legitimate business. Nedric felt sure that he could have a day of peaceful relaxation, probably the last before the urgency of the next few weeks.


    Making good progress through the reeds and sedges that grew beside the stream, Nedric soon reached the scramble of rocks. Jumping from one large stone to another, clambering over others and with the help of conveniently placed tree limbs, he climbed the twenty-foot or so of the rise in only a few minutes and with a spring in his step he marched onward towards his glade.


    The spot he had selected was idyllic to his mind. The grass covering the glade was a short but fairly luxuriant growth. The soil underneath was a mixture of sand and tree debris. The combination of the two meant a soft and comfortable place to sit. On one side of the glade, a tree had fallen some time before and was of just the right shape that Nedric could sit with the trunk as a back rest and dangle his feet in the stream.


    Laying the pack he had been carrying beside him, Nedric placed himself in a comfortable position. He took a book from his pack and sat down to read. It was warm in the sun and the effect of the heat and the studying was to have Nedric yawning and after an hour or so he gave in and napped.


    * * *


    He awoke sometime later and noticed something reflecting the sunlight into his face. Stretching, he went to see what was so shiny and found somewhat to his surprise that a brass shoe buckle was lying in the ground across the glade. The vegetation around the area looked slightly scuffed as though something had been dragged along the ground and Nedric followed the scuffmarks into a large bunch of bracken.


    Some of the bracken was still lying broken; whatever had been pulled through here could not have been more than a few days ago. This really made Nedric curious. He would not have thought that anyone would have been in this area in quite a while, certainly most villagers would not have had the leisure or inclination to come out this way and it was an unlikely spot for anyone from the keep to visit.


    Pushing his way into the mass of bracken, Nedric saw what at first glance looked like a prostrate scarecrow. It took a few moments for him to realise that it was actually the body of a man. The angles of the limbs were not natural, which was why at first he had not believed it could be a person.


    The body was lying face down. It had obviously been dragged into that position by whoever had put it there. Turning it over Nedric was surprised to see that the face of the man, for a man it was, was not one he recognised. In the small community in which he lived, he thought he knew at least by sight all of the people around. The man had obviously been prosperous by the cut of his clothes and the quality of the material, which led Nedric to believe that the man was a noble or a merchant. The shoes, one of which had a matching buckle to the one that he had previously seen, were more in keeping with a noble. The sort of person who dressed for fashion rather than practicality.


    The stab wounds that clearly showed through the white shirt of the man and the pallor of his face made Nedric feel slightly nauseous. He was quite surprised how calm he was, considering the unprecedented nature of this occurrence. In a way he felt quite proud of himself. He expected that most of the other students would have panicked by now.


    Nedric had a dilemma. What should he do now? The obvious thing to do was to go back to the keep and report the body to the guards. The only problem with that was that they were likely to ask questions as to what he was doing there. Whilst Nedric had no problems with the guards knowing where he was, he was a little reluctant for any of the masters knowing he had left the grounds to get away from the others.


    In the end Nedric decided that he would have to tell the guards about the body. He would have to hope that they would keep his involvement in finding the corpse out of the story. Keep gossip would let everyone know that a body had been found, but without the guards mentioning him he should not be connected with it. It wasn¡¯t everyday a dead body turned up and his hope was that people would be thinking more about what killed the man rather than who found him.


    Making his way back to the keep was a speedier thing than his route outwards had been. Nedric was aware that he would have to go out again to show the guards where the body was. This would take time and he was liable to miss dinner if he wasn¡¯t careful. Missing any meal was not something Nedric readily contemplated and it would be best for him not to draw attention to himself today.


    Hurrying back to the keep Nedric had a little time to think. He was hoping that Bronn was on gate duty. The guard had always got on well with him and was likely to listen to him without thinking that he was making it all up. Also he was less likely to talk to the masters who he always accused of being rather ¡®stuck-up¡¯.


    Nedric was lucky; Bronn was on duty as he reached the keep gate. The guard was leaning idly against the wall, watching for people entering or leaving. As the duke wasn¡¯t in residence, the traffic through the gate was light and he was a little bored.


    ¡°Hi Bronn!¡± Nedric called as he approached, ¡°Can you spare me some time?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s bothering you lad?¡±


    ¡°I need to speak to the captain,¡± Nedric replied, ¡°so I need you to tell him that I won¡¯t be wasting his time.¡±


    ¡°I need more to tell him than that lad, why do you need to see him?¡±


    Nedric lowered his voice as he was now close to the guard, ¡°I found a dead body back in the woods, I¡¯m sure he would want to know that.¡±


    Bronn looked at Nedric, he noticed that the lad was looking slightly distraught and having spoken to him regularly over the last two years felt that Nedric was telling the truth. ¡°Wait in the guard house lad, I¡¯ll be right back!¡±


    The guard house was generally used in poor weather or when there was more than one guard on duty. Sitting on a stool in the small room Nedric started to worry. There wasn¡¯t really anything he had done wrong, he told himself. He couldn¡¯t help though, wondering what the captain would think of him.


    Captain Tolbeck ran the keep when the duke wasn¡¯t there. He didn¡¯t deal with the students. He gave directions to the Overmaster when necessary and left him to tell the masters who then informed the students. That was a lot of steps away from Nedric and he and the other students were fairly fearful about being in trouble with the man. Now Nedric was asking for him and bypassing all the masters to do it, he was sure that there would be consequences.


    The Captain when he appeared was the very model of an experienced soldier. Straight back, brisk manner and a wiry body. Only the greying of his short hair gave any indication of his age. ¡°Right lad,¡± he said to Nedric, ¡°what¡¯s all this about a dead body?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in one of the glades in the backwoods,¡± Nedric replied. ¡°It¡¯s been dragged into a bunch of bracken, looks like a noble to me!¡±


    ¡°Right then we had best have a look at it then! Bronn go get someone to relieve you. You¡¯re coming with me.¡±


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    The Captain set a fast pace, Nedric who was supposedly leading the two guards, was hard pressed to keep up. Nedric hadn¡¯t seen anyone on either of his previous trips so was not surprised that no one was around to see him with the Captain. Although if one of the other students had seen him he would have been pleased as it would do his reputation no harm. Only when they got to the scramble over the rocks was Nedric able to get ahead of the older men and this let him take a brief rest whilst they caught up with him.


    Reaching the glade, Nedric went immediately to the bracken and was slightly relieved to see that the body was still there. He had worried that either he had dreamt the experience or that someone would have removed the evidence, leaving him in big trouble. He swept fronds of bracken aside to make a space for the two guards to see the corpse.


    Tolbeck knelt beside the body and spoke as he noticed various clues to the identity of the man. ¡°Notice the hair cut, Bronn. The very height of court fashion. Clothes look to be the latest fashion as well but I couldn¡¯t place the tailor. Puncture wound through the ribs and into the heart, was probably made by a thin dagger, and wouldn¡¯t have needed as much strength. A few more wounds that look like the person was trying to make sure our man here was dead.¡±


    The Captain then proceeded to check through the pockets of the man. This was somewhat unpleasant for Nedric but he watched anyway. The search surprised the captain, he found a pouch containing a fair amount of coins, more in fact than Nedric had ever owned in his life. He didn¡¯t however find any form of identification. The only other thing about the man¡¯s person was a ring with a strange design inscribed upon it. The design was of a snake with four legs. It was inlaid in gold on a black background and looked, like the rest of the man¡¯s items, very expensive.


    ¡°Well you¡¯re obviously no thief lad!¡± said the Captain turning to Nedric. ¡°There¡¯s enough money here to run the keep for a fortnight! I suppose you deserve a finder¡¯s fee for this. ¡° Saying this he handed Nedric one of the gold coins from the purse. ¡°Now don¡¯t be making a big thing of this lad, we still don¡¯t know who our man here is, so I don¡¯t want the whole keep knowing about it just yet. ¡°


    ¡°Bronn, we need to take this body back with us. Fetch a couple of long staves and we¡¯ll feed them through the clothing to make a stretcher.¡±


    Bronn went about his task in the amiable way that he accomplished everything. He whistled as he cut the branches of a nearby tree into serviceable staves. Nedric who had never seen a body before, could not believe that anyone could be that relaxed around a corpse but both the guard and the Captain seemed to treat it as just another part of their work.


    Walking along, carrying a stretcher with a corpse upon it slowed the men down considerably. As they walked the Captain questioned Nedric as to what it was he did around the keep and how he had ended up there. He didn¡¯t seem very surprised to know that Nedric was a student but seemed more interested when he learnt that Nedric was not one of the children who financed the running of the college.


    ¡°So you¡¯re one of the people that are here on merit are you lad? How is it that you knew your letters and numbers enough to get in? There are few enough not of merchant or noble birth who have that education.¡±


    Nedric explained that his mother had taught him and that she had herself learnt from her father. Nedric¡¯s grandfather had been the steward of a noble who had lost most of his money through gambling. ¡°My mother is just about the only member of staff he kept on, as she¡¯s the cook. Grandpa survives on what mother earns but I was just an unwanted mouth to feed. So when the Duke asked for people to come and learn at the keep I was on my way here before I knew what was happening.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s likely to be the making of you lad,¡± said the Captain. ¡°With the knowledge and the contacts you¡¯re getting here you most likely can make a living as a merchant, that¡¯s if you¡¯re not working on the boardways.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll most likely be doing that, sir. I¡¯ve got the aptitude for it, or so says Master Andern. It seems more interesting than arguing with people about the cost of goods anyway.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a new idea and anyone who starts with a new idea ends up making money, just look at the man who designed those new longbows. Twice as powerful as the old ones and now he¡¯s making coins hand over fist!¡±


    ¡°Well it doesn¡¯t really look like I have much of a choice at the moment, I¡¯ve still got a lot of studying to do before we finish the course and without the Masters¡¯ recommendation I¡¯ll still be a nobody who is to old to apprentice for anything.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, so I¡¯ll guess you¡¯ll be doing a lot of studying. I¡¯ll be interested to see how you get on!¡±


    Nedric was less than pleased at the prospect of the captain keeping an eye on his progress. Whilst he didn¡¯t think that he was doing that bad in comparison with the other students and whilst Tolbeck had behaved like an all right sort of person, he didn¡¯t need the extra pressure. The masters might start acting differently if the captain mentioned his name and he didn¡¯t want any extra attention.


    Getting the corpse down the scramble would have been a problem if Tolbeck hadn¡¯t decided that it was easier to station Bronn at the bottom and let the stream carry it over the edge and into a largish pool. After all the man wasn¡¯t going to object to the treatment and the body wasn¡¯t likely to be any more damaged as a result. Bronn slipped and nearly fell into the stream as he was going for the body and it was quite amusing for Nedric and the captain to watch the older, slightly stout guard chase after the corpse. When the other two had climbed down the scramble they were both in good humour, even Bronn saw the funny side of the incident and had a sheepish smile on his face.


    Soon enough they were back at the keep. The large grey, stone walls looming up at them as they emerged from the backwoods. Tolbeck suggested to Nedric that he run along which Nedric was more than happy to do. It avoided him being seen coming in with the captain and the corpse. Anyway he was going to have to rush if he was going to get to dinner on time.


    * * *


    The sight of a student rushing towards the refectory for the evening meal was so common that no one even noticed him as he rushed through the keep. He almost went flying into a maid as he turned a corner. She was none too pleased and gave him a piece of her mind as he muttered an apology and moved rapidly onwards.


    The Duke¡¯s guards had in previous years used the large hall as an indoor training area. The walls still bore the scars of badly aimed weapons. It was a joke amongst the masters that now it was a refectory it was even more dangerous to idly wander around, especially at meal times. At one end of the room those Masters who were on duty were seated at the high table. The other tables were arranged square to this so that the masters could see the faces of everyone in the hall.


    A cry directed at Nedric caused him to change course and park himself by his friend Rialto. Collapsing into the chair, he glanced around to check he wasn¡¯t the last to enter. Most of the sixty-odd students had arrived but he was relieved to see that there were still a few stragglers. Turning to Rialto he asked ¡°Anyone miss me today?¡±


    ¡°Only Andern and that¡¯s only because your assignment is due in tomorrow and he was reminding everybody when we were in the courtyard. I told him I¡¯d let you know and he seemed happy, or at least as happy as Andern gets!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to tell you what happened today, but not here. I¡¯ll let you know everything when we get back to our room!¡±


    At that moment there was a general murmur as Overmaster Lucern entered the room and all the students rose. The man walked to the centre seat of the high table and raised and lowered his right hand in a gesture to get the students seated. He looked about him in the slightly bemused manner that surrounded him permanently. It was as if he was always surprised to see the students in front of him and was wondering what he had done to find himself in charge of them. His voice, when he spoke however, was always firm and clear and of such depth and timbre that everyone always paid attention to him.


    ¡°Before we eat ladies and gentleman,¡± he began. ¡±I¡¯d like to make a few announcements. Firstly for all of you in the upper class, Master Andern has asked me to remind you that your assignments are due in tomorrow.¡±


    There was a general chuckle around the hall, as Master Andern was well known for requiring students to be punctual in everything they did.


    ¡°Secondly, the village apprentices have offered a challenge, they wish to take on our best eleven at a game of murderball. They have suggested that a month would give us enough time to prepare and I have agreed. So that will be taking place at end-week four weeks from now.¡±


    The murmur around the hall was louder, the rumours that the villagers were going to issue the challenge had been around for weeks but no one had been sure if they would actually go ahead. The rivalry between the two sets of young people was growing as the students became more established at the keep. It had already caused a few harsh words and the odd scuffle; the game would put it on an official footing.


    ¡°Lastly, I would remind upper class students that they only have two months to prepare for the trip to the end of the boardway and that if they need any articles of clothing or travel goods then they are to let the bursar know as soon as possible.¡±


    The Overmaster looked around the hall to see that the messages had been properly received and to give the students time to quiet down. He coughed to attract attention again and continued. ¡°We ask the five to look after the Duke and all his household. May they keep us all safe from harm. Amen.¡±


    There was a general murmur of response and a greater one at the prospect of being fed. Rialto turned to Nedric and said enthusiastically ¡°That¡¯s got to be the best news I¡¯ve heard in a while.¡±


    ¡°What that Andern is making a fuss about assignments again?¡± asked Nedric with a grin.


    ¡°No, you fool! That the villagers offered the challenge. Who do you think will make the eleven? We must have a good chance being in the uppers but some of the madders are fairly big and fast and if the masters decide to be fair they might even let the lowers and the girls take part and I¡¯m not exactly the brawniest person around.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll do alright, you¡¯re quicker than just about anyone else here. I¡¯m the one who falls over his feet all the time in combat training. They¡¯re more likely to leave me out than you. Anyway what¡¯s this about not wanting the girls to play, I wouldn¡¯t mind getting in to a bundle with some of them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d rather be bundling one of them and I know just which one!¡±


    At that both boys looked across the room where other of their classmates were chatting. The bright red hair and captivating manner of one girl had taken both of their interest. Rhianna, the girl in question, rarely even noticed their presence.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even think about her any more. She¡¯s happy with Strawn so I¡¯m looking elsewhere.¡± Nedric¡¯s comment was not believed by Rialto but it did get him to replying.


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to dream about the lovely Callendra then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather dream of carrying the ball straight across the villagers goal line.¡±


    A maid bringing bread to their plates and pouring a stew into their bowls interrupted their conversation. The sight of food was enough to distract them and it was a few minutes before they were talking again. The conversation was of trivial matters until they had made their way back to their room.


    Nedric took only a few minutes to let Rialto know all that had taken place that day. Rialto, as expected, wanted the gory details of what the body looked like, where the stab wounds were, what the expression of the face had been like and how much blood had been spilled on the ground. Nedric was able to provide most of the details, after which the boys fell to speculating on who the murderer could be, whether they lived in the village, or even possibly in the keep. The latter possibility sent a shiver of excited terror up their spines.


    From there the talk changed as to who the man could have been. After that the question was what he had been doing in the wood and so on and so forth. Speculation, theories and ideas kept the boys talking until late. It wasn¡¯t until they were both ready to turn in for the night that Nedric remembered that he had an assignment to hand in the next day.

 2. Rolling, rolling, rolling

    The following morning saw Nedric rising with the dawn, not his normal start to the day. The pressure of getting his work done forced him out of his general somnambulant approach. Washing and dressing quickly, Nedric moved quietly around the room in order not to disturb Rialto. When he sat in his chair a loud creak made him wince. It didn¡¯t wake his friend, whose gentle snores continued undisturbed.


    As he read through the assignment question he wondered what sort of sadistic mind asks for students to ¡°Discuss the size of population of an area when compared with the ease of travel to that area. Extrapolate what the effect of the Boardways would mean to the new areas in which they were being built.¡±


    He read through the work he had already done, which basically said that the easier it was to get somewhere then the more people were there. He had cited as his case that Elseth, the capital of Setherland, was by far the most populated area of the country because the two rivers that joined nearby made rapid travel from other towns possible. Also the flat plains around Elseth were ideal for horse travel. As the wagons bringing food from long distances inland testified.


    As his counter case he had cited the area around the keep, which being in hilly country and with thick woodlands as well, was rarely visited by outsiders and only then because of the Duke¡¯s importance to the country.


    Having finished the reading, Nedric began to marshal his arguments for the second and more difficult part of the assignment. As only one boardway had been built and that was between two close and prosperous towns, the information he needed was not really there. He knew that what Master Andern was looking for as an answer, was that the Boardways would cause people to move out into the less populated areas. The new boardway was being built toward the undeveloped, forest country of Esteril for that very reason. The problem was that Andern required his students to justify everything they wrote. It wasn¡¯t good enough just to say that people would go to an area where they had more room if the boardways were directed there.


    He quickly made notes on the speed of the boardways, the amount of goods that could be sent along them, and the ease of being able to reach relatives left in the emigrant¡¯s old towns. As he had discovered in previous pressure situations, the time limit imposed by the nearness of his lecture with Master Andern brought out the best in Nedric. His thoughts seemed to move at lightning pace and the pages in front of him seemed to fill before his eyes. That the actual writing was close to being illegible did not bother him, if someone wanted to set him this task then that person could struggle over reading his words of wisdom!


    A groan from behind him announced to Nedric that Rialto was awake. The break in his concentration was enough for him to lose the focus under which he had been working. In front of him were four pages of tightly written argument. Nedric knew that he was writing roughly five hundred words to the page and that Andern expected roughly two thousand word essays and this caused him to relax. As Rialto went about the process of making himself ready for the day, Nedric started to count the words.


    One of Nedric¡¯s eccentricities was the desire to always write the exact amount of words needed for an essay. His count told him that he had a further fifty-odd words in which to summarise his arguments and he used that number to do it, rewriting the final sentence several times in his head to lose the two words that upset his count. By the time he was finished so was Rialto and Nedric happily set his work aside to head towards the refectory.


    Breakfast was a much less disciplined affair than the evening meal had been. For a start, only two masters were present and as they were deep in discussion they weren¡¯t paying much attention to what the students were doing. There was a queue along one wall of the room to a table where various cold meats, breads and a large pot of porridge were laid out. As each student entered, they grabbed a tray, plate and if needed bowl and spoon. Mugs lay on a separate table along with several jugs containing milk or water. As they waited, the students went through the usual ritual of insulting other students, discussing the day¡¯s lectures and keeping the younger students in their place.


    The general hubbub was interrupted as the doors were thrown back and several people laughing loudly entered the room. Nedric scowled to see Strawn and his cronies arriving. The group got their trays and pushed their way to the front of the queue. The two masters looked up, saw who it was and then ignored the incident.


    ¡°I hate the fact that the masters do absolutely nothing about Strawn!¡± Nedric whispered to Rialto.


    ¡°They won¡¯t take any notice unless someone complains and who¡¯s going to make a formal complaint against him.¡±


    ¡°Not me, I get enough grief from him in weapons practice as it is.¡±


    Nedric looked up to see that Rhianna, a rather attractive redhead, was approaching Strawn. The two had been fairly close for the last few months but the rumour mill was suggesting that the two were close to splitting up, even though they had been spending a lot of time alone together.


    ¡°I think it is arrogant and bullying.¡± Rhianna¡¯s voice rose.


    Strawn¡¯s reply was inaudible but it was clear that he hadn¡¯t placated the girl, who turned dramatically and walked away from him.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s something you don¡¯t see very often. I thought those two were close to inseparable. Perhaps I should offer her a word of support.¡± Rialto made a move to leave his seat but Nedric pulled him back.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to get in the middle of a lovers fight. There is no way that it will reflect anything other than badly on you.¡±


    ¡°Still at least it was good to see someone try and dent his arrogance. Of course when Andern talks to him about his homework he is likely to be taken down a peg or two. You¡¯ve got to say that Strawn isn¡¯t the most academic of people!¡±


    ¡°I think there are snails who¡¯ve got a greater grasp of mathematics than he has,¡± replied Nedric with a grin.


    ¡°On the other hand,¡± added Rialto, ¡°there aren¡¯t to many people who can beat him with a weapon. He¡¯s sure to be in the murderball team, he¡¯ll probably be the captain.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s captain, then I don¡¯t want to be in the team!¡± said Nedric firmly.


    ¡°Who are you trying to kid? You¡¯re as keen to be in the team as I am. With your size you¡¯ll probably be carrying the ball through some of those villagers.¡±


    The queue had dwindled to where the boys could get some food and they made their way across to one of the tables, continuing the murderball discussion.


    * * *


    ¡°Now that you have all handed in your assignments and while the ideas are still fresh in your memory, can anyone explain to me why the city of Elseth is placed where it is?¡± asked Master Andern.


    Without waiting for any of the students to put their hands up, Andern decided to pick on someone. ¡°Rialto, rather than whispering to Nedric there, tell me what you have to say on the subject.¡±


    ¡°Well sir,¡± began Rialto, ¡°I would say that the people who founded Elseth were as far-sighted as the people today and could see that the two rivers would be helpful for future trade.¡±


    ¡°A partial answer at best, Nedric have you anything to add?¡±


    ¡°Sir, would the position of the city have anything to do with the defensibility of the area, surrounded as it is on two sides by rivers and also being on a hill?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a thoughtful answer, however the question I gave you was a trick. The truth is that we can¡¯t say either answer is correct. We can say that our ancestors, fleeing from Nothering were probably extremely exhausted by the time they got to the plains. When they got to the point where the two rivers meet they possibly didn¡¯t have the energy to cross and just decided to stop there. Now did any of you mention the role of the merchants in the population movement? What, none of you? Half of you are from merchant families! It¡¯s hard to believe that you were all at the end of the queue when the brains were being given out. Stop sniggering Strawn! I don¡¯t believe you were in the queue at all!¡±


    The look on Strawn¡¯s face at that last comment was one that Nedric wished he could record somehow.


    As Andern went on about the critical link between merchants and population density, Nedric found himself drifting into a semi-conscious state, almost dream-like. Although he was aware enough to make notes as Andern spoke, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t remember the lecture content and that only the notes would let him know what was said. His thoughts turned to the upcoming trip to the end of the boardway. Having never left home before coming to the keep and not having gone far beyond the village in the three years or so he had been here, the idea of travelling such a distance was exciting if somewhat scary. That fifteen other students and two or three masters were coming with him was a comforting thought. The trip was meant to take five weeks and Nedric was making a mental list of the things he would need to take with him.


    ¡°Nedric is there anything you can add to what Elsebeth just said?¡± Andern¡¯s voice broke through his reverie.


    ¡°No sir. I think she covered everything.¡± As soon as Andern turned his attention to someone else Nedric breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn¡¯t a clue what Andern had been saying.


    ¡°What did he want to know?¡± he whispered to Rialto.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I wasn¡¯t listening!¡± came the reply and a grin, which Nedric answered with a sheepish grin of his own.


    Nedric tried his best to pay attention for the rest of the lecture. He managed to answer the few questions that came his way and silently prayed for the lecture to finish so he could get some sleep. Finally Andern finished speaking and Nedric relaxed only to be dismayed by the entrance of the Overmaster. He had forgotten that today they were getting a special lecture. He had been hoping for master Ernick and a chance to turn his brain off.


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    The Overmaster gave his lecture about his discovery, ¡®The process of impressing boards and the development of the discovery into the making of the first experimental boardway¡¯. Most of the content was not new to the students but what made it interesting for Nedric was the firsthand nature of the tale.


    ¡°So I was experimenting with the process that gives us transparent planks. This seemed like a useless process as the training costs involved in getting somebody able to do this was greater than any potential foreseeable profit. I mean who is going to want wooden windows when glass is just as good. I only learnt because I grew up with the monks of Nire. I wondered why it only seemed to work with common grey oak.


    I couldn¡¯t see why it should only work with the one type of wood, so I kept plugging away in my spare time with any different scrap of wood I could lay my hands on. I must have tried about eighty or ninety types when I happened to come across this cabinetmaker who had just ordered a load of timber from Esteril. He had obtained some narwood mainly because he liked the colour in his marquetry. I hadn¡¯t seen it before so I persuaded him to give me a couple of scraps. Since they were scarred they were no use to him and he agreed. Obviously you know that it takes about twelve hours to prepare the wood so what with having to do my proper work as well it wasn¡¯t until late into the next night that I finished impressing.


    You can imagine my disappointment when I thought that yet again nothing had happened. The scraps were just sitting there looking exactly the same as before. I went to throw them in my bin and got the shock of my life. I couldn¡¯t close my hand. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn¡¯t get those pieces of wood to go together. Not only that but the closer I brought two pieces together the cooler they both got. I knew I had something but I wasn¡¯t at all sure what I could do with it!¡±


    The little man in front of the students was by now quite animated. It was easy to imagine being him on the day he made his discovery. Nedric could almost picture the scraps of wood as they tried to push away from each other.


    ¡°Anyway, my first idea was to make use of the cooling effect for food storage. I didn¡¯t have a lot of money so I really needed a sponsor and that¡¯s where the problems started. I contacted one of the local merchants, who was wealthy enough to support the enterprise and showed him my prototype. He saw the potential and had me making my coolers and training another three people to help. I thought I was getting along fine until he decided he didn¡¯t need me any more. He stopped paying me whilst still selling my idea. I was left with a few bits of narwood and a lot of time to think about the ways of the world.¡±


    It might have been Nedric¡¯s imagination, but as the Overmaster was telling this part of his tale, he seemed to be looking at Rhianna and not with any great kindness either. Nedric thought he¡¯d ask Rialto about it at the end of the lecture. His friend might have only been from a small merchant family but they seemed to have information on everything and everybody.


    ¡°Eventually I went back to my bits of narwood and started to think about other uses of the process. It took me a while before I was inspired, the idea of the boardway took a lot of thought and planning as well as a little bit of luck. When I finally conceived the notion in full I then had to try and purchase enough narwood to test it.


    It didn¡¯t help that my erstwhile merchant ¡®friend¡¯ had bought all of the narwood in Elseth. After a long time I was able to get a wood merchant to import some from Esteril and I was able to construct a model. Here it is!¡±


    Lucern rather dramatically pulled the large cloth off of the lecture room desk. The heavy black drape almost took the model with it and the Overmaster had a short struggle to keep it on the desk. There was a small chuckle from the group of students but it died quickly as they were all keen to see the model.


    It didn¡¯t look like much. There was a large plank supported slightly above the table, on this sat a rectangular box with a small wheel on one side. The box was supported by four sets of wheels. Each set consisted of two wheels arranged vertically, one above the other, with the plank between them. It took a moment to notice that it was the lower wheels that were actually touching the plank because the box was trying to float away.


    Lucern continued, ¡°If I twist this small wheel in the middle here, it adjusts the angle of the small piece of narwood inside and ¡­¡±


    As soon as the Overmaster removed his hand from the box it started to move and only because he moved with it was Lucern able to stop it from rolling right off the desk.


    ¡°I had learnt from my previous mistake so this time I took my idea to the Duke. I knew his reputation for fairness and honesty but more importantly I knew he was wealthy enough that he could support my experiments and not try to rob me for profit. It worked out quite well, which is why we are all here today.¡±


    Lucern looked up and was gratified by the absorbed look on the student¡¯s faces. He wasn¡¯t really a lecturer and he had been more than a little worried about the reception he would be getting from the students. He had relaxed when speaking and just enjoyed reliving the tale. Now he only had to finish the lecture and get back to his experiments.


    ¡°Well this model is all very well but can anyone tell me where we found problems when we constructed a larger model? The problem should be apparent from the properties of the narwood. Anyone? Yes, what have you got to tell us?¡±


    He pointed at Nedric who had raised his hand to speak.


    ¡°Sir, is the problem with having large lengths of track? I mean you can only have a plank that¡¯s as long as a tree and you said that all pieces repulse so presumably so do two pieces of track.¡±


    ¡°Well done lad!¡± Lucern positively beamed at Nedric. ¡°We have found a way of getting a length of track longer than a single tree. The repulsion effect of narwood diminishes fairly quickly so the separation of the planks is only about three yards. We use normal unimpressed wood to join the impressed ones. This however causes other problems, can anyone guess what they are?¡±


    He pointed this time to Elsebeth who replied, ¡°when you run over normal wood there isn¡¯t any repulsion so the wagon drops.¡±


    ¡°Well done! This is why we have the two sets of wheels, one above and one below our boardway. When the wagon is above normal wood it rolls on the upper set of wheels and so momentum is maintained. We also had technical difficulties with expansion and contraction of the wood caused by temperature changes, which we overcame by leaving small gaps in the normal wood. We then solved the problem of braking fairly quickly, how?¡±


    One of the other students answered this although Nedric thought that it was a much easier question. Anyone could see that tilting the smaller plank in the opposite direction would reverse the force. He was more interested in why the wagon (as the larger versions of the square were known) didn¡¯t get repulsed from the next section of narwood track after the standard wood track.


    The lecture went on, looking at various problems and their solutions. The subject was so interesting that Nedric quite forgot how tired he was until after the lecture had finished. When Lucern finally left, the lack of sleep the previous night hit him like a bag of sand to the back of the head. He yawned as he turned to Rialto to suggest that they tried to scrounge some food out of the cooks. Rialto in turn suggested that Nedric keep out of the way as it always made it harder for him to get food when Nedric was around. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you get something but if you¡¯re there I won¡¯t be able to turn on the charm!¡±


    ¡°What charm? The cooks like you because you¡¯re small, not because you¡¯re charming!¡±


    ¡°I still get fed better when you¡¯re not around which is my point.¡±


    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll meet you by the butts. It will be quiet there until we have practice later.¡±


    ¡°See you later¡± Rialto dashed off.


    Nedric made his way to the secluded area within the keep where the guards and students practised archery. As he had predicted the area was quiet. He lay on the grass bank, which had been placed to catch stray arrows and promptly fell asleep.


    He was woken when Rialto dropped half of a small loaf of bread on his face. It didn¡¯t hurt but it did give him a start. He sat up quickly and the bread went rolling down the slope. He retrieved it, accompanied by the sound of Rialto¡¯s laughter. Rialto had also managed to acquire a slab of cheese, which he cut in half and gave to Nedric and a jug of fruit juice.


    ¡°Those cooks must really want to see you grow if they feed you this much!¡±


    ¡°Your just jealous, anyway this is only the stuff I managed to sneak away, you didn¡¯t see the pastries they insisted I try before I left!¡±


    ¡°Now I am jealous, I don¡¯t get to have pastries all that often.¡±


    ¡°Everybody say aaaah!¡±


    Nedric playfully threw a punch at Rialto¡¯s arm, which he easily avoided.


    ¡°Whilst it¡¯s quiet you can tell me why Lucern was giving Rhianna evil looks during that lecture,¡± said Nedric.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know that it was her uncle who did the dirty on him? Of course the whole family got wealthy on distributing that invention to those nobles that could afford it. Then again you¡¯ve probably never seen a cooler so perhaps you wouldn¡¯t know much about them.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t all be from wealthy merchant families,¡± said Nedric a little sulkily.


    ¡°Who¡¯s wealthy?¡± replied Rialto. ¡°My family just about survives on the leftovers of the big boys.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re doing well enough to send you here!¡±


    ¡°Actually I¡¯m here, like you, on a free berth. I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t know that!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mate!¡± Nedric quickly apologised. ¡°I guess all this time I just assumed you were here because of your parents because they¡¯re merchants and no-one told me any different.¡±


    ¡°Apology accepted. Now look up, the others are heading in this direction.¡±


    Nedric looked up to see that the rest of his group were slowly making their way over to the shooting range. They weren¡¯t moving as one group but rather like two different groups, one dominated by Rhianna, which were mainly girls and the other by Strawn, which were mainly boys. Making his way briskly toward the group of students was the guard Bronn.


    ¡°I¡¯m the lucky guard that gets to help you lot with your archery,¡± began Bronn. ¡°Now I know that you all were shown how to do it last month and by now you think you¡¯re experts. So I¡¯m going to watch you for a while and if you look good enough I¡¯ll let you move away from the baby bows and onto some with some real weight behind them.¡±


    Nedric grimaced. He knew that if there were one person who would show up badly today, it would be him. It wasn¡¯t as though he didn¡¯t try, in fact the various instructors said that he generally tried too hard and that if he relaxed a little he would do much better. That didn¡¯t stop him from trying though and things had been rather embarrassing on occasion. He still remembered when he had first been let lose with a metal sword rather than the wooden wands they generally used. It was only the fact that the sword was extremely blunt that had stopped him from chopping his foot off. He still bore a scar under his ankle.


    The archery practise started off fairly well. Although he wasn¡¯t having the success of some of the others, especially Strawn who seemed to hit the bull as often as not, Nedric was at least closer to the centre than the outer edge of the target. In fact he was doing better than Rialto who had missed the target completely on one occasion and had earned a few choice remarks from Bronn. After half an hour or so Bronn told them to lay down their bows and gather around him.


    As they gathered, Bronn drew his bow from its canvas case. It must have been about as tall as the guard with carved horn nocks on either end to hold the string. Bronn wiped the wood with a cloth and turned to the group. ¡°Right this is a proper bow, a longbow. If you can use it, you can send an arrow two hundred yards accurately and some more if you don¡¯t care what your aiming at. It is a self-bow, which means that it is made from a single stave of wood and it has been carved to make use of the centre and the sapwood. This means that one side compresses well and the other side stretches without breaking. There isn¡¯t another bow in the world to equal it; a crossbow doesn¡¯t even come close. You can fire ten arrows a minute if you know what you¡¯re doing. Now who wants to try it?


    Rhianna was the first to move forward and Bronn made everyone else move a long distance back. ¡°Remember that unlike the smaller bows you¡¯ve been using, this bow uses longer arrows and has a much more powerful draw.¡±


    Bronn watched as Rhianna nocked the arrow and made to shoot. He stood to her left side to avoid the possibility of being hit and nodded for Rhianna to have a go. The redhead struggled but could not pull the string back to her chin in the way she had been taught. In the end she pulled it as far as she could and let fly, the arrow didn¡¯t even reach the target but to general laughter and her annoyance landed a good ten-foot short.


    ¡°I should perhaps mention that one of these bows has about a hundred pound draw on it. There aren¡¯t many people who master them in under six months, for a start most people have to develop the muscle. Now does anyone else want to try?¡±


    Strawn swaggered up. Nedric hated to admit it but if there were one person who probably could use this bow then it would be Strawn. The blond boy was already topping six foot in height and was broad to match. What was more; he was naturally athletic and managed all the different weapons well. Nedric who was closest in the group to his height generally had to spar with him and was resentful of the drubbing he usually received.


    Strawn nocked the arrow and pulled the string back to his chin in one flowing motion. He let fly and the arrow thudded into the outer ring of the target. Strawn handed the bow back to Bronn who congratulated him on doing so well. It seemed to Nedric however, that Strawn looked a trifle disappointed. Surely he couldn¡¯t have expected to hit the bull on his first attempt?


    When Nedric¡¯s turn came, he was determined not to make a fool of himself. He carefully set the arrow in place and pulled the string back. The tension on his arm was incredible and his arm shook violently as he tried to control the strength of the bow. Nedric knew that if he left it too long the arrow was liable to go anywhere so he hurried to take aim. His arm must have shook when he let go because instead of going near the target the arrow flew over the keep wall. The other students watched its flight and then broke into peals of laughter when a loud bleating sound came from the other side of the wall.


    Bronn turned to the lad and there was a grin on his face as he said, ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there lad, go fetch that arrow! I¡¯ll make sure that no-one mistakes you for a sheep in the meantime and tries to shoot you.¡±


    The rest of his group cracked up again at the remark. Nedric headed off, knowing that once again he had ended up looking less than good.

 3. Splash and dash

    The next end-week was designated as the time to decide the team for the murderball match. Captain Tolbeck had been asked to manage this and had organised the students into four mixed teams so that he could assess the students. Although the competition didn¡¯t mean anything in itself, everyone was talking about it and each of the groups grabbed as much time as possible to discuss tactics and practice.


    The rules of murderball are extremely simple. A ball of rags is placed on the bank of a stream midway between the two teams. When the official shouts ¡®start¡¯ the two teams, normally of eleven players, are allowed to use any reasonable means to get the ball to the starting point of the other team. All team members wear shirts and shorts and are not allowed to bring anything else with them. No team member is allowed more than ten feet away from the stream. If he goes beyond that distance then the other team is given the ball and a ten-yard advantage. The length of stream can be anything between one and two hundred yards. The team wins if they score three points or have scored more points when time is called. The game is generally thirty minutes long.


    Normally the team that has the biggest and strongest players win as they just push their way past the opposition, or even pick the opposition ball carrier up and carry him or her backwards. Sometimes the speed of the smaller player allows them to dodge past the larger, slower player and make progress that way. Then there are the advantages of kicking or throwing the ball or even just throwing it in the stream if you are an upstream player.


    Nedric had ended up on the same team as Rialto; his other team members were a lad called Marryn who was probably the least athletic member of their year group and a girl called Carenda who was almost as big as Nedric. The other eight team members were from the lower year groups and Nedric knew next to nothing about them. He had been chosen as captain almost entirely because he was the biggest, although having Rialto¡¯s support was helpful. There were twelve in each team as there were sixteen people in each year group. Only eleven of the forty-eight students would be chosen.


    The team had decided to meet at the point where the stream emerged from the woods. Nedric thought that if they came up with any good tactics then they could practise them under the cover of the trees. He split the group in half, with Rialto on his side and tried to determine where his group¡¯s strengths and weaknesses lay. It soon became apparent that his twelve were fairly fast (with the exception of Marryn, and to a lesser extent himself) but were not particularly strong. Nedric decided to get his group tackling one person in pairs and then had them working out ways to move the ball around quickly. Finally, when he was sure that nobody else was around, he let the others know his idea for not losing and possibly even winning.


    * * *


    The day of the matches finally dawned. Nedric and Rialto were up early and after breakfasting, rounded up their group. The biggest area of dissension amongst the group had been what to call themselves and this was still not settled. Nedric was going for the ¡®nihalators¡¯ in the hope someone would ask what one was. The general group weren¡¯t too keen on this and were at the moment arguing whether they should go for something that reflected their abilities.


    ¡°How about the ¡®Evaders¡¯?¡± suggested Carenda.


    ¡°What about the ¡®Dodgers¡¯?¡± added Marryn.


    ¡°No-one would call a team the ¡®Dodgers¡¯¡± Carenda replied scornfully.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s better than Evaders!¡± was the reply.


    ¡°How about the ¡®Dashers¡¯?¡± suggested Rialto.


    ¡°That will do if we can¡¯t come up with anything better,¡± said Nedric. He didn¡¯t really care what the name of the group was, just that they did well.


    All too quickly the call came for the teams to make their way to the streamside. Quite a crowd began to gather to watch the matches, off-duty guards and their partners, various maids and valets, even most of the masters. Nedric was not happy to see that some of the villagers were there as well. It meant that they would have the advantage in the upcoming match.


    The first match was between teams that had Strawn on one side and Rhianna on the other. It was clear from the start that Strawn was an outstanding player. Despite his size he moved quickly and reached the ball first. He raced towards the other team and ploughed straight over three of the younger ones. This created a gap in his opposition¡¯s defence, which he exploited neatly and raced further along the watercourse. When the opposition came into the stream to stop him, he switched to one bank and when they tried to mass on that side he jumped to the other. Before his opponents knew what had hit them, he was holding the ball in front of the score line. As they rushed towards him, he gently rolled the ball over the line to score the first point. It had taken him less than a minute in a fine, solo effort.


    When the ball was dropped for the second time, Strawn reached it first again. This time the opposition held back a bit and advanced towards him as a group. Seeing no easy way through, Strawn threw the ball to one of the smaller boys on his side and motioned for the bigger players of his team to move up. With Strawn at point and four others moving with him in a wedge, they forced their way along the streambed. The small boy with the ball sheltered behind the wedge and the rest of Strawn¡¯s team prevented the opposition from coming around the sides. Once again the score came quickly and Rhianna¡¯s team were left looking incompetent. The redhead by this point was getting furious and was shouting to her team to sort themselves out and take Strawn down.


    At the third start, Rhianna¡¯s team decided to advance in a line, although Rhianna herself stayed back to try and stop anyone if they got past the line. Strawn again reached the ball first and ran along the bank towards the opposition line. As he reached the line, he dove over one of the smaller members of the opposition. He curled in flight and rolled as he hit the water, running towards the score line before the other team could turn. Only Rhianna stood in his way.


    The redhead thought about going for Strawn¡¯s ankles but reconsidered when she remembered how quick to react Strawn had been. Instead she stood right in his way and braced herself. Strawn came straight towards her. When he reached her he stopped long enough to pick her up with one arm and carried her and the ball towards the score line. As he reached it, Strawn let the ball gently roll across the line as he tried to protect himself from a furious Rhianna. The redhead felt humiliated and was extracting revenge by flailing at Strawn¡¯s head.


    The crowd was cheering loudly for Strawn and his teammates came up to congratulate him. Rhianna was left on her own to control her emotions and to decide how to deal with her so-called lover.


    The second match saw Nedric¡¯s team have an equally one-sided win. The difference however, was that his team won as a team. The speed and passing ability of his group left the opposition standing. By the time they reacted to where the ball had been, it had already been passed to the next team member. Nedric¡¯s team avoided the stream itself and ran along the banks, as they were faster. Only when their opponents came up the banks to block them, did they venture into the water and only long enough to get past the blockers.


    On the third point, Nedric¡¯s opposition held back and waited as a group in front of their score line. At this point Nedric got Merryn, who was fairly heavy, to run straight at the middle of the group. He followed Merryn, creating a gap through which Rialto could dive and cross the score line. The cheers from the crowd were almost as loud as they had been for Strawn.


    Captain Tolbeck called Strawn and Nedric¡¯s teams over and informed them that the final match would occur after an hour¡¯s break. Nedric told his team to relax and spent the time with Rialto trying to think of ways of neutralising Strawn. They didn¡¯t think of anything they hadn¡¯t discussed before but they were fairly confident.


    After the hour was up Strawn and Nedric went up to the captain to determine ends. It hadn¡¯t made much difference in the previous matches but there was a definite advantage starting upstream. Tolbeck tossed a coin and Nedric called heads. It landed tails and Strawn went to the upstream end. Nedric gathered his group and headed downstream. As he walked, the tension of the moment began to grip his stomach.


    Tolbeck dropped the ball and the two teams sprinted for it. Rialto was rapidly out in front of his team and Strawn left his team behind. The two boys raced to get to the ball first and it was Rialto who got his hand to it. Strawn crashed into him and the ball went flying.


    It was a member of Nedric¡¯s team who got his hands on the descending ball and quickly passed it to Nedric. Nedric threw it to Carenda, who ran with it past a rising Strawn. Strawn leapt for her and she passed the ball to Rialto who was now part way up the other bank. Rialto started to run upstream and stopped when he saw the formation of the people in front of him. Strawn had placed his players so that he had his four largest players, two each side, on the banks. Between them were two of the smaller players and the remaining five were spread out about twenty yards behind this line.


    Nedric sent three of his team to keep Strawn out of the way and threw himself at the two players in front of Rialto. The three of them went down and Rialto was able to clamber over them without being caught. Carenda and a puffing Marryn also got past and both of them tried to catch up with Rialto who was dodging the second line of defenders. Carenda ploughed into the person who was trying to grab the ball from Rialto and Marryn knocked the person in front of him over. This left Rialto with three people between him and the score line, two on one bank and one on the other. Taking the opportunity he went for the gap in the middle and just managed to avoid a flailing hand. With ball held to his chest, he sprinted over the score line. First blood had gone to the ¡®Dashers¡¯.


    The teams retreated to their respective ends. The crowds were cheering the ¡®Dashers¡¯ and Nedric was happy. Just the look on Strawn¡¯s face was enough for him at the moment. The second ball was dropped and the sprint began again.


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    This time it was Strawn who reached the ball first and quickly dodged Rialto¡¯s tackle. He looked up to see another of the Dashers about to tackle him and quickly threw the ball back to one of his team. Strawn¡¯s team formed a wedge and started pushing their way downstream. Strawn joined them and blocked Nedric¡¯s attempt to tackle the front of the wedge by tackling Nedric first. As Nedric tried to rise, Strawn brought his elbow down on the back of Nedric¡¯s head and Nedric fell to the floor again. He managed to get back up just in time to see the ball carried over the line to equalise the scores.


    The third point was almost a repetition of the second. Strawn reached the ball first and then dodged Rialto. When passing the ball back, he managed to step on Rialto¡¯s left calf. The wedge took over and ground the Dashers backwards. It was a slow process but finally the ball crossed the line and the Dashers were left to limp back to their starting positions.


    ¡°How¡¯s the leg?¡± Nedric asked Rialto as they waited for the ball to be dropped?


    ¡°Hurts, but I¡¯ll survive!¡± came the reply.


    ¡°Why does he need the dirty tactics? His team are beating us anyway.¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Rialto shrugged.


    The ball was dropped and they started off again. This time one of the younger members of the Dashers managed to get to the ball first. He passed it to Rialto just as Strawn came flying towards him. Strawn hit the youth hard and he went down. The Dashers were doing better. They kept the ball moving between the team, not moving forward much but gradually inching forward as people slipped past Strawn¡¯s team caught the ball and then moved it on quickly. Nedric wasn¡¯t really watching though. He had gone over to the lad who had been tackled by Strawn and was trying to get him to move. The lad was slow in coming around and Nedric worried about him until he finally stirred. By this time the rest of the team were at the top of the stream and it was to everyone¡¯s surprise that Marryn was the person who used his bulk to force the ball over the line.


    Nedric helped his team member off the course and told him to rest. The lad wasn¡¯t in any condition to argue and just nodded. As he walked back to his team Nedric was seething.


    ¡°All right everybody, I¡¯ve had enough, let¡¯s use the back-up plan!¡± Nedric told his team.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair,¡± stated Rialto.


    ¡°Strawn needs to be taught a lesson!¡±


    ¡°Fair point. All right, let¡¯s do it!¡± Rialto grinned.


    The ball was thrown in and the teams raced towards it. Again, the Dashers got to it first and tried to take it up stream. Their opponents did a good job of blocking the way and the two teams seemed to have stalemated. Nedric was passing the ball across to Rialto when Strawn leapt and intercepted it. Suddenly it seemed that the Dashers couldn¡¯t lay a finger on him. They were trying to tackle him but he eluded them all and was close to scoring.


    At this point Nedric and Rialto suddenly turned on one of Strawn¡¯s teammates and pushed him out of bounds. Tolbeck whistled to stop the game and Strawn, who was just about to cross the line, turned around in disbelief. When Tolbeck took the ball and passed it over to Nedric, Strawn just looked on in disbelief. He didn¡¯t even manage to get in a protest, before the Dashers were off and running with the ball. They easily outmanoeuvred their demoralised opponents and most of the team were able to cross the line with the ball.


    Strawn came up to Nedric and shook him by the hand. Nedric was a little surprised by the good sportsmanship shown until Strawn whispered, ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that!¡± and walked away his head held high. Nedric wasn¡¯t too worried by Strawn¡¯s threat. Strawn already made his life miserable whenever he had the chance so Nedric couldn¡¯t see what Strawn would do differently.


    * * *


    As the students were heading back into the keep to get changed, Nedric noticed Captain Tolbeck walking towards him. He slowed down to let the Captain catch up wondering if he was going to be told he was in the team.


    ¡°Good match that! I liked the way your team worked together.¡° the Captain began. ¡°I might put a fair few of them on the team. That isn¡¯t why I wanted to talk to you though. You remember that body you found?¡±


    Nedric nodded, although truth to tell in the rush to practice for the murderball match it had fled his mind.


    ¡°He¡¯s causing us a bit of a problem. We¡¯ve asked down in the village and nobody says that anyone is missing. None of the guards know who he is either and basically we¡¯re stumped. I sent Bronn back to that glade the next day to look around. He did come up with one thing; there was someone there after us, either that night or the next morning. Their footprints were clear where they crossed the stream. From the size of them it was either a woman or a youngster. They were wearing fairly good footwear by the marks they left so they might well have come from the keep.¡±


    Nedric looked interested at this information and asked ¡°Do you think it could have been one of the students then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a possibility and more likely than most of the options we¡¯ve come up with. Although why a student would be wandering around the woods at night, meeting up with a strange noble I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t whoever was on guard have seen a student leaving the keep at night anyway?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. The guard on duty swears that no one passed him all night apart from a group of older students heading down to the inn. Could you find out for me who went out that night?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just ask them?¡±


    ¡°If I start making enquiries it becomes big news and the whole keep starts talking. If there is someone in the keep who knows something about this dead man I¡¯d rather not have them clamming up. We haven¡¯t got any proof of anything anyway and some of the merchant parents of these students can get very upset if we start accusing their children of anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best sir.¡± Nedric said.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I can ask,¡± replied the Captain and moved off.


    Nedric wondered whom to approach to find out the information. He and Rialto had been absent from the group as they had been working on an extra assignment given to them by Andern when they had talked too much in his lecture. Nedric didn¡¯t particularly like the way that most of the boys curried up to Strawn and therefore was left with the girls or Marryn. He decided it would attract too much attention if he tried to take one of the girls aside to ask her anything. He set off to find his erstwhile teammate.


    * * *


    The next day was spent in lessons. Nedric appreciated learning the geography of his country but he really wasn¡¯t interested in most of its history. Partially this was because he couldn¡¯t see the relevance of this knowledge to himself but mainly it was due to the master who taught it. Why master Ernick had been chosen by the Duke to be one of the instructors Nedric just didn¡¯t know. Although he was one of the younger masters, barely having entered his middle years, he was in Nedric¡¯s opinion the most boring. Just the sound of his droning monotone was enough to get Nedric¡¯s eyes closing. It was bad enough that he taught history but he was also the master who lectured the students about economics. This to a bunch of students, more than half of which were from merchant families!


    Ernick was talking about the role that the Dukes of Setherland had in the running of the country and the historical reasons that brought them about. Living, as they did, in one of the residences of the Duke of Asgril this should have been of interest to Nedric but his eyes had glazed over in the first few minutes and he was now watching a bird that had perched on the ledge outside the window of the room in which they sat. The bird was fairly small and had landed on the ledge struggling with a rather large worm that it was carrying in its beak. Nedric was fascinated by the attempts of the bird to eat the worm and the worm¡¯s attempts to get away. Finally the worm managed to wriggle off the ledge and the bird went flying down to follow it. Nedric turned his attention back to the lesson.


    History was followed by mathematics. Master Andern taught this as well as geography. Nedric found the subject enjoyable, partially because he was quick to grasp the subject but also because he enjoyed the way that the subject built upon itself. He found that different bits linked together so that learning about one area helped in other areas. The best thing of all was that it was logical. Nedric wasn¡¯t happy with explanations such as ¡®it works that way because it does¡¯. He found that particularly true of the few alchemy lectures they had been given.


    The mathematics lesson was about variables, how one symbol could be used to represent more than one value. To Nedric this seemed simple enough but a lot of his group struggled. The example that Andern gave was about the price of an apple.


    ¡°Let A stand for the price of the apple,¡± he began. ¡°Now the price of an apple alters depending on where you buy it, so the number that A stands for also changes. If we are told that the price of a number of apples is a certain amount, then we can work out the price of just one of them. Strawn, if you went into a store and was told that the price of fifteen apples was thirty coppers or three silvers, what could you tell me?¡±


    ¡°That apples are overpriced and that I should go elsewhere!¡± Strawn looked pleased with himself at the ripple of laughter that went around the room. Andern just looked mildly put upon.


    ¡°You might have told me that the price of one apple was two coppers. That was if you were actually thinking about the problem rather than trying to show off. Rialto, if eight apples cost me two silvers and four coppers how much is an apple?¡±


    Rialto paused to work out the answer before answering, ¡°three coppers.¡±


    ¡°Well done! Now let us make it a little harder. Marryn, if I have two apples and a pear and the cost is five coppers how much is an apple?¡±


    Marryn was a fairly bright student and didn¡¯t take long to answer. ¡°I can¡¯t answer that sir!¡±


    ¡°Why not, are you bereft of wit or something?¡± asked Andern.


    ¡°No, because you haven¡¯t told me enough information. Apples could be one copper or two.¡±


    ¡°Well done! I hope the rest of you realised that. We need to have as much information as there are things to know about. If I told you the price of a pear then you could tell me the price of the apple. You could also tell me the prices of both if I gave you another piece of information that included both apples and pears. That however is for a later lesson. Elsebeth, the price of a pear is four coppers, how much is an apple?¡±


    ¡°Half a copper¡± she replied.


    ¡°Again, well done! Now what I¡¯m going to do is to write some problems on the board. Instead of writing apples I shall just write A and for pears P. For each problem I want to know the price of the apples, is that clear?¡±


    There was a murmur of assent and the lesson continued.


    * * *


    The final lesson of the day was impressing. This was taken by a number of the masters, this time the students found that master Karik was taking it and almost as one as they walked into the room they smiled. Master Karik must have been late middle-aged but he didn¡¯t act that way. He was enthusiastic about everything and everyone. His smile rarely left his face and it took somebody doing something really stupid to upset him. Not that anyone wanted to do so. As much as it is possible to be, he was universally liked. At some time Karik had been a guard, it still showed in the muscularity of his arms and the rigid way he held his back. His hair, which had started to grey, was cut short and gave him a distinguished appearance.


    Karik started the lesson in much the same way as the other masters, the students were asked to sit cross-legged on the floor and told to visualise a black square on a white background. They had been doing this sort of exercise for almost three years so it came easily to them. They were then told to concentrate on their breathing and again it was easy for them to slow this down until they were taking about one breath a minute.


    Recently they had been working on isolating various parts of their bodies and moving individual muscles or small groups. This time they worked on their feet; the task was to move the little toe on their left foot without moving the other toes. Nedric had no idea what this actually had to do with changing the properties of wood but as all three masters were consistent on what they expected the students to achieve in these lessons there must have been some point to it.


    In all, the students must have spent about two hours struggling to achieve the set goal. About half the class had been successful and strangely enough this corresponded roughly to the better mathematics students. Master Andern in one of his lectures had suggested that this was because it had to do with being able to visualise things well. He had gone on to talk about abstract and concrete thought and lost the class completely in his explanation.


    As the lesson finished, Nedric managed to get into a conversation with Marryn.


    ¡°Where do you think they are leading us with all this muscle twitching?¡± asked Nedric.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure.¡±


    Nedric decided that if Marryn, probably the most intellectual of the students, didn¡¯t know what was happening then he didn¡¯t have a chance.


    ¡°Switching subjects, are you getting the star treatment after scoring yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance! Rhianna was almost rude to me about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s odd, I would have thought she would have been happy seeing Strawn beaten after the way he treated her,¡± said Nedric.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand her either, of course she and Strawn have been very friendly for quite a while and she might just have forgiven him.¡±


    Nedric was of the opinion that Rhianna was not one to easily forgive a slight. That she and Strawn had been an item for so long had puzzled him greatly and he couldn¡¯t see it lasting much longer.


    ¡°I heard that they were arguing in the tavern the other day but I was reading so I don¡¯t know what it was about.¡±


    ¡°She was complaining that Strawn wasn¡¯t showing enough interest in her anymore. Since he doesn¡¯t look at any other girl it didn¡¯t make any sense to me. They disappeared into one of the darker corners after a while and when they reappeared they were all smiles again.¡±


    ¡°What were the rest of you doing? Just drinking?¡±


    ¡°Mainly, there was a bit of an arm wrestling match between us and the villagers and we were doing all right until Calped came in. No one other than Strawn stood a chance and we didn¡¯t want to disturb him.¡±


    ¡°Did anyone wander off? I heard that one of the villagers was seeing someone at the keep.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t notice anything but anyone could have disappeared for a while and no one would have been any the wiser.¡±

 4. If you go down to the village today..

    On the following end-week Nedric went with Rialto down to the village to get the supplies they needed for their forthcoming journey. They had submitted a list of the things they needed to the bursar who had then gone through their lists and crossed off everything that would be supplied to them. He had then given them some money and told them to buy anything else they needed from the stores in the village. Basically they were provided with food, bedrolls, backpacks and water bottles, the rest was up to them.


    The two boys had different priorities. Nedric was in need of some good footwear and some waterproofs, whilst Rialto wanted some luxuries to supplement the food they would be given. Both boys were also looking for some more clothing and had been given the names of various people in the village that made them.


    It wasn¡¯t a particularly large village, maybe three hundred houses all told. It largely existed to supply the keep and to support the local vineyards. The surrounding area was fairly mountainous and made some particularly fine wines. All the casks were made locally and so were bottles and corks. The keep had originally been built because one of the Duke¡¯s ancestors had been very keen on wine growing and had wanted somewhere to live and experiment with different varieties of grape.


    The village was named Asgril after that first Duke and the villagers were fairly proprietorial when talking about the Duke. They were unhappy with the students because they were seen as newcomers who didn¡¯t care about the land and this had led to some tension. This tension was particularly pronounced between the richer students and the village apprentices.


    Their first stop was the general store. A large building with seemingly endless rooms, owned and run by an old-ish lady named Janit. Each room of the store was filled to overflowing with an abundance of goods, both new and second-hand. The two boys could have spent all day just looking around her shop if they hadn¡¯t had other places to visit.


    ¡°Look at those!¡± Rialto pointed a display that held a variety of different musical instruments. ¡°I can just see myself playing that mandolin at the royal court.¡± Rialto picked up the instrument in question and pretended to play a few chords.


    ¡°Do you know anything about playing one of those?¡± asked Nedric


    ¡°Haven¡¯t a clue my son,¡± Rialto replied, ¡°but I could get the minstrel up at the keep to give me lessons. It isn¡¯t as if he has anything else to do whilst the Duke is elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Well if you¡¯re going to learn that, I¡¯m going to find something else to do. I¡¯m not going to just listen whilst you play bad notes.¡±


    ¡°You could always try learning to use them!¡± Rialto pointed to a set of three wooden clubs as used by jesters.


    ¡°I can see it now! Both of us at the king¡¯s court, me juggling away and you playing, we¡¯ll be the talk of the palace!¡± said Nedric slightly mockingly.


    ¡°Well it would be better than working for a living,¡± suggested Rialto.


    ¡°Do not mention that word, it is our day off after all.¡±


    ¡°I promise not to mention it again, ¡° agreed Rialto.


    Apart from the mandolin and the clubs the boys shopped around and found some of the things they actually needed. Nedric was able to find a waterproof that fitted and was looking at a pair of boots that almost fit. They were a little on the large size, which he reasoned was good as his feet were still growing. The boots were second hand but well made and if he could get the right price from Janit then they could save him a small fortune. Rialto had found a couple of sweaters that would fit his smaller frame and was interested in some of the sweets that Janit had on sale. The hard part was still in front of them as Janit was renowned for her ability to haggle.


    Eventually the two boys made their way to the front of the shop and the fun began. Rialto had a flair for bargaining; it came from his merchant upbringing. Nedric always let the smaller boy take the lead when it came to trying to get a decent price. The general clothing and the food were quickly agreed upon as their prices were fairly fixed. The boots, clubs and mandolin were a different matter. Rialto went for an overall price in the hopes of getting things cheaper.


    ¡°Nobody else is going to buy the clubs or the mandolin so they¡¯re worth very little to you!¡± he began.


    ¡°Ah, but if some travelling entertainer happens to be passing through and needs to replace his props then where will I be? They can afford to pay me the proper price as well.¡± Janit wasn¡¯t going to give Rialto an edge easily.


    ¡°How long have you had these things? Ages I¡¯m sure, I know they were here the last few times I was here. So you¡¯re not going to be selling them any time soon. It¡¯s best to sell them now and cheaply and increase your turnover rather than storing them for ages in order to maybe make a profit!¡± Rialto was starting to lecture, always a sign that he was getting too involved.


    ¡°Who are you to tell me how to run my business? Young whippersnapper!¡± Janit¡¯s protestations rang strangely false to Nedric.


    As he watched the two argue, Nedric was struck by the feeling that Janit wasn¡¯t trying that hard against Rialto and that she was enjoying the haggling process. Nedric was once again struck by the way that his friend seemed capable of charming all the older women. As the negotiations drew to a close Nedric realised that they were getting a good bargain and that he would have ended up paying twice as much if his friend hadn¡¯t been around. He resolved to try and learn something of Rialto¡¯s technique with people, even if it was only to get better prices in shops.


    ¡°Seeing as you¡¯re robbing me blind boys,¡± Janit said as she packed their goods, ¡°I expect to see how you do with these things. You might even want to put on a bit of a show for some of my friends!¡±


    ¡°For you dear lady, anything!¡± Rialto¡¯s words were charming flattery, although it was quite possible he meant them.


    ¡°Thanks for doing the talking.¡± Nedric said after they left the shop. ¡°You saved me a fortune!¡±


    ¡°Think nothing of it, it was fun!¡±


    ¡°Still it¡¯s one I owe you.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case you can help me with that mathematics assignment when we get back.¡±


    ¡°I thought we agreed not to discuss work!¡± Nedric grinned.


    ¡°Are you trying to get out of helping?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°Not in the slightest, I¡¯ll be happy to help you, as long as that doesn¡¯t mean doing it all for you. If I do that then you¡¯ll never be able to do the work.¡±


    ¡°No, all I want is to get a clearer idea of how it all works. I wish I had your abilities.¡±


    ¡°Strangely enough I was wishing the same thing,¡° said Nedric.


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    ¡°We¡¯d best stick together then and make the best team in the world!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not arguing with that,¡± agreed Nedric and they wandered further into the village to find someone to make them some clothes.


    As they walked, the two boys gradually became aware that they were being followed by a group of villagers of about their age. They kept their distance at first but as the group got bigger they gradually closed in on the boys. As they closed, the boys were able to overhear remarks that which were obviously meant for them.


    ¡°Rich kids, think they can just come around here and take over!¡±


    ¡°Bet they never did a hard days work in their lives!¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t surprise me if they have someone to wipe their bums for them!¡±


    ¡°Not one of them could win a fight against my baby sister!¡±


    Nedric glanced over at his friend and could see that he was getting angrier. He started to speed up, saying ¡°Come on, we still have lots of shopping to do.¡±


    ¡°Bet they¡¯re buying dresses, because they¡¯re obviously not men!¡±


    Rialto stopped.


    He turned around and started towards the group which had grown to about eight or nine youths. Nedric, more able to keep his temper than his smaller friend, tried to grab his shoulder and missed.


    ¡°Right, which one of you flowers said that?¡± Rialto was looking for a fight. A large youth, heavily built, stepped forward.


    ¡°I did little boy. Want to make anything of it?¡±


    Nedric managed to step in front of Rialto before he could reply and said, ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be fair, would it? A big person like you against a small guy like him. Maybe it would be fairer if we went and got a few friends to even things out.¡±


    ¡°You chicken? Need someone else to hold your hand?¡±


    Nedric could see that the youth was nerving himself up to fight and tried to calm things down. ¡°I¡¯m good enough to beat you and I¡¯ll prove it in the murderball game!¡±


    ¡°Why not now?¡±


    ¡°Because we need to get our shopping done, come on Rialto!¡± he held the smaller boy by the shoulder and half-dragged him away from the group. The youths made no move to stop them as they quickly moved out of sight.


    As soon as they were around a corner Rialto asked ¡°why did you stop me? I could have taken him down!¡±


    Nedric was fairly sure that his friend was correct. Each of the students had been taught some unarmed self-defence by the guards. Of course they had also been told that the best means of defence was to run away. Nedric didn¡¯t think that his friend would want to hear that so he said ¡°There were nine of them and two of us. That isn¡¯t very good odds. What if one of us broke something? We wouldn¡¯t be able to go on this trip would we? I¡¯d rather be travelling than staying back at the keep, even if I had the satisfaction of beating up that lout.¡±


    ¡°What if we hurt ourselves in the murderball match? We wouldn¡¯t be able to go then either¡±


    That Rialto was thinking more clearly again was a good sign and Nedric relaxed a little.


    ¡°Well we had better make sure that doesn¡¯t happen. Maybe we could get Strawn and that guy in a fight and they can beat each other up. That would serve them both right!¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t happen,¡± said Rialto. ¡°Strawn is just too good a fighter to get hurt by that guy. He wouldn¡¯t even break into a sweat dealing with him!¡±


    Much though he hated to admit it, Nedric was forced to agree.


    The boys continued their shopping trip and managed to order the clothes they needed without any additional hassles. They didn¡¯t see any more of the youths who had tried to aggravate them and for that they were grateful. They made their way back to the keep to learn that one of their comrades hadn¡¯t been so lucky.


    ¡°Did you hear about Marryn?¡± asked Elsebeth as they sat down for dinner.


    As the girl had hardly said a word to the boys in two years they were both surprised at her coming up to them to speak.


    ¡°No. What about him?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°He was beaten up when he went down to the village! Apparently they¡¯ve made a mess of his face, broken his arms and sliced his stomach open. Rhianna saw him when he was brought back up and she said he looked a real mess!¡±


    ¡°Nasty!¡± said Nedric. ¡°I hope he can recover quickly, was he on his own?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Elsebeth. ¡°No-one else normally goes round with him.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we should go out as one big group next time. Might have to show those villagers they can¡¯t hurt one of ours!¡± said Rialto angrily.


    ¡°Might not be allowed out for a while,¡± added Nedric. ¡°Look up, here comes Lucern!¡±


    The Overmaster made his stately way to his place at the top table and cleared his throat. All the students immediately paid attention, the noise of the room dying instantly. Lucern paused at this unaccustomed quiet and then began speaking.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure by now that you will all have heard something about what happened today. To stop any silly rumours, I will tell you the facts and how this will affect you. To start, one of our students was attacked when visiting the village today. The person received a broken nose and when falling backwards, landed awkwardly and has also sprained his right arm. I¡¯ve spoken to Captain Tolbeck and he has sent the guard to collect the persons responsible and will administer suitable punishment. I do not expect any of you to attempt any form of revenge or you shall also be punished.¡± Lucern looked around to make sure that his statement was clearly understood.


    ¡°I have also asked the mayor of Asgril to come and talk with me to discuss whether the game of murderball should be cancelled. My feeling at the moment is that it should be postponed but I have not fully made up my mind about this yet. Finally I am placing restrictions on all students¡¯ movements to the village. You may only go out in groups of four and only during daytime. If anyone has any reason why they need to go against these restrictions they will have to talk to me about them and I will consider if their reasons are adequate. Any questions?¡±


    Nobody said anything and Lucern motioned for the meal to be served. As he sat down the room erupted in conversation. Nedric turned back to Elsebeth and said ¡°Looks like he wasn¡¯t as injured as you said!¡±


    ¡°Well I was only telling you what Rhianna told me.¡±


    On hearing her name, Rhianna who was sat further down the table looked up.


    ¡°What are you saying about me?¡± she asked.


    Nedric who always found it difficult to be coherent around the redhead said nothing. Elsebeth deflected her friend by saying, ¡°Tell us again what Marryn looked like.¡±


    Rhianna, who liked nothing better than being centre of attention agreed.


    ¡°I saw him as he was brought through the courtyard, they were taking him to the healers. There was a thick layer of blood over his face and more all down his front and on his arms. He was holding one arm with the other and it looked like the blood was coming from his arm. What little I could see of his face was really pale. He looked a lot worse than Lucern just said!¡± The last comment was said defiantly as though daring anyone to say that she had exaggerated beforehand.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to get the Overmaster to change his mind about the game. We need to put those villagers in their place after this!¡± Rialto exclaimed emphatically.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t going to let us play that game any time soon,¡± said Nedric.


    ¡°Oh, I think I can make him change his mind,¡± said Rhianna with a quick smile.


    The others looked at her and Elsebeth asked ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Let me just say that I have my ways!¡± Rhianna tried to look all mysterious and would say no more.


    During the meal Nedric hid three apples in his tunic. Rialto noticed at the time but said nothing. It wasn¡¯t unusual for the boys to take some food back to their room after the meal but three apples seemed a little excessive.


    When they got back to their room, Nedric removed the apples, placing them on his desk. ¡°What are they for?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to just brain myself with those clubs I got today!¡± said Nedric. ¡°I¡¯m going to start off by learning how to juggle the apples and then when I can do that the clubs should be easier.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how to juggle the apples?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°No but how hard can it be?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but if it was that easy everyone would be doing it and there would be no work for jesters.¡±


    ¡°Well they make their money from people feeling sorry for them, hardly requires much skill does it?¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯ll be surprised. Anyway you¡¯re meant to be helping me with my maths.¡±


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s see where you¡¯re stuck,¡± said Nedric with a sigh.


    After helping Rialto, Nedric took up the apples and tried to juggle three. When messing around in the past he had always juggled two by throwing one up and then passing the other over to the hand that had just thrown the apple, stone or whatever. He found that to do that with three was extremely difficult indeed and gave up. He threw the apples at his bed, sat down on his chair and thought about it a bit more.


