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Kharl had barely considered those facts before the sound of hoofbeats on the pier signaled the departure of the majer. In the comparative silence that followed, Kharl pondered whether he should head to his bunk in the forecastle-or if he could even sleep immediately-when he heard footsteps.

“Thought you might be here,” said Furwyl. “Cold as it is, most nights you’re up here.”

“It’s not that cold, ser,” replied Kharl.

“I’m from Dykaru, and it’s a fair sight colder here in winter than there. Anyway, captain wants to see you. He’s up on the poop, forward of the wheel.”

“Yes, ser.” As he turned and headed aft across the foredeck, Kharl wondered if the captain had sensed his presence, or if Hagen had a task for him because of the majer. He made his way across the main deck not at all quietly, then up the ladder.

Hagen was standing at the rail, looking westward toward Valmurl.

“Ser…you asked for me?”

The captain did not move for a moment, then turned. “I did. I’d like to ask you to undertake a different duty for the next few days. You’d share it with Ghart and Esamat.”

Kharl waited. He only knew Esamat by sight and name, a wiry top rigger, but the combination of the three was definitely strange.

“We’re going to have a passenger, a lady and her two sons, and we’ll be carrying them south to Dykaru. She’ll have my cabin for the trip, and I’ll be needing a guard in the passageway at all times. You’re good with that staff or a cudgel, and I can trust you. You’re also older, and that helps.”

“Yes, ser.” Kharl wasn’t about to say no, not when Hagen had done so much for him. “If I might ask…is this Lord Ghrant’s consort?”

Hagen looked hard at Kharl.

“Ser…I don’t know much, but I heard that Dykaru was where Lord Ghrant’s from, and if you’re giving up your cabin, and want a guard all the time…” Kharl frowned. “But…maybe I’m speaking out of turn, but wouldn’t she have her own guards? Maybe I’m presuming too much…”

“You’re not presuming. I keep forgetting that you’ve seen more than most. It is the Lady Hyrietta, and she will have a detachment of guards. I don’t have the greatest trust in those guards, and they will be stationed outside the passageway, but I want you or one of the others in that passageway at all times, even when she or the boys are on deck. No one is to enter the cabin, except her, the boys, their nurse, and me. No one.”

“You’re thinking treachery, ser?”

“Ilteron is famous for that, and I want to make sure nothing happens on board the Seastag.” Hagen paused. “You and Ghart and Esamat are to be here when she comes aboard. I also want her to know that only the three of you-and Furwyl and Rhylla-are to be in that passageway, but none of the crew and officers except me are to enter the cabin.”

“Yes, ser.”

“Stand by somewhere on the decks. When you hear a carriage or mounts, join the others outside the hatchway on the main deck.”

“Yes, ser.” Kharl nodded.

“Ghart will have a cudgel for you-unless you’d prefer the staff.”

“Cudgel’d be better in the passageway, ser.”

“I thought as much.”

Kharl climbed down the ladder. The engineers had to be firing up the boilers, because he could smell coal as he moved forward, almost all the way to the bowsprit, where he stood at the railing and looked out at the city to the west, with its mostly shadowed shapes and intermittent torches and lamps. How many people out there knew that their futures hung on what happened between two brothers? And how many truly knew the alternative represented by each? Kharl knew that he didn’t. He’d heard bits and pieces, yet he suspected he’d heard more than most people. Was it always that way?

Not more than half a glass had passed before Kharl heard hoofs on the pier and the wheels of a carriage. He hurried aft to the hatchway leading to the captain’s quarters. Ghart and Esamat were already there.

Esamat looked at Kharl and smiled. “Even ’fore the captain said it, figured you might be one.”

Kharl shrugged. “Surprised me.”

Both Ghart and Esamat laughed.

Kharl could hear Hagen’s voice coming from the quarterdeck, and another’s voice. Neither sounded pleased, but Kharl said nothing and neither did the two standing beside him. More time passed, and then a group of people moved across the dimness of the main deck, led by Hagen, who carried a lantern.

Behind Hagen was an undercaptain in the yellow and black of Lord Ghrant’s personal guards, followed by a young woman who had to be Lady Hyrietta. The Lady Hyrietta wore a dark blue cloak and a brimmed hat. Neither could hide that she was slender, if full-figured. Her dark hair had been braided and mostly tucked under the hat. Slightly behind her came her sons. The two boys were young. The older one held his mother’s hand. The younger was being carried by another woman, gray-haired, but not that much older than Kharl.

Hagen stopped short of the three sailors, inclining his head to the lady. “Lady Hyrietta, as I explained,” Hagen said, “these three men will be your inside guards. The tall one at the end is Kharl. He’s one of the ship’s carpenters. He also cleared almost the entire deck of a pirate vessel attacking us. The light-haired one is Esamat. He used to be an assassin in Hamor. While that was several years ago, he’s still quite good. Ghart is the second mate, and he served a tour as an undercaptain with Lord Estloch. He’s also the one who killed Varrot.”

The faintest hint of a wry smile crossed Hyrietta’s heart-shaped face. “You take your duties most seriously, Lo-…Captain.”

“I know where my duty lies, lady. Now…let us proceed.” Hagen looked at Ghart. “You’ll have the first watch, Esamat the second, Kharl the third.”

“Yes, ser.”

“You three wait here.” Hagen turned to the undercaptain. “If you and your men would also wait here while we settle Lady Hyrietta and the heirs?”

The undercaptain nodded, politely, but with scarcely more than minimal approval.

Kharl surveyed the armsmen who stood behind the undercaptain. There were twelve, and they ranged in age from one barely a few years older than Arthal to one close to Kharl’s age. The undercaptain was bearded and graying, an older officer who had made his way through the ranks, Kharl surmised.

Hagen returned shortly and immediately addressed the undercaptain. “You understand the arrangements. Your men will guard the hatchway here, on the outside. The only people to enter the passageway are me, the officers, and these three men.”

“Yes, ser.”

Kharl could tell that the undercaptain was not totally pleased with the arrangement.

Hagen offered a smile. “No man does two jobs well. Your men only worry about one area, and mine only worry about one.”

The undercaptain nodded.

Hagen looked to Kharl and Esamat. “You two best get some sleep. You’ll be roused in your turn with the rest of the duty.”

“Yes, ser.”

Neither Kharl nor Esamat spoke until they were back on the main deck and well back from the two personal guards in yellow and black.

“The captain worries,” offered Kharl.

“Wouldn’t you? With the lord’s lady and his heirs in your hands?”

“That I would.” Kharl paused. “Do you know if Lord Ilteron has any ships?”

“None of his own,” Esamat replied. “Leastwise, not that I’ve heard. He’s in tight with the Hamorians, though.”

“We’d better hope that they’ve no warships near.”

“Not likely, and the captain’s a better seaman than any of them. With the engine and favorable winds, no ironbound ship could catch us.”

“Then we’d best hope for favorable winds.” Kharl hoped a great deal more than that was favorable.

LXXX

Slightly before four glasses after midnight, Kharl pulled on his clothes and readied himself to relieve Esamat. In the darkness, he took up his cudgel and made his way across the deck to where two armsmen in yellow and black guarded the hatchway to the captain’s cabin. Hagen was waiting, as was the undercaptain.