Roo hefted the bag and knew inside there was gold and could even estimate the worth from the weight. He quickly calculated he was already a year ahead of schedule in his plan to become wealthy. Then he noticed the others were bowing and moving away, so he quickly made an awkward bow to the King and hurried after the others.
Outside the hall, de Loungville said, ‘Well then, now you’re free men again.’ To Jadow and Erik he said, ‘Stay out of trouble and be back here on the first day of next month.’ To Nakor and Sho Pi he said, ‘The King’s messages will be ready tomorrow. See Duke James’s secretary, and he’ll give you travel warrants and money.’
He turned to Roo and said, ‘You’re a rodent, Avery, but I’ve come to love that pinched-off little face of yours. If you change your mind, I can use another experienced soldier.’
Roo shook his head. ‘Thanks, Sergeant, but I’ve got to find a merchant with a homely daughter and start making my fortune.’
To the assembled men, de Loungville said, ‘If you must enjoy the pleasures of the flesh before returning home, go to the Sign of the White Wing, over near the Merchants’ Gate. It’s a brothel of high standard, so don’t track mud inside. Tell the lady who meets you that I sent you. She may never forgive me, but she owes me a favor. See you don’t cause a riot there, because I can’t bail you out two nights running.’ Looking from face to face, he said, ‘All things considered, you did well, lads.’
No one spoke until Erik said, ‘Thank you, Sergeant.’
To Jadow and Erik, de Loungville said, ‘Stop by the Knight-Marshal’s office on your way out and get your warrants. You’re the Prince’s men, and from this day forward you answer only to Patrick, Calis, and me.’
Erik said, ‘Where?’
‘Down this hall and turn right, second door on the left. Now get out of here,’ said de Loungville, ‘before I change my mind and have you arrested again for being such a bunch of ruffians.’ He sent Roo down the hall with a playful slap to the side of the head, then turned and set out on his own affairs.
The five men walked down the hall and Nakor said, ‘I’m hungry.’
‘You’re always hungry, man,’ said Jadow with a laugh. ‘My head is still reminding me that I was not wise last night. My stomach hasn’t forgiven me either.’ Then he paused, and added, ‘But I might do with a bite to eat, after all that.’
Erik laughed. ‘I’m hungry, too.’
‘Then let us find an inn –’ said Nakor.
‘A quiet inn,’ Roo interjected.
‘– a quiet inn,’ continued Nakor, ‘and eat.’
‘Then what, Master?’ asked Sho Pi.
Nakor grimaced, but said only, ‘Then we go to the Sign of the White Wing, boy.’ He shook his head. Pointing to Sho Pi, he said to the others, ‘This one has much to learn.’
The Sign of the White Wing was nothing like what Roo expected. Then he considered he really hadn’t known what to expect. He had trafficked with whores before, but that had been on the line of march, with camp followers who would tumble a man beside to his comrades and be off to the next as soon as he could count out her pay.
But this was a different world. The five slightly inebriated men had had to ask several times to find their way. After a few failed attempts, they finally discovered a modest building near the edge of the Merchants’ Quarter. The sign out front had been almost impossible to make out, being little more than a simple metal wing painted white, unlike the more boldly painted large ones marking more traditional trades.
The door had been opened by a servant who admitted the five without a word, indicating they should wait in a tiny anteroom, without furnishing of any sort, only decorated by some nondescript tapestries that hung on the two side walls. Opposite the entrance stood another door, of simple painted wood. When it opened, a well-dressed if somewhat matronly woman had stepped through.
‘Yes?’ she had asked.
The men glanced at one another, and it was Nakor who had at last answered. ‘We were told to come here.’
‘By whom?’ she then asked, looking somewhat unconvinced.
‘Robert de Loungville,’ said Erik softly, as if afraid to raise his voice.
Instantly the woman’s features had transformed themselves from dubious to joyful. ‘Bobby de Loungville! By the gods, if you’re friends of Bobby’s, you’re welcome here.’
She then clapped her hands once and the door she had slipped through opened wide, revealing a short entryway occupied by two large armed guards. As they stepped aside, Roo thought it clear they had been standing by to ensure the safety of the woman.
‘I’m Jamila, your hostess, and here,’ she said, reaching another door, which she pulled wide, ‘we enter the House of the White Wing.’
The five men gaped. Even Nakor, who had seen riches in the court of the Empress of Great Kesh, stood in stunned awe. The room wasn’t that opulent; far from it. In fact it was the lack of gaudy displays of wealth that made the setting so impressive. Everything about the room was subtle and tasteful, though Roo would have been hard put to say what made it seem so. Chairs and divans were placed around the room so that those inside would be within sight of one another, yet there was a clear sense of each area being apart from the others. This was made abundantly clear by the fact of a wealthy-looking man sprawling upon one divan, sipping wine from a goblet while two lovely young women attended him. One sat upon the floor, allowing him to caress her shoulders and neck, while the other hovered over him, offering him sweetmeats from a gilded tray.
As if by magic, girls appeared through several curtains. All were modestly dressed, like the two attending the man already in the room, wearing loose-fitting gowns of light material. That they were covered from neck to ankle did nothing to hide the curves of their bodies as they moved to greet their guests.
Each man found a pair of girls leading him toward one of the chairs or divans, allowing him to choose how he wished to relax, sitting or lying down. Before he knew it, Roo had been led to a divan and gently pushed down on it, had his feet raised and placed on the divan, had a goblet of wine handed to him; one of the girls began firmly kneading the muscles in his shoulders before he spoke.
The woman called Jamila said, ‘When you’re ready, the girls can show you to your rooms.’
Jadow, circling the waist of one of the young girls with one powerful arm, pulled her toward him, planted a loud kiss upon her cheek, and said, ‘Men and gods, I’ve died and gone to paradise!’
This brought a round of laughter, and Roo settled back, letting the light touch of the girl’s hands relax him in a way he’d not experienced in years.
Roo yawned.
The body next to him stirred under white sheets and he realized where he was. He smiled, remembering the night before, and ran his hand under the sheet and across the back of the young woman next to him. He didn’t think of her as a whore; the term was fit for the women who followed soldiers around camp, or who leaned over the balconies in the Poor Quarter of Krondor shouting ribald suggestions and insults at the workers and sailors below, but these ladies, he decided, were unlike anything he had imagined as a boy.
They were flirtatious, seemed well educated, were impeccable in their manners, and, as Roo had discovered the night before, creative and enthusiastic. The young woman next to him had taught Roo more things about pleasing a woman and himself in one night than he had learned from every woman he had been with in his young life. And they smelled wonderful, like flowers and spices. He found himself becoming aroused and with a grin continued to caress