    He reasoned that their had to be an easier way of doing things as he was trying to keep two apples in the air at the same time, with three apples and two hands only one apple needed to be in the air at any one time. He picked up two of the apples and tried to juggle them in one hand. This was a lot easier, even if he did tend to throw them towards himself so that they bounced off his chest. He tried to do the same with his left hand and after a struggle, managed that as well. Then he tried to juggle two apples in one hand and threw one of the apples across so that he was juggling two in the other hand, switching back and forth between the hands every so often. Finally he got to the point where every throw from one hand was ending up in the other.


    The problem he had now, was that the apples were going away from him. He could only manage a few throws before he was the other side of the room. After almost hitting Rialto a few times and bruising the apples so they were unfit to eat and starting to get sticky, he decided to stop for the night. The next day, he decided, he would sort out some stones instead.


    Rialto by this time had finished his work and had brought out his mandolin. To say that his attempts to play it were disastrous would probably be an understatement. He had not bothered to tune the instrument in any way and was randomly trying to find the notes of one of his favourite tunes. Nedric winced at the sound that was coming from the other side of the room and eventually threw an apple at Rialto to get him to stop. Rialto ducked, the apple impacted on the wall making a nasty mess. The mandolin was forgotten in the discussion that followed as to who was going to clear it up. By the time this was sorted out it was too late for either of the boys to practice anything more.

 5. Town and Gown

    If Marryn had been an outsider for the last two years, when he walked into class the next morning he couldn¡¯t have been made more welcome. Strawn made a point of going over to talk to him and so did Rhianna. If the two people who had belittled him the most were going to be nice to him, then Marryn thought that the beating wasn¡¯t all bad. When asked to give his account to the others he told a tale similar to what had happened to Nedric and Rialto. Marryn had tried to run and had been tripped as he turned. He had half risen only to have one of the village youths put their knee to his nose. The impact of that had sent him backwards and he had landed awkwardly on his arm and for a while he had thought it was broken. When he started screaming out the villagers had run away.


    The students were less than pleased with the situation that had arisen. It wasn¡¯t their fault that the village apprentices had decided to try and pick on them and they didn¡¯t see why it was them that were being punished. Over breakfast there was a lot of grumbling and muttering about the situation with several of the students suggesting that they went and sorted out the villagers themselves.


    The ¡®upper¡¯ students were somewhat disinclined to do this as they had the trip to the boardways ahead of them and none of them wanted to be left behind. The upper middle group of students (the madders) were more bellicose but were unlikely to act without some backup from the older students. Of course both older sets of students ignored the opinions of the madders and lowers who were obviously beneath their notice. It was decided by group opinion that a more formal meeting of students should be held for that evening and a surprised Marryn was elected unanimously to chair it. The meeting would take place after the evening meal.


    The day flew past quickly, the lectures were attended, notes were taken but very little information was absorbed. This was the first time that the students had acted as a body and it made for a lot of speculation, rumour and gossip. The lecturers acted as though nothing unusual was occurring but they all must have been aware that something was affecting their pupils and most lectures were shorter than normal.


    When the lecturers left the hall after the evening meal there was an immediate buzz of anticipation from the students. As the maids cleared away the debris, the students moved the tables to the sides of the room, leaving just the one for Marryn to use. The benches were placed to face that table and arranged so that most students could see. Rialto and Nedric sat at the back, Strawn¡¯s group were on the left of them and Rhianna and her friends were on the right. Before anything started, the whole group were quietened by Captain Tolbeck walking in through one of the side doors. He nodded to Marryn and headed to the back of the room, near to Nedric.


    Marryn took his eating dagger and knocked the pommel against the table. The whole room quietened further. He looked both proud to be there and fairly nervous but sounded calm as he started the discussion.


    ¡°Fellow students, we are gathered here to decide our collective response to the attitudes and actions displayed by the villagers.¡±


    With this he indicated his arm, which was now held in a sling.


    ¡°Can I first ask people to come up with some objectives for this meeting.¡±


    Several of the students started to shout at once and were only silenced by Marryn banging loudly on the table.


    ¡°All right, I will try again, this time put your hand up if you want to be heard!¡±


    Rhianna was the first to be recognised, she had a piece of parchment with her that she referred to as she spoke.


    ¡°I think I speak for everybody when I say that we want to be able to walk in the village in peace and that those ruffians who attacked Marryn and harassed others should be punished. I also feel that we are being punished in losing our opportunity to beat the villagers at Murderball and that we should have the game restored. I also think that there should be a legitimate way for grievances felt by villagers or keep dwellers to be heard and that we as students are not listened to by anyone at the moment.¡±


    Rhianna stopped for the shouts of agreement to die down and continued.


    ¡°What we can do about most of those things I can not say but I have put into action something that might get the murderball match restored. We should find out whether it worked tonight or tomorrow.¡±


    There was a murmur of speculation around the room as everyone wondered what Rhianna could have done to help. Nedric was in the minority as he was asking himself why Rhianna would put herself out to do this. Of course the increase in her popularity if the game was reinstated might be what she wanted. It couldn¡¯t be for the love of the game she had always let everyone know how much she disliked it before.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you are going to tell us what you have done?¡± Marryn asked.


    Rhianna just winked at him and held herself with a look that said that she knew something that others didn¡¯t.


    Strawn stood up and stated with force ¡°I think we ought to spend some time thinking about how we can get our own back on the villagers. We can¡¯t let them get away with this!¡±


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    There was a cough from the back of the room and Captain Tolbeck stepped forward.


    ¡°I think you can leave the punishment of the guilty parties to me.¡± He stated in a firm voice. ¡°For that matter, anyone taking revenge on any of the villagers will have to answer to me!¡±


    With that he stepped back into the shadow.


    Marryn coughed, ¡°Thank you Captain. I think that we should concentrate on the other aspects of this business for now. Has anyone got any suggestions about how everyone can get their grievances heard?¡±


    The debate progressed with suggestions for a committee of villagers, students and keep staff to settle problems. Their was a lot of side-tracking into the various grievances both real and imagined that the students felt should be heard and when the talking finally wound down there was little time to discuss how they would get the game re-instated. Nedric left the meeting feeling like they had achieved very little.


    The following day brought several surprises. The first of which came at breakfast, which was attended by the Overmaster. This had never happened in the nearly four years the students had been at the keep. The students were all somewhat subdued because of his presence and the meal was eaten with lots of glances at the top table. When the meal was finished Lucern stood up and the hall instantly quietened.


    ¡°I spoke with the village mayor last night, he thought I might have been too hasty in cancelling the Murderball match and with some reluctance I agreed with some of his reasoning. Therefore the following students will be representing the keep in the match next week¡±


    The hall broke out in cheers, which were quickly hushed as the Overmaster continued.


    ¡°Strawn as captain.¡±


    ¡°Well what do you know?¡± Nedric whispered to Rialto.


    ¡°Calim, Mirkin, Smeal, Arren.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s all his cronies!¡± whispered back Rialto.


    ¡°Irun, Petur.¡±


    A cheer broke out from the madders as two of their number were called.


    ¡°Rialto.¡±


    ¡°Well done!¡± Nedric patted Rialto on the back.


    ¡°Carenda and Callendra¡±


    The two girls grinned at each other. Nedric privately thought that someone had trouble remembering which was which and had just picked them both to avoid embarrassment. In his private opinion Callendra was far too fastidious to play a dirty game like Murderball well.


    ¡°And last but not least, Nedric!¡±


    Rialto turned and thumped his friend on the back. Nedric was elated until he looked over at Strawn who had a brooding look in his eye, which promised trouble for someone.


    The lectures passed quickly that day as the youths spent their time discussing the forthcoming game and made only cursory attempts to pay attention. Only when Marryn was called away from one of their lectures for a few minutes and came back with a broad smile did the two switch from thoughts of Murderball to wondering what Marryn had been doing.


    ¡°Why did you disappear earlier?¡± Nedric enquired of Marryn sometime later.


    ¡°Never you mind!¡± the burly lad replied, ¡°You¡¯ll see this evening!¡±


    ¡°You can tell us!¡± Rialto chimed in.


    Marryn just gave a knowing grin and saying ¡°later, later¡± walked away.


    As the two watched Marryn disappear, Strawn wandered over to them and informed them that there would be a practice that evening, this got them back to thinking about the game and Marryn was forgotten.


    At the evening meal all appeared normal. The boys were still running through strategies and tactics, knowing that Strawn would have his own ideas and wondering if there was any way that they could suggest ideas to him or whether he would be closed to all thoughts but his own. Nedric could not believe that Strawn would consider anything that he would say and was wondering if they could get one of Strawn¡¯s cronies to listen to them and pass on their ideas.


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t ask Smeal!¡± Nedric stated, ¡°he hasn¡¯t got the brains to remember to tie his shoe laces without Strawn reminding him, so he wouldn¡¯t remember what we told him.¡±


    ¡°How about Arren?¡± Rialto mused. ¡°He might be a weasel but he is bright enough. Of course he would make everything sound like it was his idea, we wouldn¡¯t get any credit¡±


    ¡°Which is what we want!¡± Nedric said firmly. ¡°If Strawn thinks the ideas come from you or me then he will reject them out of hand.¡±


    ¡°You might be right, we shall have to see if we can get Arren to stop licking Strawn¡¯s boots long enough that he will listen to what we have to say.¡±


    ¡°I have a better idea,¡± said Nedric with a grin, ¡°what do you think of this¡­¡±


    The boy¡¯s conversation was interrupted by a commotion from one of the doors. Captain Tolbeck walked through and called for attention.


    ¡°If I could have everyone¡¯s attention. You will remember that last night I said that the villagers who were causing trouble would be punished. Well I have found the ringleaders and have them here. It was difficult to come up with a truly appropriate punishment, especially when they denied that they had been trying to do anything other than scare you but I think I¡¯ve come up with something that should make it fairly difficult to scare you in the future!¡±


    With that the Captain signalled to someone outside the room and three of the village lads were dragged into the room. Each of them had been dressed in a maid¡¯s outfit and was wearing a wig made of straw. Someone, possibly a guard, had made some attempt to put make-up on them but had not made a very good job of it. They resembled a five year olds attempt at female make-up rather than the real thing. The students had burst into laughter at the sight of the village lads and the Captain made a very poor attempt at concealing a smile as he continued.


    ¡°These are your maids for this evening, be courteous or they might not work here again. Now if you please ladies, could you serve the drinks.¡±


    The students took full advantage of the village youths¡¯ discomfiture, making suggestive remarks and generally annoying them. The villagers were forced to take everything, as they were each accompanied around the hall by a burly guard who looked to step in if there was so much as a hint that the villagers would retaliate.


    Nedric and Rialto were extremely pleased with events as they headed over to meet Strawn and the other players by the butts. Strawn had picked the area as it was inside the keep and so none of the villagers would be able to watch them practice but was also less likely to have them in anyone¡¯s way.


    As the two got to the butts they could see they were nearly the first to arrive, with only the two madders there already. This didn¡¯t surprise them as the younger boys were always going to be the keenest and Strawn always had to be accompanied by a group of other boys so it took him longer to get anywhere. There wasn¡¯t long to wait until the other members of the team turned up and Strawn started to explain his ideas to them.


    ¡°Nedric, I want you and Callendra to act as our final defence, Calim, Mirkin, Smeal and Arren will stand in front of you and will be on both banks to provide defence or to help push forward. Irun, Petar, Carenda and Rialto will be up front with me and will be passing the ball quickly between us whilst also reacting rapidly to any moves the opposition might make.¡±


    Nedric was less than happy with the proposed formation. Strawn had taken the people from his team and had them playing the passing game he had developed with them but with Strawn there as well, probably to take the credit. His four friends were there to help him if strong-arm tactics were going to be needed and Nedric was stuck at the back doing nothing if the team was winning. If the opposition scored, then Nedric would get much of the blame from failing to prevent them scoring. Worst of all was that Nedric was stuck with Callendra who wasn¡¯t going to get in the way of some big, dirty villager if she could avoid it. Nedric hadn¡¯t expected Strawn to come up with a plan that so effectively stopped Nedric from having any chance of glory and he could not see a way to gain from the situation. None of his plans with Rialto had anticipated this event.

 6. Match Day

    By the day of the match, Nedric was in a foul mood. The previous week had seen Rialto spending more time with Strawn, discussing strategy and practicing passing manoeuvres. Nedric had felt more and more isolated. Strawn had put the five of the front line against the other six and it was clear that the team was very quick and mobile. The four lads looked like they would be fairly good defensively and it was rare if more than one person got past them. Nedric and Callendra could easily squash one player and so there had been no challenge for them.


    On the day before, Strawn had played the team against a team made up of the better players in the keep and Nedric hadn¡¯t had a touch of the ball all game. Strawn had shown just how athletic he was and when the front line had been stopped, the middle line had help to push the ball and score. Callendra had found a dry spot on one of the banks and sat there for the entire game, whilst Nedric had prowled up and down and silently cursed Strawn.


    It seemed like everyone had turned out to watch the match. From where he was standing Nedric could see that most of the cooks and maids were finding spaces for themselves on one side of the bank whilst flirting with the guards. Even old Spodger the keep librarian was there and he rarely managed to leave the library these days. On the other side of the bank were the villagers and again it seemed that most of them were taking time off from their duties to come and watch and support their side. The team from the keep had been fitted with some of the guards¡¯ old tabards, which were a rich green and the villagers from somewhere had obtained some blue garments although not all of these were the same shade. Nedric suspected that all had come from Janit¡¯s shop. The people on either side of the bank were showing their support by holding poles from which draped ribbons of the appropriate colour.


    Captain Tolbeck signalled and one of the guards played a fanfare, there was an immediate hush from all sides. His loud roar could be heard clearly by all present.


    ¡°Good people of Asgril, we are met today to see the young people of keep and village compete. I have, in honour of this the first match, and in the hope that this will become an annual event, had commissioned this elaborate tankard. It will be held by the winning team for the next year and will be the prize in each following match.¡±


    There was a cheer for that announcement but it was nowhere near as loud as the cheer that followed his next remark.


    ¡°After this game I have arranged with the keep cooks that everyone gathered will be fed and watered at the keep and at the Duke¡¯s expense!¡±


    ¡°Furthermore I have spoken to the captains of both teams and a set of rules have been agreed. There will not be any pushing opposing players out of bounds unless they have the ball. There will be no trying to injure your opponents unless you wish to be taken out of the game. Finally, for this match, the length of the game is fixed at one hour. The team with the highest score at that time will be deemed the winner, if the scores are level then the next team to score wins!¡±


    There was quite a bit of discussion over this announcement, there had never really been much in the way of rules before, only three goals to win and the boundaries of the game. Although the rules as stated were simple people were considering the implications of a time limit and also the removal of a player from the game. Both rules would lead to new tactics and that would inevitably make the game more interesting. Already it was going through some people¡¯s minds that determining how dangerous a player was being to an opponent would require a referee and that that person would have to be impartial. Clearly the Captain had had the same thought.


    ¡°Without further ado let me now introduce the two teams, from the keep, Strawn, Rialto, ¡­.¡±


    From behind the keep gate the team ran out with Nedric bringing up the rear. They arranged themselves to one side of the captain so that everyone could see them. As the Captain read out the names of the village team Strawn started applauding and the rest of the team joined in so that the village team were warmly greeted as they ran past and to the other side of the Captain.


    ¡°Last, but not least, may I introduce to you an old colleague of mine, who will act as an impartial adjudicator, Captain Ulfick from Tomin!¡±


    There was another large cheer and then again as the Captain called for the game to begin. The two team captains went over to Ulfick and a large coin was thrown into the air. The captains looked to where the coin had landed and then led their teams to the respective ends of the stream area. This had been marked out by someone who had used white sand to show both the ends of the area and extent of the playing area on each side. The teams lined up behind the lines and Captain Tolbeck signalled for a fanfare to start the game.


    Until this point Nedric had not had a chance to really look at the opposition, in the keep the two teams had been kept apart and although he had watched them come out to line up, he hadn¡¯t really taken much in as there were so many people watching them. Now, as most of the players rushed towards the ball, he was able to focus more on what they were up against. That there were no girls playing in the opposition team was not really a surprise. Most of the village girls worked in the keep as maids or in the kitchen so would have divided loyalties anyway, even if they were to have sufficient time in which to practice. Also if the number of students had not been so small it was quite likely that the students would have fielded an all boy team, Murderball was traditionally a game of strength rather than skill.


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    The villagers were all apprentices. Two of the three lads who had been made to play the maid were included but they obviously were not the real threats to Strawn¡¯s team as they were obviously as slow of body as they were of thought. The real threat was going to come from the apprentice blacksmith Calped. Not only was he a naturally fast lad but he was also by far the strongest player of either side. Years of beating iron had put muscles on him so that he was now stronger than most men. He got to the ball at the same time as Strawn and tossed the fair-haired lad aside. Rialto and Carenda were treated with similar contempt and it was only when Calped met the second line that he was slowed and stopped.


    The practice that the keep team had put in began to show as they managed to get the ball from Calped before the rest of his side could catch up with him. As they started to press forward, Strawn was there to collect the ball from them and as the villagers rushed towards him to throw the ball on to Rialto. The smaller lad raced up the stream and past the slower villagers passing the ball on to Carenda when it looked like he would be stopped and collecting it again when she was blocked. Seconds later and he had crossed the line and scored.


    The supporters on the keep side erupted with a loud cheer whilst the villagers booed and shouted encouragement to their team. Ulfick replaced the ball; the fanfare blew and play restarted. Calped reached the ball first, passed it back towards one of his teammates and this time the villagers worked as a team. Being generally larger and stronger they had decided to use that strength. The ball went into the middle of the mass and slowly they forced there way down stream. With the whole of the keep team trying their best to trip over the villagers, push them the other way and occasionally trying to sneak the ball away it was a slow process but gradually and inevitably the line got closer and eventually it was crossed. The score was tied and the game progressed.


    The game began to develop a kind of rhythm after that. One of the keep team would get the ball and run with it, pass it to a teammate only to have that person stopped the ball taken away and gradually brought down stream again. The keep team would then find a way through to snatch the ball and the whole process would begin again. As each cycle finished the ball inched slowly in the villager¡¯s favour.


    Some time during this phase of play Carenda had the ball and was about to be tackled. She quickly threw it across the stream, aiming for Strawn who had a clearer path. As she threw it, there was a flash of movement and Calped, who had anticipated the throw intercepted the ball. His speed took him past the middle line of the keep and he rushed down the bank towards Callendra. Nedric, who was on the other side of the stream, hurried to join her. Callendra took one look at the large and extremely muddy lad rushing towards her and decided to get out of the way. Calped easily avoided Nedric¡¯s despairing dive and moved through the gap Callendra had created to score.


    The villagers went wild at this. As the game restarted and quickly returned to the mobile pile of bodies it had been before, the villagers chanted that the game was all over. Certainly there was little time left for the keep team to make a comeback.


    Suddenly there was a scream from the pile of bodies, followed by a rush of movement from Ulfick. He pushed his way through the writhing mass and emerged holding one of the villagers in one hand and a small knife in the other. As the teams separated one figure could be seen clutching at his side and that person was Strawn.


    Although it looked like quite a bit of blood had been spilt, when his shirt was removed Strawn could see that it was only a shallow cut and after washing the wound in wine, and applying a dressing he elected to continue. Sindruk, the offending villager, was escorted from the field of play by one of Tolbeck¡¯s guards and the game restarted.


    Now the keep team had a player advantage but there was very little time left. Strawn called for some rapid passing and was rewarded for his own fast running by receiving the ball from Rialto with only a short distance between him and the villager¡¯s line. There was only one obstacle and that was Calped. Strawn knew that he wasn¡¯t quick enough to dodge around the other lad nor strong enough to wrestle past him so he tried the unexpected. He ran straight at Calped and as the villager braced himself to stop the charge, leapt over the apprentice. As he came down he rolled and his outstretched arm carried the ball across the line just before the fanfare called the end of the match.


    Of course the match wasn¡¯t finished. With a score of two each it became sudden death. The villagers were at a distinct disadvantage but this seemed to bring them together as a team. Their play seemed assured, their passes were accurate and they leapt to the task with a purpose. When Calped was passed the ball, the rest of the team did the unexpected. Each of the villagers grabbed the nearest keep player and held them. This left Calped on his own to face Callendra and Nedric and once again he ran towards the girl. Perhaps he expected her to move quickly out of the way or perhaps Callendra showed more nerve than before, anyway the two collided and the ball went flying out of Calped¡¯s hands and into the stream. This was Nedric¡¯s chance; he reached for the ball at the same time as the despairing Calped. The wet ball, covered in mud, was not the easiest thing to grip but Nedric got it and managed to stand up. He was about to run when he felt a hand grab his leg. Knowing that Calped would drag him back down he looked to see if there was anyone free to receive the ball.


    There was, Strawn had broken free from the villager who had grabbed him and was racing and calling for the ball. Nedric saw no choice and threw the ball to Strawn. The keep team were now the ones holding on to the villagers and it was easy for Strawn to move past everyone and score. The keep dwellers roared their approval whilst the villagers hung their heads. Tolbeck reached for the tankard and pressed it into an elated Strawn¡¯s hands.


    At the party afterwards everyone was in a good mood except for Nedric. Strawn had been treated like a hero ever since the game, as had most of the rest of the team but Nedric was the forgotten player. It hadn¡¯t helped that he had had only one touch of the ball in the entire game so could hardly be said to have contributed to the success. He found himself an out of the way spot on the battlements and was gloomily sitting there drinking. The sounds of merriment were somewhat muted where he perched and he gazed out towards the woodland feeling sorry for himself. Rhianna seemed to have forgiven Strawn for whatever had caused their split at least enough to give him a kiss in congratulations.


    As he sat alone with his thoughts, he thought he saw a glimpse of movement from the woods. He peered out and thought he saw a person emerging from amongst the trees. They were wearing a dark cloak, which made it hard to distinguish anything about them and they soon disappeared from sight. As Nedric started to wonder who was slinking around, his thoughts were disturbed by a voice calling his name. Rialto had noticed his absence and gone looking, as his smaller friend burst upon the scene laden with food and drink and bursting with energy Nedric was distracted enough to forget about the figure. Rialto was talking about their forthcoming journey and that was an enjoyable enough event that Nedric brightened almost immediately.

 7. On the move

    The journey to the boardways was the highlight of the year for the sixteen students in the upper year at the keep. Although there were still several months to go before they finished their study, they knew that some of them would find work there once the course concluded. The others would either end up in the army or working for their families. The latter wasn¡¯t an option for Nedric whose mother worked for a poor noble so he was determined to show his worth on this trip.


    Apart from the students, two masters and two guards were going along to supervise and to ensure safety. Whilst no one would normally attack a party of that size, some one might decide that capturing the child of a merchant was worth the risk. The risk to the students was not that great as the kingdom was fairly law abiding. The dukes preferred it that way and their guards patrolled the regions ensuring that bandits and other lowlifes were rare. In the cities there was some theft and robbery but even there crime was small and people felt safe as long as they kept away from the seedier inns and houses.


    The expedition itself took a while to get going. The students had all been taught to ride and were expected to saddle their horses and have everything packed on them but for some reason this took an incredibly long time. It seemed to Nedric that it was the girls in particular who had to go back to their rooms several times for more ¡®essentials¡¯. It was nearly noon before everything was ready and the group set off.


    The students were travelling fairly lightly as they were not expecting to supply their own food and were travelling on some of the better routes away from Asgril and through more open countryside towards one of the larger rivers that bordered the country. They planned to take one of the boats along the river, as the journey was much quicker and easier than overland. With the weather looking fair and the sun sparkling from the stream they rode beside, they set off in high spirits.


    Nedric who had never ridden before he arrived at the keep was particularly pleased to be setting off. He rode beside Rialto along the stony track that led away from the village and viewed the countryside with delight. The stream at this point flowed between craggy spires of granite and it was clear where the rock had worn slightly more, as natural weirs were apparent every few hundred yards. The trees by the stream hung down with thick foliage that was impossible to brush aside and so the path ran between the crags and the trees and the stream disappeared from view for minutes at a time. The sound of water running over rocks was always with them, as was the sound of sheep bleating to each other as they browsed the steep slopes.


    Few travellers passed them as they made their way. The occasional shepherd could be seen, high above them, apparently doing little other than to watch the group as they passed. Asgril was not that popular a place to visit, being mainly a duchy of small hamlets, farms and some hunters and trappers. For young people it held very few attractions, which was one reason that it had been chosen as a school. There were few distractions to study, which was not to say that the students had not found most of them.


    As they moved further down the stream, small islets began to appear. Some were formed where a tree had fallen in and become the base for further plant life. Others were caused where the stream had split in two around an obstinate piece of rock. In some places, the flow of water was slower and plants covered the stream so it looked as though there was yet another islet but one that could be easily disrupted by the passage of an otter.


    The slopes became more interesting as the journey continued. At random intervals large gaping holes appeared in the cliffs as well as caves that Nedric and Rialto just itched to explore. They hoped that the party would stop but were disappointed each time a cave disappeared behind them. Some of the caves were clearly inhabited, as tracks led from them down to the stream but which animal had made them their home was not apparent, as the boys saw no movement from them during the day. Gradually they left that area behind them, although their imaginations still played with the idea of caves for some days to come.


    As the skies started to darken the group entered a village and made their way towards the only inn. It was clear that they were expected as a boy who had been sitting outside ducked through a door and called out. A stout, dark and smiling man immediately appeared and anxiously bid everyone welcome. He directed the boy to help with the horses and the two masters entered the inn. The students were directed to attend to the horses and the guards looked after their own mounts, as they were so important to their job.


    Dismounting Nedric turned to Rialto and remarked, ¡°Now I know why they always teach the fundamentals of horsemanship. I have the largest pain in the fundament ever!¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean!¡± his friend agreed as he rubbed his own rear. ¡°You forget when you haven¡¯t ridden for a while just how painful it is to sit on one of these things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ll be able to sit down to eat.¡± Nedric continued.


    That was enough. The thought of food sent both boys hurrying to get their kit from their mounts and into the Inn.


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    The food wasn¡¯t that good but neither Nedric nor Rialto noticed it. They were too busy wolfing it down. The students had been assigned to two of the rooms in the Inn. Nothing fancy, they slept on straw pallets and fortunately these were in good condition as the students were too tired to worry about checking for vermin and went quickly to bed.


    The following morning, the sunlight seeking it¡¯s way through the small windows of the rooms woke the students and they groaned as they moved. The pain of the previous day was now a dull ache that made each movement something to be avoided. However by the time they had made their way to the common room they were beginning to feel more themselves. This didn¡¯t stop them from cursing the guards under their breath, both of whom looked wide-awake and smartly groomed. The two masters looked about as comfortable as the students.


    They broke their fast with large quantities of brown bread and stew left over from the previous night. The stew wasn¡¯t any better served the second time but that still didn¡¯t stop them from consuming most of it. As one of the masters settled the bill, the students made ready to continue their journey.


    Surprisingly they were ready much more quickly that morning. Maybe it was because apart from the innkeeper there was no-one to see them off or maybe it was because they had already done the hard work of packing the previous morning and they only had to wait for Rhianna to go back to the room once before they could set off.


    As they travelled they could see the countryside changing. The stream was widening, as were the valleys they travelled through. The land was becoming more open and that meant more arable farming. There were also plenty of sheep around but in addition there were also some cattle and swine.


    The journey that day was uneventful, as it was the next day. The scenery slowly widened but that was about it. They stayed each night at an inn that was almost identical to the one they had met on their first night, even down to the fat landlord and the youth outside. By the fourth day Nedric felt that they were in some sort of never changing trip, forced to go through the same events day after day.


    It was only towards the end of the fourth day that things began to change. The trees that they had passed in isolated clumps over the last few days began to form larger clumps and by mid-afternoon the group were spending more time in the shade of the branches and then there was the sound. It grew gradually as they travelled but by the time came to one of the endless rolling hills that they had been climbing over all day the sound was more of a roar. The weather had been fine all that week but there was a feel of damp in the air as they reached the summit and stopped.


    The sight before them was incredible. A river perhaps three hundred yards wide lay before them. In one direction it could clearly be seen for miles. In the other direction it just stopped. Of course, it could be seen further away as a winding ribbon but the brain didn¡¯t immediately connect the two sights.


    The track they were following led along the side of the river and as they got closer they could see how the land dropped away in front of them. Still it looked like the river just ended as the water dropped away with no clue from above of its destination. The track then led away from the river and switch backed down the side of the cliff. The river was obscured from sight by the trees but the noise was deafening.


    As they emerged from the woods they could see the waterfall in all its glory. The drop was perhaps a hundred yards, there were meant to be much higher waterfalls elsewhere on the planet, but the sheer volume of water falling took your breath away. Where the spray shot back in the air the sunlight fragmented into a rainbow that seemed to stretch the width of the river. The town that sat several hundred yards down river seemed tiny and insignificant compared to the splendour of nature.


    The group were led by the guards, not to another inn, but rather to a substantial house that belonged to the duke. The guards directed the students to the stables, looking after the horses the masters had been riding themselves. By shouts and arm gestures they sorted everyone out and then led them inside.


    Shutting the thick door that led from the stables cut the din dramatically. The students could now be heard and of course made almost as much noise themselves as they competed in trying to tell everyone else what they thought of the spectacle they had just seen.


    Nedric was as bad as everyone else, shouting across to Rialto ¡°That was fantastic! I can¡¯t believe how much water was coming over that cliff and the power¡­¡± He drifted off as his friend interrupted with his own comments ¡°That was spectacular! The immensity, the sheer scale of it all!¡±


    Master Karik, of course, was just as enthusiastic as the students and was trying to emphasise his joy at the sight to Master Ernick. The latter seemed to be totally unimpressed with everything, of course he must have visited the town of Waterfall before but even so it was hard to believe that anyone could be so blas¨¦ about the sight.


    After the meal Karik addressed himself to the students. ¡°You know that this is the last of the journey on horseback so if any of you have left anything in the saddlebags, now is a good time to fetch it. Tomorrow we start a week¡¯s voyage down the river and we will be leaving just after dawn. So there will not be time to stop and fetch anything that anyone has left behind.¡± He looked at the girls and particularly at Rhianna; she had been far and away the least organised person on the trip. ¡°It might be of interest to some of you that this house, owned as it is by the Duke of Asgril, was one of the first to be built with two layers of wall, with the gap stuffed with wool. This has the joint effect of cutting out much of the noise, so you can hear me tell you all this, and also of making the house much cheaper to heat. Of course the cost of wool would have been much higher if the duke didn¡¯t receive so much of it as taxes. I suggest you go to bed early tonight as the guards will be waking you an hour before dawn and we will leave anyone who isn¡¯t ready on time here.¡±


    The students were not really in the mood for sleep. Over the last few days their bodies had adjusted to the rigours of horse travel and they did not feel as tired and bruised as on previous nights. Also they had the waterfall noise, although diminished, to remind them of the sights of the day. In one corner of the boys room Rialto sat picking at the mandolin and trying to compose a tune about the waterfall. Nedric felt too energetic to just sit and listen and so had the juggling clubs out and was trying to practice with them. Surprisingly no one had commented unfavourably about the boys¡¯ new hobbies and a couple of others had even tried to juggle with a set of cloth balls that Nedric had made. The clubs were just a little too dangerous for people to try without quite a bit of practice first and even then there was a tendency for Nedric to hit himself in the face. He was learning to move out of the way of the unforgiving wood when it swung towards him.


    Eventually one of the guards put his head around the door and let the boys know that the lights were to be put out. Even then it took over an hour for the boys to finish talking and to go to sleep.

 8. On the river

    The next day saw the group being woken early by the guards. Although Rialto was normally a heavy sleeper he was awake and up before the guards had moved on to the next room. Nedric enquired about his speedy rise ¡°What¡¯s the rush? You must be almost packed.¡±


    ¡°Food, my friend, food. If I¡¯m quick about things I might be able to get something extra from the kitchens and I¡¯m sure that whatever I can get will be better than the food they serve on boats. Generally it¡¯s fish and I can¡¯t stand fish!¡±


    ¡°I heard that these river boats were luxurious, all the merchants demand top quality food.¡±


    ¡°A top quality fish is still a fish!¡±


    ¡°You came up the river to get to the keep?¡±


    ¡°No, it was too expensive so I came overland but boats equal fish and that¡¯s it!¡±


    Nedric was surprised that his friend, knowledgeable in most ways, was so certain about the food they were going to have. He had asked Marryn about the boats and the stout lad hadn¡¯t mentioned a limited diet of fish and he would certainly have said something if subjected to the same meal for two weeks.


    Leaving the house that had sheltered them was like moving into another world. One that seemed more underwater than above it. The ever-present mist had turned into a constant downpour one that promised to keep going forever. The sky, even in the pre-light before dawn, had a greyish cast and the road down to the river was rapidly becoming a stream. Nedric was soon extremely glad of the strong boots and good waterproof he had purchased. Others of the students had been less prudent in their purchases and cursed each time the group had to pass through a puddle. The temperature had dropped a few degrees since the previous day and that with the omni-present water caused a general feeling of gloom amongst the company. Even Rialto who had been crowing about the amount of food he had managed to cadge was reduced to muttering and complaining.


    The boat, when they reached it, was sufficient to stop their complaints. One of the new type operating on a similar process as the boardways, it had large wheels on either side containing a number of paddles. These pushed the boat through the water at a constant rate. They were sufficient to make the upstream journey from Elseth to Waterfall last a mere two weeks. The downstream journey was of course significantly faster and they were hoping to reach Elseth in a week. The amount of rain falling promised a speedy journey although at the moment the group did not appreciate this.


    The rooms on the boat were designed to hold no more than two people, as the general passenger was a merchant possibly travelling with a companion. The students were therefore split into their normal room assignments and Nedric and Rialto found themselves in a cabin at the fore of the boat. The cabin being more of a triangle than the normal rectangle was actually roomier than it looked and suited the lads perfectly.


    Other than the cabins there was a general area where meals were taken and people could play a number of board and card games. There was more space outside on the decks of the boat but as the rain was still falling this was temporarily unavailable. Although most of the students had gathered in the general area, the merchants, some of whom were playing a gambling game that Strawn was itching to join, had commandeered all of the best tables. Marryn had disappeared and Nedric and Rialto seeing that nothing was happening retreated to their cabin.


    It was during these days of travel that the hobbies that the two had begun came into their own. There is nothing like days of empty time to help develop a skill and with nothing better to do Nedric¡¯s juggling improved no end and Rialto became more fluent on the mandolin. Rialto was now able to pick out most of the tunes the boys knew and could play a couple of them fluently. It was much harder to assess Nedric¡¯s progress, as whilst he was developing quite a few new tricks, not having seen any other jugglers for a while he couldn¡¯t tell how he compared with them. At some point Rialto got fed up of Nedric asking, ¡°Have you seen this trick?¡± and decided to have a go himself. By the end of the week the two lads were able to pass six balls between them. Nedric had also learnt to play a few notes on the mandolin.


    Marryn¡¯s disappearance was explained during one of the meals. Much to Rialto¡¯s relief the food had been varied and excellent. This didn¡¯t stop him eating some of his stores; he was after all a growing boy. Nedric was sat next to Marryn during one of the meals, ¡°Where have you been hiding yourself?¡± he asked the stouter lad.


    ¡°You know I¡¯m interested in food.¡±


    ¡°I could hardly miss that!¡±


    ¡°Well I thought I¡¯d talk to the chef here and I¡¯ve been down in the galley, helping with the meals and learning a lot, the man is a genius!¡±


    ¡°I noticed the meals were better than most.¡±


    ¡°They were better than that, the chef uses herbs and spices from all over the world and knows the correct proportions and uses for all of them. He knows where to get the finest of all the different types of food and where the best food can be bought cheaply. He has more recipes in his head than anyone I¡¯ve ever met. I¡¯ve been writing some of them down.¡±


    Nedric guessed that the other lad was rather enthused, as he had never heard him say so much before; he decided to encourage Marryn, as the other was normally more than a bit shy.


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    ¡°You should collect recipes from other people as well and then write a book. The problem with most of the books is that they contain nothing that most people want to read but everyone likes food.¡±


    ¡°I might just do that. Even if it were just for myself it would be worth it. I can¡¯t remember all the recipes the chef here knows, let alone all the others that must be out there.¡±


    It was on the last day of the boat ride that trouble developed. Strawn had been trying to gamble with some of the merchants from the moment he saw them playing cards at one of the tables and after spending days watching them play had managed to get himself included in a game.


    The merchants played for small stakes, which was just as well as Strawn whilst the son of a moderately wealthy merchant himself, did not have large amounts of money with him. This did not mean that the games were not competitive. The nature of the game was that several hours were needed and that it was not concluded until one player ran out of money.


    On the previous days the blond boy had gambled for small stakes with the other students. Strawn was either skilled or lucky enough that he had made a little money each day and was feeling confident and somewhat cocky.


    On the final day the merchants invited him to sit in on their table. The amount that the players gambled was agreed at the start of the game and on previous days they had played until one player had lost all their money. This time they were playing until either one player had won everything or the boat docked at which point the players would keep whatever winnings they had.


    The stake was much higher than on the previous days and Strawn couldn¡¯t really afford to lose the money. He also hadn¡¯t thought about the change in rules. He began to get a little worried when the weaker players started to drop out.


    There were two players and Strawn still playing when the city of Elseth came into view and Strawn knew he was in trouble. Both of the other players were better than him and his money was gradually diminishing. His hope was that he could hold out until they docked and maybe still have some winnings. His hopes seemed to be realised when the docks came into view.


    It was then that the other players did something that Strawn had not expected. They co-operated, raising the stakes higher and higher. Strawn could have just thrown his cards in and let the game continue but he was sitting looking at a very good hand. He threw all his money into the bid in a do-or-die gesture. One of the players immediately folded knowing that he had plenty of winnings already and not being prepared to risk them. The other player covered the bet and waited as Strawn was forced to show his cards. Strawn was not a bad player, the hand he held was one of the best, and only a few could beat it. Unfortunately the one that the other player lay down was one of those few. Strawn was livid, he upturned the table and drew his dagger shouting that the other player must have been cheating and attacked him.


    The other player was a cold-looking man of middle years. He didn¡¯t react to the shouts but just watched Strawn and the knife. As the lad came closer he reacted, grabbing Strawn¡¯s wrist in a hold that forced the dagger from his grip and left the boy screaming in pain. He let go of the wrist, kicked the dagger away and turned the table back on its legs. He then turned his back on the lad as he and the other player collected the money from the floor. As Strawn retrieved his dagger he made his only comment, ¡°Don¡¯t be such a bad loser boy, others would not have been so soft on you!¡± With that he collected the last of his winnings, shook hands with the other player and left the now docked boat.


    Strawn looked like he would throw himself after the man when he felt himself grabbed by his shoulders. The two guards who had accompanied the students were now restraining him and indeed dragging him backwards towards the masters. Master Ernick was looking sour, which was nothing unusual, what gave Strawn pause was the look on the face of Master Karik. The master who had never before shown anything less than a smiling countenance now bore a look of disdain. He said only a few words to Strawn but the boy was instantly subdued. ¡°We will deal with you later.¡±


    The students, normally a fairly lively bunch, only exchanged a few quiet remarks to each other as they collected their belongings and made ready to disembark. ¡°What will they do to Strawn?¡± Nedric asked Rialto.


    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea, but it will be bad!¡± his friend replied.


    The group went directly to another house owned by the Duke of Asgril. Not the duke¡¯s own residence in Elseth, which was a magnificent building, but a smaller but still substantial accommodation that he used only occasionally. As the students separated, Strawn was detained by the guards and led into a side room. He wasn¡¯t around when the students reappeared for their meal a few minutes later.


    Master Karik let the students sit down and then rose to speak.


    ¡°It is our responsibility as Masters to educate you, it is also our responsibility to see that you are safe. It is impossible to do that if you do not behave in a reasonable manner. Strawn by his actions has shown that he is irresponsible and therefore will not be going further on this trip. He will be spending the next week in the company of the Duke and it will then be decided whether he will travel back to the keep or be returned to his family.¡±


    By the way he spoke it was clear to the students that Strawn would not have a pleasant time with the Duke and that his future as a student was very much in doubt. This might not have meant that much to Strawn but to the other students, particularly those without the moneyed background of Strawn the threat of being unable to finish the course was extremely serious.


    Nedric in particular knew that graduation from the keep would lead to a job and that he had little hope of anything as good anywhere else. The others, coming from merchant families, at least had the prospect of working for their families. Nedric had noticed that some of these had looked as concerned as he felt at the prospect of being forced to leave.


    In the room the boys shared that evening the atmosphere was extremely subdued. Without Strawn, his friends seemed unable to find anything to do with themselves other than to complain when Rialto started to play a jaunty tune on the mandolin. They didn¡¯t complain when he changed to a more sombre tune so he continued with others in a similar vein. Marryn had his head buried in a pile of papers and was constantly writing and oblivious to all else. He barely looked up when one of Nedric¡¯s juggling balls landed beside him and then it was only to suggest that Nedric keep the ball to himself and not disturb his papers.


    ¡°What¡¯s the chance of Strawn coming back to the keep with us?¡± Nedric asked Rialto.


    ¡°Fairly high I would guess, he misses out on the best thing to happen this year and he can¡¯t get into much trouble at the keep.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to spend a week with the Duke, he always looked pretty scary when he came to the keep.¡±


    ¡°Serves Strawn right for starting a fight. When he gets angry he doesn¡¯t think and that got him into trouble. Perhaps this week will get him to think next time.¡±


    ¡°I seem to remember you almost getting into a fight not so long ago.¡± Nedric was thinking of Rialto¡¯s reaction to the taunts of the villagers.


    ¡°Well I have a better friend in you than Strawn has with his followers.¡±

 9. Boardway night

    If the masters had been so inclined, the group could have disembarked the boat the day before and taken the boardway from the city of Herit to Elseth. The station was within easy walking distance of their new residence. However there was no accommodation for them in Herit and there would have been additional expense. Therefore this would be their first visit and they were looking forward to it.


    Sometime this week they would be heading along the boards in the opposite direction to Herit. The new construction would eventually reach into the neighbouring country of Esteril.


    The site had two purposes. There was the public area where travellers would join the boardway and there was the place where boards and carriages were built. As the group approached they could see the stunning white marble edifice that marked the entrance. There were quite a lot of workers around still building what was likely to be an elegant tavern with many rooms for travellers.


    The construction site was nowhere near as attractive but rather utilitarian in design and atmosphere. Long sheds had been built; some for the building of carriages were filled with carpenters and other workmen and held a warm, earthy atmosphere. The others were for the creation of the boards and these were quiet and in some cases completely empty. Master Karik explained to the students why this was the case.


    ¡°As you should be aware, the process of impressing a board takes roughly twelve hours whatever the size of the plank. Therefore we are limited by the length of plank we can obtain, which is dependant on the size of the tree. These sheds are constructed to hold several planks but only one can be impressed at a time. Each impressor works on one of the planks and then moves on to the next shed. The limits are the number of planks that each person can impress each day and the number of impressors we have. The boards have to be kept separated after they have been impressed or the strain on the mountings becomes too great and also the sheds get rather cold.¡±


    Elsebeth raised a hand to answer a question ¡°Sir we know something about impressing but we don¡¯t really know what the process involves, what do we actually do? I mean we¡¯ve been taught all sorts of things for preparing our minds but preparing our minds for what?¡±


    ¡°That is a very good question,¡± Karik answered. ¡°In some ways the process is simplicity itself, what you have to do is cause a molecule in the wood to change, which is not too difficult really. The hard bit is to get the molecule to then reproduce itself throughout the plank. For some reason this is much easier to do in a once living object like a piece of wood than it is in either a living thing or something which has never lived, we don¡¯t know why!¡±


    ¡°Sir, what¡¯s a molecule?¡± asked Callendra.


    ¡°Another good question. I assume that you lot know more than you do. A molecule is what you get when you break down a substance as small as it will go. Now the ancients write that you can break a substance down smaller than that but then it becomes several different substances called elements. The smallest bit of an element is an atom, so a molecule in theory is made up of atoms. Now one of the ancients wrote that you can break the atoms up into smaller bits and that those bits can be broken down into smaller bits but if you carry on down that line then everything is made up of nothing, which is of course nonsense!¡± There was a broad smile back on the face of Master Karik but Nedric wasn¡¯t sure if that was because he was happy to be explaining things or whether he was having a private joke when he said that the ancients spoke nonsense. Nedric, who had read rather more than most of the other students, mainly due to the boredom involved in his upbringing, knew that the ancients had written about carriages travelling without horses long before the boardways had been invented.


    The day progressed with the students being shown each aspect of the work being done. The smiths who were working on the wheels for the carriages particularly impressed Rialto. As each carriage had to traverse boards that were exactly the same width, the wheels had to be of identical size. This meant that the smiths had devised means to reproduce many of the components at set sizes and because of this they now could create new items much more quickly. They had numbered bolts, screws and nails to particular widths and were now finding a profitable sideline selling these to other smiths and carpenters in the city.


    Another area of the workshops that impressed the students was the room where the designers worked. Not only were there more and larger bits of paper than anywhere the students had ever seen before but also everything that had been done or was to be done existed as a model and the small carriages running around a circular track fascinated the students. Rialto wanted to know whether the carriages could be attached to something in the centre so that it would turn constantly and was told that there was no reason why that should not work. Rialto suggested that the carriages could power a small fan and had to be reminded that it was a warm spring day but quite cool in the room. In an area with so many smiths and impressors temperature was easily managed.


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    The visit was concluded in time for the students to go back to the town house for their evening meal and they all had much to think about. Most of the students being of a merchant background were thinking of the commercial possibilities in what they had seen. Carenda had particularly liked the models.


    ¡°I could sell any of those models for a fortune to any noble with children! Nobody makes anything that detailed and interesting, especially those moving carriages. I would have loved to watch them when I was younger. I could have pretended I was the driver of the carriages, stopping to pick up passengers and putting them off at another station. I could have built tunnels for the carriages to go through, bridges, all sorts of scenery.¡±


    Of all the students, Rialto was the quietest. Nedric noticing this asked his friend what was the matter.


    ¡°I have to get a note to my father, through someone I can trust. There are endless opportunities for the person who seizes the initiative.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about, your father can¡¯t afford to set up his own boardway.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need too. That idea the smiths had of making everything standard sizes. It makes everything cheaper to produce, it doesn¡¯t matter what you¡¯re talking about. So all he has to do is start making something else in standard sizes and he will make money. Think about boots of set sizes, they would be affordable by more people and therefore more would be bought. I have to write a note!¡±


    Rialto wasn¡¯t going to get a chance that evening. Having the thought of Strawn still on their minds, the Masters were not about to let the students out into the streets of the capital city with no supervision. They therefore were restricted to the house that evening. This frustrated all of them, as half of the anticipation of the trip was the chance to explore the capital. There were more than a few people cursing Strawn¡¯s name that evening and Nedric was pleased to hear that Rhianna was one of them. He decided to go over to talk to her, ignoring the muttered comments Rialto made as he did so.


    ¡°Strawn messed up your plans for this evening as well I would guess. How would you like me to put on a little juggling show for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather eat vomit! Go away.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind seeing what you can do.¡± Elsebeth interjected. ¡°The other boys keep saying that you are getting quite good now.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll just have to get my props then. Back in a minute.¡±


    Nedric was back in but a few moments with his props and Rialto¡¯s mandolin. He hoped that Rhianna would change her attitude when he showed her how adept he had become. He cajoled his friend to play the tune they had rehearsed and got the others to create enough space for him to perform. The Masters and the guards were also in the room so it felt like quite a large audience for his first performance. Rialto struck up a lively tune normally associated with comic events and Nedric performed.


    It wasn¡¯t that Nedric was a particularly accomplished juggler, although he was reasonably skilful. What made the performance was his stance and face. The boy was a natural; his body seemed to move from one comic pose to another whilst still keeping three objects moving through the air. Even when he dropped, it appeared to be part of the act as he kicked the ball or club back into the air and continued the show. He finished by throwing a club into the air, pirouetting and then trapping the descending club between the other two, which were now held in one hand. Although he had only been performing for a few minutes he was soaked with sweat. It was made worth it by the applause coming from the audience.


    Of course he wasn¡¯t going to get away with just that small bit of show. He was asked for more and this was where he became less successful. He had learnt to juggle four balls and was working on five but he couldn¡¯t do tricks that looked less accomplished than those he had performed before. He was stuck; fortunately Rialto helped him out. The smaller lad was nowhere near as proficient a juggler but he could juggle a bit and he had taught Nedric to play the mandolin a little. Together they had been working on a party piece, nothing serious, just a bit of fun. They tried it out on the group who having no expectations just sat and watched.


    Rialto started by playing a simple cheery tune known for its repetition and increase in volume. He started quietly whilst Nedric threw the balls in small arcs and made only small movements. At the end of the verse Nedric threw the juggling balls to Rialto who threw his mandolin over to Nedric. The second verse was designed to cover the boys¡¯ inadequacies. Nedric couldn¡¯t play quietly, Rialto made larger movements when he juggled, it looked like this was intentional rather than unavoidable. The verse finished and the objects swapped. This time Rialto played with the tune adding little trills and chords whilst Nedric threw in his more elaborate and skilful tricks. These were harder to perform and less appreciated normally but they fitted with the music. As the final verse began, Nedric moved to stand to Rialto¡¯s left side so that they concluded the song with Nedric using his right hand to hold the strings on the fret board whilst juggling two balls in his other hand. Rialto held the third ball in his left hand whilst playing the notes with his right. As the last note died the applause started and the two lads slapped each other on the back in delight.


    Nedric was fairly full of himself as he went over to Rhianna a few minutes later.


    ¡°What did you think of the show then?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t bad, I always thought you were a clown!¡± her reply wasn¡¯t exactly encouraging.


    ¡°I thought it was rather good,¡± said Carenda who happened to be sat next to Rhianna.


    ¡°It was all right I suppose.¡± Rhianna turned her back on Nedric as she spoke to Elsebeth. ¡°Anyway, where were we?¡±


    Nedric walked away feeling more than a little crushed. He hadn¡¯t felt so belittled since he was young and helping his grandfather around the noble¡¯s library. He had only been trying to be helpful by putting books back on shelves. He had seen his grandfather do it many times before. It might have helped the old man¡¯s temper if he hadn¡¯t put all the books in the wrong places and many of them were upside down.


    After such a rebuttal he decided that he had had enough of Rhianna. She might be the most attractive girl he knew but her attitude was abysmal. There was no reason for her to put him down in that way other than to elevate her own status. For the first time since he met her he realised that she wasn¡¯t all that wonderful.

 10. Out and About

    An early rise was required the next morning. Neither Nedric or Rialto were particularly keen on this idea even though they had more than their fair share of early mornings over the last few weeks. Today there was another good reason; they were going to ride on the boardway to the end of the line! Not Herit but the other end, which was still under construction.


    Only because they might be working there in a few months time were they being allowed to visit. There was a certain amount of security surrounding the workings of the boardways. Whilst the construction techniques of the carriages were simple enough, some of the developed techniques had been kept from the students. Likewise, the practical considerations of moving and placing the boards had required some development and the Duke of Asgril was particularly keen that no one from the neighbouring country of Nothering was to learn these techniques. The two countries were not the friendliest of neighbours and the Duke saw no reason to help his northern neighbours in their progress.


    The students were eager to get going but not so eager that they missed a filling breakfast. There was no guarantee when they would be back or what the food would be like in the interim. Rialto had already packed a good supply of food and he was not the only one. Nedric had seen the sense of extra rations. There were very few inns in that direction and they were unlikely to be staying in the best accommodation.


    The carriage awaited them. They were quickly aboard along with several workmen from the construction site. The carriage was different from the normal ones they had seen in that it carried one of the boardway planks on a support quite a way above the carriage proper. Master Karik was quick to point out that this was so that it would not interfere with the smooth running of the carriage.


    The journey itself was completely uneventful. Once the passengers had acclimatised themselves to the slightly jolting motion of the carriage it soon passed from mind. The students were more interested in the scenery passing at a fast but comfortable rate. The carriage was no faster than a fast horse but the motion was continuous and there was no need to change horses. A rider trying to keep pace would be exhausted whilst the passengers were still fresh at the end of the journey.


    The journey itself was about five hours and the end of the boardway was a bit of a surprise. Nedric had assumed that the carriage would roll up to the end of the line and stop but there was not just one end to the line. The line split into two and Nedric could see that there were several carriages similar to the one in which they rode sat empty on the other branch. As they dismounted Nedric was surprised to see another carriage, this one without passengers, pull up behind their carriage. He thought about things a little and it made more sense. There was no way that all the planks could be transported with just one carriage doing a ten hour round trip. So the carriages must all be sent to one end, loaded, driven to the other end and unloaded. Nedric could see that everything would be much faster if there were two boardways running parallel to each other but the expense must be prohibitive.


    The large items of construction equipment used to move the planks were perhaps the least interesting aspect to the construction, although Nedric did notice that Arren was making sketches and idly wondered why. What was more interesting to Nedric were the way the boards had to be set into the ground on supports strong enough to take the weight of the carriages and this required different techniques depending on the type of ground. He asked a question of one of the engineer types who was sat drinking some sort of hot drink off to one side of the construction.


    ¡°Why is it that if the carriages don¡¯t actually touch the boardways or even push away from them that the supports need to take the weight of the carriages?¡±


    For an answer the engineer pulled out a large timepiece from his pocket and let it dangle down from a chain attached to it. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the watch hit the floor?¡± he asked. ¡°The chain is holding it up.¡±


    The man brought the watch upwards so that the chain was at full extent. ¡°What happens when I let go of the watch?¡±


    ¡°It will fall towards the ground.¡±


    ¡°So why doesn¡¯t the chain hold it in place.¡±


    ¡°Well it can¡¯t can it, the ground is pulling it in the same direction as the chain.¡±


    ¡°Well actually the chain isn¡¯t pulling it at all. It is those pulls that matter though. When the watch is hanging down there is pull from the ground and an equal pull from the chain that¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t move. Now let¡¯s look at a boardway, first the carriage. If it is over an impressed board then what are the pulls or pushes. There¡¯s the pull from the ground and the push from the board and if there were nothing to stop it, that push would throw the carriage off the board so there must be a pull from the board as well. All these pulls and pushes have to even out or there would be a movement somewhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how the carriages move, there is a push that isn¡¯t cancelled out by a pull!¡± Nedric was getting the idea.


    ¡°Now lets look at the board and the supports, what are the pushes and pulls? There are pulls from the ground and then there are the pulls from the wheels of the carriage, which we know is a stronger pull than the pull from the ground. So there must be a push from the carriage as well and we know, because we¡¯ve tried these things out that the push downwards on the supports is equal to the weight of the carriage passing over it. Actually there are more pushes and pulls than that but I was trying to simplify things.¡±


    Nedric thanked the man but his head was reeling. He was trying to get his mind around the idea of all these pushes and pulls. He thought he had the basic idea. If there is a push in one direction, there is also a pull in the opposite direction, that was if everything were to stay in the same place.


    They spent the evening around a campfire that the workers had built. There wasn¡¯t much to do so Rialto was quite popular when he started to play his mandolin. The light wasn¡¯t particularly good so Nedric couldn¡¯t do any juggling. He was quite happy about this as the workers had offered them all some cheap wine and Nedric was now fairly relaxed.


    They slept in large tents that held six people if they arranged themselves properly. There was talk amongst the boys of slipping over to the girls¡¯ tent when the masters had gone to sleep but if it happened Nedric wasn¡¯t aware of it as he went quickly to sleep. He awoke early the next morning to find that camping is much colder than sleeping in inns.


    The next morning they were taken about two miles from the end of the line. There they were able to view the most impressive act of construction so far attempted.


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    The boardway was intended to travel into the neighbouring country of Esteril and there was one major obstacle. That obstacle was the River Antrim. Smaller than the one down which they had travelled to Elseth, it was still over thirty yards wide and fast flowing.


    The two rivers joined a few miles to the south and the engineers had little choice for a site for the river crossing. On either side of the river rose sheer, granite cliffs and the engineers were building a bridge between them. It rose from both sides to almost form a majestic arc. There was a gap of perhaps ten yards between the two constructions. The width of the bridge was more than wide enough for two boardways and Nedric wondered about this but then thought it was probably cheaper to build one large bridge rather than to have to build another later on.


    As far as Nedric was concerned that was about the end of anything worth seeing at the boardway. They had been shown everything of any interest and if there were any particularly novel ideas that they hadn¡¯t met, then they were unlikely to be told about them because of the security precautions. Anyway most of the next few days were spent with various workers on the site explaining the history of the construction and the particular difficulties that had been overcome to date. The engineer Nedric had met on the second day told one particularly humorous tale.


    He had been explaining to the group about the strength of the forces present when the carriages were operating and how one of the older engineers had suggested that there could not be enough force to push a carriage as big as the ones they were building at any great speed. He had even gone so far as to state that on an uphill climb he would be faster than the carriage. To demonstrate this, he had climbed halfway up the steepest incline on the boardway and started to move when the carriage had reached the bottom of the hill. The group burst into laughter at the engineer¡¯s description of the older man desperately trying to get out the way of the carriage only a couple of minutes later.


    What particularly interested the students was the chance to get to look around the city. It wasn¡¯t until the fourth evening that Master Ernick relented and said that they could leave the town house as long as it was in pairs or larger groups. Nedric and Rialto were out of the doors within seconds of him finishing speaking.


    Nedric had never been to Elseth before and had no idea where to go or what to do but Rialto was in a hurry. He wanted to find one of his father¡¯s colleagues before he went out for the night. As Nedric was stopping to look around at the sights that presented themselves as they passed along the city streets, Rialto had to practically drag his friend after him.


    Elseth was not a particularly clean or attractive city. As the two boys moved through the place they had to avoid piles of garbage that were placed at the end of each of the minor roads. Rialto explained that workmen with carts cleared each pile during the night but that by early evening they had grown again. At least there were no open sewers. One of the earlier rulers had ordered sewers built after having something unpleasant thrown over him when passing through the city. A small river had been diverted to help keep things flowing through the underground routes but the smell from the drains was appalling. Rialto told Nedric that the major problem was that garbage was dumped in the sewers and tended to block the ways. If the flow was too constricted then the city had temporary open sewers until the blockage could be removed.


    The houses were built closely together with only the larger, more prosperous residents having any form of a gap around their dwellings. The rest of the houses leant against each other like drunkards walking home after a heavy session. Nedric wondered if he was to remove one of the buildings whether all of the others would come falling down like piled dominoes.


    The streets themselves were reasonably wide but it was hard to tell this, as most of them were crowded with people selling every object under the sun. Even where the streets were clear of vendors there was still a crush of bodies, as everybody seemed to be out enjoying the early evening air. The only gaps were where various guards were posted.


    The town guards were required to maintain order and were renowned for the efficiency with which they did this. Street crime was rare, although pickpockets and other skilful criminals were still about. The less skilful were often found unblocking the sewers or clearing the garbage, the King believed in giving criminals every possible incentive to have honest jobs. Repeat offenders had increasingly long sentences. Those criminals who believed in a more aggressive approach to their victims were normally killed. Violence upon the Kings¡¯ subjects was not just frowned upon; the King believed that everybody should be able to walk safely around his city.


    Nedric saw a juggler working in front of a crowd in the distance and wanted to watch. Rialto grabbed him by the shoulder and forcefully led him in the opposite direction. As they walked the nature of the houses began to change. There were more that stood alone and that suggested that there were more people with money around. Rialto told Nedric that they were in the region of the city primarily habited by those who made their money importing and exporting goods. The goods themselves if they were ever to see the city were stored in large warehouses by the river.


    The man that Rialto wanted to see, lived in one of the larger residences. The particular area was unusual in that the houses overlooked a grassed area on which there were a few benches generally next to trees. Nedric assumed that this meant that the area was particular expensive and wondered how Rialto expected to get to see the obviously wealthy merchant.


    It seemed that Nedric¡¯s fears were to be realised when Rialto knocked at the front door and a particularly impressively built doorman, who by his manner suggested that he felt that the boys had no business there, answered it. Even so, Rialto just asked for the merchant by name, gave his name and waited.


    The response was almost immediate. A large, dark-haired man appeared, his voice booming as he welcomed them inside. He had an arm around Rialto¡¯s shoulder as he swept that boys into a spacious and expensively furnished guesting area.


    ¡°Rialto, good to see you, what brings you to my humble home?¡± he seemed almost deprecating about his house.


    ¡°I need to get a message to my father, Uncle Yurin!¡± Rialto sounded extremely urgent and Yurin gave him a questioning look.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in trouble. I just have some information that he can make use of. I need to get the information to him quickly and without others knowing it.¡±


    ¡°Well I owe your father a fair bit so I guess I can arrange that he gets a letter, are you sure that it is that important and urgent? If I contact your father by messenger one of my rivals might notice and have your father watched.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any samples of new cloth at the moment that Rialto¡¯s father might be interested in?¡± Nedric felt that he should offer some comment in this conversation.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea young man! I have some cloth which is a bit richer than Rialto¡¯s father normally deals in but he might be interested in it if he has a new customer.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s all sorted then, the letter can be included with the samples and you¡¯ve sent enough samples to him in the past that no-one will be surprised. So what¡¯s new with you Uncle? Have you any interesting new tales to tell us?¡± Rialto settled back into his chair and Nedric sensing that he had no choice did the same.


    It turned out that Yurin was an excellent raconteur and Rialto and Nedric had an excellent evening listening to tales of the various machinations that the merchants tried in order to gain an advantage over each other. At some point in the evening Yurin rang a bell and an elderly servant appeared with a tray containing a selection of sweetmeats and cordials. Nedric had never tasted a finer selection.


    ¡°A weakness of mine,¡± said Yurin, pointing to the sweetmeats. ¡°My doctor says that I should keep away from them, that they¡¯re bad for the heart but what does a quack know?¡±


    Before they knew it the evening had closed and it was time for them to be getting back to the others. They both gave heartfelt thanks to Yurin for the entertaining evening and Rialto slipped a letter to him before they went.


    There was no hurrying through the city. Although it was dark that didn¡¯t mean that the streets were not still busy. People still filled them and vendors still plied their wares although now there were more sellers of food and less of crockery and ironmongery. Surprisingly to Nedric there were still a lot of people trying to sell jewellery of all types. Rialto told him that the trade flourished when men came out of the drinking houses and felt guilty about leaving their partners at home.


    They were within five minutes walk from their residence when, with little warning, the heavens opened. Suddenly the route was clear and the two lads found themselves running through nearly empty streets. Nedric cursed as the rain turned the cobbled roads into streams and tried to flow over his boots. He had a perfectly good waterproof waiting for him in their room but he had forgotten to bring it.


    The two stumbled through the door to the town house amongst calls to close the door and then further calls describing their bedraggled appearance. They ignored everyone and went to find a change of clothes after a warming bath.


    ¡°Tomorrow evening we go find that juggler.¡± Nedric remarked to his friend.

 11. Out and About 2

    The reason for their visit was getting less important to Nedric as the week progressed. He had only two more evenings to explore the city and he wanted to see everything, especially entertainers. Rialto now that he had passed on his message to his father was also keen to look around and wanted to explore those areas of the city that his father had avoided when the two of them had visited before. Therefore as soon as the two boys were released from their studies they were off and about.


    Rialto led Nedric through some of the more cramped back alleys towards a part of the city that they had missed the previous night. The buildings had that look of once fashionable locations left to go to seed. The odd building that had been freshly painted stood out from the others like a cow in a field of sheep. The residents of this area matched the location and the two boys were glad that their second-hand clothing meant that they were more in keeping with the other pedestrians.


    Nedric felt that there were eyes watching him everywhere they walked and surreptitiously moved his pouch under his clothing. Rialto led them further into the shambles and toward a particular street, renowned for its nightlife. Rialto was fairly sure that the two of them would be fairly safe at this time of the evening but was still relieved to see several guards walking around the area.


    Fending off several women who offered the boys a good time if they wished to part with a fair part of their savings, the two walked into an establishment by the name of ¡°The Black Lion¡±. This building was known throughout the city for its entertainment, which it provided in many different forms and at varying prices. What the two boys were looking to see was offered free to attract customers, as the place hosted more different entertainers than any other building in the city. Particular rooms were made available to travelling actors, musicians, magicians and other wandering entertainers. The entertainers benefited from a booking which was pretty much guaranteed once they had passed the audition but which was only offered once a month so there was no incentive not to travel between bookings.


    The building was not in fact just one place but had been a number of shops that had been knocked together some years back. As the boys walked through the building the floors changed levels and so did the height of the ceilings. The rooms were of varying sizes and there had been no attempt to decorate the place in a consistent style. Incredibly plush and ornately decorated rooms were next to small, smoke-filled dens where card games were being played on baize covered tables. The two passed through a room where an extremely large woman was singing extremely loudly a strange song in a foreign language. The four string musicians behind her were almost drowned out. The boys left hurriedly when the pitch of her singing became so high that it was almost painful.


    Moving further through the building they were beginning to get slightly lost when they found a room where rows of benches had been laid out facing a small stage. The benches were starting to fill so the boys decided to take a seat and find out what was about to happen.


    Nedric noticed that all the people around them were older men. They seemed to be anticipating something but they were not talking to other people in the audience. There was a certain hushed expectancy when a woman walked into the room followed by an extremely tall and broad man. The woman made her way to the stage whilst the man stood by the side and faced the audience. It was obvious to Nedric that the man was there to protect the woman.


    Turning his attention to the woman he could see that despite his first impression she was actually fairly old but wore heavy make-up to hide the wrinkles. She wore a large cloak that completely covered her and seemed to be waiting for something. A musician walked into the room and sat in a chair by the side of the stage and made himself ready.


    As the musician started to play the woman removed her cloak and Nedric was surprised to see that she was wearing a garment that seemed to consist entirely of gauzy cloth. He glanced across at his companion and saw that Rialto¡¯s face had turned a bright red and that he was looking uncomfortable. Before he could ask, Rialto had stood up and left the room. Nedric glanced at the stage to see the woman swaying around the stage in a manner he guessed was meant to be alluring before he hurried to find his friend.


    He found Rialto waiting for him in the next room.


    ¡°That is disgusting! Has that woman got no morals? What did she think she was doing?¡±


    Nedric was fairly sure that she was going to take all her clothes off and was quite interested in watching her but he wasn¡¯t about to argue with his friend so instead decided to switch subjects.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try and find a different type of entertainer, I still haven¡¯t seen any jugglers!¡±


    ¡°I though I saw somebody in a weird outfit heading in that direction.¡± Rialto pointed. ¡°Maybe we should head that way and see what¡¯s there.¡±


    As they walked they could hear laughter coming from the next room along and so hurried in that direction. They entered this room to see a man bending over to collect some juggling balls from the stage on which he stood.


    ¡°Do the donkey again!¡± someone shouted, but the juggler had moved onto a different part of his routine and was now demonstrating how well he could juggle four balls. He stopped to scattered applause and went into his bag for a fifth ball. Nedric was immediately interested. He had tried to juggle five balls quite often and had got nowhere it was much harder than he had thought before he started.


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    The man on stage was making a big play of the difficulty. He made several aborted starts and Nedric was beginning to think that he couldn¡¯t actually accomplish the trick. When he proceeded to juggle five balls the whole audience broke into applause. The man threw one of the balls high into the air, collected the other four balls in his hands and caught the final ball on his neck. The applause grew even louder.


    What could the man do to follow that? He took three wooden clubs from out of his bag and proceeded to throw them around in a myriad of different ways. Under his legs, behind his back, high into the air, even balancing one on his chin whilst swinging the other two around. When he called for a volunteer to join him, there were quite a few members of the audience who stepped forward. He chose one man and asked him to lie on his back on the stage. As the man lay there, the juggler brought three torches from his bag and with encouragement from the audience proceeded to walk over the man juggling the three, lit sticks. Although he had been paid already for his work quite a few of the audience threw coins to him as he took his applause.


    The two boys made their way to the front as the rest of the crowd dispersed to other parts of the building.


    ¡°That was a great show!¡± Nedric told the juggler. ¡°I¡¯ve been learning to juggle and I wondered if you had any tips.¡±


    ¡°Practice! Practice! Practice!¡± the juggler replied. ¡°If you¡¯re serious and you¡¯re local then you can come to the Black Lion any weekend and a group of us practice in one of the rooms on the top floor. Ask any of the staff here and they¡¯ll tell you where to find us. There¡¯s a fee of a copper as they charge us rent for the practice room.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only here for another two days but if I get the chance I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    ¡°We will be happy to see you, now I have to get to another venue fairly quickly so I¡¯ll say goodbye.¡±


    ¡°So long.¡±


    They could have gone home then as far as Nedric was concerned but Rialto wanted to find a musician or two that he could talk with and learn where he could get replacement strings. They wandered further through the building and the size of the place astounded them.


    ¡°How can they afford to run this place?¡± Nedric asked his friend.


    ¡°From what I gather the place makes loads of money. Everyone in Elseth comes here at sometime or another and the place makes money on all the gambling and drinking, not to mention the drugs you can get here. Also loads of societies rent rooms here, as it is convenient for most of the city. I here the owner is as rich as some of the barons, which makes him a very powerful man.¡±


    ¡°Who is the owner?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the strange thing, no-one knows, although rumours hint at half the nobles and merchants in the city. For all I know it could be anyone.¡±


    It was something to ponder; one of the richest people in the country was completely unknown. Presumably some of the staff in the building knew but they must be completely reliable which was a rarity in itself.


    As they passed through one of the bar areas Nedric spotted that one of the drinkers had a cased instrument beside him and pointed it out to his friend. The two boys headed over to the player and Rialto introduced them.


