Roo said, “I am no longer with you.”
“That’s all right,” said Nakor, squeezing Roo’s upper arm in a reassuring fashion. “Anyway, do you know where Pug is?”
“No, but I can ask at the palace. Someone there might. Don’t you have some sort of magic . . . trick you can do that would get Pug’s attention?”
“Maybe, but I don’t know if the damage would be worth it.”
“I don’t want to know,” said Roo.
“No, you don’t,” agreed Nakor. He looked around, as if noticing the work for the first time. “What is this, then?”
“No one’s seen the old owner since the fall of the city, so either he’s dead or not coming back. Even if he shows up, we’ll work out a deal.” Roo waved his hand around in an arc. “I’m trying to restore this exactly as it was before the war. I’m very fond of this place.”
“As you should be,” said Nakor with a grin. “You made a great deal of wealth here.”
Roo shrugged. “That’s part of it, but more importantly, this is where I made myself.”
“You’ve come a long way,” said Nakor.
“More than I could have imagined,” said the one-time death cell prisoner.
“How is your wife?”
“Getting large,” he said, motioning with his hands as he grinned.
“I heard a rumor that you arrived in town with Lord Vasarius of Queg as a prisoner.”
Roo said, “He wasn’t my prisoner.”
“Is it a good story?”
Roo said, “It’s a very good story.”
“Good, then you can tell me sometime, but first I need to ask about Pug.”
Roo put down his plans and said, “Tell you what. I could do with a bit of a stretch, so let’s walk over to the New Market Jail and visit with Dash Jamison.”
“Fine,” said Nakor, and they left the coffeehouse.
Everywhere they looked the city was slowly returning to the life they had known before the war. Each day another building was restored and another shop opened. More goods were coming into the city via the ferry outside of Fishtown, or over the caravan routes. Rumor had it a large caravan from Kesh would arrive within the week, the first since before the fighting. As war hadn’t formally been declared, trade between the Kingdom and Kesh was resuming. If the Wreckers Guild could continue raising ships, the harbor would be navigable the following spring, and fully restored within a year after that.
Moving through the crowd, Nakor said, “This city is like a person, don’t you see?”
“It was beat up pretty badly,” agreed Roo, “but it’s coming back.”
“More,” said Nakor. “There are cities that have no . . . I don’t know what to call it, an identity perhaps. A sense of being someplace different. Lots of those in the Empire. Very old cities with lots of history, but one day is much like the next. Krondor is a very lively place in comparison.”
Roo laughed. “In a manner of speaking.”
They reached the market and saw the New Market Jail, now sporting a fresh coat of paint and bars on all the visible windows. Entering the door, they found a harried-looking clerk, who looked up and said, “Yes?”
“We’re looking for the Sheriff,” said Nakor.
“He’s out in the market, somewhere, and will be back here, sometime. Sorry,” he said, returning to his paperwork.
Roo motioned for Nakor to move outside. They stood on the porch looking at the press of people in the market. Vendors had organized themselves into a rough series of aisles, with the outer edge of the market a sort of random pattern of blankets with goods laid atop, carts overloaded with produce, men carrying boards covered with trinkets, and the furtive denizens who offered less than legitimate wares. Roo said, “He could be anywhere.”
Nakor grinned. “I know how to get his attention.”
Before Nakor could step down from the porch, Roo put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Wait!”
“What?”
“I know you, my friend, and if you think you’re helping out by starting a riot so that every constable in the market comes running, think again.”
“Well, it would be effective, wouldn’t it?”
“Do you remember an old proverb?”
“Several. Which one do you have in mind?”
“The one about not using an ax to remove a fly from a friend’s nose.”
Nakor’s grin broadened, and he laughed. “I like that one.”
“Anyway, the point is, we should be able to find Dash without starting a riot.”
“Very well,” said Nakor. “Lead on.”