Free Krunzle the Quick by Unknown Page B

persons.
    “Gentlemen,” he said, “would you be Druma-bound, by any chance?”
    The apparent leader of the trio, a low-browed fellow with restless eyes, looked up at him with suspicion. “What business is that of yours?” he said. “If you’re thinking we three are easy meat for a highwayman on a tall horse, here’s an opportunity to change your opinion.”
    There was a vertical post set in the ground near the road outside the gate. Hedvend VI’s judges sometimes sentenced certain classes of malefactors to be bound there, exposed to the caprices of passersby until they thoroughly repented of their offenses or expired—whichever came first. The post was untenanted this morning, but within moments of the wiry man’s words, and after a brief flurry of motions, the wood was suddenly pierced by a half-dozen blades, their hilts aquiver from the impacts.
    “Impressive,” said the guard captain.
    The three travelers were already working their weapons free of the wood and returning them to scabbards and sheaths. “It means so much to us to have won your high regard,” said the low-browed one. He tucked away a short but wide-bladed throwing knife and turned to face the high country to the east.
    “Wait,” said Idrix.
    The other man turned an irritated gaze his way. “We have a long, uphill walk ahead of us and the sun is already above those peaks.”
    “How would you to like to ride instead of walk?”
    The knife-thrower’s look of suspicion only deepened.
    “And be paid for it,” the captain added.
    “We are busy men. If you have something to say, stop poncing about and say it.”
    Idrix was not used to being talked to in such a manner, but he swallowed his irritation and told them he was three guards short of a full complement and wished to offer them employment.
    The three looked at him with suspicion, then gave each other questioning glances. A brief negotiation followed, during which Idrix was driven far off from his offering price. Detailed terms of service were also haggled over, the leader of the three initially expressing horror at the thought that when the caravan laagered for the night, they would have to stand watch on the perimeter.
    “Well,” said Idrix, pushing back his helmet and scratching his head, “where would you spend your nights when you’re on the road alone?”
    “We make a fire,” said the smaller man, “then move out into the darkness and dig shallow trenches, where we lie under a layer of bushes and bracken. We watch in turns, and should any night-lurker creeps up to the fire, we silently leap up, our finely balanced knives in hand, and”—he made a whispery sound: whit, whit, whit—”soon he has gained a new and unsought knowledge of life’s capacity to play cruel tricks.”
    Idrix contemplated making a comment, then decided not to. Instead he said, “Night sentry duty is a necessary part of your duties.”
    The three regarded him without enthusiasm. Then the leader said, “Can we at least stand watch together? We are used to supporting each other.”
    The guard captain found that a reasonable condition, and after a few more details were worked out, an agreement was struck and he led them back to the caravanserai to sign them onto the rolls. Within the fortified compound, the traders and their drivers were efficiently repacking wagons and saddlebags, preparing to set off at noon. Idrix and his three reluctant recruits wove their way through an organized chaos of stamping hooves, swearing men, tangles of harness, and side-stepping beasts to the spot where the merchants who had commissioned the whole enterprise stood in conversation with some persons from Elidir.
    A half-dozen individuals were gathered around the caravan’s owners, seeking to purchase the right to join the cavalcade, it being the safest means of crossing the wild lands between Isger and Druma, where goblinoids of various sorts still occasionally ambushed travelers. As the archer captain and the three new