Roo reached home late that night. It had taken half the day to deal with the news that Duncan had returned with, that it would be both possible and dangerous to dispose of the drugs but that the profit potential was very high. Katherine had also been unable to provide the name of anyone who might consider such a purchase.
Then there was the matter of housing Dash. Roo promised that he would secure quarters for Luis and Duncan in a few days, allowing Jason and Dash to share the apartment, but for the time being the newest addition to their company’s roster would have to sleep in a makeshift loft above the wagons in the warehouse. If the grandson of the most powerful noble in the Kingdom was discomfited by this revelation, he hid it in good humor. Roo suspected he had seen rougher quarters during his relatively short life. He thought in passing about his asking if he was being tossed out of the palace again.
Jason and Roo had sat up for a couple of hours plotting the quick disposal of the gems gained in Sarth. A message was prepared for a gem broker in Salador who had been an old trading companion of Helmut Grindel’s, outlining in detail what Roo had to offer, and by the time that had been disposed of, it was after dark.
Roo made it home and used his key to unlock the door. He saw that everyone was already in bed and quietly made his way upstairs. In the gloom he saw Karli asleep in the bed. There was a tiny shape next to her, and he leaned close. Then he saw the baby.
In the murk of the unlit room the child was little more than a featureless, blanket-wrapped lump, and Roo could barely make out the little bump of her nose. He waited for some strong emotion to come sweeping up out of a natural paternal well, but nothing came. Then he looked at his sleeping wife and again felt close to nothing. Standing back upright, he sighed. It was the fatigue, he told himself. And his mind rushed with concern over the coming investments. If he was being a fool, he would lose everything he had built over the last two years. While he was young and could start over again, he knew that a failure now would rob him of any future chance for greatness and riches.
As he removed his boots, a soft voice said, “Roo?”
He grunted as he dropped one boot upon the floor. “Yes,” he whispered. “I’m back.”
“How . . . are you?” she asked.
“Tired,” he said. “I have a lot to tell you, but in the morning.”
The baby stirred, then suddenly it was crying, and Roo asked, “What is wrong?”
Karli sat up in the dark and said, “Nothing. She’s hungry. That’s all. She needs to eat during the night, two or three times.”
Roo sat upon a small chair, one boot on, the other off, and said, “How long does this go on?”
Karli said, “For the next four months, maybe longer.”
Roo stood, picked up his boot, and said, “I’m going to sleep in your old room. There’s no reason for both of us to be exhausted tomorrow and I have a great deal to do. I’ll tell you about it when I get up.”
He closed the door behind him and moved to Karli’s old bedroom. Stripping off his clothing, he fell into the bed where he and Karl had created their baby, and in the dark his mind raced: first exultation at the prospect of ten years’ profits in a few months, then terror that he would be destitute instead. Next he plotted how he would expand once the profits were his, and then he felt fear creep up as he thought how best to recover from the coming disaster. But more and more as sleep approached, he found his mind’s eye returning to the image of a wonderful face, with large blue eyes and golden hair, and a laugh that made his stomach knot. Sleep finally came with the dawn.
Roo came downstairs, his head as fuzzy as if he had been drinking the night before. He found Karli in the kitchen, nursing Abigail, and he kissed her dutifully upon the cheek. “We’ve missed you,” said Karli.
“It’s good to be back,” he said as Rendel, the cook, poured him a steaming cup of coffee. He had developed the habit of starting the day with a cup while working at Barret’s, and had purchased beans for grinding when he first came to live in the house.
He studied the baby. The tiny figure lay in her mother’s arms, her hands moving in random directions, her tiny eyes opening and closing. From time to time she would look in his direction, and he would wonder what was going on behind those slate-blue orbs. “I’ve never seen eyes that color,” he said.
Karli laughed. “Most babies have eyes like this. They’ll turn brown or blue when she’s older.”
“Oh” was all he said.
“You had a good journey?” she asked.
“Very,” he answered. “I came across some information.” He fell silent for a few moments, then blurted, “I’m forming a trading syndicate.”
Karli said, “Father was always cautious in tying up his future with others.”
Roo was in no mood to be compared to his dead father-in-law, whom Karli almost worshipped, but he took the comment as if it were merely an observation. “That discounts risk,” he agreed. “But I have ambitions beyond your father’s, Karli, and if I’m to realize a rich future for you and the child, I must take some risks.”