Fool's Fate Part 12

And just that quickly, it was over. Men stood immediately and began moving toward the door. There was no ceremony to it, no precedence for those of higher rank, just a push of men toward the exit, some with a greater insistence than others.

Tell your captain that you must check on your ward. That, until he is fit, I have commanded that you continue to tend him. We'll soon join you upstairs.

I obeyed my prince's command. When Longwick released me, I retrieved the washing basin I'd left outside the door and returned to Thick's chamber. He had not stirred that I could see. I felt his forehead. He was still feverish, but it did not burn as it had aboard the ship. Nonetheless, I roused him and coaxed him to drink water. He took little urging to down a whole mug of it, and then settled back into the bed again. I was relieved. Here, in this strange room and away from the perspective of his sickbed on the ship, I could truly see how wasted Thick was. Well, he would recover now. He had all he needed: quiet, a bed, food and drink. Soon he would be better. I tried to convince myself that my hope was a fact.

I heard Prince Dutiful and Chade conversing in the hall with someone. I stood and went to the door, ear pressed to it. I heard Dutiful pleading weariness, and then the closing of the door of the next chamber. His servants must have been waiting for him there. Again, there was a murmur of conversation, and then I heard him dismiss them. A little time pa.s.sed and then the connecting door opened and Dutiful wandered in. He held a small black square of the food in his hand. He looked depressed. He held the food up and asked me, "Any idea what this is?"

"Not really, but it has fish paste in it. Maybe seaweed, too. The cakes with the seeds are sweet. Oily but sweet."

Dutiful regarded the food in his hand with distaste, then gave the shrug of a fifteen-year-old who hasn't been fed for several hours and ate it. He licked his fingers. "It's not bad, as long as you expect it to taste like fish."

"Old fish," I observed.

He didn't reply. He'd crossed over to where Thick slept. He stood looking down on him. He shook his head slowly.

"This is so unfair to him. Do you think he's getting better now?"

"I hope so."

"His music has become so much quieter, it worries me. Sometimes I feel as if Thick himself goes away from us when his fever rises."

I opened myself to Thick's music. Dutiful was right. It did seem less intense. "Well, he's sick. It takes strength and energy to Skill." I didn't want to worry about him just now. "Chade surprised me today."

"Did he? You must have known that he would keep at it until he could do at least that much. Nothing stops the old man once he has decided to do something." He turned away from me and headed toward the connecting door. Then he paused. "Did you want any of that stuff to eat?"

"No, thank you. You go ahead."

He spoke over his shoulder. He vanished for a moment into his own room, then returned with one hand stacked with the fish cakes. He bit into one of the squares, made a dismal face, and then quickly ate the rest of it. He looked around the room hungrily. "Didn't anyone bring us food yet?"

"You're eating it, I think."

"No. This is just an Out Island nod because we fed them. I know Chade told servants to find fresh food and buy it for us."

"Are you saying that Boar Clan isn't going to feed us?"

"They may. They may not. Chade seems to think we should act as if we don't expect it. Then, if they offer us food, we can accept it as a gift. And if they don't, we don't seem grasping or weak."

"Have you informed your n.o.bles of their customs?"

He nodded. "Many of them came here as much to form new trading alliances and see what other opportunities the Out Islands offered as to support me in my courtship of the Narcheska. So they are just as glad to move about Zylig, seeing what is for sale here and what people might want to buy. But we'll have to feed my guard, the servants, and of course my Wit coterie. I thought Chade had arranged provisions."

"The Hetgurd seem to accord you little respect," I said worriedly.

"I do not think they truly understand what I am. It is a foreign concept to them, that a boy of my years, unproven as a warrior, is a.s.sured the ruling of such a large territory. Here, men do not claim sovereignty over an area of land, but instead show strength by the warriors they can command. In some ways, I am seen more as a son of my mother's house. Queen Kettricken was in power when we defeated them at the end of the Red Ship War. They are in awe of that, that she not only kept the homelands safe but that she launched war against them in the form of the dragons she called down on them. That is how it is told here."

"You seem to have learned a great deal in a very short time."

He nodded, pleased with himself. "Some of it comes from putting together what I hear here with what I experienced of the Outislanders at Buckkeep. Some from the reading I did on the way here." He gave a small sigh. "And it is not as useful as I hoped it would be. If they offer us hospitality, I mean, feed us, then we can see it as welcome, that they know it is our custom and honor it. Or we can see it as insult, that we are too weak to feed ourselves and too foolish to have come prepared. But no matter how we 'see' it, we can't be certain how they meant it."

