She said, ‘To be completely truthful, it bores me. Once in a while I come across something interesting to read and mind those hours less. My task is to write a one paragraph précis of the work, assign it a location within the archive, and ensure that my entry is copied into the main codex.’ She fixed him with a calculating gaze. ‘I could return to your quarters with you, if you’d like, to discuss some of the more esoteric volumes in the archives. Some are quite revealing.’
Pug held a smile in check, and merely inclined his head slightly, as if thinking about the offer.
‘Unless you prefer to stay for the orgy?’
Pug’s eyebrows lifted slightly. Of all the nations in this part of the world, he had visited Queg the least and had forgotten that some of their customs were radically different from those of the Kingdom or even Great Kesh. Now he remembered why all the servants were young and attractive. The after dinner orgy was a normal part of grand welcomes for foreign visitors and always a feature of certain holidays. He had no qualms about other people’s moral behaviour on this level, but his own feelings demanded that intimacy be limited to a committed love.
Not having to feign his feelings, Pug softly said, ‘I have just recently lost my wife.’
Livia’s eyes widened. ‘I’m sorry. Was it sudden?’
‘Very,’ said Pug. ‘It will be a while before I’m…’
She reached out and touched his hand lightly. Her tone remained bright, but her expression was solicitous. ‘If I can do anything, please.’
Pug admired her persistence. He sighed. ‘Someday, I’d like to return and then, perhaps.’ He slowly rose. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I shall retire before the festivities commence.’
‘Of course.’
‘I look forward to seeing you in the morning,’ he said.
‘Until then.’
Magnus and Amirantha both had noticed him stand and were watching. Pug nodded slightly at his two companions, indicating that they should leave as soon as possible. Jim was deep in conversation with a noble, but Pug knew he had missed nothing.
Pug reached his quarters and found wine, sweets, nuts and cheeses waiting for him. He sat heavily in a divan before the window; he hadn’t eaten much at the supper, and wasn’t particularly hungry now, but he did feel like a sip of wine. He picked up the carafe and then closed his eyes. He had learned a spell years before, which would cleanse the wine of any drug designed to incapacitate or poison. He doubted this was necessary if the evening’s objective had been seduction, but caution was the byword on this journey.
A few minutes later Amirantha appeared. Laughing slightly, he said, ‘You and Magnus get the pretty girls, but I get the scholar who wants to ply me with questions about Muboya!’
‘Well, that is logical,’ said Pug. ‘Most people love to talk about their homes and the Quegans consider everyone beyond their island a potential enemy.’
‘I told him plenty about it,’ said the Warlock, sitting down in a chair on the other side of the room. ‘Some of it was even true.’
Pug smiled broadly at that.
Magnus entered and with a raised eyebrow said, ‘Orgy?’
‘It’s a local custom,’ said his father.
‘Maybe we should go back?’ quipped Amirantha.
Both father and son looked at him with narrow gazes, one of the few expressions that made a resemblance between them evident. Magnus was tall and pale, while his father was short and dark, but their look was identical.
After half an hour of idle conversation, they decided to retire. As they stood to enter their respective rooms, Amirantha said, ‘I wonder if Jim stayed.’
Pug smiled. ‘As ranking noble, it would have been something of a political incident for him to leave.’
Amirantha sighed. ‘I noticed him keep that very pretty serving girl at hand.’ Shaking his head slightly, he said, ‘It’s heroic what that man does for his King.’
Pug chuckled and Magnus laughed as they both closed their doors.
CHAPTER EIGHT - Fortress
SANDREENA SIGNALLED.
The two Knights-Adamants reined in their horses. She had recruited Brother Farson as she prepared to leave Krondor, just as he had arrived in the city. Brother Jaliel, she had found in Durbin along the way. Her newfound rank gave them no option but to change their current plans and follow her.
She indicated they should stay while she slowly urged her horse on.