Shards of a Broken Crown (70 page)

Dash laughed.
“No doubt. No, you go. Kiss Mother and Aunt Magda and the
others for me. Tell Mother I’ll come to visit someday; I know
she’ll never set foot on Kingdom soil again.”

“She might
if I’m crowned King,” said Jimmy.

“Maybe for
that,” agreed Dash, and they both laughed.

Jimmy put his
arm around his younger brother’s shoulder. “Are you going
to be all right?”

“Eventually,”
said Dash. “Right now I just want to get started on a life of
my making. I want to use my wits for something other than getting
people killed.”

Remembering the
wild charge at the Keshians’ rear elements, the fighting
outside the wall before Pug appeared, Jimmy said, “I can’t
see much wrong with that. It’s just. . .”

“What?”

“It’s
just that we’re our father’s sons.”

“I know.
This isn’t easy, but once I made up my mind, I knew it was the
right thing. We have duties to each other that are more important
than our duties to a flag or a king. Can you honestly say you can
work on Patrick’s behalf without question?”

Jimmy said, “I
would never work for Patrick the man; it’s the crown for which
I labor.”

Dash lightly
poked his brother’s chest. “And that, dear brother, is
the difference between us. I saw common men and women die to protect
this city, and what reward is there for them?”

“They get
to keep their liberty!” said Jimmy. “You know what
Keshian rule would bring to Krondor: slavery, press gangs, children
being sold to brothels.”

“Are we so
noble then?”

“We have
problems, certainly, but we have just laws.”

Dash said, “I’ve
been administering those laws for a while now, Jimmy. I’m not
so sure sending a ten-year-old boy to the labor gang for stealing
food is just.”

“That’s
just an extreme case,” said Jimmy.

“I wish
that were so.”

Jimmy said, “I
have to go. We have been invited to dine with Francine and Patrick.
Are you coming?”

“No,”
said Dash. “I’ll send a note with my regrets. I have a
lot of things to do before the morning if I’m going to turn my
office over to someone else.”

Jimmy said, “I
wish you’d at least wait until Patrick returns from Rillanon.
Maybe by then you’ll have changed your mind. It’s not too
late, you know.”

Dash was silent
for a while, then he said, “If I do, that will give me more
time to get my affairs in order. Very well, I’ll wait until the
Prince and Princess return from Rillanon and then I’ll resign
my offices.”

Jimmy grinned.
“I’ll talk you out of it.”

“I’m
still not coining to supper. I’ll see you in the morning before
you leave.”

They embraced
and Dash left the great hall, heading out the main entrance and
through the courtyard, toward the New Market Jail.

In the darkest
hours of the night, before the sky to the east began to lighten, a
single man hid in the shadows near the docks. He kept looking back,
as if fearing he was being followed, and at last he ducked into a
doorway, waiting to see if anyone was behind him.

Long minutes
passed then he stepped out of the door, only to be slammed back
against it with a dagger held to his throat. “Going somewhere,
Reese?”

The thief’s
eyes widened. “Sheriff! I wasn’t on the dodge, honest. I
was just heading back to my hole to sleep the day.”

“I need
information, and you’re going to give it to me,” said
Dash.

“Sure,
whatever you want.”

“Who’s
the new Daymaster now that Trina’s dead?”

“If I told
you, it would be my life,” said Reese.

“If you
don’t, it will be your life. I don’t mean hauling you to
New Market for a trumped-up trial and a hanging, I mean cutting your
throat right now.”

“It
doesn’t matter,” said Reese. “There isn’t
one. There’s barely what you’d call the Mockers since the
Upright Man and Trina died.”

“Who’s
the Nightmaster?”

“He died
during the war. There’s no leadership anymore. Even Mother’s
ain’t safe no more. Someone’s setting up a new gang near
Fishtown, for boosting goods unloaded off ships. And there’s
some bashers setting themselves up down near the old docks. Times
ain’t what they used to be, Dash.”

“Tell me
where to find the gangs in Fishtown and down by the docks.”

Reese told him
what he knew, then Dash said, “Here’s what you need to
know. Things are changing in Krondor and we’re going to be the
ones making the changes.”

“We?”
asked Reese.