    ¡°Excuse me friend but I wonder if you could help me? I¡¯ve been trying to get some spares for my instrument and don¡¯t know where to find them.¡±


    The player was a man in his late forties, thin of face and with dark hair silvering at the temples. He had a sallow expression but with a glint of mischievousness in his eye.


    ¡°Well then young man you¡¯ve come to the right man. My name¡¯s Iwan and I own Iwan¡¯s Instruments the best music shop in Elseth. Mind you it¡¯s the only music shop as well. If you want to call by the shop it¡¯s on Sixsmiths street and I¡¯m open until seven of the evening from which time you will find me here. Of course the only business I¡¯m open to here is if someone wishes to buy me a drink.¡± He nudged his tankard with his left hand and the boys could see that he was missing a finger.


    Iwan didn¡¯t seem to mind that the boys were staring at his hand.


    ¡°Lost it in a silly accident when I was about your age lads. Otherwise I would be a first class harpist and I wouldn¡¯t need to run the shop. Always be careful of your hands I say, they¡¯re what brings you a living.¡±


    The two boys didn¡¯t know what to say to that but Rialto offered Iwan a drink and that seemed to go down well. They stayed talking to him for a while, until one of Iwan¡¯s companions walked into the room and the boys made their excuses and left.


    Finding there way out was harder than they had thought. The two thought they knew the route by which they had entered the building but very soon found themselves in rooms they had never seen before. The atmosphere of the building, with little lighting in most rooms and a lot of smoke did not make it any easier. In the end they had to ask one of the waitresses who floated around the rooms looking to get drinks. The exit she directed them to, was on the other side of the building and it took them a while to make their way around and back on the right route. The bells of the city were chiming the hour of eleven when they finally made it back to their residence and they were again hurrying to get in. This time trying to avoid notice from the masters.


    They were stopped at the doorstep by a call. They turned to see Elsebeth beckoning them from the side of the building.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lost Rhianna and I can¡¯t go in without her or we shall both get in trouble!¡±


    ¡°Where did you lose her?¡±


    ¡°On the way back from the market, we went down a crowded street and we got separated.¡±


    Nedric had never been to the market so he really couldn¡¯t be of much help. He glanced across to Rialto who indicated the direction they should head.


    ¡°Does Rhianna know Elseth at all?¡±


    ¡°She used to live here so I can¡¯t understand how she managed to get lost and I didn¡¯t¡±


    It was odd for Elsebeth to be apart from Rhianna and Nedric realised that he had barely looked at her for years. His impression had always been that she was quite a small girl but she was actually taller than average, it was her way of fading into the background that had caused the false impression. She was also quite pretty with her long brunette hair and slim figure.


    Anyway they had to find Rhianna but were undecided whether to stay together or split up to cover more area. Rialto was all for the three of them going off in different directions but he was the one who knew the city best. Nedric was less keen and Elsebeth seemed disinclined to be alone. They had just about decided that Rialto would try one route whilst Nedric and Elsebeth would retrace her route, when Rhianna came into sight.


    It seemed like she had a slightly startled, if not guilty, look when she first noted the three people waiting for her. However by the time she had come up close to the group the look had been exchanged for her normal haughty expression.


    ¡°Where did you get to?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°Never you mind. Come on Elsebeth you don¡¯t want to be hanging around these two.¡±


    With that Rhianna walked past the group and into their residence. Elsebeth gave the boys a glance and shrug which seemed to convey the message ¡®It¡¯s Rhianna what can anyone do?¡¯ and followed her friend. The two boys looked at each other, shrugged and then laughed.

 12. Its all about the money

    Another day and another series of lectures. Nedric found it hard to believe that there were that many different aspects of jobs that it took a whole week to explain everything. His personal belief was that a week had been set-aside for the students to be in Elseth and therefore the days had to be filled. It came as something of a surprise when they were told that morning that they would not be visiting the boardway works but instead would be taken to the exchange.


    Master Karik explained the thinking. ¡°This trip is meant to be educational. You are being trained to be effective in whichever field of work you eventually join. Ideally we want a fair number of you to be working with the boardways but as most of you come from a merchant background we have to allow that many of you might become merchants. If any of you want to join the military then you are already receiving adequate training to have a head start there.


    Anyway, as part of your training we have arranged that you can see the internal workings of the exchange. As you are probably aware, only one master merchant from each family is allowed in the exchange and even then he must be prepared to post bond of ten thousand golds. This means that the people you see today are the richest men, other than the nobility, in the land. Do not annoy them! If any of you cause any trouble today you will be expelled from the school and your parents will not be compensated.¡±


    Nedric was interested to look at the faces of his fellow students. The exchange represented the pinnacle of the merchant profession. Most merchants had a comfortable life; the students were generally from fairly wealthy merchant families. Those merchants at the exchange however would never dream of having their children schooled in any other way than by a private tutor. Most of them looked keen to view the building and its contents and to meet the people inside. Marryn was probably the least interested but then since the boat ride he had been rather distracted.


    The tutors led them through the city in much the same direction as Rialto and Nedric had headed on the first evening. They passed the other side of the square from Yurin¡¯s house and found themselves in an area that whilst busy was filled with people who all dressed smartly and moved with a sense of purpose. Most of them were carrying documents and many of them seemed to be quickly visiting buildings before moving on. Nedric was sure that one particular man with a harried expression had passed them three times whilst they walked along the street.


    ¡°Who are all these people?¡± he enquired of his friend.


    ¡°They are all assistants to the various companies represented at the exchange.¡±


    ¡°What do they do?¡±


    ¡°They let the people outside the exchange know what¡¯s happening in it. As prices are set each day, people need to know the price before they decide whether to buy or sell.¡±


    The exchange was an imposing building with a solid granite frontage that said that the people within were the epitome of high-class business. There was a huge oak door that looked solid enough to bar the path of even the most determined barbarian invader and the windows on the ground floor were all behind solid iron grillwork.


    ¡°Why do they need all the security? Is there lots of money in there?¡±


    ¡°Not to my knowledge, just lots of records of previous years and the prices that were set then. I guess that if you were new in business then that sort of information would be worth a fortune. As it is, all the older businesses would keep similar records.¡±


    On the next floor the windows were large and did not have the grillwork in front of them. It seemed to Nedric that any enterprising thief with a ladder and a brick would have no difficulty getting into the place. As the building rose, the windows got smaller and the uppermost floor had windows that could hardly have let in any light. Partly because of their size but mainly because the roof had a large overhang that obscured the windows from almost all sunlight.


    The roof itself was interesting in that there was a huge array of different chimneybreasts scattered over it like so many pimples on a teenagers face. At each corner of the building was a rather ugly but not particularly scary gargoyle. These were entirely for decoration as the guttering connected to extremely rickety down pipes.


    Inside an extremely frail man in a very expensive outfit greeted the group. He introduced himself as the Master of Ceremonies and told them that he was traditionally known as ¡®Fekund¡¯.


    ¡°When us old people get a little too old to work here they have to find something to do with us and I get to do all the traditional duties and little ceremonies that surround working here. For example, I ring the bell at the start and end of the day to say when the work starts and ends. If the business of the day does not look like finishing in good time then I leave ringing the bell to later.¡±


    The hall in which they stood, whilst only a vestibule, was large and ornately decorated. On either side large portraits of soberly dressed middle-aged men looked down with sombre expressions. A large chandelier was suspended from the ceiling on what seemed to Nedric to be a rather flimsy chain. The inner door was as large as the outer one but was of a much darker and richer wood. Nedric had seen quite a lot of the same material at the boardways and recognised it instantly as narwood.


    ¡°When you go into the main hall it is very important that you say nothing. If someone says a number and one of the traders thinks it was one of them who said it then you could be costing somebody a fortune. The whole of the country depends on the decisions we make here. You might think that the figures for one day are not very important but if a farmer has to keep his produce sitting around for another day then half of it could ruin. Or a merchant might buy at too high a price and be unable to sell the goods with enough profit and quickly find himself in debt. Be quiet or someone might suffer, it could well be your families.¡±


    The group were eagerly looking forward to seeing what was inside, it sounded important and mysterious. When the doors were opened it all seemed rather less interesting. Groups of men were sat at different tables, one of the men would shout something and then everyone at the table would call out numbers, by some process that Nedric could not fathom these numbers got closer and closer together until at some point one number was repeated several times and then the man who had started the process wrote that number down. As soon as this happened a second man who had been standing behind the first would rush through a door to the rear of the room and a third man would take the place of the second. When the third man had got to his correct position then the whole process would start again. There were about a dozen tables with different numbers of people on each and occasionally one of the men from one table would move to another, sometimes at a run. As the group watched one table all the men got up at the same time and moved to different tables. At last Fekund gestured for them to leave the room through a different door and the group filed out.


    ¡°What was all that about?¡± Nedric asked Rialto. Before his friend could reply Fekund was answering the question.


    ¡°What you saw there probably made little sense. If you think that each of those tables represented a different set of commodities for example produce, minerals, or cloth then you can get the idea that each material needs to have its price determined. Now the men who were moving around from table to table have interests in more than one type of commodity and have to make sure that their interests are represented at the appropriate tables. Only someone who is actually at the table can have a say and if you have a wide array of interests you have to be fit. That is why the older people like myself either represent only one commodity or stand aside and let a younger relative take our place. The man who stands behind the Master of the Table is a messenger who lets the rest of the town know the decision almost as quickly as we know in here.¡±


    Elsebeth raised her hand and was acknowledged by Fekund.


    ¡°Is the price of a commodity determined by whoever talks the most?¡±


    ¡°It might appear that way by an outsider but actually it is much more complex than it seems. Everyone is trying to determine the best price, as they will have to both buy and sell the produce. Everybody is listening to everybody else and it might be that one person who is most knowledgeable says a price and everyone agrees with it or it could be that someone knows that they can make a lot of sales quickly and wants to get the price lower and they will fight it out with everyone else. As the price set determines both buying and selling price the determining factor is how much you are able to move or are prepared to store until the price changes. If the price goes too high then outsiders will not buy from the major traders but rather from smaller traders who cannot normally handle the quantities but can offer a competitive price if we get it wrong.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean that commodities that are only sold in small amounts are not covered by the exchange?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°Generally yes, however if the commodity is very highly priced then it might be dealt with here as only the merchants who are here are able to handle the costs involved.¡±


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    The group was then taken on a tour of the building. They saw the rooms filled with old ledgers that had all the prices ever decided at the exchange. There was one room that was devoted to keeping a record of every merchant who had ever worked there and had family details dates of birth and death and notable details about each person. The walls were covered with small portraits each with a name and the date they joined the exchange. Fekund pointed his own portrait that showed a proud and handsome young man and was dated some fifty years earlier.


    ¡°One of the youngest merchants ever to join, I was.¡±


    They were shown the members lounge, which was a room filled with comfortable looking chairs and tables where the merchants could rest, eat and study the old records. As the room was empty when the group entered there was no way to tell how much it was used but the adjoining catering facilities were large enough to feed all the merchants several times over. Fekund pointed out that there were quite a few other people within the building other than the merchants and they needed feeding as well. Apart from the merchants themselves there were the older, retired merchants who helped keep the records and did other none to onerous tasks, there were the runners who kept the town informed, there were cleaners and cooks and several guards who did nothing much but stand around all day. Apparently in the past there had been a much greater need for them when other merchants had protested the decisions in the exchange and had tried to change the merchants minds by eliminating a few of them. Fortunately for the guards this was long in the past.


    Eventually the tour ended and as the group left the building they had a bigger surprise and it came from Master Ernick of all people.


    ¡°As it is your last day in Elseth, we have decided to let you have the rest of the day for yourselves. Remember that you should stay in pairs at least and we will be leaving fairly early tomorrow morning and if you¡¯re not packed you will be leaving without your possessions. Oh and if anyone fails to make it back they will have to make their own way back to the keep and will be put back a year.¡±


    The two boys didn¡¯t need any more encouragement than that. Rialto had a music shop to get to but had no idea where it was. He asked one of the guards who surprised Nedric by being polite and helpful. He directed the two boys to head for the market and the street they wanted was just off the far side. The two boys were keen to get going and raced through the streets dodging nimbly through the crowds and hurdling a low cart that one busy labourer swung in their way as they sped across the city. They reached the market rapidly and stopped when the atmosphere hit them.


    The volume of noise had increased dramatically as had the number of people. It was barely possible to move in the area. What really brought the two to a stop were the smells and the colour. The colour was as chaotic a mixture as you could possibly imagine as stalls competed to catch the passing customers eye, whereas the smell was indescribable. Not foul, nor for that matter particularly pleasant but rather a mixture of the two and everything else besides. At one second a whiff of exotic perfume would caress them, instantly to be replaced by the odour of some animal, to be replaced again by oiled metal or fish or even rotting vegetables.


    Rialto was in a hurry to get to the music shop and led his friend around the outside of the market but promised to Nedric and himself that they would return. Both boys had some money to spend and this looked like the place to find whatever they wanted. The music shop was hard to find as it was down a small alley, which lay between one of the smithies and a carpenters. There was a small, slightly flaking sign that read ¡®music shop¡¯ in fairly illegible lettering and the two followed the alley to discover a small door with the word ¡®enter¡¯ upon it.


    When they obeyed and went through the door, they walked into a room that didn¡¯t so much contain musical instruments as try to concuss people with them. There were instruments hanging from virtually every inch of the ceiling as well as standing on the floor and on shelves. These instruments were of all sizes, shapes and kinds. Rialto couldn¡¯t name all the different types of instrument, some he had never seen before in his life. One brass instrument was so big that he felt it hard to believe that any one person could carry it yet alone play it.


    At one side of the room was a counter with a bell upon it. The boys went over to it and Rialto rung the bell. From a back room Iwan appeared and beamed at them.


    ¡°My two young friends from the Black Lion! How may I be of assistance?¡±


    ¡°I need some strings for my mandolin and maybe a plectrum or two¡±


    ¡°No problems, would you prefer standard cat gut or the new wire strings?¡±


    ¡°How much do the wire ones cost?¡±


    ¡°A gold a set.¡±


    ¡°In that case I¡¯ll go for the catgut ones then,¡± Rialto grinned.


    ¡°Wise choice,¡± agreed Iwan, ¡°that will be two bronze.¡±


    ¡°How about plectrums?¡±


    ¡°I have the standard quill and tortoiseshell and then there are these.¡±


    Iwan brought a box from under the counter that contained some small slightly rounded pieces of what looked like some sort of scale.¡±


    ¡°What are those?¡± asked Nedric.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure,¡± Iwan replied, ¡°a trader brought them in one day, said they came from a lizard that attacked him in the southern desert. They are strong, slightly flexible and last better than anything else I have. Of course these are the only ones I have and musicians tend to lose plectrums with amazing regularity so they will not be around for much longer. I am charging four bronze for them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit steep isn¡¯t it?¡± Rialto asked. ¡°Normally plectrums are two for a bronze.¡±


    ¡°They are much better, believe me I¡¯ve been using one since I got them and it hasn¡¯t broken yet.¡±


    ¡°Well why not, I¡¯ll have one.¡± Rialto handed Iwan a silver and received his strings, plectrum and change.


    ¡°I noticed that you have more than one style of mandolin at the back there.¡± Rialto pointed.


    ¡°I like to experiment with my instruments, the ones with the flatter backs are louder but they have a much harsher sound, have a try.¡±


    Rialto needed no encouragement and immediately went over and started to play a few simple melodies. Nedric could see by the way his friend was becoming oblivious to everything else that if he didn¡¯t do something soon he would be in the shop the rest of the day.


    ¡°How much would ones of those instruments cost?¡± he asked Iwan.


    ¡°Only fifty golds.¡±


    ¡°In which case we can¡¯t afford it. Come on Rialto I want to look around the market.¡±


    He had to drag his friend out of the shop but they managed to get away within a few minutes and once outside Rialto showed much less reluctance to look around. The two made their way immediately to the market and slowly walked through the crowds gawping at the variety of goods on display.


    At one point they stopped beside a stall selling weapons. There were blades of every length from small daggers to two-handed swords. Nedric tried to pick up one of the broadswords and found that he needed both hands and all his strength just to lift it.


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be much use in a fight,¡± he commented.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t require much skill, just a lot of strength. Can you see one of us blocking one of them with a sabre or epee?¡±


    ¡°No but we could easily get out of the way of it, there is no way someone swinging that could change swings quickly.¡±


    ¡°If you were on a battlefield there might not be the room to get out of the way and that is where one of those bludgeons is useful.¡±


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a real battle for fifty years.¡±


    ¡°Then we are about due for another one, perhaps you should buy the sword!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a scaremonger, anyway if there is a battle going on I¡¯ll be in the next country, wars are dangerous to your health.¡±


    ¡°All right perhaps you don¡¯t need the sword but how about a dagger?¡±


    Nedric looked at the stallholder and asked ¡°how much for that dagger?¡± He pointed to a particularly wicked looking blade, which was mostly out of a dark leather sheaf.


    ¡°Five silvers.¡±


    Nedric had five silvers and a little extra but he did not want to spend all his money on one thing.


    ¡°Three silvers.¡±


    ¡°Four silvers, five bronze.¡±


    ¡°Come on Nedric we can¡¯t stand here all day.¡±


    Seeing the boys starting to walk off the stallholder suddenly started to reduce the price.


    ¡°Four silvers.¡±


    The boys walked further away.


    ¡°Three silvers, five.¡±


    The stallholder was beginning to sound desperate. The boys slowed down but continued to walk away.


    ¡°Three silvers.¡±


    Nedric turned around and walked back to the stall.


    ¡°Did you say three silvers?¡±


    ¡°Well it has been a slow week.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you agree to the price when I first said it?¡±


    ¡°Well you have to try don¡¯t you?¡±


    Nedric bought his dagger and the two continued to look around the market. A stall that sold animals of many different types particularly intrigued Rialto. The stall was noisy, cluttered with cages and fairly smelly but his eyes had been drawn to one cage that appeared to be empty but which had a sign next to it saying ¡®Nonnies 2 S¡¯. Neither of the boys had ever heard of such an animal and wondered what they could be, that they had sold out so quickly.


    They went closer to the stall and were just about to ask the holder about the sign when Rialto thought he glimpsed movement from inside the cage. He looked squarely at it but could see nothing. He turned away and again thought he saw something moving from the corner of his eye. The stallholder had noticed the two boys and made his way over to them.


    ¡°You boys haven¡¯t met Nonnies before have you?¡±


    ¡°No, how did you know?¡±


    ¡°Watch!¡±


    The stallholder went over to the cage and grabbed the cloth that covered the flooring. It was an extremely bright purple colour and he whisked it away and rapidly replaced it with an equally bright yellow cloth. The boys¡¯ attention was instantly grabbed by the purple animals that they could now see in the cage. As they watched the little creatures, which looked very similar to common rodents, they started to change colour. The purple colouring gradually changed to yellow and only by keeping staring at the Nonnies could the boys tell where they were. The stallholder laughed at the look of amazement on the faces of the two in front of them.


    ¡°Very good pets, very clean, easy to feed and they don¡¯t upset your parents as they have no idea that they are even in the house. Would you like one?¡±


    Rialto was tempted but the thought of trying to make sure he wouldn¡¯t lose the creature on the trip back to the keep kept him from purchasing.


    ¡°Those creatures are amazing,¡± Rialto remarked to Nedric. ¡°Imagine what you could do if you had their abilities!¡±


    ¡°You could go anywhere, see anything.¡±


    ¡°Steal all the golds from a rich merchant.¡±


    ¡°Go into the girls rooms when they were undressing.¡±


    ¡°Nedric!¡±


    ¡°Just a thought¡± Nedric grinned.


    ¡°You should grow up with four sisters, you wouldn¡¯t be allowed such thoughts.¡±


    As they wandered around the market they started to get hungry. They stopped beside a stall that sold cakes and similar and spent several minutes drooling over the choice before committing themselves to triangular shaped pastries covered in nuts and icing and each needing two hands just to hold it. Nedric had to strap the sheathed dagger to his belt before he could eat the cake he had purchased.


    They continued around the market and came across the stall that purportedly held quality scientific instruments. In reality it had a number of different pieces of equipment that used lenses in one form or another. There were telescopes, microscopes and binoculars all of which, Nedric noticed, had slightly distorted lenses. The holder explained that everything on the stall had been bought by a group of wealthy experimenters and then passed on to him when they failed to meet the specifications required. Rialto bought a magnifying glass when he was shown how he could use it to set light to things and then amused himself for the next few minutes by walking around viewing everything through one eye to see how it was transformed.


    At last they had walked around all the market. Nedric had purchased a couple of drawstring pouches that were intended to hold juggling balls as otherwise they tended to get lost in his pack and also bought some sweets that they could not get back at the keep. Rialto had found a belt, which had a hidden compartment where he could hide coins. Nedric had suggested to him that if anyone was in the business of robbing people then they would probably know about such belts but Rialto ignored him.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Nedric.


    ¡°How about visiting the Black Lion again?¡±


    ¡°Why not, lead the way.¡±

 13. A trip to the Black Lion

    They approached the Black Lion from a completely different direction and the streets leading to it were not the slightly squalid, close and overhanging buildings of the previous evening but rather were comfortable looking town houses. They were each three stories in height and looked fairly new and well maintained. Rialto who was generally knowledgeable, told Nedric that they had been built shortly before he had last visited Elseth, which was about four years before. He also explained that the Black Lion was just about the centre of the town and that each side presented a different aspect of the capital.


    As they approached, Nedric noticed that the building itself looked smarter on this side and that the women outside were both more attractive and less aggressive. There was a canopy over the approach to the only door on this side of the building. Above this was an alcove in which sat a statue of a lion made of some black stone. The lion looked to Nedric to have a rather smug, self-satisfied look on his face, as though he had just eaten and was feeling very relaxed.


    They entered the building and were welcomed warmly by one of the doormen, who wished them a pleasant stay and asked if they needed any help. The boys thanked him but said they would find their own way around. Their first priority was to find somewhere to get some food. There were lots of places in the building to eat but the prices varied considerably depending on location within the building. The further they went from the entrance the cheaper it got although the quality of food appeared to be much the same.


    They found a room with a few tables and no one other than a rather bored looking waitress and sat down. The waitress came over and asked what they wanted. They had a quick look at the boards suspended from hooks in the ceiling and made their choices. The waitress disappeared and the boys discussed what they were going to do with themselves that evening.


    ¡°We ought to have a go at the games of chance whilst we are here.¡± Rialto stated.


    ¡°Sure, just as long as we don¡¯t lose all our money on them. What about finding some more entertainment.¡±


    ¡°Musician, Juggler or something else?¡±


    ¡°Whatever we find first. It¡¯s such a maze in here that we won¡¯t find where we were last night easily.¡±


    ¡°Fine, anything else you want to do whilst we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Just wander around and see what¡¯s going on. I don¡¯t know what goes on here but it all seems fun.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, I want to see some of the big gamblers playing. Can you imagine playing a game for a thousand golds?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine owning a thousand golds let alone being prepared to gamble it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what makes life interesting for those people, they bet more than they can afford to lose to add spice. When they win they tend to bet even more. If they lose then they start again.¡±


    ¡°Sounds likely a risky way to live.¡±


    ¡°Very risky, but fun when you¡¯re winning.¡±


    The food arrived and they asked the waitress for a couple of ales to go with it. In the Black Lion there was no question of whether they were old enough just whether they could pay. They ate their food and whilst the waitress¡¯s back was turned Nedric tested his new dagger against the edge of the table. It was extremely sharp and he sliced a sliver of some length in no time. The newly exposed wood underneath was much lighter than the table surface and Nedric had to scrape some of the mud from his shoes to cover the damage he had done.


    As soon as they could the two were away and looking for something to spend their money on. There were games of skill everywhere although they found that the skill level was fairly high and they were losing more than they won. A typical game was one where you had to throw three balls into a sloped bucket. If you got two in you got your money back and all three tripled your stake. However if you threw the ball too hard it just bounced out and if you tried to be softer you tended to miss the bucket. Nedric found that if he threw the ball so that it landed almost on the lip then it would stay in the bucket but he wasn¡¯t accurate enough to do that every time.


    There were games of chance wherever they looked. Most were based on card games or dice but a simple one involved letting a ball run down a board in which there were a number of nails. Each time the ball hit a nail it had the possibility of going in two directions and the board had the nails set so that there were sixteen possible routes it could go. People placed bets on where the ball would end up. The odds were different for the different locations so you could bet for a likely outcome and make a small amount or bet on an unlikely outcome and make a small fortune if you were lucky. As the ball changed direction people would curse as they realised that they had no chance or cheer as the ball headed in the direction they wanted.


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    Nedric tried to work out the odds of the ball actually landing in a particular spot and realised that no matter how lucky an individual was the Black Lion would make money if a reasonable number of people played. It made sense and Nedric also realised that if he was just average with his luck he would lose. He wondered if there were any games in the place where the odds might be more in his favour. As they went through more rooms he realised that the best games to play were ones where skill was as important as luck and these were the ones that the big gamblers tended to play. They were also the ones where the unskilled tended to lose all their money fairly quickly so he decided to keep well clear.


    Rialto had found a game where players were invited to buy a ball and throw it at a large board that sloped towards a hole in the centre, rather like a large shallow funnel. The winner was the person whose ball went through the hole last. All the players had to throw the balls at roughly the same time and if thrown well the balls could spin around the funnel for quite a while before dropping through the hole. The complication came when one ball hit another and tended to cause both balls to slow down and hence head towards the hole. Also some players rather than throw the balls around the rim of the bowl tried to make their ball move in slightly more erratic orbits and this meant either they lasted longer or died quickly.


    Rialto had noticed that one player always threw the ball extremely hard and fast and that his ball tended to collide with another rather more rapidly than any other therefore it was advisable to be on the opposite side of the player. He bought a ball and with his first go was lucky to see all the other balls quickly collide whilst his ball kept circling for ages. After a couple more games he won again. He was well ahead but also extremely hooked. He kept playing but without his initial success. He was through his winnings and was starting on his capital when Nedric dragged him away.


    ¡°Just one more go and I¡¯ll be back in profit.¡± He almost begged.


    ¡°More likely you¡¯ll lose all your money. The only winner is the Lion.¡±


    They wandered amongst the games and it was clear from Rialto¡¯s face that he would like to have played on several but that the thought of losing all his money had got through for the moment. As a distraction Nedric looked to see if he could find some entertainment. From a nearby room they could here laughter so they made their way over in that direction.


    In the room was a man who was drawing pictures of the customers. What was causing the laughter was the way that he found a particular aspect of the person and accentuated that in the picture. Sometimes it was a feature, so that a large nose became enormous but at other times it was something in the persons dress or in their character that was illustrated. As they watched he drew a picture of one particularly burly character as a bear but with the facial features almost perfectly captured. Rialto wanted a drawing of himself and the man did a good likeness of him playing a mandolin. When he had finished he added a number of adoring woman looking on in admiration, one of them was in the act of swooning.


    From there they moved to a room where two men were playing instruments whilst singing increasingly rowdy songs. The crowd around them was joining in and drinking at the appropriate times in the songs. It was clear that the Lion would make plenty of money on drinks whilst the duo was about. In another room they watched a man being tied around with chains and then placed inside a large canvas bag. The man emerged fairly rapidly not only free from the chains but also in a completely different outfit.


    They met a man obviously employed to walk around doing small tricks. He produced coins from the boys¡¯ ears and then made them disappear. He got Rialto to choose a card from a pack he carried and then made that card jump from the pack and turnover on the table in front of them. He gave them a box with a coin inside and challenged them to open it without unlocking the box. They couldn¡¯t but he could do it in a second. Taking the box behind him and releasing the coin in a way that they were unable to see. He then moved on but not without making an impression.


    Their final stop was in a room similar to the one that they had entered the previous day in which the young woman had started to disrobe. This time the person on the stage was not taking his clothes off but was rather telling a long, complicated and incredibly funny story. Whilst the boys were unsure what the original part of the story had been the story was told in such a way that it really didn¡¯t matter. The man strayed from the path so often that even when he had finished they weren¡¯t sure whether he had completed the story or just one of the intermediate jokes. Still it was with good humour that they started to make their way out of the building.


    This time they were either a bit luckier or that bit more experienced, as they had no difficulty in finding an exit. They emerged on the seedier side of the building, which was also the faster route back to where they were staying. As they slowly made their way they reflected on their time in the city.


    ¡°I want to live and work here,¡± declared Rialto.


    ¡°I thought you wanted to be the great merchant.¡±


    ¡°Well when I¡¯m not finding new and profitable trade I want to be here!¡±


    ¡°If you work on the boardways then you would spend plenty of time here.¡±


    ¡°Firstly I don¡¯t have the aptitude for working in a place that requires you to do the same thing day after day and secondly I don¡¯t want to spend half my time in the back of nowhere with no comforts and no fun.¡±


    ¡°I thought merchants went to the back of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°For a merchant, the back of nowhere is a small town. Not some desolate bit of countryside that hasn¡¯t seen a person from one year to the next. You know that you will have to spend time in areas that only the boardway engineers will visit. Everyone else will just pass through on a carriage in as few minutes as possible.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t guaranteed that I¡¯ll work on the boardways.¡±


    ¡°What will you do? Juggle for a living. You have the skill and you don¡¯t have a merchant upbringing or the temperament to make a good merchant. You¡¯re too soft in your bargaining.


    ¡°Maybe I will become a juggler it sounds more fun.¡±


    ¡°No guarantee of money. What will you eat, your clubs?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re right.¡±


    They reached the place that they almost thought of as home and went to their room to pack. With their purchases and the additional papers that they now had from the talks over the last week, they only just had enough room for everything.


    ¡°Do you know what I just realised?¡± asked Rialto suddenly.


    ¡°No I¡¯m not a mind reader.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow we get to meet up with Strawn again.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we the lucky ones,¡± said Nedric sourly.

 14. The return of the Strawn

    The next morning they all made their way to the docks and the waiting boat. As they reached their vessel a strangely subdued Strawn accompanied by two guards joined them. The guards had a quick word with the masters, which despite his efforts Nedric was unable to overhear, and departed.


    It took most of the morning for Strawn to regain his normal swagger. His cronies tried to get him to tell them what he had been doing but he avoided talking about the subject and sidetracked them into explaining their week. He didn¡¯t seem particularly impressed with the boardways but he did have a look of wistful envy when they mentioned being allowed to explore the city.


    The voyage upriver was considerably slower and over the next few days Strawn became more and more his normal self but more so. He was more assertive with his group of friends, he was more charming with the girls and he was extremely quick with a snide remark whenever Nedric said anything that he could jump on.


    After a few days of this Nedric was becoming more and more irritated. The masters didn¡¯t seem to care and whilst he could disappear into his room to escape the slights he was extremely loath to do so. His popularity within the group had been at an all time high during their week in Elseth and he didn¡¯t want to be back to being the brunt of Strawn¡¯s jokes. He had an idea and spent some time in his room over the next few days practising.


    On one of the evenings Nedric got Rialto to announce to the group that Nedric had devised a new performance. As there was little to do whilst afloat and they had enjoyed the last show everyone immediately arranged themselves to view this show.


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    Nedric walked into the main room. He had attempted to make a blond wig and although it wasn¡¯t very good, it did give the correct impression. He had also adopted an exaggerated swagger. It was clear to the group that he was meant to be Strawn. He then started to do some juggling but was incredibly inept. After a while and whilst his audience was still laughing, he got out a pack of cards and pretended to be playing a game. He continued with his inept style and after a short while it was clear that he was losing badly at the card game. Eventually he lost the game and in feigned anger brought out a dagger to attack the imaginary opponent.


    There followed a hilarious display of fighting. It was very clear that the opponent was the better fighter and Nedric was soon being thrown around the room. It ended up with his own dagger being pushed closer and closer to his throat until he was forced to concede.


    The group were all laughing, apart from Strawn. The blond boy was getting angrier and angrier. Before Nedric had really finished the show Strawn was racing from his chair to attack him. This was fairly rash as Nedric still had a dagger in his hand but Strawn didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    Nedric had anticipated Strawn¡¯s reaction. When the larger boy attacked he sheathed the dagger and keeping a clear head took the appropriate stance to cope with a rushing opponent. He knew that Strawn was a better fighter but that if he was angry enough he might not think too clearly.


    As Strawn moved in, Nedric moved so that the taller boy was sent sprawling to the ground in a textbook manoeuvre, he followed up by dropping onto Strawn and trying to put him in a restraining lock. Strawn wasn¡¯t co-operating and Nedric was getting slightly worried that he might have got himself into more trouble than he wanted.


    Strawn¡¯s cronies stopped the fight. Two of them grabbed Nedric and the other two helped Strawn up. Somewhat to Nedric¡¯s surprise and relief they didn¡¯t let Strawn go but held him until he calmed down. It seemed that his friends were not going to let Strawn have things all his own way anymore.


    It was a turning point in the relationship between Strawn and Nedric. Every time Strawn would make a sly, digging comment about Nedric, Nedric would mime a dagger at his throat and get a laugh. Soon Strawn stopped making the comments, as he disliked jokes being made at his expense. Over the next few months they became less confrontational and more accepting of each other, there would never be friendship between but maybe tolerance.

 15. Do you remember the dead body in Chapter One?

    When the group arrived at the keep it was a struggle at first to get back into the normal rhythm. In some ways it was made easier by the increased workload that they were now being issued by the masters. Nedric felt as if he was in a pot of water with a tight lid, which was slowly being heated. As they got closer to the exams the pressure was gradually building and Nedric wondered how long it would take before everything exploded.


    Even at end-week they didn¡¯t have time to themselves. The quantity of work was such that even if they had the money to go to the village they wouldn¡¯t have had the leisure. Nedric found that the best way to relieve some of that pressure was to spend a little time each day juggling. Although it was immensely frustrating trying to get the balls or clubs going in exactly the new pattern he was trying to learn, the effort took his mind completely off of everything else. Rialto said that he felt exactly the same playing his mandolin.


    One small distraction from all the work came a couple of weeks after they had come back from their trip. Bronn found him in his room and asked him to visit Captain Tolbeck. Nedric wasn¡¯t aware that he had done anything wrong so wondered what the Captain would want with him.


    ¡°Sit down lad, relax, I just want to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°What about?¡±


    ¡°I want you to tell me everything that happened on your journey. Take your time and don¡¯t leave anything out.¡±


    Nedric started describing his journey and it soon became clear that when the Captain had said he was not to omit anything he wanted a lot of detail. He asked what the taverns were like on the route and he must have visited them many times on his own journeys. He was less interested in the lectures themselves than in the students¡¯ reactions to them. Some of his questions Nedric couldn¡¯t answer as he had not been observing the appropriate person but quite often Nedric was able to answer questions that he had not realised he was capable of answering.


    In all the questioning Nedric wasn¡¯t sure what the Captain was after. He seemed to be interested in one person and then another. He asked Nedric to describe Strawn¡¯s fight in detail. He wanted to know what everyone had been doing as they were being shown around the various parts of the boardway. He even wanted to know what the students had been doing in their free time. By the end of his questioning Nedric was feeling wrung out.


    When all the questions had finished, Tolbeck changed the conversation around to something that Nedric had completely forgotten, the body that he had found several months before. Thinking about it now made Nedric shiver as he thought again of the look of surprise on the dead man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Do you remember that ring we found on that body?¡±


    Nedric thought about it and recalled the strange design; he nodded.


    ¡°As we couldn¡¯t find out anything else about the man I got the guards who accompanied you to talk to a friend of mine at Waterfall. He has been everywhere and he recognised the description. It seems that our man was from Nothering.¡±


    Nedric knew about their northern neighbour apart from the lessons on geography and economics, other than that he was lost as the two countries had very little to do with each other. Sutherland had been founded by a group of slaves who had escaped from Nothering many years ago and the two countries had, after a number of fruitless wars, agreed an uneasy truce that had held for half a century.


    ¡°What¡¯s a man from Nothering doing in these parts?¡±


    ¡°The better question is, what is a member of the shadow guild doing here?¡±


    ¡°Shadow guild?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve no doubt heard all the scare stories in your childhood, behave yourself or the shadow guild will get you!¡±


    ¡°I thought they were imaginary, just intended to keep children in order.¡±


    ¡°Well they are real but they aren¡¯t really scary in a childish way. What do you know about Nothering?¡±


    ¡°Not a lot really. I gather they are a rather religious bunch.¡±


    ¡°Rather religious, a good summation.¡± Tolbeck smiled and continued, ¡°The country is a theocracy, which means that it is ruled by the priests. They decide everything and everyone lives by church law as written in ¡®The Book of the Five¡¯. The shadow guild is the intelligence gathering and enforcement arm of the government. It answers to the priests and they use it to scare the population into doing what they want.¡±


    ¡°So what would one of them be doing here in Asgril? We aren¡¯t in Nothering or subject to the whims of priests.¡±


    ¡°My best guess is that he was here to recruit one of the students to spy for them.¡±


    ¡°What? Why? Who?¡± Nedric was somewhat dumbfounded and spluttered out questions so that he could have time to think.


    ¡°To try and answer your questions, I don¡¯t know who and was hoping that someone might have given themselves away during the trip. As to why, I imagine they want better details on the boardways. We are the only country who has them at the moment and transportation is very important when you are at war.¡±


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    ¡°But we aren¡¯t at war with them at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Mark my words, we will be in a few years. We are due a large conflict soon, they seem to occur every twenty years or so.¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t going to argue with the captain, even though there had been peace of sorts between the two countries for his entire life. He had heard plenty of war stories from the old-timers on the estate where he was born. He still didn¡¯t see the point of the shadow guild recruiting a student to spy for them and said so.


    ¡°You students have just had a wider exposure to the operation of the boardways than most of the workers. You were given the overview and went into all the major areas, shown most of the new developments and have been trained by us to understand what you were shown. Who would make a better spy?¡±


    Nedric didn¡¯t like to think of any of his companions as traitors to the country. He couldn¡¯t imagine that any of them, even Strawn, being that underhand. ¡°Why are you telling me all this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You are the one student I know can¡¯t be a spy. If you were you wouldn¡¯t have told me about the body. I¡¯m hoping that if there is a spy then they might give themselves away at some point and you will be around to notice. At the moment I can¡¯t even be sure that there is a spy. Anyway I served under your father and I trust his son to be sensible and watchful.¡±


    Nedric hadn¡¯t thought about his father for a while and the surprise mention distracted him. His memories were somewhat distant as his death in a stupid accident nine years before meant that generally all Nedric could recall was a large but gentle man with a warm laugh. Nedric hadn¡¯t really been aware that his father had even been in the army. He had worked on many things in and around the estate, none of which required military knowledge. He thought that sometime he would have to ask Tolbeck more about him but not today.


    ¡°So can I tell anybody anything? I share a room with Rialto and he¡¯s going to ask me what you wanted.¡±


    ¡°As I said before I don¡¯t know if we have a spy here and it is safest not to trust anyone. Use your intelligence and if someone acts suspicious or if you remember anything significant then let me know. Otherwise just go about your life normally.¡±


    Nedric walked back to his room with his thoughts churning. It was easy to dismiss the thought of one of the students giving information to an enemy country and then he considered that over half of them were from merchant backgrounds. Merchants were notorious for selling anything if they thought they could make a profit and not put themselves in too much danger. Rialto was just as bad as the others in that regard, always looking for moneymaking potential.


    When he returned to the room he told Rialto that Tolbeck had questioned him about their visit to Elseth and especially about Strawn¡¯s fight. Without actually saying it, he suggested to his friend that the captain wanted an unofficial account of events as well as the account rendered by the masters.


    ¡°Do you think that Strawn has learnt his lesson?¡± Rialto asked.


    ¡°No chance, he has too much of a temper and that is always going to get him into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully when we leave he won¡¯t have anything more to do with us.¡±


    ¡°We can but hope. What do you plan on doing when you graduate?¡±


    ¡°If I graduate you mean.¡± Rialto sounded less than certain about the possibility. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll probably end up working for my father. I can¡¯t see myself on the boardways and the other real option from here is the military and can you see me as a soldier?¡±


    ¡°About as much chance as me.¡±


    Both boys laughed at the thought of either of them joining the army.


    *          *          *


    When he was able to escape the next morning, Nedric went to find Bronn. He met the guard at the front gate and found that he was in extremely good humour. He greeted Nedric warmly and invited him to sit in the guardhouse.


    ¡°Hello there, lad, how are you this fine morning?¡±


    The day was grey and looking like rain was imminent.


    ¡°What¡¯s so fine about this morning?¡±


    ¡°You remember the village mayor.¡±


    ¡°Small man, thinks a lot of himself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the one, so up himself that his shoulders keep sticking on his bum.¡±


    Nedric had to smile at the description. ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°Seems like he has been having a bit of an affair with one of the girls at the keep. Last night his wife found out and you could here the shouting from one end of the village to the other. I¡¯ve never seen him move so fast as when he was dodging the crockery that she was hurling at him. She had a good aim as well, might have made a good guard.¡±


    ¡°So what happened to him?¡±


    ¡°He holed up with one of his cronies at the council, his wife was outside this morning with his clothing and was either throwing it at the building or cutting bits out of it with suggestions of what she was going to do with him when she caught him.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t have happened to a nicer man.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to be the laughing stock of the town after this and no mistake. I can¡¯t see him staying as mayor when people here about it.¡±


    ¡°What about the girl?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say as I know who that is yet. Least as how the mayor¡¯s wife didn¡¯t name her when she was calling him all the names under the sun. Kept referring to her as ¡®that keep strumpet¡¯. I might have to get my Janit to find out which girl it is so there isn¡¯t any trouble up here.¡±


    Nedric was caught off-guard by the casual way that Bronn had mentioned Janit. He didn¡¯t think that Bronn was telling anyone whom he was seeing and if Nedric was to have guessed he wouldn¡¯t have suspected her.


    ¡°Janit!¡± he exclaimed incredulously.


    ¡°One of the finest women in the country. She¡¯s a great cook, wicked sense of humour and she owns her own business. I asked her to marry me yesterday and she agreed.¡±


    Nedric had always thought of Janit as an old woman, when he reconsidered, he realised that she and Bronn were about the same age. He guessed that she might be quite attractive seen with an older man¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Congratulations! When is the big day going to be?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll have to talk to the captain as we thought it might be nice to visit Elseth or somewhere for a few days and I¡¯ll need his permission for any leave.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good city to visit, I¡¯ve just been there and there¡¯s so much to see that I haven¡¯t seen half of it. I¡¯ll probably be going back that way after I graduate, if you¡¯re there when I am look me up.¡±


    ¡°I might have to do that. Anyway what brings you here when you should be studying?¡±


    ¡°Well your captain has put me in a bit of tight situation.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s all this, tell me all about it.¡±


    Nedric explained to Bronn what Captain Tolbeck had said about the ring. He discussed with the guard the implications, that one of the students might be a spy. ¡°I can¡¯t even talk to Rialto about it. My best friend and I can¡¯t trust him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not, if you can share a room with someone for nearly four years and not know whether they were a spy or not then they will never give themselves away. Trust your instincts, you know him better than anyone else. Anyway, if you are wrong he might do something rash and then we will know for sure.¡± Bronn¡¯s tone of voice said that he didn¡¯t mean the last bit seriously.


    ¡°What happens if we do catch the spy?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°Depends on what they plan to do next. If they have no further intentions of passing information we just let the king know and his intelligence service will just keep an eye on the person for a while and then quietly arrest them some time later. If they want to go back to the boardways then we can use them to pass on misleading information. A known spy is one of the most useful things a country can have.¡±


    The bell sounded and Nedric had to hurry off to the first of his lectures. He knew in his own mind that Rialto wasn¡¯t a spy and so he would tell his friend the information about the ring sometime soon. It was a bit of a weight off of his mind. It meant that the two of them could share ideas. Not that they would have much time in the next few weeks as exams approached.

 16. Time to impress

    There was not much time to dwell on anything. The final exams were drawing closer and the workload grew more and more. Whilst most of the lecturers just revised the same topics as they had covered in the past there was still one subject where the students were learning new skills and that was impressing. They had moved on from body parts and were now being told to contemplate abstract objects and unusual situations. Nedric wasn¡¯t actually sure that all of this was truly necessary but as he hadn¡¯t had the chance to try impressing on wood he couldn¡¯t say for sure.


    The lecture that the class was attending started out no different than the rest. They had to do the same visualisation exercises and physical calming processes that they did each lesson. About half way through they were stopped by Master Andern and were each handed a piece of wood. The wood was one that Nedric recognised as grey oak, an extremely common substance. From a dimly remembered lecture he recalled it was the stuff that could be turned transparent.


    It didn¡¯t take much thought to realise what they were going to be asked to do. Master Andern was telling them to examine the wood they each held and to try and picture it in their minds. They were to be as precise as possible in remembering the feel and look of the grain, the smell, he even asked them to taste the wood. He gave them quite a lot of time to get their mental picture of the wood as accurate as possible.


    ¡°I want you to picture that wood in your mind. You are looking down on it and can see every detail of the wood. You are getting closer and the details are getting sharper and sharper.¡±


    ¡°You move closer to the wood, you can no longer see all of the wood as you are too close but the piece of wood in front of you is even more detailed, you can see every little aspect of the wood the slight cracks, the ridges, the different colours.¡±


    ¡°You move even closer to one area of the wood. The details get even sharper but they change. The area that you are looking at doesn¡¯t look like a piece of wood any more, because it no longer seems that flat. The ridges and crevices seem enormous to you. It looks to you as if you could move further in to the wood. You concentrate on just one small area.¡±


    ¡°As you move closer to that small area you can see that it is made up of smaller ridges and crevices. The colours have changed because you can see that the area that you thought was all one colour is really made up of lots of different colours you move closer and what was small is now large.¡±


    ¡°You focus on one small area and now you can see that the bit you are looking at is made of smaller bits and these bits are not still but moving constantly. Although they are moving they don¡¯t seem to move outside a particular area. You look closely at the moving pieces.¡±


    ¡°As the pieces move you focus on one of them. It is one that stands out; it is different from all the others in some way that you can instantly tell. You concentrate on this one moving piece and examine it closely. You are to memorize what this looks like.¡±


    Nedric had been following this process. He had no problem picturing the wood in his mind and it seemed to him that he soared above it. As he moved closer one part of the wood had drawn his attention and as he had got closer and closer he had felt drawn towards a particular point. He was currently seeing a purple-green piece of moving mass that was of an irregular but vaguely cuboid shape. He felt like he could reach out and touch it and maybe stop it moving. Master Andern continued his instructions.


    ¡°Picture that one piece and have it slowly, slowly change shape and colour. It should gradually turn into a red sphere. When you have done this, slowly change it to a dark green tetrahedron. For those of you with bad memories that means a pyramid formed of triangles. Finally add a small blue sphere to one of the points of the tetrahedron.¡±


    The task seemed simple, the shapes flowed from one to another, maybe it was too fast but Nedric didn¡¯t feel that it was the case. He was already trying the next step when Master Andern continued.


    ¡°Do the same thing with one of the pieces next to the one you¡¯ve just changed. When you have the second transformed then link the two pieces so that the point of one touches the sphere of the next.¡±


    ¡°The last step is the hardest. Picture all the surrounding pieces gradually changing shape to match the first two. As you picture it have them linking together so that they join sphere to point. They don¡¯t have to form any special line or shape just link together. Picture the process continuing without you doing anything more. If you can do it whilst keeping the process going move back from the first piece so that you can see more of the wood. Let the process continue.¡±


    Nedric could see the process accelerating in his mind¡¯s eye. He shifted his focus back so that he could get a larger view and could see that one small section of the wood was now all one colour rather than the mixture it had been before. As he gradually brought his focus further away the small spot was lost amongst the rest of the wood. When he could visualise the whole piece the spot was invisible but Nedric felt that it was still growing. He relaxed his picturing and opened his eyes.


    Most of the students around him were still sat in relaxed positions with their eyes closed. It was quite humorous to see some of the contortions that crossed the faces of his fellow students as they concentrated on the task. Nedric looked around and realised that he was the only one who seemed to have stopped. Master Andern was watching him and as Nedric faced him, he winked. Gradually the other students stopped concentrating and opened their eyes. Rialto was one of the last to finish and when he glanced over at Nedric he didn¡¯t look particularly happy.


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    ¡°Now as you all well know, the process if you have completed it properly will not be completed for at least twelve hours so we will stop the lesson for today and resume again tomorrow. Please mark your piece of wood with your name so you can identify it tomorrow. Do not be too hopeful as so far only a few have been successful on their first attempts. If you are one of those, then tomorrow you will need some of your other work as there is nothing else that can be taught in this subject.¡±


    The students filed out of the room. Nedric walked alongside Rialto and asked him what he thought of the lecture.


    ¡°I doubt I did anything to the wood, whenever I tried to change viewpoint I got this feeling like I was doing something foolish and it all went to pieces. I had to try about twenty times just to get something and I doubt the shape I had really changed.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s more to do with belief than what you can visualise. If you don¡¯t believe it will work then maybe it won¡¯t and if you do then it will.¡±


    ¡°That might be the case but there has to be more to it than that otherwise anyone with a strong enough belief would be able to change anything and it only works in very specific ways. I mean if the first person who came up with the technique could visualise anything he wanted then why would he only get transparent wood?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he really needed the wood to be transparent at the time!¡±


    ¡°Well I really need to get impressing if I¡¯m to leave here with a good recommendation. I might not want to work on the boardways but I¡¯m not certain my father has enough work for me and if I don¡¯t get a qualifying pass from here then nobody else will hire me.¡±


    ¡°You know that you don¡¯t need to be able to impress to get a pass from here.¡±


    ¡°True, but you can only really fail in one subject and my maths is worse than my impressing.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, you can work out the costs of prices for stuff at the markets quicker than I can.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s because it is real life. The maths we do here is all abstract.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll just have to help you with the revision examples. You can help me with the martial skills, if you don¡¯t I¡¯ll fail them.¡±


    ¡°We shall help each other.¡±


    The next day they returned to the room for another lecture on impressing. Master Andern was standing in front of the samples so that it wasn¡¯t immediately clear what the results of the previous days efforts had been.


    ¡°Before I start today¡¯s lesson I will point out that from now on, if you are able to turn this wood clear then there is no need for you to attend this room and can conduct your other studies in any place of your choosing. This doesn¡¯t mean that you can avoid work as I will be assessing the quality of your other subjects in the near future as will your other lecturers.¡±


    The students hardly needed reminding that the dates of their final exams were approaching. They were not really sure what it would mean for them to be qualified from the keep but they all felt that there must be some advantage in it otherwise their parents would not be paying for them to be there.


    ¡°I will now pass out your test pieces, as soon as you have received them I want you to put your self in the correct frame of mind to begin work on them again. That means that you should be able to visualise the piece without being distracted from any exterior events.¡±


    Master Andern began handing out the pieces of wood. It was interesting to note that few of the students showed much in the way of disappointment as they received the thing unchanged. Some scowled and set about their work with renewed vigour whilst others looked resigned but tried anyway. When all but two students had begun Master Andern showed that the remaining pieces of wood were both clear.


    ¡°You two can get on with your work here or elsewhere, just do not disturb the other students.¡±


    Nedric looked at the other student, who was Elsebeth, she indicated with a flick of her head and eyes that she would rather leave the room and he nodded in agreement. Simultaneously they stood, gathered their things and left the room.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we are the only ones that succeeded!¡± she said as they closed the door behind them.


    ¡°It seemed pretty easy to me but Rialto was telling me how hard he found it.¡±


    ¡°Well now we¡¯ve got the whole lesson off, I guess we should do some studying.¡±


    Nedric could think of various things that he would prefer to be doing but the exams were just around the corner and he reluctantly agreed, ¡°How about going to the refectory, it will be quiet there and we can get on with our work in peace.¡±


    Elsebeth was agreeable and as they walked along talked about the forthcoming exams and her hopes for the future.


    ¡°I imagine that we will be fairly well paid if we get to work on the boardways. What do you think they will do with us? Will we be working in Elseth? That could be quite fun.¡±


    ¡°I imagine that they will find the least pleasant jobs for us to do, especially to start. They might be fairly short of impressors but I doubt they will treat us like royalty.¡±


    ¡°You could be right. Anyway if we don¡¯t get through these exams they might not take us on anyway. How many people do you think they need?¡±


    ¡° From what I could guess at the number of planks they are using each day, then probably no more than five or six of us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d better get working then, what are you studying at the moment?¡±


    ¡°History, I¡¯m trying to remember which of the kings did what. Why they all want to call themselves Sethel I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to show they are linked with the country I suppose. Well Sethel I founded the country.¡±


    ¡°I knew that! It¡¯s the ones who didn¡¯t seem to do anything much that are hard to remember. What¡¯s special about Sethel XXIII?¡±


    ¡°He was the one that helped develop a new crop rotation system to supplant the four field system that had existed before then.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve made up this rhyme to help me remember, I¡¯ll teach it to you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! That will help me a lot.¡±


    Over the next several days Nedric and Elsebeth developed a study partnership in the absence of their normal study partners. Rialto had confessed to Nedric that he was unlikely to ever get impressing. He just couldn¡¯t believe that anything would ever happen; even when others in the group were successful. On the other hand he was feeling more confident about his maths. Rhianna apparently was determined to succeed with the task but was having problems changing the shape from one to another; she had told Elsebeth that she would get it soon.


    Nedric was surprised that despite her normal quiet appearance, Elsebeth was actually quite talkative and had a wry wit that had him laughing at the way she described their colleagues and every day events. Their study sessions were becoming something he now looked forward to. It was a shame that they didn¡¯t have any more free time. Perhaps they could get together more after the exams were over. As it was he spent all his time studying with her or Rialto or in lectures.


    The days hurried by. The weather was wonderful but none of the students really appreciated it. A beautiful, hot, sunny day is great when you don¡¯t have to do anything but when you are slaving over your studies it is an annoying distraction.


    The younger students who could be regularly heard shouting as they played around the keep particularly annoyed Nedric. Of course they knew better than to do this near the older students but they regularly forgot and all the uppers were getting a reputation for grumpiness. Even Marryn had been heard bellowing at them to be quiet.

 17. The end of the beginning

    None of the students were prepared for the exams when they arrived. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t have a fair idea of what sorts of questions would be asked or the required knowledge. It was the sheer intensity of the number of exams over a short period of time and the pressure that was placed on them by the masters to do their best. All of the students looked somewhat strained and the relief when the final exam was taken was tempered by the wait for the results.


    Even so, for the two days between the last exam and the results the students engaged in more than a few drinks and were noticeably more raucous than normal. They let the whole keep know that they were happy to have finished.


    Nedric spent the first day trying to get Elsebeth on her own but every time he tried he found that Rhianna was with her. It was extremely frustrating. On the second evening Rhianna decided she wanted to spend time with the boys and Nedric was eventually able to talk to Elsebeth.


    ¡°Would you like to go for a walk?


    ¡°Why not.¡± Elsebeth had a shy smile on her face.


    They walked without talking out of the keep and towards the stream. Nedric always liked the sunlight and shadows playing across the water. As they walked he let his arm brush against Elsebeth and when their hands met she put hers in his. Nedric felt as if his insides had somersaulted. He hadn¡¯t known what to say and was scared that she didn¡¯t feel anything for him. With that action she had told him how she felt.


    They stopped and sat by the stream bank, under the shade of one of the trees. Nedric put his arm around Elsebeth¡¯s shoulders and she wriggled closer to him. They talked about all sorts of things, in particular their hopes and dreams of the future.


    *          *          *


    Before they knew it the results were being posted. For each subject the student received a Commendation, Merit, Pass or Fail and an overall score. The top student of the year also received a prize of five golds, which was quite an incentive to do as best as they could. The results were tacked to a wall in the dining room early that morning so that the students could read them before breakfast.


    ¡°Hey Nedric I got a pass for maths, thanks for your help!¡± Rialto seemed more excited by this than the several commendations he had received in other subjects.


    ¡°Too bad I couldn¡¯t help you more with impressing.¡±


    A slight frown passed across Rialto¡¯s face as he was reminded about his one failure.


    ¡°And thanks to you I got through Martial Skills. Although I think the test was easier than they have been promising us.¡±


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    ¡°Probably, some of the instructors didn¡¯t want anyone to fail. On the other hand I don¡¯t think that Master Ernick wanted anyone to pass. It must have annoyed him having to give a commendation to Marryn.¡±


    ¡°Did he get anything other than a commendation in any subject?¡±


    ¡°He might have only got a merit in Martial Skills.¡±


    ¡°Well at least he¡¯s human then, he¡¯s won the prize. I wonder what he will do with the money?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him? He¡¯s on his own over there.¡±


    The two boys went over to Marryn and Nedric asked him how he was going to spend the prize.


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve been collecting recipes over the last few months.¡±


    Both boys nodded.


    ¡°Well I thought that I¡¯d write everything up nice and tidily and then get the book published. If no one wants to buy it then I¡¯ve only wasted money that was a gift anyway and then I can tell myself that I tried. Look up here comes the Overmaster.¡±


    Overmaster Lucern had entered the room accompanied by a middle-aged man with greying hair that Nedric vaguely remembered from the boardways. It was a surprise to see the Overmaster as he rarely appeared at breakfast. It was soon clear that he wanted to speak.


    ¡°May I be the first person to congratulate all of the upper year on the results they have achieved today and say how impressed I have been at the amount of hard work that they have put in over the last four years.¡±


    He paused as applause broke out from the younger students.


    ¡°Whilst some of you may not have got quite the results you wanted you have collectively set a very high standard that will now be a target for the following years. Over the next few days I expect that you will be returning to your families before setting out to make your mark on the world. May I hope that in all your activities you achieve to your highest and show the world the quality of the students at this keep.


    As you know, you now have reached the age when you are expected to work for your living and you should find that graduating from this place will open a few doors in achieving a new job. I am accompanied by Over-engineer Tarim from the boardways who will be happy to talk to those of you seeking employment there and tomorrow we will be visited by Over-Captain Wessuk who is looking for potential officers for the military. Those of you who are joining the family business we hope will have learnt many useful skills in your time here.


    Before I finish and say farewell to this class can I just add that this school was created to encourage learning and that I hope that the students who leave here will do their best to both learn as much as they can and to encourage learning skills in others. Far too few people in this country have anything other than rudimentary education. Whilst you benefit from this in that being better educated you can always find better work than the majority, encouraging others will improve the country and what is more can be quite enjoyable.


    I leave you with the thought that wherever you go in life the real journey started here. Good luck.¡±


    The students all applauded and then started talking amongst themselves. Rialto told Nedric how a letter had come from his father that day telling him that his idea had been a good one and that the results were just beginning to show.


    ¡°He¡¯s invited me to work as one of his supervisors and to hurry back to Tomin when I finish here. From the way he writes he must be quite pleased so perhaps he will look on me with at least as much favour as my older sisters. He has always said that he intends to leave the business to only one of us and my sisters have had a few years to impress him.¡±


    ¡°I wish I had that much security although Andern has sort of hinted to me that if I apply to the boardways they¡¯ll take me. I won¡¯t know for sure until I¡¯ve spoken with Tarim and he might not like me for some reason.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense you are a sure bet. So is Elsebeth so you should be working together.¡± Rialto knew all about Nedric¡¯s feelings for the girl.


    ¡°I hope so, after today I won¡¯t see her until we both start work. She¡¯s off to see her parents in Elseth and I¡¯m staying with my mother for a couple of weeks before going to my job.¡±


    ¡°So we shall all meet up in Elseth some time. It seems strange to leave this place after the years we¡¯ve lived here.¡±


    ¡°At least whatever we do next I¡¯ve got to be somewhere where there is more activity than this place.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got that right.¡± Rialto agreed laughing. ¡°Nowhere can be more of a backwater than here.¡±

 18. Isnt working life fun.

    Nedric swatted the insect and then wiped the sweat from his brow. The relentless heat was a distraction to his concentration. He had another ten planks to process today and he was behind target, which meant working late again. He wouldn¡¯t have minded but he had promised the village children that he would teach them some more juggling skills this evening. He wondered if he could get one of the others to work in his place, although he knew that they were all at least as far behind target as himself. The demand for planks was getting greater and the number of impressors was still limited. Still in a few weeks time the next bunch of students from the keep would be joining them and that should make life easier.


    He idly wondered what would happen to him if he were to just give up for the day. They were unlikely to get rid of him as they were short of trained staff. He really wasn¡¯t very worried about them fining him as he was earning quite a lot and had hardly anything to spend his money on, as the company provided food and shelter. He decided that if he were in the position of his supervisor that he would probably give a hefty fine the first time and get rid of him for any repeat occurrence. At the moment Nedric couldn¡¯t see any other job that he could undertake and so was loathe to give his supervisor any reason to get rid of him.


    The job itself was boring, repetitive and isolated. It might not have been so bad if he had been stationed in Elseth and had the distractions of the city to look forward to in the evening. As it was, Nedric and five other impressors were living in a village in the middle of the largest forest on the continent, with only a few carpenters and the local villagers for company. The village had arisen as a place to supply the needs of the local loggers and as such had only the basic amenities. Someone higher up in the company had decided that the village was unsuitable for women workers and so the only females were the whores that worked the local saloon. None of these appealed to Nedric in any way. They tended to be unattractive, unhygienic and extremely coarsely spoken.


    The children of the village were far less objectionable. They had been drawn to him when he practised his juggling skills in the evenings. At first they had just watched but then one brave lad called Kelwin had asked to try and Nedric had found himself with a group of around a dozen children all wanting to be shown how to keep three balls aloft. In return the children had introduced him to a toy consisting of two flat disks of wood connected by a spindle which was made to rotate by a piece of string attached to two wooden handles. The device could be launched into the air to a considerable height. Nedric had found that there were other tricks that could be done and was having to rapidly come up with new ideas, as the children seemed to learn them faster than he could think them up. It was now the case that he was being taught almost as many tricks as he could devise himself and he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a few of the children became considerably better than him.


    Anyway Nedric was not going to get anywhere by thinking about juggling, he had a load of planks to process and the day was drifting away. He decided that he would have to speed up, using a little trick that he had discovered by accident one day. He first made sure that there was no one to watch him. Nedric believed that if it was discovered that he could work twice as quickly then he would be forced to do so and he wasn¡¯t that dedicated a worker.


    He had to move the planks next to each other, which was awkward as they were not exactly short or manoeuvrable. Nedric had noticed early on that the planks were always left apart before the impressing process began so that they would not be forced apart and possibly cause damage to the planks as the process developed. He had realised that there was no need for this at the start as there was no repulsion. Then he had accidentally started working on a plank that had yet to be properly positioned and was still next to another one. The nearness of the two planks had meant his mental picture had needed to include both planks and he had found that it was then much simpler to perform the process on both planks rather than just one at a time. He was aware that the length of the planks was determined by several restraints, one of which was the capability of most impressors of visualising them. He didn¡¯t want to be thought of as a freak. He was already getting more planks to process, as he was a faster visualiser than most of his colleagues.


    He finished moving the planks back shortly before finishing time and took a short break before walking over to Supervisor Alhern to declare himself finished for the day. The supervisor was also one of the carpenters, whose job it was to prepare the planks by shaping the ends for a tight linkage and coating them to prevent damage from the weather. On the first track built, the effects of changeable weather hadn¡¯t really been thought through and many of the planks had been so damaged that they needed to be replaced. This meant that half of the impressors were working on planks for a track that was less than ten years old. If the same techniques had been used with the newer track then it would probably never be finished, as it was so much longer. In fact it was the new processes that had led to Nedric being exiled in this out of the way place.


    The job of supervisor was not particularly onerous. It involved noting the number of boards the impressors declared to have processed on the one day and actually checking the number of impressed boards the following day. He also had to check the numbers of planks worked on by the carpenters and send the details off on the weekly carriage that brought the supplies and any messages for the workers. Occasionally one of the higher-ups at the boardway would make an inspection visit or one of the workers would be allowed a few days leave to visit their families. Alhern was one of the men who were less than happy at being away from his family for such a long time.


    The supervisor was in quite a good mood when Nedric strolled into his office. Nedric assumed that he had received a letter from his wife as that normally cheered him up for a day and then depressed him for the following two days. Alhern surprised Nedric by having a letter for him, in his previous year he had only had three and two of them had been from his mother. The other had been from Rialto who had been absorbed into his father¡¯s rapidly growing clothing business. Apparently the idea that Rialto had developed in Elseth was not only workable but extremely profitable, they were producing clothing at a fraction of the normal price as each worker was much faster when they didn¡¯t have to work to a different pattern every time.


    As he walked away from the office Nedric recognised Rialto¡¯s handwriting and looked forward to reading it. He walked over to his room and placed the letter in his desk, he would have plenty of time to read it in the late evening, after his juggling tuition. First he had to get some food and then make his way to the village green. This was a small patch of land in the centre of the village that had been cleared and grassed over by one of the more industrious past inhabitants who didn¡¯t want to be always looking at trees. There were a few flowerbeds around the edges and a couple of benches and that was about it. In the heat of the summer the flowers were looking less than fresh as no one now had the inclination to water them.


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    Nedric had acquired a large canvas bag from one of the carpentry sheds and used it for carrying his juggling equipment around. The amount of equipment had grown, as different children turned up without equipment and then had to wait to have stuff made for them. Working with carpenters meant that Nedric could always get things quicker than the children. This evening the group of children numbered about a dozen with ages ranging between eight and thirteen but there was also an adult present.


    ¡°Good evening, I¡¯m Carrite, thought I¡¯d come along and see what my kid has been going on about for the last few weeks.¡±


    ¡°Good to see you, I¡¯m Nedric and you should be proud of the progress that your son Kelwin is making. I¡¯m not sure what he can do with his skills but he has certainly improved since I started giving lessons, half the time he teaches me!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised the amount of time he spends practicing. From what he tells me you¡¯re fairly good yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing better to do than practice. It¡¯s not like there is a lot to do around here and I don¡¯t feel too comfortable in the tavern. The villagers don¡¯t seem to like my workmates and me.¡±


    ¡°Well there are quite a few of the loggers who appreciate you folk. You¡¯re bringing money to the area and that means change, some of the folk here aren¡¯t too keen on change. Come along to the tavern on a end-week and you¡¯ll get a warmer reception.¡±


    ¡°Thanks I might just do that.¡±


    ¡°Seeing as you like this juggling stuff I¡¯ve got an old toy at home that just might interest you, it¡¯s a difficult thing to use but you might enjoy the challenge.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like fun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you later, can¡¯t get in the way of these young ruffians.¡± He smiled at the youngsters.


    Nedric showed the children a trick he had discovered by mistake. If he dropped a ball he could kick it back into the juggling pattern in one smooth motion, he could also bounce a ball off of his knee, which was actually easier. Some of the children had tricks of their own that they wanted to show to the others, most of them were just simple variations on tricks they had learnt before. Some of them looked quite impressive, whilst others were less than spectacular. Nedric tried to show enthusiasm for all of them and was rewarded by smiles in return for praise.


    One of the children had come up with a totally different trick with the spinning discs, or diabolo as it was known, instead of throwing and catching it on the string they threw the diabolo only a short height in the air and then caught it on an angled hand stick. The diabolo stayed on the stick as the spin of it up the stick opposed the pull of gravity down the stick. Nedric was immediately impressed and started practicing it. The group spent maybe an hour and a half swapping tricks and talking. Sometimes the children would start playing a game, which Nedric didn¡¯t mind as long as they didn¡¯t start throwing his juggling equipment around. He had found out painfully that they were less than perfect in their aim.


    After the meeting Nedric returned to his room. He could have joined the rest of the workers in their social area and most nights he would head over there, to enjoy a few drinks and either play cards or throw a dagger at a target. Unfortunately all of these games involved minor betting and he wasn¡¯t particularly good at them. It made him more popular with his workmates as he would generally lose more than he won. The side effect was that Nedric was often short of small change and was loathe to change down golds to lose more money. As a result he spent a few evenings either practicing his juggling or going for walks in the nearby forest.


    That evening he planned to do neither. He had a letter to read and then write a reply if the light held out. He got it from his desk and cut open the seal. The writing was in his friend¡¯s rough scrawl and was therefore difficult to read without several attempts to ascertain the words in each sentence. Nedric was fairly good at deciphering it but the long gap between the last letter and this one had meant the skill had lapsed a little.


    The letter read: -


    Nedders,


    Sorry it¡¯s been so long since I replied to your last letter, business has been better than father expected and he has had me travelling around the country sourcing new materials. It¡¯s likely that I¡¯ll be travelling even further afield in the near future as we reckon we can get better prices if we go straight to the source. I don¡¯t suppose you would happen to own a couple of boats we could borrow, as we will be needing them if we have to transport material from other countries.


    You are probably more aware than I that they are extending the boardway in the opposite direction. This will be a distinct advantage to the business traveller, that is me, as constant horse travel is endurable rather than enjoyable. Perhaps I would do better if I weren¡¯t always given the most boisterous animals to ride.


    I ran into Marryn the other day in Tomin, he asked to be remembered to you. It seems that he has been rather successful with his book. He found a printer who was fairly cheap and kept the price low. It seems that the country was crying out for new recipes as the first editions sold much more rapidly than he expected. Of course it helps that his mother is one of the largest distributor of books in the country. Anyway he is now on his way to being independently wealthy and is travelling around collecting more recipes for a second book.


    Did you hear the news about Strawn? It seems that after he joined the army he was positioned up by the northern border. He was in a local tavern and got into a fight with one of the local tough guys and Strawn pulled a knife on him, gave the man a leg wound. The problem for Strawn was he was in uniform at the time and when the local guards turned up he was instantly arrested. I guess Strawn forgot the regulations about drawing weapons on civilians and he was given the harshest sentence possible, he¡¯s been transferred to the death guards.


