“You are not. Captain,” said Arutha, taking no pain to hide his displeasure.
“In any event, David here is your shortest guardsman, and should any attempt pursuit, from a distance he will resemble the boy.” He waved the three riders along and they headed back down the street toward the eastern road. Jimmy chuckled as they rode away, for one of the guards had been a slender, dark-haired fellow and the other a blond, bearded man with a lute over his back.
“The guards at the gate seemed to pay scant attention,” said Arutha.
“Have no fears on that account, Highness. They’re the two biggest gossips in the city watch. Should word of your departure leak from the palace, within hours the entire city will know you were seen riding east. Those three riders will continue on until they reach Darkmoor, if they are not troubled before then. If I may suggest, we’d best be leaving at once.”
“We?” said Arutha.
“Orders, Sire. Princess Carline instructed me that should any harm befall either of you”—he indicated Laurie and Arutha—”I needn’t return to Krondor.”
Sounding a note of mock injury, Jimmy said, “She said nothing about me?”
The others ignored the remark. Arutha looked at Laurie, who sighed deeply. “She had it figured out hours before we left.” Gardan indicated that this was so. “Besides, she can be circumspect when the occasion warrants. Sometimes.”
Gardan added, “The Princess wouldn’t betray her brother or fiancé.”
“Fiancé?” said Arutha. “This has been a busy night. Well, you would end up either driven from the palace or married to her. But I’ll never understand her taste in men. Very well, it looks as if there’s no getting rid of any of you. Let’s be off.”
The three men and a boy spurred their mounts and resumed their ride and within minutes were through the outer city, heading north toward Sarth.
Near midday, the travelers rounded a bend in the coast road to find a lone traveler sitting by the edge of the King’s Highway. He wore a hunter’s outfit of green-dyed leather. His dappled horse cropped grass a short way off and he whittled at a piece of wood with his hunting knife. Seeing the band approach, he put away his knife, tossed the wood aside, and gathered up his belongings. He was cloaked and had his longbow over his shoulder when Arutha reined in.
“Martin,” said Arutha in greeting.
The Duke of Crydee mounted. “Took you a lot longer to get here than I thought it would.”
Jimmy said, “Is there anyone in Krondor who doesn’t know the Prince has left?”
“Not so as you would notice,” answered Martin with a smile. They commenced riding, and Martin said to Arutha, “Lyam said to tell you he will lay as many false trails as possible.”
Laurie said, “The King knows?”
“Of course,” said Arutha. He indicated Martin. “The three of us planned this from the start. Gardan had an unusually large number of guards posted near the door to my study when Lyam forbade my going.”
Martin added, “Lyam has some of his personal guards impersonating each of us. There’s a long-faced fellow and a blond, bearded lout impersonating Arutha and Laurie.” With one of his rare grins he said, “There’s this handsome brute of a man staying in my suite. Lyam’s even managed to borrow that tall, loud-voiced Master of Ceremonies from the Keshian Ambassador. He’s to sneak back into the palace after the Keshians leave today. Fitted with a false beard, he’s a fair likeness for the captain here. At least he’s the right color. He’ll be seen popping up here and there in the palace.” Gardan laughed.
“Then you’ve not attempted to leave unnoticed, in truth,” said Laurie in admiration.
“No,” said Arutha. “I seek to leave under a cloud of confusion. We know whoever is behind this is sending more assassins this way, or so Laughing Jack believed. So if there are spies in Krondor, they’ll not know for days what is happening. When we are discovered out of the palace, they’ll be unsure of the direction taken. Only those few with us when Pug ensorcelled Anita’s suite know we need to travel to Sarth.”
Jimmy laughed. “A masterstroke of misdirection. Should someone hear you’ve gone one way, then another, they’ll not know what to believe.”
Martin said, “Lyam was thorough. He has another band dressed like you three heading down south toward Stardock with Kulgan and Pug’s family today. They’ll be just clumsy enough in hiding to be noticed.” To Arutha he added, Pug says he will search for a cure for Anita in Macros’s library.”