Wen Chang nodded. “And I fear that you may well be right. Still, the situation is not utterly hopeless, even if your pursuit through the desert should fail.”
“It is not?”
“No. Not utterly. Consider-what will a thief do with such a treasure when it falls into his hands?”
“He’ll most likely want to sell it, I suppose,” Kasimir put in.
The narrowed eyes of the Magistrate turned on him again. “Almost certainly he will. And where would anyone go to sell an item of such value?”
Kasimir shrugged. “Why-he’ll go to the metropolis, of course, to Eylau. There’s no city of comparable size for a thousand kilometers in any direction.”
“It would be more accurate to say for several thousand kilometers. Yes, I shall be surprised if our robber has not turned his steps toward Eylau already.”
Al-Farabi was frowning. “But such traces of a trail as we were able to find by moonlight led out into the desert in the opposite direction from the city.”
“That, I think, is hardly conclusive.”
“I suppose not.”
“Certainly not.” Wen Chang drank spiced wine. He nodded. “If I am to continue my investigation I shall do so in Eylau.”
“By all means-by all means.” The Prince appeared to be doing his best to look politely hopeful. “Will you require money for expenses?-but yes, of course you will. And naturally I will provide it, in advance. And in addition a great reward, a thousand gold coins or the equivalent, if you are successful.”
Wen Chang raised an eyebrow at the extravagant size of the reward. Then he bowed slightly in his seated position. “Both provisions will certainly be welcome. The expenses because I shall be proceeding as a private investigator, with no official status in this land, and the purchase of information-not to mention a bribe or two-may be essential. I presume that, although you will of course organize a pursuit, a part of your caravan will be going on into the city?”
“Yes. The remaining goods that my caravan is carrying must be delivered there, as well as our passenger. Meanwhile I, with some of my swifter riders, will endeavor to follow the thieves and overtake them-there is nothing else I can do.”
“Of course not-how many men are you going to send into the city, then?”
Al-Farabi took thought. “Perhaps a dozen. That should be an adequate guard for my passenger and my cargo for the remainder of the journey.”
“Good. When those dozen men have seen your remaining freight-and your passenger, of course-safely to their destination-by the way, I suppose there are no more Swords still with you? Or any comparable treasures?”
“No, nothing at all like that.”
“I see. Then, when your dozen men who are going on to the city have seen to the safe disposal of your remaining goods, will you place those men at my disposal? Since I will be unable to call upon official forces in Eylau, it may be necessary at some stage to use a substitute.”
“Of course-I shall place a dozen men, with Lieutenant Komi at their head, at your command.” The Prince paused delicately. “You realize I cannot be sure of the attitude of the Hetman, who rules the city, toward such a private army. I do not know him.”
“Nor do I. But a dozen men are hardly an unusually large bodyguard for a rich merchant, and many such must pass in and out of Eylau. And even if my true mission should become known to the Hetman, well, thief takers are welcome in most cities.”
“Then of course you may have the guard. And for your expenses, all the proceeds for the merchandise when it is delivered-may all the gods help you to recover and retain the Sword!”
CHAPTER 2
SHORTLY after dawn on the following morning, Kasimir stood under tall palms beside the Magistrate, watching while al-Farabi and about two-thirds of his men finished packing up their tents, mounted their rested animals, and rode back out into the desert in the direction from which they had come yesterday.
Wen Chang’s pavilion had already been struck, and his temporary servant dismissed. It only remained for him and Kasimir to mount their own riding-beasts and start out in the direction of Eylau, which was still two days’ travel distant. Travelers going in that direction followed an obvious and well-traveled road that could hardly lead to anywhere but the great city. Lieutenant Komi, calling orders now and then to his comparatively small detachment of Firozpur troopers, rode a few meters behind Kasimir and Wen Chang. Eleven soldiers, looking fierce and capable, followed their officer today, with the pack animals bearing the caravan’s cargo bringing up the rear. Among the cargo were a few latticework crates containing winged messengers, small birdlike creatures used as couriers. Al-Farabi had ordered his officer to let him know immediately of any and all developments affecting the search for his lost Sword in the great city.
Wen Chang opened the morning’s conversation with his younger companion in a pleasant way, speculating on the nature of the city they were approaching, a metropolis neither of them had ever seen before. Soon Kasimir had been put thoroughly at ease. He found himself telling the older man more of his background, ending with the recent chain of more or less commonplace events which found him now on his way to the White Temple in Eylau, where the temple’s usually efficient placement service would more than likely be able to help him find a good place in which to practice medicine.
Their conversation gradually faded, but the ensuing silence possessed a comfortable and companionable quality. Presently, when no words had been exchanged for some time, Wen Chang brought out a folded paper from somewhere in his traveler’s robe; he unfolded this paper into a map, and squinted at it between glances at the ascending sun and the empty land around them.
“I suppose you are an experienced traveler, Magistrate.”
“Not as experienced as I should like to be. To enter a strange land is to be presented with a vast and intricate puzzle.”
By now they had been about two hours on their way. Wen Chang, map still in hand, muttered something and suddenly turned his mount aside from the well-traveled way. Making a detour to his right, he went riding for the top of a sizable hill that rose no more than a hundred meters from the road.
Kasimir turned his mount too, and followed, completely in the dark as to the purpose of this detour. Glancing back, he saw Lieutenant Komi, his expression stoic and incurious, bringing his men and the pack animals along.
At the top of the barren hill the leader halted, and then the whole group followed. From this vantage point there was nothing to be seen but more desert in every direction.
Still Wen Chang sat his mount for what seemed to Kasimir a long time, his eyes narrowed to slits against the wind, and shaded under the folded gray hood of his desert robe. He was intently scanning the empty landscape on all sides.
Twice, as the silence lengthened, Kasimir almost broke into it with a curious question, but he forbore. He was for the third time just on the point of yielding to curiosity when Wen Chang spoke at last.
“The place where the Sword was stolen, according to the information given me by yourself and Prince al-Farabi, is a long way from the city. Too far, probably, for anyone to travel without stopping to renew his supply of water. And even if our thief’s destination was not Eylau, he would still most likely need to obtain water somewhere in this region.” The Magistrate paused. “But he did not come to Abohar Oasis for water while I was encamped there. The people there discussed each new arrival, whether by day or night. Therefore . . .”
“Yes sir?”
“Therefore he sought out another source of water, somewhere in this region.”
“May I see the map, sir?” Gripping the paper tightly in the wind when the Magistrate handed it over, Kasimir pored over it for a few moments. Then he announced: “According to this there are no other oases or springs in the area we are considering.”
“Exactly. Therefore …”
“Yes?”
There was no immediate answer from Wen Chang, who was still staring into the blue heat-shimmer that ruled the far horizon, but now had fixed the direction of his eyes. Following the aim of the Magistrate’s gaze, Kasimir was at last able to make out what looked like traces of white smoke, or more likely dust, hanging in the distant air. He thought that if that dust indicated the presence of a body of people or animals, their movement must be very slow. The cloud, as far as he could tell, was remaining in the same place.
Wen Chang turned in his saddle. “Lieutenant Komi, have we reserves of water enough to safely take a side trip? An excursion as far as yon dust cloud?”