“I see,” said Roo.
“And that’s what I meant.”
“What is what you meant?”
“When you asked me what was I talking about.”
Roo said, “When? I seem to be asking you what are you talking about nearly every time we meet.”
“When I first walked into the coffeehouse, and I said, ‘This won’t do,’ that’s what I was talking about. That blackness.”
Roo said, “I don’t know what it is, and I don’t think I want to know what it is, but ‘it won’t do’ is a rather mild way of putting things. Just looking at it scares me.”
“We’ll fix it,” said Nakor. “As soon as I reach Pug.”
They got to the docks and Roo only had to wait a few minutes to commandeer one of his boats. He had them row Nakor out to one of his fastest ships.
“What do you do if Pug’s not on the island?”
Nakor said, “Don’t worry. Gathis will find him for me. Someone on the island will.”
Nakor climbed a net ladder, and Roo shouted, “Captain! Shove off as soon as you can and take him where he wants to go!”
A disbelieving Captain said, “Mr. Avery! We’re only half unloaded.”
“That will have to do, Captain. Have you supplies for two more weeks at sea?”
“Aye, sir, we do.”
“Then you have your orders, Captain.”
“Aye, sir,” said the Captain. He shouted, “Get ready to cast off! Secure the cargo!”
Men started scrambling, and Roo instructed the boat crew to turn around and take him back to shore. As he reached the docks he saw the sails unfurling on his ship and he bid Nakor a fair voyage. With good winds he’d reach Sorcerer’s Island in a week or less, and knowing Nakor’s “tricks,” he was certain Nakor would see good winds on this voyage.
Reaching the docks, Roo couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was occurring in Krondor, it was now something far beyond his plans for wealth and power. The game that was about to unfold would be beyond the powers of even the richest man in the Western Realm, and that frightened him. He decided to let the workers leave early tonight and return to his estates. Karli was overseeing the rebuilding there, and Roo had a powerful desire to spend the night with his wife and children.
Jimmy reviewed the reports until his eyes couldn’t focus. He stood up and said, “I have to get some air.”
Duko looked up and said, “I understand. You’ve been reading since dawn.” Duko’s own command of the written King’s Tongue was improving, so he could now read along with Jimmy or someone else reading aloud, but the messages they were getting were too critical for him to trust he wasn’t making a mistake.
The net effect of this was twofold: first, Jimmy didn’t think he could see anything more than two feet away right now and, second, he was starting to develop an overall appreciation of the strategic situation along the Kingdom’s southern frontier.
Kesh had a plan. Jimmy wasn’t sure what it was, but he was almost certain that it required a large commitment of Kingdom forces in two places, in Land’s End and near Shamata to the east. At times he almost felt as if he understood what Kesh was going to do next, but he just couldn’t quite make it come together in his mind.
A rider came galloping toward the headquarters building and reined in his lathered horse. “Sir!” he said. “Messages from Shamata!”
Jimmy stepped off the porch and took the packet. He brought it inside and Duko said, “That wasn’t much time.”
“Messages from Shamata.”
Duko said, “More messages. You’d better read them.”
“The messenger was in a hurry,” said Jimmy as he unwrapped the package.
He read the single paper that was in the packet and said, “Gods! One of our patrols caught sight of a fast-moving Keshian column moving rapidly northeast through Tahup-set Pass.”
“What’s the significance?” asked Duko.
“Damned if I know,” said Jimmy. He motioned for one of the orderlies in the room to bring over a particular map and spread it out before the Duke. “That’s a pass that runs along the western shore of the Sea of Dreams. It’s part of the old caravan route from Shamata to Landreth.”
“Why would the Keshians threaten Landreth, when we have a garrison in Shamata that can take them from behind?”
Jimmy stared into space and for a moment he didn’t answer, then he said, “Because they’re not going to Landreth. They just want us to think they are.”
“Where are they going?”
Jimmy studied the map. “They’re too far east to support any move at Land’s End.” His ringer traced a line, and he said, “If they cut west here, they could come straight at us, but we’re too well defended with all the support units for Land’s End here.”
“Unless they want to draw us off before they push at Land’s End?”
Jimmy rubbed his tired eyes. “Maybe.”