Looking along the dock past the timber yard and on to the Salt Quarter, Arlen could see a few people about, including some of the Black Wings lounging around jetty-posts. They, like his townspeople and visitors, straightened quickly, and before his sergeant-at-arms had finished hammering on the inn’s door to demand attention, a crowd was beginning to gather, a hubbub of noise filling the air and taking men and women from their work as curiosity got the better of them.
Locks were slid back and the left-hand of a pair of painted black wooden doors squeaked open. One of the innkeeper’s sons, a scrawny lad in his early teens, peered out, his freckled face blanching under his shock of tangled orange hair.
‘Don’t worry, Petren,’ said Arlen. ‘Just wake your father. I need to talk to one of your guests. Now.’
The frightened boy said nothing in reply, just bobbed his head and turned back into the gloom. Presently, they could hear his voice echoing through the inn, reedy and high, unbroken.
‘Father. Pa! The Earl’s at the door, the Earl’s at the door.’ Arlen allowed himself a brief smile, catching the eye of his sergeant-at-arms.
‘At least he knew who I was,’ said Arlen.
‘Yes sir.’
During the short wait, the crowd swelled and amongst them, Arlen counted over a dozen of the Black Wings. Right now, the atmosphere was calm and curious but it wouldn’t take much to turn it ugly. He leaned towards the sergeant-at-arms and ordered him to place men near the Black Wings.
‘My Lord?’ It was the innkeeper, Denat.
‘Sorry to wake you,’ said Arlen.
‘Not at all, my Lord. I’ve been up cooking breakfasts a while now.’
‘Busy time for you?’
‘I’m full,’ confirmed Denat.
‘Hmm.’ Arlen nodded. ‘Unfortunately, I fear you are about to lose much of your current custom.’
‘Pardon, my Lord?’ Denat frowned and fidgeted at the door. He was a heavier set but balding version of his son.
‘I want Selik, is it? Yes, Selik, at this door immediately.’
‘Oh.’ Denat hesitated. ‘Of course. I’ll fetch him for you.’
‘Thank you.’ Arlen’s smile was thin. He regretted the necessity for men like Denat but had to concede his type was useful to the town’s economy.
‘I am quite capable of fetching myself,’ drawled a voice Arlen hadn’t heard before. Disabled. Not true. And when the misshapen figure appeared around the door and forced himself past the retreating Denat, the Earl could see why.
‘Earl Arlen, I take it?’ The figure proffered a hand which Arlen ignored.
‘Correct. And you are unwanted in this town.’
Selik raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? By whom?’
Arlen regarded him blankly. ‘Me. And that is enough. However, I’m not an unfair man and I’ve watched your activities for longer than I should.’
‘I—’
‘Be silent.’ Arlen raised a finger but not his voice, unused to being interrupted. ‘And listen to me. Trade in this town is run by word, bond and delivery of goods and payment, not by threat, fist and intimidation. Goods stolen are accepted losses only if the perpetrator cannot be apprehended. And violations of the person, particularly the female person, are not tolerated under any circumstances.
‘These key laws and numerous others have been transgressed by you or your men. So here’s what happens now. With two exceptions, I want every one of your men accounted for and out of my town by midday. Any found still here after that time will be deemed in breach of the fair trading laws and suffer the appropriate penalties.
‘Any goods you have bought legitimately but not received will be delivered to you beyond Arlen’s borders. Any shipping deals you have struck, whether fairly or under duress, will be deemed void and any monies due will be returned to you.
‘You, Selik, will remain here not only until your men have gone but more importantly, until you identify and hand over the two scum who molested a woman and threatened her young child in my peaceful streets.
‘Do I make myself clear?’
Arlen’s speech had brought a hush to the crowd that now numbered in excess of one hundred, every one craning to catch every word. Even this close, the blustery wind off the lake snatched away the odd phrase yet enough was clear to send a ripple of applause around the gathering. Arlen did not acknowledge it.
Throughout, Selik had met Arlen’s gaze, a sneer evident on his smeared face. He had not attempted to interrupt. The applause died down quickly, the crowd anticipating Selik’s response.
‘I understood this to be a free town. It appears I was mistaken.’
‘No, not mistaken,’ said Arlen. ‘But freedom has to be bounded by rules to avoid it becoming anarchy. This is what you have attempted to bring here and I will not tolerate it.’
Selik nodded, his sneer broadening into what might pass as a smile.
‘We asked for co-operation and received none,’ he said quietly. ‘Yet we had to have what we tried to buy and I am afraid some of your traders did not seem to understand that. You see, Earl Arlen, there is a war coming, though you might not see it as such. And I am on the side of the just, fighting against the rising threat of dominion over Balaia of a single magical power.’
Arlen scoffed. ‘War. Selik, we are all aware of problems with the mana spectrum. I do talk to my mages, you know. But these problems will pass, and with them this irritating wind and chilling rain. Don’t attempt to hang your perverse actions on a magical uprising.’ Arlen took half a pace forwards, feeling revulsion grow for the man he confronted.
‘I know your beliefs and you are free to hold them. But you are not free to impose them on my people or to use them to justify your simpleminded thuggery. Now do you understand what you are to do, or do I take you to the jail to think on it at greater length?’
Selik straightened and raised his voice.
‘I will grant you this futile and very short-lived victory, merely because it would be a waste of my time to stand against you at this moment. But mark my words, Arlen. There is war coming. We will have what we need to conduct it and the innocent will die and their blood will be on your streets and your hands unless you turn to me for help. Mark what I say. And let your people hear it too.’ And he tapped Arlen’s chest with his forefinger.
The Earl grabbed Selik’s hand and turned it away.
‘There will never be war in Arlen,’ he snarled. ‘Unless you make the grave mistake of returning, that is, and, believe me, you will meet my steel if you try. Now get your men, give me the guilty and get out of my town.’
Selik laughed. ‘Believe what you will, Arlen. But right will triumph over innocence and ignorance.’
The look in Selik’s eye left Arlen cold.
Chapter 17
Hirad made a hasty camp between the trunks of a trio of young oaks, lashing his treated leather sheet to them at an angle to give him some protection from the weather. On leaving the Raven camp, he’d gathered his saddle and unhitched his horse, unsure of how far he’d travel. In the end, he’d walked for a mile, maybe a little more, while the rain pounded down, soaking him through his furs and completing his miserable but unforgettable evening.
With the wind at his back, beating the rain on to the leather, which thrummed and pulled, he set a fire with the dry sticks and kindling he habitually carried inside the leather, before collecting a few more to dry by the small blaze on the sodden ground.