The Ruby Knight

through the gloomy streets to the now-familiar inn. ‘Why don’t we just buy this place?’ Kalten suggested as they dismounted in the courtyard. ‘I’m starting to feel as if I’ve lived here all my life.’
    ‘Go ahead and make the arrangements,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘Kurik, let’s walk down to the lake-shore and see if we can find a boat before the sun goes down.’
    The knight and his squire walked out of the innyard and down the cobbled street that led towards the lake. ‘This town doesn’t get any prettier when you get to know it,’ Kurik observed.
    ‘We’re not here for the scenery,’ Sparhawk growled.
    ‘What’s the matter, Sparhawk?’ Kurik asked. ‘You’ve been in a foul humour for the last week or more.’
    ‘Time, Kurik,’ Sparhawk sighed, ‘time. Sometimes it’s almost as if I can feel it dribbling through my fingers. We were within no more than a few feet of Bhelliom, and then we had to pack up and leave. My queen is dying inch by inch, and things keep getting in my way. I’m starting to feel a very powerful urge to hurt some people.’
    ‘Don’t look at me.’
    Sparhawk smiled faintly. ‘I think you’re safe, my friend,’ he said, putting his hand affectionately on Kurik’s shoulder. ‘If nothing else, I’d hate to make wagers on the outcome if you and I ever had a really serious disagreement.’
    ‘There’s that, too,’ Kurik agreed. Then he pointed. ‘Over there,’ he said.
    ‘Over there what?’
    ‘That tavern. People with boats go in there.’
    ‘How do you know that?’
    ‘I just saw one go in. Boats tend to leak, and the men who own them try to seal up the seams with tar. Anytime you see a man with tar on his tunic, you can be fairly sure that he has something to do with boats.’
    ‘You’re an absolute sink of information sometimes, Kurik.’
    ‘I’ve been around in the world for quite a long time, Sparhawk. If a man keeps his eyes open, he can learn a great deal. When we go inside, let me do the talking. It’ll be faster.’ Kurik’s stride suddenly took on a peculiar roll, and he banged open the tavern door with unnecessary force. ‘Hello there, mates,’ he said in a raspy voice. ‘Have we chanced by luck on a place where men as works on the water be accustomed to gather?’
    ‘You’ve found the right place, friend,’ the barman said.
    ‘Praise be,’ Kurik said. ‘I hate to drink with landsmen. All they can talk about is the weather an’ their crops, an’ once you’ve said it’s cloudy an’ that the turnips is growin’, you’ve exhausted the possibilities of conversation.’
    The men in the tavern laughed appreciatively.
    ‘Forgive me if I seem to pry,’ the barman apologized, ‘but you seem to have the speech of a salt water man.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Kurik said, ‘an’ sore do I miss the smell of brine an’ the gentle kiss of spray upon my cheek.’
    ‘You’re a long way from any salt water, mate,’ one tar-smeared fellow sitting at a table in the corner said with an odd note of respect in his voice.
    Kurik sighed deeply. ‘Missed me boat, mate,’ he said. ‘We made port in Apalia, sailin’ down from Yosut up in Thalesia, an’ I went out on the town an’ got sore took by the grog. The Cap’n was not one to wait for stragglers, so he upped an’ sailed with the mornin’ tide an’ left me beached. As luck had it, I fell in with this man,’ he clapped Sparhawk familiarly on the shoulder, ‘an’ he give me employment. Says he needs to hire a boat here in Venne an’ he needed someone as knew the way of boats to make sure he doesn’t wind up on the bottom of the lake.’
    ‘Well, now, mate,’ the tarry man in the corner said with narrowed eyes, ‘what would your employer be willing to pay for the hire of a boat?’
    ‘’Twould only be for a couple of days,’ Kurik said. He looked at Sparhawk. ‘What thinkee, Cap’n? Would a half-crown strain your purse?’
    ‘I could manage a half-crown,’ Sparhawk replied, trying to conceal his amazement at Kurik’s sudden alteration.
    ‘Two days, you say?’ the man in the corner said.
    ‘Dependin’ on the wind and weather, mate, but it’s always that way on the water, isn’t it?’
    ‘Truly. It could just be that we can do some business here. I happen to own a fair-sized fishing boat, and the fishing hasn’t been very good of late. I could hire out the boat to you and spend the two days mending my nets.’
    ‘Why don’t we just nip on down to the water’s