Fool's Errand

"Did you believe that?" That stung as sharply as the revelation.

He took a quick breath, hesitated again, then said quickly, "You've a temper. And I've never had to tell you something that might hurt you. Something that might make you feel stupid."

Perceptive lad. More so than I had thought. "I am angry, Hap. I'm angry at myself."

He looked at the fire. "I feel selfish, because I feel better now."

"I'm glad you feel better. I'm glad things are easy between us again. Now. Set all that aside and tell me about the rest of Springfest. What did you think of Buckkeep Town?"

So he talked and I listened. He'd seen Buckkeep and Springfest with a boy's eyes, and as he spoke I realized how greatly both castle and town had changed since my days there. From his descriptions, I knew the city had managed to grow, clawing out building space from the harsh cliffs above it, and expanding out onto pilings. He described floating taverns and mercantiles. He talked too of traders from Bingtown and the islands beyond it, as well as those from the Out Islands. Buckkeep Town had increased its stature as a trade port. When he spoke of the Great Hall of Buckkeep and the room where he had stayed as Starling's guest, I recognized that a great deal had changed up at the keep as well. He spoke of carpets and fountains, rich hangings on every wall, and cushioned chairs and glittering chandeliers. His descriptions put me more in mind of Re-gal's fine manor at Tradeford than the stark fortress I had once called home. I suspected Chade's influence there as much as Kettricken's. The old assassin had always been fond of fine things, not to mention comfort. I had already resolved never to return to Buckkeep. Why should it be so daunting to learn that the place I recalled, that stark fortress of black stone, did not really even exist anymore?

Hap had other tales, too, of the towns they had passed through on their way to Buckkeep and back again. One he told me put a cold chill in my belly. "I got scared near to death one morning at Hardin's Spit," he began, and I did not recognize the name of the village. I had known, dimly, that many folk who had fled the coast during the Red Ship years had returned to found new towns, not always on the sv.

ashes of the old. I nodded as if knew of the place. Probably the last time I had been through it, it had been no more than a wide place in the road. Hap's eyes were wide as he spoke, and I knew he had, for the moment, forgotten all about Starling's deception.

"It was on our way to Springfest. We had spent the night at the i

He stopped speaking. He knew that in the villages there were harsh punishments for horse thieves and murderers. He'd heard of floggings and hangings. But he'd never had to watch one. He swallowed in the silence between us. Cold crept through me. Nighteyes whined, and I set a hand to him.

It could just as well be you.

I know.

Hap took a deep breath. "I thought I should go down there, that someone should do something, but I was too scared. I was shamed to be so scared, but I couldn't make myself move. I just stood there and watched, and the stones hit her. And she kept trying to hide her head in her arms. I felt sick. Then I heard a sound such as I had never heard before, as if a river rushed through the air. The morning sky dimmed, as if storm clouds were blowing in, but there was no wind. It was crows, Tom, a flood of black birds. I'd never seen so many, cawing and screeching, just as they do when they find an eagle or a hawk and set out to roust it. Only they weren't after an eagle. They rose out of the hills behind the town and filled the sky, like a black blanket flapping on a clothesline. Then they suddenly fell on the crowd, diving and cawing. I saw one land in a woman's hair and strike at her eyes with his beak. People were ru

Later, I told myself. Later I would tell him that wasn't true, that she might have called the birds down to help her escape but that not even Witted ones could change their shapes like that. Later I would tell him he was not a coward for not going down there, that they would only have stoned him alongside her. Later. This story he was telling now was like poison ru

I picked up the trail of his words again."… And they call themselves Old Blood. The i

I cleared my throat. I was surprised at the rush of gratitude I felt toward Starling. "Well. She's a minstrel. They know many kinds of folk, and have many odd corners of knowledge. So you can believe what she told you."

He had given me far too much to think about. I could scarcely keep my mind on the rest of his tales. He was intrigued by some wild story that Bingtown was hatching dragons and that soon towns could buy a Bingtown dragon for a watch beast. I assured him that I had seen real dragons, and that such tales were not to be believed. More realistic were the rumors that Bingtown's war with Chalced might spread to the Six Duchies. "Would a war come here?" he wanted to know. Young as he was, he had only vague but frightening memories of our war with the Red Ships. Still, he was a boy, and a war seemed as interesting an event as Springfest.

" 'Sooner or later, there is always war with Chalced, " I quoted the old proverb to him. "Even when we are not at war with Chalced, there are always border skirmishes and a certain amount of piracy and raiding. Don't let it worry you. Shoaks and Rippon duchies always take the brunt of it, with relish. Shoaks Duchy would like nothing better than to carve themselves another chunk out of the Duke of Chalced's lands."