"Like your dragon-slaying. Do you come to kill a beast and thus prove yourself a worthy mate for the Narcheska? Or do you come to kill the dragon that is the guardian of their land, proving that you can take whatever you want from them?"

Dutiful paled slightly. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Nor had I. But some of them do. And, it brings us back to that one essential question. Why? Why did the Narcheska choose this particular task for you?"

"Then you think it has significance to her besides my being willing to risk my life just to marry her?"

For a moment all I could do was stare at him. Had I ever been that young? "Well, of course it does. Don't you think so?"

"Civil had said that she probably wanted 'proof of my love.' He said that girls were often like that, asking men to do things that were dangerous or illegal or next to impossible, simply to prove their love."

I made a mental note of that. I wondered what Civil had been asked to do and by whom, and if it had related to the Fa.r.s.eer monarchy or was merely a boyish deed of derring-do that some girl had demanded of him.

"Well, I doubt it would be anything that romantically frivolous with the Narcheska. How could she possibly think that you loved her, after the way she has treated you? And she's certainly given no sign of being fond of your company."

For a flashing moment, he stared at me with stricken eyes. Then he smoothed his expression so completely that I wondered if I had been mistaken. Surely the Prince could not be infatuated with the girl. They had nothing in common, and after he had accidentally insulted her, she had treated him as less than a whipped dog whining after her. I looked at him. A boy can believe almost anything when he is fifteen. Dutiful gave a slight snort. "No. She has certainly given me no sign of even tolerating my company. Think on it. She did not journey here with her father and uncle to meet us and offer us welcome to these islands. She is the one who thought up this ridiculous quest, but I notice she is nowhere in sight when it must be justified to her countrymen. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it has nothing to do with me proving my love for her, or even proving my courage. Perhaps all along it was only to present a stumbling block to our marriage." In a glum voice, he added, "Perhaps she hopes I'll die in the attempt."

"If we press forward with the task, it may block more than your marriage. It may send both our countries back to war."

Chade entered on those words. He looked both worried and weary. He cast a disparaging look around the small chamber and observed, "Well, I see Thick has been afforded a chamber almost as lush as that allotted to Prince Dutiful and me. Is there anything to eat and drink?"

"Nothing I'd recommend," I observed.

"Fish and grease cakes," Prince Dutiful offered.

Chade winced. "Is that what the local market offers? I'll send a man to bring us provisions from the ship. Foreign food will not ride well with me after this day. Come. Let us allow Thick some rest." He spoke over his shoulder as he led us through the connecting door to the Prince's room. As he sat down on Dutiful's bed, he added, "I do not approve of your putting the Skill to such a low use, Fitz. And yet, I must admit, you extricated us from a difficult situation. Please consult with me before you use it in such a way again."

It was both a rebuke and a compliment. I nodded, but Dutiful snorted. "Consult with you you? Am not I to have any say in these matters?"

Chade recovered well. "Of course you are. I am merely conveying to Fitz that in matters of diplomacy, he should not a.s.sume that he knows best which course we should set."

The Prince opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment there came a rap at the hall door. At a gesture from Chade, I retreated to Thick's room, drew the connecting door nearly closed, and stood at an angle that allowed me to view a slice of the room without being easily observed. Chade lifted his voice and asked, "Who is there?"

The visitor interpreted that as permission to enter. The door opened, and as I set my muscles in readiness, Peottre Blackwater came in. He closed the door behind him, and then swept a Buckkeep bow to the Prince and Chade. "I have come to tell you that there is no need for you or any of your n.o.bles to venture forth in search of food and drink. It is the pleasure of Clans Boar and Narwhal to provide for you as generously as you did for our folk when we visited your Six Duchies."

The words were spoken perfectly. It was a well-rehea.r.s.ed speech. Chade's response was as practiced. "It is a gracious offer, but our people have already seen to their own provisions."

Peottre looked distinctly uncomfortable for a moment, but then admitted, "We have already informed your n.o.bles of our invitation, and are honored that all have accepted it."

