“Ambassadors do not and never have come under the army’s jurisdiction, Lieutenant,” the governor said.
“We have only these people’s word that it is an ambassador,” the lieutenant returned, his voice smooth.
“Commander Ebner has sent documents to you, Commander Ystan,” Captain Suiden said.
“Uh—” the commander started.
“Unfortunately,” Jaxtir said, “documents can be forged. With what happened this afternoon, I’m afraid that the commander has decided that everyone should remain in custody until they’re verified.”
“What did you do, nephew?” Doyen Orso asked Groskin.
“I’m afraid that’s confidential—”
“Ambassador Laurel and Lieutenant Rabbit got upset because the commander was wearing a friend’s skin,” Groskin said, interrupting Jaxtir. He looked at the lieutenant. “You don’t impress me, boyo.”
“You’ve disobeyed a direct order—”
“Seems to me that I haven’t heard one yet.” Groskin folded his arms.
“A friend’s—” the commander began.
Doyen Orso and Governor Somne drowned him and each other out.
“Please stop, gracious sirs,” Captain Suiden said, and everyone quieted. He turned to Ystan. “I’m sorry, Commander, what were you saying?” The commander, seeing that his moment wasn’t going to be usurped, blurted out, “A friend’s skin?”
“Your hauberk and Lieutenant Jaxtir’s shield are made from the skin of the son of a good friend of Ambassador Laurel and Lieutenant Lord Rabbit,” Suiden replied.
Ystan turned to Jaxtir. “Said it was lizard skin.”
“Dragon, sir,” I said. “He was a great poet.”
“It was what I was told, sir,” Jaxtir said at the same time.
“A new design. From the Royal Armory. Impervious to arrows and other missiles,” Ystan said.
Hell, I thought.
“If I may, honored commander, I would like to know about the pirates,” Laurel said.
Everyone quieted once more at the sudden jump from dragon skin to outlaws.
“Such strong rumors of sieges and raids. Do you have any proof that these attacks actually happened?”
Ystan opened his mouth, waited, and when no one else spoke, said, “Jaxtir’s cousin’s sister’s best friend—”
“No, honored commander. Have you seen any evidence of pirates at all? Burning farms, looted warehouses, commandeered ships?”
“No,” Ystan said. He looked at Governor Somne, who shook her head.
“Honored elder, have you?”
“Why, no,” Doyen Orso said. “Not personally.” He frowned. “Nor, if I remember correctly, have any of my parishioners.”
“I have—” Jaxtir began.
“Where? On whom?” Laurel asked. He indicated the commander, governor and doyen. “Give names and places that they’d recognize.”
“Uh—”
“There are no pirates, are there, Lieutenant?” Laurel asked.
“Uh—”
“And when the word comes in of a pirate sighting, the patrols are sent out to chase will-o’ -the-wisps at noon, no?” The Faena noticed the puzzled faces. “Sent on an useless errand so as to be kept out of the way.” Laurel turned to the governor and commander. “I am most curious as to the timing of these supposed raids.”
“What do you mean?” Governor Somne asked.
“Smugglers use the dark of the moon to move their goods,” Captain Suiden said.
It was silent as the commander and governor counted the days of the month. Governor Somne’s mouth then opened in an “Oh” of enlightenment. “Yes.” Her eyes matched in roundness as she stared at Lieutenant Jaxtir. “The pirate sightings are at the new moon.”
Laurel grinned, showing his fangs. “With the patrols looking for phantom pirates, there’s no one to see which boats stop at the inspection point. And which boats don’t.” His smile curled into a snarl. “Or even what is dropped off or loaded from the warehouses on your docks.”
“There is too,” Commander Ystan said. “Can’t leave the checkpoint unmanned. Jaxtir’s troop has it.”
The Faena’s silence was eloquent.
“But there are also the customs administrators …” The governor’s voice faded as her eyes rounded even more. Then they narrowed into slits at the lieutenant. “You bribed my clerks.”
“Only one needs to be corrupted, honored governor,” Laurel said. “I would check to see who is assigned this duty when Jaxtir’s unit has the docks.”
The governor’s eyes narrowed further. “Oh, I will.”
Laurel rumbled in his throat as his tail lashed. “It looks like we’ve just found the first nest of runners in Iversterre.”
Chapter Nineteen
We were escorted back to the docks by Commander Ystan and our former guards, Governor Somne, Doyen Orso and Doyen Allwyn. Ystan kept apologizing both for Jaxtir, who was put in the stockade on charges of smuggling and conspiracy, and the fact that the rest of his officers were out patrolling the river with their units (looking for pirates) and so couldn’t form a proper honor guard for us.
We scoured Lieutenant Jaxtir’s quarters, then the rest of the base looking for additional contraband, but nothing else turned up besides the hauberk and shield, which were placed on a horse by themselves. Laurel Faena held the reins.
We decided to also search the dock warehouses. As Laurel had pointed out, smuggled goods could’ve been stored in them with no one the wiser. So as the doyens went to the ship, the rest of us went from warehouse to warehouse. Where we could find someone with a key, we had them open it. Where we couldn’t find anyone, Commander Ystan had his men break off locks and chains. Again, we didn’t find anything.
“Jaxtir had two weeks to move out the contraband,” Governor Hoelt said at the last warehouse. “After Commander Ystan received the dispatches.” She glanced around at the barrels of flour and sacks of rice. “If there was any here to begin with.”
“True, Governor,” Javes said, also looking about through his quiz glass. He dropped the glass and frowned. “But then why didn’t Jaxtir get rid of the shield and hauberk? He must have known that he ran the risk of Ambassador Laurel recognizing what it was, if not who it was.”
“Hubris, Javes,” Suiden said, “and a certainty that he would be believed over a magical.” He sighed, his gaze resting on Ystan, who was peering into a flour barrel. “And he probably would’ve been if we didn’t have Rabbit backing up Sro Laurel.”
I wandered outside as Ystan and Somne assured everyone that, regardless of Jaxtir’s motivations, they would uncover the full extent of his iniquity—including his accomplices. But I figured that any evidence not destroyed when Ebner’s dispatches arrived was going into the fire right now as the news of Jaxtir’s arrest spread through the city. I also figured that it would be a long time, if ever, before the runners would use Dornel again, as their ruse was revealed. Reaching the edge of the dock, I stared down into the water. For the first time in five years I wanted to be home on my parents’ farm.
“Lord Rabbit,” someone said from the direction of the river.
There were three men on a small boat, one holding a rope with one end formed into a loop. When I looked up, he flung it over my shoulders. And pulled.
I’d always scoffed at dramas where someone, after being explicitly told not to do something, did it anyway with predictable results. Yet here I was, after all Captain Suiden’s orders and warnings, about to be snatched. I dropped to the wharf and braced my feet against a pylon. They responded by one of the other men grabbing the rope and pulling also. I strained harder against the column, and started yelling my head off.
From the warehouse I heard the rapid footsteps of several people running, one set much lighter and quicker than the rest. Someone brown and furry came to a stop beside me, his toe claws digging into the dock wood. At once the rope slackened, and I heard the splash of oars and shouts—screams, really—coming from the river. I shucked the rope, rolled behind Laurel and peered out from behind his legs. Two of the men in the boat were rowing as hard as they could; the third one used his hands. Laurel raised his staff.