The Complete Darkwar Trilogy: Flight of the Night Hawks, Into a Dark Realm, Wrath of a Mad God

‘Right now both you and Kaspar are agents of the Crown of Roldem, and not very good ones at that. It took some very aggressive rumour mongering to get that one spread in the right quarters.

‘Kesh is always nervous about Roldem, because of their navy. Give them something obvious and reasonable to worry about, and they won’t spend a lot of time concerning themselves with the subtle. No one who isn’t working for Varen even suspects the Conclave exists here in Kesh.’

‘Except for those agents in the government who work for the Conclave.’

Caleb nodded. ‘It’s taken my father years to get to the place he is right now. We have friends in very high positions in courts all over the world, without the entanglements of being obliged to any one government.

‘Now, it’s time for you to go and should I need to see you, I’ll send one of the boys with a message.’

Tal rose, shook hands with Caleb, then left. As he reached the door he turned and said, ‘When this is all over, would you like to head up to Kendrick’s and do some hunting for a few days?’

Caleb grinned. ‘After we see the wives for a bit, yes. That would be welcomed.’

Tal returned the smile and left.

Caleb sat back, content to wait for another hour before leaving, to ensure he wasn’t being followed. He idly wondered how the boys were doing.

Zane struck the ground, sliding backwards on his rump. He hit the edge of the fountain hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. Tad shouted, ‘What was that for?’ as he leaped between Zane and the young man who had just pushed him hard enough to knock him over.

The fellow stopped and said, ‘What’s it to you?’

‘That’s my brother you just shoved.’

The fellow was large, and brutish looking, with massive shoulders and a thick brow. His chin receded slightly, which gave him an almost malevolent expression when he grinned. ‘And that’s my girl he was talking to.’

The girl in question, a plump but very pretty blonde who had moments before been flirting with both boys, shouted, ‘I am not your girl, Arkmet. Stop telling people I am.’

‘You’re my girl if I say you are,’ he said with a sound that came close to an animal growl.

Tad smiled. ‘She says she’s not your girl.’

Arkmet pushed at Tad, but unlike Zane he was ready. He bent his right knee, while extending his left leg, grabbed Arkmet’s outstretched left hand at the wrist and gave it a tug before releasing it. Meeting no resistance, the heavier boy went crashing face down on the cobbles.

Zane was back on his feet and standing next to Tad when the larger youngster rolled over. His face was flushed and he said, ‘You shouldn’t have done that!’

Standing side by side, both boys were ready for a fight, and Zane said, ‘We’re not starting anything, fellow, but if you want to take us on alone, we’re ready.’

With another evil grin, the young man on the ground slowly rose and said, ‘Who said I was alone?’

The boys looked behind themselves and saw that a group of large boys gathered. ‘And who are you?’ asked Tad.

A blond lad said, ‘We’re the apprentices of the Bakers’ Guild.’ He hiked his thumb over his shoulder to the four boys who stood behind him. ‘Arkmet is an apprentice baker.’

Tad looked at Zane and rolled his eyes. ‘So he’s a friend of yours?’

The blond lad said, ‘No, pretty much none of us can abide the slug, but we have a rule. You hit one Bakers’ Boy, you hit all of us.’

Zane said, ‘Wish someone had told us that before we got here.’

Until a moment ago, Tad and Zane had been lazing around the fountain, flirting with some approachable local girls. The plaza seemed to be frequented by young men and women from other parts of the Empire, youngsters who were far more amenable to speaking with two boys from the distant Vale of Dreams.

‘I don’t suppose there’s a Guild of Boys From Other Parts of the Empire around here,’ said Zane, glancing first one way, then the other. Several young men were giving the coming battle a wide berth, but one boy of roughly the same age as Tad and Zane came and stood beside them.

‘Six to two’s no kind of fair dust-up.’ He was large, with powerful shoulders, a red-headed boy with a preposterous amount of freckles across his face, green eyes, and hands the size of a smith’s hammer. With an almost demonic grin he said, ‘But six to three seems a little better.’

One of the Bakers’ Boys said, ‘Ah, Jommy, not again?’

The red-headed boy cocked his right fist next to his ear, and with his left hand beckoned the bakers’ apprentices to approach. ‘Always, mate. I love a chance to put your flour-dusted butts in a sling. Com’on!’

The resolve seemed to leach out of the five apprentices, just as a bellowing shout came from behind. Zane and Tad turned, but nothing as fast as the redhead, who turned with stunning speed and with a straight punch caught Arkmet right in the face. The bully’s eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the ground, blood fountaining from his broken nose.

Jommy turned and said, ‘Five to three; even better!’

‘You’re a madman,’ said the blond baker’s apprentice.

Jommy held up his hands palms out. ‘I realize you boys have your sense of honour and duty, but come on. Do you really want to bleed for that lout?’

The blond lad looked at the four who stood behind him and just from the way they exchanged glances told Tad and Zane the fight wasn’t going to start. ‘Not really,’ said the blond boy. ‘The last time you hit me I couldn’t hear out of my left ear for three days.’

‘Well, you bully boys of the Bakers’ Guild should realize that you’re not bloody damn cocks-of-the-walk around here and start treating others with respect, mate. Now take your idiot friend here home and leave well-meaning strangers alone.’

The five bakers’ apprentices helped the still groggy Arkmet to his feet and led him away. Zane turned to see the blonde girl had somehow vanished during all the trouble, while Tad stuck out his hand and said, ‘Thank you, my friend.’

‘No worries,’ said the affable redhead. ‘Name’s Jommy Kiliroo.’

‘You’re not from around here, are you?’ asked Zane.

‘Ha!’ said the boy. ‘Far from home.’

Caleb walked up. ‘If I recognize that accent, very far,’ he said. ‘I saw what happened.’ To Tad and Zane, he said, ‘You boys managed to avoid a fair beating it seems.’

‘Probably would have taken one, if it hadn’t been for Jommy here,’ said Zane.

‘Ah, most of the bakers’ lads aren’t really too bad a lot, but that Arkmet is a real canted bastard, if you take my meaning. He’s going to end up hung for murder, mark my words.’

‘You’re from around Serpent River?’

The young man’s face went alight. ‘You’ve been down there, have you?’

‘A couple of times. Where are you from?’

‘Mooree, little town a couple of days upriver from Shingazi’s Landing.’

‘How’d you come to Kesh?’

‘That’s a long story in the telling. The short of it is my mate Rolie and I got tossed out of our homes by our fathers, who told us to be on our way and start our own lives. We worked our way downriver to the City of the Serpent River and tried to get jobs, but if you’ve been there, you know everything is controlled by the clans. Not ashamed to say I took up a little thievery to get by. Ol’ Rolie and me got a berth on a Keshian ship, bound for Elarial. We had no better prospects, so we signed on and became sailors. Only one voyage for me to tell it wasn’t my kind of life, so when we berthed, we took our pay and left. Got jobs as teamsters and, well, one thing leads to another. Ol’ Rolie got himself killed in a brawl up in the town of Chigatha, and I just kept working the caravans, and here I am. Been stranded here for almost a year now.’

‘Where do you live?’ asked Tad.