Outwardly, both Chade and the Prince maintained a stiff silence, but the Prince's anguished worry rang in my mind. I should have cautioned all of them not to accept any offer of hospitality that was not conveyed through me. Will we be seen as weaklings now? I should have cautioned all of them not to accept any offer of hospitality that was not conveyed through me. Will we be seen as weaklings now?

Peottre's gaze moved worriedly from Chade's face to the Prince's. He seemed to sense he had misstepped. Then, "May I speak for a time with you?" he asked.

"Lord Blackwater, you are welcome to call upon me at any time," the Prince a.s.sured him reflexively.

A very slight smile twitched Peottre's face. "Well you know that I am no 'lord,' Prince Dutiful, but only a kaempra of the Narwhal Clan. And even as that, I stand in the Hetgurd a.s.sembly with no warriors at my back. They tolerate me more for the sake of my sister's husband, Arkon Bloodblade, than for any respect toward me. Our clan has fallen on very hard times in every way except the richness of our motherlands and the honor of our bloodlines."

I privately wondered in what other ways a clan could experience hardship, but Peottre was still speaking. "I was not unprepared for what we heard from the Hetgurd this afternoon. In truth, ever since the Narcheska proposed her challenge, I have expected it. Arkon Bloodblade too saw that there were those who would be disgruntled by the test she has proposed for the Prince. I wanted to tell you that we are not unprepared for this. We have made plans against it. The hospitality we offer, within this stronghouse, is but one safeguard we have put in place. We had hoped opposition would not be voiced so soon, nor by such a respected kaempra as the Eagle Kaempra. It is our great good fortune that the Bear Kaempra, who is allied with Boar, saw fit to dismiss the a.s.sembly so abruptly. Otherwise, discussion might have gone too far for us to mend it."

"You might have warned us of this opposition, Kaempra Peottre, before we faced the Hetgurd," Chade observed quietly, but the Prince cut through his words with "So you think it can be mended? How?"

I winced at his eagerness. Chade was right. The man deserved a rebuke for having led us into a trap, not an unquestioning acceptance of his aid in getting out of it.

"It will take time, but not too long-days rather than months. Since we returned from your country, we have spent much in both wealth and influence to buy allies. I speak bluntly, of course, of what cannot be openly acknowledged. Those who have agreed to support us must not swing too quickly to our side, but must seem to be persuaded by the arguments that Clan Boar will present in our favor. So, I wish to counsel you both to patience and to wariness while the Hetgurd is swayed."

"Wariness?" Chade queried sharply. a.s.sa.s.sins? a.s.sa.s.sins? His unspoken fear reached me clearly. His unspoken fear reached me clearly.

"This is not the right word," Peottre apologized. "Sometimes, it seems, what one language says in one word another has many for. I would ask you to be . . . not as seen. Not as visible. Not as easy to find or to speak to."

"Unavailable?" the Prince suggested.

Peottre smiled slightly and shrugged. "If that is how you would say it. We have a saying here, 'It is difficult to insult the man you don't speak to.' That is what I suggest. That the Fa.r.s.eer Buck Clan avoids giving offense by being . . . unavailable."

"While we trust Boar Clan to speak for us?" Chade asked. He allowed a trace of skepticism into his voice. "And what are we to do in the meanwhile?"

Peottre smiled. I was not in the best position to observe him, but I thought I had glimpsed a look of relief that we seemed inclined to accept his advice. "I would suggest that we remove you completely from Zylig. All expect that you will visit the mothershouse of the Narcheska. It was almost surprising to the Hetgurd that you came here first. So, I suggest that tomorrow you board the Boar vessel Tusker Tusker and sail with us to Wuislington, the motherlands of Narwhal Clan. There, you shall be welcomed and provided for, just as you welcomed and provided for us at Buckkeep. I have reported to my mothershouse of your customs in this regard. They find them unusual, but will concede the fairness of feeding you as you fed us." and sail with us to Wuislington, the motherlands of Narwhal Clan. There, you shall be welcomed and provided for, just as you welcomed and provided for us at Buckkeep. I have reported to my mothershouse of your customs in this regard. They find them unusual, but will concede the fairness of feeding you as you fed us."

He could not conceal his hope as he offered this suggestion. His eagerness alarmed me. Did he shoo us away from danger, or lure us into it? I felt the same query cross Chade's mind as he said, "But we have only arrived here today, and we are weary from the sea. The Prince's man, Thick, does not fare well on the waves. He has taken ill and needs his rest. We cannot think of leaving tomorrow."

