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Sagrin rubbed his chin as if thinking, then said, ‘Well, I’m certain you won’t find any up in Mastaba. Maybe downriver?’
Jojanna said, ‘You know that travelling downriver is dangerous even for armed men, Sagrin! You’re trying to scare us into making a better bargain for you!’ She turned to Kaspar. ‘He’s probably lying about there being no horses in Mastaba.’
As she turned to leave, Sagrin’s hand shot out and he grabbed her arm. ‘Wait a minute, Jojanna! No one calls me a liar, not even you!’
Kaspar didn’t hesitate. He reached out, grabbed Sagrin’s hand and pressed his thumb hard into a nerve below the other man’s thumb. A moment later he pushed the heavy man, and as Sagrin resisted the push, Kaspar grabbed his dirty tunic and pulled. Sagrin stumbled for a moment and then his old fighter’s reflexes came into play. Rather than landing hard, he rolled to the side and came up, ready to brawl.
Instead of attacking, Kaspar stepped away and said calmly, ‘I’ll have my sword in your throat before you can take a step.’
Sagrin saw a man standing confidently, his sword still at his side. He hesitated for a moment, then whatever fight he had left in him vanished. With a grin he said, ‘Sorry for my temper. It’s just that those were hard words.’
Jojanna rubbed at her arm where he had grabbed it. ‘Hard, maybe, Sagrin, but you’ve tried to get the better of Bandamin and me before.’
‘That’s just trading,’ said the stout innkeeper stepping forward, his hands held with palms outward. ‘But this time it’s the truth. Old Balyoo had the one extra mare, but the old girl’s spavined, and not even fit to foal, so he might have put her down already. Other than that, horses are harder to find around here than free ale.’
Kaspar said, ‘What about a mule?’
‘You mean to ride a mule?’ asked Sagrin.
‘No, I want it to pull a wagon and a plough,’ said Kaspar, looking at Jojanna.
‘Kelpita has a mule he’d probably trade for the price of a steer,’ said Sagrin. He motioned to the bar. ‘Why don’t you fix yourselves up with something to drink while I go and ask him?’
Jojanna nodded as Jorgen entered the inn, and Sagrin left, tousling the boy’s hair as he passed. Jojanna went behind the bar and poured ales for herself and Kaspar, filling another cup with water for Jorgen.
Kaspar watched as they sat at a table, then joined them. ‘Can you trust him?’
‘Most of the time,’ she answered. ‘He’s tried to take advantage of us before, but as he said, it’s just bargaining.’
‘Who’s Kelpita?’
‘The merchant who owns that large building across the road. He trades down the river. He has wagons and mules.’
‘Well, I don’t know much about mules, but in the army –’ he paused ‘– the army I was with for a while, they used them instead of horses for the heavy hauling. I do know that they can be difficult.’
‘I’ll make him work!’ said Jorgen with youthful eagerness.
‘How much will the steer bring?’
‘What do you mean?’ Jojanna looked at Kaspar as if she didn’t comprehend.
‘I’ve never sold a steer before.’ Kaspar realized that he had little idea about the cost of many items. As Duke he never paid for anything out of his own purse. The gold he carried was for wagering, brothels, or to reward good service. He had signed documents allocating the household budget for the entire citadel, but he had no idea what his housecarl paid to the local merchants for salt, or beef, or fruit. He didn’t know what food came as taxes from his own farms. He didn’t even know what a horse cost, unless it was one especially bred as a gift for one of his ladies or his own warhorse. Kaspar started to laugh.
‘What?’ asked Jojanna.
‘There are many things I don’t know,’ he said, leaving his meaning ambiguous. She looked at him pointedly and he elaborated. ‘In the army other people – quartermasters, commissaries, provisioners – made all our arrangements. I just showed up and the food was there. If I needed to ride, a horse was provided.’
‘That must be nice,’ she said, her manner showing that she didn’t believe him.
He considered what he did know about the prices of luxury items, and asked, ‘How much does a steer bring in silver or copper around here?’
Jorgen laughed. ‘He thinks we have coins!’
‘Hush!’ snapped his mother. ‘Go outside and find something useful to do, or at least play, but go outside.’
