The man scratched at his two-week-old beard. “Might as well. There’s little point in travelling much more today.”
Jimmy’s grin broadened. “I must say, you’re the liveliest-looking corpse I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a few.”
Arutha returned the grin. Turning to Laurie and Roald, he said, “Come on, let’s rest the horses and find out how these young rogues figured us out.”
The fire seemed to burn cheerfully as the sun disappeared over the ocean. They lay around the campfire, except Roald, who stood with a view of the road. “It was a lot of little things,” said Jimmy. “The Princesses both seemed more worried than grief-stricken. When we were kept away from the cortege, I became suspicious.” Locklear added, “It was something I said.” Jimmy shot Locklear a hard glance, indicating it was his story. “Yes, it was. He mentioned we were being kept away. Now I know why. I’d have tumbled to the bogus Duke in the carriage in a minute. Then I’d have known he was heading north to finish with Murmandamus.” Laurie said, “Which is why you were kept away.” Roald added, “Which was the whole idea.” Jimmy looked stung. “You could have trusted me.” Arutha looked caught halfway between amusement and irritation. “It wasn’t an issue of trust, Jimmy. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want you along.” With a mock groan, he said, “Now I’ve two of you.”
Locklear looked at Jimmy with an expression of concern, but Jimmy’s tone put him at ease. “Well, even princes have an occasional lapse of judgment. Just remember what sort of fix you’d have been in if I hadn’t sussed out that trap up at Moraelin.”
Arutha nodded in surrender. “So you knew something strange was going on, then figured out Laurie and Roald were going north, but what gave away I was still alive?”
Jimmy laughed. “First, the grey stallion was used in the procession, and your sorrel was missing from the stable. You never liked the grey, I remember you saying.”
Arutha nodded. “He’s too fractious. What else?”
“It hit me while we watched the body go past. If you were going to be buried in your favourite togs, you’d have your favourite boots on.” He pointed to the pair the Prince wore. “But there were only slippers on his feet. That’s because the boots the assassin wore into the palace were covered in sewer muck and blood. Most likely whoever dressed the body went looking for another pair rather than clean the assassin’s boots and couldn’t find any, or they didn’t fit, so they just put the slippers on. When I saw that I figured it out. You didn’t have the assassin’s body burned, only the heart. Nathan must have put a spell on it to keep it fresh.”
“I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but thought it might come in useful. Then we had that attempt in the temple. That assassin’s dagger was no sham” - he absently rubbed a sore side - “but it was not a serious wound.”
Laurie said, “Ha! Another inch higher and two to the right and he’d have had a real enough funeral after all.”
“We kept things at a low boil the first night, Nathan, Gardan, Volney, Laurie, and I, while we figured out what to do,” Arutha said. “I decided to play dead. Volney held up the funeral procession until the local nobles arrived, which gave me time to heal enough to ride. I wanted to slip out of the city without anyone being the wiser. If Murmandamus thinks me dead, he’ll stop looking for me. With this” - he held out the talisman given to him by the Ishapian Abbot - “he’ll not find me with magic means. I’m hoping to make him act prematurely.”
Laurie said, “How’d you boys get here? You couldn’t have passed us along the road.”
“I got Trevor Hull to bring us here,” replied Jimmy.
Arutha said, “You told him?”
“But only him. Not even Cook knows you’re alive.”
Roald said, “Still too damn many for a secret.”
Locklear said, “But, I mean, everyone who knows can be trusted . . . sir.”
“That’s not the issue,” said Laurie. “Carline and Anita know, as did Gardan, Volney, and Nathan. But even deLacy and Valdis were kept ignorant. The King won’t know until Carline tells him in private when they reach Rillanon. Only those know.”
“What of Martin?” asked Jimmy.
“Laurie sent a message to him. He’ll meet us in Ylith,” answered Arutha.
“That’s risky,” said Jimmy.
Laurie said, “No one but a few of us could understand the message. All it said was “The Northerner. Come fastest.” It was signed “Arthur.” He’ll understand no one is to know Arutha lives.”
Jimmy revealed his appreciation. “Only those of us here know the Northerner is the inn in Ylith where Martin wrestled with that Longly character.”
“Who’s Arthur?” asked Locklear.
“His Highness,” said Roald. “It’s the name he used when last he travelled.”
“And I used it when I came to Krondor with Martin and Amos.”