De Savona looked around and, after a long moment, shook his head, throwing the sword to the ground.
“Pick that up!” raged de Loungville. “I’ll tell you when to put something down! You pick up that sword and run me through with it, or I’ll have that man up there”—he pointed to one of the Pathfinders—“put a clothyard shaft through your thick skull. Is that clear?”
De Savona said, “Either way I’m a dead man.”
De Loungville came up to the taller Rodezian and shouted into his face, “Do you doubt my word? I said if you killed me you would be a free man! Are you saying I would lie to you?”
When de Savona said nothing, Robert de Loungville struck him across the face. “Are you calling me a liar?”
Luis bent, grabbed the sword, and as he came up, he moved forward. Lunging, he abruptly found de Loungville had easily sidestepped the sword, and suddenly he was on his knees, with de Loungville behind him, the noose now pulled tightly around his neck. As he struggled for air, de Loungville said, “I want you all to listen.
“Every man you meet from now on is your better. Each of them can take any weapon you have away from you like you were a baby. Each of them has proved himself a hundred times over to me, and I will grant any and all of them permission to cut your throat, strangle you, bludgeon you with a club, kick you to death, or whatever else they feel like if you so much as fart without my permission. Is that clear?”
The men mumbled something and he yelled, “I can’t hear you!” De Savona was beginning to turn crimson from lack of air. “If he dies before I can hear you, you’ll all hang.”
“Yes, Sergeant de Loungville!” shouted the men, and de Loungville let go of the noose around de Savona’s neck. The Rodezian lay gasping for breath, and after a moment he got to his feet and staggered into his place in line.
“Remember, every man you meet from now on is your better.”
He motioned for the guards to move the men out, and the corporal let them back into the palace. They moved quickly through a long passage, and abruptly they were in what appeared to be a private quarter of the palace.
They were led into a good-size chamber, one far smaller than the grand hall where the court had been conducted, and there they saw the Prince of Krondor, Duke James, the strange woman who had come to see them and who had been at their trial, and other nobles of the court.
The woman stood stiffly, as if this was a difficult place for her to be, and she looked from face to face, and jerked slightly when she looked at Sho Pi. Some silent communication seemed to pass between them, and at last she turned to Lord James and the Prince and said, “I think they will do as you wish. May I be excused now, Sire?”
The Prince of Krondor said, “I can only imagine how difficult this was for you, my lady. You have my thanks. You may withdraw.”
The Duke whispered to the woman a moment and she nodded and left the hall. De Loungville said, “Sire, the dead men are here.”
The Prince said, “What you started was with my father’s knowledge and permission, Bobby. I am still trying to make sense of it all.”
James said, “Nicky, you’ve seen what the snakes can do with your own eyes. You were at sea when Arutha agreed to Calis and Bobby’s plan. You’d still be at sea if we hadn’t sent for you when your father died. Don’t doubt for a moment it’s necessary.”
The Prince sat, took off the circlet of office he wore, and studied the prisoners, who waited silently. After studying them for a long moment, he said, “Was all this really necessary?”
James said, “It was. Every condemned man would lie to you about his willingness to serve. They’d give up their mothers when the box was being kicked from under their feet. No, these men are the six who could be trusted the most among those condemned to die.”
Nicholas looked from face to face and said, “I still don’t see the need for the charade at the gallows. Certainly that was cruel beyond reason.”
De Loungville said, “Excuse me, Sire, but these men are now officially dead. I have made that abundantly clear to them all. They know that we can execute them at whim and they are to a man desperate to stay alive.”
“What about the Keshian?” asked the Prince.
James answered. “He’s something of a special case, but my wife feels he will be needed.”
The Prince sat back and let out a long sigh. “Coming to this office wasn’t easy. Borric agonized long hours about who should sit this throne until Prince Patrick is old enough to come take my place and I can return to the sea. That’s three years of this.
“I’m a sailor, damn it. I haven’t spent more than a month in port in twenty years. This administering . . .”
James smiled, the light in his eyes making him look far younger than his years. “You sound like Amos.”