    Nedric had to stop reading at that point. The death guards were the group of soldiers who went into battle first. The mortality rate was extremely high, even for those who survived a few campaigns. Being placed in the death guards was little better than being given a death sentence, in fact most of the people in it were those who had chosen it as the only alternative to being hung for one horrendous crime or another. Strawn must have really offended somebody important to be sent there for his relatively minor crime.


    On a lighter note, I am about to become an uncle, as my sister is expecting her first any day now. My mother is now suggesting that it is my turn to find myself a partner and settle down. I told her that I am only seventeen and that father was twenty-two when they met but she doesn¡¯t listen. I think she just wants more babies around the place and as my two brothers seem reluctant to find partners, she feels she can badger me as the youngest.


    I might well be passing through Esteril in my travels and if I can I¡¯ll try to detour to visit you, even if it is a long way out of my way. If I didn¡¯t know better I would swear they put you in the most out of the way place they could find just to get rid of you. Of course it is rather convenient for the timber so you won¡¯t be running short for some time.


    Anyway I¡¯ll catch up with you when I can, if you send a letter to my parents they will see that it reaches me but it might take a while.


    Have Fun!


    One of Nedric¡¯s regrets was that Rialto had not come with him to work for the boardways. As it was, the four classmates who were here with him were people whom he could talk to about unimportant matters but not friendly enough to give advice or to share more intimate information. He had hoped that Elsebeth would be working with him as they had started to get closer in their last few days at the keep but she was still in Elseth and had not replied to the one letter he had sent to her.


    He took out parchment, ink and a quill from his desk and used the dagger he had bought in Elseth to sharpen the pen. Although he had little to write about he should be able to find something to say about his group of trainee jugglers, most of which had tried to brain themselves with the diabolo and with some the clubs as well. He dipped the pen in the ink and began his reply.

 19. Welcome to Nigh

    The letter that arrived the next week was unexpected and promised to change his life considerably. At first he hadn¡¯t recognised the handwriting but the smell of scent that suffused the parchment was more familiar and he eagerly anticipated what Elsebeth had to say. He resisted opening the letter in Alhern¡¯s office and left it in his room so he wouldn¡¯t be distracted during his work. He cut a few corners and finished early so that he could read with leisure before the evening meal.


    My Dear Nedric,


    Although I have written several letters to you, this is the first that I have actually sent. I felt that we were becoming quite friendly at the keep and that this might, if we had spent some more time together led to something more. As we went our different ways I did not wish to presume on a relationship I did not know existed or to dismiss entirely a relationship, which might grow if we were to work together again. This meant that when I wrote letters I was either feeling negative or being too hopeful when I did not know how you feel.


    I am writing now because the situation is about to change. When the new bunch of impressors start working, then most of us will be transferred over to you and so will a bunch of other workers. Before long the village will have doubled in size. When I arrive I want to have some idea about what I can expect between us. I have your first letter but you didn¡¯t write about your feelings only about your situation.


    Although the senior impressors are staying here in Elseth along with the clerical staff, most other staff will be moving. The company can see that having the workers close to the supplies makes economic sense. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised to find that more and more people move across to Esteril in the next few years.


    I look forward to seeing you once again,


    All my love,


    What his feelings towards Elsebeth were was not entirely clear even to him. They had been developing a warmth of friendship unlike any other that Nedric had known. On the other hand he was somewhat limited in his experience with women and was not sure whether he was ready for a deeper commitment. He felt he really ought to spend some time speaking with her before he made any irrevocable decisions; he was only seventeen after all.


    The forthcoming arrival of more workers meant quite a change in the work site. For a start, the buildings they had would not accommodate the proposed numbers. Then there were the additional facilities they would need to accommodate all the different types of workers. The smiths were going to need special premises, as were the impressors as the number of sheds would no longer be sufficient. Then with all the extra numbers they would require a larger canteen and eventually a bigger social area. This all meant a lot of construction. Some of the carpenters started arriving from Elseth and quite a few of the villagers and woodsmen were employed to help.


    Supervisor Alhern soon found that his administration load grew considerably and that he was unable to do the basic requirements of his job because of all of the additional demands. As Nedric was the only impressor who was actually keeping to target, he was roped in to do the basic record keeping required to keep the place running.


    The place was growing before their eyes. Trees were being pulled down to make enough room for buildings to be constructed. The buildings themselves were being roughly constructed, as there was insufficient seasoned timber to make more permanent structures. This would change however as green timber was being set aside and stored in the large impressing sheds.


    The adjoining village was also seeing changes. The general store was being required to provide more and more supplies and was struggling to cope with the increase. Wagons had quite a trek to get to the village from the fairly distant closest towns and farms. Nedric decided to send a letter to Rialto to suggest that he could make money by sending food and other supplies along the boardways and was surprised and gratified when he got an immediate response.


    Only three days after he had sent his letter an unexpected carriage appeared with a livery painted on its side, which made it stand out from the usual plain carriages of the company. The writing said RAN Supplies and the carriage contained two men and quite a large amount of different supplies, tools and other essentials. The two men erected a tent and piled everything inside. Then as one got into the carriage, the other started shouting out a list of wares and prices. As the local tavern and stores lacked anything in the way of luxury there was a steady custom. Before these supplies were exhausted the carriage returned with more and with the makings of a small building. The driver brought a letter to Nedric before trying to hire some of the carpenters to help erect the new store.


    The letter was, as expected, from Rialto who had talked the owners of the boardway into selling him two carriages, which were now being used to transport goods across Setherland, and into Esteril. Already he was making so much money by getting goods to people quicker than the other merchants that he was well on the way to recouping his original investment. That wasn¡¯t taking into account the money he expected to make from the new store at the site where Nedric was located and by the way what was the name of that place?


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    The last was a very good question. As far as Nedric knew the village didn¡¯t have a name and the area that Nedric worked at was always known as ¡®the works¡¯. Nedric decided that he would invent a name for the place and that by repetition and promotion he would get his name to be accepted. He decided to start by putting a sign on the platform where the carriages stopped.


    Getting hold of a piece of wood was simplicity itself. The whole site being in such a state of building that all the things he needed were just lying around. A few nails through the plank and into some support posts and all he then needed to do was to paint it. He decided to use a green background with white writing for no other reason than those were the two colours he was able to obtain most easily. He painted the background and then had to wait a day to do the word. The day gave him time to decide on a name.


    He decided to put the sign in the ground next to the platform during the evening. Early enough that the sound of hammering didn¡¯t disturb people or draw attention to him but late enough that no one would be around the platform. He was fortunate and was not seen during the operation. It made a bit of a stir the next day and soon a crowd had appeared to view the sign.


    Nedric saw the crowd by the platform and wandered over to discover the cause. The group of workers were milling around and discussing the sign that had appeared over night. Nedric had to hide a smile at the commotion. The sign read ¡®Welcome to Nigh¡¯ and the group were discussing what it could mean. When one of the other impressors asked Nedric he offered his opinion that that was the name of the place but had no idea how the sign had got there. As Nedric had spent more time in the village than the others they saw no reason to disbelieve him but still fell to wondering who had made the sign.


    At this point Supervisor Alhern walked up and after having a short look at the sign turned around to the gathered group.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve seen it, it¡¯s a sign, I don¡¯t know who put it there but it isn¡¯t causing any harm or offence so why don¡¯t you get back to work!¡±


    Over the next few days, the sign and its mysterious appearance were brought up in conversation several times. Nedric had to hide a grin each time it was mentioned. He didn¡¯t imagine that he would get into much trouble if anyone found out but he wasn¡¯t definite and any way it was more fun for it to still be a mystery. What gratified him was that the name had stuck. People used it in general conversation without thinking about it. It was good to know that he had named an area and that in all likelihood that name would continue long after he had moved on.


    One time when Nedric entered the supervisor¡¯s office he saw that Alhern had a large grin on his face.


    ¡°Have you had a letter from your family?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, but I have had a letter from our leaders back in Elseth.¡±


    ¡°So what have they said that has made you so happy?¡±


    ¡°They have allowed me to construct some houses for families. Quite a few of the older workers want their families with them and there hasn¡¯t been anywhere to put them. As I¡¯m supervisor I get to have my family move here first. All I have to do now is convince them that they want to move away from Elseth.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s a tough choice, the big city with all it¡¯s shops, luxuries and entertainments or Nigh with it¡¯s woods and one tavern.¡±


    ¡°I reckon it won¡¯t be long before Nigh is quite a lot bigger and has a lot of those luxuries you are talking about. That store that your friend had constructed is getting bigger each day and part of the plans was to have a larger social area. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if some enterprising person arrives with plans to open another tavern, or something else. There are people with money here and that attracts all sorts. I might have to hire some guards to keep order in the near future.¡±


    ¡°You think that we will need them?¡±


    ¡°Where there¡¯s money there will be someone trying to get that money, either through selling something or obtaining it illegally. You mark my words.¡±


    Before he knew it the time had flown. The buildings were ready. All sorts of supplies had arrived to enable the new workers to be able to get on with their work when they arrived. They had found supplies of iron not too far away and a track was being constructed to move it to the works. In the meantime they had horses and wagons and more people to act as miners and hauliers.


    The large group was expected over the next few days. There had been some suggestion that the main body of people should all be sent in one group but it was felt that it would cause too much disruption of schedules that were already falling behind. This meant that carriages had to go back and forth between Elseth and Nigh much more often than ever before and some delays were experienced as the single track prevented passing in other than a few places where sidings had been constructed to allow passage. Nedric heard more than once comments about the need for two sets of tracks.


    Nedric had been handed the job of seeing to the arrival of the new impressors. Most of them were students from the keep so he knew them by sight at least, although a couple were men who had previously been making chillers and saw that a switch of jobs would earn them more money. Nedric found it odd that he was organising, if not openly ordering around, people who were older than himself. Telling younger people what to do did not really bother him but he had no official authority other than that imposed on him by the supervisor.


    As the carriage arrived, Nedric could see Elsebeth peering through the window and taking in the sight of her new home. When she saw him she broke into a large smile and waved and he found himself grinning and waving back. He stopped himself before the group dismounted and did his best to look and sound authoritative as he showed his new colleagues to their accommodation.


    He gave them time to unpack their things and sort themselves out from the journey. It was no coincidence that Elsebeth was the last person he showed to a room. As she was the lone woman in the group, she had accommodation with other single women with other skills. There wasn¡¯t much order to the place at the moment as there weren¡¯t many single women but the plans were there for more to be arriving in the near future. There were many different skills needed and although few women decided to go into jobs that involved heavy lifting there were some. Also there would be need for people to do many other jobs.


    As he showed Elsebeth to her room, Nedric didn¡¯t know what to say to her. They engaged in small talk but there was a tension caused by the length of time they had been apart. Nedric had been carrying one of her bags, when he reached her room he put it down but being distracted he dropped it on his foot. As he hopped around the room, cursing, Elsebeth started to laugh. Nedric couldn¡¯t help himself and started to laugh as well. It wasn¡¯t that funny but neither seemed to be able to stop laughing, when one would die down the other would look at them and then the laughter would start up again. Eventually they both collapsed side by side on the floor.


    When Nedric looked at Elsebeth the tension had gone and they were able to speak without the self-consciousness. There was an unspoken agreement that they were going to spend a lot of time together and that thoughts and feelings would be discussed in depth later. For now they could enjoy each other¡¯s company.

 20. If you go down in the woods today

    The next few weeks were incredibly busy. His de facto role as head of the impressors at the works was made permanent, which meant an increase in money, which hardly affected him, and a lot of time spent checking on the others. This ate into his free time as he was still expected to produce the same quantity of impressed boards as everyone else. Apart from that he still had a commitment to the children of the village, which were being added to by the arrival of families from Elseth. Then there was some socialising with the woodsmen. Nedric felt that it was important to keep these people happy, as they were the backbone to the whole operation, without them everything would stop.


    Lastly there was a continual commitment to Rialto who expected Nedric to supply him with a list of new requirements for his store. Nedric wasn¡¯t really sure why he had to do this, as there was a shopkeeper who controlled the day to day running of the place and had hired two assistants to help out now that the demand for goods had grown. If Elsebeth had not been prepared to go with Nedric and help him where she could, then he did not know when he would have had the time to be with her.


    They managed to grasp a few moments together over meals and later on in the evenings. The other impressors did their best to help by not interrupting the pair during the few minutes each day that they spent together but even so it seemed like they had hardly any time to themselves.


    For a while they stayed up into the small hours talking about everything and nothing. In theory Elsebeth was meant to sleep in one cabin and Nedric in another that was the other side of the site. However as no one objected they usually spent the time in Nedric¡¯s room, as it was slightly bigger. They stopped the late nights when they realised that the lack of sleep was affecting their jobs.


    Although they enjoyed their time together, neither of them indicated by their words that they wanted to make it a permanent relationship. Nedric having known no other women was unwilling to commit himself to his first relationship and Elsebeth probably felt the same. Still, despite occasional arguments, neither showed any inclination to leave the other.


    Finally things began to slacken off a little. Supervisor Alhern had decided that the children of the village and the works were getting in the way as much as they helped around the place. He decided that they would all be schooled, partly to keep them out of mischief but also because it was in the companies interest to have better educated youngsters who would be able to take on some of the skilled jobs in a few years time.


    This meant that Nedric didn¡¯t have to spend so much time with the children as they now had to spend much of their time helping around their homes in the evening. He still spent one evening a week with them but they now met in a large hall in the works, which meant that it was only an hour or so he spent with them rather than the whole evening.


    As the workload had increased the woodsmen found themselves with less time and so Nedric would only spend the evening of the end-week with them and as the impressors became better organised and relaxed in their role at the works the routine speeded up. By early summer Nedric and Elsebeth began to have some time for themselves.


    Mostly they would go for walks through the woods in the warm evenings. The effect of the woodsmen had been to create a number of clearly marked routes as well as tracks that branched off from these to gradually become smaller and smaller. At each intersection was a post with a number and arrow carved into it. The number gave an idea of how far away from the village it was and the arrow pointed to the easiest route back. The idea was that even in fog or a snowstorm no one would be lost if they found one post.


    All the villagers and woodsmen knew the surrounding area well but it seemed to Nedric that they rarely were able to appreciate the beauty of the place. There was an air of grandeur that filled him with a sense of profound peace. The woods seemed to affect Elsebeth the same way and so their walks were as close to idyllic as he could imagine.


    One evening they were walking alongside the river that the woodsmen had previously used to send their logs to the nearest town. Nowadays the demand for wood was almost all local and the river was one of the quieter areas in which to wander. As they walked the sunlight would catch on the water and where the river passed over rocks the spray would glimmer like a rainbow. A cooling breeze came off of the river and sent errant strands of Elsebeth¡¯s hair in all directions.


    Nedric could not imagine anything more enjoyable. He pulled her over to the trunk of a fallen tree and they sat down. He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and she wriggled hers back between them so that she could hold him around the waist. She looked up at him with her deep dark eyes and he felt that he could lose himself in them. He kissed her and she responded in kind, a few moments when the world disappeared and there was just them.


    ¡°That was fairly pleasant.¡± Nedric said with a grin.


    ¡°Only fairly pleasant, you can¡¯t have been trying properly.¡±


    ¡°Well I guess I¡¯ll have to try again then.¡±


    They bent to kiss again. As their lips touched Nedric thought he heard a rustle in the woods behind him and then the world went black.


    It could not have been much later when Nedric came round to find his head thumping. He tried to feel it and discovered that his hands were bound together. When he tried to move he learnt that his legs were similarly bound and he realised there was a cloth in his mouth. From where he lay all he could see was the log on which they had been sitting and the bound legs of someone that he guessed was Elsebeth.


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    ¡°Are you sure that that is the right woman?¡± A male voice asked from behind him.


    ¡°She¡¯s the only female impressor in the camp so she must be.¡± A second and slightly deeper voice replied.


    ¡°How can you tell she¡¯s the impressor?¡±


    ¡°Well she¡¯s obviously not a villager or a carpenter or smith.¡±


    ¡°She could still be a clerk.¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯t got any here yet, or so I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    ¡°What should we do with him? Kill him?¡±


    ¡°Take them both with us, we can always kill him later and they might want him anyway.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me, letting them decide.¡±


    Nedric heard one of the men moving back into the woods. He tried to wriggle round to see Elsebeth and was rewarded for his efforts with a kick in the back.


    ¡°You stay right where you are, or the next kick will be to your head.¡±


    There was nothing he could do. He lay there as the other man returned with donkeys and was hoisted onto one so that he lay belly down across the saddle. The men tied him in place and presumably did the same to Elsebeth as they were soon moving off into the woods.


    He tried to keep track of where they were going. It wasn¡¯t easy as mostly all he could see was the side of a donkey. His head was killing him and the blood rushing to it was making him feel sick. They were soon off of from the paths he knew and were heading away from the river and into the deep forest beyond the near hills.


    At some point Nedric must have passed out as when he opened his eyes it was to find that they had stopped. The ache in his head had dulled to a throb but that just let him feel other aches where his body had lain for far too long over the donkey.


    ¡°Dump them in that shed,¡± he heard the second voice say.


    He felt himself being pulled off the animal and then he was being dragged by his arms, backwards into one of the buildings. The pain where his arms were being wrenched at the sockets was fairly intense as the man just pulled harder if Nedric snagged on the uneven ground. Eventually he was dumped inside some sort of shed and left there. He heard the sound of a bolt being thrown across after the door closed and he was left in darkness.


    Nedric tried to think, he had to get away from these men but his mind did not seem to be working. Everything seemed fogged. As he lay there he could feel his stomach wanting to heave and was barely able to resist it. He tried to decide on a first step but even breathing was difficult with the cloth in his mouth. Finally he just gave up and let the darkness wash over him.


    The cold of the night woke him up. It was summer so it wasn¡¯t that it was excessively cold, but lying still and with inadequate clothing it was bad enough. Perhaps the sleep or the cold had cleared his head a little as he now saw that the first thing he had to do was to get the ropes off. He couldn¡¯t see anything in the dark that might help so he just wriggled his arms around trying to ease the tension on the ropes.


    Pulling on the ropes made the knots tighter but gave him a little extra rope with which to play. They had been tied around the bone of his wrist so gradually easing the strands over the bone and onto the flexible part gave him more rope to play with and loosened the grip the rope had on his arms. He could gradually feel the blood flowing back into his hands. This was almost as painful as the ropes.


    Having eased the loops a little, Nedric then tightened the rope as much as he could stand in order to have enough slack on one side that he could ease that hand through the loops. Eventually by straining and grazing one hand raw he was able to get a loop over his thumb. Trying to get his fingers through the loop seemed an impossible task. Eventually he was managed it and one loop was free.


    That made it simpler. The other loops came off much more easily than the first and with one hand free it was simplicity itself to free the other. Although the knots on the ropes around his legs were tight they came away quickly enough and the cloth gagging him came out with relief. He could move and that was one step towards being free.


    He explored the confines of the shed. The building was maybe six foot wide and ten foot long. Made from half logs and securely nailed onto sturdy uprights. The roof was slanted so that on one side of the shed it was maybe six-foot high and the other eight-foot. He guessed that the shed had been used for storing firewood as their was sawdust on the floor and very little else. There wasn¡¯t anything that he could use as a weapon other than the rope and there seemed no way out other than through the bolted door.


    As he sat in the shed he was gradually aware that he was able to see the outlines of the logs in the wall opposite. There was a small amount of light coming in through the gaps between the logs but nothing from the roof. As dawn was breaking Nedric expected the men to start stirring at some point and was hoping to be able to get the jump on the one who at some point opened the door on him.


    It seemed like hours later when he at last heard sounds of movement outside. He could hear two people moving around but the sounds were some distance away and no one seemed to be interested in approaching his shed. The two men talked as they worked, Nedric could guess from the sounds that one was looking after the donkeys whilst the other was chopping wood. Their conversation was mainly about how long they would have to remain in this place and what they would do with the money they were expecting when ¡®they¡¯ arrived.


    When the two started talking about Elsebeth, Nedric pressed his ear to the door in order to hear as much as possible. A lot was inaudible through the other noise and the distance but the odd word and sentence drifted across to him.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind impressing her with something!¡±


    ¡°Why do they want her?¡±


    ¡°Should lose him¡±


    ¡°need impressors¡±


    ¡°why not have some fun first?¡±


    ¡°they might not like it!¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t clear who ¡®they¡¯ were but it sounded like it could be people from Nothering. The two men had obviously been hired to get Elsebeth. Why her and not any of the other impressors he couldn¡¯t explain apart from her being the only woman. He hoped that they would both be able to escape quickly. They might need impressors as was clear from the fact that he was still alive but the way they had treated him so far suggested that they didn¡¯t care what condition they were in.


    Finally someone remembered he existed. He could hear them moving closer and braced himself against the wall so that he could push forcefully against the door when it opened. He heard the bolt pulled back and flung himself at the door, hoping to surprise the man behind it.


    The door swung back much more easily than expected as it failed to connect with anything other than the side of the shed. Nedric following after it tripped over something and found himself face first in the dirt. A foot slammed into his side and knocked the breath out of him and then a knee was planted firmly into his back whilst the man grabbed Nedric¡¯s arm and forced it behind his back.


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve got some spirit. Now get back into that shed before I break both your legs.¡±


    With that, Nedric was shoved back into the shed where he sprawled on the wooden floor. Behind him he heard thumps as things were thrown in behind him. The door slammed shut and he heard the bolt slam. He turned around to see what had been left for him. There was bread, cheese, a wooden bowl of water and another larger wooden bowl that Nedric could guess how to use.


    All in all Nedric¡¯s escape attempt had not got very far, he hadn¡¯t even had a chance to see how the other buildings were arranged. In fact he had learnt only two things. The first was about his captors, he now knew who they were. Holkum and Melkum were brothers and mercenaries. They hired out as guards to anyone who had the money to pay them. He had seen them outside the village tavern throwing out drunken woodsmen and easily handling the strong men as if they were children. The two had a bad reputation when crossed and were known to have broken the arms of anyone who pulled a weapon on them.


    Nedric had also noticed that the shed was made of grey oak. He needed to use that fact and his brain against the brothers. Although good fighters, he doubted if either of them were overly endowed with intellect. If he planned correctly he should be able to escape. All he had to do was figure out how.

 21. Plan to escape

    Nedric had a plan but he needed more information. It was no good trying to escape from one brother if the other one was likely to be ready and waiting for him when he made his escape. Then there was the matter of Elsebeth and how he could rescue her. He would be lucky if he could disable one of the brothers, let alone both. He thought that he might be able to get away himself but as yet he could see no easy way to help her and that caused him some anguish. Worse though was that he felt that he was under a time limit. He had no idea when ¡®they¡¯ would arrive and what they would do.


    In the end there was nothing to do but wait and see what chance would bring his way. He knew that he was unlikely to be able to overpower either man and that it was his mind that must work for him. He guessed that they could not be more than a few miles from Nigh but in the forest there was no easy way to tell where they were and even if he could get away he might easily get lost unless they were close enough that there were markers to help him.


    In the mean time he had the shed and a collection of various scrapes and bruises. There was little that he could do but he spent some time kicking at the logs to see if any were loose. He tried kicking at the door as well but it seemed to be securely held and if his plan were to succeed he didn¡¯t want it to be easy to break down. At last one of the brothers told him to stop making so much noise or one of them would break his legs for him. He stopped in the hope that they would think they had subdued him.


    Instead he decided to do some exercises. He knew that he was nowhere near as fit as he could be due to his work. An impressor spent long hours in one place, doing what looked to anyone else as not very much. It also took a lot of concentration and a great deal of energy but that wasn¡¯t apparent. Nedric had felt completely exhausted for most of the time he had been working. He wasn¡¯t sure that getting a job had been such a good idea.


    The exercises hurt, or rather his limbs and body hurt from the abuse they had received in the previous few hours. As he exercised he could feel every ache and bruise but gradually as he put more effort in to his exercises the pain began to fade a little. The movement easing out some of the soreness from maltreated muscles. Nedric made sure that he was exercising in the way he had been taught at the keep. He didn¡¯t want to strain any muscle that he might need for his escape and make his freedom harder to obtain. He engaged in stretches at first and when he felt more able to move tried a variety of jumps. Incidentally checking that the roof was firmly supported and that there was no escape there.


    At some point in the day he realised that there was no putting off the inevitable and made use of the larger wooden bowl. He found the process demeaning and it angered him. What right did these men have to dictate how he performed basic bodily functions? It was bad enough that he was a prisoner without having to be degraded as well. He decided he would try to escape the next morning.


    As soon as the day began to cool he started. Although this was by far the easiest part of his plan, today it was hard to concentrate and without a calm mind nothing would happen. He had to force himself to forget where he was and did so by going back to some of the basic mind calming exercises he had learned at the keep, eventually he reached the appropriate level of calm and concentrated.


    Melkum slid back the bolt to the shed door and waited. There was no rush to the door but then he wasn¡¯t really expecting one today. Prisoners were all the same, first time the rush, second time the lurk behind the wall. He had no intention for falling for either. If the person stayed in the shed he would just throw his food in with him. If he rushed out he would get the same treatment he had received the day before. Still it was rather quiet in the shed.


    He eased the door open, something wasn¡¯t right! He could see that there was no one lurking along the wall but what was wrong was that he could see too well. The shed should be dark, not well lit. He opened the door wider and looked in. He could see the bushes behind the shed. The prisoner had escaped! He went into the shed to see how it had been done.


    When he entered the shed he heard a noise. If his reactions had been a little bit quicker he would possibly have avoided Nedric falling on him. As it was he moved just enough for his temple to connect with a flailing hand holding a wooden beaker. It momentarily stunned him enough for Nedric to hit him again and then kick him in the head for good measure. As he was sprawled on the ground, Nedric moved out of the shed and bolted it behind him.


    The shouts behind him started almost immediately. Nedric didn¡¯t stop to think and ran into the forest, he had to get away as quickly as possible. Behind him he could hear Melkum shouting and Holkum coming over to the shed to investigate. This was his one chance to get to Elsebeth so he started to circle around the buildings keeping out of sight and hoping that the brothers would do something stupid like rush after where they thought he was heading.


    He moved to where he could see the door to the loggers cabin but was hidden by some bushes. He could hear the two moving around in the cabin and then a scream, which must have come from Elsebeth. Then the two men emerged through the door with a squirming Elsebeth held with an arm behind her back being forced between them.


    ¡°We know you¡¯re out there. If you can¡¯t see me you can here this.¡±


    Melkum pulled Elsebeth¡¯s arm further behind her back and she screamed.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t come back here right now, we¡¯re going to break your girlfriends arms.¡±


    ¡°Run away, Nedric! Get help!¡±


    Elsebeth shrieked with pain, as her arm was forced further up her back. Nedric could see the contortions of agony on her face and almost stepped forward but his head told him that it was senseless. Holkum went back into the cabin and retrieved a bow and an evil looking dagger. He passed the knife to his brother who was still gripping Elsebeth in a way to keep her screaming.


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    ¡°Well, how about if we play with your girlfriend, will that bring you out?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out for ourselves what sort of a woman she is.¡±


    Melkum didn¡¯t bother with undoing any of her clothes but rather ran the dagger down the front of her blouse so that the buttons went flying as they were cut off. Melkum put a hand inside her blouse and shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have fun with you¡¯re woman unless you get here right now.¡±


    There was a noise at the other side of the clearing. Before Nedric could stand up to save Elsebeth any more indignity, Holkum had put an arrow to his bow and shot in the direction of the noise. Nedric eased himself further away from the clearing.


    He could hear Melkum berating his brother.


    ¡°You stupid moron. He¡¯s hardly going to come out now if he thinks he¡¯s going to be killed. Now you¡¯re going to have to go and find him.¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°Because I have to guard this girl in case he tries to come back for her whilst you are out finding him. Now get hunting.¡±


    Nedric backed even further and heard the crack as a twig broke under his foot. Holkum heard it and an arrow was speeding in his direction. He threw himself out of the way and heard the arrow bury itself in the soil where he had been moments before. He could here one of the brothers running towards him and picked himself off the floor and made a mad dash for cover.


    He ran through the forest as if his life depended on it. Undergrowth tried to cling to him but he didn¡¯t notice it so fixed was he on the idea of getting away. He could hear the sounds of pursuit and he ran as hard as he could away from them. There was no thought in his actions, just the need to run.


    He was no athlete, soon his lungs were burning as he tried to move and the sounds of pursuit seemed just as close as before. An unseen branch, hidden in the leaf litter tripped him and he sprawled in the forest dirt. He was up again and running as soon as he could sort out his limbs.


    He ran downhill, it wasn¡¯t that he consciously made the choice but it was easier and his legs were tiring quickly. Strangely his mind was aware of odd fragments of his flight. The colour of the moss on one of the branches under which he ducked. The sound of a bird warning others about the commotion beneath. The strong, sweet smell of one bush with bright-red blossoms that swelled around him as he ran over it, crushing many of the flowers. He was stumbling more often and the sounds were getting closer.


    There was a large bush in his way and he took a leap over it. As he was leaping through the air he realised that there was no forest floor on the other side of the bush. He hit the slope that fell away in front of him and buckled at the knees. He was rolling and he had no control. He desperately clawed at a small bush only to have it come out of the ground in his hands and then when he thought he would never stop he hit a small tree that knocked all the breath out of his body.


    Panic made him grab for the tree when he realised that his legs were just hanging over an edge. The earth was sliding from under his body but he held the tree limb in a death grip. He tried to find some purchase for his feet.


    It was then he heard the movement above him. Whichever of the brothers had been following him obviously knew the area well enough not to have followed his route precisely as he stopped at the top of the slope presumably looking down. Nedric froze. He couldn¡¯t believe that he hadn¡¯t seen him but he was still moving around and was not getting any closer.


    When they moved off, Nedric realised he had been holding his breath by the gasp he made as he let it out. He was still hanging there and he didn¡¯t seem to be able to touch anything with his legs. He was going to have to pull himself up with his arms.


    This presented a problem. He was going to have to let go with one hand in order to move his hand up the branch and pull himself higher. He didn¡¯t feel like he had the strength to do it. He had heard the phrase ¡®a cliff-hanger ending¡¯ and hadn¡¯t expected it to refer to his life. He could feel the slight protuberances in the smooth bark of the branch move slightly under his fingers and knew that he would not be able to hang on for much longer.


    His hands slipped a bit and he gripped the branch for his life. His wildly swinging legs touched something and then lost it again. It gave him some hope and he swung in his legs again until his left foot touched a bit of rock. It was only a toehold but it let him put a little weight onto the rock and off from his arms.


    With one foot in a firm support, Nedric felt more secure. He slid slightly further down the branch and was able to find support for his right foot. He now had three supports and felt secure enough to look down. He almost wished he hadn¡¯t.


    Looking down he could see a fifty or sixty-foot drop with rocks below. He was suspended at the top of a cliff that stretched in both directions for hundreds of feet. Below the forest started again and he could see treetops stretching for miles. Nothing looked familiar but that wasn¡¯t his immediate concern. It was more important that he got down without killing himself.


    That was made difficult by the contour of the cliff. Whilst his feet had purchase, his hands were holding a branch and there were no easy handholds as the cliff went in at this point. His only option was to ease himself down whilst holding onto the branch until he could get a better grip. Fortunately the rock looked fairly weathered below him and he hoped that meant footholds.


    He slid his hands down the branch and felt with his foot, nothing! He tried sliding down a little further. The strain on the branch must be tremendous but if he were only a foot lower he would be able to reach his old foothold with his hand. He eased down a little further letting his foot feel for holds as he moved.


    Suddenly the branch he was holding moved. There was a loud ripping sound as it started to pull away from the trunk. The jolt almost threw him from the cliff face. He was now only a few inches from the handhold. He should now be able to get hold of it, of course that meant letting go and with a nasty fall waiting for him he wasn¡¯t keen on the idea.


    ¡°This is either the bravest or the stupidest thing I¡¯ve ever done,¡± he muttered to himself. He let go of the branch, which whipped up out of his reach. The fall towards the handhold seemed to take forever but finally his hand was able to close on the rock and he breathed a sigh of relief when his other hand found a hold just below. He now was hanging from his hands and one foot but at least the cliff was unlikely to break. Stretching his leg he was able to get a foothold and at last he could breathe more easily.


    Going down wasn¡¯t easy but it was nowhere near as frightening as those first few minutes. At one point he had to make his way across the face of the cliff, as he could find no footholds below him. At another point there was a slight ridge where he was able to sit and rest.


    He took the opportunity to look below him; he didn¡¯t want to find that he had gone through all this just to have one of the brothers waiting for him at the bottom. There was not a sign of a person or indeed of any habitation as far as he could see. The sun was beating down on him and he felt exhausted and slightly giddy but with less than twenty feet to go he was confident he was going to get away alive.


    When he had recovered sufficiently he climbed down the last stretch of the cliff. Finally his feet touched the ground and he nearly collapsed with relief. His heart was thumping and his arms felt like they had been stretched beyond bearable limits. With limbs that felt like they had turned to jelly he had to sit down for a few moments to recover. Now he had to get back to the village, the only problem was that he had no idea where he was.


    His thoughts turned to Elsebeth. He wanted to get back to Nigh as quickly as possible so that he could return with a few of the Esteril Rangers and rescue her. He knew that the two thugs were unlikely to hurt her, as if they intended to carry out any of their threats they would have done them rather than just threatening. In spite of this logical thinking he still hated the fact that he was leaving her with them and was filled with rage at the thought of them handling her as they had.

 22. Return to Nigh

    Nedric rationalised that the reason that he could see nothing that he recognised when he looked out from the cliff face was that he was up one of the mountains that overlooked Nigh and that he was on the far side. It made sense with the distance that they had travelled to reach the place and what was promising was that it was well within the range of the woodsmen.


    If his reasoning was correct then all he had to do was circle around the mountain and find one of the tracks and he could follow the posts from there on in. The first task therefore was to get walking and try not to drift too far off course.


    The problem normally when walking in a forest is that unless you are moving along a path you cannot tell where you are travelling. As you move to avoid trees there is a tendency to move slightly away from your set path and with some routes seeming easier than others, before you know it you are heading in completely the wrong direction. Nedric had the cliffs to follow for part of the way, which made his journey easier.


    When the cliffs made way to steep slopes he then had to mark his route. He checked his route behind and lined himself up so as to aim at something visible in front of him. When he reached that point he checked behind him again to see that he hadn¡¯t gone too far off course. He wanted to keep at the same altitude so he had to make sure his path kept to a level rather than a straight line but that wasn¡¯t too difficult. He knew if he kept going he would cross the path that the brothers must have taken to reach their retreat. He tried to move as quickly and as quietly as possible as he didn¡¯t want a brother surprising him but he tended to snag on the undergrowth, which slowed him down.


    Eventually he reached a path leading down. This was where he had to be most careful. If there was only the one route from the cabin leading down towards the village then all someone had to do was wait for him at the bottom of the path. Of course if there was more than one path or they thought he had escaped already or killed himself then they might not be waiting. It was a risk that he would have to take but he wasn¡¯t going to do it without being as careful as possible.


    Walking down the track, the forest floor kept his footfalls quiet and the lack of undergrowth meant that there was little sound from his passage. Sometime past someone had cut down most of the trees along one side of the path and that meant that it was open to the sky, unlike most tracks in the area. Grasses had taken the opportunity and their rich green foliage contrasted with the browns of the earth under the trees.


    As he walked birds warned him away from their area with their cries. Occasionally he noticed mammals bounding across the ground and into the trees. They moved sufficiently fast and through thick undergrowth so that all he could see was a flash of movement before they disappeared from view. If the situation had been less dire he could have enjoyed the journey.


    When he reached an intersection with nothing stopping him the sense of relief was immense. He didn¡¯t recognise the number on the post but he committed it to memory and followed the arrow, increasing his pace as he relaxed his vigilance slightly. If he hadn¡¯t been stopped yet the chances were that he had made a clean break.


    By the time he had reached the next intersection he had broken into a jogging run. It wasn¡¯t particularly fast but it covered the distance more quickly than a walk. He could keep going at this pace for at least a couple of miles before he would need to rest a bit by walking. Unlike his previous run, which whilst much faster had tired him quickly he knew with a bit of walking he would be recovered enough to keep the run going after only a short spell.


    As he moved at first all he could think about was his breathing. After a while when he had developed a steady rhythm he no longer had to think about his breathing, instead his mind was filled with one of the tunes that Rialto had played regularly back at the keep. He tried to think of other things but that tune kept coming back to him as the rhythm of the piece fit with the rhythm of his running.


    It was a couple of hours before Nedric reached a part of the forest that he recognised. The change from the unknown to the known gave him heart and he speeded up. He felt that he ought to have met someone already but clearly the brothers had found a place away from the current logging operations to use as their base of operations.


    By the time he reached the works, evening was closing in and the place had the silence of a work area stopped for the night. Nedric passed several colleagues who gave him a slightly strange look as he went past but he didn¡¯t have time to be concerned about that. He had to find Alhern so that they could send out a team to rescue Elsebeth.


    The supervisor wasn¡¯t in his office, which given the lateness of the hour was hardly surprising. Fortunately in the small world of Nigh, everyone knew where everyone else lived and Nedric made his way over to the cabin that held the supervisor and his family.


    It was clear by looking at the cabin that this was the residence of the most important person around. Although the supervisor was not one for grandiose living, his home was the only one to have been built with seasoned wood and the other carpenters had made a special effort when they constructed it. Each line was true, no gaps showed between the planks. The roof had flutings along each edge that were not only decorative but served to channel the rainfall. The building was larger than any other house in Nigh but there was a warmth and comfort to it that spoke of family and home.


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    The fence that surrounded the building was meant to mark the boundaries of a small garden rather than to stop the animals of the forest. Sufficiently high to prevent the passage of a small child, it was low enough that Nedric could jump over it rather than using the perfectly serviceable gate. His urgency was such that he wanted no delays and so he took the shortest route.


    Pounding on the door evoked an angry response, which was curtailed when the door was flung open and Alhern was able to see Nedric standing before him.


    ¡°What the hell happened to you?¡±


    What Alhern saw, was one of his workers panting from running hard, clothing covered with stains from the woods and cliffs. Three days in the same clothing had done nothing to help and Nedric looked more unkempt than he had ever looked. He had always made an effort to look smart for work so the sight shook Alhern.


    Nedric was fighting to get his breath. He panted as he spoke.


    ¡°They¡¯ve got Elsebeth! We have to rescue her!¡±


    ¡°Calm down a bit lad. Who¡¯s got her? Where is she? Take your time and tell me everything.¡±


    As he spoke, Alhern guided Nedric into the house and sat him down. His wife, seeing the state that Nedric was in, immediately set about making a hot drink and whilst that was brewing Nedric had time to get his breath back and collect his thoughts.


    He told them what had happened in short, terse statements, trying to say as much as possible as quickly as possible. As he spoke Alhern began to look grim and stopped Nedric part way through the tale.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I need to know for the moment. Now we need to get things moving. First off you need to get a little rest whilst I organise a rescue party. You look like you haven¡¯t slept for a week and you won¡¯t be any use in that state.¡±


    Nedric tried to protest as Alhern¡¯s wife led him to their bedroom, but the truth was that he felt extremely tired. He wasn¡¯t used to as much exercise as he had undergone that day and he hadn¡¯t slept well for the previous two nights. Whilst he had been moving he had felt fine but as soon as he sat down he felt incredibly weary.


    He collapsed on the bed as soon as he had removed his boots and was fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He wasn¡¯t even aware of the light blanket placed over him.


    *          *          *


    He awoke several hours later to find Alhern standing over him. The supervisor had an expression on his face that seemed to merge pity with grim determination. Nedric rubbed the sleep from his eyes as sat up and reached for his boots.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ve sent a carriage to get some rangers but they are at least a day away so we are going to try and get her back ourselves. We were hoping that you could lead us to them, as with luck we can get there before dawn. If we¡¯re lucky then we will catch them sleeping and we can rescue Elsebeth without them having a chance to hurt her. I¡¯ve got a few good people outside waiting for you, are you capable of making the trip again?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Standing up, Nedric was suddenly very aware of all the aches in his body. The strain of his leg muscles after their unaccustomed running almost had him falling over as he walked to the door. Each bruise seemed to draw attention to itself but the worse pain came from his arms, which felt as if they had been stretched out of their sockets and then carelessly put back in. The pain was great but irrelevant; he had to help Elsebeth. She was relying on him.


    As they walked out of the house, the number of people outside surprised Nedric. There were carpenters and impressors from the works, there were people from the village and surprisingly there were a couple of woodsmen. He was surprised that any of the last could be found as they generally spent the week out in the forest, only returning at end-week for supplies and the odd comfort.


    He would have liked it if the Esteril rangers could have been part of the group. Although small in number, these men had a formidable reputation as trackers and fighters. He felt that just one of them could have handled both brothers with one hand. As it was, the numbers surrounding him should be sufficient to overcome any resistance that the men offered. The mood of the group was grim but determined. One of theirs had been captured and they would get her back.


    Nedric was glad that Carrite was among the group that accompanied him. The woodsman had become a friend over the last few months and Nedric felt that he needed friends at the moment. More importantly though, Carrite knew the woods like few others. When they reached the furthest point that Nedric was sure about he gave Carrite the number of the post and Carrite immediately took the lead.


    As they walked, the group were surprisingly quiet. Nedric himself felt disinclined to talk but he had not expected the others to feel things as strongly as they did. There were a few curses as men tripped over roots and stones in the dark but other than that little conversation.


    They reached the marker that had been Nedric¡¯s first real hope of freedom and the mood changed. Before they had been quietly determined, now they were grim and serious. Carrite knew the area well enough to know that there was only one set of buildings around. One route was the trail that Nedric had intercepted, the only other started a quarter of the way around the mountain. The group split in two so as to prevent the brothers escaping if they were to spot one group arriving.


    Nedric stayed with Carrite. The woodsmen had always struck him as dependable. Apart from that he had arms almost as big as the trees he felled. The group moved quietly and quickly around to the second trail and then climbed towards the brother¡¯s cabin.


    Nedric wasn¡¯t sure what he expected when they reached the top of the trail. A light shining from the cabin guiding their way would have been good but unlikely. Some sign of movement, as the brothers stirred to start their day would have put them all on their guard. As it was, there was no sign that their approach had been detected.


    From the other side of the cabin they heard an owl hoot. This was the agreed signal to let them know that the other half of their group was in place. As neither group had met opposition they reformed and made ready to break into the cabin.


    ¡°Our best bet is a surprise rush.¡± Carrite stated.


    He directed two of the men to find a stout log that they could use as a battering ram. They found something appropriate and the two largest men in the group were instructed to run at full pace at the door. Most of the others were to rush in afterwards with only a few standing outside. They prepared in silence although there had as yet been no indication that anyone in the hut knew they were there.


    When they were ready Carrite signalled and the two men in front rushed at the door. The log struck and the door fell inwards, torn from its hinges. The others piled inside with enough noise to wake the dead.


    There was much noise and confusion until someone found and lit a lamp. As the men straightened themselves out and looked it around it soon became very clear that the building was empty. The brothers must have left.


    Nedric guessed that after he had escaped they had decided to take no chances and moved on, taking Elsebeth with them. What was he to do now? The group didn¡¯t contain any trackers and even if it had the brothers had had most of a day in which to escape. He hung his head in despair as he wondered what he could do to rescue her.

 23. Smells like Gletchin

    Nedric was numb as he walked back to Nigh. Nothing that anyone said to him was heard and again the group said little as they walked. There was a pall of despair over them that was at odds with the brightening summer day.


    The trip seemed to take forever. All the aches and bruises that Nedric had forgotten when he was on the trip out were obvious and painful on the trek back. He accepted them as a punishment. Although there had been no chance of helping Elsebeth, he felt that if he had only done something, anything, differently then maybe she would be safe. At that moment he would have given anything to swap places with her.


    Carrite walked beside him. For a while the woodsman said nothing. The look in Nedric¡¯s eyes was enough to say that idle chatter was unwelcome. Still he was not a man to give up hope so easily and he felt that the younger man would not be so defeated if it were not for the travails of the previous days.


    ¡°When the rangers get here they will be able to track where she¡¯s gone. I don¡¯t think that there is anyone in Esteril who can hide from one of them and they¡¯re tough enough to make those two gletchin wish they had never been born.¡±


    A gletchin was a rather repulsive animal. It lived on trees and attached itself in such a way as to drain sap from its host. One gletchin would not cause too much damage but they tended to move in large family groups. Staying on a particular tree until it died. To a woodsman who worked with and respected the forest they were the lowest form of life. That they had an evil, repulsive odour and a dark, slimy body only added to their unpleasantness.


    Nedric only grunted to acknowledge Carrite¡¯s words but a small spark of hope had been offered and he clung to it. The reputation of the Esteril rangers was well deserved. A poor and relatively backward country like Esteril could not afford a large standing army. Only a few applicants were accepted each year and they were the best of the best. The training they received was in the tough world of the forest where one mistake could kill.


    At least there was a prospect of hope. If the weather remained fair then the tracks the brother¡¯s left would stay fresh for a while. In the forest it was impossible to hide your passage for long. The paths were dusty in the summer and leaving a path was worse. The undergrowth would not let anyone pass by without them leaving a mark. Nedric hoped that the rangers could follow at greater speed and Elsebeth would not stay captured for long.


    They arrived back at the works and the group began to break apart. Nedric roused himself enough to thank each man for offering his help. Each man as the left muttered some sort of sympathetic comment but was unable to look Nedric in the eye. Nobody felt that they had achieved anything that morning.


    Finally it was just Nedric and Carrite. The two walked over to the supervisor¡¯s office, Alhern was inside. He looked concerned, thought about speaking and then stopped, as he looked at the faces of the other two. He took a breath and asked.


    ¡°What did you find?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, they had gone before we arrived.¡± Carrite answered.


    Alhern let out a deep sigh. At least his worst fears had not been realised. Now he had to organise the place to see that nothing similar happened again. Not that he expected any more abductions but he had to be seen to be doing something. At least he didn¡¯t have a death to show that he should have heeded his own earlier misgivings about Nigh.


    * * *


    The rangers arrived that evening. Nedric had used the daytime to rest and clean up. The earlier bruises were starting to purple and his side ached with each movement but he felt more alive knowing that something would be done shortly. He planned to lead the rangers to the cabin. He knew the way as well as any and he would be there if they had any questions. Alhern had raised no objections. It was clear that Nedric would be unwilling to work whilst he could be doing something to help.


    As he met the men that were his hope for rescuing Elsebeth, he could not say that they looked the kind of people to inspire hope. Fear perhaps, but not hope. Both rangers were tall, muscular and dark haired. The easiest way to differentiate them was by the large, ugly scar that ran down the left cheek of one. Each had a selection of weapons attached to their outfits. One carried a large axe; the other had a bow hung across his back. The way each of them moved, unconsciously making room for their weapons, told Nedric that they were totally accustomed to their presence.


    Nedric introduced himself to the two men. They gave their names in clipped tones that were more of a bark than speech. The man with the scar was Scabad, the other Daiga.


    ¡°Do you have anything that you need to store in a room?¡± Nedric asked. ¡°We have plenty of rooms at the moment.¡±


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    ¡°We carry everything we need with us.¡± Daiga replied. ¡°Now this matter is urgent, where do we go and who do we need to see?¡±


    ¡°I guess the only person you need to see is me and I can show you where to go. Are you ready to leave?¡±


    Both men nodded their assent. Nedric was glad there was no delay; he hadn¡¯t wanted to suggest they get moving straight away. It seemed a bad idea to upset these men but the urgency of their purpose here beat at him.


    As he led them towards the cabin he told them what had happened over the last three days. He knew he was slowing them down by walking towards the cabin rather than running but he felt that he had to give them as much information as possible. They didn¡¯t seem particularly interested as he spoke but if he paused they urged him to continue. When he had finished his tale, Daiga started to ask questions.


    ¡°These men, what do you know of their backgrounds?¡±


    Nedric had to admit that he had only limited information. He guessed he could have found out more about them from the tavern for which they generally worked but he hadn¡¯t thought about it at the time.


    ¡°What weapons did they carry, where did they wear them?¡±


    At least he could help with this question. As well as the bow and large dagger, each man had worn a brace of daggers on a belt that crossed their chest.


    ¡°Cantherin mercenaries,¡± Daiga muttered. Scabad just nodded.


    Nedric knew quite a bit about Cantherin. The country was east of Nothering and north of Esteril and shared borders with both. Famed for its fabrics, Rialto had taught him about the dyes that were only made there and the quality of the weaving. Marryn had told him about the variety of foods and the spices they used. Anything that relied on mixing different substances together was generally done better in Cantherin.


    ¡°So what are they doing in the middle of Esteril forest?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Probably keeping out of the way of someone they upset. We have a lot of problems come from Cantherin. They all think they can hide in Esteril until the heat has died down. Unfortunately they generally bring problems with them. We sort them out.¡±


    This was the most talking that Daiga had managed. They way he had said the last few words had made Nedric shiver. He had the distinct impression that when a ranger sorted something out it was a permanent arrangement.


    ¡°So why would they take Elsebeth?¡±


    ¡°Because they had been hired to do so. A mercenary never does anything unless there is money involved. Are her parents wealthy?¡±


    ¡°Her father is a captain in the Setherland army, he¡¯s spent almost his whole life in Esteril so I doubt he¡¯s ever seen combat.¡±


    ¡°What about her mother?¡±


    ¡°A merchants daughter with no head for figures.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d guess that she wasn¡¯t captured for her money. Have you any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Well when I was first captured I heard something but I was more than a little woozy at the time having just been hit over the head. One of the brothers was saying about getting the only female impressor.¡±


    ¡°I can think of several reasons why someone might want an impressor. The main question is why did they particularly want a woman? If we knew that we might be able to guess a lot more. How much further is this cabin?¡±


    Nedric looked around. The talking had help distract him and they had travelled most of the way there without him really thinking about it.


    ¡°Two more intersections and then up a trail, say a mile and a half total.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get some speed on, we want to get started before it gets too dark.¡±


    The three broke into a run. Nedric knew that the two rangers were running at his pace and could easily outdistance him. Since the ground was marked with the passage of the large group of men that had accompanied him before, he wondered why they bothered with him at all. He put more effort into his running; he didn¡¯t want to be left on his own at the moment.


    They reached the cabin about a quarter of an hour later. Nedric was panting, his lungs burning, his shoulders heaving as he tried to get more air. The run up the trail had been a killer. It was steep in places and his legs felt like jelly. The two rangers were barely breathing hard. At that moment Nedric could quite happily have murdered them.


    The rangers started to search the surrounds and quickly picked up the trail of the brothers. They didn¡¯t immediately set off but instead went into the cabin. Nedric followed and found them searching everything. The building wasn¡¯t particularly large with the one room partly partitioned to make a living and sleeping area.


    ¡°Your friend spent her time here on the bed and alone at that.¡± Daiga said. ¡°That¡¯s a good sign. They must be under orders to treat her well.¡±


    Nedric had realised that Scabad rarely spoke, even when searching he was more inclined to point things out to his partner. As Nedric watched, the quiet ranger was looking under everything, when he reached one corner of the room he pulled out a dagger. There was something caught between two of the floorboards and Nedric watched him ease the object up and out.


    When he retrieved it, he glanced at it and threw it across to Daiga. Nedric gave him a curious look and was rewarded with the object being passed to him. It was a copper coin. Nedric wondered about the significance until he examined it a little more closely. It wasn¡¯t an Esteril copper, it wasn¡¯t even from Cantherin, instead it was from Nothering.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked Daiga.


    ¡°Could mean nothing, could mean that they¡¯ve been to Nothering recently. There¡¯s enough exchange of currency between different countries that it¡¯s most likely unimportant.¡±


    Daiga started speaking again before Nedric could ask any more questions.


    ¡°This is where we leave you lad. They¡¯ve got almost two days start on us and you know you¡¯re slowing us down. Still we know this forest a lot better than they do and we haven¡¯t got a hostage to hinder us. With luck we will catch them up before they reach a border.¡±


    ¡°What happens if they reach a border?¡±


    ¡°Depends on which one it is. If it¡¯s the one with Setherland we just keep going. Of course most of that border is river and they know we can follow them there so that¡¯s their least likely route. That leaves them two choices, Cantherin and Nothering; the latter are none too keen on strangers so they¡¯re more likely to head home. I¡¯m just guessing, they could go anywhere and if we try to cut them off we are likely to lose them. Look after yourself lad and we shall see you in a few days.¡±


    With that the two of them were off and Nedric could only stand and watch them leave. He realised that he was alone in the forest and that it would soon be dark but at least he had a good cabin in which to shelter. He wondered how Elsebeth was coping sleeping rough, under the stars. She was a fine girl but she had never struck him as one that had lived the outdoor life. He could only hope that the travails she was facing were not too great.


    As he lay on the bed, in the cabin, he tried to work out the soonest that he might see her again. Even if the rangers travelled twice as fast as the brothers that was still two days until they caught them up. Elsebeth would only be able to go as fast returning as she had on the way out so that was a minimum of six days. One week minimum until he might see her again. He hoped it wasn¡¯t more. The borders were all at least a week away through the forest; surely the rangers would catch up in that time. So that meant a maximum of about three weeks before he was certain to have news. He knew that the closer it got to three weeks the worse the news was likely to be.

 24, Relying on the Rangers

    For the first few days Nedric could get on with his life with hope. He buried himself in his work a bit more than normal. The number of planks he impressed was more than sufficient to cover the days he had been absent. He checked his colleagues¡¯ work and was gratified to see that they hadn¡¯t slacked off, even though he hadn¡¯t been around.


    It was the evenings when he was at his lowest. He didn¡¯t want to think about Elsebeth it only worried him and there was nothing more he could do until the rangers returned. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to socialise and his friends and colleagues seemed to realise this and left him alone. He spent a lot of time juggling. Whilst he was engaged in this pursuit he wasn¡¯t thinking about anything else.


    He was working on juggling four clubs. Fortunately he had talked a wood turner into making him a set of clubs that were comfortable and used a light but strong wood. His old set were much heavier and tended to hurt his hands.


    Most people assumed that he needed to throw the clubs so that they alternated hands. He had learned with four balls that it was unnecessary. It was just two thrown with each hand and no crossing over. This was fairly easy with balls, when it came to clubs it was much harder. Juggling two clubs with his left hand was bad enough and two with the right hand was easy. It was the two combined that was a disaster. The left hand throws tended to drift towards the right and when the clubs collided it was generally right above his face. He spent a lot of time ducking. Sometimes he wasn¡¯t quick enough and a heavy wooden club would hit him.


    He really couldn¡¯t say why he persisted with the juggling other than it was enjoyable when he overcame the difficulties of getting his throws as accurate as they needed to be. It was also good exercise, as the dull ache in his arm muscles testified.


    When the light began to fail he returned to his room. Lying on his bed he would think through the events of the capture and his escape. Was there any way that he could have attacked Holkum whilst Melkum was in the shed? He tried to convince himself that he could have caught the other off guard but he really knew that there was no chance. He might have been taught a number of ways to defend himself whilst at the keep but he lacked experience, whilst the mercenary had fought against all sorts.


    A ranger had been assigned to Nigh now. He arrived a couple of days after the other two and had his own building. He mainly seemed to be offering ways of defending the works from any sort of attack. Nedric felt that this was a little unlikely but everyone was nervous. One of them had been taken and so they all wanted to see something was being done to stop it happening again.


    At the moment no one was moving in groups of less than four. It was inconvenient and already people were expressing their dissatisfaction with the arrangement. Some were suggesting that they just built a large wall around the works and spent all their time within the walls. Alhern seemed to be agreeing with this idea and large wooden stakes were being sharpened and put in place all around the site.


    Nedric wasn¡¯t sure that this was the right approach. He couldn¡¯t see how hiding from a problem, whichever way you hid, would do any good. At the moment he couldn¡¯t see any way in which to help Elsebeth or stop another kidnapping. He also couldn¡¯t think of any way of preventing anybody being captured if the person trying was determined enough. No one could hide behind walls all the time without being a prisoner. He felt it would be better if the need for the walls were lessened. With that in mind he decided to talk to this new ranger and ask his advice.


    Walking across the site of the works, Nedric was struck by how much had been done to the place in the year that he had lived there. He hadn¡¯t really noticed it at the time but the area had probably tripled in size. That wasn¡¯t counting the housing, which was only just beginning to be built and promised to double the area again within the year.


    The thought of trying to keep it all behind one wall seemed even less likely than it had the previous night. The wall would forever have to be pulled down and rebuilt. It wasn¡¯t even as if they were at war and needed to repel invaders. This was an area in the middle of a forest. Yes a small army could capture it, but Esteril wasn¡¯t at war with anyone and even if it was, the majority of the people here were from Setherland. No country, Nedric knew, would want to take on a war with two of its neighbours at the same time.


    He knocked on the door of the building assigned to the ranger. There was a shout of assent so he entered. The ranger was inside, sat behind a desk and looking uncomfortable with the situation. He was older than the other two but had the same dark looks, albeit that his hair was more grey than brown. The air of menace was the same and his eyes seemed to look straight through Nedric.


    ¡°Excuse me sir but do you mind if I ask you a few questions about safety?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve nothing better to do.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that building defences will stop another kidnapping?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    That took Nedric aback; he hadn¡¯t expected such an honest answer.


    ¡°Why are you encouraging the building of walls then?¡±


    ¡°Because there are other dangers to a wealthy but isolated village other than kidnapping. My job is to see that as many citizens as possible are as safe as possible. It isn¡¯t to guard against one specific threat which is particularly difficult to guard against and requires more rangers than are available.¡±


    Nedric really wanted to ask what these other dangers were but his purpose in coming here was to find a way to reduce the chance of anyone else being kidnapped and he was not to be diverted.


    ¡°So what can the people here do about being captured?¡±


    ¡°Be vigilant. That¡¯s why I suggested groups of four for a while. It won¡¯t work for long but it will make a point. I¡¯ll start giving classes on self-defence soon. That still won¡¯t stop the possibility but it makes things harder. It is much easier to capture someone who makes themselves a victim. Of course when people relax then it will be that much easier again. By that time we should have much more idea about who took her and why.¡±


    ¡°Have you any ideas at the moment?¡±


    ¡°No more than you. She doesn¡¯t seem to be an obvious target. All I can do at the moment is to try and stop others becoming victims. All you can do is wait and hope. I¡¯m sorry there isn¡¯t any more than that.¡±


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    For a moment, Nedric could see in the ranger¡¯s eyes that he was indeed sorry. Then it was as if a mask had been thrown over him and he was again cool, detached and emotionless. Nedric took the hint and left.


    The days passed. After the first week Nedric¡¯s hope began to fade a little. Instead of juggling in the evening he took to working later. Partly because the techniques needed for impressing completely removed him from a life made less and less endurable and partly because nothing else seemed worth doing.


    After a while he started to explore the limits of his talent. He knew he could handle two planks at a time, could he manage three? He could, although it was much harder. Four? Perhaps with a lot of practice but not at the moment. What about speeding the process by any method? This seemed to be the restriction.


    The whole process of impressing worked by doing one action and getting it to repeat. What would happen if you tried the same process in two parts of the plank at the same time? Would it be faster? Since the length of time didn¡¯t seem to alter whatever the length of plank Nedric could not see how it would speed things up but he thought he might as well try.


    He started after normal work times on the eleventh day after the rangers left. The next day would make it two weeks. If it worked quicker than normal then it should be finished before he got there the next morning. It would be something to think about when he arose. Hopefully it would make a distraction from his normal worries over Elsebeth. If everything went normally instead then the plank would still be ready to use the next day, it would just have taken him twice as long to prepare it.


    He chose a shed well away from the living area. It wasn¡¯t that he was worried that anyone was watching him; it was more the case that people kept trying to get him involved in the social activities and he wanted nothing to do with them at the moment.


    The shed he entered had been freshly stocked with planks. This made it easier as he could use any of them, rather than having to assess which planks had already been impressed. In the past it had occasionally happened that a plank being impressed was left too close to one that had already processed. No one knew anything was wrong for twelve hours and then there had been two planks trying there best to force away from each other.


    Sometimes the planks had been able to move sufficiently that one or both of them would go flying through the air. The problem came when an unknowing person had come to move planks that had not had the pressures released. A number of injuries had occurred and one fatality. After that all planks had the date they were impressed written upon them. Workers could then see clearly if two were stacked too close.


    There were still a few mistakes made but the plank handlers generally noticed these. It was part of Nedric¡¯s job to make a note of which impressors made mistakes and how often. If someone was being particularly careless he had in the past had a little talk with him. Apart from working slowly it was about the only thing an impressor could do wrong as they rarely saw another person when working.


    Nedric chose a particular plank, notable for the absence of knotholes and set to work. Reaching the required frame of mind was harder than it had been two weeks before but he had been doing this for a year. He was fairly quick in changing the plank composition when he had pictured it in his mind. This was the part of the process that got faster with practice. The final stage, where the process was made to repeat itself, was always a little tricky but again it went smoothly.


    Keeping the plank still pictured in his mind he chose another point at which to start. He reckoned that to get the fastest effect he should have the two points at opposite ends of the plank. When he had finished he checked how long the process had taken, about three quarters of an hour.


    That was a good time. Normally he reckoned on doing two planks an hour. The process was speeded by him only having to picture the one plank rather than break his concentration and then learn a second plank. Of course it meant that he was slower for one plank so he could produce less planks over a given time span but if his theory worked then he could produce a single plank much faster.


    He decided to have an early night so that he could check the plank early the next morning. He had almost managed to spend an evening without agonising worry about what had happened to Elsebeth. Maybe the next day she would turn up with the rangers and he would have his experiment to show her.


    He tried to tell himself that he was not worried and that everything would be settled as he lay in his bed. As each day progressed the words he said to himself sounded less convincing. If the rangers didn¡¯t appear soon then he would soon be giving up all hope of ever seeing Elsebeth again.


    *          *          *


    The next morning he arose with the dawn. Quickly freshening himself for the day he made his way to the shed. A quick test of the plank and then he could take breakfast. Today he felt confident that the rangers would return with good news. That he had felt that way each on each of the last six mornings only to be disappointed did not worry him yet. Later in the day he would start to worry more but not now.


    He went to the shed he had been working in the night before after retrieving his testing board from his office. Testing a plank was easy. All you had to do was hold a small, previously impressed plank over the one being tested. If the small plank was repulsed all the way along the plank then it was properly impressed. If there was no repulsion at all then the plank was untouched and if there was repulsion only from one area then the plank was going through the process. Nedric had got to the point where he could tell by the strength of repulsion how long a plank had to go before it was finished.


    When he tested his plank he was sadly disappointed. He could tell that he had set two points in progress but there was still at least an hour before completion. That was just the same length of time it normally took but for extra effort, hardly an experiment worth making. He walked away unhappily. Suddenly the day seemed to only promise gloom. He would check the plank later that day to see if there was anything unusual about it but he didn¡¯t see any future in his idea.


    He went to break his fast and then collected the previous days paperwork to be passed on to Alhern. As he was walking over to the supervisors office the main workforce were arriving to start the day.


    Most people lived inside the works but away from the manufacturing area. There was a wooden barrier between the two that reduced some of the noise. The workers came through a gate at one end of the barrier, exchanging pleasantries and greetings with their colleagues as they were funnelled through the opening before separating to go to their respective work places.


    Along with the workmen moved a tall, dark person. At first Nedric assumed it was the ranger who had been stationed at Nigh. As the man moved closer he could tell it was Daiga. Where were Scabad and Elsebeth? A hundred scenarios rushed through his mind, none of them good. He ran over to the ranger who greeted him with a frown.


    ¡°Where is she? What¡¯s happened? Where¡¯s Scabad?¡±


    ¡°Whoa, calm down and I¡¯ll tell you what I know.¡±


    By this time Alhern had made an appearance and ushered them both into his office. Nedric tried to get Daiga to tell him something but the ranger didn¡¯t see his beseeching look until they were all sat down. It was as he was about to tell his story when an explosion rent the air.


    Alhern was out the door in an instant, Nedric and Daiga followed. The sound had come from the plank sheds and Nedric¡¯s first thought was to wonder if any of his colleagues were hurt. As they raced over people appeared from everywhere all heading in the same direction.


    As they got closer they began to find bits of wood scattered around the place. Their destination became obvious. One of the plank sheds had a large hole in its side. Nedric was becoming more alarmed. It was the shed he had been working in. They looked inside to be greeted by a disaster.


    Something had ripped a hole through two opposing sides of the shed. It had also torn apart one of the shelves that held the planks and this had broken several. The shelf had suffered more damage. Designed to hold securely, planks that might be under some pressure through a mistake on someone¡¯s part, it had been ripped in two. As that had happened the shelf had turned and damaged most of the planks on the shelves behind.


    The holes in the wall could perhaps have been made by a plank that had hit the wall slightly side on. At one end of the hole it was about the right size for one. As the plank had pushed through the wall the force must have lessened slightly as it had taken more wall with it. This to Nedric¡¯s mind explained the scattering of wood outside. Narwood had a tendency to shred if it dried too fast. This was the outcome of Nedric¡¯s experiment; he could only hope that no one had been injured.


    As the confusion around the place abated it soon became clear that no one had been near the shed. Nedric sighed under his breath. Of course Alhern would want to know what caused the explosion but with all the workers only just having entered the place and Nedric sitting in Alhern¡¯s office there was little chance that the cause would be found. It would be an enigma and if never repeated eventually forgotten.


    Once Alhern had organised a group of men to tidy the area up and keep everyone else out of the way the three went back to his office. Only could something as major as what had happened have driven thoughts of Elsebeth out of Nedric¡¯s mind even for a minute.


    Once they had sat down they waited for Daiga to speak. What had the ranger learned and where was his colleague?

 25. Ranger Report

    We didn¡¯t have much trouble getting on the trail of those men. Anyone who is trying to hide their tracks doesn¡¯t take a couple of donkeys with them, especially through a forest. They left a track that anyone could follow but they were moving at a fair pace and they did seem to know where they were heading.


    It took us just over the three days to catch up with them. We were tracking them through all the daylight hours and expected them to be stopping for longer than they did. They must have felt an urgent need to get somewhere but they still lit fires when they camped.


    We came to the conclusion that they weren¡¯t worried about what lay behind them but rather were trying to get somewhere. When we finally caught up with them, they didn¡¯t even look behind. Perhaps they thought there was little chance of pursuit after the first day.


    Anyway they were travelling along, with Elsebeth on one of the donkeys, one of the men leading it and one following and leading the second donkey. From what we could see she didn¡¯t seem to be to be in too much difficulty but she was tied on to the beast.


    The part of the forest they were travelling through was too overgrown for us to get around them and set up any type of ambush and the trail was too narrow for us to easily take one of them off guard. That donkey blocking our route through didn¡¯t help. We decided to hold back until either the trail got wider or they decided to stop and make themselves an easier target. If the girl hadn¡¯t been there we could have got them easily but we didn¡¯t want her hurt.


    We¡¯d been following them for about an hour or so and they¡¯d shown no sign that they knew we were about so when the ground started rising significantly we knew there was a fair chance of getting to them.


    I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve ever been that far into the forest but at points the hillside is fairly rocky and there tends to be less trees. This means that it is easier to find a trail and therefore quicker travel. It also means that it is easier to spot someone following, so we fell back a little when they first emerged.


    It was just as well that we did. From the opposite direction came a group of nine men. Eight were clearly military types, at first we couldn¡¯t determine if they were soldiers or mercenaries, the last was a priest. It was clear that the brothers were expecting them as they shouted greeting and chose an appropriate place to stop.


    We did our best to get close to hear what they were talking about but the area was fairly exposed and we could only catch some of it. The priest was the first to speak and he was fairly loud.


    ¡°What are you doing here? We were meant to meet you.¡±


    One of the brothers replied and all the other party looked in our direction. For a second I thought they¡¯d seen us but the trees must have hid us. It was clear that the priest wasn¡¯t very happy as he started suggesting that they were totally incompetent. I was quite impressed by his use of language.


    It quieted down after that for a while. We couldn¡¯t catch what they were talking about but it was clear that the brothers expected to be paid for what they had done. They were talking to one of the guard types. I wasn¡¯t sure who was in charge of the other group, the priest or this soldier, both seemed to give orders to the others but not each other.


    I think the brothers were after payment and were either asking for more or making suggestions about what they would do if they weren¡¯t paid. Either way it upset the lead soldier who shouted a command. The whole look of the group changed in a flash. Instead of being fairly relaxed, the soldier types went instantly alert and moved out of our sight. We heard something, I couldn¡¯t say what, followed by a piercing scream that was abruptly cut short. Then we could here them moving off. The men weren¡¯t making a lot of noise but they kept the donkeys with them.


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    When we moved to a position where we could see where they had stopped, all that was visible were two bodies. We took our time moving down to them, as anyone that quick and able at overpowering the mercenaries might be a little more alert than the brothers had been. By the time we got there the group was out of sight.


    The two men had had their throats slit. They had made a good job of the larger one and he must have been killed instantly. The other brother must have got some sort of idea as to what had happened, it had taken them two goes to kill him. The first time they had got the side of his neck instead.


    What surprised me was that they had left the bodies as they were. They hadn¡¯t been rifled. They even left the weapons the men carried. It told me that this group of men couldn¡¯t be mercenaries; they must be elite troops.


    We were pretty cautious as we followed them. If they suspected they were being followed they might lay a trap. I¡¯m fairly sure that the two of us could have taken any of them in a fair fight but two against eight, I wasn¡¯t counting the priest, didn¡¯t seem like a fair fight.


    We tracked them sufficiently well that we got to where we could occasionally hear them moving ahead of us. Not that they were making a lot of noise but a group that size can¡¯t move quietly. The animals were extremely helpful. The iron shod hooves hit stone every so often and in a quiet forest the sound carries. We didn¡¯t want to get any closer until they made camp.


