One of the men got a calculating look and said, “Why shouldn’t we just split it up? We don’t work for you, Avery.”
Suddenly Roo’s sword was out of its scabbard before the man could react. The point touched the man in the throat and Roo said, “Because I’m the only real soldier on this ship, and you copper-grubbing thugs are getting a chance for some real gold. Why die so a few of you can share this, when you can live and get enough to keep you drunk for the rest of your life?”
“Just asking,” said the man, backing away.
“Besides,” said Roo, “Vinci knows each of you, and if I don’t make it alive back to Krondor and you show up anywhere in the West with gold, he’ll know to send assassins after you.”
That was a bluff, but Roo didn’t think any of these smugglers were smart enough to suspect it was. He turned and shouted, “Get as much sail on as you can once we’re out of the harbor! And find a Kingdom banner if there’s one in the Captain’s cabin and hoist it aloft! I don’t want to get sunk by one of Reeve’s attack ships before we can explain we’re on their side.”
As they exited the harbor, the lookout shouted, “Galley off the starboard bow!”
Roo raced to the fore of the ship and looked where the lookout indicated. Sure enough, heaving out of the morning mist came a Quegan war galley. Roo didn’t hesitate, but dashed back to where the Captain of the ship still stood under guard. “How tight to the southern headland can you turn this ship without killing us all?”
The Captain said, “At this speed, not very.”
“So we either slow down and get overtaken, or we turn south and shoal out.”
“Yes,” said the Captain with a smile.
Roo looked toward the canvas and saw the luff of the sail. He was not a true sailor, but he had served aboard ship on two long voyages down to Novindus. To those sailors aloft, he said, “I’ll give every man here a thousand pieces of gold if we get away from that galley!”
Quegan sailors were often pressed into service, and none were known particularly for deep loyalty to their Emperor. Suddenly the activity above increased to a frenzied pace as Roo shouted orders. The Captain realized he was in the presence of a man who knew his way around a ship and said, “We can heel hard to port in a few moments and if we hold tight into the wind, make it clear of rocks, Mr. Avery.”
Roo looked at the Captain and said, “Switching sides?”
“For twelve years I’ve sailed for my Lord Vasarius, and if I’ve made a thousand gold pieces in that time, it was barely.”
“Good,” said Roo. “For the Captain, two thousand. Now get us out of here.”
The Captain shouted orders, and turned to take the tiller away from the man Roo had assigned to the job. Valari said, “What about me?”
Roo said, “Can you swim?”
“Yes, but—”
Roo nodded to the powerful-looking smuggler who had just released the tiller, and the man grabbed Valari by the collar and the seat of the pants, and with two steps pitched him over the side of the ship. As the man came to the surface, Roo called down, “Perhaps your employer will stop and pick you up!”
The galley bore down on them, and Roo stood on the quarterdeck, watching as it came straight at them, then to the side, and then to the stern, as the Captain turned southward. The men on the bow of the galley could be clearly seen, astonished expressions on their faces as the ship they were sent to escort seemed to be turning in the wrong direction.
A few moments later, the galley turned to pursue. “Can we lose her?” asked Roo.
The Captain said, “If we run out of wind before they run out of slaves, no. If they run out of slaves first, yes.”
Roo said, “I hate to do it to the slaves, but let’s pray for wind.”
The Captain nodded.
“What’s your name?”
“Nardini,” said the Captain.
“Well, Captain Nardini, I used to have a fleet, and I expect to have one again. If we live through this, not only will you get your gold, I’ll give you a job.”
“That would be nice,” said the Captain, a balding man of middle years. “I’ve never been farther into Krondor than the docks. I was last there about three years ago.”
“It’s changed since you were there,” said Roo.
“So I hear,” replied the Captain.
Roo looked rearward and saw the galley was holding steady about two hundred yards off their stern. They had come around the thumb, as Roo thought of it, and the coast fell away to the east, leaving them in relatively open water.
Roo knew that a support fleet was due to hit Sarth at noon, and hoped they reached it before Vasarius’s war galley reached them.