I knew that we could, and that he was considering the cost of it even now. He but said these words to Peottre to see what the man would reply. For a moment, I almost pitied the Outislander. He could not know that Chade and the Prince were sharing their thoughts, let alone that I stood around the corner not only hearing his every word but also supporting their observations with mine. I saw dismay blossom behind his eyes, and confirmed to both Dutiful and Chade that I believed his discomfort was genuine as he exclaimed, "But you must! Leave the man here with someone to tend to him. He will be safe here in the Boar stronghouse. To do murder in a clan's stronghouse is a terrible insult to their mothershouse and the Boar Clan is powerful. No one will consider it."

"But they might consider it if he ventured outside the stronghouse? Or if I went out tonight, seeking a meal perhaps?" The velvet courtesy of Chade's tone did not quite mask the razor edge of his question.

From my concealment, I could see that Peottre regretted his hasty words. He considered lying and then boldly pushed that aside in favor of blunt truth. "You must have known it could come to this. You are not fools, either of you. I have seen you study men and balance the bargain you offer this one against what that one desires. I have seen you offer both honey and the spur to move others to your will. You would have come here knowing what Icefyre means to some of us. You would have antic.i.p.ated this opposition."

I felt Chade caution Dutiful to silence as he spoke out severely on his behalf. "Opposition, yes. Even a muttering of war. A threat of murder to the Prince's man, or the Prince himself, no. Dutiful is the sole heir to the Fa.r.s.eer crown. You are not a fool, either. You know what that means. We have extended him as far into danger as we will risk him in allowing him to embark on this ridiculous quest. Now you admit that murder may hang over him, simply because he seeks to keep his word to your sister-daughter. The stakes for this alliance have become too high, Peottre. I will not wager the Prince's life for the sake of this betrothal. The Narcheska's demand has never made sense to me. Give us one good reason why we should proceed."

The Prince was seething. His Skilled objections to Chade's high-handedness drowned out my own thoughts. I thought I knew what Chade was doing, yet the only emotion I could experience was the Prince's affront that Chade would imply he would retreat from his word. Even Thick turned over with a heavy moan under the Prince's Skill-onslaught.

Peottre's glance darted to the Prince. Even without the Skill, he could read a young man's spirit. "Because Prince Dutiful had said he will do it. To back away from his word now and flee home would make him seem both cowardly and weak. It might stave off war, but it would invite raiding again. You know our saying, I am sure: 'A coward owns nothing for long.'"

In the Six Duchies we say, "Fear is the only thing that a man cannot take from a coward." I supposed that it meant the same thing. That if our prince showed a cowardly nature, so all the Six Duchies would be judged, and the Outislanders would see us as ripe to be raided again.

Silence! Glare all you wish, but still your tongue! Chade's command to Dutiful was as strong a bit of Skilling as I had ever experienced from him. Even more astonishing was the private command he arrowed solely to me. Chade's command to Dutiful was as strong a bit of Skilling as I had ever experienced from him. Even more astonishing was the private command he arrowed solely to me. Watch Peottre's face, Fitz Watch Peottre's face, Fitz. I felt what it cost Chade in strength, yet he kept his voice steady as he said coolly, "Kaempra Narwhal. You mistake me. I did not say the Prince would go back on his word to set the dragon's head before your narcheska. He has given his word, and a Fa.r.s.eer does not go back on his word. But once he has done that deed, I see no need to waste my prince's bloodline on a woman who would connive to send him into such danger, from her own people as well as from a dragon. He will do this, but we will feel no duty to wed him to the Narcheska afterward."

I had done as Chade bade me, but there was no reading the succession of expressions that flitted over Peottre's visage. Astonishment, of course, followed by confoundment. I knew what Chade desired to discover. What did Peottre and the Narcheska seek most strongly: the death of the dragon or an alliance with the Fa.r.s.eers? Yet we were no closer to an answer when Peottre stammered out, "But is not that what the Six Duchies most desires? To create goodwill and an alliance by this marriage?"

"The Narcheska is not the only woman of high stature in the Out Islands," Chade replied dismissively. Dutiful had grown very still. I could sense the racing of his thoughts, but not hear them. "Certainly Prince Dutiful can find a woman from amongst your people who does not frivolously risk his life. And if not, there are other alliances to be had. Do you think Chalced would not value such an arrangement with the Six Duchies? Here is an old Six Duchies saying for you to ponder: 'There is more than one fish in the sea.'"

