The Serpentwar Saga. Raymond E. Feist

Milo and Rosalyn, husband and wife and brother and sister. Though each slept apart from the others, Milo in his room, Rosalyn in her own, Freida in a loft over the kitchen, and Erik upon a pallet in the barn, from awakening to bedtime they played their parts naturally. Freida ran the inn as if it were her own, and Milo was unwilling to overrule her, mostly because she did a wonderful job, but also because he, more than anyone, understood the pain Freida lived with daily. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she still loved the Baron, and Milo was convinced that her demand for recognition of her son was a twisted legacy of that love, a desperate grasping at some token that for a brief time she had truly loved and been loved.

      Erik pushed open the common room door and carried another cask of ordinary wine behind the bar, setting it at Milo’s feet. The old man removed the empty cask from the barrel rack and moved it aside, while Erik easily lifted the new one into its place. Placing a clean tap against the bung, Milo drove it home with a single blow from a wooden mallet, then poured himself a small cup to test the content. Making a face, he said, ‘Why, in the midst of the finest wine in the world, do we drink this?’

      Erik laughed. ‘Because it’s all we can afford, Milo.’

      The innkeeper shrugged. ‘You have an irritating habit of being honest.’ Smiling, he said, ‘Well, it’s all the same for effect, then, isn’t it? Three mugs of this will get you just as tipsy as three mugs of the Baron’s finest, won’t they?’

      At mention of the Baron, Erik’s face lost its merry expression. ‘I wouldn’t know,’ he said as he turned away.

      Milo put his hand on Erik’s shoulder, restraining him. ‘Sorry, lad.’

      Erik shrugged. ‘No slight intended, Milo – none taken.’

      ‘Why don’t you give yourself a break,’ said the innkeeper. ‘I can sense things are quieting down.’

      This brought a grin from Erik, for the sound in the common room was close to deafening, with laughter, animated conversation, and general rowdiness the norm. ‘If you say so.’

      Erik moved around from behind the bar, then pushed through the common room, and as he reached the door, Rosalyn threw him an accusatory look. He mouthed, ‘I’ll be back,’ and she threw her gaze heavenward a moment in feigned aggravation. Then she was again grabbing mugs off tables, heading back toward the bar.

      The night was cool; fall was full upon them. At any moment it might turn bitter cold in the mountains of Darkmoor. Though they were not as high as the Calastius to the west or the Teeth of the World in the far north, still snow graced the peaks in the colder winters, and frost was a worry to growers in any season but summer.

      Erik moved toward the town square, and as he anticipated, a few boys and girls still sat around the edge of the fountain before the Growers’ and Vintners’ Hall. Roo was speaking in low tones to a girl who managed to laugh at his suggestion while keeping an askance expression on her face. She was also employing her hands to good effect, limiting Roo’s to acceptable portions of her anatomy.

      Erik said, ‘Evening, Roo. Gwen.’

      The girl’s expression brightened as Erik came into view. One of the prettier girls in town, with red hair and large green eyes, Gwen had attempted to catch Erik’s eye on more than one occasion. She called his name as she firmly pushed Roo’s hands away. A few of the other youngsters of the town greeted the blacksmith’s helper, and Roo said, ‘Finished at the inn?’

      Erik shook his head. ‘Just a break. I’ll have to head back in a few minutes. Thought I’d get some air. Gets very smoky in there, and the noise …’

      Gwen was about to speak when something in Roo’s expression caused both her and Erik to turn. Coming into the light of the torches set around the fountain were two figures, dressed in fine clothing, swords swinging at their sides.

      Gwen came to her feet and attempted an awkward curtsy. Others followed, but Erik stood silently, and Roo sat open-mouthed.

      Stefan and Manfred von Darkmoor looked around the gathered boys and girls, roughly the same age as themselves, but their demeanor and finery set them apart as clearly as if they had been swans moving among geese and ducks in a pond. They had obviously been drinking from the way they moved, with the careful control of one who is masking intoxication.

      As Stefan’s gaze settled on Erik, his expression darkened, but Manfred put a restraining hand upon his arm. Whispering something in Stefan’s ear, the younger brother maintained a tight grip. Stefan at last nodded once, his eyes heavy-lidded, and forced a cold smile to his lips. Ignoring Erik and Roo, he bowed slightly toward Gwen and said, ‘Miss, it seems my father and the town burghers are intent on discussing issues of wine and grapes beyond my understanding and patience. Perhaps you might care to acquaint us with some more … interesting diversions?’

      Gwen blushed and then threw Erik a glance. He frowned at her and slightly shook his head no. As if challenging his right to advise her, she jumped lightly down from the low wall around the fountain and said, ‘Sir, I would be delighted.’ She called another girl who was sitting nearby. ‘Katherine, join us!’

      Gwen took Stefan’s extended arm like a lady of the court, and Katherine awkwardly followed her example with Manfred. They strolled away from the fountain, Gwen exaggerating the sway of her hips as they vanished into the darkness.

      After a moment, Erik said, ‘We’d better follow.’

      Roo came to stand directly in front of his friend. ‘Looking for a fight?’

      ‘No, but those two won’t take no for an answer and the girls –’

      Roo put his hand firmly on Erik’s chest, as if to prevent his moving forward. ‘… know what they’re getting into with noble sons,’ he finished. ‘Gwen’s no baby. And Stefan won’t be the first to get her to pull up her skirts. And you’re about the only boy in town who hasn’t bedded Katherine.’ Looking over his shoulder to where the four had vanished into the night, he added, ‘Though I thought the girls had better taste than that.’

      Roo lowered his voice so that only Erik could hear, and his tone took on a harshness that his friend recognized. Roo used it only when he was deadly serious about a topic. ‘Erik, the day may come when you will have to face your swine of a brother. And when it does, you will probably have to kill him.’ Erik’s brow furrowed at Roo’s tone and words. ‘But not tonight. And not over Gwen. Now, don’t you have to get back to the inn?’

      Erik nodded, gently removing Roo’s hand from his chest. He stood motionless for a second, trying to digest what his friend had just said. Then, shaking his head, he turned and walked back toward the inn.

       • Chapter Two • Deaths

      Tyndal was dead.

      Erik still couldn’t believe it. Each time he came into the forge during the last two months he had expected to see the burly smith either asleep on his pallet at the rear of the forge or hard at work. The man’s sense of humor when he wasn’t sober, or his dark moodiness when he was – everything about him was etched in every corner of this place where Erik had learned his craft for the previous six years.

      Erik inspected the coals from the previous night’s fire and judged how much wood to add to bring it back to life. A miller’s wagon had lurched into the courtyard the night before with a broken axle, and there would be ample work to fill his day. He still couldn’t get over Tyndal’s not being there.

      Two months previously, Erik had climbed down from his loft expecting the events of the morning to be as usual, but one glance at Tyndal’s regular resting place had sent the hairs on Erik’s neck straight up. Erik had seen the smith drunk to a stupor, but this was something else. There was a stillness to the old man that Erik instinctively recognized. He had never seen a dead man before, but he had seen many animals dead in the fields, and there was something eerily familiar in the smith’s attitude. Erik