The Serpentwar Saga

The two soldiers, a captain and a sergeant, began a lecture on these alien weapons, quickly demonstrating what each was capable of doing. After that demonstration was over, the men were marched to another area, where a man who appeared to be a priest of Dala began to instruct them in the basics of caring for wounds.

By the end of the day, Erik had a firm picture in his mind of one thing: they were going to war. But from the unspoken urgency of each man’s instruction this day, they were going into war with a dearth of preparation.

The sound of horses whinnying in greeting brought Erik awake. He rolled from his bunk and moved aside the door flap of the tent. Looking out, he saw a company of Royal Krondorian Lancers entering the compound, some distance away. He glanced toward the east and saw the sky already lightening. They would be roused from sleep in another hour.

He started to return to bed, but something caught his attention. For a moment he stared at it without recognition, then it struck him. He watched until he was almost sure of what he saw, then moved to Roo’s bunk. Kneeling, he shook his friend awake, covering his mouth to keep him from waking the others. In the gloom he made a motion for his friend to follow him.

They crept out of the tent, and then Roo said, ‘What?’

‘Miranda. She just rode in with a company of Royal Lancers.’

‘Are you certain?’ said Roo.

‘No – that’s why I’m going to get a closer look.’

Erik turned and, hunkering down so those marching post on the wall wouldn’t notice him, moved off. The sentries weren’t there to keep Erik and the others inside, he was now certain, but to ensure no one outside got close.

The two young men circled around to the far side of what Erik had come to think of as the officers’ quarters; at least, that was where de Loungville retired every night, and where Calis seemed to reside. They ducked along, keeping away from the line of lancers, who sat their horses easily as they turned their mounts around and began riding back toward the gate. Erik glanced at them long enough to realize they weren’t heading out again, merely moving away from the command building. Erik had a suspicion but said nothing to Roo.

The two of them darted along behind the building, and crept under a window. Faint voices carried. Erik motioned for Roo to remain silent and moved to another window. Here he could barely make out the sound of conversation.

‘… need to be gone before the camp rises. Every man here has seen me at least once. It would not do for my presence to be detected. Too many questions.’

A man’s voice – Erik thought it sounded like Calis – answered: ‘I agree. Something urgent must have brought you here. What is it?’

‘Nicholas received a warning from the Oracle. She begins her mating with the eldest of her attendants, and the new Oracle will be conceived this summer.’

Calis was silent a moment, then said, ‘I know as much about the Lifestone as any living, Miranda, save those who saw it at Sethanon. I’m not certain I appreciate the significance of what you tell me, though.’

Miranda laughed, and Erik thought it a sound without humor. ‘It seems that as we embark on this dangerous course, the Oracle of Aal begins a mating, birth, and death cycle that will take the better part of five years. In other words, just as we seek to end the danger to the Lifestone, the Oracle is going to mate, give birth to her successor, and die. We will be without the oracle’s visions for the next twenty-five years, until the daughter reaches maturity.’

Calis said, ‘I know little of the Ancients of Aal, save the legends about them. I take it this mating is a surprise to you?’

Miranda mumbled something Erik couldn’t hear, then said, ‘… the limit of seeing one’s own future, I suppose. A rebirth that limits the Oracle’s abilities for a twenty-five-year period once every thousand years is little more than an inconvenience, from that perspective, but it’s certainly ill timed from ours.’

‘Is Nicholas thinking of canceling our plans?’

Miranda said, ‘I don’t know. I can’t read him as I could his father. He’s so much like him in some ways, yet so different in others. I’ve only met him twice before, and I have no doubt he would have little trust for me were it not for you and James vouching for me.’

‘You’ve convinced us of your sincerity and commitment to stop the enemy, even if you’re damn unbending in revealing much about yourself.’ He paused a moment. ‘What’s the upshot of all of this?’ asked Calis.

‘It means we need to move even sooner than we thought. It means you should dismantle this camp starting today and have your ships ready to depart next week.’

Calis was silent. Then he said, ‘I have six men who are not trained, and we’re barely half the number we had planned on. I cannot depend on hired mercenaries. Too many good men died last time because I made that mistake. I need –’ He stopped himself. ‘You know all the arguments. Bobby and I made them to Arutha three years ago. If we must go with only thirty-six men, I will take the next nine days to evaluate the last six. I’ll hang them myself before I’ll let them become a weak link in the chain we’re forming, but I’ll at least give them that little bit of time to prove themselves.’

