‘Well,’ said Zane, ‘we certainly won’t if we stand here arguing about it. I say we do as Jim says. Eventually the General will throw up another headquarters and if we just keep following the line of retreat, we’ll find it sooner or later.’
With no better course of action, they boys agreed and they started back up the ridge they had just fled down. Reaching the top, they paused, crouching just below the ridgeline. They could hear no sounds of mounted Dasati, but experience had taught them that Dasati often had secondary patrols following after the raids to catch anyone who had been in hiding.
Jim was about to stick his head over the rise when he heard something. He held up his hand in a sign of caution and listened. Then he recognized the sound. Someone was humming!
He peered over and saw a lone figure moving up the trail, wearing the black robe of a Tsurani magician, and he was humming a tune. ‘What is this?’ Jim asked.
The others peered over and saw the figure vanishing up the trail and Jommy said, ‘Was he singing?’
‘Humming,’ corrected Jim Dasher. ‘Loudly’
‘Should we go after him?’ asked Zane.
‘No,’ said Tad. ‘If he’s a magician he can take care of himself, and look where he is!’
Where he was happened to be was approaching the outer limits of the ‘safe’ area around the Black Mount. Anywhere closer was likely to result in suddenly finding yourself inside the dome the next time it expanded. They watched the robed man vanish along the trail, then they moved over the ridge and down to the floor of the valley.
‘Last time I looked, the generals were heading that way,’ Jommy said, pointing to the south-east.
‘Then that’s the way we go,’ said Dasher. ‘You know, I think I’ve had enough of this.’
‘What?’ asked Servan.
‘The war?’ Tad suggested…
‘That, certainly,’ said Dasher. ‘No, I mean the whole service to the Crown business.’
‘Well, no one made you do it,’ suggested Zane.
‘Actually, someone did,’ said Jim.
‘Who?’ Jommy asked.
Dasher shrugged. ‘You lads must have figured out by now that I’m not just a thief from Krondor.’
Jommy laughed as they trudged along, keeping alert for any marauding Dasati. ‘We sort of got the notion when you showed up carrying royal dispatches for Lord Erik. They don’t usually hand those over to random pickpockets and bashers and tell them to scoot along through the nearest rift to a war on another world.’
‘Well, it was my grandfather, really, who got me into "the family business", I guess you could say.’
Servan said, ‘Don’t keep us guessing.’ His tone was dry and he seemed unconvinced. He had known Jim Dasher long enough to judge him an accomplished liar.
‘My grandfather is James, Lord Jamison, Duke of Rillanon.’
Jommy laughed. ‘That’s a wonderful tale.’
‘No, I’m serious,’ said Dasher. He picked up a rock and threw it, hitting a larger rock some distance away. ‘I’m tired of risking my life, thugs, gamblers, whores, and all the rest of it, and I’m ready to settle down and start a family.’
‘You?’ said Jommy, laughing. ‘A family?’
‘Yes,’ said Jim, beginning to become nettled. ‘I even have a girl in mind.’
‘This I must hear,’ said Servan. ‘Who, among the Kingdom aristocracy, has the Duke’s grandson in mind?’
The others began to laugh.
‘If you must know,’ said Jim, ‘she’s Lady Michele de Frachette, daughter of the Earl of Montagren.’
The laughter stopped.
‘You’re serious? Michele?’ asked Servan.
‘Yes, why?’
The four former university students looked at one another, and Jommy said to Tad, ‘You tell him.’
Zane said, ‘You should tell him, Jommy.’
‘No,’ said Jommy. ‘I really think it should be you, Tad. You’re the first one she…’ He looked at Jim Dasher, then said, ‘… danced with at the King’s reception.’
‘Yes,’ said Tad, looking askance, ‘but you… danced with her the most.’
Jommy sighed and stopped walking. ‘Ah, Jim, we have all had the pleasure of her… ah… acquaintance. She attended a reception at the Royal Court in Roldem, when Tad, Zane and myself were made Knights of the King’s Court.’ With a grin, he also said, ‘Which is where I met Servan’s lovely sister, too.’
Servan’s expression darkened. And it was Tad who said, ‘She’s, ah…’
‘A lovely girl,’ supplied Zane. ‘Really.’
‘Are you talking about Michele or my sister?’ Servan’s expression was not happy.
Tad jumped in. ‘Both, about the lovely girl part, but ignore him,’ he said, pointing to Jommy. ‘He just likes your sister to annoy you.’
‘That’s not true!’ protested Jommy. ‘She really is a wonderful girl.’ He mock-scowled at Servan. ‘How the two of you came from the same parents is a mystery to me.’
‘Enough,’ said Dasher. ‘Michele?’
‘Ah, yes, Michele. Lovely, but… ambitious,’ said Jommy. ‘She’s looking for a well-positioned husband, you could say.’
‘That’s what I’d say,’ agreed Servan.
‘And no one would be as well positioned as the grandson of the Duke of Rillanon, would he?’ offered Zane.