    We weren¡¯t holding out much hope of rescuing Elsebeth. Against a group of well-trained and well-armed men there is only so much that you can do. We had some inkling of their experience when they didn¡¯t light a fire. When they had settled down we tried to get in close.


    They had found a small clearing in the forest and as we got closer we could hear them cutting something. It took a few seconds to identify that they were sharpening stakes. They placed them in a ring around their campsite with the donkeys and themselves inside. They tied the donkeys to a pole at one end so that they could browse.


    One of the men dug a trench at the far end of the site. When the stakes were all in place, two men stood guard whilst the others ate. There was no fuss and everyone seemed to know what they were doing. The ones on lookout didn¡¯t even look at the others back at the camp. There was no idle talk and although the guard leader and the priest talked amongst themselves for a while it was so quiet I couldn¡¯t catch a word.


    When the group finished eating, the two lookouts were replaced and had their turn. When they were finished the whole group made ready to sleep, apart from the lookouts. Elsebeth seemed resigned to her fate rather than anything else. I think that the killing earlier in the day had been rather a shock. She raised no protest and lay down to the side of the others.


    The lookouts started to move around when the others were asleep. There was no real pattern to their movements other than that the two men went in opposite directions. Sometimes they stopped and looked out into the forest, sometimes they moved briskly around the inside of the barricade. We were looking for an opportunity to get them apart long enough to kill them both but it didn¡¯t happen.


    When they had been on their own for about an hour one of them went and woke up another guard and stayed with him until he was acting alert. I¡¯ve known people who¡¯ve been caught out when their new sentry was still half asleep but they weren¡¯t giving us that opportunity either.


    It was about the coldest part of the night when there was an unexpected movement. Elsebeth was suddenly sprinting towards the barricade. I¡¯ll give those guards their due, they were as far away as they could get within the confines of the camp and they still got to her before she could squeeze through a slight gap in the barricade. What¡¯s more the whole camp was up and alert before we could do anything to help her out. I reckon they were an elite squad.


    At no time during the night was there a chance of us doing any good. We might have killed the two sentries, although that would have been chancy. If we had done that they would have known we were there and then they would be after us, not the other way around.


    We tracked them all through the next three days and nights. They didn¡¯t give us one good opportunity in the whole time. What¡¯s more I don¡¯t think they even realised we were there, they were just that good. The only difference to the first night was that Elsebeth slept in the middle of the group after that. I saw her try to get away a couple of times but they caught her before she really had a chance to move.


    Anyway, by this time we were getting close to the border with Nothering. We had been fairly sure they would head that way when we first saw the priest. The soldiers could have been from anywhere, although they probably were from Nothering as well.


    We had to make a decision. Once we passed over the border we were outside our jurisdiction. Our government might support us if we got caught or they might not. We knew there was no chance that they would go to war with Nothering over one woman, especially one from Setherland. They might make a formal protest and some diplomat would get told off and that would be it.


    We decided to split up. Scabad is the better tracker, he could follow a group for months and they¡¯d never know. Someone had to let you lot know what was happening and the choice was simple. We followed them until they had clearly moved into Nothering and then I departed to come back here. We still haven¡¯t a clue as to what they intend to do with her or why.

 26. The Rangers Offer

    Having listened to Daiga¡¯s tale, Nedric didn¡¯t know what to think. It was good to hear that Elsebeth was alive and as far as he could tell, in good health. It was scary to think of her being taken to who knows where. Nothering wasn¡¯t known for the good treatment of women. They made their women folk cover their hair amongst other peculiarities.


    He was going to have to wait for Scabad to return before he knew the whole situation but he could see that without some help Elsebeth was in a lot of trouble. It seemed that the Nothering government had something to do with this and once a government was involved people¡¯s rights seemed to disappear.


    He thought where he could go for help. There was the possibility of the Esteril government. Esteril was a poor country and couldn¡¯t afford to be at war with anyone. Although a group of rangers could probably rescue anyone from anywhere, taking sufficient rangers to be sure of getting the job done properly would weaken the country¡¯s ability to defend itself. At the most they would spare one or two and even that was unlikely. Esteril had spent most of its existence trying not to cause too much bother to anybody. It had survived as a separate country mainly because the majority of the land was forest and therefore of very little use to anybody. The one city it possessed was virtually as far from any border as it was possible to get.


    The second possibility was to ask the Setherland government for help. The king would be unlikely to listen to one as lowly as him. If he was able to speak to anyone important then there was still the problem that Setherland and Nothering were in a state of unofficial war. Border skirmishes occurred regularly and Nothering was always looking for an excuse to try and invade.


    The inhabitants of Setherland had once escaped from Nothering. The government of Nothering believed that it should be allowed to regain those peoples. Only the threat of trouble from its northern neighbours stopped Nothering from invading. If Setherland gave a suitable excuse then Nothering would be building forces on its southern border before Setherland could sneeze. A reasonable number of Setherland troops travelling through Nothering would count as an excuse to invade.


    Nedric could be wrong, maybe one or the other government would find it unacceptable for a citizen to be taken but he had no great hopes. Probably if he was to ever see Elsebeth again he would have to find her himself.


    Whilst he was thinking to himself, Daiga had taken his leave. Alhern had suggested that the ranger rest up in one of the spare rooms and arranged for him to be looked after until Scabad arrived. The ranger had looked weary as he made his way out of the door.


    Alhern sat back down and looked over to Nedric.


    ¡°Not the best news there lad but at least she is being treated well. When we know where she¡¯s going we might be able to arrange for her to be released. I¡¯d contribute some money myself and I¡¯m sure a few others here would as well.¡±


    ¡°Thank you but I don¡¯t think she was taken for money. Why do you think that Nothering would want an impressor?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps because they have none of their own.¡±


    Nedric didn¡¯t know how to consider that at the time but he would think about that more. He had a couple of things that he needed to sort out with Alhern and he guessed that now was as good a time as any to speak.


    ¡°Have you contacted Elsebeth¡¯s parents?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, I was hoping for something positive to tell them but I guess I can¡¯t put it off any more.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps I ought to contact them instead. Whilst we haven¡¯t met I know that she wrote to them mentioning me, so at least they know who I am and I was with her when she was captured.¡±


    ¡°If you could do that then I would be grateful. I know this is a big strain on you but now I have to sort out this explosion this morning on top of reassuring people that they aren¡¯t going to be kidnapped. If anything else happens they will be leaving in droves.¡±


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    Nedric felt the blood drain from his face. In the need to know what the ranger had to say he hadn¡¯t thought about his experiment. Now, as Alhern mentioned one of the consequences he was hit by the implications of what he had done. He could have killed someone.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with you lad?¡±


    ¡°I have an awful confession to make. I was responsible for that explosion.¡±


    At first Alhern was speechless. Then he started to splutter out questions.


    ¡°What? How? Why?¡±


    ¡°I was experimenting on the planks. I wasn¡¯t trying to do anything dangerous, I just wanted to improve the efficiency of the impressors.¡±


    ¡°What gave you the right, no ignore that for a minute, what did you do?¡±


    ¡°I impressed a plank at both ends at the same time. When the two impressions met there was that explosion.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you think about it when you started? Couldn¡¯t you guess that might happen?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking it might speed the process up, that was all.¡±


    ¡°Lad, what you weren¡¯t doing was thinking. There are tremendous forces involved and any experimenting ought to be done well away from where anyone else might be. I guess you might not be thinking too straight at the moment but that was totally irresponsible.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    ¡°I guess I will have to do something about you later but not now. Now I really ought to tell all the other impressors so the same mistake is never made again.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that is wise sir?¡±


    Alhern was going to shout something at Nedric but he stopped, blinked and paused before he spoke.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well as it is, there are only two people who know how that explosion occurred and I know I won¡¯t do it again and you¡¯re not an impressor so you can¡¯t. If you tell the other impressors how it was done then everyone will know and that was a large explosion. Would you want someone who was feeling malicious to cause a number of explosions with little chance of being traced? I know I would keep the knowledge very quiet.¡±


    ¡°You have a point, I will think about it. That doesn¡¯t mean that I am going to let you get away with stupidity. I will have to deduct the cost of the damage from your wages and then there will also be a note on your record giving some idea that you do not always act responsibly even though you are in a position of responsibility.¡±


    It was with a weary sound to his voice that Nedric replied. ¡°Sir, although I deeply regret what I have done and will try my best not to be thoughtless in the future I have to say that the loss of money and the bad record are the least of my worries.¡±


    Alhern could only nod to himself as he watched Nedric leave the room.


    *          *          *


    The next few days passed in numb misery for Nedric. He went about his work in a methodical but listless manner. It was all done accurately but without heart, he didn¡¯t really want to spend his time concentrating on something that seemed completely pointless to him now.


    He should be doing something to help Elsebeth but he couldn¡¯t think what. He tried on several occasions to write a letter to her parents. They needed to know what had happened but there was so little to tell them. Your daughter has been captured and we sort of know who it was who did it. We don¡¯t why, we don¡¯t know where she is at the moment and although we think they are treating her well we can¡¯t even be sure of that. It was not the sort of thing that could easily be written. Nedric was tempted to visit them instead but until Scabad returned he was not going anywhere. Anyway he had a job to do.


    And then Scabad was there. Two weeks to the hour after Daiga had returned his colleague entered the compound, pushing his way through workers as they entered during the morning rush. An idle thought ran through Nedric¡¯s mind as to why they should arrive at the same time. Perhaps they had both spent a night in the same cabin where he had been held.


    It was almost d¨¦j¨¤ vu. The same office, Alhern, Nedric and a tired ranger but that was where the similarities stopped. Scabad was not one to elaborate on what he had seen and done, his report was terse, stating everything in the fewest possible words.


    He told how the group had after entering Nothering territory travelled perhaps half a day to the nearest village. From there they had acquired horses and taken well-kept roads to a mansion house more than a weeks ride from the border.


    Alhern had wondered aloud how a man on foot had been able to keep up with horse riders and had been told, ¡°If you must, you can¡±.


    The house had been well guarded and there had been no opportunity for Scabad to enter it or to see Elsebeth but it was not well enough guarded to stop a determined group of well-armed men. Furthermore the place was less than a day from the Setherland border. It almost seemed to be inviting an attack.


    He had studied it for a day, seeing no easy way for one man to enter but not wanting to give up. Eventually he had realised the impossibility of the task and after visiting a nearby village had acquired a horse.


    The return had been much quicker with the aid of the horse, which was now browsing outside the compound. He planned to rest for the day and then he and Daiga would have to return to their base. He regretted that there was nothing that either of them could do without permission from their government and he doubted that they would authorise an attack on Nothering soil.


    Nedric couldn¡¯t leave it like that. Whilst he had no choice other than to let the ranger leave the office and get a well earned rest, later that day he searched out the two rangers and interrupted their drinking.


    ¡°Is there nothing that you can do?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like to do more lad but we can¡¯t! Our government won¡¯t authorise an expedition outside our borders.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything that you think might help?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Daiga sucked in air before continuing. ¡°It so happens that we are both owed quite a bit of leave and what we do in our own time is our responsibility. However we aren¡¯t going to rush into Nothering on our own. If there was a properly organised rescue attempt then we might be tempted to help out.¡±


    Nedric didn¡¯t know what to say. He wanted to say that he would organise something straight away but he didn¡¯t have the money, enough information or any plans. Instead he just thanked the rangers and made sure that he could contact them again. He was told that they were based in Elith, a town near the border of Setherland, and that a message would find them there.

 27. Nedric must go

    That evening Nedric couldn¡¯t sleep. Elsebeth was being held prisoner in a house in Nothering and he ought to do something about it. There was no way that he could just let her stay there without trying to do something, the question was what. Before anything else he ought to see her parents and let them know what was happening. He¡¯d hate to think how his mother would feel if it was him that had been taken. It would be good if he could offer some hope but he couldn¡¯t really think of anything.


    He had to leave the works. He didn¡¯t know how long he would be gone so he really should quit his job. Fortunately there were several who could fill the role, as it wasn¡¯t that strenuous. The problem would be that there would then be two impressors less than the required number so the workload would go up. He hated to leave them short staffed but Elsebeth was more important. He would talk to Alhern in the morning.


    With that resolved he turned his mind to saving Elsebeth. As he was heading to Elseth anyway to see her parents, he might as well make the attempt to get help from his government. He couldn¡¯t think of an easy way to do that as the common person had little impact on the government. Just because Setherland was a land of merchants was not a good reason to think of everything in terms of money and good customer relations. Sometimes it should be necessary to think of things other than profit.


    If they didn¡¯t respond, he was going to have to devise a rescue plan with whatever resources he could muster. These didn¡¯t amount to much. He had some savings but mercenaries were expensive and he wasn¡¯t sure where he would hire them. He wasn¡¯t even sure that he would be able to trust them not to take the money and then run. His best bet would be to talk to Rialto. He must hire guards on a regular basis to keep his goods safe.


    With some sort of plan in mind he was able to sleep.


    *          *          *


    Next morning he didn¡¯t rush to rise. The decision was fixed in his mind so there was no going back. He only just managed to get to the dining hall before they cleared the food away. He took his time eating before strolling over to Alhern¡¯s office.


    Alhern was there, as usual worrying over paperwork. Nedric was sure that the man would have much rather been doing some carpentry but as he was the man in charge he had to do the work that involved. The problem was that he didn¡¯t really know how to delegate and so was constantly swamped with decisions that others should be making. Nedric felt guilty that he would only be adding to that burden.


    He spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m resigning. I¡¯ll be seeing Elsebeth¡¯s parents, then I¡¯m going to see if I can find some help for her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sad to see you go lad, you¡¯ve done a good job here. You sure you have to do this.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well then I guess you had better go. I¡¯ll tell head office that you are on an extended leave. There¡¯s a job here waiting for you when you get back.¡±


    Nedric felt an immediate surge of relief. It¡¯s all right to make a decision that burns all your bridges but when those bridges are doused and kept intact, it helps.


    ¡°Thank you sir. I can¡¯t say when I might return or even if I will but that makes me feel better.¡±


    ¡°You can collect all the money that is owed you from the wages department at Elseth. You¡¯ve only been collecting living expenses so there should be a fair amount. See me when you¡¯ve collected your stuff together and I¡¯ll make sure that the paperwork is all correct.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. I¡¯m supposed to be in charge of this place and when one of my staff is captured there isn¡¯t a thing I can do about it. I¡¯ve contacted head office and all they say is that they¡¯ll look in to it. Waste of bloody space the lot of them!¡± Alhern¡¯s voice grew louder as he finished his statement.


    Nedric didn¡¯t know what surprised him more, Alhern swearing or head office showing that little concern about one of their staff. The supervisor had always struck Nedric as being calm and collected, if somewhat poor at handling paperwork. He had never heard him raise his voice at anybody.


    The response from head office was just as alarming. The company had always seemed to care about its staff. It made sense, especially as there were so few impressors. If anyone wanted a job elsewhere, Nedric was sure that they could walk up to virtually any merchant, state their skills and be offered a job on the spot. The demand for cooling equipment was almost as great as the needs of the boardways and the near monopoly owned by Rhianna¡¯s father meant that all the other merchants were eager to obtain impressors. If the story came out that the company didn¡¯t care, there might well be a mass migration.


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    Nedric decided that as he was going to be at the main site in Elseth, he might as well cause a bit of grief for somebody there and demand that they do something to help. If he was lucky he might even be able to get to Over-Engineer Tarim. Perhaps it was some over-enthusiastic subordinate trying to keep trouble away from him.


    Nedric had been stood in thought and Alhern interrupted this. ¡°If I was you I¡¯d be packing now. There¡¯s a carriage leaves for Elseth this afternoon and I imagine you¡¯re in a hurry.¡±


    Nedric left after a quick word of thanks. Entering his room he took a quick look around and knew it would take only a short while to pack. The problem would be his juggling equipment, apart from that he had very little else. A couple of sets of clean clothes, some letters and his dagger. He wasn¡¯t one to really collect things. His room was bare of any form of decoration.


    The juggling equipment however would have been enough for a small troupe. Apart from the balls of different types and the wooden clubs, he also had several diabolos and a couple of sets of what Carrite had called flower sticks. Two short sticks that were held in either hand and a longer one that was knocked back and forth between them. In the end he took enough equipment that he could practice anywhere and left the rest in a bag in the general recreation room.


    The boardway journey was fairly uneventful. There was just the driver and himself on an empty carriage. The driver was one of those quiet types who didn¡¯t like to be drawn into any type of conversation, so after a few attempts Nedric gave up.


    There was one thing that really pleased Nedric. He didn¡¯t notice on the first couple of platforms they went past but when they arrived at Elith he was pleased to see the town name proudly displayed, painted in white on a green background. He noticed the signs from then on. Each place proudly displayed in white on green. He had made his mark on the boardways and he hadn¡¯t even been aware of it.


    Arriving at Elseth he was happy to get off the carriage. Over a day spent in one place had made him sore in places he didn¡¯t wish to think about. It wasn¡¯t as bad as riding a horse but it was bad enough. It had stopped being a novelty after the first few hours and just became tedious.


    The platform had changed; well actually the platform was the same but there were now several platforms and Nedric counted eight boardways laid down. He wasn¡¯t sure where they all went because as far as he knew there was only the one route. It had been extended so that soon it would go from Waterfall in the west and would eventually reach the Esteril capital of Hellia to the east. He knew there were plans for more boardways eventually but it looked as if the plans were further developed than he had thought.


    The surrounding area had changed as well. The platform had been in the process of having a building attached to it that would hold a restaurant and a place for travellers to stay. This was now complete. There was also an area where passengers could buy tickets to ride on the carriages and there was a steady throng of people queuing to purchase them.


    The biggest change of all had occurred outside of the boardway. Where only two years before it had been located amongst fairly squalid buildings; now all of those had been demolished. There were buildings being constructed everywhere he looked and all of them appeared to be of good quality. Nedric wondered who was having them built.


    As it was early evening he decided his first priority was to find somewhere to stay. The prices of rooms at the boardway were much higher than he could afford to pay and so he walked along the road that led into the heart of the city looking for accommodation.


    As he walked he noticed that several of the houses he passed had signs that read ¡®no vacancies¡¯. He assumed that travellers tended to occupy the nearer places first and that he would find somewhere as he moved further along. It proved to be the case.


    After a few minutes walk he found himself outside a building of a slightly older style than those nearby. It had a well-maintained look and had a sign reading ¡®vacancies¡¯ so he knocked on the door.


    It was answered by a very prim looking woman in her late fifties. He explained that he was looking for the room for the night and she invited him inside. The price she quoted was quite reasonable so he paid the sum she asked. She showed him to a room, which were basically a bed, a wardrobe and a table.


    ¡°The key to the room also has the key to the front door attached. I expect you in the house before midnight as we don¡¯t want the other guests disturbed and breakfast will be at half seven.¡±


    The whole sentence was rattled out like an order. Nedric could imagine a guard sergeant speaking in very much the same manner. He idly wondered what would happen if he were to go out and return a minute or so after midnight but he didn¡¯t know whether it was a good idea.


    ¡°That¡¯s all right. I didn¡¯t have any plans for this evening. I might stretch my legs before I make use of the room. Thank you for your time.¡±


    He hoped that he would be able to lose the attention of the landlady. Whilst her rates were good, the militant way she organised her house was less inspiring. He wanted to be left alone by her. What he wanted most at the moment though was to get some food.


    It was definitely a fault of the boardway system at the moment that he had been unable to get anything to eat on his journey. On the way there, the carriage had been half stacked with supplies, much of which was food, so it hadn¡¯t been a problem. He had forgotten to take anything with him on his return journey and he was now ravenous.


    The landlady had taken the hint and disappeared. He took the keys from the door after locking it after him and left the place to find something to eat. The keys proved something of a problem. They were large enough to start with and then for some reason they had been attached to a large lump of wood with the room number stamped on it. The whole thing was too large to go into a pocket so he was forced to strap it to his belt and it made him feel foolish.


    Not far away he found a tavern that displayed a board of wares outside. The prices looked good and he went inside. It was the usual crowded and smoky atmosphere but he found himself a table away from most of the noise. One of the barmaids appeared took his order and disappeared into the crowd. She returned moments later with his food and drink. He paid her and then tucked in.


    Where should he go first tomorrow? Would it be better to leave Elsebeth¡¯s parents until later in the day? Getting his pay seemed like a good start and then he could determine what to do next. He wondered who would be a good person to approach in the government. He knew nobody at court and he doubted if any of the nobles would be interested in what he had to say. Perhaps it would be better to talk to one of the staff. Should he go to the palace or to one of the administration buildings, he really ought to contact Rialto. His friend was full of useful information and would know exactly what to do. He would compose a letter that evening.

 28. Old friend?

    As he walked towards the boardway site, Nedric reflected on the breaking of fast that morning. The various travellers who had been staying at the same guesthouse as himself had all worn a certain subdued look. It was as though the aura of the landlady cast a pall on all her guests.


    All the guests were male. Most of them were middle aged and looked like they were used to being harried in life. Nedric guessed that they probably had wives who treated them in much the same fashion and so they felt at home with the landlady¡¯s ways. He was much less happy and decided that he would find somewhere else to stay as soon as he had sorted out his affairs.


    He arrived back at the boardway and made his way around to the gate, which marked the entrance to the site. It was a typical solid iron affair that along with the high brick wall that surrounded the place kept out itinerant intruders. Nedric had always felt that the place was like a bees nest, uninviting and bleak on the outside but thriving with activity once you breached the walls.


    To his surprise he found a guard at the gate. There had been little need for one in the past, at least not whilst there were workers inside. Everybody knew each other and so a new face was instantly spotted and interrogated. Of course the place had grown and that was probably not the case any more.


    The guard asked him for his papers, which he quickly provided. Nedric silently thanked Alhern for being organised and having everything prepared. Everything was in order and he was let through. He had to ask directions to the accounts department, the place had changed a lot since he had last been there.


    He walked slowly through the site. He felt that he should be moving faster, as everybody dashed past him. The place was full of the sounds of construction. Nedric could smell sawdust and iron and knew that it meant that the carpenters and smiths were hard at work.


    He found the appropriate office and knocked on the door. He thought he heard a shout and entered. He closed the door behind him and found himself in a pool of calm amidst the clamouring noise of the rest of the place.


    All the workers in the office were sat at desks on which there were huge piles of papers. They were reading, writing and transferring bits of paper from one place to another. Nobody was speaking and it wasn¡¯t clear whom Nedric should approach. No one was looking at him and so for a minute he just stood there.


    Eventually he got tired of waiting and nervously approached the nearest desk, at which sat a grey haired lady who looked much like his mother.


    ¡°I was wondering if I could collect my wages?¡± he asked in a hushed voice.


    The woman looked up and said ¡°Papers?¡±


    He handed them over and stood awkwardly as she looked through them. She took her time and he began to wonder if there was a problem. Eventually she looked up again and smiled.


    ¡°Everything seems to be in order. Please take a chair and I shall be right back with a credit note.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I get the money here?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t keep large amounts on the site. Take the note to any of the moneylenders in the city after you get it countersigned and they will pay you the full amount or look after it for you for a small fee.¡±


    ¡°Countersigned?¡±


    ¡°You will need to go over to the Over-engineer¡¯s office for a second signature. It¡¯s to prevent the possibility of fraud. I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡±


    The woman walked into the back office and Nedric was left to think about what he would do with the money. As he hadn¡¯t had to pay for food or accommodation he was expecting that he would have a reasonable amount saved up, maybe as much as a hundred and fifty gold. Ten gold would buy him a horse but he had no idea what he would do with one. All his money would keep him fed and housed for a year. He didn¡¯t plan to sit idly in Elseth for that long, not whilst Elsebeth needed his help!


    He wondered if he could hire mercenaries. He had heard that they were expensive. With his money he might be able to hire a couple that would go with him to Nothering but he wasn¡¯t sure how to go about hiring. More importantly he didn¡¯t know how to ensure he got trustworthy people, he wouldn¡¯t want to pay a lot of money and have the person just walk away. He needed an expert and thought of Rialto. Merchants hired guards all the time.


    As he was making a mental note to write a letter to his friend, the lady came back into the room holding a parchment that bore the seal of the guild of moneylenders. She signed on the appropriate line and handed it to him.


    ¡°You will need it sealed to validate it.¡±


    Nedric could see that there was a space for the second seal and realised why only the Over-engineer would have that. He thanked the woman and turned to leave the office. Before he left he glanced more closely at the parchment and was surprised at the sum that was written there.


    ¡°There must be some mistake.¡± He said, turning back to the woman.


    ¡°I calculated it carefully, what¡¯s the problem.¡± The woman sounded just a little put out.


    ¡°I was expecting around the hundred and fifty mark. You¡¯ve written down nearly double that!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The woman relaxed a little and even smiled. ¡°I think you have forgotten about the bonuses.¡±


    ¡°What bonuses?¡±


    ¡°Well there was the pay rise when you were made section leader, and then there were the additional payments when you hit target every month, there was the bonus when your section hit target for the month. The first time that has ever happened. Finally there was the special bonus.¡±


    Nedric vaguely recalled that there had been a promise of extra pay if they hit target but hadn¡¯t believed it until now. He was still somewhat puzzled by her remarks though. ¡°What special bonus?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The one Supervisor Alhern recommended because of the work you have done to enhance the community. Something about bringing in a needed shop and working with the village kids.¡±


    Nedric walked away, reflecting that a letter and a bit of juggling must be worth quite a bit more than he thought.


    He walked across the compound and knocked on the door of the Over-engineer¡¯s office. He was invited to enter by a woman¡¯s voice. As he opened the door he found himself face to face with Rhianna.


    He hadn¡¯t seen her for quite a while and in the meantime she had developed into an extremely attractive woman. He wasn¡¯t interested in her looks however; he could still recall the hurtful words she had used towards him on previous occasions.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Rhianna didn¡¯t sound keen on seeing him either.


    ¡°I need the Over-engineer to countersign my wage note.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not here at present but I can do it for you.¡±


    Nedric was surprised in two ways. It was unlike Rhianna to be helpful and why did she have the authority? He wasn¡¯t going to argue if it meant he could get away quicker. He had a lot to do that day.


    ¡°I was hoping to see Tarim about Elsebeth¡¯s capture.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was a real shame.¡± Rhianna did not sound convincing. ¡°Unfortunately as she was on her own time, company policy clearly states that what happens to her is her own concern and we can do nothing. Here is your paperwork, goodbye.¡±


    Nedric felt rushed out of the office. He was totally surprised. Rhianna clearly didn¡¯t want anything to do with him, which was quite expected. Elsebeth however had been her friend; he had expected her to show some concern. Not to change the subject as quickly as possible and to stand on the letter of regulation. It wasn¡¯t like the company to be that harsh anyway. Tarim had always come across as being concerned about the staff that worked for him and not just in making money.


    As he thought more about the situation he became angry. He would sort out things by himself. The first step was to report her kidnap to the authorities and then he would seek Elsebeth¡¯s parents. It was unlikely that her father would be at home at this time of the day anyway. As for Rhianna, there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about her but he wished there was.


    *          *          *


    He had to ask the guard for directions to the administrative buildings, although he knew they were close to the palace. The route took him in a new direction and he passed through areas of fairly prosperous houses. Each was carefully kept, with little fences or hedges to show where one started and the next stopped. The woman and children around these houses all seemed similar, their voices holding a particular tone that suggested a comfortable existence.


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    There was a lot of traffic along the roads. Wagons heading in all directions, competing with delivery people of all descriptions, each with a handcart or pair of large baskets carried on a yoke. Occasionally two large vehicles would block the way and one would have to force his horse or horses to back up. Nedric was glad that he didn¡¯t have to do that, although he was quite happy to laugh at the efforts of those in that unfortunate position. He noticed that it was never anyone in a carriage that had to reverse, which just confirmed his view of the world.


    After perhaps an hour or so of walking, he found himself outside an extremely large, white, marble-clad building with an imposing entrance and guards on either side. The place was probably larger than the black lion and that had been the largest building he had ever seen before. He couldn¡¯t see why a building this big was needed to administer the country. His understanding was that the nobles, especially the dukes, did most of the administration in their duchies and they didn¡¯t need buildings anywhere near this size. At least the two duchies in which he had lived held nothing as imposing.


    He entered and immediately felt lost. The scale inside matched the exterior. There was a large central space, spanned by a ceiling more grandiose than any church to any of the gods. On either side were stairways leading to at least four floors of offices. People were in constant motion throughout the building and it reminded Nedric of an ant¡¯s nest he had once kicked open. The sunlight streamed from huge windows in the wall at the far end. It gave the place a lighter, airier feel than he would have expected.


    On the floor area in front of him were row upon row of desks at which sat countless numbers of scribes. People were bringing and retrieving constant streams of paperwork from the desks, taking them up the stairs and disappearing into one of the office areas above.


    For a while Nedric just stood there. He had no idea where, in this vast building, he could find the appropriate office. The sheer size of the place overwhelmed him. Eventually he was forced away from the door by the weight of traffic moving through it. As his eyes were forced away from the panorama, he noticed a large wooden desk to one side of the door at which stood a number of people. They were clearly there to give information and Nedric joined the queue.


    After a short wait, he reached the front of the queue and asked for the office he required. This started a small debate between a number of the helpers and in the end he was given three possible locations. All three were in different parts of the building and two were on one side, whilst the third was on the other. He decided to go with the two first.


    Half an hour later he was regretting his choice as neither of the offices he had tried were correct and he had the whole set of stairs to climb on the other side. Eventually he found his way to the office and was directed to a desk hidden between a number of storage shelves and covered with paperwork. It was only when he got close that he realised that there was someone sat at the desk. It wasn¡¯t that he could see them but the gentle snoring gave them away.


    Nedric coughed loudly and the snoring stopped. A few seconds later, a head appeared over the piles of papers and Nedric was greeted by a small, elderly but happily smiling man.


    ¡°Congratulations lad, you are my first visitor this month!¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t quite sure what to think, let alone what to say.


    ¡°I assume you are here to report a missing person.¡± The man continued.


    Nedric nodded.


    ¡°If you give me the details I¡¯ll see that the description is sent to every law enforcement company in the country.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be much help.¡± Nedric stated. ¡°She was kidnapped and taken to Nothering.¡±


    The man didn¡¯t look surprised but started to rummage around on his desk. Eventually, with a cry of triumph, he retrieved a piece of paper and reading from it, started to ask questions.


    ¡°Is she in an important but not particularly influential job?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Was she working in an out of the way location?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Did the kidnappers leave a fairly easy to follow track that led as far as the Nothering border and then stopped?¡±


    ¡°Well actually there were some Esteril rangers doing the tracking and they followed her as far as a building in Nothering.¡±


    This piece of information stopped the man in his tracks and he looked up.


    ¡°Do you have a map to show where this building is located?¡±


    ¡°I have one right here.¡± Nedric drew the map from his pocket.


    ¡°This is very significant!¡± The old man was practically dancing in his excitement. ¡°We have assumed by the various trails from people kidnapped recently that they were all being taken to the roughly the same place but we didn¡¯t know where. This map needs to be taken to Captain Kranc over at military HQ.¡±


    Nedric felt like he was being rushed. He made a conscious effort not to just follow the old man in his rush of enthusiasm. ¡°Hang on a second,¡± he said, ¡°what¡¯s all this about other kidnappings?¡±


    ¡°Oh, haven¡¯t I told you? Yours is the seventeenth reported kidnapping in the last four months. All fit the profile of important workers in isolated locations. The kidnappers all appear to have been mercenaries and the tracks have led as far as the river boundary between Nothering and us. We¡¯ve guessed that they were captured to incite us to invade. If you want to know what is being planned you might as well talk to Captain Kranc yourself and give him your map.¡±


    Nedric thanked the man for his time and walked over to the military HQ. Fortunately this was only the other side of the palace and so took only a short while. The two buildings looked very similar on the outside but the guards here were functional and it took Nedric quite a while to get inside.


    Eventually a guard, who looked like an extremely tall gorilla, escorted him to the appropriate room. Nedric, who had a good sense of direction, realised that the route they had taken was not the most direct. He supposed that they would have entered sensitive areas otherwise. He wasn¡¯t going to question the guard; he hadn¡¯t done much more than grunt during the walk.


    Captain Kranc turned out to be a small and slightly harried look man of middle years. He was sat at a desk, much like his compatriot in the administrative building. Unlike that man however, it was clear that the captain kept his desk tidy. In fact there was hardly any paperwork on it and the few papers that existed were stacked neatly at one corner. Nedric couldn¡¯t decide if this meant the man exhibited military discipline or an obsession with order.


    The captain was friendly and invited Nedric to sit. A messenger from the front guard must have told him why Nedric was there, as he had a form ready to take all the details of the kidnapping. When Nedric gave Elsebeth¡¯s name he gave a small start and called for an orderly.


    ¡°Find Captain Bethel and ask him to join us immediately. I am sure he will want to hear everything that is said.¡±


    As they waited for the captain, they talked about Esteril and the boardway. Kranc was eager to learn how much progress was being made in joining the two capitals. He also wanted to know what it was like living in the country. Nedric found it hard to say, as the works was unlike anywhere else and he hadn¡¯t seen enough of the rest of the country to give an opinion.


    They were interrupted by the arrival of Bethel. Nedric knew instantly that this was Elsebeth¡¯s father; the piercing eyes beneath dark brows were the most noticeable features. Having no idea why he had been invited to the office, he wore a slight frown. This only grew deeper when Kranc introduced Nedric.


    ¡°Are you the young man who has been seeing my daughter?¡± he asked.


    Nedric nodded assent. ¡°I was hoping to visit you tonight to pass on my bad news but I was directed here and the Captain thought you should be here.¡±


    Nedric expected Bethel to start asking questions about Elsebeth but he didn¡¯t. Instead he found a seat and waited for Nedric to speak in his own time. Nedric was sure that he couldn¡¯t have stayed that calm in Bethel¡¯s position and his respect for the man grew.


    He told how Elsebeth had been captured along with himself. He described his escape and the subsequent attempts to get Elsebeth back. As he spoke, Bethel would occasionally nod, as if to show his approval of Nedric¡¯s actions. It made him feel better, as he was sure that he should have handled things differently.


    When he had finished speaking there was a moments pause and then Kranc spoke.


    ¡°Your description of the kidnap doesn¡¯t match the details of the other kidnappings. Apart from the fact that there were two of you captured, this is the only kidnapping outside Setherland and the only one where the kidnappers waited around rather than moving directly to Nothering. It is also the only one where we can definitely know that Nothering soldiers were involved. Your description matched their crack infantry troop too precisely for there to be any doubt.¡±


    ¡°This is one of the things we have been waiting for.¡± He continued. ¡°We couldn¡¯t just invade Nothering, as that would put us on a war footing with no support from other countries. Now we have proof, we can make a small strike and Nothering won¡¯t be able to start an all out war without the risk of all the other countries attacking them. As it is, we can expect them to ignore that threat by next year. Now you said you had a map?¡±


    Nedric produced the paper from his pocket and both captains leant over it. After a couple of minutes, they looked up and there was a small smile on Kranc¡¯s face. He looked at Bethel, who nodded. They both turned to Nedric and Bethel spoke.


    ¡°We have been waiting for this information. We will launch an attack on Nothering within the next few days. Hopefully we can rescue everyone in the building. Now I will have to ask you to stay here for a while and then maybe you will come back to my home to meet the rest of the family. I am sure they will want to meet you. My wife has wanted to do so ever since Elsebeth first started writing about you.¡± He said the last with a small smile.


    Nedric could only agree and was then left to sit and watch as the room was transformed in front of his eyes.


    Kranc and Bethel began issuing orders to the various orderlies and soon the place was filled with all sorts of officers. Maps of Nothering and the Setherland border were hung on the wall and were soon covered with coloured pins that indicated the presence of troops and supplies. There seemed to be much more of both than Nedric would have expected. He soon realised that an invasion from Nothering had been long expected and preparations had been made.


    Most of the afternoon was spent in planning the raid, even though the general plan had been in place for a while. When everything was agreed as much as was possible, orders were issued and the office emptied. Bethel came over to Nedric to let him know the result.


    ¡°The appropriate orders will be transmitted to the troops by this evening and hopefully they will be able to mount an evening raid tonight. If they are successful we should hear what happened within two days.¡±


    Nedric knew that there were towers across the country that allowed information to be transmitted by flags or lights. The system had been devised a few years earlier by some of the merchants and it seemed that the military had recognised the usefulness. It surprised him that they hadn¡¯t thought of developing the boardway for themselves and then he recalled that there were additional lines being built from the station. Perhaps they had already started.


    Bethel suggested that they walk back to his place and as they walked he gave Nedric a little more information about the military situation in Setherland with respect to Nothering.


    ¡°You may have noticed that I was giving orders to people ranked higher than myself. That is because the Nothering authorities decided that they would disrupt our organisation by assassinating our top commanders. We rearranged our chain of command to confuse matters and it must have worked as they stopped being so successful after a while. They still kill off a few junior officers every so often but as it doesn¡¯t affect our system they seem to have stopped. We didn¡¯t have much success in retaliating in kind as they let so few people into their country.¡±


    ¡°So how comes you had all those maps that appeared to be fairly new?¡± Nedric enquired.


    ¡°We do have people in Nothering, spies, informants and the like. Unfortunately they tend to have to take the role of slaves and that means that they can¡¯t get hold of the more important information. The Nothering military realised long ago that you couldn¡¯t trust a slave and so only officers deal with their paperwork. They even have the junior officers clean the rooms after they realised that we were getting information from the cleaners and their refuse.¡±


    The whole world of spies and spying sounded quite exciting to Nedric but the risks seemed too great and the punishments were said to be truly horrible. He didn¡¯t even want to think about what would happen to a slave caught selling information. He had heard that a slave¡¯s life was not very pleasant at the best of times.


    Bethel continued, ¡°We get enough information that we know about their supply lines, main bases, new buildings, troop movements, that sort of thing. We should have enough warning that we can anticipate any major attacks and prepare our defences accordingly. Our biggest problem is the small scale attacks on isolated locations. We can¡¯t get enough troops into an area quickly enough.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like you need the boardway. It would be ideal for carrying troops and supplies.¡±


    ¡°We already worked that out but there aren¡¯t many impressors at the moment and they are limited to the amount of boards they can produce. We helped arrange the schooling at the keep because we realised the need but we were hoping for faster results and didn¡¯t know how difficult it would be to train people. If we did we might have made the class sizes much larger.¡±


    Nedric didn¡¯t know whether that would have helped. There was an element of being an impressor that could be taught and there was an innate ability that not everyone possessed. The pupils at the keep comprised some of the brighter and better-educated youngsters in the country and less than half of them had the skill. He thought that there would always be a shortage of impressors. At least there would be until they had finished building the boardways.


    There was a distinct impression in his mind that Bethel hadn¡¯t finished their talk about the boardways but he drifted onto other topics as they walked and it was forgotten for the moment.

 29. Meeting the in-laws

    Arriving at Elsebeth¡¯s parents home was a surprise. He had been expecting a larger place but it was smaller than many of the merchant¡¯s houses he had passed on the way. It was set in a quiet backwater of Elseth. All the houses were detached and separated from each other by screens of trees and fences.


    They walked along the drive, crunching the gravel. He noticed that there was no coach house or stables. Presumably the wheel marks came from delivery wagons. Possibly there was no need for transport when everything in the city could be reached by walking.


    Before they reached the door, it was opened for them. The lady standing in the doorway was very clearly Elsebeth¡¯s mother. The similarities were striking only a few age lines telling him that they were mother and daughter rather than sisters.


    ¡°You¡¯re early tonight Bethel.¡± The tone was half questioning, half statement and there was a distinct question in her eyes when she looked at Nedric.


    ¡°Nedric here brought us some vital information which allowed us to put our plans into action. There was nothing left for me to do for a while so we left.¡±


    She looked at Nedric with a puzzled expression. ¡°Are you the same Nedric who is seeing Elsebeth?¡±


    Nedric nodded.


    ¡°Then what are you doing here? Shouldn¡¯t you be in Esteril?¡±


    Bethel interjected. ¡°Nedric has brought us some news of Elsebeth. Let¡¯s talk about it indoors.¡± His tone let her know that the news wasn¡¯t good.


    They all entered. Nedric found himself inside a warm, family home. They went into a comfortable lounge and the older couple sat on a short couch, whilst Nedric placed himself opposite them. He repeated his tale as to what had happened to Elsebeth and himself, making sure that he put as much emphasis as possible on the likelihood that she was being well looked after as far as he knew.


    As he spoke he could see Bethel place one arm over his wife¡¯s shoulder and he grasped her hands with his other hand. She looked a little pale and shaken by the end of the story but quickly rallied and insisted that he stay for a meal.


    He was shown to one of the four bedrooms. It had previously been occupied by Elsebeth¡¯s brother and showed it. There were various awards for archery competitions, old and damaged daggers and other strange bits of metal that made no immediate sense. A few books were on a shelf with titles such as ¡®A Mathematics Primer¡¯ and ¡®The history of the Duchies of Setherland¡¯. He had seen other copies of these books many times; they were standards for tutors.


    The best word for the house was comfortable. Nedric had grown up in a much larger building, owned by a minor member of the aristocracy. There was evidence of family life everywhere, from soft toys left in the corners of the upper rooms to drawings on walls. He thought that he might have preferred to grow up in such an environment.


    He was given sufficient time to clean himself up before he was called down to eat. It gave him time to think about Elsebeth. In her home it was hard to think of her detained in another country. He hoped that they would be together within a few days if the raid were successful. A couple of days were not a long wait after the weeks he had already suffered. Still he would have much preferred to visit this house under much happier circumstances.


    It was a minor dilemma in his mind what to call Elsebeth¡¯s mother. She had refused to be called ma¡¯am when he had called her that, yet it seemed disrespectful to call her by her given name, Elsebrianne. In the end Nedric avoided the issue by not using her name at all and just speaking directly to her.


    The meal was an awkward affair as no one wanted to talk about what had brought Nedric to the house. He tried to ignore the red marks around Elsebrianne¡¯s eyes. He could understand why she had been crying; he had come close enough himself. The small talk was about Nigh and how the work was going. There was a mention that Elsebeth¡¯s brother would be coming home soon. He was a career soldier like his father but had recently seen much more active duty.


    The food was good and plentiful and like all young men, Nedric didn¡¯t need to be asked twice when he was offered more. Elsebrianne reminded him of his own mother, who had similar facial looks and a slight stoutness around the middle that suggested all food had been checked for quality before being served to guests.


    After the meal he made his excuses and left, letting Bethel know where his lodgings were in case there was any news. He could tell that they would have invited him to stay but knew equally well that they wanted some time to themselves.


    *          *          *


    It was Nedric¡¯s intention to spend the evening at the Black Lion. Given that he had a lot more money than he had previously thought and that he had nothing he could do for a while, he might as well enjoy himself. He made his way back to his lodgings to change into his less respectable but more comfortable outfit.


    Whilst in the room, he hid the credit note in the sleeve of a spare jacket. He didn¡¯t expect the landlady to steal it but you couldn¡¯t be too careful with that sort of money. When he felt ready for the evening he locked his room and sauntered towards his goal.


    The Black Lion was the same as ever, full of people intent on having a good time. He didn¡¯t know for sure but he assumed that if he were to turn up at any time, day or night there would be people gambling their life¡¯s savings. He had little intention of following that slippery path even though it looked as though he wouldn¡¯t need mercenaries any more.


    Instead he looked for the entertainers and a long drink. For a while he sat and listened to a bard singing. As most of the tales seemed to be of people who had lost their loves through death or had killed themselves in anguish it was more than a bit depressing and far too close to reality. He moved to a different room.


    He saw the same young lady as he had briefly seen on his last visit, this time wearing fewer clothes, as she was part way through her act. He stayed but whilst her show was appreciated by most of the audience he found it tawdry. Perhaps he might have enjoyed it if he wasn¡¯t thinking of Elsebeth.


    Eventually he found a room where various light entertainers amused the audiences. He caught a brief glimpse of an act where somebody was juggling whilst stood on a large barrel that rolled as he moved. Nedric found the idea intriguing but wondered about the practicalities of taking a barrel everywhere with you. Of course if the man only ever worked in taverns it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The following act was a man that got the audience to tie him up in chains and then escaped from them. The actual tying and escaping couldn¡¯t have taken more than three minutes in total but the man managed to make the show last a good twenty-five minutes mainly by his banter.


    Nedric was laughing loudly by the end of the show. He couldn¡¯t remember when he had last laughed. Probably before Elsebeth had been captured. The thought almost broke the mood but then the man said something else and he was laughing again. At the end he clapped as loudly as anyone and then searched for something else to entertain him.


    He came across a group playing lively music. It was all the old favourites, songs in praise of beer or women, songs making fun of some person¡¯s character or features. The music was good, the beer he had was beginning to warm him and he felt happy enough that he indulged in a couple of games and promptly lost more than a silver. That brought him to his senses and he made his way back to the guesthouse in a rare good humour.


    *          *          *


    The next morning Nedric awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. The sound was so unexpected that it took him a moment to realise what it was.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Nedric recognised the voice of his landlady as she replied.


    ¡°There¡¯s some soldiers outside asking to see you.¡± The voice sounded extremely disapproving.


    He threw on some clothes and opened the door. The landlady was there, looking just as disapproving as she had sounded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing wrong and I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s a good reason why they are there.¡±


    The landlady just made a noise.


    Nedric didn¡¯t waste any time arguing. He went to the front of the building and opened the door. The sight of an officer and his ten-person retinue greeted him.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Captain Bethel wants to see you.¡±


    ¡°And this requires eleven of you does it?¡±


    The officer looked a little discomfited by this. ¡°Well we didn¡¯t know that you would be here and thought we might have to search for you. It was easier to bring searchers than take the chance.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t do my relationship with my landlady any good when there¡¯s a squad of soldiers outside her door.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Well it can¡¯t be helped now, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Nedric felt slightly ridiculous walking at the front of a bunch of soldiers. He didn¡¯t fit in with the group as he was dressed in his older work clothes and therefore he tended to draw a lot of attention. He felt more like a convict than anything else, although he didn¡¯t think that he was likely to be taken to any prison. He wondered what Elsebeth¡¯s father wanted with him.


    By the time they reached the military headquarters he was also getting out of breath. The soldiers were obviously much fitter than him and had kept him moving at a fast pace across the city. He decided that he would have to take more exercise in the near future. It looked like his life was determined to throw bouts of exertion at him.


    Bethel greeted him warmly and dismissed the other soldiers.


    ¡°Sorry about that, I asked him to find you and extend my invitation for you to visit me. He seems to have been a little bit too eager.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think my landlady was very impressed with a bunch of soldiers outside her door. She¡¯s likely to throw my stuff out on the street and have done with me.¡±


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t have you homeless so you might as well stay with me and my wife. She thinks you should be with family at this time anyway.¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t sure that he wanted to stay with Elsebeth¡¯s parents. He didn¡¯t really know them and with her father being a soldier he didn¡¯t see how he could have anything much in common with them. Also there was the awkward situation with her not being there and his presence could only remind them of this.


    However the way he had been asked was very warming. Apart from his mother he didn¡¯t have any family of his own. He didn¡¯t know how he could refuse, so he accepted. It made him feel warm inside, the way he had been accepted into her family.


    ¡°So why did you want to see me?¡±


    ¡°I wanted some advice and you seemed a suitable person to ask questions. Let me explain my problem. When war commences we will have the two armies fighting at the border. We have been planning for this for years and have supplies, fortifications and well-trained garrisons; they have the same only they have more soldiers. It¡¯s possible for either group to get a small force through the gaps but we will have sweeper patrols in place to try and prevent this. The real problem is the mountains. We have a long border that is extremely mountainous and difficult to patrol. It is also difficult to cross so we don¡¯t have a lot of defence in that area. What I am worried about is them taking a large group of soldiers over the mountains, if they do then they can attack us on a second front and they could be in amongst the farms before we could respond. This is why I need advice.¡±


    ¡°In what way sir?¡±


    ¡°We have a good signalling system, we can send a message from one end of the country to the other in less than a day. We can¡¯t at the moment move troops fast enough. I want to know how difficult it would be to put a boardway about a days march behind the border. How long would it take? Would the impressors be happy to work harder? Can we move enough troops fast enough?¡±


    ¡°Well sir. At current speeds an impressor can do maybe ten planks a day that¡¯s roughly three hundred foot. There are roughly twenty impressors so that is about a mile a day. That is if you are only thinking of one track. There are other impressors who could be called in to help but as far as I know there are no more than thirty in the country and I don¡¯t know of any in other countries. It took four years to train us and it might be possible to speed up the training or use the people who didn¡¯t make it from the keep but I can¡¯t really answer those questions. Besides the preparation of the ground means that normally no more than a mile can be done with the current track laying crew.¡±


    ¡°A mile a day, with twenty impressors, I have perhaps ten weeks and over two hundred miles to cover. Even if I had all the impressors from the boardway working twice as long, I wouldn¡¯t quite get it done. Have you any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Sir, you couldn¡¯t have them working that much harder anyway, it¡¯s counter-productive. Impressors need to concentrate and too much work will prevent that. You need a solution that will make them much more productive with the same effort or to vastly increase the number of them.¡±


    ¡°Well I can maybe find forty impressors altogether but that still only equates to one hundred and twenty miles even if they have no rest day. Is there any way to speed the process up?¡±


    Nedric really didn¡¯t want to let everyone know how to work twice as hard for hardly any extra effort but he could see that he was going to have to give up his secret. He could hardly ask the country to go to war on his account and do nothing to help the war effort.


    ¡°Sir I could get them producing at maybe sixteen or maybe eighteen planks per day with the right training. It¡¯s a technique I developed so I¡¯m going to have to teach it to them. I still don¡¯t see how you¡¯re going to clear that much area in that quick a time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you are thinking of limited resources. I will have a load of unfit farm boys and merchants sons that will need training as soldiers. Getting them clearing ground will improve their general fitness and get them obeying instructions fairly quickly. If we also have them weapon training at the same time then we will have a partly trained force in place just in case an attack gets to the area before we are ready.¡±


    ¡°So I should go back to Esteril and start the process rolling?¡±


    ¡°No, if we are at war we can¡¯t have our important resources in another country. I¡¯ll have all the impressors moved here and they can work at the site. It means that our supply line will be longer but that can¡¯t be helped. I need those impressors where I can be sure they¡¯re safe. At least for the next three months.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t the company have something to say about that?¡±


    ¡°The government owns the company, they won¡¯t say a word. It¡¯s the other impressors that will be harder to obtain. The ones who work for independent merchants.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to recruit them? I mean, at the moment there isn¡¯t even a war on.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of a merchant, you just pay them enough money and they will do anything for you, especially when the consequences of not helping are spelt out to them. There isn¡¯t one of them who doesn¡¯t have or want a government contract.¡±


    ¡°So what would you like me to do in the mean time?¡±


    ¡°Move over to our house and take it easy for a couple of days. With any luck we will have word about the raid before you have to set to work.¡±


    *          *          *


    Walking back to the guesthouse gave Nedric time to think things over. It looked like he was going back to being an impressor only a few days after quitting. He wasn¡¯t actually sure that he was keen on the idea. It was beginning to dawn on him that he had only taken the job because he didn¡¯t know what he wanted to do. He knew what he didn¡¯t want to do but that wasn¡¯t a very positive way of looking at things.


    He opened the door to the guesthouse and went up to his room. He opened the door to find the room empty. Where were his possessions? He looked in the wardrobe but there was nothing in it. He heard a noise behind him and turned.


    The landlady was standing there, arms crossed. The stern expression on her face was matched by the tone of her voice.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be back and now you are, you can give me the key and leave.¡±


    ¡°I only came back to collect my stuff. Where is it?¡±


    The response seemed to catch the woman off guard.


    ¡°Where do you think it is? I took it downstairs when you were arrested and put it in safe-keeping.¡±


    ¡°I was never arrested. There was just a misunderstanding on how many soldiers it took to invite me to a meeting. Anyway I¡¯m back now and just want my things before moving over to stay with one of the captains, so can I have it please?¡±


    Nedric was directed downstairs and into a back room where his clothing and pack were piled in a corner. He checked the spare jacket for his credit note and it wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Where¡¯s my credit note?¡±


    ¡°I put it away safely, do you think I would steal it?¡± she sniffed at the thought.


    She went into an adjoining room and there was the sound of something being opened. Emerging a few seconds later, she was carrying the note and a letter.


    ¡°This came today, I didn¡¯t know where you were so I put it safe.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    By glancing at the writing, Nedric could tell that the letter was from Rialto. He quickly took his leave from the woman and opened his letter as he walked across the city. That the response had been that quick suggested that Rialto was fairly close.


    Reading as he walked, he learnt that Rialto was on his way to visit. He would be arriving the next day and had something to show him. He also expressed his sorrow at hearing about Elsebeth¡¯s capture. He finished by suggesting that Nedric keep away from the Black Lion until Rialto was there to look after him. Since Rialto was the one who was more inclined to gamble Nedric found this last bit a little rich but in keeping with their humour.

 30. The return of Rialto

    The next morning Nedric made his way over to the boardway station in order to meet Rialto. It was over a year since they had last seen each other and he was looking forward to meeting him again. He wondered if he would recognise his friend. Nedric had grown so that he was now an inch or so taller than most men.


    As it was, he recognised Rialto straight away, despite his friend having grown a small moustache and wispy beard. He couldn¡¯t help himself and instantly started to make fun of his friend¡¯s facial growth.


    ¡°What¡¯s that animal on your face?¡±


    Rialto looked slightly hurt and then grinned.


    ¡°It was meant to make me look older but I guess all it does is itch so I¡¯m going to get rid of it sometime.¡±


    ¡°Good thing too. If you are going to have a rodent on your face it ought to be a Nonny.¡±


    ¡°Strange you should mention them. I just bought quite a few from a merchant from the far south and I don¡¯t know what to do with them.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you buy them?¡±


    ¡°He offered me such a good deal.¡±


    The woebegone look on his friends face made Nedric laugh and Rialto was soon laughing as well. The two moved away from the platform and towards the nearby restaurant.


    ¡°So how goes it in the merchant business?¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t doing too bad. Father is getting almost obscenely rich and we are doing our best to catch him up.¡±


    Nedric was somewhat puzzled. Rialto had twice used ¡®we¡¯ in his sentence but if he wasn¡¯t talking about his father, whom was he talking about? Before he could ask Rialto was reaching into his bag and pulling out a sheath of papers. He passed them over to Nedric.


    ¡°These are for you to keep, they are as current as I could make them at short notice.¡±


    The papers were a list of holdings for RAN Supplies and a financial statement listing the values of goods owned and current earnings and expenditures. At the bottom was a series of numbers that gave the overall state of the company.


    ¡°This looks like the company is going to be successful over the long term.¡±


    ¡°It will be if we don¡¯t go bankrupt within the next few weeks. I¡¯ve been expanding rapidly and the money coming in hasn¡¯t grown as fast as I expected. Seems like everybody is getting slightly worried, what with all these disappearances.¡±


    ¡°Well couldn¡¯t you just sell some of these shops you¡¯ve bought to cover the shortfall.¡±


    ¡°Well I could but it would be an expensive loss and I thought that I ought to consult my partner first.¡±


    ¡°So what does he say?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, what do you say?¡±


    Nedric was taken aback. Did Rialto really mean what he was suggesting?


    ¡°I¡¯m your partner? Why? And why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    ¡°You hadn¡¯t worked it out?¡± Rialto looked smug. ¡°I thought it was fairly obvious from the name if nothing else. Why do you think I kept asking you to do the work in Esteril?¡±


    ¡°I thought you were taking advantage of my better nature!¡±


    ¡°What better nature? Anyway my father gave me a loan and the profit we made from Nigh paid it back. All the rest of the profits have gone into expanding the business along the route from here to Esteril.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably a bad move at the moment. You do know that there is likely to be a war with Nothering?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard rumours but there are always suggestions about war with Nothering, nothing has happened in the last few years to make me think that it will happen.¡±


    ¡°The war is likely to start within the next few months. Can the company cope?¡±


    ¡°Well I can cut back on some of the expenses and if we don¡¯t buy any other buildings we can probably just about survive but it will be tight, very tight.¡±


    ¡°How tight is that?¡±


    ¡°Well if you have a couple of golds to spare I could do with them.¡±


    ¡°How about a couple of hundred golds?¡± Nedric pulled his credit note from out of his pack.


    Rialto looked at Nedric in amazement.


    ¡°With that sort of money I could restock with more appropriate goods. We might even make a healthy profit out of this war. Where does the money come from?¡±


    ¡°Try to remember that I¡¯ve been working for a living whilst you¡¯ve been playing at being a merchant.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Rialto didn¡¯t know whether to look indignant at the suggestion that he was playing or happy that he was going to be able to continue. In the end his natural enthusiasm won and he clapped Nedric on the back.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure that you don¡¯t need this money at the moment?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to spend it on and I¡¯m likely to be earning more in the near future. We ought to transfer it over to the company now. Carrying this note is making me nervous.¡±


    The two finished their light meal and walked over to the merchant¡¯s district. Nedric still didn¡¯t know his way around but it was clear that Rialto was much more conversant with the city than he had been previously. They headed for another imposing building made of granite. Nedric was beginning to believe that the same person had designed every important building as they all had the same solid look.


    This one had ¡®Theofeld¡¯s Bank¡¯ carved in ornate lettering above the door. Inside they were greeted by a man who seemed overjoyed to meet them. He invited them to a desk and offered them drinks.


    ¡°What can I do to help you young masters today?¡±


    Rialto did all the speaking. He conducted himself in a way that suggested to Nedric that he had done this many times before.


    ¡°We would like this credit transferred to the account of RAN Supplies.¡±


    ¡°Why of course sirs. You realise that there will be a five gold fee.¡±


    ¡°Certainly.¡±


    ¡°I shall arrange things now. If you would care to wait.¡±


    The man scuttled off and Nedric turned to Rialto.


    ¡°Five golds?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how these places make money. One gold in fifty goes to them.¡±


    ¡°But that is a weeks wages or more just for doing a transfer of money.¡±


    ¡°The world is unfair. If I were transferring a hundred times that amount they wouldn¡¯t have charged me more than fifty golds. They take advantage of the small business.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we can avoid using them.¡±


    ¡°If you find a way you will be the first. Unfortunately the banks are an evil necessity. What¡¯s more they know it. You should see how much they charge if you want to borrow money from them.¡±


    ¡°Which reminds me, I will need a little spending money as you just took all my earnings.¡±


    ¡°Well I have a little gold on me, that you can have. If your going to be working then you can draw your money directly from the company and then you don¡¯t have to go through a bank.¡±


    ¡°Then I have all this money just asking to be stolen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another reason why banks are a necessity. Your money is safe, because if they weren¡¯t safe no-one would use them.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t have to like the costs.¡±


    The man returned with a piece of paper that indicated that the money had been transferred and showed the current balance of RAN supplies. Rialto barely glanced at it and placed it in his case. He thanked the banker and the two young men left. They made their way to a nearby tavern and sat at a table outside. A woman appeared and took their order, returning almost immediately with their drinks.


    Rialto wanted all the details of Elsebeth¡¯s kidnapping. Nedric by now was getting used to the request and told the story with a little elaboration that tended to enhance the danger that he had been in.


    ¡°Tell me again, how you got out of the shed?¡± Rialto sounded enthusiastic.


    ¡°I noticed the shed was made of grey oak and impressed two of the logs. When the guy opened the door it must have looked to him like they had been knocked from the wall. He came inside to investigate and I basically fell on him! The hardest bit was bracing myself in that position for the five minutes or so it took him to go into the cabin, get me some food and cross over to the shed. If he had taken any longer I¡¯d have been lying on the floor unable to move. As it was, I could barely walk as I tried to get away.¡±


    ¡°So how did you know he was coming in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I heard the brothers discussing me. It was the worst part of the plan. I could have hidden by the door but he was probably expecting that. I hoped that he didn¡¯t have the imagination to look up when it was possible that I had already escaped. Fortunately he wasn¡¯t particularly bright.¡±


    ¡°Neither were you, leaping before you looked.¡±


    ¡°That was truly scary. I didn¡¯t think I was going to catch that tree. It was pure panic that made me cling on. If I had been able to think I would probably have been shouting and he would have known I was there. I guess I was lucky in more than one way.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, enough about me. Where have you been and what are you going to do with those Nonnies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve mainly been going back and forth along the boardway between here and Waterfall. I know you haven¡¯t had time to look through the figures but we have trading posts at every station, which now means about twenty. Some of them are only little kiosks but in the smaller towns we are becoming well known. It helps that all the travellers who use the boardway know we stock the things they need. We can also get new items to our customers quicker than most as we have our own carriages. The rights to use the boardway are VERY expensive, one of our biggest costs.¡±


    ¡°So what about the Nonnies?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was down at the southern border, meeting a trader who supplies cloth. It was a favour for my father actually. He had these cages full of Nonnies and wanted to get rid of them quickly. I should have wondered why at the time. He offered me a ridiculous price and so I bought them. I can¡¯t find anyone who wants to buy one. Seems there were some got into a granary in Herit and it cost the owner a fortune. It is certainly costing me a lot just to feed the ones I¡¯ve got.¡±


    ¡°You could just let them loose!¡±


    ¡°It seems cruel. They don¡¯t like the colder climate here and they¡¯d all die in winter. Perhaps I can find a rich animal lover to buy them from me.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if we could sell them to the army? They would make a great form of sabotage to the Nothering supply chain.¡± Nedric smiled at the idea.


    ¡°It¡¯s even colder in Nothering in the winter.¡±


    ¡°Then you should try and get rid of them quickly! There¡¯s the whole summer for them to cause damage.¡±


    ¡°If your idea works I¡¯ll buy you a drink.¡± Rialto raised his glass and they both drank.


    Once the idea had been planted in Rialto¡¯s head he didn¡¯t want to sit around losing money and soon wanted to be away. He made arrangements to meet Nedric the next week and was away.


    *          *          *


    After Rialto¡¯s visit, Nedric was at a loss as to what to do. He still had most of a day to waste and he spent the time wandering around Elseth. The news that he half-owned a company had set him to thinking about business opportunities. He wasn¡¯t half the merchant that Rialto was but he made sure that he knew what RAN Supplies had to offer and what they needed to get rid of quickly. The biggest problem was the large number of items that Rialto had bought because they were being offered at extremely low prices. If people were in the mood to buy, then this wouldn¡¯t have been a problem but just by walking around he could see that people were only buying essentials. The stalls were much quieter apart from the cries of merchants who seemed much more desperate to sell their goods.


    Nedric would have liked to sell stuff to the army. He didn¡¯t know how he could go about doing this and he didn¡¯t want to try and exploit his connection with Bethel. This left him with no approaches but he had suggested to Rialto that he looked into the matter. Nedric was going to see if there were further markets to be found within the boardway company.


    There hadn¡¯t been any word yet on the raid and even though he hadn¡¯t expected to hear anything so soon, he was getting a little tense. He wasn¡¯t the only one. The atmosphere that evening was slightly strained. Nedric spent most of the evening reading through the paperwork that Rialto had left him and trying not to think about Elsebeth.


    It was becoming apparent that Nedric would have to find somewhere else to stay and that he would have to do it in such a way as to not seem ungrateful. Fortunately the location of their house, the opposite side of the city to the boardway, was going to be inconvenient. He would need a place near work very shortly.


    He would also have to visit the site and talk to the Over-engineer. Bethel had sent across papers that stated that the military were taking over the running of the boardway whilst there was a strong possibility of war. Nedric wanted to try and smooth things over before the other impressors arrived.


    He had paperwork to say that he was being placed in charge of all the impressors and intended to visit the site the next morning. He wanted to see Rhianna¡¯s face when he walked in and showed her his new orders.

 31. It starts to make sense

    By his fifth day in Elseth, Nedric was almost glad to be going back to work. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted the job, more that he needed a distraction. He walked over to the site with a rapid stride and arrived as the rest of the workers were entering.


    He met trouble trying to go through the gate. The guard wasn¡¯t going to let him through without the appropriate documents. Nedric had documents signed by Bethel but he couldn¡¯t persuade the guard to accept them or to talk to the Over-engineer to get permission for him to enter. He was on the point of giving up when he saw some of his colleagues walking his way.


    The group of impressors greeted him and also tried to get into the site. Apparently they didn¡¯t have the appropriate documents either as the guard wasn¡¯t going to let anyone through. Fortunately one of the group had the good fortune to spot a friend inside the gates and called him over.


    The friend was persuaded to head over to the Over-engineer¡¯s office to get permission for the group. He returned a few minutes later to report that the secretary claimed that they knew nothing about any impressors due to arrive and Tarim was not in his office.


    At this point Nedric got angry. He had had enough of the petty bureaucracy of the guard and with more than a dozen people with him; one person was not going to stop him. He marched through the gate, followed by the others. The guard tried to stop them and Nedric pushed him in the stomach. Others in the group gave him gentle kicks as he fell to the floor.


    They marched over to the Over-engineer¡¯s office. As they approached, it they could see faint curls of smoke coming out of the place. They sped up. When Nedric opened the door he could see that there were piles of papers everywhere and half of them were alight.


    Without thinking, Nedric went into the office and started to stamp on the fire. Others followed and the flames were quickly put out. As the smoke cleared it became apparent that the fire had been started fairly recently and had done little damage to the office apart from to the papers.


    There was someone coughing in the back office. When they tried to open the door, they found it locked. Fortunately it was not a strong lock and sprung open when Nedric forcefully kicked it with the base of his foot. They found Over-engineer Tarim struggling to sit up and fighting the effects of smoke inhalation.


    ¡°Are you all right sir?¡± asked Nedric with some alarm.


    Tarim nodded, then sat down heavily on a chair. He took some time getting enough breath to speak.


    ¡°Is Rhianna anywhere around?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her sir.¡± Nedric replied.


    ¡°She locked me in the office and then set fire to the place. Go get the guard and make sure he closes the gate.¡±


    Nedric shuffled on his feet uncomfortably. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that the guard is in any condition to help at the moment. Last time I saw him he was lying on the floor.¡±


    ¡°Why was he doing that?¡±


    ¡°Because I pushed him. Sorry about that but he was stopping us from coming through the gate.¡±


    Tarim gave him a rather bleary look. ¡°What are you lot doing here anyway? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in Esteril?¡±


    ¡°You should have been informed that all the impressors had been ordered back to Setherland by Captain Bethel to further the war effort.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been told a thing. How does he have the authority? What is going on?¡± His voice went from bewilderment to questioning, rising in volume as he spoke.


    Nedric could tell that some things needed to be sorted out quickly and that having a group of impressors standing around wasn¡¯t going to help. He quickly organised the group to begin working. Fortunately some of them knew the site fairly well and could find the workmen they needed to get started. Nedric stayed with the Over-engineer.


    ¡°What do you know about Elsebeth¡¯s capture sir?¡±


    ¡°What capture?¡±


    There was a picture beginning to emerge. Tarim seemed to be totally unaware of all the recent activity and kept looking at Nedric as if he was talking nonsense. The fact that there had been the group of impressors seemed to be the only reason that he believed Nedric at all.


    When Nedric questioned Tarim as to the role Rhianna played in the office then Tarim reached some understanding of events.


    ¡°She handles the paperwork and sees to it that I get all the relevant papers without having to handle all the unnecessary stuff that would otherwise waste my time.¡±


    ¡°And who decides what is relevant?¡±


    ¡°She does.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t immediately clear to Nedric why Rhianna would want to hide information from Tarim, until the conversation he had with Captain Tolbeck came to haunt him.


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    ¡°What could Rhianna have learnt if she were a spy for Nothering?¡±


    ¡°Anything she wanted, all the plans go through this office, all the costs are listed here, any authorisations that have to be made, any changes that need to be made. If she wanted to know anything about the company she could find it here.¡±


    With a growing realisation he started to sort through the half-burnt papers. His movements became more and more agitated as he searched. Eventually he blurted out.


    ¡°She¡¯s taken the latest set of plans.¡±


    ¡°What could Nothering do with them?¡±


    ¡°Build a boardway as developed as ours, without the years we took to learn how to do it. All they need is normal workmen and some impressors. Fortunately all the impressors are now in Setherland and they won¡¯t be able train any themselves without somebody who knows what they are doing.¡±


    A stab went through Nedric¡¯s brain. ¡°They¡¯ve got Elsebeth!¡±


    It was as he was contemplating these events that Captain Kranc walked into sight. Nedric knew immediately that the Captain was there to speak to him. He wasn¡¯t expecting to hear good news.


    ¡°What happened to this office?¡± The captain queried, looking around the place with evident surprise.


    ¡°It looks like there has been a Nothering spy working here and she has just decided to run.¡±


    ¡°That sadly makes a lot of sense. We have had news of the raid, they¡¯ve recovered almost all the hostages, unfortunately Elsebeth wasn¡¯t amongst them.¡±


    ¡°What can the army do to capture the spy?¡±


    ¡°We can get her description to every post by tonight. If she leaves the country by any monitored route we should capture her. Who is she?¡±


    ¡°Rhianna, daughter of the merchant Blekann.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s weird?¡±


    ¡°Blekann is one of the other people captured and he wasn¡¯t rescued either.¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t sure whether to assume that Rhianna had been spying because her father was in danger or because he was also a spy. It really didn¡¯t matter. He really wanted to get Elsebeth back and it looked like the only way to do this was to capture Rhianna. The problem was that he couldn¡¯t just race off, he had responsibilities at the site and he was just going to have to rely on others.


    He made sure that Kranc started moving fairly rapidly. He didn¡¯t want Rhianna slipping past the guards before the message could be sent. The captain seemed reluctant to go, being more interested in finding out what sort of things Rhianna had done. Eventually Nedric had to walk with him to the front gate, talking all the time.


