As if to prove his words, from the east came the sounds of marching men. Then a few minutes later the first company of Bas-Tyra’s foot soldiers came into view. Arutha and his companions watched them march past the open gate of the inn’s courtyard. Lanterns gave the soldiers a strange, otherworld appearance as they marched in columns down the street. They stepped in cadence, their golden-eagle banners snapping above their heads Martin said, “They are well-schooled troops.”
Arutha said, “Guy is many things, most of them unpleasant, but one thing cannot be argued: he is the finest general in the Kingdom. Even Father is forced to admit that, though he’ll say nothing else good about the man. Were I the King, I would send the Armies of the East under his command to fight the Tsurani. Three times Guy has marched against Kesh, and three times he has thrashed them. If the Keshians do not know he’s come west, the very sight of his banner in the field may drive them to the peace table, for they fear and respect him.” Arutha’s voice became thoughtful in tone. “There is one thing. When Guy first came to be Duke of Bas-Tyra, he suffered some sort of personal dishonor—Father never told what that shame was—and took to wearing only black as a badge of sorts, earning him the name Black Guy. That type of thing takes a strange brand of personal courage. Whatever else can be said of Black Guy du Bas-Tyra, none will call him craven.”
While the soldiers continued to pass below, Arutha and his companions watched in silence. Then, with the sun rising in the east, the last soldiers disappeared along the streets to the harbour.
The morning after Guy’s army had marched, it was announced the city was sealed, the gates closed to all travelers and the harbor blockaded. Arutha judged it a normal practice, to prevent Keshian agents from leaving the city by fast sloop or fast horse to carry word of Guy’s march. Amos used a visit to the Wind of Dawn to view the harbor blockade and discovered it was a light one, for Guy had ordered most of the fleet to stand off the coast at sea ambush, watching for any Keshian flotillas should Kesh learn the city was stripped of her garrison. The city was now policed by city guards in Guy’s livery, as the last Krondorian soldiers departed for the north Rumor had it Guy would also send the garrison at Shamata to the front once the fighting with Kesh had been settled, leaving every garrison in the Principality manned by soldiers loyal to Bas-Tyra.
Arutha spent most of his time in taverns, places of business, and the open markets most likely to be frequented by those from the palace. Amos prowled near the docks or in the city’s seedier sections, especially the infamous Poor Quarter, and began making discreet inquiries about the availability of ships. Martin used his guise as a simple woodsman to blunder into any place that looked promising.
Nearly a week went by this way, with little new information being unearthed. Then, late the sixth day after Guy had quit the city, Arutha found himself being hailed in the middle of the busy square by Martin.
“Arthur!” shouted the hunter as he ran up to Arutha. “Best come quickly.” He set off toward the waterfront and the Sailor’s Ease.
Back at the inn they found Amos already in the room, resting upon his pallet before his nightly sojourn into the Poor Quarter. Once the door was closed, Martin said, “I think they may know Arutha’s in Krondor.”
Amos bolted upright as Arutha said, “What? How . . . ?”
“I wandered into a tavern near the barracks, just before the midday meal. With the army gone from the city, there was little business. One man did enter, just as I was readying to leave. A scribe with the city’s Quartermaster, he was fit to burst with a rumor and in need of someone to tell it to. So, with the aid of some wine, I obliged him by playing the simple woodsy, and by showing respect for so important a personage.
“Three things this man told me Lord Dulanic has disappeared from Krondor, gone the night Guy left. There’s some business of his having retired to nameless estates to the north, now that Guy’s Viceroy, but the scribe thought that unlikely. The second thing was news of Lord Barry’s death.”
Arutha’s face showed shock. “The Prince’s Lord-Admiral dead?”
“This man told me Barry had died under mysterious circumstances, though there’s no official announcement planned. Some eastern lord, Jessup, has been given command of the Krondonan fleet.”
“Jessup is Guy’s man,” said Arutha. “He commanded the Bas-Tyra squadrons of the King’s fleet.”
“And lastly, the man made a display of knowing some secret concerning a search for someone he only called ‘the Viceroy’s royal cousin.’ ”
Amos swore. “I don’t know how, but someone’s marked you. With Erland and his family virtual captives in the palace, there’s hardly a chance another royal cousin’s come wandering into Krondor in the last few days, unless you’ve a few out and about you’ve not told us of.”