Miranda’s voice rose. ‘I have been through a great deal to select these men, Calis. I think I know each one well. I think you have only two who might break, Goodwin and de Savona. The others will do as we need.’

‘Might break,’ he repeated. ‘That’s the problem. You think. If I knew they would break, I’d execute them tonight. If I knew they would stand fast, I would leave tomorrow. But if we judge wrong, and if one of them breaks at the wrong time

‘Nothing is certain.’

There was a dry chuckle and Calis said, ‘Working with an oracle has given us something of a false illusion of certainty, I’m afraid. If we return to the certainty that nothing is clear before it happens, we might survive this venture.’

‘I’m leaving. If you insist on lingering the next nine days, so be it, but Nicholas is adamant we should move as soon as possible. We’ve captured two agents and they know we’re up to something.’

‘Dead?’

‘Now they are. Gamina read both men before they died and found out little we didn’t already know, but it’s clear the snakes are closing in on this facility. You’ve done well covering your tracks for the last year, but now they know something unusual is happening outside of Krondor. The next bunch of spies they send won’t be sniffing around the palace, they’ll be out here in the woods looking for this encampment. Once they discover it was here –’

‘We’ve taken every precaution.’

‘Someone who loaded a wagon of beef will say something in an inn. Someone at the palace will let a list of prisoners be seen while he’s out of an office. It will take time, but within a year, not only will the snakes know you’re in their way again, they’ll have the name of every man with you.’

Calis was silent, then said something Erik couldn’t make out. Suddenly there was a sound of a door opening and closing, and Erik motioned for Roo to follow him in a hurry. They returned the way they went and made it back to their tent. Moving back to their bunks, Erik was silent for a moment as he caught his breath; then he woke Biggo. ‘Quiet. Wake the others.’

When Luis, Sho Pi, and Billy were awake, Erik said, ‘Some time before you were caught, did you run into a woman named Miranda?’

The four looked at one another, and it was Sho Pi who spoke first. ‘Dark of hair and with intense green eyes?’ Erik nodded. ‘She spoke to me outside of Shamata, while I was on the road to Krondor. There was something about her that I noticed at once. She has power.’

‘What did she tell you?’

Sho Pi shrugged. ‘We talked of things of little importance. I found her very beautiful and was flattered at the attention, but her interests seemed more abstract than carnal. And I was curious why I sensed she was so much more than she seemed.’

‘Was there anything she said that got you tossed into jail?’

Sho Pi said, ‘Nothing I can remember.’

The others talked about their encounters, Billy and Luis saying she had used a different name, but it was clear that all six men had encountered the woman at some point, less than a month prior to being arrested.

Biggo said. ‘That girl gets around, if she was talking to you’ – he pointed at Sho Pi – ‘at Shamata the week before running into Erik and Roo near Darkmoor.’

‘How does she know us?’ asked Luis.

Erik said, ‘It has something to do with an oracle who reads the future. We’re important in some way, but only if we survive the next nine days. I don’t know why we were saved from the gallows, and I don’t know what we might be to these people if we continue to live, but I have no doubt of this: if Calis thinks we’re dangerous to his plans, he’ll hang us all before he breaks camp in nine days. If he thinks we’re trustworthy, he’ll keep us alive. It’s that simple.’

Billy said, ‘It means we’ve got to work hard.’

‘We’ve been breaking our backs!’ complained Luis.

‘I mean work hard at being what they want.’

Sho Pi said, ‘Billy is right; he and I must stem our temper.’ He rose and returned to his own bunk, where he sat back, resting on his elbows. ‘Biggo must begin to show he can think for himself.’

‘What of me?’ said Luis, obviously fearful of not being judged trustworthy in nine days’ time.

‘You must put aside your pride. You must stop acting as if every order is an insult, and every task beneath you. Your arrogance will get you hung.’

‘I am not arrogant!’ demanded Luis, obviously ready to take offense.

Erik saw a fight coming and, thinking quickly to stem it, he said, ‘There’s more!’

‘What?’ said Biggo.

‘If one of us fails, we all fail.’

‘What!’ said Billy.

‘If one of us is judged unworthy, they’re going to hang all six of us.’

Roo looked at Erik a moment, then nodded. ‘We’re a team. We live or die as one.’

