‘Rest assured we will,’ said the old elf as he rose and returned Kaspar’s bow. ‘Much depends on it, including the disposition of you and your men. You do believe in fate, do you not, Kaspar of Olasko?’
Kaspar said, ‘I once did, when I was young and vain and believed I was fated to rule. Now I believe in opportunity, and that a man receives from life what he puts into it. It has been a lesson hard learned but it was pain deserved and I am a better man for having endured it.’
‘We are a patient race,’ said Castdanur. ‘We are vexed by those whom you encountered on your way here, and I suspect we shall discover some relationship between those who faced you on the beaches and those who surround us every sundown, but we can speak more about this in a few days.’
‘A few days?’
‘I must lead the hunt,’ said the old elf. ‘We are, as you have noticed, facing difficult times, and we do not have stores enough to accommodate you and your men. We shall not put you to the blade merely because we are hungry, nor will we let you starve. So, a hunt must be organized. For many reasons, we can not hunt these hills or the peaks above, but must venture for a day or more to the north or south to find game. So it will be three or four days before I return, and then we shall resume our discussion. I would appreciate your word that you will cause no trouble for those left to guard you.’
‘It is a soldier’s duty to escape,’ said Kaspar.
The old elf sighed. ‘That would be foolish. Not only would we quickly hunt you down, but you would likely die before we found you. As I have said, the area around this fortification is dangerous.’
Kaspar nodded. ‘I personally will remain here as a token of good faith. I can order my men to do the same, but cannot be certain all will obey.’ He hesitated for a minute, unsure as to whether he needed to restate his case. ‘I have said what I had needed to say, but I trust you understand that because of what I’ve have spoken of, it is imperative that some accommodation be reached soon; whatever brought that ship of evil men to your shores is part of a larger scheme, one involving forces that are in league with the invaders I spoke of.’
‘The Dasati. Yes I know,’ said Castdanur. ‘We shall have an opportunity to discuss everything. We are, as I said, a patient race, and we have a different appreciation of the passing of time. We shall reach no hasty conclusions, though we will pay heed to your sense of urgency.’
‘I thank you for listening.’ said Kaspar.
A guard escorted Kaspar back to the long hall that was being used to confine his men. Jommy, Servan and the others looked up expectantly. Kaspar saw that they had been fed, though from the empty bowls and expressions on the men’s faces, he knew that he had eaten far better than they. He ignored the silent questions in their eyes, but motioned for Jim Dasher to come with him to a far corner. He also motioned for those nearby to draw away to give them some privacy.
‘Can you get out?’ asked Kaspar.
‘No problem,’ said the thief. ‘They hardly have the resources to confine a heavy-footed lout like Brix.’
Kaspar nodded. Brix was one of his stoutest warriors, a good man in a brawl, but he was the constant butt of the other men’s humour because of a clumsiness that often had him tripping over his own feet. ‘Can you get to the ships?’
‘Ah,’ said Jim softly. ‘Now that’s a different question. I have in my mind a route, but there’s no doubt the elves know these woods a thousand times better than I. A lot of it depends on how much of a head start I get, and who they send after me. I’ve heard tales from others about elves’ tracking skills so I doubt it would do me much good to lay false trails or that sort of thing – besides, I’m a city man mostly and my wood-lore is scant. No, speed’s the only edge I might possess.’
‘When would you go?’
‘No later than two hours from now,’ said the thief from Krondor. ‘It’ll still be two hours from midnight and if they’re expecting a breakout, they’ll look for it at sunrise, I think.’
‘Guards tend to be half-asleep just before sunrise,’ observed Kaspar.
Jim nodded agreement. ‘And there are those things out there, on the wolves. Fear of them is expected to keep us all huddled in here.’ He glanced around. ‘If I go in two hours, I can steal ten miles on them by sunrise. That puts me around the point and off the coast.’
‘You going to try to swim to the ships?’ asked Kaspar with a rueful smile. ‘The sharks are impressive in these waters.’
‘Do I look stupid?’ asked Dasher. ‘I’ll build a signal fire. The Captain knows there might be one.’
‘Who gave him that order?’ asked Kasper.
With a wide grin, Dasher said, ‘I did. I didn’t think much of your original plan.’
Kaspar shook his head. ‘You’re a common thief, remember?’
‘The Captain is one of the few on this expedition I trust – he was hand-picked for this mission by Prince Grandprey.’