Lucy recovered from the shock of the moment and thrust herself away from Ulin. “Where have you been all day? I was worried sick!” she shouted at him over the hubbub in the inn yard. In a blink she switched her anger to the old mayor and added, “And you! What possessed you to tell that harpy I was your new sheriff? If she comes back here, she’ll expect me to be fulfilling my duties. I didn’t accept your offer!”
“We know that, dear,” Mayor Efrim replied. “I was simply trying to give you an official capacity that would allow me to offer her a bribe. We do it all the time.” His rheumy eyes glinted with a humorous twinkle. “The trick to dealing with those Dark Knights is to act as harmless and ineffectual as possible, then they don’t bother us very much.” He chuckled. “That’s why the council made me mayor.”
Lucy drew back and put her hands on her hips. “And is that why you want me to be sheriff? Because I look harmless and ineffectual?”
Aylesworthy tucked his hands in his belt and shook his head. “That was part of it. That Knight Officer you just met is one of the most arrogant and condescending harpies you will ever meet. If she hates men, she hates women more and considers any woman out of the Knighthood to be little more than trash.”
“But we know better,” Saorsha told her. “This town believes you to be fair-minded, courageous, and best of all, a sorceress. And this town is all that matters.”
Ulin crossed his arms and asked, “Where did you get that bill of sale?”
Mayor Efrim grasped the paper between thumb and forefinger and gently waved it in the air. “The convenience of living in a town that collects many talents: false coiners, herbalists, con-men, pick-pockets, and forgerers. There is a talented young man, part elf I think, who can copy anything. He did this for us yesterday. We were going to give it to you for that horse as soon as it was convenient.”
“You mean as soon as I said yes,” Lucy remarked. “I feel like I’m being herded into a pen.”
Saorsha wiped her hands on the coarse apron tied around her waist and patted Lucy on the arm. Her smile was genuine when she offered it to the girl. “You have every right to refuse. We cannot force your hand, nor do we want to. A reluctant, resentful sheriff is no good to us. But please, Lucy, we need you. Just for a little while. Even if we can’t find your father or the money, there are still so many ways you could help.”
“To make amends, you mean,” Lucy grumbled.
Challie stamped out of the inn into the yard to join the conversation. “To be honest, Lucy, we did not think about the sheriff’s position at the time I left to find you. That idea came after the ambush on the caravan. When you handled the draconians and then the brigands so easily, we jumped at the chance to make you the offer.” She made a soft sound like a derisive snort. “In this town we take what we can get when we can get it. Even for a few weeks.”
Lucy looked at Ulin, her round face filled with confusion, but he did not know what to tell her. As much as he wanted to protect her, she was a grown woman and not yet married to him. Ultimately the decision was hers.
Lucy dropped her gaze to Challie, who merely shrugged, then she looked at the three town councilors and the kender who watched her hopefully. The whole idea seemed preposterous. What did she know about being a sheriff? She had come to this town to identify her father’s body, not capture brigands, settle fist fights, and face dragons. Yet hadn’t she already killed two draconians and been responsible for the capture of four brigands? She hadn’t been looking for trouble, but it had still found her. What if she could use her reputation to help these people, even for just a few weeks? How hard could it be? Her rational mind told her: Don’t be absurd. You’re not a law officer or a trained knight or anyone else truly capable of handling this job. True, her heart replied, but what a challenge!
Most of what she had said to Ulin that stormy night on the freighter had been a joke, but she had to admit to herself that the sentiments were drawn from the truth in her heart. She did miss the excitement and challenge of her studies in magic. Teaching children by day and serving beer at night did not compare to the fascinating and sometimes dangerous art of wielding magic. There was, too, a small and persistent part of her mind that trembled at the thought of marrying a Majere. What if she wasn’t worthy? How could she, a mere student and babysitter, hope to compare with someone like Ulin? She wanted to do something important, something that would prove to herself, if no one else, that she could be capable and strong enough to hold her head up among Caramon, Tika, Palin, Usha, Linsha, and most of all, Ulin. Perhaps this unlikely offer from the Flotsam City Council was what she needed.
As for her father, she was honorable enough to do her best to alleviate the consequences of his crime, but in the end, if circumstances came down to a final confrontation with Fyremantle or Malys, she would not endanger herself or Ulin. She owed him that much.
“I have several conditions,” she said at last.
Ulin swallowed a groan.
“Name them,” Aylesworthy assented.
“I want the authority to punish offenders as I see fit. I want the authority to hire deputies. I want your complete support and that substantial fee you mentioned. Last, if you are going to keep me busy here, I want you to make every effort to find my father. He deserves to be hanged.”
The councilmembers looked relieved. “That’s fair,” Mayor Efrim agreed.
Ulin drew a deep breath and resigned himself to Lucy’s decision. In his head he knew she was right, but his heart quailed at the danger she could be putting herself into. He put his hands on Lucy’s shoulder and drew her close. “I have a condition of my own to add,” he said, staring into her beautiful green eyes. “If you’re sure you want to do this, I will do everything I can to find your father, but I want your promise that we will leave for home after the festival whether I have found him or not.”
Lucy spit in her palm and held out her hand to him. “Deal.”
They shook on the solemn promise then turned to the trio of elders. The offer was accepted and the terms agreed upon.
Much to Lucy’s droll amazement, she was now the Sheriff of Flotsam.
CHAPTER TEN
It did not take long for news of Lucy’s appointment to spread through the town. As soon as day broke, a line of petitioners and curiosity seekers began to form at the Jetties’s front door. It grew progressively longer with every passing minute. Master Aylesworthy opened his doors early to the let the crowd into the common room, but he refused to let anyone talk to Lucy.
“In good time, my friends,” he told them all while his serving girls sold biscuits and cold ham and mugs of weak ale.
Councilwoman Saorsha and Mayor Efrim were more informative. They arrived in Saorsha’s pony cart two hours after sunrise just as the crowd in the inn was starting to grow restive. The councilwoman swept into the common room, Mayor Efrim trailing in her wake.
“You may see our new sheriff this afternoon at the Sheriff’s Office,” she informed everyone. “Not until then.” Over the groans and protests she had to shout to be heard. “We still have to swear her in. At noon on the steps of the city hall.”
Grumbling loudly, the crowd dispersed into the hot street until the common room was virtually empty, except for the three elders and two serving girls.
Pease burst in, a streak of boundless energy. “She’s up! She’s up! Challie says they’d like a tray.”
“Invite her to join us in here,” Alyesworthy instructed the kender.
“Them, you mean,” Mayor Efrim said gently.
“Yes, yes, of course. The whole lot.”
The kender took that, of course, to mean himself, too, and as soon as Lucy, Challie, and Ulin entered the common room and sat at Master Aylesworthy’s table, Pease grabbed the chair closest to Lucy and joined in.