“That’s who I’m talking about. Eckbert’s son. What was his name again?”
“Jaron.”
“That’s right. I don’t know much about him, but from what I hear, we’ll have all the freedom in Carthya that we want.”
For some reason, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “What’s wrong with Jaron?”
“They say he’s wild and reckless, always has been. Everyone knows he was missing for a long time, but now he’s come back to rule. What could a boy with that history possibly know about ruling an entire country?”
“Probably not much.” I knew just enough to understand that I’d already made plenty of mistakes. Riding here with Erick right now was undoubtedly the biggest of them all.
“Exactly.” Erick chuckled. “But all we care about is that our own stupid Avenian king can deny knowledge of what we do.”
“Does he know?”
“If he does, we’re too small for him to care. When he wants something done without getting his own hands dirty, he’ll use the pirates.”
Which Vargan himself had all but admitted. Avenia wanted my land. The pirates wanted my life. They were a natural team.
Erick didn’t seem to notice my distress. Beside me, he chuckled to himself, then said, “Vargan’s main target is Carthya. You should know that if he finds out you’re a pirate, he might use your knowledge of Carthya to help him destroy it.”
Yes, that I knew.
Getting little response from me, Erick rode forward to tell the others more details about what had happened inside Harlowe’s home. He even pulled out the pocket watch to show them, then tucked it back inside his shirt without the slightest care for its real value. I couldn’t understand why Harlowe had given it up so easily and cursed myself for not keeping control of it.
We were almost back to our camp when my irritation turned to sudden anxiety. As we approached the ridge of a hill, we saw at least a dozen horses standing across the road, much farther down, blocking our passage. With one look at who was astride the horses, I knew I was in serious trouble.
I halted Mystic and said to a pockmarked thief beside me, “Are those King Vargan’s men?”
He squinted to see better, then frowned. “Looks that way. I suppose the good king has decided it’s time to collect taxes again.”
Erick was already riding toward us. “Everyone, back up your horses.”
We obeyed until we were protected from the soldiers’ sight. Then Erick gathered us closer and pulled from his saddlebag the sack of coins I had stolen from Harlowe. “Everyone take a share and hide it wherever you can,” he said. “In your boots or beneath your saddles, or wherever. Hurry!”
“Let’s just go another way,” I said, barely able to hide the concern in my voice. “Or wait until they’re gone.”
The thief nearest me laughed. “Sage doesn’t know the king’s tricks.”
I emphatically disagreed. I probably knew his tricks better than anyone here and had far more to lose than a handful of garlins. I absolutely could not go forward and risk any encounter with Vargan’s soldiers.
“They’ve probably already spotted us,” Erick said. “If we don’t go riding down that hill soon, they’ll come after us and make things much worse.”
For my part, I couldn’t see how things could get any worse.
Sensing my despair, Erick said, “We worked hard last night, and I know it bothers you to lose the coins. I hate this too, but we can’t avoid it. Now take some handfuls and let’s hope we get through with at least something left to us.”
I dreaded the thought of going forward. But equally risky was that if I abandoned Erick now, I’d lose any hope of getting to the pirates. Erick held out his saddlebag again, and when I reached into it, I noticed some rags beneath the coins and asked what they were for.
Erick shrugged. “In case one of my thieves is injured while we’re away from camp.”
I reached in again and withdrew the rags, then began unrolling them to their full length.
“The tax is the same whether or not you’re injured,” Erick protested. “Besides, there’s dried blood on them from the last time they were used.”
“Even better.” I began wrapping the bandages around my head, covering one eye and cheek and all of my hair. I made sure the part with the blood landed directly over my eye.
“Take that off,” Erick said. “You look ridiculous.”