Luis glanced around the tent and saw all eyes upon him. ‘I … will work on humility. When that little cabrone tells me to shovel dung, I will cheerfully say, Sí, me comandante. How high?’

Biggo grinned. ‘If there’s a stiffer-necked bunch around than you bloody Rodezians, it’s them Tsurani up in LaMut, but not by much.’ Looking at Sho Pi, he said, ‘I’ve gotten by for years playing dumb so that folks won’t expect much of me. I guess it’s a habit now. I’ll try to look a little brighter.’

Sho Pi said, ‘And you, Rupert. You must stop trying to be so clever. It will get you killed. You are not as clever as you think, nor are others as stupid.’

Erik said, ‘What of me?’

Sho Pi said, ‘I do not know, Erik von Darkmoor. There is nothing you do that is obviously wrong. Yet … there is something. I do not know. A hesitancy, perhaps. You need to be more decisive.’

Further discussion was halted by the arrival of Corporal Foster, and the men leaped up to stand before their beds. The corporal looked around, for obviously something had been occurring just before he arrived, but nothing was obvious, so after a moment he shouted, ‘All right. Outside and fall in, you worms! We don’t have all morning!’

Foster stood over Billy, screaming insults at him. The prisoner looked as if he was about to leap to his feet and attack the corporal. A man in black stood not ten feet away puffing heavily from the exertion of the recently ended combat. They had been dueling, with Billy getting the upper hand, when suddenly Foster had tripped Goodwin. Then, before he could react, the corporal was standing over him as if it were Billy’s fault.

Then Foster said, ‘And your mother was a whore!’

As he turned away, Billy leaped to his feet. Before he could charge Foster, Erik hit him with a tackle, driving his shoulder into Billy’s waist. They went to the ground and rolled, Erik using his strength and weight to keep Billy under him.

Suddenly soldiers were hauling them apart and Foster was shouting, ‘Here, now! What’s this about?’

Erik, blood running from his nose from one of Billy’s elbows, said, ‘Keeping him from doing something stupid. Corporal.’

Foster regarded Erik a moment, then said, ‘Right.’ Turning to Billy, he said, ‘Going to jump me from behind, you swine? Well, how’d you like to try it from in front?’ He backed away, pulling his own sword. ‘Let him go.’

The soldiers obeyed and Billy stood with his own weapon ready. Then Biggo stepped between him and the corporal. ‘Wouldn’t be smart for Billy, would it, Corporal, what with those lads on the wall unlimbering their bows, and all, would it?’

Billy glanced up and saw that a pair of longbowmen had strung their weapons and nocked arrows, and were watching closely.

‘Stand away, Biggo, you overblown pile of cow dung!’ commanded Foster. ‘I’m going to cut a few pieces off this dogmeat.’

Luis came over to stand next to Biggo, with Sho Pi a step behind. Roo joined them, and Erik shook off the two soldiers who held him and joined the other five.

‘What’s this – mutiny?’ shouted Foster.

‘No,’ answered Sho Pi. ‘Just trying to keep the situation from becoming dangerous.’

‘I’ll have that man hung!’ shouted Foster as Robert de Loungville approached to see what was occurring.

Biggo said, ‘Then I think you should hang us all.’

Robert de Loungville said, ‘What’s this, then? Volunteering to go back to the gibbet?’

Biggo turned and with an affable smile said, ‘Sergeant, if one of us is to be hung for thinking we’d like to murder the good corporal, then you’d better hang us all, because we all think it at least a dozen times a day. And I’d rather you get it over with now than make us work for another week at this soldier drilling; I’m kind of tired of it. With all respect, Sergeant.’

De Loungville raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘This man speaking for you all?’

They looked from one to another. Then Erik said, ‘I think that’s the way it is, sir.’

Suddenly de Loungville was standing nose to nose with Biggo, having to rise up on his toes to accomplish the feat. ‘You’re not being told to think! What makes you imagine we care what you think? If you’re thinking, that means you have too much time on your hands. I can fix that.’

Turning to the two guards who had held Erik a moment before, he said, ‘We need the stables swept. Get these murderous dogs down there and have them pick up everything they find! And I don’t want them dirtying perfectly good brooms and pitchforks! They can pick everything up by hand! Now move them out!’

The two soldiers motioned for the prisoners to fall in and quick-marched them out of sight. As they vanished, Foster looked at de Loungville and said, ‘I think it’s starting to work, Bobby.’

