One of the Keep men spread his hands. “It’s more of the same, I expect. All any of us knows is what we told you, out there. Old tales from the days when Lord Macsen first began to build here, about caves and the monsters that live in ’em. Stories all differ about the size of the caves, where exactly they are, what lives there and why. The only thing they all say is that if you travel far enough along the east road, you’ll find them. Or the creatures that live there will find you.”
“Don’t forget the other tale,” another man said. “Those traders who came from foreign lands east of here. The castellan and his advisors talk to any strangers who come in from distant lands, and it’s certain they talked to those men.”
“That’s better than a story passed through half a dozen mouths,” Eddis said with a shrug. “Though it would be better to my thinking if I’d had the chance to talk to those men myself.” She looked up as Jerdren came hurrying through the gates. He was smiling widely.
“Found him!” he announced, “and he said he’d be happy to ask. Just asked that we give him time for that, then follow. If no one minds?”
Eddis cast up her eyes, shrugged.
“Well, then?” He started off, but Blorys caught hold of his arm, dragging him to a halt. “What?”
“Brother, give the poor merchant time to reach the Guild Hall, will you? Maybe even ask the favor?”
“Oh, right. Sure.” Jerdren looked around, waved at a clutch of people who were smiling at him and talking in low voices, finally strode over to the fountain, and hoisted his backside onto the rim, one leg jiggling. The rest of the company followed. Eddis settled cross-legged on the paving. “Now, I say first thing is, we separate fact from tales. Best we can, of course. Any argument?”
“What—you’re not going to demand we choose to go right now?” Eddis asked dryly.
“Well, sure I am. Why not? Even if we didn’t find these caves or anything out there to fight, we’d still get decent equipment and provisioning out of it,” Jerdren replied promptly. “C’mon, Eddis, why not? If we do find caves and monsters and all that—well, we get better at what we do, we probably find a lot of gold and gems they’ve stolen from travelers, and we come back heroes.” He waited. She cast up her eyes. “Hey, Eddis, same terms as this last time—equals in everything, huh? Wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“The pay was all right,” she said. “Though I’m not sure I like Ferec’s idea of a reward. Say we did find caves and all. Say we did win through. I don’t want to think what the man would consider a proper reward for that. It doesn’t matter, because until I know more than I do right now, I’m not jumping either way.”
“She’s right, Brother.” Blorys settled down next to her. “If we’re even going to think about fighting orcs and worse things, we need to have some idea what to prepare for. We lost men on this last journey. This one—well, if we underestimated the enemy, none of us might come back.” He glanced at Eddis. “I wouldn’t like that much.”
“You need to talk to the castellan tomorrow,” Eddis told Jerdren. “Find out what they actually know, if they talked to those foreigners, what they learned. Anything that’s fact. The rest of us can split up tomorrow, talk to people, especially anyone like us who’s come in with a caravan. Maybe someone should visit the chapel. Didn’t Ferec say the cleric would help us? They should have records, if there’s anything known.”
“Don’t forget the Guild Hall,” M’Baddah said. “They also keep records, and they learn much from the merchants who come here.”
Jerdren nodded. His leg was still jiggling up and down. “We can work that out tonight.” He looked around, up at the sky. “Been long enough, hasn’t it?”
“May as well go,” Eddis said and pushed to her feet.
She’d half expected the man’s excitement—rudeness, to her thinking—to get them turned away. If the merchant had even asked, of course. The man might feel Jers had put him in a difficult position. But as they walked back around the inn and along the stables and barracks, she could see the hall and light shining through an open door. Two tall men-at-arms flanked the door, and just within, clearly awaiting them, was an elderly but vigorous-looking man with long, white hair and very blue eyes.
He smiled and inclined his head as they came up. “I am the master of this house. Welcome. I recognize each of you from your entry to the Keep yesterday morning. You are Jerdren, you Eddis, and these the men and elves who went with you after the bandits.”
Eddis wasn’t quite sure what the protocol was. She bowed her head much as the master had, as he stepped aside to let them enter a hallway that stretched to both sides.
“The hide merchant tells me you need a quiet place to talk for a time. I fear we cannot offer you strong drink, or indeed food at this hour, but—”
“We need nothing, save a quiet place to talk,” Blorys assured him.
“That you shall have.” He stepped back to let the two men-at-arms lead the way down the hall and through a door. The passage here was narrow, and nearly as long as the first, with a flight of stairs at its end. The steps curved out of sight to the right.
It was dark here, except for the master’s lamp behind them and another carried by one of the armsmen. At the top of the stairs, another empty hall with a closed door at its end. One of their guides opened the door for them, then the two men-at-arms went back down the hall and could be heard clattering down the stone steps. The master remained while they were shown into yet another hallway and from there into a long, windowless chamber. A narrow bed, a desk and several chairs were the only furnishings. A fire burned low in the fireplace along one wall. The second-floor guard knelt to build up the fire. The master gazed around the room, nodded as it apparently met his standards, then went back to the door.
“If there is anything you need, these men will be nearby,” he said. “I will see that fresh water and some fruit are sent up for you.”
“Ah, sir,” Eddis said, ducking her head politely again. “One additional favor, if we may. It’s said that your people may have some knowledge of these caves—caverns?”
“Not so much knowledge as rumor,” the master said. “But what we have, my clerks will find for you. I fear you will need to read it here, as we have no spare copies of such old records.”
“That will be acceptable,” Blorys said. “Our thanks, sir. And when we’re ready to leave?”
“The guards will escort you down and into the open once more.”
He was gone moments later, the door quietly closing behind him and the two guardsmen. Jerdren eyed the door thoughtfully, finally shrugged.
“We’re speaking no secrets here, small matter if anyone listens, and we won’t be constantly interrupted, unlike any other place I can think of within these walls. Good enough, I’d say.” He glanced at his brother, then at Eddis. “I suppose you two want to wait for whatever the man’s clerks can turn up?”
“Not necessarily,” Blorys said. “We can talk about it. I’m not going to be swayed by the castellan’s fine speech and all that cheering, though, Jers. I know—that wasn’t all that took your eye, it was the adventure itself. All the same. I want as much idea of what we’re getting in for as we had this last time. Makes it easier to decide on who and what we need to take.”
“It’s vital that we know as much as we can,” Eddis said evenly. “Not knowing could get us all killed, and there is nothing heroic about foolishly throwing your life away.”
They talked generally, the Keep men reminding each other of various rumors they’d heard over the years. Most of it was like the things they’d mentioned in the inner bailey after the feast, Eddis thought. Eventually, the men ran out of what they’d heard. Then one of the hunters tugged at his ear.
“Don’t know what reminded me of it. There was a feller who came through here—must be three years ago, now. Claimed to be a monster-fighter, just come down from wiping out a clan of kobolds up north somewheres.”