Peottre was still struggling to grasp the sudden change in situation. "But why risk the Prince's life in slaying the dragon if there is no reward for doing so?" he asked bewilderedly.

It was finally Dutiful's turn to speak. Chade fed him the words, but I think the Prince would have known them for himself even without the prompting. "To remind the Out Islands that what a Fa.r.s.eer says he will do, he does. A few years have pa.s.sed since my father roused his Elderling allies and destroyed most of this city. Perhaps the best way for us to stave off war between the Six Duchies and the Out Islands is not with a wedding. Perhaps the best way is to remind your countrymen, again, that what we say we will do, we do." The Prince's voice was soft and even. He spoke, not man to man, but as a king.

Even a warrior such as Peottre was not immune to such an a.s.sumption. He took less offense at my young prince's words than he would if one of his fellow kaempras had spoken so to him. I saw him uncertain of his footing, yet I could not have said if he was dismayed at the thought that his sister-daughter might not be wed to the Prince, or relieved. "Truly, it must seem that we have resorted to trickery in tempting you to swear to such a task. And now that you have discovered the full import of your promise, you must feel twice tricked. It is a hero's task that Elliania has laid upon you. You have sworn to do it. Did I desire to indulge in trickery, I would remind you that you had given your word, as well, to wed her. I might ask if you were not, as a Fa.r.s.eer, bound as tightly there to do as you had said you would do. But I release you from that without quibbling. You feel yourself betrayed by us. I cannot deny that it appears that way. I am certain that you recognize that if you perform this task and then refuse the Narcheska's hand, you will shame us in proportion to the glory that you will have won for yourself. Her name will become a word for the faithless trickery of a woman. I do not relish such a prospect. Nonetheless, I bow to your right to take such a stance. Nor will I bring blood-vengeance against you, but will hold my sword and acknowledge that you had a right to feel yourself wronged."

From my place of concealment, I shook my head. What Peottre said obviously filled him with great emotion, yet I knew I was missing the full import of his words. Our traditions were simply too different. One thing I did know, and an instant later the Prince echoed my thought even as he looked at Peottre consideringly. Well, I have not bettered the situation. We both stand affronted by the other's behavior now. How can I improve this? Draw a sword and challenge him right now? Well, I have not bettered the situation. We both stand affronted by the other's behavior now. How can I improve this? Draw a sword and challenge him right now?

Don't be a fool! Chade's rebuke was as sharp as if Dutiful had been serious. Chade's rebuke was as sharp as if Dutiful had been serious. Accept his offer of transport aboard the Accept his offer of transport aboard the Tusker Tusker to Wuislington. We knew we would have to make that journey; as well to appear to concede it to him. Perhaps we may learn more when we are there. This riddle must be unraveled, and I would have you away from the Hetgurd and any a.s.sa.s.sination attempts until I know more. to Wuislington. We knew we would have to make that journey; as well to appear to concede it to him. Perhaps we may learn more when we are there. This riddle must be unraveled, and I would have you away from the Hetgurd and any a.s.sa.s.sination attempts until I know more.

Prince Dutiful lowered his head slightly. I knew it was at Chade's suggestion, but it must have appeared to Peottre that he perhaps regretted the tenor of his earlier words. "We are pleased to accept your hospitality this night, Peottre Blackwater. And we will take pa.s.sage on the Tusker Tusker tomorrow, to Wuislington." tomorrow, to Wuislington."

The relief that Peottre felt at Dutiful's words was palpable. "I myself will vouch for the safety of your folk while we are gone from them."

Dutiful shook his head slowly. His mind was racing. If Peottre were seeking to separate him from his guard and advisers, he would not allow it. "My n.o.bles will, of course, remain here. As they are not of the Fa.r.s.eer line, I suspect that they will not be seen as of my clan and appropriate targets for vengeance. But certain of my entourage must accompany me. My guard, and my advisers. I am sure that you understand."

What of Thick? He is still very sick. I asked the question urgently. I asked the question urgently.

I cannot leave you behind, and I will not trust him to the dubious care he would receive from another. Hard as it will be for him, he must travel with us. He is a member of my Skill coterie. Besides. Think of the havoc he could wreak in our absence did he go back to his old nightmares.