De Loungville scratched his chin as he pondered. ‘I don’t know. We’ll see. But it had better. We’re going south short-handed and I’d hate to have to hang this lot the day before we sail.’

Foster said, ‘If Billy Goodwin didn’t cut my throat for calling his mother a whore – she was, but he’s touchy about it – then I think he’s learning. And the way they stuck up for him.’

De Loungville nodded. ‘Maybe you’re right. Or maybe they’re being clever. We’ll have to see, won’t we?’

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and headed back to the command building.

• Chapter Ten • Transition

The alarm sounded.

Drums beat as the camp turned out. It had been three days since Erik had overheard the discussion in Calis’s office, and the six prisoners had been training hard, focusing their attentions on doing whatever was necessary to remain alive. Foster became even more of a tyrant, abusing the men at every turn, and de Loungville studied them closely, looking for any sign they might fail to meet his demands.

Now a new day began with an unexpected twist. The prisoners moved out of their tent a good half hour earlier than usual and saw that the other men who lived in the compound were all hurrying to the command building. As they followed, they were intercepted by a guard, a soldier named Perry of Witcomb, who said, ‘Fall in behind me, and stay together. No talking!’

The six fell into their usual order, with Biggo at the lead and Sho Pi at the rear, Billy, Luis, Roo, and Erik in between. They reached the building as the door opened and Calis and de Loungville emerged.

De Loungville held his hand up for silence and said, ‘Listen up!’

Calis said, ‘We’ve been discovered. Two of our sentries were killed last night.’

A muttering broke out among the men in black, and de Loungville had to call for quiet again. Calis continued, ‘You all know what to do; we break camp now.’

Instantly the thirty men in black raced to their tents and the majority of soldiers began hurrying to their assigned places. Foster turned to Perry of Witcomb and gave instructions. The soldier gestured to the six prisoners and said, ‘You lot, come with me.’

They followed the soldier through the frantic but organized activity, and he led them to a large tent not far from the blacksmith’s shop. ‘Find clothing that fits,’ he ordered, ‘and put it on.’

The six entered and in the gloom saw a pile of common clothing. Erik stripped off his boots and then his tunic and trousers, throwing the ragged grey garments into the corner. He joined the others in rummaging through the pile, picking up tunics and judging their size, casting aside those that were obviously too small. Luis and Billy as well as Sho Pi found clothing quickly, being of more average size. But Roo, because of his diminutive stature, and Biggo and Erik, because of their bulk, took longer to find clothing that fit. Eventually, all six stood wearing fresh garments. Erik had found a dark blue tunic with an open collar and long sleeves. A pair of sailor’s trousers were the only pair of pants he could find that fit. He gave up trying to push the flared legs into the top of his boots, and let them fall outside.

Laughter caused Erik to turn and there he saw Roo with an angry expression. ‘It’s the only one that fits!’ he said as Billy and Luis made rude observations. The shirt was open to the waist, and a lurid purple color. Making matters worse, the only pair of trousers small enough were a bright crimson.

‘Then pick one that doesn’t fit,’ said Erik, trying hard not to laugh.

Roo peeled off the offending shirt and looked some more, finding a plain white tunic that was only slightly too large. He tucked the voluminous tails of the shirt into his loud red waistband and Erik nodded. ‘Now you look only slightly ridiculous instead of completely ridiculous.’

Roo grimaced, then smiled. ‘Red’s my lucky color.’

‘Get out of there!’ called Perry and the prisoners came out of the tent. ‘Get to the smithy, and get aboard the last wagon in line. There will be two mounted crossbowmen behind you, so don’t imagine you’ll get a chance to go for a stroll.’

He started to move away, then turned and said, ‘And tuck those nooses out of sight.’

The six prisoners had grown used to being required to wear the nooses at all times, outside their tunics. They had put them back on after changing. Now they tucked them inside, so they wouldn’t be seen.

Biggo had to quickly strip off his tunic and put on the noose, then put the tunic on, as the neck of his shirt was close-fitting. Luis said, ‘A bit lumpy for high fashion, my friend, but it will do.’

Since coming to the compound from the prison, Erik had noticed Luis was vain – in addition to having a temper and being arrogant – but he still found himself liking the Rodezian knife man. He had shaved off his grey beard, but let his mustache grow, as well as keeping his shoulder-length hair neatly trimmed. Luis was becoming something of a peacock. The clothing he had selected was as fashionable as possible, given the choice. Erik had no doubt Luis was not simply speaking of high fashion in the abstract but was a man who had dressed for court functions before his temper and violent nature had brought him to low estate. He had said nothing of his past, but once had mentioned having been friends with the son of the Duke of Rodez.

