| "I'm going to have forty winks before dinner," Fred told Rowena. "Of
course. I rather suspect that you took more than your fair share of the
watch last night. Just answer one question first: what do you make of the
commander?" "Well, what did you make of him?" "I think he is a brave
man, but not a wise one. From what he told us, there seems no doubt that
there really is something evil abroad in the Shreken, but he won't
accept that." "I am sure that he realises that there is evil abroad, as
you put it, but the position he holds means that he is forced to put a
brave face on things. To do anything else would risk panic amongst his
men, and perhaps even desertions. Anyway, don't worry. So long as we travel
in daylight, keep to the road and spend each night in a fort, I don't suppose
we'll have any trouble. Especially if we can travel with the merchants
he spoke of until we are clear of the mountains."
"Let's hope so. Anyway, enjoy your nap. I'm not tired, so I'm going
to go and sit in the bar for an hour or so. You never know - maybe I will
overhear something of interest." "All right, Wen. Even you shouldn't
be able to get into much trouble within the walls of the fort. I shouldn't
have anything to drink, though. I expect that Kody will provide wine with
the meal. We'll be starting early in the morning, and you won't want a
hangover."
Rowena stuck out her tongue at Fred at his implication that she was
an expert at getting into trouble. She was glad that he seemed to be starting
to relax a little, though. She had an idea that the dwarves' presence had
kept reminding him of something he would rather have forgotten, but that
since their departure he was beginning to put whatever it was behind him.
Exactly why the dwarves had been with him was still a mystery to
her. She knew she would have to be patient, but she was sure that she would
worm the whole story out of him sooner or later.
Going down to the bar, Rowena found it almost deserted. At one table,
there were two off-duty guards - at least, that was her guess at who they
were. And in a corner sat four men who were noticeably better dressed than
anyone else whom she had yet seen in the fort. She thought that they were
most probably the merchants with whom she and Fred would be travelling.
She seated herself as a table that was close enough for her to be able
to eavesdrop on their conversation, but not so close as to make it obvious
that that was what she would be doing.
The men looked rather agitated, as if some argument was in progress.
The first words that Rowena heard were:
-
 "You
three can do as you please, but I am going to turn back. I don't want to
make my wife a widow and my children into orphans."
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