The swordsman had scarcely turned his head when Eudoric hurled him prone. Bounding to his feet, Eudoric stamped with all his force on the man's sword hand. Snatching up the weapon, he sent a quick thrust into the fallen one's body and faced the remaining attackers. These twain backed away, took to their heels, and vanished into the darkness, while the man whom Eudoric had sworded heaved himself slowly to his feet and staggered off, holding his side and groaning.
"Should have kill him," said the small man whom Eudoric had rescued. Eudoric recognized the singsong accent as that of the Serican sage, Doctor Tsudai.
"To slay a wounded man is hardly—well ..."
Tsudai shook his head. "Ye Westerners are all sentimentalists at heart. Ye understand not. If he recover and learn who stuck him, he'll seek to waylay you for vengeance. Furthermore, had we his corse, we might find upon it evidence of him who set whose bravos upon this person."
"Who might hire these cullions?"
"This one makes no accusation without evidence. Still, it is known that the Duke of Dorelia bears this insect no love, for having exposed his plot to murder King Clothar."
"And I've been hired to pass through the Duchy of Dorelia!" said Eudoric with a grunt. "By the Divine Pair, let's hope none of those fellows saw me well enough to know me again."
The Serican spread his hands. "Ye are young knight from the Empire, who would extend coach line hither, so-not-so?"
"Aye, sir. May I lead you to my room, to rest and refresh yourself?"
"Nay, thank you. From Secretary's chamber, this despicable one returned to own cabinet, gathered belongings, and set out for his humble home. In the excitement of attack, this stupid one called for help in his own language."
"If you are a wizard, why not summon your demon and set him upon those knaves?"
"Tried but forgot it was the demon's day of recreation. Penalty of age is forgetfulness. Wouldst come to my slatternly dwelling? Shall feel more at ease with a swordsman by side. Then, belike, ye might deign to meet repulsive wife and degenerate children."
"I shall be honored," said Eudoric, suppressing a smile at the Serican's extravagant self-deprecation.
Tsudai's wife proved not at all repulsive, and the children seemed remarkably bright, clean, and well-behaved. Eudoric tried to pump Tsudai about Princess Yolanda. But the seer said he had settled in Letitia only after the King's sister had departed. Further questions about Yolanda, Tsudai turned aside with elaborate politeness. He brought the conversation around to Serican business practices, a topic that his guest found completely absorbing.
"For a private enterprise like yours," said Tsudai, "we have a device called hong. Suppose three men wish to start a business, but each one has different sum to invest. So they print, let us say, twelve certificates, each for ownership of one-twelfth of the hong. Say, one buy five shares, one four, one three. When business make profit, the profit is shared in proportion to holdings, and votes by shareholders for mandarins of company are likewise weighted."
Eudoric listened keenly. "What if the company go bankrupt?"
"Then the owners of shares may lose their shares, given to creditors; but are not otherwise liable. Makes sale of shares much easier."
"In other words, such a company acts as a human being, with the same powers, restrictions, and liabilities?"
"Yea; one may call it an artificial person."
"I see possibilities," said Eudoric, "but our laws would need revision. Now, Doctor, canst forecast my future?"
"Only in most general way, honorable sir. This disgusting worm can read something of character in my crystal and draw inferences. For ensample, if ye be an inveterate gambler, ye will surely end in want; if ye be a constant quarreler, chances are overpowering that ye will die by violence. But precisely when and how, I know not.
"When this one looked through crystal, he saw that ye had set out from home in hope of wiving, your previous courtships having gone awry. I marked how your interest quickened at talk of the King's sister."
"What think you of my chances—not perforce with the King's sister, but with womankind in general? How happy shall I be if I ever do find a mate?"
"As to that, ye shall probably attain your goal, albeit with toils and troubles. At least, when ye do wive, she may be sure of your fidelity."
"How know you that?" asked Eudoric.
Tsudai chuckled. "Because ye lack the charm and surface gallantries that oft beguile women, wherefore they'll give you scant encouragement to stray. Few lusty young men would count this quality a virtue; but it will natheless save a mort of grief. Your chosen one may find you less enchanting company than a hero of romance; but she can ever rely upon you. And that, with advancing years, becomes the thickest strand in marital tie." He rose. "Sir Eudoric, this creature owes you his worthless life. When in dire strait, be free to seek my ineffectual aid."
Tsudai sent Eudoric off with two bottles of Franconia's finest vintage wrapped in his cloak. Slightly the worse for wine, Eudoric weaved his way back to his room. He tried to compensate for his tipsiness by gripping the robber's sword and darting suspicious glances into every dark recess. But nothing happened.
While traversing the lands of the Duke of Dorelia, Eudoric tried to be quietly inconspicuous and to move in the casual, leisurely manner of one to whom the journey was a timeworn tale. He expected at every step to be stopped by the men of the Duke, eager to lay their hands on a hireling of the Duke's inimical suzerain, King Clothar. Eudoric rehearsed the speeches that he would make to convince his captors that he was nothing more than a stagecoach owner looking for means of expansion. He ruthlessly practised Forthred in local manners and customs, so that the apprentice should not draw unwanted attention by flagrantly foreign behavior.
As things turned out, Eudoric's careful precautions proved superfluous. Nobody questioned them. Indeed, nobody showed any interest in a pair of quiet, orderly, taciturn travelers.
At the Armorian border, a customs inspector went through Eudoric's baggage until he came to the remaining bottle of golden Franconian wine, the gift of Tsudai the Serican. Eudoric had saved this bottle so that he and Forthred could celebrate reaching Armoria. The inspector blew a whistle, and two mailed customs men-at-arms bustled up. The inspector cried in Armorian:
"Arrest these men! They seek to smuggle a forbidden fluid into the land!"
"Eh?" said Eudoric. "Oh, you mean that bottle of wine." He spoke Helladic, which the inspector understood. "I had forgotten your law—"
"Ignorance of the law is no excuse!" barked the inspector. "Take them to prison—"
"Now see here!" blustered Eudoric. "I am no mere vagabond, but a leiger from His Majesty the King of Franconia to His Majesty the King of Armoria—"
"Ha! A likely story! Where is your escort? Where are your credentials? Your letters under the royal seal?"
"I was sent forth with only the passport you hold, lest the Duke of Dorelia get wind of the plan. 'Tis said that the Duke fears that my mission might lead to renascent amity betwixt the two monarchs, thus depriving him of a diplomatic advantage."
The inspector shook his head. "I have nought to do with matters of statecraft. Take them away, men, whilst I seek counsel."
Eudoric and Forthred found themselves in a verminous cell in a nearby building, lit only by overcast daylight through a small, high, barred window. While Eudoric examined the door, the walls, and the window for weak spots, Forthred said in the gloom:
"Sir Eudoric, I never thought you such a glib liar. My master warned me that ye were a man of tough standards, exact and demanding, but nought of this singular endowment."
"There's no spur to invention that vies with necessity," grunted Eudoric. "And keep your voice down."