    As he made his leave of Kranc, the guard who was standing to one side and giving him an evil look caught Nedric¡¯s eye. He decided that he should confront the man now rather than let the antagonism fester. It helped that he had a good line of attack.


    ¡°Thanks to you messing us around earlier the Over-engineer nearly died. If it isn¡¯t bad enough you¡¯ve let a spy escape from the site with the latest plans. What sort of guard do you call yourself?¡±


    ¡°I was just doing my job.¡±


    ¡°Rather you were boosting your own sense of power by being obstructive. I reckon you¡¯re likely to lose your job.¡±


    The guard¡¯s whole manner changed. From being defensive but belligerent he seemed to shrink and become worried. Nedric felt like a bully. It was fine for him to be angry with the guard but it wasn¡¯t fair to be suggesting that the man lose his livelihood for doing what he was meant to be doing, albeit in a most unhelpful manner.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see whether I can gloss over your part in this when I speak to him in a moment.¡±


    The guard was almost obscenely grateful. Nedric felt even worse. He was deceiving the man into thinking that he Nedric was powerful enough to decide who worked and who didn¡¯t. In truth he had only the authority to best arrange the work of the impressors. He couldn¡¯t even fire one of them without a supervisor¡¯s permission.


    As he walked back through the site he reflected on the morning and what he had done. He had been issuing orders as if he was one of the bosses and nobody had argued. Perhaps it was just the shock of the moment or perhaps it was because most of the people around had been those he was used to directing. Either way he decided that it would be better for him to be doing his proper job rather than giving any more orders. People might start to resent him.


    Before he could go over to the sheds he felt the need to check on Tarim. Whilst the Over-engineer had appeared to be recovering his strength he had looked fairly frail when they had first broken down the door and he wasn¡¯t sure how badly the smoke had affected him.


    He opened the door to the outer office and was greeted by the sight of Tarim sitting at Rhianna¡¯s desk and methodically sorting through the paperwork. The man looked up as Nedric entered and invited him in.


    ¡°Nedric, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re back again. I need to know what exactly is going on and what I might have missed out on. You seem to know more than most as to what is happening so tell me what you can.¡±


    Taking a seat, without being asked, Nedric started to explain events as they had affected him. He told what had happened to Elsebeth and him and how he had come to Elseth when it looked like nothing was likely to be done to help. He explained that her father had authorised the raid to free the captives and the further preparations he was putting in place in the event of war. He glossed lightly over the incident at the gate and instead explained what the impressors were doing at the moment.


    After arranging with Tarim for accommodation to be provided for the impressors and for documents to be available for them and any more that arrived he made his way over to the sheds. The time had come for him to be candid with his techniques. There was going to be an even greater need for the boardway to be ready as soon as possible if Rhianna was likely to let the Nothering command know about this new defence.


    It was the work of more than a few minutes to arrange a meeting of all the impressors. There were the ones he knew and had worked with in Esteril and there were the ones who had been in Elseth all the time and knew little about him. It had taken quite a lot of persuasion to convince their section leader to help collect the others.


    When they were gathered in an empty shed Nedric knew that he was going to have one of the toughest jobs in his life. Although he was of an age or older than most of the ones who had been with him in Esteril, the other group were all older and more experienced. He could see them thinking dismissive thoughts as he told them they had been going about things wrongly for the last few years.


    He decided that if he were going to manage this task he was going to do it by getting their co-operation rather than antagonism. He cleared his throat.


    ¡°Good afternoon. You are probably wondering why I¡¯ve asked to have you all gathered, after all you all know your job and can get on with it without needing to know where your work is being used. I thought it might be useful to know the reasons why our job is going to get much harder.


    You will be aware that people have been disappearing, captured by Nothering and held in a place not too far from the border. Some of you will know that one person captured is an impressor.¡±


    There was an almost collective nod from the Esteril group, a questioning mumble from the others. It was clear that the general mood was that no one liked having one of their number taken. Nedric continued.


    ¡°A few days ago the army conducted a raid on the mansion where the captives were held. Most were released. Unhappily there will be bad consequences. It seems likely that Nothering will declare war very shortly.


    Because of this the army wants a boardway built to help protect the northern borders of the country and the problem is that they want it done quickly. They need two hundred miles constructed in two months.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Nedric had no idea who had called out. In essence it didn¡¯t matter because it was the sentiment that they all felt. It was time for him to ease their worries.


    ¡°I was speaking to a senior member of the army today and he seemed to think that it was possible to get all the impressors in the country here and that will almost double our numbers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s still not enough.¡±


    Again he was grateful for the caller. It meant that his words were going to be seen as a solution rather than a disruption.


    ¡°As it happens I have learnt about a new technique for processing the boards. It almost doubles the numbers that an impressor can do a day. It doesn¡¯t require much extra training and as we are paid by the board it should mean that our wages are nearly doubled.¡±


    He had them. Patriotism might be all well and good but the prospect of extra wages for no more work was a bigger incentive. Already there were calls for him to explain this technique. When he had told them how he operated the simplicity of it seemed to be astounding to them. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± was a phrase he overheard more than once. It gave him a warm glow until he thought that he would now have to work harder than ever.

 32. Return to the Black Lion

    When work finished that evening, Nedric was glad to see that each and every one of the impressors had adopted the new technique. He wasn¡¯t sure how the over-engineer was going to accept the additional costs but it wasn¡¯t really his problem. He had done what Bethel wanted and if the captain were true to his word then soon a new boardway would be constructed.


    It was going to be necessary to visit the captain¡¯s home. Not only because he had to collect his things before he could move to the new accommodations, he also needed to talk to Bethel and see what could be done about finding Elsebeth. He had a horrible feeling that the answer was going to be nothing.


    Elsebrianne opened the door to the house and she had a smile on her face as she greeted him. The redness of her eyes however, told Nedric that she had heard the news about the raid. She invited him in and he went to the room he had been using to pack his clothing.


    He looked at the juggling equipment in his pack. He hadn¡¯t thought to use it in all the time he had been in Elseth. The next day was end-week perhaps he could go the Black Lion and practice; he might learn some more tricks. At least it would be a distraction from recent events. At the moment life seemed full of troubles and there was nothing he could do.


    There was a call from below to let him know that the evening meal was ready and he cleaned his hands and went downstairs. As well as Elsebrianne and Bethel there was a man a little older than himself sat at the table. By his appearance he could only be Elsebeth¡¯s brother Bethan.


    Nedric took an immediate liking to Bethan. Although it was clear to him that the family were under a great deal of stress, the man had a genial manner that found the humour in everything that happened. He also had the sense not to cause difficulties by mentioning subjects that could be avoided.


    Asking his occupation, Nedric was unsurprised to learn that like his father Bethan was in the army. He had been patrolling the southern borders for the last year or so, which was a particularly easy job as the major problem was with smugglers and they tended not to fight if caught and preferred to pay the fines levied.


    Bethan told the story of one smuggler who had been caught bringing lizard hide into the country. When asked why he hadn¡¯t tried to run when he saw the patrol coming, his reply had been.


    ¡°No percentage in it. You run, you might get hurt. You get hurt you can¡¯t do business. You lose more money than you pay in fines. No percentage in it.¡±


    The tale wasn¡¯t particularly funny. It was just an observation on reality. It was the way that Bethan told the story that had them laughing. The expression on his face as he imitated the smuggler was comical and the tone of the voice only added to the portrayal. Nedric decided that Bethan would make an excellent wordsmith if he ever wished to leave the army.


    When the meal finished Nedric was able to get Bethel on his own. He asked what could be done for Elsebeth. The response was unhappily as expected.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know where she is or who has her. We are likely to be at war with Nothering at any moment so we can¡¯t just send men into the country to search her out and we aren¡¯t going to get any help from the Nothering government as they obviously approve of this situation. In short we just have to hope we can win this war quickly and she will stay safe in the meantime. I don¡¯t hold out much hope however.¡±


    As he said the last, Nedric could see the pain behind the professional face. It was obvious that as powerful as he was, his inability to do anything to help his daughter was hurting him, possibly more than the others. The rest of the family and Nedric didn¡¯t expect to be able to alter events this man did, on a regular basis.


    He decided to change the subject quickly and instead asked about Rhianna. What was being done to capture her? The answer was similar but more precise to the one given by captain Kranc earlier. The message system had been used to send her description to every guard in the country. There was little chance of her using the main roads to escape and the minor roads would mean that she would take weeks to travel anywhere. By which time her description would be spread completely across the country. She hadn¡¯t been able to get on the boardway. That was one of the first possibilities they had checked. There were guards stationed at the docks and they had seen no sign of her. She had most likely gone to ground somewhere until the hunt died down and Bethel wasn¡¯t going to let that happen in a hurry.


    As soon as was polite, Nedric took his leave and walked back across town. He spent the time wondering how he would escape if he were Rhianna. All the obvious routes had been mentioned or closed. He didn¡¯t think that Rhianna was the type to run with no plan but he lacked any insight.


    *          *          *


    The next day was clear and sunny. With nothing better to do, Nedric took his pack over to the Black Lion and set out to find the jugglers. It wasn¡¯t that he had forgotten about Elsebeth but there was only so much grieving he could do before his natural energies drew him away from the pain. He was quite looking forward to the day.


    Finding his way to the appropriate room was not easy. Several times he blundered into meetings of different groups and had to apologise. Once he entered a religious service and was extremely embarrassed when the whole congregation stopped and looked at him. In another room a group of girls were being taught some form of dance. There didn¡¯t seem to be anyone around to give him directions so he just kept heading upwards and poking his head through doors.


    As he reached the highest floor he could hear an irregular clatter. Things were being dropped but there was no telling what. Nedric¡¯s hopes rose. There was nothing like a group of jugglers for dropping things on the floor. He had seen enough evidence of this in Nigh. He had even come up with a saying ¡®If you aren¡¯t dropping you aren¡¯t learning¡¯.


    Sure enough by following the sounds he eventually found himself in a large room. Why the place had been built, with its high ceiling and large windows was a bit of a mystery to him. Although it was ideal for juggling it surely hadn¡¯t been constructed for that purpose. The walls bore the evidence that hangings had covered most of the space in the past but they had long since been removed.


    There were perhaps a dozen men and women in the room. What they were doing was frankly astounding. Several were throwing clubs between them, the objects moving in precise but regularly changing patterns. One man was smoothly juggling five clubs, occasionally throwing one behind his back; one of the women was doing incredibly intricate things with three balls. The balls seemed to weave in and around her hands in complicated patterns that seemed impossible for a human being to manage. At first Nedric could only stand and stare.


    One of the jugglers came over to where Nedric stood. Recognising him as the person who had told him about the group, Nedric gave greeting.


    ¡°Glad to see a new face here. Most of us have been coming along for far too many years.¡±


    ¡°Do you all do this as a living?¡±


    ¡°Mainly yes, some of the younger people are only training and haven¡¯t decided that they want to be entertainers all their lives.¡±


    Nedric could appreciate that. He had always found juggling was a way of losing the cares of the world, whether he would ever make money at it was a different matter. He didn¡¯t however want to start practicing in front of such a competent group; his own efforts would look mediocre at best. Instead, as no one was using a diabolo he decided to practice that instead.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to realise that he was the centre of attention. All the people who had been juggling with such ability were stopping and staring. It occurred to him that they might never have seen a diabolo before and by now he was fairly competent. He carried on progressing through his routine, which was his method of remembering all his tricks. When he stopped several of them came over to talk.


    ¡°What is that? Where did you find it? Can I have a go?¡±


    The questions came in fairly fast and he soon found himself giving a quick lesson. When others were playing with the diabolo he started to practice with his clubs. One of the jugglers gave him a helpful comment when he tried a trick that he was finding difficult and he began to feel more at ease.


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    It soon became apparent to him that no one cared when he made mistakes with simple tricks. They were keen to learn something new and were happy to teach when he wanted help but there was no pressure for him to reach a particular standard. The only pressures were internal.


    At an unspecified point during the meeting everyone stopped what they were doing and drinks were brought into the room. Nedric was asked about his job and there was quite a bit of interest when he told them what he did. He didn¡¯t think it was particularly exciting himself so he did little to make it sound interesting.


    The younger ones were also the most enthusiastic. If this was to be their trade then they needed to be competent. The older performers said that it wasn¡¯t what you could do but rather how you presented it. Nedric could see both points of view; of course he had never performed in public.


    After the break Nedric persuaded someone to teach him how to pass clubs. The theory was simple. The two people started at the same time, threw a club to each other, juggled with the caught club and the two that remained in their hands and at the appropriate time threw again. The timing was based on the number of throws made by each hand so in theory all passes would be thrown at the same time. In practice, for the first few attempts Nedric completely lost count.


    After a while it began to get easier and he was able to catch the club coming in to him without dropping either of the others. When he was beginning to feel a little more confident the person who was teaching him showed him how to do the same thing only faster.


    By the end of the session Nedric was feeling quite pleased with himself. He had learnt the faster form of passing, which was called ¡®every others¡¯ and had also been shown a number of tricks that he could learn without too much difficulty. All in all he was feeling quite happy at his progress. As he had hoped he had completely forgotten about everything else.


    Walking back through the building he must have been slightly distracted. He had been sure that he had travelled the same route he had taken earlier but suddenly he realised that he was completely lost. As he looked around the rooms and corridors he didn¡¯t have a clue as to where he was or which direction would be best to take.


    He guessed a direction and took it. He found himself in one of the back corridors of the building. These were long and gave access to many of the rooms via sliding doors. Some of the rooms had peepholes, which he could look through to see what was happening in the room beyond.


    Curiosity grabbed him and he looked through some of the peepholes. In most of the rooms some form of gambling was taking place. He saw cards, dice and various other games being played as he randomly chose rooms to spy upon.


    In one of the rooms he saw a group of people lying on the floor. Occasionally one of the people would suck at a pipe, which was attached to a bubbling pot that sat in the centre of the room. He guessed that they were taking some form of drug although the looks on their faces were more vacant than pleasured. He wasn¡¯t interested in taking any drugs. He only had to look at some of the people who were on the streets of the city to know where that led.


    In another room he espied a man and two women. None of them were clad and it appeared that the man and one of the women were trying to get into a position that Nedric doubted was physically possible. The other woman was trying to help but was being hindered by various limbs getting in the way. Nedric now realised that the idea behind the spy holes was so that servants would bring food and drinks at only the appropriate times. He could see that looking into the various rooms would be an education that he would receive nowhere else. He wasn¡¯t totally sure that it was an education he was ready to receive.


    As he walked along the corridor he occasionally saw people in the distance. Each time they were moving away from him and disappeared into a room or down a stairwell before he could ask for guidance. He guessed that they were all servants although there was no uniformity of clothing to suggest that.


    It was when he reached a crossroads amongst the corridors that he saw someone that caught his attention. It was more the way she walked than anything else that caused him to try and look more closely. The woman was walking, not the way that others had done with confidence and purpose in their bearing, rather she was walking as though she wished no one to see her. As she opened a door he caught a glimpse of her face. It was Rhianna!


    To start he just stood there. He moved towards the door she had entered and then retreated. He had no intention of warning her that she was discovered but what was she doing here. Surely she should have left the city. She must know that she ran the risk of meeting someone who knew her.


    He reconsidered. How likely was it that someone who knew her would be walking the back corridors of this place. Her head had been covered by a scarf so only those who knew her well would spot her. Of those who could recognise her, none should be where he was walking. It was probably the safest place to hide in the city.


    His best bet was to get help. He had one obvious person to which he could turn. He headed down some stairs and then went through the servant¡¯s door into an empty room. It did not take too much walking to find himself in an area that was full of people enjoying there day off. A quick enquiry from a serving maid and he was heading for the entrance.


    Which way to go? Would Bethel be at home or working? It was the end-week and Bethan was visiting. The decision was obvious, he ran in the direction of Elsebeth¡¯s home. Hoping that they hadn¡¯t decided that today would be a good day to wander the city.


    He ran through the city. He regretted the pack on his back as it weighed him down. Deciding that time was more important than his juggling equipment he hid it behind a pile of rubbish near a street he knew. Hopefully it would still be there when he had a chance to retrieve it.


    Gasping with breath he arrived at the house. His feet sent stones flying in all directions as he pounded along the drive. Without a care for the sweat on his forehead or the speckles of saliva that edged his mouth he pounded on the door, leaning against it as he fought to breathe.


    When the door opened he virtually fell into the arms of Bethan.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you cared.¡± Bethan stated with a smile.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your father?¡± Nedric had no time for jokes.


    ¡°Out walking with mother, I know where if it¡¯s urgent.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there, come on.¡± Nedric panted.


    Shutting the door behind him Bethan led the way. It was clear that he could run faster than Nedric but then he hadn¡¯t just crossed half the city. They went in the direction of the river. The road towards it was lined with trees and some sort of park could be seen in the distance.


    ¡°They like the walk amongst the trees.¡± Bethan explained. ¡°Father always says that it reminds him of his soldiering days.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still a soldier.¡±


    ¡°According to him all he does now is paperwork and meetings.¡±


    Nedric wasn¡¯t going to argue. When you got high enough in any profession it seemed to him that it was all paperwork and meetings. It made him more determined not to spend too much longer with the boardways. At least at the moment he was doing something practical even if it was repetitive in the extreme.


    Before they had gone more than a few yards into the park they saw Elsebeth¡¯s parents. It was clear that they were surprised to see the two men running towards them and they stopped and waited beneath the shade of a tree.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this about.¡± It was Bethel who immediately started questioning Nedric. How he could convince anyone that he was just a captain was beyond Nedric¡¯s ability to understand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen Rhianna.¡±


    ¡°Where.¡±


    ¡°The Black Lion, a back room.¡±


    Before he knew it Nedric was chasing Bethel. Bethan gave a quick glance to his mother who urged him to accompany them by a wave of her hand. Needing no extra incentive he quickly caught the other two.


    After a short while Bethel stopped running and instead broke into a fast walk. Nedric was more than thankful he kept telling himself that he would exercise more. All this running would kill him quickly.


    It soon became clear that Bethel¡¯s destination was not the Black Lion but rather the military headquarters. As soon as he reached it he was giving orders. The guards at the entrance were used as runners and by the time they reached a meeting room a group of officers was beginning to assemble.


    ¡°I¡¯ve information that the spy Rhianna is in the Black Lion.¡± He glanced briefly at Nedric. ¡°I want the entire building emptied and everyone leaving checked to make sure we get her. When you¡¯ve emptied the place I want a search conducted of every room. Starting at the top floor and heading down.¡±


    He looked at one of the officers. ¡°You¡¯re in charge of guarding all the doors. Get a copy of the plans to help.¡± There was an emphasis on the word all that Nedric caught.


    Bethel directed his attention to another officer. ¡°You conduct the search. You are only looking for the spy; anything else is of no importance. Check that none of your soldiers is bribed and warn them before hand that they will be checked. Anyone any questions?¡±


    None of the officers said anything and the room cleared as quickly as it had filled. The three of them were left alone. Nedric was impressed by the speed of it all. Clearly Bethel was part of an extremely efficient service.


    ¡°Won¡¯t there be a huge protest about this?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°Who from?¡± Bethel was smiling as he spoke.


    ¡°Surely the owners will complain about it even if none of the customers say anything and I can¡¯t imagine that the customers will be quiet.¡±


    ¡°The customers will have few complaints, they will just be asked to leave and any tavern has the right to do that. As for the owners, they won¡¯t say a word.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because the military owns the Black Lion?¡±


    ¡°What!¡±


    Bethel explained. ¡°It is my job to know what is happening in the country and ensure it stays safe. When we aren¡¯t at war with anyone then the biggest risks to the country are crime, drugs and spying. One of my predecessors decided that you couldn¡¯t eliminate all of these things and that the best that could be done was to keep it in check. He decided that the easiest way to do that was to centralise everything. He authorised the purchase of the buildings that compromise the Black Lion and then had it extensively altered.


    Inside that building are more than a few rooms that their users think are hidden. I have people watching everything that happens inside them and therefore know much more about the state of the country than others would expect. I still don¡¯t learn everything I want but it helps me to keep the country together.¡±


    ¡°What was that about guarding all the doors?¡±


    ¡°Along with the obvious exits there are various less obvious ways in and out of the building. We know every single route. The difficult thing with the order I gave was that if the guards watching the less obvious routes were spotted then others would begin to guess how much I know. The officer I spoke to will use his best men to ensure only the one we want is captured and not all the other detritus that use the secret ways.¡±


    ¡°Seems like everything is going to be easy, so why are you still looking worried.¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know what might go wrong.¡±


    The waiting was the hardest part. After half an hour or so Nedric went into the city and retrieved his pack. He was happy to see that it was exactly where he left it. He was less happy that it had been covered in vegetable refuse. It would take a good clean to remove the smell. Getting back into the headquarters presented no difficulties as he had been smart and obtained authorisation from Bethel.


    After a wait of several hours Bethel, Bethan and Nedric were relieved to see Rhianna brought into the room, the guards escorting her dragging her between them. She looked nothing like her normal haughty image. Her clothing had been torn in places, her left cheek was beginning to show a bruise and when the guards released her she dropped to the floor and cried. For a second Nedric almost felt pity for her. Then he remembered that she was a possible route to Elsebeth and his resolve hardened.


    When Bethel spoke to her she shivered. Someone had obviously made it clear that they wanted information from her. She had quite clearly decided that she was going to tell them everything she knew. Bethel wasn¡¯t in a hurry, he wanted the complete story so he made her start at the time she had been recruited and let her tell things in her own way. As she spoke a number of things became clearer. In retrospect Nedric could not believe what he had missed.

 33. Rhianna explains

    You have to realise that my family was originally upper caste Nothering. Everyone has to obey the head of the household who in our case is my father. You learn that from the day you are born, along with your importance in life.


    When father learnt about the construction of the boardway he was more than curious. He had already used one of Over-master Andern¡¯s ideas to make himself wealthy and he didn¡¯t want to miss out on another opportunity. I think also that father¡¯s contact in Nothering could see more possibilities. Either way, through his own greed or through instructions he wanted to know more.


    Unfortunately he had already alienated Andern. He had stolen the idea along with the three men that Andern had trained. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to find out anything directly. It was only when the call went out for students to attend the keep that he sensed an opportunity. He sent me there with the instruction to learn everything and to pass all the details along to one of his agents.


    I met with an agent in the woods once every few months and passed everything I had learnt about impressing along to him. I didn¡¯t really understand what was happening in the classes so I don¡¯t think my information was as good as they wanted.


    Before I went to the keep Andern won a small victory over father. He hired two of the three impressors father had working for him and they became masters at the keep. The person who stayed with father was the least able. He can impress but he doesn¡¯t really know what he does either. It meant father was stuck with no way to get any more impressors. He couldn¡¯t hire any, as those who were working elsewhere wanted nothing to do with him. He couldn¡¯t train any, as his one impressor wasn¡¯t up to the task.


    It all began to get a bit worrying for me in the last year at the keep. I was going in to the woods to meet with the agent. I had to go there for a few days because he was late. I don¡¯t know why. Anyway, when I went to meet him one day he had been killed.


    I knew who had killed him. At the time I was seeing Strawn. He was always very possessive and he had a terrible temper. He accused me of seeing another man when I left him to go into the woods. I told him he was daft to think so. He must have followed me one of the times and found our meeting place. I guess he killed the agent only a few minutes before I found the body. It was still warm when I got there.


    I didn¡¯t know what to do. I dragged the body into the brackens hoping to hide it. I didn¡¯t do a very good job. I was in a rush because I had to get back to the village inn before anyone knew I was missing. When I came back the next evening the body was gone. I didn¡¯t know where but I got out of there as soon as I could.


    When I heard the body had been found I knew that I had to distract people. It was Strawn who gave me the idea. I don¡¯t know what I saw in him; all he ever talked about was murderball. So I thought if there was a big murderball match then everyone would talk about that and the body would be forgotten.


    I knew one of the maids at the keep. She was having an affair with the mayor of Asgril and could twist him round her little finger. I suggested to her that it would raise his prestige if he were to instigate a murderball match between the keep and the villagers. She latched on to the idea straight away, hardly needed any prompting at all.


    Anyway that worked a treat. The mayor initiated the match, everyone started talking about it and the body was forgotten. Everything was going just fine until one of the villagers started having a go at keep students. They nearly cancelled the match and I had to force the maid to make the mayor insist the match went ahead. I threatened to expose them to his wife. It worked.


    I wanted to be rid of Strawn. He could have told someone that the agent was meeting me. I told one of the village boys that he had been mouthing off about them and in particular about the one villager who was bigger and stronger than him. It almost worked; the boy pulled a knife on him during the match but Strawn was only slightly injured. When we won the match I had to act like he was my big hero.


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    I still hadn¡¯t found a way to get rid of Strawn but when we were travelling here to visit the boardways I saw another chance. For some reason he wanted to try his hand at gambling and I urged him into the game on board the boat. I also let the other gamblers know that he was fairly wealthy and could afford to lose quite a bit of money. Their greed was all I needed and I just sat back and watched whilst they cheated him out of his money.


    I knew he would get angry but I hadn¡¯t realised that he was stupid enough to pull a knife on someone in full view of everyone. Unfortunately no one was hurt, so they only took him away for a week but it gave me the chance to do the things I wanted.


    I needed him out of the way. I hadn¡¯t been able to pass on any information since the agent had been killed and I needed to let my father know what had happened. Fortunately I saw someone who worked for him at the boardway site and he told me whom to contact at the Black Lion. All I had to do was meet him there.


    Bethel interrupted her story. ¡°Who was the person at the site?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he was caught trying to steal papers about six months ago. That was when they put a guard on the gate.¡± She continued with her tale.


    I got quite a lot of information from that trip. I talked one of Strawn¡¯s cronies into doing some drawings for me and when the masters let us wander around town I had the opportunity to pass on what I had learnt.


    Of course I had to lose Elsebeth for a while. It was easy. We visited her family on the first night as you know and so on the second night we went where I wanted which was the Black Lion.


    I managed to lose her in the crowd near the end of the night. We had already agreed to meet up outside the house if we separated so I had enough time to meet with this new contact and give him everything I had and let him know about the agent dying.


    By this time I knew that I was never going to be an impressor. I just didn¡¯t have the aptitude for it. So by the end of the year I assumed I was going to have to finish at the keep and probably go back to father.


    It was Andern who got me a job with the boardways. I don¡¯t know why. When it came to leaving the keep he suggested that I talk to Tarim about an administration job and I grasped the opportunity.


    To start with, I didn¡¯t have much to do with the workings at the site. I was in with the group that administered the money. Now I was good at sorting out paperwork but I have never had much success at handling numbers so I made a few mistakes and they were looking to get rid of me. At the same time over-engineer Tarim was getting swamped by his paperwork so my supervisor suggested that I help him. Although they did it to suit themselves it couldn¡¯t have been better for me.


    I had access to virtually all the papers that crossed Tarim¡¯s desk. I filed all the latest plans on the design of different carriages and boardway junctions. I had to make notes at the planning meetings. I even dealt with most of the correspondence from the palace. The only thing I didn¡¯t know about were any meetings he had at the palace and generally I could find out the information.


    About half a year ago I was told that Nothering needed an impressor who could train some of their people. Now there wasn¡¯t much chance of getting any of the masters from the keep and so it was decided that the best chance was to get someone from the works over in Esteril. Unfortunately there was no easy way to guarantee that the person captured would be co-operative.


    Well I¡¯d been friends with Elsebeth for years and she was always saying how keen she was on Nedric so I thought if they were together, the likelihood was that they¡¯d grow closer. Then if they were both captured, pressure could be put on one that if they didn¡¯t do as they were told the other would be tortured. With luck there would be two experienced impressors helping to train others and that should mean that I could go to Nothering. I¡¯ve had enough of this country! People don¡¯t show me the proper respect!


    Of course the capture didn¡¯t go according to plan. That¡¯s the problem of using mercenaries but it wasn¡¯t safe to have Nothering troops seen to be capturing Setherland personnel. There was another plan going on at the same time to get Setherland to invade Nothering and if any of our troops were captured other countries wouldn¡¯t allow us to war on Setherland without interfering.


    After that, things started happening rather too fast. I kept any information from Tarim because I didn¡¯t want him interfering. I had been told by that time to cause as much disruption as possible. I thought I¡¯d blocked the order that brought the impressors back from Esteril but someone must have sent a copy to Alhern as well as Tarim.


    When the impressors turned up at the gate I knew I would be caught if I didn¡¯t take quick action. So I locked Tarim in his office and taking the latest set of plans, tried to cover my tracks by setting light to the rest of the paperwork. If no one knew the plans were missing they wouldn¡¯t suspect me of taking them. I slipped out the office, saw Nedric heading towards me and took a different route to the front gate. The guard was not at the gate so I just walked through.


    I knew that there was a fair chance that I¡¯d be caught if I tried to make a run for it on my own. Apart from anything else I heard that the borders have been closed with Nothering. So instead I went to my contact at the Black Lion and he told me to stay there for a while. I don¡¯t know how you found me.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Elsebeth?¡± It was Nedric who asked the question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure but there is a good chance that she is at the Shadow Guild headquarters which is in Fusdown. If she isn¡¯t there she will be wherever they decide to base the boardway.¡±


    ¡°Who was your contact at the Black Lion?¡± Bethel questioned.


    ¡°The night manager, Merkin. I expect that he will have disappeared, it was fairly clear that the guards were looking for me and he¡¯s the only person I knew.¡±

 34. Nedrics determined

    ¡°I¡¯m going to rescue Elsebeth.¡± Nedric stated in such a way as to brook no doubt.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help.¡± Bethan immediately responded.


    ¡°You two will do no such thing.¡± Bethel ordered.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they sweet.¡± Rhianna added scathingly.


    Before continuing, Bethel called for a guard to take Rhianna away.


    ¡°She¡¯s a confessed spy. I want to know exactly what details she has passed to Nothering, anyone she knows and anything she might be able to guess. If she holds back on anything then use the traditional methods.¡±


    Nedric waited until she was out of the room before asking about the traditional methods.


    ¡°Standard torture techniques but also female spies are traditionally given to the death guard, they have one order, don¡¯t kill the spy. I doubt she has the courage to endure that for long.¡±


    Quickly changing the subject Nedric continued. ¡°I meant what I said, I¡¯m going to find a way to rescue Elsebeth.¡±


    ¡°You are needed at the boardways, you don¡¯t know Nothering and just in case you¡¯ve forgotten, we are going to be at war with the country just as soon as they invade. Forget the idea.¡±


    ¡°Anyone at the boardways knows as much as I do now. I can get someone to lead me through Nothering and I can pretend I¡¯m from Esteril who will keep out of the war. What¡¯s more there is no way to ensure that Elsebeth will survive the war unless I bring her back.¡± Nedric wasn¡¯t going to let rational objections get in his way.


    Bethel started to say something and then stopped again. It was clear that he no more liked his daughter held captive than Nedric did. Eventually he sighed and said, ¡°If you can come up with a half-decent plan to rescue her I¡¯ll agree but I want to know the details first. If it looks like it¡¯s a suicide mission then I¡¯d rather imprison you.¡±


    Shortly after that Nedric took his leave of Bethel and Bethan walked with him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about father, he¡¯s as worried about Elsebeth as the rest of us. I¡¯ll get him to agree to us going after her. It would help if we had some idea of where we are going. Do you know anyone who knows Nothering?¡±


    ¡°Well one of my friends is a merchant. If he doesn¡¯t know his way around then he will know someone who can help.¡±


    ¡°You contact him then and I¡¯ll work on father.¡± With a shake of hands they parted.


    *          *          *


    Until Rialto was able to get to Elseth, Nedric could do nothing other than work and plan. He could see part of an answer but he needed more information and more help. If he was going to rescue Elsebeth he needed some people who knew what they were doing, people who would be useful if it came to a fight. Bethan would be helpful but there was only one of him. He decided to contact the rangers Daiga and Scabad.


    He had no idea whether the rangers had meant what they said. It was risky for them to help him in more than one way. If they were found to be rangers then it would be assumed that Esteril was getting involved with the upcoming war between two of its neighbours. Esteril relied on its neutrality to survive.


    Whilst he was waiting for replies, Nedric took to practicing his juggling. He worked on producing an hour show, longer than any show he had ever seen. He wanted to be able to do two different half hour shows and spent some time at the Black Lion watching other performers and borrowing parts of their acts when they seemed suitable.


    He was particularly keen to learn little bits of humour. It was clear after a while that it wasn¡¯t the difficult tricks that crowds appreciated but rather the ones that were easy to understand and were presented with humour. Nedric saw one performer who was technically brilliant have most of the crowd walk away, whilst another who did very little kept a crowd happy for forty minutes.


    After a while Nedric realised that the only way to know if he was able to do a show was to actually try. He went into one of the small local taverns and talked to the landlord. He agreed straight away when he learnt that Nedric wasn¡¯t asking a fee.


    On the evening of his first performance Nedric found that he was much more nervous than when he had shown off in front of the other students. He didn¡¯t have Rialto to support him with music and he didn¡¯t know what an adult audience would think of his humour. When he practiced in the tavern before the show he couldn¡¯t get anything right. He was particularly worried by his finale piece, if that went wrong he could injure somebody.


    At last he was told that the crowd in the tavern were ready for him and he went forth to face them. He was wearing some extremely bright clothing that was meant to help but he was more than a little worried that it wouldn¡¯t. A space had been made at one end of the room and he made his way towards it. He realised as he did so that the ceiling was only a foot or so higher than his head and had to rethink his tricks to account for this.


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    Before he had started some wit from the crowd was making comments. Nedric was expecting this. For some reason there was always one person in a crowd who thought his remarks were more entertaining than whatever was going on before them. He had several comments ready and waiting but in the end the reply was a simple retort making mock of the speaker.


    After the put down comment he found that his nerves had disappeared. He started with some complicated looking tricks which were actually not too difficult and then progressed into tricks that went with humour. He managed to fit a few of the jokes that he had seen performed into the first part of the show.


    He continued with the diabolo. It had a much greater impact than he had expected. Presumably nobody had thought to perform it in Elseth as none of the audience showed any recognition. He had a number of easy tricks that looked good and some difficult tricks that looked complicated. He would have liked to have thrown it high in the air to finish but the ceiling was too low. Instead he made a big thing about the height of the ceiling and when he threw the diabolo it hit the ceiling and then ricocheted back to collide with his head. He immediately fell to the floor amidst loud laughter.


    For the final section of his show he asked for a volunteer from the audience. He asked them to lie on the floor and then informed the audience that he was going to walk over the man whilst juggling. When he brought out the wooden clubs none of the audience looked particularly impressed and Nedric made a point about this. Whilst talking he brought from his pack a set of three long knives that he had had made especially for him. The audience were suitably impressed and when he had performed the trick he received warm applause. Nedric packed his props and after a quick finishing statement left the room.


    In the room behind the bar he sat down and caught his breath. His clothing was soaked with sweat. Although he had only performed for thirty minutes it felt like he had used more energy than he would have done on a five-mile run. He felt exhausted but exhilarated, it was nerve-wracking but tremendous fun. He wanted to do it again but next time he wanted to be paid.


    Whilst he was changing, the landlord came into the room.


    ¡°That was pretty good, especially for a first time. I¡¯ve seen people who do it for a living do worse shows. Have a meal on the house and I¡¯ll talk to you later when you¡¯re refreshed.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    When Nedric had eaten and when the landlord was able to stop serving they had a quiet chat.


    ¡°If you want to practice anywhere else I can let the other landlords know that you are good enough that they should pay you at least half the going rate.¡±


    ¡°What should I be asking?¡±


    ¡°Most people ask a gold a show. If they are good enough then they will be worth it. A happy crowd will drink more and remember the tavern as the place to return. The landlord makes more money and everyone¡¯s happy.¡±


    ¡°So you think I¡¯m worth five silvers?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± He proceeded to hand over the money.


    Nedric found it hard to believe. Half an hour¡¯s work paid better than most people earned in a day. It made all the practice seem worthwhile. It also made him want to do a lot more. Not that he could stay around here if he wanted to rescue Elsebeth.


    *          *          *


    Nedric had agreed to meet Rialto during the following week but his friend sent a letter stating that he had been delayed and that he would catch up with him later. It was something to do with a business deal.


    After three weeks, Nedric was beginning to despair of Rialto. When he eventually appeared it was unexpected. Waiting outside the gates of the site and looking somewhat happier with himself than he had on their previous meeting.


    ¡°Why you grinning so much.¡±


    ¡°We, my friend, are going to be very wealthy after this war ends.¡±


    ¡°How comes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve arranged for us to supply the army with clothing. My father is producing it in limited sizes, so he sells it to me cheap and I sell it on still cheaply. That¡¯s only part of the deal. I¡¯ve agreed to be paid only enough to cover my costs whilst the war is in progress, when it ends we get the rest of the money and it is all profit.¡±


    ¡°Of course if the war lasts our lifetimes then we don¡¯t collect.¡±


    ¡°Be positive. We could be rich beyond our wildest dreams.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t dream that wildly. Enough money to live by and I¡¯m fairly happy.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll dream for both of us then.  What¡¯s been happening since I saw you last?¡±


    ¡°I need you to meet someone, come with me.¡±


    Nedric took Rialto to meet with Bethan. They had been spending some time in discussion of options and met in a small and fairly quiet inn close to the Black Lion. When they entered the inn, Bethan was waiting for them.


    Nedric performed the appropriate introductions and then explained to Rialto their requirements.


    ¡°We need to travel through Nothering, without being stopped. We need someone who knows their way around the country and when we get to Fusdown we need to be able to get Elsebeth out of the building any ideas?¡±


    Rialto had travelled through most of the surrounding countries and knew them well. He also knew the dangers of his friend¡¯s idea. That didn¡¯t stop him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you. I can guide you as much as anyone not from Nothering can and I can pass for a Nothering citizen. I have the accent virtually perfect and I have fooled citizens of the country before.¡±


    ¡°Well that helps, so how do we travel through the country?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a different matter. It is an extremely suspicious place; every foreign merchant who enters the country is accompanied by a soldier. The only people who get to travel the place at will are soldiers.¡±


    ¡°What about messengers for merchants?¡±


    ¡°They use soldiers for that.¡±


    ¡°Transporters of food?¡±


    ¡°Farmers only travel as far as the nearest town, then if food needs to travel further the army takes over.¡±


    ¡°Can we pose as soldiers?¡±


    ¡°Only if you have all the appropriate papers and even then they are liable to ask questions that only a soldier would know. Who is the commander of a particular battalion? That sort of thing.¡±


    Just then Rialto spotted Nedric¡¯s juggling equipment in his pack and it sparked off an idea. ¡°The other people I saw travelling were musicians and other entertainers. There¡¯s a great demand because there is pretty little other joy in their lives.¡±


    Nedric, of course, leapt at the idea. He could use his skills, rescue Elsebeth and have fun, all at the same time. Bethan was a little less easy to convince. He couldn¡¯t see his role in such a group, until Nedric suggested that he could tell tales. One of the best things that could be said for the idea was that they could do unusual things without anyone being too suspicious. Everyone knew that entertainers were a little strange.


    After they had talked through the idea they began to like it. Bethan could do a good impression of a citizen from Sahran, the country to the south. He even had some of their typical clothing, as he had purchased it as a memento of his time on the southern border.


    They also realised that they would be able to carry weapons with them. The worst aspect of being a travelling entertainer was that bandits thought of them as easy targets. This meant that entertainers tended to band together or to join merchant caravans. With no caravans in Nothering there was no option but to have a group of people travelling together.


    With the idea of how to get through Nothering decided, the question of how to get Elsebeth free was debated. They concluded eventually that until they knew her exact situation there was little point in making plans. Nedric had already decided that his specialist knowledge might be useful but didn¡¯t think it was necessary to mention this at this point.


    With a clear argument and a certain amount of drink inside them they went to visit Bethel. Bethan did most of the talking, with Nedric and Rialto nodding or adding comments. The older man listened seriously and took his time trying to see the potential pitfalls. Eventually a smile broke across his face.


    ¡°By the gods! I think you might be on to something.¡±


    The three young men clapped each other on the backs and shook hands with Bethel. Before he had agreed there was still the doubt that anything would happen. With his backing the rescue attempt was on. It would be an adventure.

 35. The saga begins

    Nedric, Bethan and Rialto took two weeks to travel from Elseth to Elith. It was a journey that took less than a day on the boardway but they weren¡¯t travelling in that fast and convenient way. Instead they took the dusty back trails and stopped at any village of any size to perform.


    Two elderly and docile horses pulled the wagon that was to be their home for the next few weeks. This was just as well as none of them were experienced at handling a team and it certainly showed in their driving. It was fortunate that there were few obstacles amongst the farmlands through which they travelled. Even so they had to spend some time pulling the wagon out of ditches and on one memorable occasion it took the three of them and the two horses, several hours to get the wagon from off of its side.


    The incident made Bethan slightly unpopular for a while, as Nedric and Rialto had been asleep at the time. Fortunately Bethan was able to turn it into a joke and in some complicated process it brought the three closer together. By the time they entered Esteril they were functioning as a team and life was beginning to run smoothly.


    The delay caused by their slow method of travel was essential. Three people with three sets of skills do not automatically make a successful troupe. The constant practice helped and they were able to leave their mistakes behind. They weren¡¯t making a lot of money but each day they could see their takings grow as they learned to play to their strengths and to understand their audiences demands.


    One thing that Nedric hadn¡¯t expected was the attention they received. He had expected people to want to see them working, particularly in the smaller communities where visitors were rare, but he hadn¡¯t any idea that they would be treated in quite the way they were.


    Older members of the villages would ask them to stay for the night and ask them for tales of what was happening in the world. Having let slip that they had been in Elseth, people were generally interested in hearing about the boardways and the likelihood of war. When the young men suggested that war would come soon, the general mood of these villages became grim and also determined. It was clear that the general attitude was that a fight with Nothering was both expected and in some way desirable.


    From the younger members of the villages came two very different attitudes. The males tended towards aggressiveness, which seemed to be mainly due to envy. Fortunately that was lessened by the humour that the three men brought with their show. It was the attention they received from the younger women of the village that caused the most problems. It was clear that Rialto and Bethan would have been very popular if Nedric had not insisted that they needed to move on rapidly.


    On one occasion a village youth had taken exception to the way the women had switched their attention from himself to Bethan. It seemed that Bethan would manage to talk his way out of the situation as he had managed to do in previous encounters but on this occasion another of the villagers had been urging the youth on. When the youth took a swing at Bethan it soon became clear that being a soldier, even on the southern borders, had given him a lot of useful fighting experience. Nedric couldn¡¯t quite follow the movements but the youth was soon lying on the floor with his arm being pulled up his back, screaming for all he was worth.


    Rialto in the meantime had moved quietly over to the man who had been urging the youth on and quietly suggested to him, with only a little extra emphasis with his dagger, that he keep his opinions to himself. Nedric took the opportunity, when the youth stopped screaming with pain, to point out to the surrounding group that they were packing and would be on their way shortly. This appeared to do the trick and the small crowd who could have been nasty, disappeared.


    Nedric was pleased. Not only had a potentially dangerous incident been averted very quickly but also the trio had worked as a team. If this expedition was to have any chance of success there needed to be that quick understanding between them.


    By the time they arrived at Elith a routine had been developed. They would ride through a village and depending on the time of day, they would vary the length of show. In the mornings, when mainly women folk were around, Rialto would play ballads and Bethan would sing. Nedric would do complicated tricks that fit with the music but which did not ask to be noticed.


    If they arrived during a meal break or in the evening then they would do a full show. Nedric would amuse and impress. Bethan would tell tales both amusing and full of wonder and Rialto would play music that got the audience feeling merry.


    If they arrived during one of the slow afternoons then they would pass through the village. Experience had taught them that there was no call for their service at that time and they would make no money. If they had been prepared to wait then they would have earnt more money; as it was they were in something of a hurry although that wasn¡¯t always apparent.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    It was particularly difficult to spot their hurry the day before they reached their immediate destination. It was Rialto who, driving the wagon, first noticed what he took to be smoke. When they went to investigate they found that rather than smoke, what he had seen was steam rising from the waters of a nearby stream.


    The water was too hot to be comfortable where they first met the stream but as the track followed the stream they could tell that it was gradually cooling. At a point not far from where the track crossed the stream someone had widened the streambed so that it was more like a medium sized pond. Testing the temperature they found it was now quite bearable and decided to bathe.


    ¡°Last one in¡¯s a Flakbut!¡± called Rialto, referring to a particularly maliferous reptile.


    The other two needed no added incentive. They had been travelling for nine days and the cold streams they had met previously had not invited them to clean themselves. Casting off all but their small clothes they raced for the water and dove in. Soon all that could be heard was splashing as they enjoyed the unexpected delights of the warm water.


    Recovering from being pushed underwater by Bethan, Nedric made his way to the top end of the pool and found that large stones had been placed in the water so that it was possible to just sit on the stones and have most of ones body immersed. It was incredibly relaxing, feeling the warm water flow past. There was an unfortunate smell that came with the stream but very quickly the nose blocked it out. Anyway, there had been an equally unpleasant smell that accompanied the men, caused by not washing their clothes for days and this was eradicated.


    Feeling refreshed, they took the opportunity to clean their clothing. This burst of domesticity was managed without any of them making fun of the others. This was probably just as well as it would have taken them much longer if they were to be constantly throwing each other into the stream.


    They hung their clothing on strings attached to sides of the wagon. It was a warm day and the clothing steamed as it dried. Wearing only the minimum to preserve decency they drove along the track, waving at any farmhands they passed along the way. At one point the string holding Rialto¡¯s clothes came away and they didn¡¯t notice immediately. The other two laughed as the smaller man went running back for his clothes whilst the wagon continued in the opposite direction.


    The village they entered that evening was a typical example of the places they had passed through over the previous two weeks. It had a collection of houses built along two roads that met at the village square. On the four sides of the square were the four most important buildings of the village, the store, the smithy, the church and the inn.


    As it was end-week none of the five gods were being worshipped so the church also served as a meeting hall for any community decisions that needed to be made. Not that anything more momentous than who would be dancing with whom was likely to be decided that week. The church was close to the inn so that nobody had too far to walk to get drinks. All villages were eminently practical in this way.


    As it was evening, the store and smithy were closed. The musicians were warming up at the church and the inn was beginning to fill. The trio road in. Their clothing had been returned to suitable locations and they were dressed in their best performing clothing. Children, catching sight of their brightly painted wagon had followed them through the village and their parents were not far behind.


    Bringing their wagon to rest in the square, they re-arranged the wooden sides to make a small stage. To one side Rialto placed a stool on which he sat and Bethan began the opening spiel.


    ¡°Good folks. Today I bring you the finest show you may ever see. Not only one of the finest minstrels out of Elseth,¡± Rialto traced a bow with his hand, ¡°but also one of the most amusing masters of the art of prestidigitation you will ever meet. I have tales to tell of wonders from around the world. Hear about the fabulous beasts and the not so fabulous people. Hear of scandals and disasters, the weird and the delightful, stories to amuse and stories to keep you awake at night.¡±


    As Bethan spoke a larger group began to form and when a clear audience was defined he started to tell one of his more amusing tales. Nedric was struck by the way the people seemed to fall under the spell of his words so quickly, it always took him a little while to get the audience to warm to him.


    As the show progressed more and more of the village appeared to watch and listen. At appropriate points the trio would ask for money to be thrown into their pot to encourage them to continue. They expected to receive mainly copper but during this evening they were getting some silvers. They didn¡¯t expect any gold, this wasn¡¯t a rich city but the total earnings were mounting nicely.


    Nedric finished his spot and was gratified to see the pile of money grow considerably. He had the opportunity to sit and watch for a while before he had to do a final group spot. The audience was the best they had ever enjoyed. Mainly they were just sat there enjoying the show but occasionally someone would head to the inn for some drinks, always aiming to get back as quickly as possible so as not to miss anything.


    It astonished him the effect that they had on this and other groups of people. Some of it was just that they were different. The villagers spent most of their lives only seeing the same few people. That they had recently been in Elseth and had tales to tell of the city was another point in their favour. Nedric felt that sometimes the fact that they were entertainers was less important than just being a change to their everyday lives.


    As Rialto played a piece of music that was currently popular in Elseth, Bethan came over to talk.


    ¡°This is more fun than being a soldier.¡± He smiled.


    ¡°Before too long, that¡¯s what half this lot will be.¡±


    ¡°At least they¡¯ve had a good time this evening and so have I.¡±


    Bethan began clapping in time with the music and Nedric joined him. Soon the whole audience was clapping and Rialto had to play louder and sing stronger. The audience responded and by the end of the song it was difficult to hear Rialto over the noise.


    After they finished the three men were asked to join in with the evening dancing. They debated staying the night and decided that they were close enough to Elith that a night not travelling would cause no harm. Dismantling the stage and hiding the money in a specially made compartment within the wagon they went first to the inn and then after obtaining drinks headed for the church.


    After a night of dancing with all the village ladies, making sure not to show too much interest in any one girl they retired to their wagon.


    ¡°This is a great life.¡± Nedric said with contentment.


    ¡°How much did we earn today?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°Close on three golds.¡±


    ¡°You could earn as much as an impressor.¡±


    ¡°Sure but there is no fun in that and we are getting better, we could earn much more in a town or city.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather earn much more as a merchant and hire the entertainment, it¡¯s fun but the challenge isn¡¯t the same.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Bethan from beneath his blanket. ¡°If I were in the army my decisions would be essential to the lives of others, here I am merely a distraction. Which is not to say that I¡¯m not enjoying it but rather I will feel more fulfilled doing the job I trained for.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯d rather be doing this,¡± said Nedric forcefully and turned over.

 36. Entering Esteril

    They reached Elith on the evening of the following day. The journey had been one of utter misery as the weather had broken and the rain beat down continuously on the wagon. The dust roads turned to mud far too quickly and there was a tendency for the wheels to slide, meaning that the person driving had to be extremely vigilant.


    The one bright spot in the day occurred about midday. The rain had eased and they turned a bend in the track to see the bridge connecting Setherland and Elith in the distance. The stone arches shone in a sudden burst of sunlight and gave cause to wonder how men could have created such a marvel.


    Nedric had crossed the river that separated the two countries several times on the boardway but the view had been obscured and he had been less aware of the width of the water that flowed beneath him. Now he could see the slowly moving Antrim in all its full glory. The bridge was anchored to small rock islands and the arches soared maybe two hundred feet above.


    As they moved closer they could see the channel that had been cut by the strength of the river over the centuries. Although further downstream the banks were lower, the width of water became too much to bridge and so the builders had opted to span between two cliffs. Several miles upstream the new boardway bridge could just be seen. It was a shorter span but even higher above the waters.


    The land wasn¡¯t much different the other side of the river. The people were similar although there was a distinctive Esteril accent that Nedric could imitate fairly well. It took most of the rest of the day before they started to see the forest that covered most of the country. Once they passed through Elseth they would be walking beneath the trees most of the time, whichever direction they travelled.


    The town of Elith had little to recommend it. Marginally larger than the surrounding villages, it served as the focus of the area by holding the local animal auctions and also being situated on the river down which much of the timber travelled.


    The town boasted several inns, the most salubrious of which had a storage yard in which they could keep their wagon. At a cost of four silvers a night, a room was not exactly cheap but they felt that they had earnt the additional luxury after two weeks sleeping in a crowded wagon.


    True to the characters they were pretending to be, before they had settled down for the night they gave a small show for the inn guests, which earnt them a meal each and as much ale as they could drink. Having been given the same offer at every other inn they had stopped at along the route they were now less keen to drink to excess.


    The three shared one large room, which held about half a dozen beds. It was obviously a quiet night at the inn as there were no other people sharing the room. The beds were feather stuffed mattresses on wooden pallets, much better than the normal straw that was often the home of unwanted insects.


    A fire at one end of the room took away the chill of the evening. As summer ended the nights were getting colder quickly. Fortunately for the three of them their journey would involve few farmlands for the next few weeks, as during harvest there would be little need for their entertainment. If they were lucky then they would reach Nothering as harvest ended and the normal celebrations this entailed would explain their presence.


    Being in a different country began to make their task seem more real. For Bethan it was the first time he had been to Esteril and he was surprised by the similarities in the people. The lands to the south of Setherland were populated by people who tended to be more insular. The folks of Esteril had a similar outlook to life and apart from the accent, were difficult to tell apart.


    Nedric remembered an old history lesson. Master Karik had been explaining how people who had left that country for one reason or another had formed the countries on all sides of Nothering. Cantherin had been founded when their had been a large religious schism. Espray, the land north of Nothering, had come into being when the old political order had been swept from power and escaped slaves had founded Setherland.


    Esteril owed its existence to the fact that nobody else could be bothered to claim it. The vast tracts of forest made invasion untenable. On the one occasion in the past that it had been tried, the inhabitants had disappeared beneath the green bower and the invaders had found themselves chasing shadows.


    The rangers had then taken out the enemies supply train and the invading army had found itself isolated in a land it did not understand. Many of the soldiers died in accidents involving forest creatures or fell to traps and pits concealed on the forest trails. In the end, the invading army had returned to Cantherin in tatters. The commanding general had been hung and the incident quietly forgotten.


    Now that they were playing a role and could not call on any help from Setherland, it was essential for the three to ensure that they kept to their characters perfectly. For Bethan this was easy. The men of the desert lands to the south were instantly recognisable by their white robes which covered them from head to foot and which generally hid all but their faces. They were known for their speech which was more lyrical than most and they had their own language, which Bethan had learnt to speak well enough to fool anyone not from the desert. As most did not travel away from the hot lands, he was unlikely to meet others. If he did then he would pretend he was an outcast and shun them.


    Nedric was going to pretend to be from Esteril and was aided in part by his knowledge of the diabolo. No one would assume that an outsider would have spent time playing with their traditional toy. His year at Nigh meant he knew enough to pass as a typical backwoodsman as far as his knowledge of the country was concerned. His accent was typically back woods and he used the curses of the region to emphasise the point.


    Stolen story; please report.


    It was Rialto who would have the hardest time to start. He could pretend to the accents of Esteril, Nothering or Cantherin but he didn¡¯t have the in depth knowledge of any of those countries that might be needed. He was planning on changing his story to suit the occasion and hope that he didn¡¯t make any dangerous mistakes.


    As they moved further away from Setherland they would have less need to mention the country but in Elith you were either travelling to it or away. There was now the new route to Nigh but that only meant more traffic to and from the neighbouring country.


    They were questioned as to how such a disparate group had got together and they each had a different story. As each story was less believable than the last, it amused the questioner and deflected the issue. They also let people know that they had travelled from the southern countries before entering Setherland.


    * * *


    The next morning Nedric went to the ranger office in Elith. This was a large two-storey building set in the centre of the town. The wooden walls had been made from timber that was extremely dark as well as being hard and difficult to burn. Perhaps it was because of this that the building seemed to cast a pall over the surrounding area or perhaps it was the nature of the grim-faced men who worked within or passed through on their unknown missions.


    If Nedric had not met the two rangers Daiga and Scabad in Nigh he would have felt some qualms at approaching the office. As it was he only hoped that they had received his letters. The one he had written initially asking them to accompany him into Nothering and the subsequent one, which explained the disguise, they planned on using to travel through the country.


    When Nedric entered, he found himself confronted by a large and high desk, behind which sat a typical ranger. The tall, dark man showed no emotion as he glanced Nedric¡¯s way and then returned to his work. Nedric didn¡¯t know whether to wait or to interrupt. A couple of seconds of dithering were needed before he came to a decision.


    ¡°Excuse me sir, are either Ranger Daiga or Ranger Scabad around?¡± he tried to ignore the slight croakiness of his voice.


    ¡°No.¡± The single word was uttered in a flat, uninviting tone.


    ¡°Do you have any idea when they might be here?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Have they left any message for me? I¡¯m Nedric by the way.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± There wasn¡¯t so much as a flicker of recognition of his name. Nedric felt his hopes of having the two rangers accompany them falter.


    ¡°Can you let them know that I called by?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well goodbye then.¡±


    Nedric left without any acknowledgement from the ranger. He felt that with such a positive approach to communication it was little wonder that the average Elseth citizen felt fear of their protectors. He doubted that anyone approached the building unless the situation was truly desperate.


    With nothing better to do, he returned to the inn. The other two had been making some much-needed purchases to re-stock the wagon. Their fare over the last two weeks had been generally good, as they had eaten at inns each day. However over the next few weeks they might find themselves in places that were more than a day between inns and they had no way of feeding themselves.


    Bethan was buying snares and a bow, whilst Rialto was on the hunt for pots and seasonings. They were both also looking for foods that travelled well and were reasonably tasty. Bethan had told them a tale of how he had been forced to survive on jerky for a couple of weeks. The story had been humorous but the trio had no intention of repeating the experience.


    As Nedric arranged the wagon to make room for the additional provisions another wagon drove into the inn. It was of a similar design to their own, which was to say that it was completely covered, so that from where he sat he could see no sign of the driver.


    The other wagon was painted with colourful designs that drew the eye. On the side that faced Nedric was a picture of a lady tied to a target. A tall dark-clad man was about to throw a knife at her. Already one knife could be seen sticking from the target next to her head. Another dark figure was standing nearby with a brace of axes, ready to take his turn when the knife man had finished.


    The wagon promised danger and excitement. Nedric wished that they had been half as imaginative with the decoration of their wagon; he was frankly envious. He finished his tidying and left the wagon to find out more about the new performers. By the time he had walked around they had disappeared into the inn, so instead he examined the other decoration on the wagon.


    The opposite side showed a masked wrestler pinning an opponent to the floor, there was a line of others preparing to take him on standing outside the marked ring. The crowd could be seen to be showing their disappointment at the result. There was a pile of beaten wrestlers lying on the other side of the ring.


    As he examined the wagon, Bethan and Rialto appeared. They were both laden with goods and were sharing a joke, laughing at something Bethan had said.


    ¡°How did you do with the rangers?¡± Bethan asked.


    ¡°Not good, did you get everything?¡±


    ¡°Everything and more, Rialto here almost had the shop girl coming with us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see her, you must have put her off.¡±


    ¡°We told her that we shared it with an extremely ugly and smelly juggler.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that. Have you looked at this wagon?¡±


    The other two looked over the wagon and it was clear that they were impressed.


    ¡°We¡¯d better get some paints.¡± Rialto said.


    ¡°Can either of you draw?¡± asked Nedric.


    ¡°I might be able to do something,¡± replied Bethan with a slight twinkle in his eye.


    ¡°I wonder where this wagon is going, perhaps we can team up for a while.¡± Mused Rialto.


    ¡°Do we want to? They might guess that we aren¡¯t exactly what we pretend.¡±


    ¡°You mean that they might be part of a guild of entertainers and will have us put to a painful death when they find that we are impostors?¡± asked Bethan.


    ¡°Or worse still, they might ask us to pay to join,¡± added Rialto.


    ¡°It¡¯s the merchant in him, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Nedric spoke to Bethan and smiled.


    ¡°We had best find out what they are like,¡± added Nedric. ¡°They might not want anything to do with us.¡±


    ¡°Well here comes someone, look alert.¡±


    Nedric looked up to see two men walking towards him. They were both dressed in colourful clothing and had completely shaved heads. They looked slightly familiar but it was not until they had virtually reached him that he recognised them. When he did he had to laugh. It took him a while to get his mirth under control.


    ¡°Rialto, Bethan, I¡¯d like you to meet the two rangers I was telling you about Daiga and Scabad.¡±


    The other two can only stand and stare. The sight before them was so unlikely as to be beyond comprehension. The rangers were known for their brown uniforms, sullen looks and menace, whilst these two looked like something from a travelling circus. That they were both grinning meant that they looked even less like rangers.


    ¡°We read your letter with interest Nedric,¡± said Daiga. ¡°We liked the idea and we had a little time on our hands so we thought we¡¯d get into the spirit of the thing. Do you think we¡¯d be suspected in Nothering?¡±


    Nedric was sure that the two were well aware of the effect they gave. There was no way that anyone would imagine that these were rangers. As a disguise it was absolutely effective. He didn¡¯t know what to say and so blurted out the first thing that came into his mind.


    ¡°Why the shaved heads?¡±


    ¡°To make us look more similar.¡±


    The two rangers did indeed look like they might be brothers. About the same height and build, the lack of hair made it hard to guess age and took away from the slight facial differences. Nedric was glad that he would have such resourceful men helping him.


    That day they enhanced the Setherland wagon. It turned out that Bethan was something of an artist and was able to draw scenes that were comparable in excitement to the ones on the other wagon. The two rangers were quick to offer help and also moved some of the equipment into their wagon. They had a few props of their own but Nedric didn¡¯t have time to examine them.


    When everything was ready they departed. With the two colourful wagons they made a far more spectacular sight and attracted the attention of everyone they passed. As they left Elith, Nedric decided that the task had truly begun.

 37. Travelling show

    It took two weeks to pass through the forests of Esteril and reach the capital city, Lerrit. To call it a city was perhaps to invite the misconception that it was a large place full of people and grandeur. In many ways it was neither.


    The land of Esteril being mainly forest could not support a large population. There were more people in Elseth than in the whole of the forest kingdom. What farmlands existed were either on the eastern coast or along the banks of the river Antrim and there was little surplus to feed bureaucrats and nobility.


    As Esteril was a kingdom and wished to stay that way there was a need for administration and so there was a court at Lerrit. The king knew that his country was poor and imposed no unnecessary taxes or burdens on his people. There were no hangers on at the court. Everyone did something essential and many had more than one role.


    To feed the people of Lerrit it was necessary to fish. The eastern ocean was a dangerous and unforgiving place but Lerrit sat in a natural harbour. The waters teemed with fish of all kinds. Some were larger than the boats that left each day. When the fleet set sail the population of Lerrit fell by a third.


    Another third of the city were in businesses that related to fishing. There were those who cleaned and dried the fish, those who built boats and made or repaired nets and those who plied the river, taking the catch to Elseth and from there to the larger settlements of Setherland and the southern lands. That didn¡¯t include the many inns and restaurants that served an almost exclusive fish menu.


    Rialto was less than happy to be in Lerrit. The diminutive trader had never enjoyed fish and had to pay excessively for the privilege of eating poor meat. He kept muttering about the ease of importing meat on the same traders that took the fish to Elseth and did not wish to hear that it was far more profitable to trade other goods like cloth and metals.


    Whilst Esteril was rich in wood and iron and of course fish, it lacked most other necessities. The people of the country tended to wear furs or leathers taken from the forest animals but these were not totally suitable for the warm summer months.


    The reception they got as a group was better than ever and they were able to stay a few days and were even asked to perform at court. Although they were meant to be rescuing Elsebeth there was no possible way of them speeding up their journey without looking suspicious and so they agreed to do the show.


    Nedric had no idea what life at court was like. In his imagination he pictured men and women in the most expensive clothing imaginable, dining on the finest foods and drinking the best of wines. In reality he found, that like with many things, he was sadly disappointed.


    The castle was a spectacular sight, sat on a crag overlooking the harbour. The stone walls were carved from a reddish rock that contrasted with the yellow of the cliffs. Each stone had been hauled from a quarry about a day¡¯s journey within the forest and the effort involved in creating the building that now presided over the city must have been tremendous.


    They left one of the wagons at the inn they had used as a base. Putting all the equipment into the other wagon they drove up a steep and winding road to the castle gate. Nedric decided that anyone trying to invade would have a difficult time as the path was overlooked for almost the entire climb.


    As the castle was surrounded on three sides by water there was only the one wall between it and the road. This wall was an impressive thirty-foot high and was considerably thicker than seemed necessary during these fairly peaceful times. The castle had been built a century before, when the coast was regularly raided by pirates.


    At the gate they were stopped by a couple of rangers who managed to convey their need to inspect the wagon and the five performers without uttering a word. Nedric was getting the idea that most rangers were far from talkative and that Daiga was the exception.


    After being cleared to enter the castle grounds, they drove the wagon through the courtyard and parked it near to the main entrance. Nedric had enquired of one of the castle staff and been told that the main hall was just in from the entrance.


    They entered through two sets of double doors to find themselves looking across at the court. They were partly shielded by a wooden partition that separated this end of the hall from the main area. It was clear that here was where the servants arranged the plates and dishes before transporting them into the hall proper.


    The tables were laid in a U, with the top table being at the opposite end to the servant¡¯s entrance and tables running down either wall. This left a large space in the middle where the troupe could perform. Currently the court jester occupied this space.


    The man was dressed in rag-tag patchwork of mixed cloths. Each cloth sewed to it¡¯s neighbour to form part of a garment but also allowed to hang slightly free so that the material rose with every movement. He was a dwarf, his head seeming too large to fit on his body and his arms appearing far too small. Despite his deformity it was clear that he was extremely strong as he was performing a number of acrobatic moves that Nedric knew he would be unable to copy.


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    Whilst the court watched the jester, Nedric studied the court. The king was obvious, he sat in the middle of the high table laughing loudly at every pratfall and eating vigorously. He was a large man with a thick beard and looked more like a backwoodsman than a royal figure. Only the gold circlet on his head and the rich cut of his clothes belied the initial impression.


    Next to him on one side was a petite but extremely attractive lady who was obviously the queen. She seemed only mildly amused by the jester¡¯s antics and was talking to a ranger sat by her side.


    Daiga whispered to Nedric. ¡°We¡¯ve got a problem!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°See the man to the side of the queen, the one in rangers uniform.¡±


    Nedric nodded.


    ¡°Well that is Derk, Captain of the rangers and he knows all of us by sight. I don¡¯t think our disguises will fool him.¡±


    ¡°What will you do if he calls you out?¡±


    ¡°Go back to our duty, we are officially on leave but he might not be interested.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we will be lucky and he will be too distracted by the queen¡¯s company to notice you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve heard that rumour as well then. It might be true but I doubt that he will be that distracted, you don¡¯t become Captain of the rangers easily.¡±


    Nedric was left to worry that his group of five might well turn back into a group of three. He hoped not, the two rangers were more than just fighters. They had shown initiative, humour and a desire to help beyond their duty. Nedric thought of them as friends.


    There was a noise from behind Nedric and he looked around to see a number of servants enter the room through a door opposite to the main entrance. They cleared away the soup bowls and brought out the main course. This was mainly fish of various sorts, although there were various cooked birds arrayed around the room.


    With about a hundred people in the room and a blazing fire taking up about eight foot of one wall, Nedric expected the room to be warmer. Perhaps it was the forty-foot high ceiling that meant that the room was still a lot cooler than he would have liked. Juggling was always harder when his hands were cold. At least he could stand by the fire whilst Bethan did his bit and have a chance to warm up; there would be no opportunity for him to practice before they started.


    When the nobles had started to show that they were near the end of the second course, the steward indicated Bethan to bring the group forward. The normally loud soldier started off in a more subdued fashion than was his want but as he got more into his speech he relaxed and the show began to resume normality.


    Perhaps the thing that Nedric would remember most about the show was the poor behaviour of some of the lesser nobles. Whilst the whole of the top table were most attentive for the whole of the show, some of the people on the side tables found it necessary to give a running commentary to their friends on how this show compared unfavourably with ones they had seen in other courts. One man went as far as to throw his fowl bones at Rialto, rather than to the dogs lying beneath the tables.


    Nedric was confident that the man in question was not making himself popular with the king as he saw him frown at the gesture. Nedric determined to make this minor noble a laughing stock in front of the whole court and had the show to do it. When he called upon the man to lie on the floor and have knives juggled over him, the man became incredibly shy and would not move from his seat. After impugning his manhood for a while, Nedric instead asked Derk to participate in the trick and the offer was accepted.


    There was a brief horrifying moment when Nedric realised the enormity of what he had done. If he were to make a mistake with the king watching, he would be looking at either a very long life spent incarcerated or a very short life. In the end he decided that he was confident enough in his own abilities that there was no risk. With the whole court applauding he was happy when the trick was finished and he could take his leave.


    It seemed that Daiga and Scabad had also been taking note of those people who had been less than complementary about the show earlier on. They picked on two of the loudest as targets for various sharp objects. After the lead ranger had participated, there was no way that any of the other nobles could refuse, although it was clear that the targets were less than pleased with the prospect. One of them had to leave rather rapidly after a dagger missed his ear by a couple of inches.


    As the show progressed the audience became more enthusiastic and respectful. Rialto¡¯s second spot was greeted much more warmly than the first and when the performance ended there was a large amount of money thrown into the middle. Nedric spotted a couple of golds amongst the coins he picked up. The group packed away and left quickly.


    As they passed through the gates the wagon was stopped by one of the stern-faced rangers. He looked at the group and announced he had a message from his captain.


    ¡°Derk says that the show was most amusing and that it was a shame that some of those knives missed their targets. He appreciated the music, the tales and the juggling and would like to see a repeat performance. He also said that has no idea what a pair of rangers were doing in fancy dress and throwing weapons at their rulers, he would like an explanation.¡± The guard paused.


    The group were exchanging glances, they were wondering whether to remove the two guarding rangers and make their escape as quickly as possible. The guard obviously sensed this and held his dagger so that they all could see it. He continued.


    ¡°Derk also said that the explanation could wait until you had done whatever you were trying to do. He trusts that his rangers will always act in the best interests of Esteril and its friends.¡± With that the ranger broke into a smile and offered, ¡°Good Luck.¡±


    *          *          *


    The group decided to leave that night, before Derk could change his mind. From Lerrit they travelled northward along the coastal route. Many travelled this way as there was no easy route through the forest and they managed to join a merchant caravan that they met a day or so after they started. It meant that they travelled a little slower than otherwise but they didn¡¯t have to worry about forest bandits. The merchant had a number of guards who looked nasty enough to cope with a small army.


    Over four weeks after leaving Lerrit, they crossed the border into Cantherin. They said their farewells to the merchant, who invited them to join his train any time that they were passing that way. They agreed they would and then headed in the direction of Nothering.