They hurried to the smithy and Erik noticed with a sense of awe just how fast the forge and other equipment were being carried out of the building. Everywhere they looked, men were hurriedly tearing down all signs of occupation. Newcomers to the camp, workmen from somewhere – probably Krondor – were now starting to tear apart the three buildings that dominated the compound. Foster was waiting for them at the smithy and motioned for them to climb into a wagon. Two guards sat atop the buckboard and two more climbed in after the prisoners, who sat three to each side of the wagon as they had when arriving. Two more guardsmen, on horseback, moved in behind the wagon, and they set out.

Erik glanced around. Roo seemed half-excited, half-afraid of the significance of what was occurring. Luis watched carefully, as did Biggo. Billy seemed amused, and Sho Pi was looking off into the distance.

Some of the men whom Erik recognized as having been dressed in black were now dressed as were the prisoners, in a variety of clothing, ranging from almost ragged to nobles’ finery. Some rode on horseback and others in wagons and more than a dozen were leaving the compound by foot. Two more riders approached, and Erik saw they were Robert de Loungville and Corporal Foster.

De Loungville pulled up next to the wagon and said, ‘All right, listen up. I was talking to Calis about hanging you all this morning, but we couldn’t take the time. Nothing spoils my breakfast like a rushed hanging. Calis agrees with me that we can do it later when we can be more leisurely and do things properly. You men are going to live a few days longer. But don’t think we’ve fallen in love with you; those two lads behind you with the crossbows have orders to shoot any one of you foolish enough to try to get down from this wagon. Understood?’

‘Yes, Sergeant!’ they all said.

‘And another thing, until I tell you, no more of that shouting “Yes, Sergeant.” It’ll call attention to you. And attention’s too much of what we have right now. So keep your mouths shut and do as you’re told until we get where we’re going.’ Without another word, he put heels to his horse and cantered off. Foster followed, only a length behind.

Erik looked around and noticed no one else seemed willing to risk a crossbow bolt by saying anything, so he settled down as best he could in the jouncing wagon and tried to relax.

Along the road to Krondor they passed groups of men on foot, many dressed as common mercenaries, farmers, or laborers. Others rode in wagons and kept to themselves. A few passed by on horseback, each appearing oblivious to the others.

Other traffic appeared on the road, heading toward the capital of the Western Realm. Farm wagons heavy with late summer crops and the first of the early fall harvest rumbled toward Krondor. Traders with their goods piled high and the occasional noble’s carriage joined the traffic.

There was no roadblock, and Erik and the others moved rapidly down the road leading to the southern gate to the city, the one closest to the palace in which they had all been condemned to die. In the midday light, the palace looked splendid, rising up as it did above the harbor. Towers were aflutter with banners, and the city spread majestically around the ancient hill upon which the first keep of the first Prince of Krondor had been constructed.

At the southern gate, guards waved them through, and the wagon started a convoluted course through the city. At last they entered the docks area near the poor quarter, and Foster suddenly appeared. Without raising his voice, he said, ‘You lot, get out of that wagon and get into that boat down there.’ He pointed to a longboat that bobbed on the tide at the bottom of a flight of stone stairs leading down from the quayside. Erik and the others hurried down the stone steps and entered the boat, each being told where to sit by a pair of sailors. As soon as Roo, last to enter, was seated, Foster joined them and the sailors pushed off. Expertly the two sailors rowed the longboat toward a ship in the harbor.

Erik knew nothing of ships. But this one dwarfed most of those nearby. It had three masts, rising high into the sky like bare trees, and it was painted a daunting black. Other ships near it were green or red, or blue, and there was even one that was a gaudy yellow, making the black ship all the more impressive for its somber appearance. The longboat reached the side of the ship and Foster said, ‘Up you go,’ pointing to a net hung over the side. Erik rose and gripped the netting like a ladder and started to climb. The weight of those below pulling on the net caused him to twist and dip a little, but he made it safely to the rail, where sailors half hauled him aboard.

A man in a strange uniform – blue coat cut high at the waist, white trousers, and a saber hanging from a baldric slung across his shoulder – motioned for Erik to stand away. When the others were aboard, Foster called up, ‘That lot is to be kept together, Mr Collins!’

