Assassin's Quest

They marched me to a comfortable tent pitched in the lee of some great trees. I was shoved through the tent flaps and pushed down onto my knees on a thick sheepskin rug on an elevated wooden floor. One guard kept a firm grip on my hair as the sergeant announced, "Here he is, sir. The wolf got Captain Mark, but we got him."

A fat brazier of coals gave off a welcome heat. The interior of the tent was the warmest place I'd been in days. The sudden heat almost stupefied me. But Burl did not share my opinion. He sat in a wooden chair on the other side of the brazier, his feet outstretched toward it. He was robed and hooded and covered over with furs as if there were nothing else between him and the night cold. He had always been a large framed man; now he was heavy as well. His dark hair had been curled in imitation of Regal's. Displeasure shone in his dark eyes.

"How is it that you aren't dead?" he demanded of me.

There was no good answer to that question. I merely looked at him, expression bland, walls tight. His face flushed suddenly red and his cheeks appeared swollen with his anger. When he spoke, his voice was tight. He glared at the sergeant.

"Report properly." Then, before the man could begin, he asked, "You let the wolf get away?"

"Not let him, no, sir. He attacked the captain. He and Captain Mark went into the river together, sir, and were carried off. Water that cold and swift, neither had a chance to survive. But I've sent a few men downriver to check the bank for the captain's body."

"I'll want the wolf's body as well, if it's washed up. Be sure your men know that."

"Yes, sir."

"Did you secure the smuggler, Nik? Or did he get away, as well?" Burl's sarcasm was heavy.

"No, sir. We have the smuggler and his men. We have those traveling with him as well, though they put up more of a fight than we expected. Some ran off in the woods, but we got them back. They claim to be pilgrims seeking Eda's shrine in the Mountains."

"That concerns me not at all. What matters why a man broke the King's law, after he has broken it? Did you recover the gold the captain paid the smuggler?"

The sergeant looked surprised. "No, sir. Gold paid to a smuggler? There was no sign of that. I wonder if it went downriver with Captain Mark. Perhaps he hadn't given it to the man …"

"I am not a fool. I know far more of what goes on than you think I do. Find it. All of it, and return it here. Did you capture all the smugglers?"

The sergeant took a breath and decided on the truth. "There were a few with the pony team on the far side when we took down Nik. They rode off before …"

"Forget them. Where is the Bastard's accomplice?"

The sergeant looked blank. I believe he did not know the word.

"Did not you capture a minstrel? Starling?" Burl demanded again.

The sergeant looked uncomfortable. "She got a bit out of control, sir. When the men were subduing the Bastard on the ramp. She lit into the man holding her and broke his nose. It took a bit to … get her under control."

"Is she alive?" Burl's tone left no doubt of his contempt for their competence.

The sergeant flushed. "Yes, sir. But … " Burl silenced them with a look. "Were your captain still alive, he would wish he were dead now. You have no concept of how to report, or of how to retain control of a situation. A man should have been sent to me immediately, to inform me of these events as they happened. The minstrel should not have been permitted to see what was happening, but secured immediately. And only an idiot would have tried to subdue a man on a barge in the middle of a strong current when all he had to do was wait for the barge to land. He'd have had a dozen swords at his command there. As for the smuggler's bribe, it will be returned to me, or you shall all go unpaid until it is made up. I am not a fool." He glared around at everyone in the tent. "This has been bungled. I will not excuse it." He folded his lips tightly. When he spoke again, he spat out the words. "All of you. Go."

"Yes, sir. Sir? The prisoner?"

"Leave him here. Leave two men outside, swords drawn. But I wish to speak to him alone." The sergeant bowed and hastened out of the tent. His men followed him promptly.