Free Upland Outlaws by Dave Duncan Page B

put you on. We’d pick one going north, probably, and you’d have to make your own way home. But that shouldn’t be hard.”
    Ylo pulled his skimpy cloak tight and studied the faun’s innocent expression, remembering that this blunt, seemingly open man was actually a sorcerer. “And what happens when I get home?”
    “That I do not prophesy. “
    And where was home? Ylo had no home, no family, no real friends, even. “What’s the alternative? Where are we going?” He steadied himself with a hand on the rail. The ship had a new motion that he did not approve of, although it had not started to affect his insides yet.
    “I won’t tell you that,” the faun said, eyes narrowing. “Not until you declare. But we need a hiding place where the impress and her daughter can remain-a sanctuary, and headquarters. Countess Eigaze had suggested a spot that sounds promising. We’re going to see.”
    If he would answer questions so willingly, then Ylo had a bushel of them ready. “Shandie still wants to get his impire back?” That one got a nod. “How?”
    The king smiled, but suddenly there was threat in that smile, or at least a hint that walking on lakes was unhealthy. “That also I won’t tell you yet. Are you with us or against us, Signiter?”
    “With you, your Majesty. Of course.”
    “Of course?” the faun mused. ” `Of course,’ you say? Why `Of course,’ though? What ties you to Shandie now? He’s lost his throne. He can’t shower wealth and power on you. What holds you to his cause? A sense of justice? Loyalty to the Impire? Friendship? “
    “Hadn’t thought about it. Gratitude?” That felt safest.
    The king did not look very convinced. He pursed his lips. “If this proposed refuge is satisfactory, then the impress will remain there while the rest of us go off to reconquer the world. Someone will have to stay and guard her. “
    “I suppose so.”
    “The imperor mentioned you for that job.” The iron-gray eyes stabbed straight into Ylo’s heart.
    Or it felt as if they did.
    “Face the other way, Signifer,” King Rap said harshly. “If Shandie looks out and sees that blush, he’s going to wonder what provoked it. “
    “Are you suggesting that I am not a man of honor?”
    “You’re blushing, not me. She’s incredibly beautiful. I don’t blame you at all. If I weren’t happily married and she wasn’t, I might dream myself.”
    “What are you hinting?” Ylo demanded. “There is nothing between the impress and me!”
    “No? ” The faun chewed his stubbled lip for a moment. “But that’s not quite true, is it? Not yet, you mean?”
    “You’re rooting around in my mind!”
    “No, I’m not! I don’t do that! But I can read your face like a dog’s tail, and you’re guilty of something. The preflecting pool, was it?”
    Ylo nodded angrily. “Doing what?”
    A hot retort died stillborn before that metallic stare. “Lying on a blanket, on grass. Smiling at me.”
    Unexpectedly the faun grinned. “An intriguing prophecy! It would certainly inspire a man. But you haven’t … “
    “Not yet. There were daffodils.”
    “What’re daffodils?”
    “They’re a spring flower.”
    “I see.”
    “They bloom about third or fourth moon. So four or five months from now.”
    The faun nodded thoughtfully. “Forgive my prying, Signifer. Shandie saw my son in that pool. I wanted to know all about it. You’ve told her?”
    “No one else, though.”
    “Wise of you.” The sorcerer fell silent, either studying the. distant sails, or just lost in thought. Ylo waited, shivering. “Tell me something,” King Rap said eventually. “What do you think of Shandie himself ?”
    “He’d make a great imperor. “
    “As a man?”
    “Courageous. Dedicated. Honorable.”
    “You’re evading the question. I swear that this is just between the two of us.”
    Oddly, Ylo decided he trusted this rustic king, although he couldn’t imagine why. “He’s decent. I admire him.”
    “You’d like to