When they were out of earshot, Roo said, “What do I know about being a father? All my old man ever did was beat on me. I mean, what am I supposed to do when the baby gets here?”
Erik said, “You’re asking the wrong man. I never had any sort of father.”
Panic surfaced on Roo’s face. “What am I going to do, Erik?”
Erik grinned. “You’re only going through what we all go through, I bet. It’s a big change. First a wife, now a child.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ve wondered what I would do if I fell in love and got married, had children.”
“And?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Some help you are.”
Erik put his hand upon Roo’s shoulder. “Well, I did come up with one thing. I imagine if I’m ever a father and something happens that I don’t anticipate, I’m going to ask myself, ‘What would Milo do now?’”
Roo pondered that a moment. Then he smiled, “He’s the best dad I’ve ever seen, the way he treated Rosalyn and you as kids.”
“That’s how I figure it,” said Erik. “If I start to get confused, I’ll just imagine what Milo would do and try to do that.”
As if this somehow made the prospect of being a father less fearful, Roo brightened. “Well, I think I’ll have another drink of water.”
Erik laughed. “Take it easy, Roo. You have a lot of time to recover from last night.”
Roo turned back toward the wagon. “So why are you in charge of this escort?” he inquired.
“I asked for it,” said Erik. “Things are under control back at the palace, and the Prince seems to think this cargo needed special protection, and I haven’t been home in a year.”
Roo blinked. “It has been a year, hasn’t it?”
Erik said, “This way we’ll have two visits: a short one on the way through, and we can probably steal an extra day on the way back for a proper get-together.”
Roo said, “Well, you’ve got your mother and Nathan, Milo, Rosalyn. Lots of friends.”
“You’ve also got some friends, Roo.”
Roo smiled. “I wonder how Gwen is doing?”
Erik’ s brow furrowed. “You’re a married man, Roo.”
Reaching under the buckboard, Roo pulled out a bag of provisions and dug out some bread. Yanking off a piece, he stuffed it in his mouth and washed it down with another gulp of water. “I’m not that married,” said Roo.
Erik’s expression turned dark. Roo held up one hand. “I mean I’m not so married I can’t be civil to old friends just because they’re women.”
Erik studied his friend’s face a moment, then said, “If that’s what you mean.”
Duncan returned from looking over the horses and reported, “Everything’s fine.”
Roo climbed back up on the buckboard and said, “Well, let’s get moving again. The Duke of Salador is expecting this cargo and we’re getting a bonus for speed.”
Duncan sighed; the buckboard was about as comfortable as a moving block of stone. “I hope it’s a very good bonus,” he said with poorly concealed ill-humor.
The journey went smoothly. Twice the presence of Erik’s guards had speeded up accounting with the local constabulary, saving Roo precious hours. The visit in Ravensburg had been a hasty one, with them rolling into Milo’s Inn of the Pintail after sundown, and leaving before sunrise, without seeing Rosalyn and her family. Erik promised his mother he would linger on the way back.
In Darkmoor, if the local guards recognized Erik or Roo they said nothing. Still, Roo found he felt considerably better once that city had fallen behind them.
As a child, Roo had accompanied his father on the journey to Salador only twice, and now he saw the Eastern Realm with the eyes of an adult. The lands through which they passed had been cultivated for centuries. Farms were tidy to the point of appearing like miniatures painted by artists when seen from the distant road. Compared to this, the Western Realm was still rough-hewn, and the lands across the sea primitive and wild.
They reached the city gates at noon and Erik hardly slowed as he passed the City Watch, shouting, “Cargo from the Prince for the Duke!”
One of his soldiers had carried a pennant, which was now unfurled; it bore the crest of the Prince of Krondor. That morning the soldiers had donned the tabards they had carried in their saddlebags, and Roo saw that his escort was comprised of not just city troops but Prince Patrick’s own household guard. Roo wondered again what his cargo was, but knew that he might never find out.
They rode through the city and Roo was astonished at the number of people. Krondor might be the capital of the Western Realm, but it was dwarfed in size by several of the eastern cities. Salador was the second largest city in the Kingdom after Rillanon, and it took more than an hour for Roo’s wagon to roll through the press of the crowds and reach the ducal palace.
The Prince’s palace in Krondor sat atop a suddenly rising prominence hard against the harbor. Salador’s ruler’s home also sat atop a hill, but over a mile from the harbor. A long, sloping hillside led down into the heart of the city, and far beyond that, Roo could see the harbor.