RHIDAUNA, The Shadow of the Revenaunt, Book 1

CHAPTER 3 - RETURN TO TINNURAD (Part Two)

Emptily, Illgram stared at the smoldering wreck that had been a rakish drakenboat. His lips formed the name painted on the prow: Ollauth. It had been one of his three ships.

'A shame,' the tall man beside him said. 'Pure misfortune, Great­ness.'

'Incompetence!' the practicus said bitterly. 'Neophyte Lykros had orders to wait. But no, the fool was overconfident and forgot about the guard. An expensive boat and many golems lost.' He heard the man at his side murmur in sympathy and knew the other was laughing at him. They all did. Anger made his blood boil, but he needed Pardoc now and kept himself in check. An idea took form in his mind. He glanced at the man at his side. Pardoc was a routewatcher, an independent spy of the Order. The man had contacted him in Gromarthen with the news about this new disaster. This alone proved he didn't lack courage.

Illgram pursed his lips as he thought. Pardoc walked the route from Yanthemonde to Virmaul, so he must be familiar with the road along the Yanthe. He felt the man at his side lose some of his assur­ance. As it should be; a watcher was a speck of dust compared to a high-ranking practicus.

'I've got a few ideas, Pardoc. First, my other two boats. You are faster on the road than I am. You know that little cove just before Yanthemonde?'

The routewatcher nodded. 'With those three pine trees.'

'Yes. There you will find my other boats. Warn the two neophytes I need them. They can leave the boats behind; those are far too con­spicuous now. Bring the men and their golems to me. Where is the nearest place I can stay for the night?'

'Two miles up the road is Odirath, Greatness. There's a tavern. Nothing fancy, but discrete. From Gromarthen, there's only one road. It goes parallel to the river and passes through the village. There's no other way, unless the travelers are mountain goats.' Pardoc smile at his own jest. ''The King's Road splits only ten miles beyond Odirath, at the Climbing Clawerd inn.'

'Good. Hide the golems and their masters in the neighborhood and warn me. I'll be in the tavern.'

The other bowed. 'Your will, Greatness.'

'Oh, and Pardoc? Don't use the road.'

The routewatcher started to say something, but he clearly thought better of it and bowed.

When Pardoc had gone, the sorcerer rubbed his hands. Now I need an ambush. He looked at the sky. Almost midnight. Flickering torches appeared from the village. The guard! He hurried back to his horse. On to Odirath, bath and bed.

Ghyll slammed the door closed behind him and fell into a chair. He buried his face in his hands.

'What do we do now?' Olle asked, pacing up and down the room.

'I don't know.' Ghyll's voice sounded muffled behind his fingers. 'It's all so... strange. I can't understand it. Why was Tinnurad destroyed? They didn't even plunder it.'

Olle stopped walking. 'If it wasn't for loot, the only target must have been Tinnurad itself or someone in the castle.'

Ghyll clenched his fists. 'The castle stopped being a threat years ago. It was important only to us who lived there. Uncle Jadron... I don't know why anyone would want to kill him.'

'Would he have had enemies?'

Ghyll looked in surprise at his foster brother. 'I can't imagine who. He never spoke of anyone hating him enough to do this butchery.'