Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

“No,” promised Rejji. “I would pay you. I guess what I am saying is the amount is not important to me. If I had work my entire life to pay you back, I would do so, as long as we did it as free people.”

“So you think your two friends would help you in repaying this debt?” queried the merchant. “Have you even consulted with them about this plan?”

“No,” admitted Rejji, “but I know they would stand by me in this.”

“They would, would they?” chuckled Sebastian. “Suppose at camp tonight I let your girl friend sleep without shackles. Would you care to wager if she would be standing by you come morning?”

Rejji was stunned. “What makes you single her out?” he asked.

“You did not answer my question,” Sebastian retorted. “I have a large bag in the back with my things. In it you will find a tin of bocco. Fetch it for me while you strive to come up with your answer.”

Rejji crawled into the wagon to get the tin from Sebastian’s bag. He crawled over to Mistake and whispered that the merchant was considering the sale so that her spirits would lift a bit. He crawled back and found the large bag. The back held mostly clothes and Rejji felt around for the tin, but the bag was too fully packed for his hand to reach the bottom. He started pulling out clothes and piling them alongside the bag so he could locate the tin. Rejji halted when he lifted a black cloak out of the bag, a black cloak with a hood. He tried to visualize the gaudily clad merchant in the black cloak and couldn’t, and yet his discovery scared him greatly. He returned to searching the bag and eventually found the tin of bocco. He placed the tin on the floor and neatly put the clothes back into the bag. He closed the bag and grabbed the tin as he crawled back into the seat of the wagon.

Sebastian pulled a pouch off his belt and handed it to Rejji. “Fill that with bocco for me, lad,” he said.

“Did you have to wait long for us in the capital?” Rejji asked as he filled the pouch.

“The timing of your return from Khadoratung was convenient for me,” answered Sebastian. “Have you thought of your answer?”

“I have,” nodded Rejji as he handed the pouch to the merchant. “If I asked Mistake to stay in camp when she was unshackled, she would stay. Now that I have answered your question, answer mine. Why did you single her out as one who would run?”

Sebastian handed the reins to Rejji and stuffed his pipe with bocco. Rejji waited patiently as the merchant lit the pipe with a striker. After Sebastian had the pipe well lit, he reached over and took the reins from Rejji.

“A number of observations led me to the conclusion that she is a runner,” smiled Sebastian. “First, she is an inside slave. As such, she is normally not allowed out of the mansion, especially unescorted. Yet after our arrival today, you had to escort her into the mansion. Additional, she was in tears and had obviously just been through a rather emotional time.”

Sebastian smiled at Rejji and continued, “Secondly, you no longer had the rather heavy pouch under your tunic that you did on the trip from Khadoratung, yet you had not yet returned to your quarters to hide it. Thirdly, two Pikata soldiers came to my wagon looking to see what I had to sell. As their last payday is a distant memory for them and soldiers are notorious for spending their gold as soon as they get it, it was obvious that they had just come into some newfound gold. When I questioned them about it, they were nervous and moved away from the wagon. Therefore, I believe it was ill gotten gains that they did not wish others to know about.”

Sebastian smiled as he watched Rejji’s jaw drop. “That was a dangerous gamble on your part,” the merchant stated. “You must care for her a great deal.”

“I do,” agreed Rejji. “Were you ever in the Inn of the Rose in Khadoratung?”

Sebastian’s eyebrows rose as he replied, “I have been in almost every inn in Khadora at one time or another.”

“I meant recently,” Rejji pushed. “Like shortly before we departed Khadoratung. Wearing a black cloak perhaps?”

“I don’t feel a need to report my travels to a slave,” Sebastian said brusquely. “We are going to test your theory tonight though. The girl will sleep without shackles. In the morning we shall see how loyal she is to you. Perhaps the boy as well. Do you think he is also loyal to you?”

“Bakhai?” Rejji asked. “He has never shown any thought of escaping.”

“That was not the question,” Sebastian persisted. “Is he loyal enough to you to avoid the temptation?”

“I have never asked for his loyalty,” frowned Rejji. “What game is this you are playing at? Do you wish the three of us to attempt to escape so that you may have sport by tracking us down and killing us? The rest of the slaves are old women. Perhaps they can not provide you with enough challenge?”

Sebastian remained silent and Rejji decided not to push the issue any further until he could sort out his feelings and suspicions. He felt confident that Sebastian was the mystery man from Khadoratung, but why would he spend days spying on a young slave? It made no sense and now he was proposing the most ludicrous thing of all, setting up an escape opportunity that almost nobody could resist. Rejji knew there was catch in all this, but what it was escaped him. Should they try to make good their escape? What was the purpose of showing their loyalty to a merchant when he was just delivering them to another master?

Rejji was still trying to make sense of it all when Sebastian pulled off the road and took a small trail to a clearing beside an icy brook. The campsite was not well used, but it was obvious that Sebastian had been here before. Sebastian jumped off the wagon and turned to face Rejji.

“Unshackle all of the slaves,” Sebastian ordered. “Have Bakhai tend to the horses and some of the women can get a meal started. There is a large case at the rear of the wagon. You will find food supplies in there. I will be back in a while. I am holding you responsible for the slaves remaining in the camp. Their safety is in your hands.”

Sebastian walked back along the trail they had come in and Mistake waited until he was out of sight.

“Let’s send the women in one direction while the three of us go in another,” she offered. “If he tries to track us, he will end up following them.”

The twenty female slaves, who had been loaded on the merchant’s wagon before the Fakarans, were all jabbering excitedly. Some wanted to run away with Mistake and others feared the almost certain death that was delivered to runaway slaves. The campsite was in chaos.

“Stop,” shouted Rejji. “Everyone stop and listen to me.”

Silence erupted throughout the campsite as everyone turned to Rejji, everyone except Bakhai, who appeared to be having a conversation with a bird on his upraised arm.

“You shouldn’t shout,” admonished Mistake. “He might have heard you.”

“Look,” Rejji sighed, “doesn’t it appear a little strange to you that this merchant, who is by himself, would unshackle all of us and then simply walk away? Do none of you recognize a trap when you see one?”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the women captives, but Mistake remained defiant. “He is probably just careless,” Mistake offered. “Or perhaps he believes his boy will watch us for him. I, for one, do not wish to be a slave.”

Mistake’s rebuke stung Rejji as he realized he was the only one who had not been shackled, but he still felt that this was a test of some kind and that there really was little chance of escape.

“This man is no fool,” Rejji stated. “He is testing us to see if we will attempt escape. I am sure he must have confederates in these woods. We should do as he asked and prepare the campsite and the evening meal.”