Grumbling, the boy left. Jojanna said, ‘We don’t see coins here often. There’s no one making them. And after the war –’ he didn’t have to be told what war; all references to ‘the war’ meant the Emerald Queen’s rampage ‘– there were many false coins, copper with silver painted on them, or lead covered in gold. Sagrin sees a few from time to time from travellers, so he has a touchstone and scales to tell the true from the false, but mostly we barter, or sometimes work for one another. Kelpita will list what he’s willing to exchange for the steer, then consider if it is worth a mule. He might want both steers in return.’
‘No doubt he will,’ said Kaspar. ‘But that’s negotiating, isn’t it?’
‘He has what I want, and doesn’t have that much use for a steer. He can only eat one so fast.’
Kaspar laughed, and Jojanna smiled. ‘He’ll then trade it to Sagrin who will slaughter and dress it out, and Kelpita will be able to eat and drink here for a while at no cost, which will please him and vex his wife. She doesn’t like it when he drinks too much ale.’
Kaspar waited without making further comment. Again he was visited by the thought that Olaskon peasants must lead similar lives. In Olasko there would be merchants whose wives grew bitter when they drank too much ale, ex-soldiers who owned run-down inns and little farm boys out looking for someone with whom to play. He sat back and reflected that it was impossible to know each and every one of them. He barely recognized half the household staff at the citadel, let alone knew their names. But even so, he should have been mindful of what kind of people looked to him for protection.
He was visited by an unexpected rush of sadness. How little care he had given. A torrent of images swept through his thoughts, much like the dreams he had experienced.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jojanna.
Kaspar looked at her sideways. ‘What?’
‘You’ve gone all pale and your eyes are brimming with moisture. What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing,’ he said, his voice surprisingly hoarse. He swallowed hard, then said, ‘Just an unexpected old memory.’
‘From a war?’
He shrugged and nodded once, saying nothing.
‘Bandamin was a soldier once.’
‘Really?’
‘Not like you,’ she added quickly. ‘He served with a local militia when he was a boy, with his father, trying to make this a fit place to live in.’
‘Seems they did a good job.’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. We still have bandits and raiders to worry about. The Bentu slavers will take a free man and head south; they’ll sell him to a rich farmer or a miller, or if he’s a warrior, take him to the City of the Serpent River for the games.’
‘This City of the Serpent River. How far is it?’
‘Weeks by boat. Longer by foot. I don’t really know. Is that where you will go?’
‘Yes,’ answered Kaspar. ‘I need to get home, and to do that I need a ship, and the only ships that travel to my homeland are there.’
‘It’s a long journey.’
‘So I gather,’ he said flatly.
After an hour, Sagrin returned and said, ‘Here’s what Kelpita will do …’ He outlined a trade of some goods, seed at a future date, and some trade with another merchant in the next village. At the end, Jojanna seemed satisfied.
Kaspar said, ‘Throw in a room for the night, including supper, and you have a deal.’
‘Done!’ said Sagrin slapping his hands together. ‘We have roasted duck and some stew for tonight’s meal, and the bread was freshly baked this morning.’
As he walked to the kitchen, Jojanna whispered to Kaspar, ‘Don’t expect too much. Sagrin can’t cook.’
Kaspar said, ‘Food is food and I’m hungry.’
Then Jojanna said, ‘You still have no horse.’
Kaspar shrugged. ‘I’ll find a way. Perhaps I’ll find a boat heading downriver.’
‘That would be difficult.’
‘Why?’ asked Kaspar as he moved to pour himself another ale while Sagrin worked in the kitchen.
‘I’ll tell you over supper. I had better go find Jorgen.’
Kaspar nodded, drank the ale. A man could have a worse life than being married to a woman like Jojanna, with a son like Jorgen, he thought to himself. Then he looked around the pitiful inn and thought, But he could have a much better one, too.
Kaspar came awake first. Jojanna and Jorgen slept on two cots that served for beds in the inn and Kaspar lay on a pallet on the floor.
Something had disturbed his rest. He listened intently. Horses!
Drawing his sword, he hurried along the hall and down the stairs. He found Sagrin already waiting in the common room, holding an old blade. Kaspar motioned for the stout old soldier to move to one side of the door as Kaspar hurried to the window.
He counted five riders. They milled around and chattered. One pointed towards the inn and another shook his head and pointed up the road. They wore heavy cloaks, but Kaspar could see enough of their garb to recognize them for what they were: soldiers.
After a moment, they turned as a group and rode north.
