THE RIDERS CAME TO A HALT.
The three dust-covered figures stood on the crest of a rise on the road from Khallara to the city of Kesh. Caleb pointed to the lights playing against the underside of clouds in the distance and said, ‘That’s Kesh.’
Zane asked, ‘How big is it?’
Caleb dismounted. ‘Very big. It’s the biggest city in the world.’
They had been riding for four days – long enough for the boys to gain more experience on horseback and cover themselves in enough road grime and sweat to convince the guards at the city gates that they had ridden all the way from the Vale of Dreams. Even if they had traded for fresh mounts along the way, the journey should have taken three months or more. But the boys were quickly learning that their stepfather had resources they could not have possibly imagined a year before.
They had all left Stardock the day after the wedding, ostensibly returning north to some vague destination where Caleb’s family lived. Instead, once they were clear of the town, Caleb had used one of those spheres that the boys had come to think of as ‘travel orbs’, to transport himself, Marie and the boys to Sorcerer’s Isle.
Caleb had taken a full day to acquaint his new wife with his family and the decidedly unexpected inhabitants of the island. Most of the concepts behind the place – great magic, alien worlds and travel to them, races not of Midkemia – were understandably lost on her, though he knew that she’d come to understand in time. But her poise when confronting the many unexpected sights, pleased Caleb, as did her attempts to be at ease with his parents. He was even more pleased by her obvious joy at their living quarters, which were palatial compared to what she had known in Stardock, and that she gained the affection of his parents easily.
The one tense moment had arrived with the appearance of the six sisters of the Pithirendar, bedecked in garlands of white oleanders and little else, to welcome the boys back to the island. Their overt displays of affection were more than Marie could bear to watch.
Caleb had steered her away from the reunion and had said, ‘Much of what you see here will be strange, but keep one thing in mind above all others: there is no one on this island who wishes you or the boys aught but good.’
Glancing over her shoulder at the girls who had thrown their arms around her son’s necks, she had frowned. ‘That appears to be a little more than good, Caleb.’
‘You’re from Stardock, Marie. You’ve seen different people from the Kingdom and the Empire. Each nation has different customs and beliefs. You’ve already seen everything one can imagine about people.’
‘I’ve not seen green-skinned girls trying to undress my boys in broad daylight!’
Caleb had laughed at that. ‘They only want the boys to go swimming with them.’ He pointed. ‘My father built a lake down there before I was born—’
‘He built a lake?’
‘—because my mother hated walking all the way to the beach to go swimming. Anyway, the youth of the Pithirendar need to spend a great deal of time in or near water. It’s vital for their health.’
Marie hadn’t looked convinced, but Caleb had understood that for mothers, sons never truly grow up. He knew that from personal experience.
They had spent one more night together, and the next morning, Caleb and the boys had left Sorcerer’s Isle. They had used an orb to reach a stable in Landreth owned by the Conclave and then used it again to transport themselves to the road upon which they now travelled.
Caleb unsaddled his horse and the boys did the same. ‘Why aren’t we pushing on now?’ asked Tad. ‘The lights look close.’
‘Because they’re not. It’s a half a day’s ride to the foul borough – outside the ancient wall – and then another two hours of riding to reach the gates. We’ll be there by late afternoon tomorrow.’
Zane put his saddle down and tied off his horse where he could crop grass by the road. Kneeling he said, ‘It must be big. I’ve never seen so many lights in the sky.’
‘Thousands of lanterns and torches, Zane,’ said Caleb.
Tad joined his foster brother and they both watched the city in the distance which appeared brighter in contrast to the darkening sky.
Caleb made a fire and after they had eaten their rations, he sat back and said, ‘Again.’
The boys looked at one another, and Tad gestured that Zane should begin.
‘You’re a trader from the Vale, by the name of Caleb.’
Tad added, ‘I think we can remember that much.’
Caleb picked up a pebble and tossed it at him. Tad grinned as he dodged it easily. ‘We are your two very talented, very bright and able, handsome, and very brave apprentices, Tad and Zane.’
Zane nodded. ‘Also easy enough to remember.’
‘What do we trade?’
Tad said, ‘Anything and everything. We are always looking for rare items of great worth to sell in the Kingdom. Gems, jewellery, fine craftsmanship, anything that is easy to transport and renders a large profit.’
‘But we don’t carry large amounts of gold,’ Zane added. ‘We deal in letters of credit, and know money lenders from here up to Krondor.’
‘Why are you not with your master?’
Zane said, ‘He has sent us out into the bazaar to seek out items that nobles and wealthy commoners in the north might wish to purchase. If we see something noteworthy, we report it to our master who returns to judge if the item is worth purchasing.’
Tad added, ‘We are not permitted to bind our master to any transaction and if we give the impression of committing to a sale we shall be severely beaten.’
Caleb kept drilling the boys in their story and provided them with enough basic questions and things to look out for to allow them to pass as traders’ apprentices. Then he started running them through the other things they needed to know: who to contact if something happened to him, places they could find a safe haven, and finally, what to do if they knew he was dead.
He saved that point for last, for he wanted to impress on the boys just how dangerous the way before them might prove. It had taken several conversations to convince them that he was not overstating the danger of belonging to his family and working on behalf of those on Sorcerer’s Isle.
The boys turned in and Caleb took the first watch. He noticed how quickly Tad and Zane fell asleep. In the flickering light of the campfire, they looked like the boys they had been, rather than like the men they were becoming. For not the first time he silently prayed he had not overestimated their potential, or underestimated his own ability to keep them safe.
The three rode slowly through the crowds, trying to navigate while the boys gawked at the exotic sights of Kesh. It was just as Caleb had promised – a city unlike any other on the world of Midkemia.
They had come to appreciate the incredible scale of the place about mid-morning, after they had seen the upper city and the citadel on top of the plateau overlooking the lower city and the shores of the Overn Deep. From a distance it had looked like the top of a faraway mountain, but as they approached, the view resolved itself into what it was – a massive palace surrounded by a fortress-city, built high above every approach from land or by water: the heart of the Empire of Great Kesh.
The day had been clear and their view of the great citadel was unencumbered by fog, haze, or clouds. The boys remarked at least a half a dozen times on how large the building was. Caleb explained that the vast structure had been erected over