    Although a priesthood almost as fanatical as those that ruled Nothering had originally founded Cantherin, over the years this group had lost power and now the place was under the sway of large merchant families. In some ways it reminded Nedric of Setherland, although power was held in much fewer hands and the nobility were fairly powerless.


    Other than traders, Cantherin also supplied a lot of the mercenaries that were required in nearby countries. Perhaps this was because the traders liked peace and didn¡¯t want too many aggressive people around. Whatever the reason, the five men met very few people who wanted to cause them problems.


    They headed generally west and slightly north, mainly stopping at villages and small towns. They were well received and made good money as they crossed the country. Nedric could see that this life could be a good one if you were prepared to travel.


    It didn¡¯t stop him remembering their purpose. When they drew in sight of the Nothering border, a month after they entered the country, he knew that the real task was still ahead of him and that the danger to them all was yet to be faced.

 38. Entering Nothering

    It had been over four months since Elsebeth had been captured but there was no diminishing of the urgency Nedric felt. As they rode up to the border he felt the desire to release her from her captives grow even firmer. Although the danger was now much greater, nothing was going to stop him.


    The countryside through which they travelled could have been Setherland, Cantherin or even some of Esteril; they knew however that they had reached Nothering when they met a barrier and a set of border guards.


    They had passed through the Cantherin border post without being stopped. The guards had just waved them through. At previous posts they had been subject to a cursory inspection. It soon became clear that Nothering was much stricter.


    When a merchant wagon went through without stopping they were not expecting the guard to halt them but he did.


    ¡°Drive the wagons over there, then everyone stand in that area and don¡¯t leave it.¡±


    Nedric could hardly believe the way that the black uniformed guard was acting. There were five of them and only one of him. He was just about to say something to antagonise the man when Rialto waved at him to comply.


    ¡°There is a troop of guards watching us from within those trees. Do anything silly and we all die.¡± Rialto whispered as he leaned across to Nedric.


    The group complied and stood in the marked area. Another guard appeared from the trees behind the barrier and began to search the wagons. He unceremoniously dumped clothing and utensils on the ground as he cleared the wagons of articles.


    He found the daggers and other weaponry belonging to the two rangers and there was a brief discussion between the guards before they began to pile the weapons separately from everything else.


    ¡°Why do you need all these weapons?¡± asked the first guard.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of the act.¡± Daiga replied. ¡°Shall I demonstrate?¡±


    The guard gave his assent and Daiga removed one of the boards from the wagon. This was marked with the outline of a person and could be made to stand alone. Daiga retrieved five of the daggers from the pile and stood about fifteen feet from the board.


    ¡°Imagine there was someone strapped to the board in the position marked.¡±


    Faster than seemed possible, Daiga aimed and threw the daggers at the board. Two stuck out on either side of the head, two underneath where the armpits would have been and one stuck out from between the legs.


    ¡°People seem to be impressed by that.¡± Daiga said simply.


    The guard also appeared fairly impressed, as he could not have reacted in time if one of those daggers had been aimed at him. He had Daiga retreat to the rest of the group and signalled that the weapons should join the other possessions of the rangers.


    When the guard started on the second wagon, Nedric thought that there could be nothing that would cause any problems if the weapons were allowed. He was wrong and in a way that was really surprising.


    The first thing he knew was when the guard inside the wagon shouted for the other guard to come and see. When they emerged from within the wagon they were holding one of the narwood carvings Nedric had brought with him. The carvings were either depicting the gods or showed scenes from the legends and the one they were holding depicted the goddess Ruth.


    Nedric could see no reason why the carving could cause offence. The gods were the same as far as he knew in every country and Ruth was the one who looked after peace, love, fertility and the like. There seemed little that anybody would dislike about her.


    The guards placed the carving in the guardroom and returned to searching the wagon. They seemed strangely excited by their find. Nedric whispered to Rialto.


    ¡°What¡¯s with all the excitement?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bringing pornography into the country.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Nedric exclaimed. ¡°The carving is just a normal pose of Ruth.¡±


    ¡°To you and me it¡¯s a perfectly respectable carving, to anyone from Nothering it is slightly depraved. You see she hasn¡¯t got her hair covered. Unrestrained hair is seen as being provocative. The guards will want to keep the carving for themselves.¡±


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    His words proved to be true. Shortly afterwards the guards let them proceed. They were told that if they wanted to travel through Nothering they would need to obtain a permit of passage from the first town they came to, otherwise they would be stopped and sent back at the first internal border.


    *          *          *


    They reached the town fairly quickly. Nedric was surprised at the size of the place. It was nearly as big as Lerrit in Esteril although it was barely mentioned on his map of Nothering.


    The first thing that he really noticed about the town, other than the size, was the smell. There was no provision for easy disposal of refuse and most of it seemed to be dumped in the nearby river. This was fine during the winter but at the start of autumn when the river was at its lowest the refuse just piled up.


    He thought at first that the river was swirling around the town but as they got closer he could see that what he had first thought was water was actually the movement of vast numbers of rats living off the refuse.


    As they neared the town walls, a number of children appeared and started offering them everything under the sun. Each child showed evidence of malnutrition and most had sores or lesions. Some were deformed or missing limbs and Nedric, looking at them, found the sight unpleasant.


    ¡°A copper to guide you.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a girl?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the best inn.¡±


    ¡°Spare change?¡±


    ¡°Get you drugs.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want anything and we aren¡¯t going to give you money.¡± Rialto spoke in a precise way that demonstrated a well-bred Nothering accent. The children stopped shouting out offers and instead started asking the group what they planned to do.


    ¡°You doing a show tonight?¡±


    ¡°Where you going to be?¡±


    ¡°What you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Do you really wrestle anyone?¡±


    ¡°Have you killed anyone with those knives.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t time to answer any question before several others piled in on top of it. The children were now acting like children anywhere. Interested in a show and what it had in store for them, the begging or services to be offered forgotten for the moment. Nedric did a little juggling for them as the wagons moved onwards but stopped after a short while and told them that they could see more later.


    As they reached the town they could see that the poor state of the children was reflected in the health of the adults. Nedric had never seen such an unhealthy group of people in one town. Occasionally there would be a smartly dressed, well-fed individual walking through the crowd but mostly the passers by seemed weighed down by ill health and great cares.


    The wagons proceeded to the town square, which held a market and was surrounded by the important buildings. Unlike a Setherland village or town, the important buildings consisted of two administration buildings, a bank and the church. The stores and taverns were located along side streets and the smithies and other similar tradesmen were located further out.


    The group parked their wagons in the square and Daiga went into the closest building to find out where and how to get the required permit. They had decided that the more talkative ranger would be the one to sort things out as he was naturally much more intimidating than the younger men and was more suited to talking to clerks than his companion.


    Daiga asked at the front desk and was told that he needed to see an administrator in the other building. It seemed a fact of life that the person you wanted was never in the first place you looked. Surprisingly it was quite easy to locate the man responsible for permits in the second building.


    The man was short, fat and had a shiny face with oiled hair. He had a small and neatly trimmed beard and his face appeared to have a constant smile. Daiga didn¡¯t trust him for an instant; he was reminded of an animal in Esteril that acted all friendly until it got close enough to attack.


    The man explained to Daiga that they would need to do a free performance as soon as the market closed before they were issued a permit. The performance would be assessed for its suitability and if found unsuitable they would be unable to continue and if necessary they would be evicted from Nothering.


    ¡°What makes a show suitable or not?¡± Daiga asked.


    ¡°Does it include anything that would upset the people of Nothering? Is it obscene? Does it cause offence to anyone? Would it foment unrest? Does the show suggest that the people of Nothering are inferior to others? That sort of thing, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re show would not be offensive but regulations insist that I view it and note the reactions of an average audience.¡±


    ¡°Fine, we will be ready by the time the market closes. I will see you later.¡±


    ¡°There is one other thing.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°My fee.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were paid by the government to do your job.¡±


    ¡°Inadequately, inadequately.¡±


    ¡°So what sort of fee do you require?¡±


    ¡°Ten golds.¡±


    ¡°Ten golds? That¡¯s robbery.¡±


    ¡°Without it you will be travelling no further.¡±


    Daiga seemed to grow more menacing without moving or doing anything obvious. The administrator looked nervous but resolute. He also looked on the verge of calling for help and so Daiga reluctantly conceded.


    ¡°I will talk to the others in the group and tell them of your ultimatum. Perhaps I should also have a word with your superior.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t do you any good, he gets half of that money and his superior is in another town.¡± The man named a town that Daiga had never heard about. It was clearly further within Nothering and probably over an internal border.


    Daiga retreated to the wagons, whilst the other man smiled warmly at him. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that the first show is free to the audience.¡±


    *          *          *


    ¡°Well we have to pay him and he must have some idea that we would have that amount of money. I don¡¯t like it but what can we do?¡± Daiga was explaining the situation to the others.


    ¡°We could always kill him!¡± This came from Rialto.


    ¡°Then we wouldn¡¯t have the permit and we couldn¡¯t get to Elsebeth.¡±


    ¡°He probably has guards around or hides the gold before he issues the permit.¡± Nedric chipped in, ¡°The returns must be fairly good in other towns for it to be worthwhile for other entertainers.¡±


    ¡°It does suggest that the officials in this country are corrupt, that could be useful to us.¡± Scabad rarely spoke and when he did the others listened.


    ¡°What maybe bribe Elsebeth away from imprisonment?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°It probably won¡¯t be that easy.¡± Suggested Bethan, ¡°but it might make it possible to find out where she is being held.¡±


    ¡°So we need to earn lots of money to pay off any officials who might be able to help. We can¡¯t afford to stay around here and argue, so we better do what this man wants.¡± Nedric summed up the situation. The others weren¡¯t inclined to argue and so they set about constructing the stage and arranging the props.


    After the show Daiga and Scabad went up to the administrator, who had been standing to one side making notes on a pad of paper. The man looked nervous as the two large rangers approached but held his ground.


    ¡°What did you think of the show?¡± Daiga enquired.


    ¡°It seemed fine in most parts but there were a couple of slight problems that you might wish to discuss in my office.¡±


    They followed him into the building. When they entered the office, they discovered that several large and well-armed men were already in the room.


    ¡°So do we get the permit?¡±


    ¡°When I get my fee.¡±


    Scabad handed over a purse which contained the required coins.¡±


    ¡°That looks sufficient, I¡¯ll prepare the permit.¡±


    The man disappeared into another room taking the pouch with him. When the rangers tried to follow, the guards, which is what the other men obviously were, moved to prevent the rangers from passing. The two decided to take seats and wait.


    They didn¡¯t have to wait long. In only a couple of minutes the man returned bringing with him a large parchment on which a detailed description of the act was transcribed. After embossing a large wax seal on one corner the man handed over the permit.


    ¡°A pleasure doing business with you gentlemen.¡±


    The two rangers left without reply.

 39. Slaves and Religion

    After their initial experience with the people of Nothering it came as little surprise that at every border they were expected to pay a fee to get past the guards. It was more surprising that they had not been asked to pay at the country border. Nedric surmised that the carving that the guards had taken was worth enough that it more than compensated for the bribe.


    The inhabitants of Nothering were a disparate group, with a large number of extremely poor and others who were discordantly rich. Nedric knew that the merchants of Setherland were often far wealthier than most of the country but they didn¡¯t look as different. There were few people in Setherland who looked as desperate as some of the people they met.


    The differences were not as noticeable out in the country. Most of the farming communities seemed to be well off and everyone looked well fed. There was plenty of money to give to passing entertainers and the group was making money despite the high bribes at each county border.


    When they reached the towns and cities the differences became more obvious. They were invited to perform at private parties given by one leading administrator or another and were paid handsomely. When they gave the odd show in the town they passed through, the takings were poorer but the excitement generated was high. The show would play to over a thousand people and sometimes much larger numbers. Nedric was beginning to feel that these people were starved of entertainment.


    He was also getting the idea that quite a large number of the population were half-starved. Having passed through the farmlands and seen the abundance of crops being farmed it took him a while to understand why. Eventually it dawned on him that the numbers of people he was meeting in the towns was always high. They only came across small populations in the farmland. The population of the country was much, much higher than Setherland.


    In many of the towns they passed through there was evidence of preparation for war. They stopped in one town and parked their wagons beneath a sign, which read ¡®Enjoy a good meal in the army!¡¯ The picture carried the same message and the building they had parked outside had a queue of people eager to join.


    There was a clerk at the front of the queue who was taking names and addresses. He was repeating a mantra to each applicant. ¡°Name, occupation, address, we aren¡¯t taking people until a month after mid-winter.¡±


    Nedric decided that the army would not want to feed the extra troops until they needed to train them and that was why there was a delay in the recruiting process. Anyone who died of starvation in the mean time would not have made a good recruit. It also meant that anyone who was in an essential job could be pre-selected or rejected. He could guess that the war with Setherland would start when winter broke.


    When staying at an inn in one of the many towns they passed through, Nedric decided to talk to the locals and ask them why the country was going to war. He had already seen the notices written on the boards of each town explaining to all who could read that Setherland had invaded Nothering in the summer and that war would be declared in the spring.


    There was a group of men sat at the table next to them. The men were obviously craftsmen of various types and ranged in ages from elderly to middle aged. They had been giving casual glances over towards the two rangers obviously wondering why they had shaved heads.


    ¡°We¡¯re an entertaining troupe.¡± Nedric said to one of the men when he again glanced their way.


    The man nodded and passed the information on to his companions.


    ¡°What do you lot do?¡± The man asked.


    Nedric told him and moved his chair to make it easier to talk to the man. He enquired what the group did and as he had surmised was told that they were smiths, carpenters and the like.


    ¡°What do you think of the upcoming war?¡± Nedric steered the conversation around to the area that interested him eventually.


    ¡°Well they deserve it don¡¯t they!¡±


    ¡°In what way?¡±


    ¡°Well they have lots of food and we have hardly any and they don¡¯t sell it to us at a reasonable price.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they charge the going rate, same as the other countries?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, but they are all out to rob us with the price of their food.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget their wanton women, running around with their heads uncovered.¡± One of the smiths added.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind a wanton woman.¡± Another of the men added, amidst much laughter.


    ¡°The women are the same in Cantherin and Esteril, further south everyone covers up.¡±


    ¡°The other countries aren¡¯t a bunch of slaves that ran away from their masters and then tried to rob them with the food prices!¡± The first man stated this as though it was the definitive reason for invading Setherland and from the murmurs around the table it was a general feeling. The slave who was serving them drinks at the time seemed to be in less than perfect agreement but none of the craft masters noticed him.


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    It was a strange thing about Nothering that whilst the slaves were ever present and in numbers greater than the citizens, none of the citizens deigned to notice their presence other than to order them around. Nedric wondered why the slaves obeyed until the first time he saw a slave whipped by a guard for disobeying an instruction. That the instruction was issued by a drunken master who no longer wished to be supported by his slave and was disobeyed because the slave picked the master out of the gutter appeared irrelevant.


    There had apparently been a change in the status of slaves after a number had escaped to Setherland but Nedric could not see that their situation was any better. Of course the fact that their masters were struggling to feed them meant that the guards were treating the slaves more harshly to maintain order. Many of the masters were prepared to lose status by offering their slaves to the army.


    It was probably the number of slaves being offered to the army that had caused them to delay the recruitment of new forces. Slaves were easy to train into obeying orders completely and so made good shock troops. They had a tendency to desert if it looked like the fight was going against them and so a large number of regular troops needed to be employed behind them to ensure that they didn¡¯t run the wrong way.


    If Setherland had been prepared to accept all the troops that were likely to be sent into the country by Nothering then there would be little to fear with the invasion. In previous wars the slaves had defected readily, the promise of freedom being enough to get them to change allegiance. From the numbers looking to join the army it looked like half the population would be invading and Setherland wasn¡¯t big enough to cope with anywhere near that number.


    Nedric broached the subject later to the group.


    ¡°Why do you think the leaders of Nothering want to have a war with Setherland?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the easiest target.¡± Said Daiga. ¡°The old enemy, so there is all that built up hatred which can be called on to help make people agree to the fight.¡±


    ¡°So Setherland is the traditional enemy, it is also the country Nothering has never won a war against.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter to the leaders.¡± Stated Rialto. ¡°They aren¡¯t interested in winning, in fact they might prefer to lose.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because the problem with Nothering is that it has too many people and can¡¯t feed them, so if the situation doesn¡¯t change the leaders will be thrown out of power. Whoever is leading the country will have to declare war against someone because the only way to stay in power is to distract the country from its real problems. Of course if there is a war and lots of people get killed it helps to solve the population problem for a while.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the government deal with the problem rather than go to war.¡± Nedric asked the question without expecting anyone to have a reasonable answer.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s easier to distract the population,¡± was Rialto¡¯s sarcastic response.


    ¡°Because the problems of the country are intensified by having a slave culture, which means that few people actually work hard and therefore there is no inclination to solve problems. The easiest situation is to let the slaves deal with it. If the problem is that there are too many people then the simplest situation is to kill off a load of slaves. It doesn¡¯t matter to the leaders how many slaves die or escape and they might get lucky and win the war.¡± Scabad said more in that one statement than Nedric had heard him say in some days.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t solve anything though.¡± Bethan added. ¡°The problem will just return after a few years and probably get worse. Why don¡¯t they encourage people to travel over the mountains to the west and search out new places to live?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d lose control over them.¡± Scabad replied quietly.


    ¡°So it is all right for the slaves to escape or die but if the average person in the country leaves then they don¡¯t want it.¡± Rialto summed up the situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s because the leaders control the people who control the slaves.¡± Nedric felt that he needed to say something. ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is how they control people who are used to being in charge of others, doesn¡¯t that make them more independent in their thinking?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the shadow guild is for.¡± Daiga explained. ¡°The guild gets information from neighbours and friends and if it looks like someone is being too independent then the guild makes sure that they don¡¯t survive for too long. Sometimes they will arrest someone openly and the person might even be released after a while. More often a family will just come across a corpse with the mark of the guild carved on it. No one is too outspoken in Nothering if they want to live.¡±


    ¡°How can people live in fear like that all the time?¡± Rialto asked.


    ¡°Because the people have an easy life as long as they don¡¯t upset the leaders. Also the shadow guild don¡¯t normally kill slaves so the slaves approve of them.¡± Daiga replied.


    ¡°If I was a slave I¡¯d make up something about my master and tell the shadow guild.¡± Rialto stated.


    ¡°And then you might get a worse master.¡± Nedric chipped in. ¡°It probably helps to keep the masters from treating the slaves too badly. It is the guards who seem to be harsh on the slaves not their actual owners.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the guards are only answerable to the priesthood and so they can get away with a lot as long as they don¡¯t cause problems that mean difficulties for the senior priests.¡± Daiga seemed to know a lot about the internal structure of the country.


    ¡°The actual priests who conduct services and tender to the everyday needs of the communities have very little say in what happens. The cardinals however control everything and as their word is the word of the gods there can be no dissent.¡± Daiga continued. ¡°There are five cardinals, one for each of the five gods. They decide everything for the country, they are all old and so they tend towards the conservative. That¡¯s why there is hardly any change in Nothering. The country wouldn¡¯t be in the state it is if they had adopted a few of the more modern farming practices. That and the leaders suggesting that everyone should have as many children as possible for the greater glory of the gods.¡± The last comment held so much sarcasm that it was very clear what Daiga thought of this approach.


    ¡°Daiga, why is it that sometimes you sound more like a tutor than a ranger?¡± Bethan asked.


    ¡°My secret is out!¡± Daiga laughed. ¡°I spent a lot of time in one of the monasteries when I was a child and they kept insisting on forcing education on me. I told them that all I wanted to do was travel around the country but they made me learn and taught me to think. It could have been worse, I could have been the son of two priests like Scabad here.¡± He indicated his friend and colleague.


    Scabad frowned slightly but stayed quiet.


    ¡°To get back to what we are talking about, the leaders of Nothering are not going to be deposed as long as no one can do anything to resist them without being killed and when most of the country believe that they have the backing of the gods. If they were to have a tremendous defeat and the country was invaded and the leaders all killed it still wouldn¡¯t solve the problem. New leaders would appear out of the wreckage of the priesthood and as long as the beliefs are still in place the country will go on being a problem to everyone else.¡± Daiga was beginning to lecture.


    ¡°So what you¡¯re really saying is that to defeat Nothering you need to change the way the country thinks and that isn¡¯t going to happen.¡± Rialto made the comment but Nedric and Bethan both nodded to show they had been thinking it.


    ¡°Unless the slaves can be made to act against their masters or encouraged to leave the country in huge numbers and either of those situations seems unlikely.¡±


    ¡°Probably more likely than the priesthood changing their ways.¡± Nedric stated. ¡°If anyone can think of anything to disrupt the situation we should let someone know when we get back to Setherland.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good positive thinking.¡± Rialto grinned. ¡°Here was I getting depressed about us ever seeing our homes again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a natural pessimist¡± Bethan retorted, punching Rialto lightly on the shoulder.


    ¡°No I¡¯m not, it¡¯s just bad things always happen.¡± The smile told the opposite story to Rialto¡¯s words.

 40. Setting up shop

    At last they arrived at Fusdown. It had taken nearly four months and it seemed longer to Nedric. The capital of Nothering had been his destination for so long that arriving seemed almost an anti-climax. Of course there was the minor matter of rescuing Elsebeth but after the journey this was going to be easy.


    The city was nothing like what Nedric had been expecting. He had expected it to be dirty and smaller than Setherland with buildings in disrepair. His first sight of the city took his breath away.


    The buildings were almost entirely made from a white marble that glinted with reflected sunlight and immediately made the place feel warm and open. They ranged in shape from large towers with points, copulas and crenulations to small neat buildings with two storeys, often with shops on the lower floor. There were large buildings with imposing statuary outside, mainly showing the gods or wild creatures. Fountains were common and ranged from the small and ornate to the large and gaudy.


    As well as the cleanliness, Nedric was struck by the size of the city. For the previous few days they had been travelling through vast acres of farmland and he had been wondering how there could be a food problem in the country. Seeing how huge the city was, he began to imagine the problems in feeding such a large populace.


    After gazing at the buildings it took him a while to realise the numbers of people inhabiting the place. It wasn¡¯t that they were meeting huge crowds. Although he would later visit places where the numbers of people were tremendous. It was that wherever they went the numbers were close to clogging up the streets.


    They arrived late in the afternoon and had been passing large quantities of farm wagons heading homeward for several hours. It meant that the majority of pedestrians were walking on the same side of the street as themselves and the two wagons made slow progress as they tried to proceed along the vast thoroughfares that made up the main arteries of the city.


    Rialto had been to the city to do business a couple of times and the two rangers also had a passing knowledge of the city, so they had decided on a venue to stay and perhaps obtain work. One of the larger inns anywhere in the known world owned by a man named Packam.


    There were so many people staying in his vast residence each night that nobody would note their passage, apart from when they were performing. Packam operated a similar system to the Black Lion, in that he encouraged entertainers to work at his venue, paying well and providing free food and lodging. They were hoping for at least a weeks¡¯ worth of work before they had to find another venue.


    Nedric had no doubt, that in a city this size, they could keep working all year round without ever needing to leave. The sheer scale of the buildings spoke of wealth and they were now used to performing at the private functions of very wealthy individuals. If the way the city outshined the rest of the country was a guide they could expect to earn a vast amount without ever resorting to busking.


    They eventually reached their destination as the day was turning to dusk, which was not the best time to arrive. The staff seemed extremely busy and it took a while to find the correct person to deal with them. This wasn¡¯t Packam, who very rarely dealt with his clientele unless they were particularly rich, famous or important; instead they dealt with the man who hired entertainers who was called Culdit.


    ¡°You can work tonight in the west wing and if I like what I see then you will be taken on for at least a week. After that we shall see what the clientele think.¡± He paused for breath. ¡°A good response and you get to stay another week. We have some people who have been here several months.¡±


    Rialto asked the question closest to his heart, ¡°when do we eat?¡±


    ¡°You get fed after your show and stay in the entertainer¡¯s wing, which this porter will lead you to.¡± He pointed to a young slave standing nearby.


    They followed the porter and Nedric asked what the clientele were like.


    ¡°Tonight you¡¯ll probably only get local businessmen. It¡¯s fairly quiet on a Peetsday, so the guards will probably be in the north wing. If any priests or the richer clients come here they tend to use the west wing.


    They boy brought them to their quarters, which were larger than they had met elsewhere and fairly luxurious. The other rooms in the wing had their doors shut, so they were unable to tell if any other entertainers were present.


    The slave was hanging around and so Nedric directed him to have some of their belongings transferred to their quarters and also have their performance equipment taken to the appropriate room. He asked Rialto to supervise this, so that the others could talk.


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    As soon as Rialto and the slave left Daiga and Scabad started to search the place. They did this methodically but in a way that would not cause suspicion if anyone were to enter the common room. They unpacked items as they moved and generally made the place seem more theirs.


    Scabad started talking loudly to Bethan. This was so out of character that Nedric knew before Daiga came over to talk to him that something was amiss.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything that you don¡¯t want to be overheard in this place. There are at least two places where it might be possible to hide someone. That¡¯s not counting the windows, which are too high. Anyone could be outside and we¡¯d never know.¡±


    Nedric just nodded and went to join Bethan and relieve the burden of Scabad speaking.


    The assumption the group held was that all foreigners were thought to be a problem of some sort. Every merchant needed an invitation from a Nothering counterpart before they could enter. Each entertainer was checked for suitability and probably watched by someone in each town, at least for a while. Other people found it even harder to gain entry into the country and so different ideas and attitudes were kept to a minimum.


    The group, being aware that much of their progress might have been studied by the shadow guild, had been at pains to cause as little offence as they could to the citizens of Nothering. Generally they used the citizens of Setherland as the butt of any jokes. Emphasising the accents and character traits of the nation often to hilarious effect. They were of the opinion that if anyone had been concerned about them they would have never had made it to the capital. It would be easy to dispose of them and no country would protest their loss.


    Rialto returned followed by a group of slaves with their possessions. He was exhorting loudly about the quality of the stage and the clarity of the acoustics. ¡°This could be the finest place I¡¯ve ever performed.¡± He declared.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be able to hear all your bad notes with great ease then.¡± Nedric responded.


    ¡°Be fair, they won¡¯t hear the music over the off-key singing.¡± Bethan added.


    Rialto was lost for a retort and muttered darkly about so-called friends.


    They unpacked and the rangers went off to see if they could find something for a light snack. The others spent the time practicing or lazing. After so many days of travel, the luxury of being able to do nothing was quite seductive.


    Maybe four hours later they were asked to perform. The show, which by now was extremely polished, went without a hitch. During the show the rangers challenged a member of the public to wrestle. This was often the point where the loud mouths of the audience decided to keep quiet. For a change, a large and well-built merchant decided to take up the gauntlet.


    Daiga had been doing the talking, so it was Scabad who would wrestle. He appeared from one side of the stage, stripped to the waist but wearing a full facemask. His body was oiled, which emphasised his strongly developed muscles and the large scar that ran from his left shoulder to below his ribs. Nedric thought he looked fearsome, even though he knew the man had a much gentler nature than his appearance suggested.


    To give the merchant credit, he didn¡¯t back down. However he began to look a little less sure of himself on Scabad¡¯s appearance. A ring of rope was draped on the floor and the two started.


    For a short while it looked like there might be a fairly even contest. The two stood, holding each other around the head with one hand whilst the other sought a suitable grip elsewhere. The tableau held for perhaps thirty seconds and then the ranger got a firm grip on his opponent¡¯s belt. He lifted the merchant off his feet so that he was dangling horizontally. Then with a loud grunt he heaved the man above his head.


    As Scabad held his opponent aloft, the crowd expected him to drop the man on the floor. Instead the pose was held for long, scarcely believable, seconds. Eventually, when the cries of the crowd were as loud as they were likely to get, Scabad brought the man gently to the ground and held him to it for a count of three. The applause that greeted this show of strength was extremely loud and long lasting.


    Nedric knew that Daiga was just as powerful and would be the man behind the mask for the following performance. He suspected that few men outside of the rangers of Esteril could match his friends. Then again, few had been through the training regime that brought people to such an extreme of fitness.


    The rest of the show went without a hitch. There was laughter at the appropriate places, strong applause whenever it was required and a clear appreciation of the five men. The small crowd appreciated everything and would speak about it to others. When they finished, they knew this would not be the last performance at the inn.


    Culdit came up to them whilst they were enjoying a meal that would cost a small fortune if they were paying for it.


    ¡°That was a good show and the combination of skills is unusual. I¡¯ll book you for a week but I expect that will be extended and if you prove as popular as I expect, you will get a bonus fee for the second week.¡±


    The five men drank to this small success, knowing that the real work must begin in earnest.


    *          *          *


    With a base from which to work, the five were able to explore the city. After their first exploratory trip it became clear that it was far too large a task without some local knowledge.


    Whilst the shops displayed their wares and the inns were clearly marked, nothing else was identified in any way. There was no way of knowing whether a particular building was administrative, a place of worship or possibly just a residence of someone wealthy.


    It was possible to stand and watch those who entered and left the building and make an educated guess but there were many of these buildings and it would take years to find the place they wanted by observation alone.


    Fortunately there were a number of children who waited around the inn and were prepared to act as guides. They needed to make a map of the city and so took a number of walks in different directions asking questions whenever they saw a new building. Initially they walked the closer parts but as the time progressed their sightseeing covered more of the city.


    The rangers were extremely distinctive, with their dark clothing and bald heads and tended to attract attention wherever they travelled. After a while they decided that it made their mapping trips too noticeable and left the task to the younger and smaller men.


    The group had several goals. They needed to locate the headquarters of the shadow guild. They also needed to locate the makings of appropriate disguises. Furthermore, they needed to find a second base in case they were no longer welcome at Packam¡¯s. The need for a quieter base grew as days went past and they still had no idea where Elsebeth might be held.


    They were able to start on one part of their task when they found the theatre district. All their needs for costume, make-up and wigs could be purchased in various shops around that locale and nobody would suspect them of anything unusual. Even their guide was unsurprised that they might visit the area.


    They were suspicious of the guides. Despite their appearance they were extremely well informed and were clearly healthier than many of the street urchins they passed. It was possible that they informed the shadow guild of their movements and reported anything that was unusual.


    To avoid this they made sure they marked the routes to all the places they needed, so that they could reach them without assistance. The guides had suggested that they visit the theatre and so they decided to do this and make useful purchases at the same time.

 41. Touring the city

    The only performances that they would be able to watch were the afternoon shows. This suited them fine, as the shops would still be open and busy. They went as a group, the two rangers standing clear over the heads of the crowd, the sunlight shining from their bald pates.


    After a short while, Daiga informed the group that they were being followed by one of the guides, a short boy with one arm named Menray. They had expected this and had planned accordingly. They moved quickly and Menray would have to struggle to keep them within sight.


    Before they got to the theatre, Rialto lost himself in the crowd. He was dressed in a similar style to the common workmen of Nothering and drew no attention. By now they hoped that their follower was using the rangers as his guide and not able to see the smaller men.


    They entered the theatre, buying seating for five. They had agreed with Rialto beforehand that they would be sat near the back. With the two rangers sat blocking the view of the fifth seat, it was impossible for anyone to tell that the group was missing someone.


    Being able to relax, Nedric took time to examine his surroundings. The theatre had proper seating, unlike most inns, and these were covered in a thick, purple, material. They were comfortable enough that he felt he could sleep, which is what he felt like doing ten minutes into the play.


    They hadn¡¯t known what sort of show they were likely to see. What they saw was a re-enactment of one of the religious scenes. The way it was portrayed told a different story than if they had viewed the same scene elsewhere. The servant, who elsewhere was the hero, was now a slave and a villain. The part where he leaves his master was now shown as a despicable act.


    It didn¡¯t take too much thought to see that this was meant to show Setherland and its relationship with Nothering. What bothered Nedric was the way the audience accepted everything in an unquestioning manner. It suggested that nobody would oppose the war.


    Part way through the show Rialto joined them. He informed them that he had made the purchases they required and distributed packages amongst the group. They had all been carrying bags on the way there and hoped that no one would notice that the bags were fuller than they had been when they left the inn.


    Eventually the show finished and they left. They made sure that the comments they made on leaving were similar to those around them and regrouped outside the theatre.


    ¡°What do you fancy doing now?¡± Rialto asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d quite like to visit a good restaurant whilst we are in Fusdown.¡± Bethan replied.


    ¡°Good idea,¡± agreed Nedric. ¡°Can anyone see one?¡±


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    As they were looking around Daiga spotted Menray and displaying surprise called out.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that one of the guides from Packam¡¯s?¡± he enquired of the others, pointing him out.


    ¡°It looks like Menray.¡± Nedric answered. ¡°Hey Menray over here.¡± He waved.


    Knowing that he had been spotted, the boy had little choice but to join the group and was prevailed upon to suggest a decent eating establishment nearby. Being caught on the spot he took them to the first one he could recall.


    The meal was expensive but extremely good. Of course most meals were expensive in a country with food problems but they hadn¡¯t bought any food in the city before. They made sure they appreciated everything to the fullest; as they knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to afford such quality cuisine often. By the time they had finished they were running late.


    They had to prevail upon Menray to take them back to the inn by the quickest route possible. The guide understood their need to hurry and complied. He led them in a different direction from their normal route.


    It was whilst passing through another of the city squares that Nedric noticed something unusual. Whilst one side of the square was busy with the normal amount of people passing, the other side was deserted.


    ¡°What¡¯s in that building?¡± Nedric asked their guide, pointing to the particularly large and ugly construction on the other side of the square.


    Menray looked at him strangely and answered, ¡°That is the Guild for Corrective Religious Interpretation. Why are you interested?¡±


    ¡°I just wondered why anyone would build something that unattractive.¡±


    ¡°It is rather horrid, people don¡¯t like it much. I can show you some really impressive buildings if you like.¡±


    Nedric was under the impression that Menray wanted to get them away from the square as quickly as possible. As they were in a hurry anyway, he wasn¡¯t going to argue and hurried after him. He did notice a look that passed between Rialto and the rangers but wasn¡¯t going to ask about it at that time.


    When they got back to the inn, they immediately had to prepare for their show. As usual it went well. Culdit had informed them that they were getting more customers than normal and this might well be because of their show. Nedric was slightly worried that people would start to recognise them on the streets. Of course most of the customers were wealthier citizens and traders from outside the city. Neither would normally come into close contact with them.


    After the show, they had to clear away their equipment and costumes. It took a while and they were in need of a drink by the finish. After obtaining drinks they eventually made it back to the entertainers wing. A couple of singers were sitting, chatting in the common room and so they took the opportunity to flirt with them.


    Eventually the girls had to go and perform and they were left alone. The two rangers started idly throwing knives at a target fixed to the wall. The target was fixed over one of the two known listening areas and it was hoped by all that anyone behind it would develop a headache for their troubles.


    Rialto retrieved his mandolin and started to play it beneath the other possible listening area. It was hoped that the noise would prevent anyone from hearing anything much. Not that they made any plans in the room but this way if anyone slipped up and said something it was less likely to be overheard.


    Nedric whispered to Daiga, ¡°I saw that look you gave Rialto in that square, what do you know about the Guild of Corrective Religious Interpretation?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just that that is the Shadow Guild¡¯s full name,¡± he whispered back.


    Nedric felt a slight thrill pass through his body. At last they would be able to do something. They had made plans on the long journey to Fusdown and the first part of this plan was to scout the building. The rangers were meant to do this but they stood out from the crowd.


    Daiga told Nedric that this wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Anyone who could hide in the forest could also hide in the city; it was just a matter of the appropriate camouflage. When he informed Nedric what they intended to do, Nedric laughed. They were going to take the role of transport slaves.


    Nedric had noticed the men carrying dignitaries around the city in their sedan chairs. They tended to be larger than average and were matched for height to prevent jarring. What made Nedric laugh was the thought of someone ordering the rangers to take them somewhere in the chair. He could imagine the look of the dignitary when he was dumped unceremoniously in the river!

 42. Investigations proceed

    Over the past few days they had learnt that there was always someone watching the inn. Whether it was the children who were around during most of the daylight or guards or stablemen during the night. They decided that they had a better chance of passing the guards rather than the children especially if they were to leave the inn about dawn, when the guards would be less alert.


    The inn being spread over a large area, it was very easy for the rangers to borrow one of the other customer¡¯s sedan chair. They had decided that it was easier to pretend to be waiting for a master for a long time rather than just stand around. Slaves standing around doing nothing attracted attention from everyone.


    Fortunately the two rangers were of a height, as the chair required them to move with an even gait. Slaves who carried their masters in the chairs were normally matched so that the master was not thrown around with every step. As it was, the two rangers could have been exactly what they pretended to be. Even their above average height was not that unusual as the sedan slaves needed to be strong as the richer masters could be extremely heavy.


    They made their way from the inn, passing a guard who didn¡¯t even give them a glance. Heading in the direction that they had been the previous day and making their way to the headquarters by a slightly circuitous route. They didn¡¯t want anyone to know where they stayed.


    Instead of heading for the square they made their way to the rear of the building. This was where deliveries were brought and there was a slow but steady stream of traffic in and out of the building each day. It was also where servants entered.


    Daiga and Scabad put the sedan down by the rear entrance of an imposing building and did their best to look inconspicuous. In this they were following the traditions exhibited by every other slave in Nothering. All of which took advantage of whatever breaks they could. If they had looked keen and eager, the guards would have been suspicious but as it was they were again ignored.


    They sat by the sedan, pretending to chew on Gwana roots. These were mildly intoxicating, addictive and had a tendency to colour the chewer¡¯s teeth blue. Many slaves had the distinctive blue smile and the two rangers had coloured their teeth to suggest they were addicts. The roots were tolerated, as slaves who chewed them were more amenable but it didn¡¯t interfere with their productivity.


    As they sat, they noted who was using the entrance. The servants were of all varieties, cooks, cleaners, waiters and the like. The numbers of servants suggested that a large number of people worked in the building but from where they were, they couldn¡¯t see anyone else entering it. It was quite surprising that none of the servants were slaves. The guards at the door knew each servant and nodded at them as they entered.


    After a while the servants stopped arriving and there was a lull in proceedings. They waited, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and after an hour or so slaves started appearing with various supplies. They saw various forms of food delivered, along with candles, linen and all the everyday requirements of a large office. Scabad noticed that the guards, who seemed to recognise all the servants, were hardly aware of the slaves as anything other than walking furniture. He mentioned it to Daiga, who spent some time checking it out. He agreed with his friend that it was a potential way in to the building.


    After a while, the guards changed. This was a bonus as the rangers were debating whether they should move on. The activity around the back of the building was pretty steady but the numbers entering and leaving were inconsistent with the size of the building. For the numbers to be right, the building would have to be at least twice the size of the one they could see. It was possible that the building went several levels beneath what they could see. If so then there should be air vents which might provide another means of access.


    After a while they decided to move around to another side of the building. Hoisting the sedan they set off. Although the building was rectangular, it only appeared to have the two entrances and they saw nobody enter the door that led on to the square whilst they were there. They didn¡¯t hang around in the square as they felt that it would make them conspicuous as everyone else hurried through it.


    Standing in an alcove to one side of the square, they could still see the main entrance and were out of sight of most people. Those who did see them, didn¡¯t. Their eyes glancing off the two slaves as though they did not exist. It was an extraordinary blindness that only existed in Nothering.


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    They stayed in their alcove for roughly two hours and at no point did anyone enter or leave the main entrance. This did not seem realistic. The rangers decided that either the building could be reached by another entrance or entrances, which were connected to the building in ways they could not see or the place was mainly used at night. They resolved to revisit the building at a different time.


    *          *          *


    There was a pressing need for the group to find a place of their own. They couldn¡¯t speak freely at Packam¡¯s and that meant that it was difficult to make plans. Fortunately they were beginning to get a bit of a reputation for their show. This meant that they were being asked to attend functions at the homes of the wealthy and prevented them from working at the inn. It would be only a matter of time before they were asked to move on.


    They had made it a necessity to buy everyday clothes as soon as possible and this meant that the younger men could walk around the city without attracting attention. They decided that Rialto would do his best to rent them an appropriate accommodation, whilst Nedric found an agent who could take their bookings and not have a connection with Packam¡¯s. Bethan was constructing a map of the city, which was made easier by his previous army training.


    One of the advantages of being asked to the wealthier residences was that the guides were unwelcome there. The group therefore had to find their own way around and that helped, both in familiarising them with the city and getting away from possible followers.


    By the end of the second week Rialto had found a number of possible properties that they could use as a more permanent residence. They had amassed enough money through their private contracts to rent a reasonable size property and that should also mean that they were less under the gaze of the guild agents. Not that he had any reason to think that the guild had any interest in them now.


    After inspecting various dwellings they finally settled on a place that was a few hundred yards from the inn, in the direction of the guild building. The place was as clean looking from the outside as every other place in Nothering and had several advantages.


    It was quite roomy, with space enough so that each of the five men could have a room of their own. This was a necessity as each of the men were acquiring female admirers. Whilst Nedric discouraged them, as did Scabad for some reason, the other three men were happy to welcome them and the women were not interested in sharing a room which also held four men other than the one that interested them.


    The place also had three exits, which led to three different roads. Two of the roads met near the house but the third, reached by going through a back alley, which went along the side of a shoe makers exited near a market. This meant that anyone leaving that way could quickly merge with the passers by and was unlikely to be spotted.


    The third advantage to the house was that it had a yard large enough to hold the two wagons. Nedric didn¡¯t want them to be under public gaze any longer than was necessary. Despite the fact they had passed through the customs post without causing concern, the wagon the three of them had come in was special and he didn¡¯t want anyone to discover this fact.


    With a place where they could talk unhindered they started to make plans. The rangers had checked the comings and goings from the headquarters on several occasions and their initial observations had proved to be correct. There were far too many servants going in and out and no other obvious routes. They had various possibilities but hadn¡¯t been able to check them out or discuss them with the others.


    Nedric suggested that they discuss their priorities and assign people to discover some answers. He asked the rangers to determine the residencies of some of the servants and suggested that Rialto and Bethan might be able to charm one of the women into revealing some of the internal details of the building. He also needed to know whether Elsebeth was being held there or whether they were wasting their time.


    Another thing they needed to know were possible entrances into the building. He asked the rangers to map any possible above ground routes and any nearby entrances to sewers or vents. He planned that he would undertake the exploration of the sewers himself, as he couldn¡¯t ask anyone else to take on that unpleasant job.


    In the meanwhile, Nedric would undertake the preparation of useful devices. The wagon they had brought from Setherland had been built with the help of a magician and had a chamber hidden between a false floor and the real one. Unless you knew, there was no easy way of telling it was there, other than by ripping up the flooring. It currently held most of their money and a supply of narwood. He hoped that Elsebeth could be smuggled out of the country that way, if they could release her without being suspected.


    Nedric had decided that his knowledge of impressing was the key to attacking a building with only a few people. He initially thought of sending double-impressed wooden statuettes to people within the building but he couldn¡¯t impress enough of them at the same time to ensure that it would have a sufficiently disruptive effect.


    At the moment, he was trying to discover a way of using the effect along with some blasting powder that they had brought with them. Unfortunately although there was a lot of force produced, there wasn¡¯t a corresponding rise in temperature. In fact the area where the wood and blasting powder were placed together became much cooler. The water condensed from the air and the blasting powder became damp and unusable. It was extremely frustrating.


    The wood did get much hotter as it exploded and moved rapidly through the air but then the heat was in the wrong place and did no good. He was trying to find a way to direct the wood at the blasting powder in a way that would cause an explosion but had not succeeded yet.


    He had much better success in purchasing weapons. Apparently the citizens of Nothering were becoming more nervous as the threat of war loomed. Little shops had appeared throughout the city selling all sorts of weaponry. Nedric was able to obtain swords, daggers and even bows easily and discreetly. If he had been governing the city, he would have been alarmed at this situation.


    Over the next week the others came back with more information and the maps and plans grew. They wanted to cause as much confusion as possible to make their job easier. Their planning involved a slow approach that should be disruptive and totally unexpected. They hadn¡¯t finalised plans when Rialto entered one afternoon with a broad grin on his face.

 43. Rialto makes a friend

    ¡°Thanks to Daiga I¡¯d learnt that a lot of the servants from the building go to a particular tavern. I thought that unlikely at first but then I realised that I¡¯d likely recruit staff from amongst people I knew well, if I ran the shadow guild.


    Anyway, I found the tavern and wondered how I could get on good terms with the customers. Maybe I could have succeeded with just my natural good looks and charm,¡± this was said with a grin, ¡°but I thought it would be much easier to get a job in the building.


    I had my mandolin with me, so I enquired whether they might need a musician. I wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that they did and I was booked for the same night. This is why you haven¡¯t seen much of me over the last few days.


    Fortunately they appreciated my music and singing a lot more than you four and the landlord asked me stay for a week. At the end of each set I¡¯d go and sit down by the group of people that were my targets and it didn¡¯t take long before they started talking to me.


    At first they were asking about me, where I came from and what was happening in the world. I told them I was from Cantherin and none of them questioned it. Fortunately it¡¯s an easy accent to imitate and I was able to keep it going whenever I spoke.


    After a while I was just another member of the group. Not really part of it but known and tolerated. They stopped asking me questions and started talking about people at work. When I asked them what they did they told me they worked for the priests and I didn¡¯t enquire any further.


    From the general conversation I was able to determine who the unpopular workers were. More importantly, one of the cooks was complaining about the amount of extra work lately. What stuck in my mind was the way that she talked about having to send the food to the new lot, you know, those downstairs.


    It was the tone of her voice when she said downstairs that really struck me. It suggested to me that something special happens below ground in the place.


    From what they said when they talked, I gathered that there were four floors where they moved around freely. I¡¯ve looked at the building and the windows suggest that that is every floor above ground. From the way they were talking, there aren¡¯t many people other than the servants where they work. There¡¯s a lot of paperwork done there and there are a few meeting rooms but that seems to be it.


    I noticed that one or two of the group didn¡¯t say much or laugh at the foibles of particular people in the same way as the rest. I had a theory that these were the people that I needed to cultivate, as they might work where the others didn¡¯t. The problem was that I couldn¡¯t just ask them about their jobs and they weren¡¯t the friendliest of the bunch.


    I noticed that one of the women, a lady called Irlena, seemed to be only partly with the group. I gathered that she worked in the building but she was one of those who didn¡¯t say much. She also didn¡¯t really sit with the group but rather half way between them and a group of older people that were sat nearby. She looked like she might be a useful target for my charms as none of the men seemed to be interested in her.


    I tried a few friendly comments and she didn¡¯t immediately repulse me but also wasn¡¯t very forthcoming. She could have been shy, I guess she was in her mid twenties and dressed at least ten years older than that. She could have been pretty if she smiled more but instead seemed to wear a serious expression most of the time.


    She left shortly after I spoke to her that first evening. She was pushing one of the older women who obviously had problems walking and sat in a wheeled chair. It could have been her mother. Their features weren¡¯t that similar but they both had the same expression on their faces.


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    After a second set of songs, I finished for the night. I returned here but you were all out performing or something so I had an early night of it. I needed to get up early the next day anyway, one of my strings had broken on the last set and I had to make do with only seven.


    The second night was much the same as the first. I arrived some time after the shadow servants. Do you like that name, I thought of it myself? The old charm was working well, as there was a drink waiting for me when I came and sat by them.


    I tried to have a few words with Irlena. I swear that girl doesn¡¯t know how to flirt. I did get a few smiles and I noticed that she moved her stool closer to where I was performing when I started my second set. At that rate there was a fair chance I¡¯d get her talking about herself sometime after the war finished. I needed to get her on her own but I couldn¡¯t think of an obvious approach.


    By the third night it was time for me to change my approach. Although it goes against the grain for me to spend my own money, I decided that I¡¯d ask her out for a meal. Of course with me asking she said yes. So that is where I¡¯ve been this evening.


    I arranged to eat at one of the better restaurants in the neighbourhood. It wasn¡¯t difficult to get a table. Peetsday is always quiet. We met outside the establishment and I could tell that she was wearing her Allgod¡¯s best. She had arranged her hair and was wearing a subtle make-up. It made her look much more attractive. I thought that there might be some benefits of this job.


    We went inside and were shown to a table in a secluded corner of the place. They had a musician playing quietly at the other side of the room. I¡¯m glad he was quiet, as let¡¯s just say, Nedric plays almost as well.


    I kept the conversation on unimportant matters for a while. I enquired about her mother and how she was coping for the evening. I slight frown passed across her face as I did this and I thought that I¡¯d made a mistake and she would dash off.


    It turns out that her aunt was staying with her mother this evening and the frown was because they¡¯d be talking about her. She told me that she was glad to be able to get away. Her mother and aunt spent most of their time together talking about things in their childhood and it was extremely depressing.


    I made sure that I kept her wine glass filled and as the evening passed I gradually turned the topic to her work. I didn¡¯t just ask out right what she did but tried to be subtle.


    She told me that she¡¯d been sworn to secrecy although she couldn¡¯t see why. Most of her job involved filing papers and making notes at the various meetings that occurred. It seems that she is a secretary for the administrator. She didn¡¯t say that she worked at the shadow guild but she did say something when I questioned her how comes there were women working for the priests.


    She stated that they were only working indirectly for the priests and that their work involved the security of the country. I asked if that meant she was a spy and she laughed. She said she was nothing of the kind and she didn¡¯t even know what a spy looked like.


    I moved the conversation away from the subject of her work and I talked about myself for a short while. Fascinating though that subject is, I didn¡¯t want to spend too long thinking up a bunch of lies so I switched the conversation to her colleagues.


    After talking for a while about the merits and peculiarities of each one and making sure I laughed in all the right places, I asked her why they all referred to downstairs in such an unusual way. Her reply was somewhat evasive and I knew that I couldn¡¯t really push the matter as we had only just met. I left it until later and plied her with some more wine.


    After another hour or so of drinking and pleasant conversation. I approached the subject again and she admitted that none of the servants were really aware what went on below ground level. She added that the only things they knew were from the sounds that came from below and the various tasks that they occasionally performed that were connected with the underground floors.


    I asked her if she meant things like the cook having to feed a lot more people than previously and she concurred. She even mentioned that she had to perform a similar task in the shape of procuring some women¡¯s clothes at one time. I changed the subject but not without thinking that that might indicate that Elsebeth was held in the building.


    We eventually concluded our meal and I offered to walk her back to her house. She agreed and we walked back through the city. I tried to get invited into her house but she demurred but did agree to see me tomorrow. I¡¯ve arranged to visit her in the evening and hopefully I can get more details from her then.¡±


    The other men congratulated Rialto on his success. Nedric was overjoyed and felt that they nearly had enough information to plan a raid on the building. ¡°If we knew what the floor plan of the building was like then we could be in there before the end of the week.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get details about the upper floors and that will tell us something about the rooms below.¡±


    Nedric agreed with that idea but did suggest that Rialto ought to be a little careful. He suggested that the rangers should accompany him at a distance just to ensure that nothing unplanned could happen.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you are quite safe but when we are this close to success it would be a disaster if something happened to any one of us. Especially to the person who has the knowledge we need. We haven¡¯t met any of the criminal class of the city but they might choose tomorrow night to rob you.¡±


    Rialto thought that this was a little far fetched and said so. Nedric couldn¡¯t justify what was only a slight hint of foreboding; he acquiesced.

 44. Not good

    The first hints of the impending disaster occurred the next evening.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Rialto?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°He was meant to be seeing Irlena and hasn¡¯t returned.¡± Daiga replied.


    ¡°He should be back by now, we have to do a show soon.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll get here, he always does.¡±


    When the time for Rialto to get back had come and gone with no sign, Nedric began to worry. ¡°What if he was captured?¡±


    ¡°Then we act the same as normal and hope they don¡¯t trace him back to us before we get a chance to rescue him.¡±


    Having no real choice they went to Packam¡¯s and did their show. The response wasn¡¯t as good as normal and this was possibly because the group didn¡¯t put all their energy into the show. Of course the wrestling spot went over just as well as ever because even when distracted there were few men who could best a ranger in a fair fight.


    Returning to their home there was still no sign of Rialto but also no sign that anyone had been following them. Nedric asked the rangers to check out Irlena¡¯s house to see if there was any sign of his friend. They slipped off quietly into the night, as smoothly efficient in the city as they were in the forest.


    After an hour, when they still hadn¡¯t returned, Nedric and Bethan didn¡¯t know what to do.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing that the rangers can¡¯t handle that we could do better, so we just wait.¡± Bethan told Nedric.


    ¡°I know! But I hate waiting.¡± It seemed to Nedric that that was all he had been doing since Elsebeth was taken. Perhaps because he had tried to be sensible in how he tried to rescue her.


    Just then there was a thump on the door. They both jumped and Bethan drew his sword. Nedric went to open the door, standing to one side so that he would not impede Bethan and could assist if there was need. He opened the door and Daiga slumped through it and onto the floor. There was a large rent in his jacket and he was losing blood from a wound in his side.


    ¡°They¡¯ve got Scabad and Rialto, they¡¯re taking them to the guild building, I thought I wasn¡¯t spotted following them but I was wrong.¡± Daiga winced in pain with each breath.


    ¡°Were you followed here?¡± Bethan was coolly efficient, whilst Nedric was speechless with indecision.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so, killed one man, maybe two, left a third injured, he was the one who got me.¡±


    ¡°Then we have time to see to this wound, hold still.¡±


    When Bethan pulled Daiga¡¯s shirt aside the sight of the wound made Nedric gasp. There was a lot of blood around and more seeped out each time Daiga breathed. Bethan told Nedric to get water and clean cloths and proceeded to clean the wound.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t that bad. It¡¯s a clean puncture wound and it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s that deep or that they¡¯ve sliced into an intestine. I¡¯ll pour some alcohol on it and bandage it and you should be all right.¡± He performed the actions as he spoke and Daiga winced but said nothing.


    By now Nedric had got his wits together and was assembling weapons. They had acquired a couple of crossbows as part of the rangers act and had lots of throwing daggers and enough swords to go around.


    ¡°Do you think we need bows?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Might help to take out the door guards. Whatever we take, make sure that it isn¡¯t going to make a noise, we need surprise on our side if we are going to have any chance at all.¡± Bethan seemed to know what he was doing and Daiga was nodding.


    ¡°Have we got time to change into the black outfits?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make time.¡±


    The three put on specially designed outfits that completely covered them apart from their faces. The outfits had been used by the rangers in their wrestling matches along with masks and Nedric had decided that they should each have one if they were going to raid the guild at night. He was glad for the advance preparation.


    Over the outfits they wore black belts like those of Cantherin mercenaries, designed to hold daggers. The daggers were not the flashy, bright silver ones used in the shows but rather the blades had been darkened. Over this they each wore an overcoat that disguised their clothing and carried bags that held the rest of their equipment. Daiga had the heaviest bag but assured them that he would be able to carry more and would not slow them down.


    Nedric would have liked to have prepared a surprise or two he had planned but they had been rushed into this raid and he wasn¡¯t ready. He grabbed some narwood as he had no way of knowing if they would be able to return to the house and they all carried food and water. There was no knowing whether the shadow guild would know who they were but they couldn¡¯t take chances.


    They left the house by the least obvious route. They took their specially prepared wagon and left it at an inn on the far side of their destination. Nobody should realise it was anything special as the boards bearing the bright designs had been reversed.


    Carefully they made their way to the guild headquarters. From the outside the building looked no different from normal. There were still two guards outside the rear entrance and none out the front. Knowing more about the layout of the building from the rear and hoping that the guards were expecting nothing they stopped in an alcove and shed their outer clothing.


    ¡°If you pass me the bow I¡¯ll take out those guards.¡± Daiga stated.


    Nedric passed it to him and watched in awe as the ranger swiftly pulled back on the bow and without seeming to aim let fly. Whilst the first arrow was in the air he let loose a second and a third was in the air at about the same time as the first arrow hit the first guard.


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    Both the first two arrows hit their targets. The third, aimed assuming that the second guard would duck, hit him as he was falling over from being hit by the second arrow. Neither of the shots was fatal in themselves although shock might have helped. It didn¡¯t matter. Nedric and Bethan had raced across the intervening courtyard and were slicing the throats of the guards almost before they realised they had been shot.


    It was a good job that Nedric had no time to think about what he had done. When he looked down at the guard and his hands coated in blood, he had to fight to keep his stomach under control. Until then he hadn¡¯t realised it was that easy to kill a man. He didn¡¯t like the action but saw no choice if he was to rescue his friends.


    They pulled the guards upright and leant them against the wall, using the guards¡¯ spears to keep them in position. Hopefully from a distance they would look as normal and they would not be discovered until change of watch, by which time the raid should be concluded.


    Entering the building, they found themselves walking through dimly lit corridors that were all virtually identical. At regular intervals there were doors that led into different offices. Most of the work done in the building was collection and sorting of information from all the reports that were delivered from around the country.


    They reached the central stairwell and attempted to make their movements even quieter. If their information was correct then there should be guards on the level below them to stop people going below that level. They might not be there of course as it was nighttime and there was little need for them. Nedric had faith that the bureaucratic mindset would have the guards in place even when they were not needed.


    The stairwell itself was typical of large government buildings everywhere. Wide stone stairs, carpeted in a rich red with sweeping wooden handrails. Sneaking a look downwards, Nedric couldn¡¯t see any sign of the guards but he could see that the stairwell stretched down as many levels as it went up. Strange noises drifting from below told them that whilst the upper levels were unoccupied the same wasn¡¯t true of the deeper ones.


    ¡°Do you think there are guards on each level guarding the doors?¡± Nedric asked.


    ¡°Probably. We need to find someone who can tell us.¡± Daiga answered.


    ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a guard who patrols the upper levels? If so he should be the easiest target.¡±


    ¡°Good thinking. You stay here and Bethan and I will check this floor out.¡±


    Watching his two friends drift silently away, Nedric found himself a corner behind a cabinet from which he could watch the stairwell but hopefully could not be seen. He hoped that they would not be long. So far determination and adrenalin were allowing him to do what was necessary but he knew that if he were left alone long enough he would have to think about being a murderer.


    He could justify his actions on the grounds of necessity but there should have been someway that they could have taken out the guards without killing them. He could think of various distractions that they had planned but which had to be jettisoned when the others were captured. He had been planning to have an explosion or two to cause general alarm and bring the guards from their posts within the building. There was no way that he could do that without twelve hours warning.


    He didn¡¯t want to think about his recent actions and so tried to plan ahead. Without more knowledge there was nothing they could do. He could hear the occasional word from the guards below but couldn¡¯t make out what was being said.


    Daiga appeared suddenly and Nedric almost shot him with the crossbow in panicked reaction. Fortunately he recognised the ranger just in time to halt the movement before it had really started.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one on this level, we¡¯ll have to try the next one up and if there¡¯s no one there try and take out the guards on the level below us.¡±


    Nedric nodded and they carefully went up the stairs, thankful for the carpet that hushed their steps. They were no luckier with the next level but they had learnt something new.


    ¡°This level is exactly the same design as the one below. I¡¯d be prepared to bet that they all are, bless bureaucrats for their originality.¡± Daiga smiled.


    ¡°So the guards will either be sat right by the stairwell or will be the other side of the wooden doors.¡± Nedric added.


    ¡°My bet is that they will be this side of the doors or they couldn¡¯t see who was coming. It makes things harder. If we make any noise then any guards below us will hear everything.¡± Daiga continued. ¡°The quietest solution is throwing knives, I¡¯ll try and see how many guards are down there and if there aren¡¯t too many we¡¯ll try the quiet approach.¡±


    They descended to the ground floor and then Daiga moved ahead on his own. He moved quietly to where he could see down to the next landing, making sure that he didn¡¯t obscure any of the lamps and therefore give warning to the guards. He returned quickly muttering something about professionals under his breath.


    ¡°There¡¯s three of them on the landing and they¡¯re playing dice. Because they¡¯re bent over they make hard targets for throwing but they are so ill prepared that we can probably walk up to them and take them out. Here¡¯s what we do, Nedric, you take a crossbow and cover us, Bethan you take the left one, I¡¯ll take out the right and then we¡¯ll try and keep the middle one alive and conscious. Only shoot him Nedric if he reacts fast and looks like he will shout out.¡±


    Surprisingly for such a hasty plan it worked well. Moving as silently as possible they went down one flight and then when they were visible Bethan and Daiga half-leapt, half-ran down the second flight. The two guards didn¡¯t even have time to look up before they were grabbed around the neck and their throats cut. The third guard looked up, saw Nedric pointing a crossbow at him and paled. His mouth sagged open but he said nothing before Daiga had a dagger to his throat.


    ¡°Say a word and you die, keep quiet and you live, nod if you understand.¡± Daiga¡¯s voice was full of menace. The guard nodded carefully, wary of the knife held across his jugular.


    ¡°We¡¯re going upstairs and into an office so you can¡¯t be heard, walk slowly and don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡±


    The three friends and the guard moved up a flight and away from the stairs. The thick walls and solid doors of the offices meant that it was highly unlikely that even a scream would be heard and the guard was well aware of that.


    ¡°Where do they take the prisoners?¡± Daiga asked him.


    ¡°Th-third floor below ground.¡± He stammered a little but didn¡¯t move his head as Daiga was still holding the knife to his neck.


    ¡°How many guards down there?¡±


    ¡°One on the floor below us, you killed his partner. Two on the third.¡±


    ¡°And how many guards are beyond the doors?¡±


    ¡°None.¡±


    Nedric, who was staring at the guard¡¯s face, thought he saw something in his eyes as he replied that time. He forced himself to sound hard.


    ¡°He¡¯s lying! Kill him now.¡±


    ¡°N-no!¡± The guard¡¯s face became paler.


    ¡°How many guards on the floor?¡±


    ¡°Maybe six or seven. There¡¯s a guard room on each of the below ground floors and people wander around.¡±


    ¡°Who else will be there?¡±


    ¡°Normally there are two torturers and a clerk to take notes. There shouldn¡¯t be anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Describe the layout of the floor.¡±


    The guard talked as though his life depended on it, which it did. He described the floor in detail and it was clear that in general it kept to the same plan as the higher floors. The rooms that the prisoners were in were on the other side of the guardroom and they had to go through it.


    ¡°Are there any other exits on the third level?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s one into the sewers but it is past the prisoners rooms and it¡¯s alarmed.¡±


    ¡°Where is it?¡±


    The guard described it, when he had finished doing so Daiga hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of his dagger. The guard slumped to the floor and the ranger used the guard¡¯s belt to bind his arms and feet.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask him if any of the rest of the floor was alarmed.¡± Nedric stated.


    Daiga looked down at the supine figure of the guard and grinned. ¡°It¡¯s too late to ask him now!¡±


    ¡°What do we do about the guards?¡± Nedric asked Daiga.


    ¡°Take them by surprise and we might get away with it, give them no time to react.¡±


    ¡°Kill them?¡±


    ¡°Only if we have to, it¡¯s safer if we don¡¯t have to fight. Hopefully they¡¯ll be sensible.¡±


    The three returned to the first floor down, relieved to see that the two bodies were still lying where they had left them. ¡°If he was telling the truth then there is only one on the next floor so I¡¯ll take him out and then we¡¯ll see about the last set. Daiga descended the stairwell and then quickly returned. ¡°That was easy, let¡¯s hope our luck holds.¡±


    They descended to the second landing and Daiga turned to Nedric.


    ¡°Nobody will hear anything through those doors so we can do this the easy way. You and Bethan can use the crossbows from the stairwell and I¡¯ll make sure that neither of the guards make it through the door.¡±


    Nedric and Bethan nodded and made their way down the stairs. As he moved as silently as he could, Nedric felt his throat tighten and feared that he would start coughing. He forced himself to relax and took a position next to Bethan. It was all right for his military friends to do this but he was just an impressor. He had never expected to use his training at the keep for real.


    From where he knelt he could see one guard and part of the other. Bethan who was on the step lower could see them both. With his fingers he indicated the guard he would shoot. Nedric sighted along his crossbow and realised from the stance of the guard that he would have to aim for the head.


    In his peripheral vision he could see Daiga¡¯s hand. The ranger held out his fingers and thumb. As he gradually lowered the fingers Nedric steadied himself and as the hand formed a fist both he and Bethan fired.

 45. Some action happens

    The bolts shot through the air. Nedric watched as his hit the target and made a mess of the guard¡¯s skull. Bethan had the harder shot and only injured his target but Daiga hadn¡¯t waited and was on the second guard before he could emit more than one cry of surprise and shock. It was fairly pitiful but they waited to see if it would produce a response from within.


    When there was no immediate evidence of further guard activity they prepared themselves before rushing onwards. They reloaded the crossbows and made sure that all their weapons were easily to hand.


    Daiga still held the dripping dagger as they went through the thick, oak doors and into corridors identical to those above. What differed were the noises. The door had blocked most of the sounds but now they could hear the odd whimper and once a piercing scream.


    They hurried along, the carpeted floors silencing their footfalls but making it hard for them to know if anyone else was patrolling the floor. They reached the corner before the guardroom unchallenged and made ready to rush the room.


    With as much speed as possible they rounded the corner, shouting at the guards not to move. The five men in the room were seated around a table enjoying a card game and only one of the men stood before Daiga reached him and hit him over the head with the base of his crossbow. The man sprawled on the floor but remained conscious.


    ¡°Stay where you are or my friends will shoot you.¡± Daiga used his dagger to indicate Bethan and Nedric who were facing the guards with the loaded crossbows. ¡°You will come with me into the next room, one at a time,¡± he continued.


    Daiga indicated that the first man stand up. Despite the blood flowing from his scalp the man looked like he wanted to fight. Daiga locked his arm behind his back and held the knife to his neck. ¡°You can die now or be sensible.¡±


    The man seemed to relax and then tried to throw himself out of Daiga¡¯s grasp unfortunately the ranger was just too strong for him and he got nowhere. The guard gave in but it was too late, the dagger sliced through his neck sending blood gushing over the other guards.


    ¡°Now you know to be sensible.¡± Daiga indicated another guard, ¡°stand up slowly and don¡¯t be foolish.¡± The guard complied and Daiga dragged him into the next room. There was a thump and Daiga emerged from the door to indicate that another guard rise.


    Perhaps Nedric should have kept his eyes on the guards but he looked over to Daiga to see a look of alarm on the older man¡¯s face. Nedric turned in time to see a flicker before someone was slamming into him trying to get the crossbow. The bolt fired, hitting the ceiling and Nedric released the weapon as he and his assailant fell to the floor.


    He could hear the other bolt being fired as he fought to reach his dagger. His assailant, who by now Nedric had realised was the sixth and presumably patrolling guard, was stopping him and also trying to get his own weapon. There was movement from the table and suddenly bells were clanging everywhere.


    It seemed like hours as Nedric fought. The foul breath of the guard assaulted his nostrils as both tried to strain their arms to launch an attack. Nedric squirmed and managed to bring a knee up and into his opponent. They were now lying on the floor side by side.


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    The guard broke free of Nedric¡¯s grip, he grabbed Nedric¡¯s throat in a way that seemed to tear the air from his throat. Nedric tried to pull away but was unable to do so. He brought his legs up to push the guard away but the guard used his legs to stop this attempt.


    As he fought for breath he was also reaching for his dagger. He stabbed at his assailant and managed to bury the blade in his side. The guard grunted but maintained his grip on Nedric¡¯s throat. Nedric tried to pull the dagger out but it seemed to have stuck and he didn¡¯t have the strength to try harder.


    Things might have gone badly for Nedric if Bethan hadn¡¯t stepped in to slit the guard¡¯s throat from above. ¡°Why are you lying there? We have people to rescue.¡± Nedric pulled himself to his feet. He took a second to sort himself out.


    The guardroom now had four dead bodies taking up floor space and one supine but alive guard. The only guard in the room who as still breathing was the one Bethan had shot; the others had slit throats. Nedric was appalled at the amount of blood lying around the room but not stunned enough that he didn¡¯t move when Daiga directed him.


    ¡°We need to get to the others before the other guards reach us.¡± Daiga led the way towards where they hoped the prisoners lay. Nedric couldn¡¯t believe that the guards weren¡¯t already in the room bringing an end to there rescue attempt. He moved as fast as the others as they fled the room.


    He noticed that Daiga¡¯s side was covered with blood. He wasn¡¯t sure whether the wound had opened with the ranger¡¯s efforts or if the blood came from one of the guards. Daiga seemed to be moving fairly well but the ranger was not one to let a little wound bother him.


    They knew they were outside the right room when they heard another scream. Entering, the first sight Nedric had was of Rialto, chained to a table, whilst a man pressed a burning iron into his skin. He could hear the hiss of steam as the iron touched the skin and reacted to his friend¡¯s need by leaping at the torturer.


    One of his daggers was imbedded in the side of the guard he had fought before but he found another in his hand with no knowledge as to how it had got there. Anger gave him strength and he hacked at the man, slicing through the bicep as the man brought up his arm to protect himself. Another slash and he exposed the ribcage; cutting through the cheap tunic the man wore. A third and the knife went between the ribs, puncturing a lung and jamming on the way out.


    He released his knife at the same time that the man dropped the iron and had another in his hand before the torturer could react. He drove the knife upwards through the top of the stomach and in under the ribcage, pulling it downward to retrieve it and in the process allowing the man¡¯s intestines to spill out of his stomach. The man slid to the ground.


    The other two had been less messy and more humane in their treatment of the other men. The clerk and second torturer were unconscious rather than messily dying. They lay, out of the way, behind the door.


    Neither Rialto nor Scabad were in any state to move. Apart from chained to their respective tables, they were both covered with cuts and burns. Scabad had some sort of caustic substance coating his upper body. Daiga cursed as he tried to scrape it off. Perhaps fortunately Scabad lost consciousness at this point.