Kaspar said, ‘They’re gone.’
‘Who were they?’ asked Sagrin.
‘Soldiers. They wore cavalry boots. I could see a single stripe on their tunics, though I couldn’t make out its colour – white or perhaps yellow. They bore identical swords, but no bows or shields. They wore turbans with feathers on their heads.’
‘Damn,’ said Sagrin. ‘They must have decided to go to Mastaba, but they’ll be back.’
‘Who are they?’
‘There is a bandit to the south, in the city of Delga – if you can call it a city – who calls himself the Raj of Muboya. Those are his men. He’s claiming all the land between Delga and the banks of the Serpent Lake, and he’s garrisoning the towns and villages. The bastard is also taxing people.’
Kaspar said, ‘Is he offering protection?’
‘Of a sort,’ answered Sagrin. ‘He protects us from the other renegades and bandits around here, so he can pluck us like chickens himself.’
‘It costs money to govern,’ said Kaspar.
‘I do just fine without a government,’ said Sagrin.
‘Find enough people with swords to agree with you, and you might convince him. Those five I saw could probably run this entire town without additional help.’
‘You’re right,’ said Sagrin as he sat heavily in a chair. ‘I’m what passes for a warrior in these parts. A couple of the farmers are strong, but none are trained to fight.
‘I only know what I know because my father formed a militia when I was a boy and we fought a lot of thugs in our day.’ He pointed to the scars on his arms. ‘Make no mistake, these were honestly earned, Kaspar. But now I’m an old man. I would fight, but I know I wouldn’t win.’
‘Well, this Raj might not be the first bandit to found a dynasty. Where I come from –’ He dropped the thought, then said instead, ‘If he can bring order and safety to people like Jojanna and Jorgen – women and children – that would be a good thing, no?’
‘I guess. Whatever is going to happen will happen. But I reserve the right to complain.’
Kaspar chuckled. ‘Feel free.’
‘Are you staying with Jojanna?’ he asked, and Kaspar took his meaning.
‘No. She’s a good woman who hopes that her husband is still alive.’
‘Slim chance. If he is, he’s toiling in a mine, working on some rich merchant’s farm to the south, or fighting in the arena down in the City of the Serpent River.’
‘I have my own plans, in any event,’ said Kaspar. ‘They don’t include being a farmer.’
‘Didn’t take you for one. Soldier?’
‘For a time.’
‘Something else, too, I wager,’ said Sagrin. Heaving himself out of the chair he added, ‘Well, I might as well get started; the sun will be up in an hour and I rarely fall back to sleep easily, especially if I must sleep with a sword in my hand.’
Kaspar nodded. ‘I understand.’
He now knew what his next step must be. He needed to head south. There was a man gathering an army there, no matter what he called himself, and he had horses.
Kaspar needed a horse.
• CHAPTER FIVE • (#ulink_24c3fda9-84b7-5a7b-9c26-52e30374743e)
Soldier (#ulink_24c3fda9-84b7-5a7b-9c26-52e30374743e)
KASPAR WAITED SILENTLY.
He crouched behind some low brush while a patrol of cavalry rode by. He had encountered two other patrols over the last week since leaving Jojanna’s farm. Given what little he knew of these people, he had decided to avoid contact with them. Common soldiers had a decided tendency to use weapons before asking questions, and Kaspar had no desire to end up dead, a prisoner, or enlisted into any army at the point of a sword.
Leaving the farm had proved more troubling than he had expected. Jorgen seemed especially disturbed by the prospect of being alone with his mother again. On the other hand, the mule would help with all the heavy work, and Kelpita had a son who would come and work with them during harvest so Jojanna wouldn’t lose her grain.
Kaspar considered how they would have fared had he never arrived. They’d still be scrabbling to run the farm and wouldn’t have had enough wood or the mule.
Still, it had been harder to say goodbye than he had anticipated.
A couple of days before, he had skirted a village that appeared to be a staging post for the local patrols, and then had bartered a day’s work at a farm just off the road for a meal. The food had been meagre and they had only offered him water to drink, but he had been glad for it. Kaspar remembered the lavish meals that had been the hallmark of his court, but quickly pushed the memory aside. He’d happily kill someone for a cut of hot rare beef, a bowl of his cook’s spiced vegetables and a flagon of good Ravensberg wine.