The man in the strange uniform leaned over the rail and said, ‘In with the others?’

‘Yes,’ answered Foster as the longboat pulled away. ‘But in a corner, Mr Collins!’

‘Aye, aye, Corporal Foster.’

The man named Collins turned and ordered, ‘Follow me.’

He moved down a strange ladder, narrow and steep, into a square hatchway, forward of the main mast. Erik was the last into the hold, and his eyes took a moment to adjust to the gloom. They entered a cargo hold that had been reconfigured to act as a barracks. Erik saw that twenty triple bunks had been fastened to the bulkheads, ten to each side of the ship, lengthwise, creating a fairly wide aisle.

Between the head of one set of three bunks and the foot of the next set, large trunks had been affixed to the deck, in which men were busy stowing gear. Collins motioned for the six prisoners to follow him. He led them to the two sets of bunks farthest from the other men, set against the starboard bulkhead; those across the hold on the port side were empty. He motioned for them to occupy the bunks. ‘This is where you’ll sleep. You’ll eat on deck unless the weather’s too rough, when you’ll be eating here. You can store your gear in those two trunks.’ He pointed to the trunk closest to the bulkhead at the aft of the cargo hold and the one between the two sets of bunks they were assigned.

Roo said, ‘We’ve got no gear.’

The man said, ‘You’ll call me Mr Collins, or sir, when you address me. I’m the Second Mate on Trenchard’s Revenge. The First Mate is Mr Roper, and the Captain is … You call him Captain. Is that clear?’

Roo said, ‘Yes, Mr Collins. But they didn’t give us any gear, sir.’

‘That’s not my problem. Your officer will get you what you need, I’m sure. It’s a long voyage, and you’ll have ample time to get organized. Now stay here until you’re sent for.’ He left.

Biggo took one of the lower bunks, with Sho Pi and Billy Goodwin above him, while Roo, Erik, and Luis took the other bunk, in descending order.

‘What do we do now?’ asked Roo.

Biggo grinned. ‘Nothing. I’m for a nap!’ he added cheerfully.

Erik realized that he was also tired, but nervous, waiting to discover what fate held in store for them next. Still, the lulling of the ship as it moved gently on groundswells in the harbor quickly soothed his nerves, and soon he was asleep as well.

A clatter from above and a sense of motion, and Erik sat up, striking his head against the bottom of the bunk above. Wincing at the pain, he almost stepped on Roo as he got down from the middle bunk.

A grinding sound from above and a change in motion, coupled with the shouts of orders from above, and it was clear they were under way. The six prisoners stood unsure of what to do, while the thirty men at the other end of the hold seemed amused by their confusion.

One of them, a large man nearly Biggo’s size, said, ‘Why don’t you run up and tell Bobby de Loungville that he’s been thoughtless in not telling you we was leaving this soon!’

This brought a burst of laughter.

Luis said, ‘Why don’t you go ask him if he knows who your father might be. Your mother certainly didn’t.’

The man on the bunk was on his feet and two strides on his way toward Luis when Sho Pi intercepted him. ‘Now, a moment, my friend,’ said the Isalani.

‘You’re no friend of mine,’ countered the large man, now obviously ready to fight with anyone, as he put his hand on Sho Pi’s chest to push him aside.

Suddenly the man was on his knees, pain etched on his face as Sho Pi held his hand in a torturous grip, pulling thumb back and palm reversed so the hand twisted back hard against its own wrist. A gasp of agony was the only sound he made.

‘I was going to suggest,’ said Sho Pi, ‘that as this is going to be a very long and tedious voyage, it would be in all of our best interests to make peace and try to consider one another’s feelings. I’m sure my friend here is more than willing to apologize for impugning your mother if you’ll graciously grant him pardon.’

Luis was now amused, and with a gesture of removing a nonexistent hat, he bowed like a courtier and said, ‘Sir, I was a boor and acted rashly and without thought. My behavior shames me. I crave your pardon, sir.’

The gasping man, whose eyes were now watering so that tears streamed down his face, said, ‘Granted!’ It was barely more than a croak of pain.

Sho Pi released his hand and the man almost fainted from relief. Billy helped him to his feet and escorted him back to his own companions, trying to keep from grinning as he did. The man kept rubbing his hand, as if expecting something to be broken, but nothing was. He shook it a few times as Billy returned to his own side of the hold.