    Bethan used one of the torturer¡¯s instruments to prise the chains apart. Nedric seeing this came back from the strange place his mind had gone and searched the bodies for keys. He found a set and dropped them in a pocket as he saw his companions each lift one of their comrades. Stopping only to retrieve the knife he had left in the torturer, he followed his colleagues out of the room.


    In the distance they could hear the shouts of the guards as they entered the guardroom and saw the remains of their colleagues. Nedric regretted the fact that they had not taken the time to silence the last guard as the shouts came closer. He hoped the exit to the sewers existed and Daiga could remember the location of it. If it was guarded then they were finished anyway so all Nedric could do was follow the others and pray.


    He had the presence of mind to load his crossbow and hope that he would have no need of it. They turned several corners and reached the promised exit. Which fortunately was unguarded but locked. Daiga¡¯s foot made short work of the door but the guards were getting closer.


    Nedric shot at the first to round the corner and the guard retreated whilst his companions caught up with him. Nedric launched himself through the door. They had escaped the guild headquarters! Now all they had to do was survive the guards whilst wandering a sewer, with no map and no light.


    They made it round the first corner with no sign of pursuit from the guards but Nedric didn¡¯t think it was that easy. Suddenly there was a roar from behind them and the guards rushed into the sewer. They carried torches in one hand and swords in the other.

 46. In the sewers

    When the guards started into the sewers Nedric thought they were going to be caught for sure. They came closer and closer towards the fugitives. Their torches shone against the walls flicking back and forth and exposing the mould and slime that covered the walls and walkways.


    The five friends pressed into the shadow provided by the uneven walls, hoping that they would not be exposed immediately and would have some chance to fight. Nedric, who had been bringing up the rear, felt the most exposed and readied a throwing knife as he waited for the first guard to turn the corner. In his other hand he held a long dagger.


    As the guard turned the corner, Nedric threw. The guard saw the blade coming and raised his hand to defend himself. He was successful in that the knife stuck in his hand and he dropped the torch. He cried out as Nedric leapt towards him, dagger ready.


    The guard, already suffering from his wound, was unprepared for the sudden attack and didn¡¯t see Nedric¡¯s strike to his body. He grunted in pain as the dagger hit him in the stomach. Fortunately for him, the hard leather jerkin he wore protected him from further harm but the impact sent him staggering back and he fell into the sewer.


    Nedric grabbed the fallen torch and moved back to his comrades. He expected the other guards to come rushing to their comrades aid but they seemed reluctant. Putting himself in their place he began to understand why. It would take quite a lot of courage to rush forward into danger against an armed group of unknown size and obvious fighting prowess. If it were him, he¡¯d be holding to the back of the group hoping the others would push forward.


    The torch was passed forward to Daiga who led them forward as quickly as he was able. This wasn¡¯t that quickly but they were around the next corner before the guards had reached the first one. Nedric hung back to see if he could surprise another guard and also to hear what they were saying.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to catch them in here. They obviously know what they are doing.¡± The voice of the guard indicated that he had no wish to be walking through the sewers.


    ¡°What do you think will happen to us if we let them get away?¡± The second voice although sounding more authoritative also had that tone that said he could be convinced to change his mind.


    ¡°What do you think will happen if we do catch up with them? There¡¯s only six of us and they¡¯ve already taken out more than that number.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my job that is on the line if we don¡¯t try.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our lives that are on the line if we catch them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point, slow down and make a lot of noise. We can say we lost them after a fight and go back in a few minutes. We¡¯ll leave it to someone else to find them.¡±


    Nedric let his breath out slowly and moved as quietly as possible to catch his companions before they came to another junction and lost him. He didn¡¯t need to hurry overly as he didn¡¯t have the burdens that his friends carried.


    When he caught up with them he whispered what he overheard. A quick and quiet discussion ensued and they decided to find somewhere underground where they could hide and rest. Daiga in particular looked like he wouldn¡¯t be capable of travelling much further so Nedric took the opportunity to carry Scabad.


    Hefting the quiet ranger, Nedric realised just how strong Daiga was. Injured and after losing blood and fighting through the building, the ranger had still carried his companion with a speed and determination that now seemed incredible. Nedric although fairly fresh felt as though he would buckle under the weight of the larger man.


    They slowly made their way through the sewers aiming generally away from the river, which was the most obvious exit and so most likely to have guards. The sewers themselves varied in size and repair getting generally smaller and more dishevelled as they walked. There were various pipes and ducts at irregular intervals, which brought all sorts of things into the sewers; some of these were almost as large as the main ways.


    When they were getting to the point where none of them could move much further, they entered one of the larger pipes, which was part way up one of the walls and appeared to be dry. Shining the torch along it, they could see that it bent sharply only a few feet away. Bethan pulled himself in and along and reported that the pipe opened into a larger space just around that bend. The situation was as ideal as they were likely to find and so they decided to rest there.


    The group were so exhausted that there was no thought of mounting a guard. If any of them thought about it they might have reasoned that they were unlikely to be found in such an out of the way place and that a large troupe of guards marching through the area would probably wake them anyway. Regardless, the five were all asleep within seconds of stopping.


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    *          *          *


    Water dripping on his face woke Nedric up. At first there didn¡¯t seem to be much difference between having his eyes closed and open as the darkness seemed the same. Gradually he was able to see a slight greyness in his surroundings. The darkness where his companions lay was just slightly more apparent than the general dimness.


    The water was falling through a small crack in the pipe above him and he could almost sense it gradually building into a drop before it fell. There was no other evidence of water and the moss in the centre of the pipe seemed to have absorbed any moisture that had managed to get that far. Even so there was a dull roar coming from the sewers, which Nedric supposed meant that they were filling during a downpour.


    The others gradually started to stir as the noise increased. Nedric crawled along the pipe and reached the sewer proper. Although he could not see, he could determine that the water level had risen so that it now covered the walkway by about an inch. He assumed by the feel of vegetation on the walls that the water would not rise more than a foot higher and that they should be safe but it should mean that there would be no immediate search by the guards.


    By the time he had crawled back to his companions they were all awake. A quick conversation determined that both Scabad and Rialto felt that they would be able to move around. Although each had been tortured, all their wounds had been relatively minor. The most deeply wounded person was Daiga and he maintained that he would be able to move around without any problems. After his heroics of the evening before Nedric did not doubt him.


    They first had to determine what they were going to do and how they would go about this. They had to decide priorities and see if there was anywhere safe they could rest and recuperate before attempting to rescue Elsebeth. Before everything else though, Nedric wanted to know what had happened to Rialto and Scabad the night before.


    ¡°It was my own stupid fault,¡± said Rialto feelingly. ¡°If I had been slightly less sure of my success with women I wouldn¡¯t have fallen into the trap!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Nedric.


    ¡°I arrived at Irlena¡¯s house and knocked on the door. She poked her head out through the upstairs window and told me to come right on in. When I went through the door I was jumped and someone hit me over the head. I passed out for a while and when I came to I was all trussed up. They had me lying on the floor in a dark room but it was pretty easy to tell that it was the same house.


    After a while Irlena came in and started crowing at me, telling me that I was incredibly stupid to think that I could just sweet talk her into giving away secrets. Did I think that she wouldn¡¯t be suspicious when a young man started to court her for no good reason?


    I told her that I had fallen for her obvious charms and she just laughed. She told me that she was under no illusions what she looked like and anyway if I had wanted her I shouldn¡¯t have been asking all those questions about her job. She seemed to be quite delighted about the idea that I was going to be taken away and tortured. I must be losing my touch.¡±


    ¡°It did seem a little too good to be true when you told us about her.¡±


    ¡°At least I found out that Elsebeth was in the building?¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    ¡°I asked her if she knew if there were any female prisoners. She told me that most prisoners don¡¯t live long enough for it to matter. Then she said that actually there was one female prisoner below ground, as she had had to buy clothing for her. She then told me that it was a pity that her boy friend was going to die trying to rescue her.¡±


    Nedric hoped that the information Rialto had learnt was correct and was still accurate. Although rescuing Elsebeth seemed like an almost impossible prospect at the moment he still planned to do his best to accomplish his goal, even if he had to do it on his own. Having an accurate idea of where Elsebeth was would help. Having a plan would be better but at the moment he was trying to recoup lost ground as his friends were trying to recover.


    Whilst they lay in their dry tunnel Bethan used what medical knowledge he possessed to help the rangers and Rialto to overcome their injuries. It soon became clear that Daiga was in the worst condition and that it would take at least a week for him to recover from his wound. During that time it would be necessary to obtain food and plan their actions. With three of them sure to be recognised, it was going to be Bethan and Nedric who would have to take the risks of wandering around the city.


    Before they went anywhere they decided to explore their pipe a little more. Nedric couldn¡¯t understand why it should be dry; they were after all in a sewer. So he relit the torch and followed the pipe away from the sewer entrance.


    It wasn¡¯t a long journey. He found himself in a large brick-walled room that was obviously the basement of a building. The room was empty of everything other than a staircase, which led to a wooden door. The door was secured from the other side and was solidly built. Nedric doubted that it could be broken down. He noticed that there was moss growing around the base of the door and therefore couldn¡¯t have been used for ages.


    He returned to the others and they speculated why there existed this entrance into the sewers.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably a bolt hole put in place by someone who plans ahead.¡± Bethan commented.


    ¡°How do you figure that?¡±


    ¡°Well it doesn¡¯t look like it is used, it¡¯s there for a purpose and the door and you say the stairs are in good condition. If it was just an old route that had been closed up then there wouldn¡¯t be the door there or the stairway might have deteriorated.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as good an explanation as any other we are likely to guess at. Anyway it doesn¡¯t look like we will be disturbed from that end and if we move into this room we should be fairly safe from discovery.¡±


    With some difficulty they moved into the basement. Sleeping in the pipe had caused the injured members of the group to stiffen and the pipe wasn¡¯t high enough to stand upright. Eventually they managed to move everything.


    The ground consisted of stone slabs some of which must regularly have had water dripping on them as moss was attempting to cover them. At the moment the growth was slowed by what must have been a particularly dry summer. Much of the moss had dried out and turned brown giving the slabs a mottled effect.


    They used the dry moss as bedding. Nedric had at first thought to burn it and provide a little light and heat but the smoke would probably head into the building above and they had no wish to let the owners know they existed. The lack of light was one of his worries. The torch he had acquired from the guard was almost out, even though they had only used it sparingly. They were going to have to get supplies very soon.


    They made a quick plan. Nedric and Bethan were going to have to explore the sewers to some extent. They didn¡¯t have enough light to do much of this and they had to emerge from the sewers as far from the guild building as possible and hope no one spotted them. Therefore they were going to have to move rapidly along a main route and then take a side route to find an exit. With some luck they would be able to do this before their light gave out.


    Leaving the others in pitch darkness they hurried through the sewer, taking careful note of the route they took to ensure that they would be able to find their way back again.

 47. Gathering resources

    Nedric didn¡¯t like leaving the others in complete darkness for an indeterminate length of time. Fortunately the three injured men had indicated that they planned to sleep rather than move around. Anyway he had no choice.


    By the time they entered the sewers, the water levels were almost back to normal. Presumably there had been a downpour above them, which hadn¡¯t lasted too long. Anyway they were able to walk through the sewers and there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone down there to notice them.


    What they did notice was an increase in the numbers of animals around the place. The first time that a rat brushed against Nedric¡¯s leg he jumped with surprise and a little fright. He almost shouted out but remembered what he was doing soon enough to control himself. He didn¡¯t expect that there was anyone else down here but if there were he didn¡¯t want them to be alerted.


    There were quite a few packs of rats. Generally they ran when they saw the light, although some just stood still and watched the two move past with dark shiny eyes. Nedric couldn¡¯t say that the animals appealed to him but they did him no harm and so he tried to ignore them.


    The next animal they met was much harder to ignore. Bethan first brought Nedric¡¯s attention to the creature by his comment.


    ¡°What the hell is that awful smell?¡±


    Nedric had a fairly poor sense of smell at the best of times and walking through a sewer he was surprised that Bethan could smell anything, until that was the stench hit him. Surprisingly he had an answer for Bethan.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is doing in the sewers here but you are smelling an Igwar.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a reptile that is fairly common in the backwoods of Esteril. It is fairly harmless but when disturbed it emits an awful odour to rid itself of unwanted company. You¡¯re lucky it isn¡¯t any warmer down here, the warmer the weather the worse the smell can get. What¡¯s more the Igwar would be moving around more and they have been known to spray things that really annoy them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep out of its way. Now all I have to know is where it is, so I can go another way.¡±


    Nedric spotted the creature on the walkway ahead of them. It was a singularly uninspiring creature being almost completely grey. It did have a black tail which was exceptionally long and flexible and apparently useful when it came to mating. Personally Nedric couldn¡¯t understand how Igwars could stand to be near each other. Obviously they either couldn¡¯t smell or could accept it, as the species was fairly numerous. He wondered what this one ate, as in Esteril they lived on leaves and shoots.


    They counted the number of turnings they passed, thinking aloud so that they both were sure that they had the same number. One part of the sewer looked very similar to another to them so they needed something specific to guide them back. When they felt that they had travelled far enough they took a side turning and climbed the first ladder they reached.


    Having no idea of the time of day or the location of the ladder in relation to the city Bethan was extremely cautious about lifting the cover. The heavy metal cover was awkward to lift especially as he only wanted to raise it a short way to look around. He hoped as he lifted that he would not make much noise and that the cover had not rusted in place.


    It took him longer than it should have done to realise that the cover was raised sufficiently for him to look out. The reason was that he had expected it to be lighter outside but instead they had found themselves in an unlit back alley with only the stars to provide light. Bethan couldn¡¯t see anything to cause alarm and so raised the cover enough to allow him to exit.


    He lowered the cover again and looked around. He had agreed with Nedric that he would signal if it were safe. He didn¡¯t want them both to be captured if there were guards looking for them. As it was, apart from a cat inspecting a rubbish heap there was no movement around.


    He signalled to Nedric and his friend emerged. As there was no one about, they changed into the slave outfits they had brought with them. They had reasoned that slaves were more likely to be moving around at odd hours and that nobody would see them.


    It had surprised Nedric when he had first entered Nothering, the way that slaves were ignored. He felt that it was in their interest to make the most of this attitude.


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    They moved carefully along the alley until they reached the main street. They were in one of the residential areas. It must have been a fairly affluent area as lamps lit the main street and the people moving past showed little concern for their safety.


    The two watched from the shadows, making sure that there was no one to see them emerge from the alley and when the street was clear, entered and walked slowly along it. They walked slower than they would like, as it was rare to see any slaves moving at anything other than the slowest pace they could reasonably be expected to walk. A fast moving slave would have attracted unwanted attention.


    They emerged not far from a tavern, which displayed a sign showing a horse pulling a cart laden with beer barrels. It made an easy landmark and let them know where they were in the city. It was important for an entertainer to know as many of the taverns as possible, there was always a chance for work and so the places stayed in Nedric¡¯s mind.


    They were perhaps a little too close to their previous residence for Nedric¡¯s liking but he had noticed that few people in the city moved far outside their local areas. They should be safe from being recognised by any of their neighbours. Also it gave him a head start in knowing where to find the merchants he needed to get supplies. The only problem was that purchases this late in the day would attract attention.


    Bethan was tempted into waiting until folk started to sleep and then breaking in to whichever stores they needed to obtain their goods. Nedric talked him out of it, he could see no way that they, as novices would be able to steal from shops that were used to city thieves. All they were likely to do was attract even more attention.


    In the end they decided to be blatant. They went to the merchants with worried expressions on their faces and a tale appropriate to the shop as to why their master needed the goods in a hurry. The merchants seemed to accept this at face value, as there were few questions when they produced the coins. They paid over the odds for everything but that was of little concern, money was not the problem.


    By the time they had visited the last merchant, a carpenter, they had amassed quite a lot of stuff. They had plenty of food but little to drink other than wine. This might be fine for one night but the five of them could not spend the next week drunk. They¡¯d picked up a couple of flasks but needed a source of clean water and the sewers were unlikely to provide this.


    They didn¡¯t have time to look. They were attracting more attention the later it became. There were still quite a few people on the streets but fewer and fewer of these were slaves. They decided to retreat to the sewers before somebody noticed that they were impostors.


    They were nearly back to the alley when they spotted a couple of guards walking down the street towards them. The guards spotted them at the same time so there was no chance to retreat. Instead they walked forward moving to the side of the road and hanging their heads down in a typical slave stance. The guards kept moving towards them, walking in the centre of the road and marching with quick ground-eating strides.


    Nedric knew that it would be totally out of character to look at the guards, as they got closer. No sensible slave would ever wish to attract their attention. However he found the urge to look up, as the guards¡¯ footsteps got even nearer, almost impossible to resist. He noticed that Bethan was moving even closer to the wall and followed his steps moving slowly.


    The guards stopped about twenty yards in front of them. They were talking amongst themselves with one of the guards giving the other grief about being lost.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the tavern I was telling you about was around here somewhere, perhaps it was up the turning we just came past. Slave, where¡¯s the Brewer¡¯s Dray?¡±


    Nedric could tell that Bethan was keeping his face down and realised that it was possible that the two guards knew him slightly from his attempts to talk to the guards at the guild, he knew that it was up to him to talk.


    ¡°It¡¯s just up this road and first turn left, you can¡¯t miss it.¡± Nedric didn¡¯t have to work to put the nervous quaver in his voice. If the guards recognised his face then he and Bethan were dead meat, neither carried a weapon, as a slave would have no need of one.


    The guard grunted and he and his companion turned back the way they had come and marched away. Nedric breathed a sigh of relief as he watched them turn the corner. There was an even deeper one from Bethan.


    ¡°I knew the other one a little.¡± He confessed. ¡°Had a drink with him about a week back, mind you he had had more than a few drinks before I started talking to him so he might not have remembered me anyway.¡±


    They managed to get back to the alley without any additional alarms. The route was unpaved and extremely dark and Nedric tripped over one of the ruts caused by the passage of refuse carts. He went flying and made quite a lot of noise as he hit the fence of one of the houses. This started a dog barking and then another joined in. Nedric thought that they would be sure to attract attention but the noise must have been a common occurrence, at least nobody bothered to investigate.


    By the time they had found the sewer hatch and descended it felt almost as if they were coming home. There was something comforting about the tunnels. The dark and quiet seemed to calm Nedric¡¯s nerves, which were in something of a state after their trip above ground.


    They reached the others without further incident and quickly distributed food and the wine. They now had sufficient candles and oil so that they could have light on a permanent basis and this was a considerable improvement.


    The enforced rest had done the others a lot of good and they were all keen to be moving around. Daiga was the worst of the lot. After Bethan had washed his wound with wine and put a fresh dressing on him he was all for exploring the sewers a little. It took all four of the rest of them to persuade him that he should stay resting. His wound needed time to heal.


    Nedric¡¯s most expensive purchase had been a pocket watch. It had cost him almost thirty golds but it was worth it. There was no other way of determining time in the sewers and they had been lucky to emerge in the dark this time. If they had popped out in some busy place in broad daylight they would have been caught, it was too much of a risk.


    Another risk that he had foreseen was that of light from their hiding place being seen from the sewers. He dealt with this by securing a blanket over the pipe through which they reached the sewers. When he went into the sewers he was relieved to see that nothing could be seen and that as an added bonus the noise that the others were making was barely audible in the sewer proper.


    He was rather relieved about the latter. He didn¡¯t fancy being the person to constantly tell the others to quiet down and with the wine they had been drinking they were all much more relaxed and therefore more talkative than they should be. Concerns relieved he returned to the others and the cellar that was now their home.

 48. Plans must be made

    Having nothing better to do with themselves the five friends spent a lot of time in planning. Having already raided the building once, they knew that the guards would be prepared the next time. This meant that they needed to be even more prepared and to use their intelligence as well as their fighting skills.


    One advantage they had was in now knowing the internal layout of the building. As far as they were aware there were four ways in, not counting alternative means of entrance. Of these, the servant¡¯s entrance and the sewer exit were ones they had used previously and so would be better guarded. Probably the others would as well, although the main entrance, being used so rarely, was a possibility for attack.


    The rangers fancied a different approach. Living in a forest, they were used to climbing and thought that going through a window on one of the higher floors offered a much better chance of getting in to the building undetected, especially if a couple of diversions could be arranged to distract the guards.


    The first question was whether to try for a day or night attack. At first glance it made sense to break in at night, the building was empty of all but the guards and maybe a torturer or two and therefore it was easier to move around the building. With their black outfits they could hide in the shadows and pick off a guard much more easily. Of course the guards would also be much more alert at night following their last attack.


    A daytime raid had the advantage that the guards would be that much less alert and that it might be possible to sneak someone into the building disguised as a slave. Alternatively somebody might be bribed into bringing something into the place. Nedric had an idea for a distraction that would bring the guards and another that might clear the building.


    ¡°How about some impressed grey oak shields and spears?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°They might work fairly well during the dark but grey oak isn¡¯t invisible just transparent, anyone would be able to see them in the daytime. Also it¡¯s a very heavy wood so it isn¡¯t used for normal shields, which means that we would have to make them ourselves. Is anyone up to bringing a carpenters shop down here?¡±


    ¡°Grey oak is usually used for construction in Esteril but the houses here are mainly stone so what do they use it for?¡± Scabad asked.


    ¡°There was quite a lot of it in the firewood.¡± Daiga stated.


    Nedric had a sudden inspiration. ¡°That helps me with one of my ideas. I can get the guards running to a distraction somewhere within the building now. We will need to get some impressed wood into their wood supply which shouldn¡¯t be too difficult.¡±


    ¡°They have a delivery every day,¡± added Daiga.


    ¡°We need a major disturbance. What ideas has anyone got?¡± Nedric was hoping that somebody would have a better idea than his. If there wasn¡¯t, then the preparation might well prove to be rather unpleasant.


    ¡°We could always set fire to the place.¡± Suggested Bethan.


    ¡°That might be the best solution but I¡¯d rather not have to escape through a raging inferno. Can we control where the fire goes?¡±


    ¡°If we start it on one of the higher floors then it is unlikely to spread downwards too quickly, although smoke might be a bit of a problem. The floors and outer walls are all stone so it should contain the fire to that level.¡± Bethan seemed to have thought out his idea.


    ¡°We can certainly try it. Any other ideas? I thought of something and it might work well in conjunction with a fire to cause even more commotion.¡±


    There weren¡¯t any more ideas forthcoming that would cause a major distraction and so Nedric told them his plan. As he spoke there was general laughter.


    ¡°Well it might work and it won¡¯t hurt to try. It gives us something to do down here during the nights anyway. How many do you reckon would be enough?¡± enquired Rialto.


    ¡°As many as possible.¡± Nedric replied. ¡°Of course I¡¯m going to be too busy trying to get water and finding out what new arrangements they have in place to help you out.¡±


    ¡°Not a chance,¡± said Rialto emphatically. ¡°If we are doing this then so are you.¡±


    ¡°All right, all right, I get the message.¡± Nedric laughed.


    Later on they discussed what they would do if they managed to get Elsebeth away. The problem was that they had to travel through Nothering despite all the internal border controls. They still had the pass that permitted them passage but that stated they were entertainers and all their gear was either at the house or the inn. They had to assume that by now someone had realised that they were the people who had broken into the guild building and that the house would be watched and the inn was even less desirable.


    ¡°We could head north and buy the stuff we need from the first town or village we meet.¡± Bethan suggested.


    ¡°How likely is it that a village would have a mandolin or juggling equipment?¡± Rialto asked.


    ¡°The instrument might be a problem but most of the props I need can be made by a village carpenter or smithy.¡± Nedric chipped in.


    ¡°Well all right I might be able to pick something up in a town but what about Elsebeth, how are we going to smuggle her out of the country? The pass is for five men and there is no disguising that she isn¡¯t a man and that there will be six of us.¡± Rialto was much more negative in his outlook than he had been before his interrogation.


    ¡°It would help if we had our wagon. What are the chances that it¡¯s been linked with the raid?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see how and it¡¯s probably safer where it is than anywhere we can move it.¡±


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    ¡°When are we going to get it? Straight after our raid? Won¡¯t the guards be looking for us?¡± Nedric wanted this thought through.


    We are planning on a daytime escape so if it all goes well we can get the wagon out of the city with the evening rush.¡± Scabad replied.


    ¡°Won¡¯t the guards just wait at the city gates and stop us?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°They have no reason to expect us to use the wagon and anyway what makes you think that the city guards have been alerted about us?¡±


    ¡°Be serious, Scabad, we attack the shadow guild and they don¡¯t tell the regular guards about us, why ever not?¡± Rialto sounded incredulous.


    ¡°If you were the all powerful organisation that everyone fears would you let people outside your organisation know that your headquarters could be raided with impunity?¡±


    ¡°When you put it that way, then probably not.¡± Rialto whistled through his teeth as the full impact of this hit him. ¡°We could let everyone know what happened and maybe others would try to fight the shadow guild!¡±


    ¡°That would probably be a bad idea.¡± Nedric hated to reject his friends¡¯ idea but the risks were fairly grave. ¡°If someone raided the place before we did, then they would be even more alert for us and how are we going to spread the rumours? I don¡¯t want any of us caught by the shadow guild; just rescuing one person is going to be hard enough. I think it better that the three of you rest yourselves so that you are fit for next week and the guards have had a chance to relax a little. I imagine that a rumour of our raid will eventually get out anyway, too many people know what happened for it to stay secret.¡±


    They worked at making their plans as reliable as possible. They tried to consider the various possibilities where things could go wrong and then the thought of contingency plans for when something totally unexpected happened. It was impossible to consider every possibility but as Bethan kept saying in a phrase he had learnt in the army ¡®preparation and planning prevent poor performance¡¯. They polished their ideas and made sure that they were aware what everybody had to do and what the time considerations were. They tried to arrange things so that they had plenty of time to get into position before they created the distractions that would allow their raid to succeed.


    Of the preparations, probably the hardest was acquiring a ladder made of grey oak. Buying it was not the problem; the wood was a good material for all sorts of common tools including handles of various types and various length ladders. The problem was getting the ladder into the sewers without being observed and then manoeuvring it in the tight spaces beneath the ground. They needed it out of the way for the twelve hours that Nedric required to impress it and couldn¡¯t be sure if they left it above ground that someone wouldn¡¯t acquire it.


    In his forays above ground Nedric also acquired the water they needed from a hostelry near the north gate of the city. He had Bethan with him and they were purchasing horses. They needed two to pull their wagon but they also required the possibility of riding off without the wagons if it was too risky. Which meant they really ought to buy six. Bethan knew a lot about what to look for in the animals, whilst Nedric didn¡¯t have a clue.


    They¡¯d invested in a pair of guard outfits from a theatrical outfitter. They were good enough to fool the real guards. They¡¯d chosen them as people rarely looked at the faces of the guards but rather at their uniforms. It was as good camouflage as the slave outfits but without as many restrictions.


    ¡°What do you think about the raid down south?¡± the man from whom they had just acquired some very strong, yet fairly cheap horses asked.


    Nedric knew nothing about a raid, yet as a guard he would be expected to know as much as anyone about such a rumour. ¡°I think it¡¯s a bad time of year for raids, the bad weather cuts you off from your supply lines.¡± He hoped his answer was suitable.


    ¡°So you don¡¯t think those Setherland scum will do much damage then?¡±


    Nedric¡¯s heart warmed at the thought of his homeland making such a bold move. He knew that the Nothering forces were nowhere near as strong as they would be in the spring and hoped that the raid would demoralise the Nothering troops even if it had little chance of being effective.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way that Setherland can win a war against us on our soil, we outnumber them at least ten to one. They might have a few successes to start but eventually we will crush them.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? I heard that they had wiped out hundreds of our best troops. Those death guards of theirs don¡¯t care about anything other than slaughter and rape. I hear that they only get to go home if they kill twenty of our guards.¡±


    ¡°You know what rumours are like. They might have killed a few people and then the story spreads and before you know it one death becomes a hundred. Their death guards are just as mortal as anyone else and there aren¡¯t that many of them. I reckon by now there are hardly any left.¡± Nedric knew it was a good idea to play down the rumours. Any official guard would do the same, as a nervous populace would only make their job harder.


    He concluded his business with the man and he and Bethan made their way through the city, now more alert for more rumours and wondering what the attack meant. Nedric had hopes that the Setherland forces were making a brave and well-considered attempt to save his country and not some sort of foolhardy gesture. He was thinking through the possibilities of the raid when another guard hailed them.


    ¡°Hey guys are you from an odd or even numbered troop?¡±


    ¡°Odd, why?¡± Nedric decided at that moment that they were from the fifth troop although he knew nothing about where they patrolled.


    ¡°You lucky sods. All the even number troops are being sent down south tomorrow to help fight against the Setherlanders. The general call has just gone out to return everyone to barracks. You¡¯d better hurry if you want to make role call.¡±


    Nedric thanked the guard and they hurried off. As soon as they were out of sight they shed their guard outfits and went back to being slaves. They had no intention of arousing attention by being guards in the wrong place. Nedric thought that the raiding must be pretty severe if guards from as far north as Fusdown were being sent to the border.


    ¡°At least this should make it easier for us.¡± Bethan commented.


    ¡°I doubt they were thinking of us when they ordered the raids. I wonder what they are planning. I can¡¯t see how our troops can defeat theirs in a pitched battle in Nothering.¡±


    ¡°I doubt there are any battles. If I were running this I¡¯d order raids on their stores and maybe destroy a few barracks if they were ill prepared. I imagine that our troops have orders to harass their army and cause as much damage as possible but if it looks like a proper battle they will retreat back across the border.¡±


    ¡°What good will that do, they will still over run us when they get all their fresh troops in the spring.¡±


    ¡°Not if half their troops are starving to death and the rest are disheartened by how easily our boys have beaten them so far. You can have leaders saying that you are going to win until they¡¯re blue in the face, if the troops think they will lose then that¡¯s what will happen.¡± Bethan was emphatic.


    Nedric wondered if the shadow guild guards would also be sent south. Somehow he doubted that they would, as the guild would now want to exert even more control over the people of the city. Hopefully they would be inclined to patrol the city and therefore be less ready for their raid but he wasn¡¯t planning for that.


    Bringing the news of the raids to the three in the sewers was the cause for a fairly quiet celebration. All three were chafing at their self-imposed incarceration even though they were not fully recovered from the travails of a few days before. Nedric knew that the best way for them to get fit was to suggest to them that they would be unable to raid until the three recovered. All of them immediately assured him that they were fit enough now but Nedric could see the twinges of pain when they moved and would not let them fool him.


    When they did show signs of being able to move around without too much discomfort he had them moving around the sewers at night. He wanted them to form some sort of map of the place, as it was probably their best place to retreat. If they managed to find anything useful at the same time then it was a bonus. Their nighttime explorations allowed them to use up some of their excess energy and meant they weren¡¯t tempted to move around in the daytime.


    Finally, when everyone appeared to be moving without pain and every preparation had been made Nedric stated that the raid would start the next night. To celebrate, they opened the remaining bottle of wine and the finest of their provisions. Nedric felt that a hearty meal was somewhat appropriate.

 49. Rescue (1)

    Of course it wasn¡¯t that easy. The first problem was that the city had imposed a curfew and it was difficult to move around after dark. Bethan and Nedric were able to move fairly freely in their guard¡¯s outfits but the others didn¡¯t possess them and the two rangers were too large for the theatrical outfitter to have anything that fitted them.


    This meant that they had to wait until he had made the outfits to the size required. That meant a further three days of sitting, planning and eating. Nedric was glad that they had earnt a lot of money as entertainers as they were rapidly spending it. The cost of food in the city was rising every day as people were hoarding.


    At least they had time to review their plans and polish them. They bought more food, partly to eat whilst they waited but more for if they managed to escape the city and trek through the back routes of Nothering. They¡¯d already purchased the water bottles and bedrolls and had stored them at the inn where they had left the wagon.


    Nedric really wanted some of the things that they had left at their house but he couldn¡¯t risk returning to it. He wasn¡¯t sure whether they would be able to get the stuff they needed as entertainers in a village and even if they could they would leave a memory that the shadow guild could track.


    He wasn¡¯t really sure that they even wanted to try to be entertainers. The wagon would slow them down and make it easier for them to be followed and caught. On the other hand, without the wagon the pass wouldn¡¯t do them any good. It was a tricky problem and they argued the point for several hours.


    The general consensus was to take the wagon, with the knowledge that they could always abandon it if they really had too. Rialto was for buying a wagon in a town far from Fusdown. He reckoned that now harvest had been and gone, there would be plenty of wagons available.


    The discussion on the plans grew more animated and argumentative the longer the group stayed below ground. The two rangers and Rialto were more or less recovered and anxious to be moving around. Walking through the sewers didn¡¯t really help, as the gloom and general decay was depressing.


    Nedric knew that they needed to be doing something positive and soon or the group would start to break down. It was going to be difficult enough for them to raid the building for a second time, if they weren¡¯t working as a team it could be disastrous.


    To try and ease the tension they started to play a card game. They split their money evenly and decided on the game that Nedric had last seen played on the boat to Elseth, two years before. The beauty of the game was that it took a long while to play and therefore wasted a lot of hours.


    It was no surprise to Nedric that Rialto was a good player. It was the merchant in him; he spent most of his time getting the best result from any transaction and the same skills helped at cards. Nedric himself was a reasonable player, his skill stemmed from his ability to memorise what cards had gone. It was easy compared to picturing a whole plank of wood in your head.


    They were initially surprised that Daiga was also extremely good. If Nedric had been asked beforehand which of the rangers would have played the best he would have said Scabad. The quieter, thoughtful ranger was an adequate player but he never took a risk and that meant he could be beaten by those who did.


    The worst player was Bethan. The ex-soldier admitted at the start that he had no luck at cards and managed to lose a lot of money very quickly. After a while he stuck to only small bets and slowed down his rate of losing, without actually showing any more ability to win.


    Eventually the wait for the uniforms was over and they could get on with the raid. Nedric felt his stomach churn with tension as the starting hour approached. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could cope with the wait he would have to endure before it was his turn to be part of the action.


    * * *


    The first part of the plan was to get the rangers into the guild building. As the place was slightly detached from the other buildings and was regularly patrolled, this was not that simple but they had thought of a solution that might work. The group left the sewers and dressed as guards marched through the night time streets.


    It was Nedric who walked in the middle of the group carrying the ladder. Although it was unlikely that anyone would notice a transparent ladder in the poor light, the way Nedric was walking would have attracted attention from anyone who cared to look closely. They avoided this by having the taller rangers ahead and behind him, whilst his smaller colleagues walked fairly close to his side.


    Because the city authorities had imposed a curfew on its citizens, there were very few people on the streets and those that were disappeared as soon as they saw the guard uniform. It had made shopping difficult over the last day or two but they had bought everything they actually needed before the curfew had been imposed. Nedric was of the thought that all the curfew did was to make the population uneasy. It gave more credence to the rumours that the Setherland raids were having a bigger impact than they probably were.


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    The walk through the streets went smoothly and they arrived at their destination without a problem. The rangers had previously determined that this was the best site from which to start their rooftop excursion. Nedric leaned the ladder against the wall with some relief.


    They had all been carrying bags and these were passed to the two rangers who took them up the ladder and onto the roof. They came down long enough to shake hands and receive good luck wishes from the others. When the ladder was hauled out of sight, the three returned to the sewer to wait for dawn.


    The rangers clambered across the rooftops, carrying the bags and ladder. There was little movement in the city and nothing to disturb their journey. Most of the buildings they travelled over were administrative so there was nobody likely to hear their footsteps. Nevertheless the rangers moved as quietly as they could.


    Eventually they arrived at a rooftop separated from the roof of the guild building by a ten-foot gap. This was the most dangerous part of their manoeuvring. The ladder was about twenty foot long, so would span the gap comfortably. The roof they were on was flat but that of the guild building was sloped. They were aiming to rest the ladder on the very apex of the roof and have one ranger support the ladder whilst the other crossed.


    To make matters worse, they could see and hear the guards patrolling beneath them. If they could see everything then the guards could do the same, especially if they were to look up at the wrong time. It was essential that they were silent.


    They timed the guard patrols. Although they were somewhat erratic, there was always at least a two-minute gap. They waited for one to go past, allowed a minute and then manoeuvred the ladder into position. Trying to position a heavy ladder, that was virtually invisible, without making a sound, was an extremely difficult task and they could hear the guard approaching as they finally managed it.


    They ducked down into the darkness, as the guard passed. Waiting for him to retreat they discussed the next part.


    ¡°Carry the bags or rope them across after you¡¯ve crossed?¡± asked Scabad.


    ¡°Rope them, do you fancy having them hanging off you as you cross?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Scabad grinned wryly.


    Scabad secured the end of the ladder and Daiga crawled across to the other roof as quickly as he could safely manage. There were a few wobbles as he got closer to the other end and he slowed down. He had no intention of falling the fifty feet or so to the ground.


    Once across, he secured the end of the ladder by rope to one of the chimneybreasts. Waiting for the next patrol to pass, he signalled by pulling on the rope that connected him to Scabad that the bags were to be sent across. This was done by attaching them to the rope in twos and letting them slide along the rope. Once they were across he attached them to the rope that was holding the ladder and signalled for Scabad to bring himself over.


    Daiga did his best to prevent the ladder from wobbling as his friend crawled along it. Perhaps it was because the roof was slightly damp or perhaps it was Scabad putting his weight unevenly on the ladder but there was a sudden jolt and the ladder tipped sideways sending Scabad into space. Daiga did his best to brace himself holding the ladder and trying to clasp the roof with his legs.


    When the jolt came, he felt like the rope would be pulled through his spine. He held on and the ladder didn¡¯t move more than a few inches. He was about to call out when he heard a guard turning the corner and walking towards them.


    For Scabad the fall had come with no warning and no time to grasp the ladder. He knew a moment of panic as he fell straight down and then the rope caught him and he had to move his legs quickly to stop from being crushed against the wall. As he hung there, the rope digging in to his armpits he heard the guard and froze.


    It seemed to take forever for the man to make the short walk along the side of the building. Scabad couldn¡¯t even turn his head to follow his progress as any movement might attract attention. As he waited he heard the sounds of another guard coming from the opposite direction. The two met and talked somewhere beneath his feet. He realised he had been holding his breath and had to force himself to let the air out slowly.


    ¡°Seen anything?¡± The voice drifted upwards.


    ¡°Not a thing. No one is going to attack now anyway.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because they know we are ready for them. Anyway they got their people out so why would they want to come back.¡±


    ¡°I heard they were meant to be after the girl on level two.¡±


    ¡°If they wanted her they could have got her on that raid, there were only five guards left standing at the end and they had already killed more than that. They could have done whatever they wanted in the building.¡±


    ¡°So why are we out here patrolling?¡±


    ¡°Senior officers and barn doors. Got anything to drink?¡±


    ¡°Just a little brandy, want some?¡±


    ¡°Thanks friend, catch you later on.¡±


    Scabad heaved a sigh of relief as he heard the guards move off. He reached up to grab the rope and hauled himself up the wall, inch by painful inch. When he reached the roof Daiga helped him to pull himself onto it before yet another patrol passed underneath.


    Once the guard had moved on, they quickly brought the ladder across and rested it between two chimneys. They had hoped that there would be an access to the roof but they couldn¡¯t see one in the dark and so took the alternative route of removing enough tiles to provide entry. They were careful to remove ones that could not be easily seen from the ground and did their best to replace them after they entered the loft space. All this was done with minimum lighting and in as near as possible complete silence.


    The loft was obviously not used often. Within two steps Daiga was brushing away cobwebs and when he lit his black lamp he could see his and Scabad¡¯s footprints clearly marked on the floor. They were prepared for this and Scabad pulled a cloth along behind him that obscured the betraying marks although it did clean the area somewhat and it was possible that someone might notice this. They doubted that anyone would be up in the loft during the time they planned to use it.


    They reached the loft access and carefully prised it up. They had been prepared to deal with bolts holding it in place but this piece of preparation was unneeded. They had maybe two hours to distribute the contents of their bags before retreating back to the loft and waiting for the others.


    In the bags were several boxes. Daiga and Scabad took care to hide most of these boxes in hard to reach places on the top three floors. With each box they lit a slow fuse that would burn for five hours before doing its job. There were three special boxes that they made sure were placed in the least disturbed areas of on each floor. These had longer fuses and hopefully would have their effect at roughly the same time as Nedric¡¯s other distraction. They had acquired a second watch to ensure that the timing of the two surprises was within a few minutes of each other, with the special boxes reacting first.


    With all their preparations in place and having avoided the attention of every guard in the top half of the building they returned to the loft to wait for things to happen. They replaced the hatch, found a comfortable place to rest and went to sleep.

 50. Rescue (II)

    Whilst the rangers had been doing their part of the job, the other three should have been resting. They had nothing to do until dawn and as they were committed to the plan they couldn¡¯t change anything. Nevertheless none of them slept. Nedric was constantly fighting the pit of tension in his stomach. He felt slightly sick most of the time.


    The other two were almost as tense. It had been much easier for Bethan to participate on the previous raid, as it required little thought. He had just responded to the immediate needs. Now he had all this time to consider everything that could go wrong and it worried him.


    Rialto fought the demons of dread. He was returning to the building in which he had been tortured. Although he had said nothing to the others, he was frightened of the place. The torture had been the single worst thing of his life. Nearly two weeks had elapsed since he was rescued and he still woke every night, heart pounding and a scream in his throat, as he relived his memories. He didn¡¯t want to go back there.


    Despite all the tension, they chatted quietly amongst themselves. No one mentioned what they were about to do, other than to check the time occasionally. They played cards, drank a little and recounted tales of earlier times. Nedric spoke a little about his childhood, an area where he had been previously reticent.


    ¡°As you know, I grew up on the estate of the Earl of Swiffen. My mother is his cook and my father did a lot of the jobs around the keep. My grandfather was his head steward but as time went on he also became the librarian and did most of the bookkeeping for the Earl.


    At first life there was great. There must have been problems then as well but I was too young to be aware of them. The Earl was a very proud man. He was inordinately fond of his library, which numbered almost three thousand books. He had people travelling around the world looking for new titles to add to his collection.


    Of course this all cost an awful lot of money.  He started to gamble in order to raise more capital. Unfortunately he wasn¡¯t particularly skilful or lucky and he was too proud. Rather than accept the fact that he wasn¡¯t winning, he just spent more money and time on gambling. The estate was kept going mainly by my grandfather.


    With all this money being spent, he didn¡¯t stop buying books either; it became harder to keep the estate in proper condition. Staff started to leave when the Earl couldn¡¯t afford to pay them. Grandfather taught me my letters and numbers just so that he could have someone else to help him. Mother had to work harder as the number of kitchen staff fell and there were a lot of arguments between my parents about leaving the keep.


    Father said we didn¡¯t need to stay but mother wasn¡¯t about to move away from the place her family had lived for generations. Even if it meant that she was working every daylight hour and a long time into the evening. She wouldn¡¯t be budged, even when the staff numbers dwindled to where the estate was virtually unmanageable.


    In the end it killed my father. He was up on the roof after a gale, repairing tiles or something. The job really needed two people but there wasn¡¯t anyone else around and father never liked to see something broken if he could fix it. The weather was slightly damp, just enough to make the tiles slippery. He fell over sixty foot onto cobbles and we buried him the next day.


    After that I wanted to get away from the estate but I didn¡¯t know where. Mother was never going to go, she just spent even more time in the kitchens. I was ten; I knew that if I went to a city I would end up little better than a slave so I waited.


    Those three years were hard. I was helping grandfather and when he didn¡¯t need me I buried myself in the Earl¡¯s library. He rarely came into the place now; instead he spent most of the time in the city. At least he had stopped buying new books. I¡¯m not sure if he just couldn¡¯t afford it or whether the gambling had taken over his life completely.


    I couldn¡¯t bear to visit my mother in the kitchens. She was slowly losing weight and becoming more and more introverted. She no longer seemed to care about anything and just got on with her work. I guess she blamed herself for my father¡¯s death and I look a lot like him. Every time she saw me she was reminded of him. I stayed out of her way as much as I could partly to avoid upsetting her and partly because I hated seeing her as she was now.


    When the news came through about the need for youngsters who knew their numbers and letters I applied immediately. I thought there would be lots of others. I was surprised when I got the letter saying I was accepted. It was a real surprise when I got there and found there were only sixteen of us.¡±


    Nedric looked across at the sombre faces of his comrades.


    ¡°Lighten up you two. Things have got better since I moved away. We exchange letters regularly and I visited her when I finished at the keep. We get along fine; apart from my mother never seems to smile any more. I wish I knew the words that would change that but I haven¡¯t found them yet.¡±


    After Nedric had finished speaking, the others stayed quiet for a little while. Each lost in their own thoughts. Both had enjoyed much happier childhoods, even if they had experienced difficulties since then. By this time it was approaching dawn and they prepared to carry out the next task.


    *          *          *


    The morning found Nedric and Bethan harassing a slave who was in the process of delivering wood. Dressed as guards, they had stopped his cart far enough away from the guild building that they wouldn¡¯t be spotted.


    All they needed to do was distract the slave for sufficient time for Rialto to walk unseen up to the cart and deposit a couple of pieces of narwood. These were lost amidst the rest of the delivery and Rialto walked away.


    As soon as he had accomplished this goal, the other two stopped their harassment and let the slave carry on with his delivery. There should be no reason for him or anyone else to suspect what they had done. All they had to do now was wait, but this time they would be doing it above ground and in a different uniform.


    The wood had been impressed about ten hours before, which should mean that they had two hours before it exploded. If the rangers had done their part, then their actions should start to take affect about half an hour before this. In other words, they had an hour and a half to get something to eat and change.


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    The time passed a little quicker than it had during the night. The tension in Nedric¡¯s stomach wasn¡¯t getting any less. He kept glancing at his watch although it didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°How long have we got to go?¡± asked Rialto.


    ¡°About a minute less than the last time you asked, say half an hour maximum. Our little boxes of goodies should be starting to have an effect.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you had us hunting Igwars. That has to be the smelliest job I¡¯ve ever had to do.¡± Rialto grinned.


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t thought of a way of keeping them captive and relatively inoffensive, then it would have been a lot worse.¡±


    ¡°Where did that idea come from anyway?¡±


    ¡°I noticed that they were smellier in the warmth of Esteril than they were in the sewer. So if I could cool them down more, then they ought to even less smelly and we could keep them captured. It was pure luck that making them just a little cooler put them to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Of course no one but an impressor could have kept them cool. When that fuse you wrapped round the bits of narwood burns off, those boxes are going to get warmer rapidly. I wouldn¡¯t want to be in the same room then.¡±


    ¡°I reckon that if the other boxes work properly then the place will be on fire. Can you imagine what sort of smell an Igwar in a panic is going to make?¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have to imagine, we have to go into the building!¡±


    ¡°Whatever you do, if we manage to rescue Elsebeth, don¡¯t tell her about the Igwars.¡± Bethan had been quiet but he spoke out to give Nedric a warning.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s very keen on animals. I doubt she¡¯d look kindly on the death of three of them, even if it¡¯s Igwars.¡±


    ¡°Even though it might help rescue her?¡±


    ¡°Even then.¡±


    There was a shout from the direction of the guild building and the three looked up. They had dressed in the uniform of the city fire fighters and had left the customary cart outside the eating-place where they sat. Someone came through the door, looked at them and called ¡°Fire!¡±.


    They left their seats and grabbed the cart. They could see a large pall of dark smoke issuing from the right direction and headed towards the building. One of Nedric¡¯s fears had been that they would be called to another fire nearby.


    They hurried and saw a large crowd of people gathered outside the building. The majority of them seemed to be in good health, with only a few coughing from the smoke. Nedric shouted at the people to get out of their way and when they reached the door had to shout at the guards.


    ¡°Get these people organised into a bucket chain. There are pumps and hoses on the cart so get one end in the river. Is there anyone inside?¡±


    One of the guards answered in the affirmative, whilst the others moved to comply. It was clear that they needed direction and that having something to do made them happier.


    The three made their way inside. They entered a world of smoke, where walls and doors suddenly appeared and then were lost behind them. The place stank. Not just a nasty niff but the most evil, fetid, nauseous smell imaginable. Nedric was happy that the Igwars had done their work but still hated the way that the stench clawed at his throat.


    The tension he had been feeling all morning had subsided. Being inside and doing something was a great help. He grasped his axe tightly as they made their way to the stairwell. Guards and workers heading in the opposite direction passed them.


    As they reached the stairs they could see two other firemen standing there. These stood larger than the people milling past and Nedric gave them a wave of recognition.


    Just then there was a loud explosion from beneath their feet and the building shook. Nedric knew that this was the narwood pieces he had double-impressed. He doubted that there was much damage caused but the noise should cause even more confusion.


    ¡°Anyone left upstairs?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not that we could see,¡± replied Daiga. ¡°Are we going to descend?¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡± Nedric grinned and led the way. He glanced up the stairwell to see huge wreaths of smoke and was surprised but delighted to see that faint wisps were emerging from beneath them.


    Perhaps the exploding narwood had caused a fire on the floor beneath them, or perhaps there was a connection between the higher and lower floors other than the stairs. Either way, with smoke issuing from below he didn¡¯t think that there was much chance of the building surviving. There should still be time for them to mount their rescue.


    They descended. The floor below was empty of people. The doors had been thrown open and they quickly searched the area. They quickly spotted where the narwood had been kept, as there was a small fire in a woodpile of one room. They could have put it out fairly easily but instead they helped it to spread.


    They descended to the next floor and were greeted by the sight of a number of guards milling around the doors. Nedric¡¯s immediate thought was that they were in trouble. They were outnumbered and the guards had proper weapons whilst his friends only held axes. Had they got so near only to be defeated at the last step?


    One look at the faces of the guards and he knew his fears were for naught and that a fight was the last thing the guards wanted. He could tell they wanted to leave and that it was duty that held them at their post.


    ¡°What do you lot think you¡¯re doing?¡± Nedric shouted. ¡°Can¡¯t you see that the building is on fire?¡±


    ¡°We have to get the people out of here,¡± one guard replied.


    ¡°The building is liable to collapse at any minute, didn¡¯t you feel the explosion? So why are you waiting?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t get in to them without the keys and we haven¡¯t got them.¡±


    ¡°Get out the way. We¡¯ll get them out for you. Come on, hurry!¡± Nedric¡¯s voice rose from a confidential reassurance to a shout as he spoke. As the guards still stood there, the five started on the door with their axes. By now the amount of smoke coming down the stairwell was getting thicker and blacker.


    ¡°I¡¯m not staying here to burn alive, orders or no orders,¡± one guard made a move for the stairs and that acted as a spur for the others. Within seconds all the guards were leaving and the five could act unopposed.


    Their axes bit through the thick wooden door extremely quickly, as they were designed for just that purpose. It took less than a minute to open the door and they were through. Nedric was well aware that they were probably setting off all sorts of alarms but doubted that there was anyone in a position to do anything about it.


    ¡°Spread out and release everyone who¡¯s in here,¡± he shouted.


    The others needed no urging and they moved rapidly through the floor, opening every door they met. They found pale prisoners chained up in some rooms and had to use their axes to release them. They pointed them in the direction of the exit and saw them hobble or drag themselves away.


    At the rear of the floor was a large room. As they hadn¡¯t found her yet, this was where Nedric hoped Elsebeth would be. If not, then the raid would have been in vain and they would have put their lives in danger for no reason.


    They burst through the doors and were greeted by the sight of about twenty young and slightly pale men sat in rows. They turned their heads to look at the firemen and away from the person who stood at the desk in front of them.


    Nedric¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he realised that it was Elsebeth. She saw him at the same time as he saw her. He could tell that she was about to call out to him. Before she could react he shouted. ¡°Fire in the building, you must all leave now!¡±


    The men needed a little urging but the smell of smoke that surrounded the five was more convincing than their words. They ushered the whole group, Elsebeth included, to the stairwell.


    When they reached it they had to stop. By now the smoke was even thicker and the heat from the fire above could be clearly felt. One of the prisoners they had released earlier was coughing as he lay on the ground, clearly overcome by the fumes.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to go up through that.¡± Nedric shouted.


    ¡°There¡¯s a route through the sewers!¡± One of the young men volunteered.


    Nedric could have kissed him. He hadn¡¯t wanted to reveal that he had that knowledge and now he wouldn¡¯t have to. ¡°Lead the way¡± he cried, gesturing the others to follow.


    It took time for the group that now numbered about forty people to descend the stairs. Nedric had been expecting the door below to be as guarded as the one above but there was no one about. Again the five had to axe their way through the door.


    By this time the smoke was thicker. Most of the group were coughing and spluttering and the five had to drop to the ground before they could get fresh enough air to breathe properly. The doors seemed more stubborn than the previous set and resisted the efforts of the axes.


    Their swings were getting wilder as they desperately tried to remove the blockade. There was nobody who would rescue them. Nedric knew that they had seconds rather than minutes before the smoke overcame them all. He swung his axe as urgently as the others and saw a glimpse of light through the hole he made.


    Soon the whole grew enough that they had air flowing from the other side and they could breathe easier. Someone had placed a large wooden beam across the door barring passage. When the hole was big enough, Daiga put his arm through it and pulled the bar out of the way. The doors pushed open easily.


    Again the floor was deserted. Nedric let the young man lead the way, whilst he and his friends drifted to the back of the group. He saw Bethan grab his sister and bring her with him. Nobody noticed in the press to get out of the building.


    They stopped at the entrance to the sewers and the young man grabbed the lamp burning by the door. He led the group and the others followed. Only he and the people near him could see where they were going, so it was no difficulty for the group of six to take a side turn and disappear.

 51. Rescue (III)

    Through the sewers they ran and back to the place that they had called home for nearly two weeks. There they ditched the firemen¡¯s outfits and changed into a fresh disguise. The other four men dressed again as slaves but took their bags containing a change of clothes and their weapons. Nedric dressed himself as an overseer or advisor and they quickly had Elsebeth change into the outfit of one of the richer ladies of the city, maybe a daughter of a high priest.


    They didn¡¯t have time for lots of explanations and so Elsebeth was left to change quickly whilst the others waited outside in the cellar. As soon as she appeared they took a different route that brought them out besides a derelict building. This was a one-time exit as there was no hiding the passage of people¡¯s footprints on the muddy path that led from the sewer hatch. They hadn¡¯t wanted to draw attention to the building as hidden within it was a four-slave sedan.


    Elsebeth went inside the contraption along with their bags and the two rangers took the front handles, with Bethan and Rialto at the back. The sizes of the slaves were a little incongruous but hopefully nobody would notice. The best thing about the set up was that Elsebeth was completely enclosed by curtains.


    The initial plan was to make for their wagon; they¡¯d left it at a nearby inn. It had a hiding space for Elsebeth and also held some of their extra funds. They knew it might be harder to get away from the city in it but once away it should make things easier.


    Nedric planned on fetching the wagon and horses and taking them to a quiet spot in the city where Elsebeth could be transferred. They had already decided the spot and so they parted with the intention of meeting an hour later.


    He knew that something was wrong when he reached the inn. The wagon wasn¡¯t in sight and neither was the owner of the inn. He asked one of the barmaids and was informed that the man had disappeared the week before. Nedric assumed that he had broken into the wagon and somehow managed to find the money. Perhaps they shouldn¡¯t have left it but it weighed a lot.


    Instead of driving a wagon, he walked disconsolately towards the point where he would meet his friends and debated with himself as to the best next step.


    The others were where he expected and greeted him in a somewhat puzzled way.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the wagon?¡± Rialto asked.


    Nedric explained and then set about changing their plans.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got two alternative plans, the farmers or the guards. Has anyone got a preference?¡±


    Nobody spoke up. Nedric hadn¡¯t really expected them to. He was the leader of their little group, probably because it was him that had brought them all together. It would be up to him to make the decisions.


    ¡°Bethan, how many guards were at the north gate last time we passed it?¡± Nedric enquired.


    ¡°No more than four. We could just take them out but I don¡¯t know what the citizens would do.¡±


    ¡°How about joining the plans together. Elsebeth and I can be farmers and you four can be guards. We have four good horses if you are prepared to try it.¡± Nedric was improvising a little but the two plans were fairly well considered and each had its merits.


    ¡°Why not have me go with Elsebeth?¡± Bethan suggested. ¡°Brother and sister would be more believable anyway.¡±


    Nedric agreed and so they put the plan into action.


    The first stage was to find a farming couple on their way back from market and waylay them. The men changed into guard uniforms and stopped a likely looking couple. They directed them to park their wagon away from the main thoroughfare so as not to block traffic. The farmers, obviously nervous at attracting the attention of the guards, complied with the commands.


    Once out of sight of passers-by, the rangers used coshes to make the couple unconscious and then dragged the bodies into the middle of some bushes that grew nearby. They left a substantial amount of gold with the couple in the hope that that would deter them from reporting the robbery of their wagon for a while after they regained consciousness.


    There was a metal plate attached to the wagon that stated the wagon held two people. This was equivalent to a pass and should let them past the guards if they could look the part. They needed different clothing and the unconscious bodies of the farmers provided these. They also provided the siblings with an unmistakeable odour of unwashed body that fit the part. When they had smeared mud over their hands and faces they looked more like farmers than anything else and Nedric hoped that they would pass.


    They got the wagon moving back onto the main road and left them to it. They also left the sedan chair. From now on the other four were guards and they had a very short time schedule in which to carry out the other tasks required before they had a hope of leaving the city.


    *          *          *


    The wagon moved slowly along, following several others and in turn being followed by farmers leaving the city after they had sold their goods. Elsebeth sat clutching the arm of her brother hardly believing that she was out of the clutches of the shadow guild. For nearly half a year she had been imprisoned and she had given up hope of rescue. When Bethan and the others had burst into the room where she had been forced to teach impressing she had been so amazed she had been unable to speak and since then there had been no time in which to ask any questions.


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    They were approaching the gates and she could see that each wagon was being stopped and the backs were being searched. Cloth bags being prodded with spears and one guard looking underneath the wagon to make sure that no one was trying to sneak out that way.


    ¡°Just remember that you¡¯re a Nothering woman and keep your head down and say nothing.¡± Bethan told her.


    Elsebeth nodded once and did as she was told.


    Even though she had spent so much time in Nothering she couldn¡¯t understand the attitude of the men to the women. Having been in the extraordinary position of tutoring men, she had been allowed certain liberties but had still been forced to cover her head at all times and been made to pay for any occasion where she had argued with one of the men. Of course any of the students foolish enough to cause an argument had been immediately replaced but that had not prevented her being whipped.


    The wagons eased closer to the guards. She made sure that her face was obscured and tried not to think about what would happen if the guards spotted her and she was dragged back to aid the shadow guild. Already some of her students were very close to being able to impress and she hated to think what that would mean for Setherland.


    They reached the guard and Elsebeth tried to stop herself from hunching down even more. Beside her, Bethan was getting tense but he said nothing as the guard came forward.


    ¡°Halt there!¡± he grunted.


    Bethan complied and the guards searched his wagon. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked in as broad an accent as he could manage.


    ¡°Escaped lady prisoner, have you seen her?¡±


    ¡°No, just me and my sister heading home.¡±


    Drawn by Bethan¡¯s comment the guard turned to Elsebeth. ¡°Head up girl I want a look at you.¡±


    Elsebeth did not have to feign how nervous she was but lifted her head to face the guard.


    ¡°I can see she¡¯s your sister but she¡¯s pretty enough, you got her arranged?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, next farm over.¡±


    ¡°Real pity that. Ah well, pass on.¡±


    Then they were outside the gates. Elsebeth could hear her brother sighing with relief. ¡°Don¡¯t look back, we haven¡¯t escaped yet. They could still send men after us.¡±


    ¡°Why should they do that?¡±


    ¡°Because then we wouldn¡¯t cause as much disruption as a disturbance at a city gate.¡±


    Elsebeth had been full of hope of returning home and now she felt just as worried as she had before reaching the gate. The road went up and over a hill and it seemed like forever before the city was obscured from view. It was only then that she felt that they had made good their escape. She wondered what had happened to the others.


    Bethan stopped the wagon behind a small copse of trees and went back up the hill until he could see the gate. Elsebeth went with him, as she had no intention of being left on her own in the wagon. The horse seemed content to munch grass even whilst still hitched.


    Looking back they could see some sort of disturbance at the gate but they were too far away to make out what was occurring. When guards on horses came through the gate and rode at speed towards them, they could only retreat to the copse and hope that the guards would not spot them.


    *          *          *


    A few minutes before, the sergeant of the gate guards had been disturbed from his routine searching of wagons by the appearance of a troop of guards on horses. Not just any guards, these had the black under-tunics of the high priests personal guards.


    ¡°We are after an escaped prisoner, we have information she was heading this way.¡±


    The sergeant was none too keen on this guard captain¡¯s haughty manner. ¡°That¡¯s why we are searching the wagons sir.¡±


    ¡°Were you told that she was rescued by a man believed to be her brother?¡± The captain asked.


    The sergeant could piece two parts together and thought back to the couple that had shortly before left the city. He had two choices, deny seeing them and preserve his chances of making captain or admit the possibility that he had let the prisoner pass through his hands and hope for the best. In the end he realised that one of his colleagues would probably say something if he did not, none of them were particularly fond of him.


    ¡°Chances are, that a farm couple who just passed through are those you seek. They can¡¯t be more than ten minutes ahead of you.¡±


    ¡°Well what are you waiting for, get those men of yours out of the way and let us through.¡± The captain gestured at the guards blocking the gate and the sergeant motioned for them to allow the guards passage. The four mounted men hurried away along the road that had previously been travelled by the wagon.


    It was maybe half an hour or so later when a second group of mounted troops appeared at the north gate. The sergeant again went to greet the leader of this group another captain.


    ¡°What can I do for you captain?¡±


    ¡°We were wondering if you had seen anything of our escaped prisoner or the men who captured her?¡±


    ¡°Men? I was told by the last group of guards who came this way that it was only her brother who had helped rescue her.¡±


    ¡°There were several men who helped her escape and what do you mean other guards, none of my men have been ordered to this gate.¡±


    The truth of the situation dawned on both captain and sergeant at the same time.


    ¡°Half an hour¡¯s head start and with guard uniforms good enough to fool you. We aren¡¯t going to catch them easily.¡± He and his men started off after the first group before the sergeant could mention the woman and her brother disguised as farmers.


    *          *          *


    Nedric and Elsebeth were riding together. She held him tightly, arms clasping his waist as the four horses raced away from the main route and down dusty side roads. They had no real route planned other than to head generally west and north. The aim was to cover as much distance as possible before night fell and then find somewhere secure for the night.


    The rangers had the lead. They chose routes that took the horses along streams and over hard ground that hid their passage. They compromised speed for difficulty of pursuit. This helped the two horses that were forced to carry a double load. After several hours, when it became too dark to ride any further without danger to the horses, they chose a camp and quickly arranged things.


    Nedric helped Elsebeth dismount and as she slipped to the ground he held her tightly. After all that had happened over the last half-year it seemed hard to believe that they were back together. After a while he released her enough that she could move to look up at him. Without conscious thought they both brought their faces closer so that they could kiss. They were somewhat interrupted by the cheer that came from the other men.


    *          *          *


    During that evening Elsebeth learnt all that had occurred since her capture. She was astonished with what the men had accomplished and how they had reached and then rescued her. She hugged each of them and brought laughter from the others when she kissed Scabad and made him turn bright red. The others took their kisses with good grace but she saved the most passionate one for Nedric.


    They woke early and made their way across to a small village where they were able to purchase two wagons and exchange their horses for others, which were more suitable for the purpose. At each village after that, they purchased another item. This allowed them to move closer to being the entertainers they would have to be in order to get through the borders.


    By the time they reached a small town, they were almost back in business. They had fashioned clothing from woollen cloth they had bought and with the help of the guard breastplate that Rialto had been wearing, now planned to pass Elsebeth off as a young man. In this they were helped by the normal attitude of the Nothering ladies, none of which would have raised their heads in the manner normal to the men but which Elsebeth had no trouble in doing.


    When Nedric was able to get a turner to produce some wooden clubs that he and Elsebeth could pass between them, they had most of a show. Rialto still needed to find a mandolin but he could do a little juggling, tell tales along with Bethan and was able to perform some athletic balance manoeuvres with the rangers so everything was set.


    The worry was that someone would suspect them of being the same entertainers that had disappeared in Fusdown but apparently this had not been noticed or perhaps communications were not good enough as there was no reaction to their act other than the expected delight in the performance. Elsebeth did creditably well for someone who had not performed before and she revealed to Nedric later that she had practiced her juggling as something to distract her from her imprisonment.


    It was roughly two weeks later when they were able to cross the northern border of Nothering and know that they had made good their escape. It would be more than two months before they would reach Setherland but the worry was over.

 Epilogue

    Epilogue


    Whilst the six friends made their way back from Setherland small scale war was fought along the Nothering border. The death guards crossed the river at will and without the need for boats or bridges. The Nothering defenders never knew where they would strike next.


    The advantage was due to impressing. The boardway had been constructed and allowed rapid troop movement. The cooling effect of the wood had been expanded upon and now ice bridges let the guards cross pretty much where they wanted. There was no way that their counterparts could keep up.


    The raids weren¡¯t targeted against men but rather supplies. Early on, the death guards had been particularly successful and much of the food stored for the next spring had been destroyed. This meant that there were fewer targets and the Nothering defenders could put more troops in the obvious places. The raids slowed down when too many of the Setherland raiders started being killed.


    Their commanders were intelligent enough to switch targets. By late winter they had raids attacking the supply lines and the less battle-hardened troops. The results were better than they knew. The number of deaths grew in the telling and the Nothering troops became more disheartened. The Setherland habit of taking their dead and wounded with them led to tales of their invincibility.


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    As spring grew closer, more Nothering troops were brought to the border. Many were slaves, half-starved through the severe food shortages and unwilling to die for their country. The stories of the raids grew to epic proportions in their camps.


    The tactics changed again. Nonnies were let loose all along the border, in the hope that they would cause more havoc. Small groups moved behind the Nothering lines and caused whatever damage they could to bridges and roads. The call went out to all Setherland men to join the army after planting had finished.


    The same call went out in the northern country. As the country was larger, the movement of troops had to start earlier. By early summer both countries would be ready and the fighting would start in earnest. The largest war ever to grace the planet was building. The neighbouring countries looked on. Some would show allegiance with whoever looked most like winning, whilst others would seek to prevent any country getting too strong. Few people saw any hope.


    *          *          *


    In Elseth, on a fine, late spring day, Nedric and Elsebeth were married. Those who attended included Elsebeth¡¯s family, the two rangers, many impressors and accompanied by Rialto, Nedric¡¯s mother, smiling at her son¡¯s happiness.


    The ceremony was short but the celebrations lasted well into the evening. Eventually the couple left the others and retreated to their new house. RAN Supplies was a profitable concern and Nedric had returned to find he was wealthier than he had ever dreamed. Rialto of course had larger dreams.


    Nedric and Elsebeth spent that night and many more oblivious to the world. The threat of war faded to nothing, compared to the love they found together.


    There is more to their story and this will be told at another time. Before that it would be best to learn how one Priestess learned some things that would change Nothering forever.

 Notes

    None of the information contained in these notes is essential to your reading of the book, so you may ignore it quite happily. If however, you are the type of person who likes to know a little of the background of the world you visit, then it is provided here.


    The story takes place on a planet fairly similar to our own. There are differences; the flora and fauna are often identical but occasionally wildly different. Some common names have been given to things that resemble our own but are merely similar. This is in much the same way that the British Robin and American Robin Redbreast differ. None of this affects the plot in any way.


    The calendar is markedly different from our own. Each week consists of six days, five of these are named after the five gods and the last is known as Allgods or end-week. There are five weeks to a month and eleven months in a year. There is an additional five days in the sixth month. This brings the total to 335. The additional days are treated as a festival week throughout the planet and are dedicated to each god in turn. There is a reason for there being five gods but you won¡¯t learn about it in this book.


    The day is actually 25 hours and 58 minutes long by our measures. However it is split into 24 sections called ¡®hours¡¯ that are roughly five minutes longer than our own. In practice this means that our year and their year differ only slightly.


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    The technology of the planet is roughly that of Britain before the industrial revolution. Most work is done laboriously by hand and therefore takes much longer. The majority of the planet is poorly educated, the exceptions being the nobility, the priests and the wealthier merchants.  At the time of this book, one country is in the process of utilising a recently discovered effect.


    Every person on the planet speaks English. The dialects vary as widely as say a Texan drawl and a South Island New Zealander but are still understandable. This is not for the convenience of the author or the reader but rather for a reason that again will not be explained here.


    Each place name in the book is given as the Setherland version. The natives of the place may, and in some cases definitely do, have a different name. This is true for countries as well. The aim in writing the story was to keep things consistent. However if you were to visit this world again and meet a different native, they might name things differently.


    The planetary population is in the millions rather than the billions. Although there has been some emigration to the other continents, the majority of the people live on the one continent. Even on this continent the population is not evenly distributed but rather highest in the countries named. It falls fairly rapidly as you move away from these central countries. If I said that I wouldn¡¯t explain this in the book either, you wouldn¡¯t be surprised.


    Generally the summers are slightly warmer and the winters colder than ours. This is due to an axial tilt of 25¡ã. It means also that weather generally is slightly harsher around the world. However, both Setherland and Nothering are partially protected by a large range of mountains to their west. These mountains are particularly high and difficult to cross, so most population expansion has been north or south. The sea prevents too much expansion to the east.


    The population is much healthier than would be expected for the level of medical care available. Life expectancy is about eighty years, the priests say this is a gift of the gods.


    In all other important ways, life in the countries you will read about, could be the same as life in the temperate regions of our own world.