Brotherband 3: The Hunters (14 page)

Now that he was sailing down the calm waters of the Dan, with Raguza only a few days away, Zavac felt as if a load had been lifted from his shoulders. After several weeks with no report of the Skandian ship that had been pursuing him, he finally could believe that he’d given them the slip. Apparently, when he had turned into the Dan and headed south for Raguza, they had lost his trail.

Of course, the Skandians were open-sea sailors, he thought. The idea of confining themselves to the relatively narrow waters of a river would be unnatural to them. Presumably, the small ship with the strange sail pattern was still blundering around the Stormwhite Sea, asking for news of the
Raven
in every port she entered.

And getting none.

He signalled the tavern keeper for another jug of brandy, and leaned back in his chair, sighing contentedly. He heard the door open, felt the sudden gust of the draught that it let in, just as quickly shut off, and looked up. Vargas had entered the room and was looking around, obviously searching for him. He raised a hand over his head.

‘Here,’ he called, and Vargas began to shove his way through the tightly packed crowd towards Zavac’s table.

He arrived a few seconds after the brandy jug Zavac had ordered. The pirate captain smiled.

‘Good timing. Have a drink.’

He poured the rough spirit into a spare tumbler on the table. Vargas nodded his thanks, drank deeply, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘Bad news,’ he said briefly.

Zavac’s smile faded and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘What’s gone wrong? Couldn’t you get the rope I ordered? I’ll skin that factory foreman. He swore blind on three different gods that he’d have it ready!’

Vargas shook his head at the second question and made a negative gesture with his hand.

‘No, no,’ he said. ‘The rope’s all here. It’s in the skiff and the men are busy loading it onto
Raven
.’

Zavac frowned. ‘Then what’s gone wrong?’

‘It’s that Skandian ship,’ Vargas told him.

‘What about it?’ Zavac snapped. ‘That ship has become the bane of my life. Don’t tell me you saw it again.’

‘I saw it, all right. It’s only a few days behind us – although by now that may be a little more.’

‘What?’ Zavac exploded with rage. ‘How did they catch up to us so soon?’

Vargas shrugged and shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter how they did it. The fact is, they’re on our trail. I’ve arranged things so they’ll probably be delayed in Krall, but they’ll soon be on the river again.’

‘How did they find us?’ Zavac raged. ‘How did they know we turned into the Dan?’ He let out a string of curses, and slammed his open hand on the table in fury. The tavern keeper looked up at the sudden sound and Zavac made a dismissing gesture. The tavern keeper frowned. He could sense trouble brewing. He reached below the bar and made sure that his heavy, studded cudgel was easily to hand.

Vargas waited patiently until Zavac’s outburst was done.

‘We were betrayed,’ he said calmly. ‘I saw Rikard with them.’

Zavac’s eyes narrowed as he sought to place the name. ‘Rikard? Who in the Blue Fiend’s name is Rikard?’ It was vaguely familiar, he realised.

Vargas took another sip of brandy before he answered. Times like these, he knew, it was best to go slowly with Zavac. The man’s temper had a tendency to flare up, leading to unfortunate, unpleasant results.

‘He was on
Stingray
,’ he said, after a pause. ‘He was Nagy’s first mate.’

Realisation dawned on Zavac’s face. ‘That’s right,’ he said softly, as memory came back to him. Then he frowned again. ‘But weren’t he and the rest of
Stingray
’s crew caught by the Skandians when we burnt their ship?’

‘That’s what we all thought. But somehow, he escaped. And somehow, he ended up with the Skandians. He was with them when they sailed into Krall harbour. They actually had him chained up. My guess is, they spared him in return for him telling them where we were heading.’

‘And of course,’ Zavac said thoughtfully, twisting one of the long ringlets that hung down his cheek around a forefinger, ‘we’d planned to rendezvous with Nagy and his men at Raguza.’

‘So he would have known we were heading down the river,’ Vargas concluded and Zavac nodded slowly. He looked at his crewman from under lowered lids.

‘How did you learn all this?’ he asked. It was in Zavac’s nature to be suspicious.

Vargas wasn’t insulted. He’d known the pirate captain for several years and he knew that people who weren’t suspicious didn’t last long in this line of business.

‘I saw the Skandians in a tavern,’ he said. ‘The big one with the wooden hook for a hand . . .’

Zavac cursed again. ‘I thought he was a harmless drunk!’ he said. ‘He was always hanging round the harbour in Hallasholm when we were there. Remember?’

Vargas nodded. ‘Odds are he was spying on us for that buffoon they call the Oberjarl,’ he said. ‘But he’s no drunk and he’s certainly not harmless. There were two others with him. The big blond boy and the smaller one – the half Araluan.’

While the
Raven
had lingered in Hallasholm, pretending to be in need of repair, Zavac and his men had learned as much as they could about the crews of the two brotherbands that would compete in the final race. They had planned to steal the Andomal, a priceless ball of amber, while the triumphant brotherband was guarding it, and Zavac always believed it paid to know your enemy – or your prospective victim.

‘He’s the one to watch,’ he said bitterly, as Vargas mentioned Hal. ‘He’s as cunning as a bilge rat, that one.’

Vargas twisted his lip in a sneer. ‘Not so cunning,’ he said. ‘After all, he left his men asleep when they were supposed to be guarding that treasure-ball.’

‘Maybe. But he learns fast. Look at what he did in Limmat. Then after we rammed that wolfship, he nearly caught us. Would probably have done so if he hadn’t turned back to help them.’