“You and
me.”

“I get
caught working for the Sheriff, I’m a dead man,” said
Reese.

“Oh,
before we’re done, you’ll wish it was that simple. You’re
a bright one, Reese—you were smart enough to hook up with
Talwin and me and get out of the work gang.”

“Well, I
saw my chance and I took it.”

“Who’s
another really smart lad or lass, someone who works well with the
children?”

“Jenny’s
got a level head and the beggars and pickpockets like her.”

“Good. I
want you and Jenny to meet me by the old landing below the north wall
reservoir, an hour after sundown tomorrow.” He let go of the
man’s shirt and put away his dagger.

“What if I
just don’t turn up?”

“Then I’ll
find you and kill you,” said Dash. “An hour after
sundown. Just the two of you.”

Reese said,
“I’ll bring her.” He ran off into the dark.

Dash looked
around to make sure he was unobserved, then went the other way.

Jimmy rose to
depart, and Francine said, “Jimmy, may I have a word with you?”

Jimmy smiled.
“Anytime, Francie.”

She came over
and said, “If we still had a garden here, perhaps we could go
for a walk.”

“A turn
around the marshaling yard?”

She laughed.
“That will have to do.”

She turned to
her father and Patrick, and said, “We won’t be long.”
They went down the long corridor from the Prince’s great hall
to the balcony overlooking the marshaling yard. The evening air was
warm and the air held a hint of blooms.

“When we
return, I shall see the garden is restored as soon as possible.”

Jimmy said,
“That will be nice.”

“Are you
returning to Krondor in time for Midsummer’s Festival?”
Francie asked.

“Probably
not. I shall sail to Roldem to visit Mother. With Father dead, she’ll
never return to the Kingdom.”

Francine sighed.
“They never grew to love one another?”

Jimmy shook his
head. “I think at best they enjoyed things about one another.
She admired Father’s skills as a diplomat; Roldem’s a
nation of courtiers. He was a very fine dancer, did you know?”

“I
remember seeing him at a celebration in the King’s court. He
cut a very dashing figure. I had a crush on him as a child.”

“He was a
very fine father,” said Jimmy, suddenly missing him a great
deal. “He always liked Mother’s ability to organize. If
there was one guest for dinner or a hundred, she always had
everything right by the time the event began. He used to joke that
she’d have made a better Duke than he.”

“But they
never grew close?”

“No,”
said Jimmy sadly. “I know Mother had lovers, though she was
always very discreet about it. I don’t know about Father. He
always seemed so occupied with whatever Grandfather set him to. He
probably was too busy to really care.”

“He cared
about you and Dash.”

Jimmy nodded. “I
know he did. He was always generous in his affections with us.”

She put her hand
on his arm. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,
Jimmy. I like Patrick well enough; the three of us have always been
friends. I used to think I was going to marry you, back when we were
children.”

He smiled. “I
know. I used to find it irritating, then I found it pleasing.”

She leaned over
and kissed him, lightly but lingeringly. Then she said, “Be my
dear friend. I don’t know if I’ll become like your mother
and ignore Patrick, or if I’ll turn my life over to raising a
future King of Isles. I may take up gardening, and if I decide to
have a string of lovers, I’ll make you the first one, but most
of all, I’m going to need good friends.

“Everyone
I know is now trying to be my friend, and I know that what they see
is the future Queen of the Isles. You and Dash and a few of our good
friends back in Rillanon are all I have.”

Jimmy nodded. “I
understand, Francie. I’ll always be your good friend.”

She took his arm
in hers and snuggled into his shoulder. “Thank you, Jimmy. Now,
let’s go back and rejoin the Prince.”

Jimmy knew at
that point that he also would eventually marry for reasons of state.
He said a silent prayer to any God who would listen that the woman
fate had in store for him was the match of the one holding onto his
arm at this moment. And prayed she would also prove as good a friend
as Francine.

Two nights later
thieves drifted into Mother’s. Many looked around for
boltholes, for by general consensus Mother’s wasn’t safe
anymore. Still, a few lookouts hung outside, keeping an eye out for
the Prince’s men.

Reese stood up
on a table and said, “Is everyone here?”

From the back of
the room, someone shouted, “Everyone who’s coming!”

