Arutha blanched, and for a moment was so struck by the outrageous price he nearly forgot himself. “Twenty!” He lowered his voice as a passing member of Radburn’s company threw him a quick glance “My dear man,” he said, returning to character, “I seek to purchase a cloak, not establish an annuity for your grandchildren.” Radburn’s man turned away and disappeared into the press of the crowd. “It is rather a plain wrap, after all. I should think two sovereigns more than sufficient.”
The man looked stricken “Sir, you seek to beggar me I couldn’t think of parting with it for a sum of less than eighteen sovereigns.”
They haggled for another ten minutes, and Arutha finally departed with the cloak for the price of eight sovereigns and two silver royals. It was double the price he should have paid, but the searchers had ignored a man haggling with a street seller, and escaping detection was worth the price a hundred times over.
Arutha kept alert for signs he was being watched as he made his way along the street. Unfortunately he knew little of Krondor and had no idea where he was after the flight. He kept to the busier part of the street, staying close to larger groups, seeking to blend in.
Arutha saw a man standing at the corner, seemingly idling the night away, but clearly watching those who passed. Arutha looked around and saw a tavern on the other side of the street, marked by a brightly painted sign of a white dove. He quickly crossed the street, keeping his face turned away from the man at the corner, and approached the doorway of the tavern. As he reached for the door, a hand gripped his cloak, and Arutha spun, his sword halfway out of its scabbard. A boy of about thirteen stood there, wearing a simple, oft-patched tunic and men’s trousers cut off at the knees. He had dark hair and eyes, and his smudged face was set in a grin. “Not there, sir,” he said with a merry note in his voice.
Arutha slipped his sword back into the scabbard and fell into character. “Begone, boy. I’ve no time for beggars or panderers, even those of limited stature.”
The boy’s grin broadened “If you insist, but there are two of them in there.”
Arutha dropped his nasal accent. “Who?”
“The men who chased you from the side street.”
Arutha glanced about. The boy appeared alone. He looked into the boy’s eyes and said, “What are you talking about?”
“I saw how you acted. Quick on your feet, sir. But they’ve blanketed the area, and you’ll not be slipping by them yourself.”
Arutha leaned forward “Who are you, boy?”
With a toss of his ragged hair he said, “Name’s Jimmy I work hereabouts. I can get you out. For a fee, of course.”
“And what makes you think I wish to get out?”
“Don’t play the fool with me, like you did with the merchant, sir. You need to get clear of somebody who’s likely to pay me to show him where you are. I’ve run afoul of Radburn and his men before, so you have more of my sympathy than he’s likely to get. As long as you can bid more for your freedom than he will for your capture.”
“You know Radburn?”
Jimmy grinned. “Not so as I’d care to admit, but yes, we’ve had dealings before.”
Arutha was struck by the boy’s cool manner, not what he would have expected from the boys he knew back home. Here stood an old hand at negotiating the treacherous byways of the city. “How much?”
“Radburn will pay me twenty-five gold to find you, fifty if he especially wants your skin.”
Arutha took out his com pouch and handed it to the boy. “Over a hundred sovereigns in there, boy. Get me out of here and to the docks, and I’ll double it.”
The boy’s eyes flickered wide a moment, but he never lost his grin. “You must have offended someone with a lot of influence. Come along.”
He darted away so quickly, Arutha almost lost him in the heavy crowd. The boy moved with the ease of experience through the press, while Arutha had to struggle to keep from jostling people in the street.
Jimmy led him into an alley, several blocks away. When they were a short way down the alley, Jimmy stopped. “Better toss that cloak. Red’s not my favorite color for looking inconspicuous.” When Arutha had pitched the cloak into an empty barrel, Jimmy said, “You’ll be pointed at the docks in a moment. If someone tumbles onto us, you’re on your own. But for that other hundred gold, I’ll try to see you all the way.”
They worked their way to the end of the alley, apparently seldom used from the heavy accumulation of trash and discarded objects, packing crates, broken furniture, and nameless goods against the walls around them Jimmy pulled aside a crate, revealing a hole. “This should put us outside Radburn’s net, at least I hope so,” said Jimmy.
Arutha found he had to crouch to follow the boy through the small passage From the rank odor in the tunnel, it was clear something had crawled in here to die fairly recently. As if reading his mind, Jimmy said, “We toss a dead cat in here every few days. Keeps others from sticking their noses too far in.”
“We?” said Arutha.
Jimmy ignored the question and kept moving Soon they exited into another alley overburdened with trash. At the mouth of the alley, Jimmy motioned for Arutha to stop and wait. He hurried along the dark street, then returned at a run. “Radburn’s men. They must have known you’d head for the harbor.”