His crewman was still unimpressed. ‘Lucky for him he did,’ he said, but Zavac was shaking his head at him.

‘Don’t underestimate them, Vargas. That would be a big mistake. So how did they find out about us?’

‘Well, obviously Rikard told them we’d be heading down the Dan, but they probably didn’t trust him. When I saw them, they were asking if anyone had seen the
Raven
passing. One drunken old fool told them he’d seen us. Actually shouted about it in the tavern. They left pretty smartly after that and I followed them back to their ship.’

Zavac swore quietly. ‘Stupid old fool. Everyone on this river knows you don’t give out information to strangers. I’d like to get my hands on him.’

‘Too late.’ Vargas smiled mirthlessly. ‘I already have. I slipped a knife into him on the way out. Left him looking as if he was sleeping it off at the table.’

‘Good!’ Zavac said viciously. ‘What happened next?’

‘I followed them back to their ship, and watched as they set Rikard free. He’d been chained to the mast. The one-handed one gave him some money and they let him go. I went down a few alleys and got ahead of him.’ He paused for dramatic effect. ‘And let me say, his betraying days are over. After I dealt with him, I slipped out of the harbour and headed down here to let you know the news.’

‘So they’re only a day or two behind us,’ Zavac said.

‘A little more than that. They wouldn’t have been allowed to leave harbour until sunrise. And even then I think they might have been detained.’ He saw the questioning look on the other man’s face and explained. ‘I left Rikard where his body would be easily found. The authorities knew he was from the Skandian ship. And I left some other evidence. He had three Limmatan coins that they paid him off with. I left them in his purse. Odds were they’re the only ship in harbour paying their way with Limmatan nobles.’

‘So the authorities would have held them for questioning,’ Zavac said slowly.

Vargas nodded. ‘Almost certainly. If only to get a nice big bribe for themselves. So we have a little time. But I thought maybe we could arrange to have them detained more permanently here in Bayrath. After all, the Gatmeister’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?’

The Gatmeister was the elected official who ruled the large river port. His position was the equivalent of a town mayor.

‘He’s a friend of anyone with a deep enough purse,’ Zavac said cynically. ‘Fortunately, mine is pretty deep.’

‘And nobody goes up or down the river without his permission,’ Vargas said.

Which was the crux of the matter. The citizens of Bayrath had chosen to build their city at a point where the river narrowed. The banks were only two hundred metres apart at the narrowest spot. The Bayrath town council had narrowed this gap further by building jetties out from either side. Then they closed the gap between the jetties with a boom made from three massive logs.

No ship could proceed up or down the Dan River unless they paid a hefty toll to the town – or, more correctly, to the Gatmeister himself.

Doutro, the Gatmeister of Bayrath, looked at the pile of five heavy gold coins on the table before him. He was an impressive sight, tall and well built, with a hawk nose, prominent cheekbones and dark brown, deep-set eyes. His dark hair was greying at the edge, which gave him a distinguished look. This was accentuated by the gold-trimmed purple robe he wore, and the thin gold circlet set on his head.

‘So you’re saying you’d like this ship delayed?’ he said. His manner was noncommittal.

Zavac nodded. ‘The ship and its crew. There are nine of them. An old Skandian with one arm, and eight boys.’

‘And how long should I detain them?’

Zavac carefully added another five gold coins to the stack on the table, placing each one with exaggerated care.

‘Permanently would be good,’ he said.

The Gatmeister pursed his lips. Another gold coin was placed beside the ten already stacked.

‘Of course, I’d need some pretext to arrest them,’ he said.

‘They killed Rikard,’ Zavac told him, then added by way of explanation, ‘Nagy’s first mate on
Stingray.
’

Most of the pirates who frequented Raguza and travelled up and down the Dan were well known to the Gatmeister. They and the town enjoyed a long-established and profitable business relationship. The pirates paid the toll to the Gatmeister whenever they passed through the boom – which was quite often. In return, he allowed them a generous discount. The two groups, pirates and town council, did well out of each other. And when a ship’s captain needed the occasional favour – as Zavac did now – the Gatmeister was always willing to consider granting it.

For a price.

Apparently, that price was eleven large gold coins. Doutro nodded slowly. He didn’t care whether they had killed Rikard or not. In truth, he didn’t care if Rikard were dead or not. But the first mate’s murder provided him with the thin excuse that was all he would need to arrest the
Heron
’s crew.

‘So I could hold them on suspicion of murder. Then I can try them, find them guilty and hang them,’ he said.

Zavac nodded. ‘And confiscate their property, and their ship.’

Doutro said nothing for a few seconds. Then he reached out and divided the tall stack of coins into three smaller stacks. He opened a drawer on his side of the table and swept the coins into it. They clinked together in a most pleasant way, he thought.

‘I can’t see any problem with that,’ he said.

H
eron
came round a bend in the river with the wind from her port side. Her prow split the water, throwing up a white bow wave. Behind her, the wake of disturbed water was arrow straight.

‘There’s a town up ahead!’ Stefan called from the bow. It was an unnecessary warning. Nobody could miss the sprawling town, almost a city, that lay on the eastern bank of the river.

Hal had taken the opportunity to buy a map of the river before they left Krall. It was rough and a little shy on detail, but better than nothing.

‘That’ll be Bayrath,’ he said. ‘The map shows it’s where the river narrows. Ease the sail, boys, while we take a look.’

He called this last instruction to the twins. Obediently, they let the sail out a little, easing the driving force of the wind against it.
Heron
slowed, the loud hiss of her bow wave dying down to a quiet murmur.