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.Not that I had a choice, but heseems the right man for the job. He filled Rullio in, as far as he thought was useful, in short,stinted sentences, devoid of emotion.When he had finished, Rulliowas nibbling on his last crust of bread. Let me see if I ve understood the gist of this.First you send youryoungest sons, almost with no means, into a dangerous situation.Then, when one disappears and the other is far more successful thanyou expected, you send the Black Shields after him.Not to mentionthat horrible baron.With horrible powers. That horrible baron is to me what you are to Ehandar.Mindyour words. Of course, sire, Rullio said without batting an eye. However,now you ve reconsidered and you want, how did you put it again.tolevel the field a bit? That s about it.Prince Anaxantis doesn t know about the Oath Bonds of Fear 221of Sherashty.He might reconsider once he knows what the risks areof provoking a full scale war with all the Mukthar tribes.If he does,there is no reason for Damydas to intervene. I ll do it.More because I want to find out what happened toEhandar than anything else.It seems I need his little brother for that.Do I get documents? A laissez passer maybe? Something to provethat I m on a special mission? No.Nothing.In fact, you re not on a mission.Not an official oneanyway.I, myself, will deny all knowledge of you and whatever youare doing.You were not supposed to know who I was. Ah, yes, I forgot that for a moment. You re the third son of your House, aren t you? Yes, the House of Brenx has always been rather fertile. If you succeed in doing what I ask of you and make sure theprince doesn t find out this came from me, you needn t worry.You ll be the founder of a new, independent branch.With its owndemesne. Lord or baron? Oh, baron at the very least.If I m particularly satisfied, acountship might not be out of reach. Rullio whistled appreciatively. You ve got a deal.My lips are sealed.Quite a reversal of fortunes.Which reminds me.Why was I kept a prisoner for all these months? Because you spied on a prince of the royal blood. On behalf of another prince of the royal blood. That doesn t matter.You needed a lesson.You would have beenreleased eventually, with or without this emergency. 222 Andrew AshlingThe king shoved a leather purse across the table. There s about ten rioghal here.Half in gold coins, the rest insilver and copper.That should be more than enough.Take a bath andsome rest if you need it.Buy travel clothes.Please, don t waste anytime unnecessarily.Damydas left Nira two day ago, but he will needsome time in Ormidon to organize a party of Black Shields.Even so,you ve got no time to lose.It s imperative you arrive in the NorthernMarches before him and with ample time to spare.I don t think hewill be particularly in a hurry, so you ve got more than a fair chanceto overtake him. I ll buy the fastest horse there is in Nira. No.Nira has an inn that serves as Post for the Merchant Guild.You can hire a horse there.They will ask for your destination andif you will be traveling fast or at a normal speed.You ll answer theformer, of course.They will ask for the money in advance and give youa swift horse.They will also provide you with a receipt, a documentwith a description of the shortest route and a list of inns that doubleas Guild Posts.In each of those you can trade in your tired horse fora rested one, without having to pay extra.Changing horses can bedone in minutes, if necessary.Staying overnight and meals are extra.You can change horses as frequently as you like, so you ll always betraveling on an animal in top condition. You know a lot about these things, Sire. I helped design the system and urged the Guild to adopt it.Iwanted to stimulate trade.You need fast and safe means of transportfor that.The main roads are in fair to good condition.I saw to thatas well. Rullio looked at the king, for the first time with a shimmer ofadmiration. Bonds of Fear 223 It was in the early days, Tenaxos added, when everythingseemed possible.Me and my friends, we were going to.Well, I won tbore you. You aren t, sire. The king nodded with a half smile but didn t elaborate anyfurther. One last thing that prince Anaxantis should know, he addedinstead. Twelve years ago I sent Damydas on a similar mission tothe North.He traveled from Ormidon to the Marches, disguised asa merchant in a caravan.Another one of my innovations
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