"Fa.r.s.eer Prince of the Six Duchies, in that I think we can accommodate you." In his eagerness to be certain of our a.s.sent, Peottre almost babbled the words.

The conversation had moved into safer channels. In a short time, Peottre escorted them downstairs to a meal. Chade loudly observed to the Prince that they must arrange that a substantial meal be sent upstairs to Thick, to hasten his recovery. Peottre a.s.sured them that this would be done, and then I heard them leave. When they were clear of the Prince's room, I let out my pent breath, rolled my shoulders, and moved to check on Thick. He slept on, peacefully unaware that on the morrow he would be carted off to yet another miserable sea voyage. I looked down on him and sent calming thoughts into his dreams. Then I sat down by the door and awaited, without enthusiasm, whatever Outislander victuals would be sent up to me.

chapter 9.

MOTHERSHOUSE.

Bowsrin was kaempra for the Badger Clan at that time. His ships were fleet, his warriors strong, and he raided well, bringing back brandy and silver and tools of iron. He was nearly a hero before he shamed his clan.He desired a woman of the Gull Clan. He went to her mothershouse with gifts, but she did not accept them. Her sister did, and he lay with her, but it was not enough for him. He went away and raided for a year and returned to the Badger mothershouse with much wealth, but no pride in his heart, for he was eaten up with unworthy l.u.s.t.His warriors were good fighters but foolish in heart, for they listened to his command when he took them to raid the Gull Clan mothershouse. Their warriors were away and the women in the field when Bowsrin's ships came to their sh.o.r.e. Kaempra Bowsrin and his warriors killed their old men and some of their nearly grown boys, and took the women on the bare earth, despite how they fought. Some died rather than be forced. Bowsrin stayed there for seventeen days, and every day that he was there, he forced the Gull Clan daughter Serferet to accept his body. Finally she died of it. Then they left, to return to their own mothershouse.The moon changed and then the Badger mothershouse received tidings of what their kaempra had done. They were shamed. They drove their men from their lands, telling them never to return. Seventeen of their sons the women gave to the Gull Clan, to do with whatever they wished, in atonement for Bowsrin's evil. And the mothershouses of all clans banned Bowsrin and his men from the land, and any man who offered them any comfort was to share their fate.In less than a year, the sea ate him and his men. And Clan Gull used his forfeited sister-sons, not as slaves, but as warriors to defend their sh.o.r.es and as men to raise up more sons and daughters for Gull Clan. And the women of the mothershouses were at peace with one another again.- OUTISLANDER CAUTIONARY TALE, FROM BARD OMBIR OUTISLANDER CAUTIONARY TALE, FROM BARD OMBIR The next day we took ship for the island of Mayle. Prince Dutiful and Chade met briefly with the convened Hetgurd to announce this decision to them. The Prince gave a brief speech in which he said he had chosen to recognize the conflict as a Hetgurd matter. As a man, he could not call back the word he had given, but he would give them the chance to discuss this challenge and reach a consensus on what their will was. He spoke with dignity and calm, Chade told me later, and his willingness to concede that it was a matter only the Hetgurd could settle seemed to soothe many of the ruffled feathers. Even Eagle spoke well of it, saying that a man who was willing to face a challenge squarely was a man anyone could respect, regardless of where he was birthed.

The Prince's n.o.bles received the tidings of his departure with varying degrees of surprise and dismay. It was conveyed to them as a slight change in our schedule. Most had not planned to accompany the Prince to his fiancee's mothershouse; they had been told back in Buckkeep that such a large delegation of folk would not be easily welcomed there. They had expected to stay in Zylig and establish connections for future trade negotiations. For the most part, they were content to remain on Skyrene and court trading partners. Arkon Bloodblade, kaempra of the Boar Clan and the Narcheska's father, quietly a.s.sured us that he would remain with his warriors to ensure their stay was pleasant, and to further advance our cause with the Hetgurd.

Chade told me later that he had strongly suggested to our n.o.bles that they continue to enjoy the hospitality of the Boar stronghouse rather than investigate the hospitality of the local inns. He also suggested that they display their own heraldic devices when they went out and about amongst the Outislanders, just as the clansmen sported their animal sigils. I doubt that he told the Six Duchies n.o.bles there would be more safety for them if they were not seen as part of the Fa.r.s.eer Buck Clan, as the Outislanders thought of the Prince's family.