That brought
some guarded chuckles from a few, but no one felt easy enough to
really enjoy the weak humor.

Reese said,
“We’ve got new rules.”

“Rules!”
shouted a large man in a comer. “Whose rules?”

“Mockers’
Rules!” shouted a young woman entering from a far door. She was
solidly built, and plain of features, but she was known for being one
of the smarter thieves in the guild. Her name was Jenny.

“Who says
there’s a Mockers to make rules for?” asked another man.

“The
Upright Man!” shouted Reese. “He says.”

“The
Upright Man’s dead!” said a man from the back of the
large room. “Everyone knows that.”

From deep within
the shadows behind Reese, a deep voice said, “The Upright Man’s
died before, and always returns.”

“Who’s
that?” said the beefy man in the corner.

“One who
knows you, John Tuppin. You run the bashers.”

The man looked
pale at the dark figure knowing his name.

A thin man in
the rear said, “Everyone knows Tuppins. He’s too big to
miss!”

Others laughed,
but a few glanced around, worried expressions on their faces.

From the shadows
the voice said, “I know you, too, Rat. You’re the best
point lookout in the Mockers. I know you all.

“I know
every thief, cutpurse, dodger and basher, every toffsman and whore
who calls Mother’s home. And you know me.”

“It’s
the Upright Man,” whispered someone.

“You can
claim to be whoever you want,” said John Tuppin, “but
claiming and being ain’t the same. I could claim to be the
Bloody Duke of Krondor, but that don’t make it so.”

From out of the
shadows the voice said, ‘ “The Fishtown gang was run
today.”

Suddenly people
throughout the room were talking. Reese picked up a large wooden club
and slammed it against the wall. “Shut up!”

Silence fell,
and the voice from the darkness said, “Tomorrow the Sheriff
will run the Old Dock bashers. No one works the streets of Krondor
without my permission.”

“If those
bashers get run tomorrow,” said Tuppin, “I’ll
believe you’re who you say you are.”

“I will
too,” shouted the man called Rat. “Pass the word,”
said the voice. “The Keshian renegades who sell drugs out of
the caravansary will be run. The swine who grab kids to sell to the
Durban slavers will be run. Anyone not doing business with the
Mockers will be run.”

A few in the
room cheered.

“Reese is
Nightmaster, and Jenny is Daymaster. You have a problem, you bring it
to them.”

More cheers,
then Reese said, “Get out there! Pass the word, the Upright Man
is back!”

The thieves
dispersed until only three people remained at Mothers.

Dash stepped out
of the shadows. “You did well. Tell Tuppin and Rat they did
well, too.”

“It’s
a hard sell, “ said Reese. “You’re going to have to
bust a lot of heads before they get it.”

“I’ve
a couple of months before the Prince returns and installs a new
Sheriff,” said Dash. “Between now and then we’ll
get organized.”

The girl said,
“I don’t get one thing. Why are you taking on this job?
You’re the son of the Duke of Krondor! You’re never going
to be as rich on the dodgy path as you could be on the straight. If
we get caught, we do time in prison, or the work gang. If you get
caught, you get hung for treason. Why are you doing this?”

Dash said, “A
promise.” Jenny seemed about to ask another question, but Dash
cut her off. “You have a lot of work to do and so do I. You
need to get someone into the palace and close to Talwin. You need to
get him followed, and that won’t be easy. We have to find his
contacts and identify his agents. He’s going to be the worst
threat to the Mockers we’ll face.”

“I have
just the girl,” said Jenny. “Young, innocent looking, can
wash and sew, and will cut your heart out for a copper piece.”

“I’ve
got a man I can get into the kitchen,” said Reese. “I’ll
get them inside,” said Dash. “Now, go.”

They left and
Dash ducked out the back way. He waited, and when he was satisfied no
one had seen him depart the thieves’ headquarters, he knew that
his life would never be truly his own.

He knew he’d
earn riches as a merchant, and marry some well-thought-of young
woman, one whom he would probably love, and father children. It would
be, to outward appearances, a good life. Publicly he would be a man
of importance, one worthy of envy. But he also knew he would live in
two worlds, and that most of his life would not be his own.