‘I will,’ promised Druss. The two men shook hands again, and Shadak strolled away.
‘What code?’ Sieben asked.
Druss watched as the black-garbed hunter vanished into the crowd. ‘He once told me that all true warriors live by a code: Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.’
‘Very true, I’m sure,’ said Sieben, with a dry, mocking laugh. ‘Ah well, Druss, I can hear the call of the fleshpots and the taverns. And with the money I won on you, I can live like a lord for several months.’ He thrust out his slender hand and Druss clasped it.
‘Spend your money wisely,’ he advised.
‘I shall . . . on women and wine and gambling.’ Laughing, he swung away.
Druss turned to Borcha. ‘I thank you for your training, and your kindness.’
‘The time was well spent, and it was gratifying to see Grassin humbled. But he still almost took out your eye. I don’t think you’ll ever learn to keep that chin protected.’
‘Hey, Druss! Are you coming aboard?’ yelled Bodasen from the deck and Druss waved.
‘I’m on my way,’ he shouted. The two men clasped hands in the warrior’s grip, wrist to wrist. ‘I hope we meet again,’ said Druss.
‘Who can say what the fates will decree?’
Druss hefted his axe and turned for the gangplank. ‘Tell me now why you helped me?’ he asked suddenly.
Borcha shrugged. ‘You frightened me, Druss. I wanted to see just how good you could be. Now I know. You could be the best. It makes what you did to me more palatable. Tell me, how does it feel to leave as champion?’
Druss chuckled. ‘It hurts,’ he said, rubbing his swollen jaw.
‘Move yourself, dog-face!’ yelled a warrior, leaning over the rail.
The axeman glanced up at the speaker, then turned back to Borcha. ‘Be lucky, my friend,’ he said, then strode up the gangplank. With the ropes loosed, The Thunderchild eased away from the quayside.
Warriors were lounging on the deck, or leaning over the rail waving goodbye to friends and loved ones. Druss found a space by the port rail and sat, laying his axe on the deck beside him. Bodasen was standing beside the mate at the tiller; he waved and smiled at the axeman.
Druss leaned back, feeling curiously at peace. The months trapped in Mashrapur had been hard on the young man. He pictured Rowena.
‘I’m coming for you,’ he whispered.
*
Sieben strolled away from the quay, and off into the maze of alleys leading to the park. Ignoring the whores who pressed close around him, his thoughts were many. There was sadness at the departure of Druss. He had come to like the young axeman; there were no hidden sides to him, no cunning, no guile. And much as he laughed at the axeman’s rigid morality, he secretly admired the strength that gave birth to it. Druss had even sought out the surgeon Calvar Syn, and settled his debt. Sieben had gone with him and would long remember the surprise that registered on the young doctor’s face.
But Ventria? Sieben had no wish to visit a land torn by war.
He thought of Evejorda and regret washed over him. He’d like to have seen her just one more time, – to have felt those slim thighs sliding up over his hips. But Shadak was right; it was too dangerous for both of them.
Sieben turned left and started to climb the Hundred Steps to the park gateway. Shadak was wrong about Gulgothir. He remembered the filth-strewn streets, the limbless beggars and the cries of the dispossessed. But he remembered them without bitterness. And was it his fault that his father had made such a fool of himself with the Duchess? Anger flared briefly. Stupid fool, he thought. Stupid, stupid man! She had stripped him first of his wealth, then his dignity, and finally his manhood. They called her the Vampire Queen and it was a good description, save that she didn’t drink blood. No, she drank the very life force from a man, sucked him dry and left him thanking her for doing it, begging her to do it again.