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“I need to come in for a moment.” The cabin door closed behind the captain, and Kharl could hear the sound of voices, but not the words.

Ghart looked at the body of the dead armsman, then at the deck near Kharl’s boots. He bent down and picked up the crossbow quarrel, its tip bent back.

“He must have hit something,” Kharl said. “He shot, then charged me.”

Ghart studied the deck again, this time picking up the shattered sections of the sabre. “I suppose he missed with this, too?”

Kharl shrugged. “He tried to get me. I used the cudgel. Maybe he wasn’t used to fighting in a narrow space.”

Ghart laughed, humorlessly. “We’ll leave it at that, but I think I’ll just make sure all this goes overboard. It’s probably better that way.”

“No one would believe I was that lucky,” Kharl said.

“You’re right about that,” Ghart replied as he turned with the bent quarrel and broken sabre fragments.

Before long, Kharl could hear voices outside the hatchway.

“Poisoned…bastard poisoned his own mates…You want me to believe that?”

“I daresay that Lord Hagen doesn’t much care what you believe, undercaptain. He knows what happened, and he knew it was likely…”

The undercaptain was furious. Kharl could feel the anger.

“You see why the captain wanted two sets of guards?” asked Ghart, his voice calm.

“…and your man killed him so we can’t find out…”

“No…Kharl disabled him, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop him from taking poison.”

“You want me to believe that…”

“One moment.”

Ghart reappeared in the passageway. He shook his head as he bent and grasped the dead armsman’s tunic and dragged the limp form out of the passageway, mostly closing the hatch behind him.

“…face is blue…”

“…poison does that…better believe it.”

Kharl waited, wondering if there would be another attempt to get to the lady and her sons. Yes, he decided. The question was merely whether the attempt would occur on the Seastag or elsewhere.

While he could hope that the attempts occurred where Hagen might prevent them, he had his doubts. Whenever there might be another attempt, it would be with greater stealth or greater force-or both. He didn’t doubt his own courage…but he did worry about knowing enough to deal with something that was less obvious.

LXXXII

Although Kharl and two others assigned to the passageway duty remained especially alert for the last two days of the voyage, there were no more attempts to attack either the armsmen or those standing duty in the passageway. Nor did the ship encounter any other vessels, not any that Kharl knew about, in any case. The seas had been calm, and there had not been much need for carpentry during the short voyage, for which Kharl had been grateful.

On a bright and much warmer eightday, one that was calm and windless, the Seastag steamed into the small harbor at Dykaru and tied up at the single narrow pier that served oceangoing vessels. At least a company of armsmen in yellow and black held the pier, as well as two squads of lancers in the same colors. Waiting opposite the spot where the Seastag tied up was a coach of golden oak, trimmed in black.

Wearing only a heavy gray shirt, Kharl looked beyond the pier, at Dykaru itself, not quite a city, rather a town composed of clusters of buildings, most of them with white plastered walls and orangish brown roof tiles. The trees were all broad-leafed, rather than the evergreens predominant in the north, and had remained green, rather than graying the way leafed trees did in the colder climes. On a low hillside to the west was a keep with light gray stone walls. The walls of the interior buildings were white and roofed in the same tile as the dwellings and structures in the town proper.

The harbor itself was empty of larger vessels, except for the Seastag, and a handful of fishing vessels at the smaller wharf to the west of deepwater pier.

From the foredeck, Kharl watched as the Lady Hyrietta and her sons crossed the main deck to the gangway and made their way down to the carriage. Hagen walked beside her the entire way to the coach, and the nurse followed. The armsmen in black and yellow surrounded them. After escorting the lady, her sons, and the nurse to the coach and closing the door, the captain bowed and stepped back. The lancers and the coach began to move, and then the armsmen on foot fell in behind.

Once the pier was clear, Hagen made his way back up the gangway.

Kharl watched as the captain stopped on the quarterdeck and surveyed the ship, then turned forward and made his way toward Kharl. The carpenter waited.

Hagen stopped several cubits away. “I wanted to thank you. I wasn’t totally fair, but I knew I could count on you, and there aren’t many in the world so trustworthy.”

“I don’t know that I am,” Kharl replied.

“In the things that matter you are. You’ve proved that time after time, but then, you probably did in Brysta as well.”

Kharl had his doubts about that. Instead, he asked, “What do you think will happen?”

“Ilteron will bring his forces south and attempt to crush Ghrant before most of the lords, landowners, and factors come to understand how evil Ilteron truly is.” For a moment, Hagen’s lips tightened. “Doubtless the Emperor of Hamor has suggested that he can spare wizards, ships, and armsmen for but a limited time, in order to force Ilteron to act quickly.”

“So that there will be a war that weakens both sides and leaves Austra divided and in chaos?” suggested Kharl.

“For a former cooper, you have come to understand matters quickly, far more quickly than most of the lords of Austra, I fear.”

“Several times, you have been addressed as ‘Lord,’” Kharl said.

“And you would like to know why?”

“If it would not trouble you.”

Hagen laughed once. “I am a lord, of sorts. My father was the arms-commander for Lord Estbach. Lord Estbach was Lord Estloch’s father and the one who became Lord of Austra when his own brother died without proper heirs. My father was gifted with the lands of South Shilton. They are most rocky, fit for goats and sheep, if that, and without meadows, trees worthy of the name, or even a sizable stream. For that reason, and because my father was much respected, no one much cared about the gifting. After my father’s death, I borrowed against them to purchase my first vessel. I was lucky in my trading, and was able to repay the loan. I have not borrowed since, and consider myself most fortunate in that respect.”

“I don’t think that’s the entire tale,” replied Kharl, “but I’d not ask for more.”

“I was also the head of Lord Ghrant’s personal guard for a brief time, a few years back. It was not a happy experience for either of us.”

From what he had seen of Hagen and heard of Ghrant, Kharl could not say that he was surprised.

“It was not a position I desired,” Hagen said, “but Lord Estloch prevailed upon me, and because of what I felt I owed, I did what was necessary and as quickly as possible, and Lord Ghrant and I remained on speaking terms. And there you have it, carpenter and mage.”

“I’m not a mage,” Kharl replied. “I can do a few things that use order, but I’m far from a mage.”

Hagen smiled. “You’re hard on yourself.”

“Not any harder than you are on yourself, ser.”

Hagen shook his head ruefully. “I think not, but the passing years will tell.”

“When will we put back to sea?”

“Not for a time yet. None of the cargo is that urgent.”

Kharl nodded politely. It was clear that Hagen intended to see what happened, perhaps even have the Seastag standing by as a way for Ghrant and his family to leave Dykaru-and Austra-if necessary. “You think things could get bad here?”

“If there’s a fleet from Hamor that appears offshore…that will tell you how bad it is.”