| As the stableboy put the horses in for the night, Fred and Rowena were
taken to their rooms. Fred was annoyed and frustrated. Having finally reached
Allaria he had hoped to return to his father with all haste, but Capt.Locke
was making that quite impossible. They could have traveled twice as far
today as they had, but the captain claimed that his horses needed rest
after a long and arduous journey. And so here they were at this border
keep.
That the horses were but a pretext for Locke's delay Fred was only too
aware. The captain had no intention of letting Fred anywhere near his father
until the matter of his identity had been proven one way or the other.
And Fred had a very good idea of how the captain intended to get his proof.
Locke was after all a member of the Guard D'Honaire and their Lord Captain
was a trusted advisor to the Duke and had tutored Fred in the art of war.
Fred had trained with these men, had spent weeks out in the field with
them. He knew how they thought. And he couldn't blame them one whit for
their mistrust. But that didn't mean he liked it.
"Flynt," Jeth spoke, "what if he resists?" Jeth had almost said
'it'. Locke turned to his second-in-command and replied, "Then we
do as we've been trained." The other guardsmen mumbled at this. "We haven't
been trained to fight monsters," one of them said. Locke stood up, the
look on his face bringing the room to a full quiet. "Settle your fears.
All of you. The monsters of old were driven out of Havnheim long ago by
the strength of men and cold steel. If he is a monster then we shall
kill him and be done with it. But he has made no move against us or attempted
an escape. Keep your eyes open, your wits sharp, but don't be jumpin at
shadows. I have sent Ben ahead of us, he will speak with the White Hand
and once we have rejoined him the matter will be quickly settled. So quit
your idle talk for it does you no good." And then Locke sat down and his
men immediately turned to other topics.
But just how would it be settled, Locke wondered. Could the man
in the strange red armor really be Frederigo D'Honaire? Oh how he wished
it were so. But Fred had died at the Southern Caves, they had been so sure
of it. When the great smoke had appeared over the sharp peaks of the Shreken
the men of Allaria had rushed to the scene. The bravest of them ascended
to the Dragon's Caves and found an ash filled tomb. Since that time the
Dragon had not been seen nor heard. And neither had Fred. But of one fact
there was no doubt in anyone's mind, that in the wake of the Dragon's death
foul things, masterless minions, had poured out of the caves like a swarm
of maggots.
And who could say if one such creature was not even now among their
company? He himself could not. He had to admit that under all that dirt
and grime and that mangy beard the man called Denom certainly looked
like Frederigo. But Locke had not seen Fred since he had gone to Caemlyn
to train for the Dragon Quest. And that had been over two years ago. And
if they were dealing with a doppleganger or some such then looks were not
the issue anyway. What was underneath the skin was what mattered.
Locke rubbed his weary brow. Was there anything he could be sure of?
Only one thing, he decided. That his men would do as he bid them. Of that
he could always rely on. When he had demanded that they be silent about
Denom and the claims he had made, all worry that their tongues would wag
left his mind. No rumors or dark gossip would be started by his
men. If only it could have been so simple with the bard and the merchant.
But he could not trust them to obey so readily and so he had posted guards
with them and had explained what would happen if they did not comply with
his wishes.
He sighed. He did not enjoy making threats, but the situation demanded
that he take all necessary steps. He would be glad when this was over though.
And to think, this had all started with the foolish actions of a bereaved
young woman. But how would it come to an end? Locke did not know, but he
did know when. Tomorrow they would continue up the Longspeer and
in four days they would reach the nearest ducal estate. Ben would be there
waiting for them, along with the resident whitecloak. And then it would
be up to the White Hand to judge just who this man who claimed to be Lord
Fred really was.
-
 Sometime
later, the Lord of the Keep summoned everyone to the banquet hall.
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