Roo said, “I see. How much?”
“For your cargo, it would be twenty golden sovereigns”—Roo’s eyes widened—“for each wagon.”
That was easily close to one half his expected profit on this cargo alone. His outrage couldn’t be kept below the surface. “Are you mad? Twenty sovereigns!” He took a quick step back and said, “I think not!”
The man took a step after Roo, which he had anticipated, saying, “If you want your friend there to stay health—”
Suddenly Roo had his sword out and at the man’s throat before he could move away. The man was quick and tried to move back, but Roo followed, keeping the point of his sword touching skin. “An, ah!” said Roo. “Don’t move too quickly; I might slip and then you’d get blood over everything, if your friend doesn’t get his dagger out of my cousin’s ribs or if either one of those two men across the street makes the wrong move, you’re sucking wind through a new hole.”
“Hold on!” shouted the man. Then, glancing sideways without moving his head, he shouted, “Bert! Get down!”
The man next to Duncan got down without question, while the man whom Roo held at sword’s point said, “You’re making a big mistake.”
“If I am, it’s not the first,” said Roo.
“Cross the Sagacious Man and it’s the last,” said the would-be extortionist.
“Sagacious Man?” said Roo. “Who would that be?”
“Someone important in this city,” answered the thin man. “We’ll mark this a misunderstanding, and you ask about. But when we come back tomorrow, I’ll expect better manners from you.”
He motioned for his two distant companions to leave and they quickly darted into the midday crush of people. Other pedestrians had stopped to watch the display of one man holding another at sword’s point, and it was obvious the thin man didn’t care for the scrutiny. A merchant looked out from his shop and started shouting for a city constable.
Glancing at Roo the man said, “If I’m handed over to the city watch, you’re in even bigger trouble than you might be already.” He licked his lips nervously. A shrill whistle sounded a block away, and Roo dropped his sword’s point and the man ducked away, vanishing into the crowd.
“What was that?” asked Duncan.
“Shakedown.”
Duncan said, “Mockers.”
“Mockers?”
“Guild of Thieves,” supplied Duncan as he patted his ribs to make sure they were still intact.
“I expect. He mentioned someone named the Sagacious Man.”
“That’s the Mockers, without a doubt. You can’t do business in a city like Krondor without having to pay off someone.”
Roo climbed aboard his own wagon and said, “Damn me if I will.”
If Duncan had an answer, Roo didn’t hear it as he untied the rope holding down the barrels and lowered the drop gate. A shout and men running down the street caused Roo to glance past the wagon to where members of the City Watch, wearing blue tunics and carrying large billy clubs, paused to see the merchant pointing at Roo.
Roo swore under his breath. The constable approached and said, “That gentleman tells me you was dueling in the street.”
Roo tossed a rope to Duncan. “Dueling? Me? Sorry, but he’s mistaken. I’m just unloading wine for this inn.” He turned his chin toward the inn, as Duncan came down to help get the barrels off the top of the wagon.
“Well then,” said the constable, obviously unwilling to go searching for trouble when it was so abundant in Krondor, “just see it stays that way.” He motioned for his partner and they returned the way they came.
Duncan said, “Some things never change. Unless I miss my bet, those two will be back in whatever pastry shop they were in when the whistle blew.”
Roo laughed. They lowered the five barrels to the street, and Roo convinced the innkeeper to send a worker to help Duncan carry them inside, so Roo could protect the wagons while the wine was delivered. After the remaining cargo was secured, they took reins and moved on to the next tavern.
At sundown, they had sold close to a third of the wine Roo had purchased in Ravensburg. More, they had recouped almost all the gold Roo had spent. Roo calculated that he stood to triple his money if business the next day or so was as brisk as it had been so far.
“Where do we spend the night?” asked Duncan. “And when do we eat? I’m starving.”
Roo said, “Let us find an inn with a good-sized yard so we can guard this wine against our friends.”