The Chaoswar Saga: A Kingdom Besieged, A Crown Imperilled, Magician’s End. Raymond E. Feist

primarily in a position to pacify, not to be used as a staging area.’

      ‘Ah, but there’s more than simply hauling a few casks of water, some loaves of bread, hogsheads of hard cheese and dried beef and leaving them on a beach for ships to pick up,’ continued Daniel. ‘Moving goods through the market sets up ripples.’ He looked at the tall, white-haired magician. ‘You’re smarter than most, Magnus, but like all of us you’re ignorant about one thing or another.

      ‘I’m in logistics, and that’s how I made my way into The Hammer, feeding the bastards.’ He laughed. ‘The point is, if I wander into a city and buy up enough food for a thousand men, prices go up, others can’t find what they’re seeking, and word goes out to the world that that city needs whatever it is I bought. Shippers then scramble, buying whatever they think they can quickly get to market where I am, and that creates more demand further away.’ He wiggled his fingers. ‘Ripples, you see? Like a rock in a pond. The thing is: with this bastard of a fleet sailing around there are no ripples.’

      Pug nodded. ‘Which means goods are being supplied from outside the normal channels of supply. From somewhere we have no informants.’ He waved his hand and an image appeared in the air. ‘This is a likeness of a map I found years ago in Macros’s library, of the southern half of the Empire. From what I’ve learned since I found it, the borders are fluid, the clans and nations variable, and little can be fixed beyond the location of a few big towns on the coast.’

      ‘It looks as if it’s mainly desert, swamps, and mountains,’ said Daniel. ‘And I know what little farmland is down there is old, worn out and dry. The Confederates are always looking for an excuse to push north. And any large supply of food there would get be eaten, not warehoused.’

      Magnus pointed. ‘What about that large island to the south?’

      ‘That’s the Island of Snakes,’ said Daniel. ‘No one lives there. the north side’s a cold, forlorn place, and that’s the good side. The southern half is close enough to the pole you get winter most of the year and summer’s nothing to call warm and inviting.’

      Pug was silent for a moment. Then he said, ‘Snakes? Snakes don’t live in cold, barren places. I’ve never seen snakes where there’s snow on the ground for much of the year.’

      ‘Who drew the map?’ asked Creegan.

      ‘Macros himself,’ said Pug, making it vanish with a wave of his hand. ‘He often took old scraps of things he found, pieced them together like puzzles, then annotated them. I’ve taken to annotating his annotations,’ he added with a rueful smile, ‘where I know he made a mistake.’

      ‘Maybe “snakes” is a mistranslation,’ said Daniel. ‘Or maybe it referred to snakelike rivers, or some other thing.’

      ‘Or maybe it’s a place where cold-weather snakes exist,’ countered Pug. ‘Still, whatever the reason for the odd name, that’s where I’d be warehousing my foodstuffs and weapons.’

      ‘I’d have my ships sail out of the Keshian ports,’ Daniel continued, ‘for they’d only need a normal supply of provisions, then run down there to pick up whatever else I needed. Then I could make the long run along the southern coast, up the western coast into the Bitter Sea, then on to Krondor. The currents along the western coast of Kesh are from the south, so it’s a fast run. Keeps the need for provisions for the crews and soldiers to a minimum.

      ‘Still,’ said Daniel, ‘you’d think if they were stockpiling goods and food and weapons down there, we’d still have had some sort of hint over the last year or so.’

      ‘Those weapons must be coming from somewhere, Father,’ agreed Magnus. ‘One would assume that should Kesh’s armourers and weapon-makers be increasing production lately, some attention might be paid by one of our agents, or one of the Kingdom’s.’

      Daniel agreed. ‘There would be a demand for raw materials, Pug. More iron from the mines, more ships carrying it to the foundries, more coal for the forges, more leather, more wood; all that someone, somewhere would surely have noticed.’

      ‘Maybe they did,’ said Pug absently.

      Everyone stared at him.

      At last, he said, ‘Over the years our enemies may have proved mad by our standards, but they have also proved to be cunning. Leso Varen almost captured and controlled two nations, Olasko and Great Kesh itself, working essentially alone both times. Belasco managed to bring a small demon army into our realm before we were able to close off that gate.

      ‘What if it’s just been going on long enough that we never noticed an increase in the demand for weapons and other necessary equipment?’ He looked at Daniel. ‘Where does The Hammer buy its swords?’

      Daniel shook his head as if caught by surprise. ‘Ah … places. We have sword-makers in several cities we regularly do business with. Some of the brothers of the order are gifted craftsmen, so we manage most of the repairs ourselves.’

      ‘So if one of your sources were suddenly to start making twelve swords instead of ten …?’

      ‘I think I understand,’ said Daniel with dawning comprehension. ‘If a sword-maker in Elarial was given an order for fifty new blades by The Hammer but produced fifty-five, and sent the extra five along in a shipment of other goods somewhere else … who would notice?’

      ‘Yes,’ said Pug. ‘But let us not dwell on how, but rather who and where.’

      ‘Well, that damn snake place seems a likely where,’ said Daniel.

      ‘Yes,’ agreed Pug. ‘And if that is the place, then we’ll soon know who.’

      ‘You’re sending someone?’ asked Magnus.

      ‘No,’ said Pug. ‘This time I’m going myself.’

      ‘Really?’ Magnus sounded shocked.

      ‘I’ve been sitting on this island feeling pity for myself far too long, son.’ He flashed a smile Magnus hadn’t seen in years. ‘It’s time for me to get out and do some of the hard work myself. Besides, it’s a part of this world I’ve never visited before. It should be interesting.’

      Ruefully, Magnus said, ‘Let’s hope it’s not too interesting.’

• CHAPTER TEN •

       Reversal

      SANDREENA SPRINTED.

      Not for the first time in her life she was thankful for the rigorous training her order had inflicted on her. Her ability to move suddenly and rapidly while wearing heavy mail armour, holding a sword and shield, had saved her life more than once.

      Her opponent was obviously unprepared for just how fast she closed the distance, and when she drove her shoulder into him, he flew backwards as if struck by a battering ram. The man was wearing a buff-coloured coat over jack armour – a rough suede vest over a thick, quilted singlet – effective for arrows that didn’t strike full on and glancing blows from swords. For a fully armoured Sergeant Knight-Adamant slamming into him, he might as well be naked. He lay sprawled out for a moment, then tried to move, but collapsed backwards with a groan of pain, his eyes going in and out of focus.

      Sandreena gave him a quick glance and decided she might have broken a few ribs as well as having stunned him. Levelling her sword at his throat, she waited until he either passed out or regained consciousness.

      He passed out. She sighed as she put up her sword. She looked around to make sure he had been alone, but if he had had confederates, they were making good their escape. She knelt to check that the man wasn’t shamming. A firm poke into ribs that were at the very least bruised if not broken brought no response. She knew he was not engaging in any sort of mummery. It was a lucky thing for her assailant that she had been leading her horse up