of a house like this is dependent on pleasing the master and his guests. Even the slightest fault might earn one of them a quick trip to a brothel along the docks, or the quarry, or anywhere else strong young slaves are needed.’
Roo looked appalled. ‘I never thought much about it.’
‘Most people in the Kingdom don’t.’ Jimmy began undressing. ‘If you don’t want to share the bath, I can go first or wait.’
Roo shook his head. ‘I’ve shared cold rivers with other men, and that pool is big enough for six of us.’
They stripped and entered the water. Roo looked around and said, ‘Where’s the soap?’
‘This is Queg,’ said Jimmy, indicating a line of wooden sticks arrayed along the edge of the bath. ‘Scrape the dirt off with these.’
Roo longed for a cake of hand-milled Krondorian soap, and looked dubiously at the sticks as he picked one up and followed Jimmy’s lead. After a sea voyage of two weeks, he wasn’t as dirty as he had been many times in his life, but he was far from being fresh. But as Jimmy showed him how to use the stick, called a stigle in the local language, he found that the dirt came off quickly in the hot water.
His hair was another matter. Repeated ducking under the water didn’t seem to rid him of that not quite clean feeling, but then Jimmy pointed out most Quegan men oiled their hair.
‘What about the women?’ asked Roo.
‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Jimmy as he rose from the pool and wrapped himself in a large bath sheet.
After they had dressed, they found nowhere to sit, so they lay down waiting for the call to dinner. Roo dozed a bit in the warm afternoon, until he was awoken by Jimmy.
‘Time to eat.’
Roo came to his feet and found Livia waiting for them at the door of their suite. He picked up the wooden case with the rubies inside, and moved to the door. As he started to greet her, the girl said, ‘Were the servants unsatisfactory?’
Roo had no idea what she was saying. Jimmy, however, said, ‘No, milady. We were weary and wished to rest.’
‘If you see one among the servers at the table whom you find desirable, mark that one by name and we shall send him or her to your room tonight.’
Roo said, ‘Ah … milady, I’m a married man.’
The girl looked over her shoulder as she led them down the hall. ‘This is a problem?’
‘In my nation it is,’ said Roo, blushing. While cheating on his wife with Sylvia seemed as natural to him as breathing, the thought of one of those young girls – or boys – being sent to his bed, much like an extra blanket, positively scandalized him.
Jimmy worked hard at not laughing.
The girl seemed indifferent as she led them into the dining room. The table was a long slab of marble, resting upon a matched set of ornately carved supports. Roo assumed that the table had been hauled into the room by a derrick and the roof added after this massive piece of stone had been installed inside. Along each side sat a half-dozen chairs, open-backed, little more than half-circles of matching stone with thick pillows upon them, small benches, really, thought Roo. One didn’t move the heavy chairs to sit and dine, one stepped over them. Livia pointed to a chair to the left of the man sitting at the head of the table, indicating Roo should sit there. Then she moved to the chair on her father’s right. Jimmy sat at the remaining place, to Roo’s left.
Lord Vasarius was an impressive man, thought Roo. His toga was worn off one shoulder, and Roo could see that despite his age he was still a powerfully built man. He had the shoulders of a wrestler and the arms of a blacksmith. He had sandy hair that had turned mostly grey, and he wore it oiled and close to his head. He did not rise or offer his hand in greeting, but merely inclined his chin. ‘Mr Avery,’ he said.
‘My lord,’ Roo returned, bowing as he would before the Prince.
‘Your message was cryptic, but the only thing of worth you might possibly have of mine in the Kingdom was a set of rubies stolen over a year ago. May I have them, please?’ He held out his hand.
Roo started to hand the case across the table, but a servant intercepted it and carried it the short distance to his master. He flipped open the case, briefly regarded the gems, then closed the case.
‘Thank you for returning my property. May I inquire how you came by it?’
Roo said, ‘As you may have heard, m’lord, I have purchased several different companies lately, and this item was discovered among the inventory of one of them. As there was no lawful bill of sale attached and as your name was prominently noted on the case, I assumed them to be stolen goods. I thought it best to return them personally, given their unique beauty and their value.’
Vasarius handed the case back to a servant without looking. ‘Their value is only that they were to have been a gift for my daughter on her most recent birthday. Both the servant who removed them from this house, and the captain of the ship that took him from our island, have been found and dealt with. I have only to discover to whom they were sold and all those hands who have soiled them until you returned them to me. All will die painfully.’
Thinking of his friend John Vinci, who had bought them from that Quegan captain, Roo said, ‘My lord, they were in an inventory box with other items of dubious origin. I doubt it possible to trace who dealt them along from the captain to myself. Why trouble yourself further, now they have been returned?’ Roo hoped Lord Vasarius listened. Obviously the now-dead captain hadn’t implicated John, else he and Roo would already be dead men.
Vasarius said, ‘My name was upon the box, Mr Avery. Any man who saw it knew it to be my property. Any man who did not return it as you have done is a man without honor, a thief, and one who should be thrown to the animals in the arena, or tortured slowly.’
Roo considered that he had been among those attempting to sell the stones and the only reason he had been distracted from that undertaking was the murder of his father-in-law. He maintained an indifferent manner. ‘Well, m’lord, perhaps that is as it should be, but now that you have those gems back, at least that portion of the affront has been somewhat lessened.’
‘Somewhat,’ agreed Roo’s host as the servants began bringing out the evening meal. ‘As I haven’t been able to find those others besides the captain who insulted my honor, it may be a moot point.’
Roo sat motionless, hoping against hope that was the case, as he was served by young men and women, all attractive by any measure. Whatever other vices Lord Vasarius might have, it was clear he enjoyed the beauty of youth on every hand.
For all the splendor of the setting, Roo found the fare at Lord Vasarius’s table rather plain. Fruits and wine were served, and some flat bread with butter and honey, but the cheese was bland, the wine unspectacular, and the lamb overcooked. Still, Roo dined as if it were the finest meal he had ever tasted; the gods knew he had eaten far worse with gusto in his soldiering days.
There was almost no conversation over dinner, and Roo caught a few meaningful glances pass between Livia and her father. Jimmy seemed bored, but Roo knew he was noting every detail he could. When at last the meal came to an end, Vasarius leaned forward and summoned a servant bearing a tray with a goblet and metal cups.
Roo found the notion of drinking brandy from a metal cup odd, as a metallic flavor was imparted to the drink, but he ignored it, being nothing of the wine purist most people born in Ravensburg were. Besides, not offending his host was far more critical.
Vasarius raised his goblet, said, ‘To your health,’ and drank.
Roo did as well and said, ‘You’re most kind.’
Vasarius said, ‘Now, to the matter of what you expect in repayment for returning my property to me, Mr Avery.’
Roo said, ‘I expect no repayment, m’lord. I merely wished for an opportunity to visit Queg and explore the possibility