The Tusker Tusker was an Outislander vessel, far less comfortable than the was an Outislander vessel, far less comfortable than the Maiden's Chance Maiden's Chance had been. She bobbed more in the waves, I noted as I watched the others board, but her shallower draft was more suitable for the interisland channels that we would be navigating than the had been. She bobbed more in the waves, I noted as I watched the others board, but her shallower draft was more suitable for the interisland channels that we would be navigating than the Maiden' Maiden's deeper hull. Some of the channels, I was told, were barely pa.s.sable at a low tide, and during certain tides that came only once or twice a year a man could walk from island to island on foot. We would traverse several of these channels before once more crossing open water to the Narcheska's home island and her village of Wuislington.

It was a cruel thing to do to Thick. I let him sleep as long as possible before I awakened him to a hot meal of familiar foods brought from the Maiden's Chance Maiden's Chance. I urged him to eat and drink well and spoke only of pleasant things. I concealed from him that we would be embarking on yet another voyage. He was unhappy about having to wash and dress, wanting only to go back to his bed. I longed to be able to let him, for I was convinced it would have been best for his health. But we could not safely leave him behind in Zylig.

Even when we stood on the docks with the Prince's guardsmen, his Wit coterie, Chade, and Prince Dutiful, watching the cargo of bridal gifts being loaded onto the Tusker, Tusker, Thick thought we had only come out on a morning's stroll. The boat was tied alongside the dock. At least, I told myself grimly, boarding would present no problem. I was wrong. He watched the others walk up the gangway and on board with no qualms, but when it was his turn, he stopped dead beside me. "No." Thick thought we had only come out on a morning's stroll. The boat was tied alongside the dock. At least, I told myself grimly, boarding would present no problem. I was wrong. He watched the others walk up the gangway and on board with no qualms, but when it was his turn, he stopped dead beside me. "No."

"Don't you want to see the Outislander ship, Thick? Everyone else has gone on board to look around. I've heard it is very different from our ship. Let's go and see it."

He looked at me for a moment in silence. "No," he said. His little eyes were beginning to narrow in suspicion.

Further deception was useless. "Thick, we have to go on board. It's going to sail soon, to take the Prince to the Narcheska's home. We have to go with him."

Around us, activity on the docks had halted. All else had been in readiness, and all the others were aboard. The ship waited only for Thick and me. Men from other ships and pa.s.sersby stared at Thick's strangeness avidly, with varying degrees of revulsion on their faces. Sailors from the Tusker Tusker waited to haul the planks of the walkway on board and cast off lines. They stared at us in annoyance, waiting. I sensed from them that we humiliated them by our very presence. Why could not we get on board and out of sight belowdecks? Time to act. I took his upper arm firmly. "Thick, we have to get on board now." waited to haul the planks of the walkway on board and cast off lines. They stared at us in annoyance, waiting. I sensed from them that we humiliated them by our very presence. Why could not we get on board and out of sight belowdecks? Time to act. I took his upper arm firmly. "Thick, we have to get on board now."

"No!" He bellowed the word suddenly as he slapped at me wildly, and both his fear and his fury struck me in a wild wave of Skill. I staggered aside from him, bringing a general guffaw from those who had halted to watch us. In truth, it must have looked strange to them, that the petulant slap of a half-wit had nearly driven me to my knees.

I hate to recall what followed. I had no choice but to force him. But Thick's terror left him no choice either. We fought it out on the docks, my physical size and strength and the stoutness of my well-practiced walls against his Skill and awkward fighting abilities.

Both Chade and Prince Dutiful were instantly aware of my dilemma, of course. I sensed the Prince trying to reach Thick and calm him, but the red haze of his anger acted as efficiently as any Skill-wall. I could not feel Chade's presence at all; I think his effort of the day before had drained him. The first time I seized Thick with the intent of simply lifting him off his feet and carrying him aboard, his Skill flooded into me. The skin-to-skin contact left me vulnerable. It was his fear that he flung at me, and I nearly wet myself with the terror he woke in me. Ancient memories of moments when death's jaws had closed around me rushed through me. I felt the teeth of a Forged One sink into my shoulder and an arrow thudded home in my back. I had lifted him to my shoulder, and I sagged to my knees, under the weight of his terror rather than his body. This elicited a fresh roar of laughter from the onlookers. Thick broke free of me and then stood there, crying out wildly and wordlessly, at bay, unable to flee, for now a circle of jeering men ringed us.