Chapter 12: Informants

Wiping ripe-smelling scraps of horse dung from his face, Alcar staggered towards the edge of Royal Avenue, pausing by one of the magnificent lime trees that lined the road. He grabbed a handful of leaves, and began to use these to wipe at his neck and ears.

Just then, he heard a man clearing his throat, and looked up to see a palace guard glaring at him – an armored man in red livery and with neatly cropped light brown hair.

“You can’t use the Duke’s leaves for personal hygiene purposes, young sir,” said the soldier. The man had his sword unsheathed and was pointing it in Alcar’s general direction.

“What?” said Alcar.

“Those there leaves from the royal trees. You can’t use them to be cleansing yourself and your body parts. Understood?”

“What the fuck, man? Shouldn’t you be stopping those damn barbarians from scrapping on the streets, rather than pestering me?” He turned and pointed in the direction where the two angry men had blocked his path, only to see that both were already being held at sword point by a further group of guards.

“Already on it, young sir, as you can well see,” said the nearer guard smugly. “Now, put down the leaves, and I’m afraid that if I see you damage or attempt to steal any more property of His Grace, I’ll have to arrest you also.” The guard took a step back, but he kept his eyes fixed on Alcar.

“Fine,” said Alcar bitterly. He had a taste of dung in his mouth, and it was all he could do to resist spitting in the obnoxious soldier’s direction. All the same, he put the leaves down deliberately slowly, and paused to wipe the remaining dung from his hands on the bark of the tree before moving back down the avenue.

Needless to say, there was now no sign of the escaped dwarf in any direction he looked. A small group of children stood near the edge of the road, not far from where he tripped, two boys and a girl all aged around ten, and he now walked over to them.

“Urgh, stay away mister!” shouted one of the boys, and the other children giggled, holding up their hands with fingers interlocked as if warding off a vampire. “You bloody stink!” he added.

Alcar paused, suddenly remembering the coins that he had been given by Warlik. He reached into his tunic, and pulled out one of the copper riggs. “Hey, I know, I know. I need a bath. But who wants a coin? It’s yours if you can tell me where the dwarf I was chasing went.”

The children fell silent for a moment, looking around. “I don’t see him on the avenue,” said the second boy at last.

“Yeah, no kidding,” said Alcar. “If he was standing around here, I wouldn’t need to ask you, would I?”

“I think he went past the palace,” said the first boy, peering in that direction.

“Okay,” said Alcar, turning the copper piece in his hand. “Any idea what’s in that direction? Houses, or what?”

“It’s the ’streets of all kinds’ – that’s what folk call it,” he replied. “It’s where a lot of the dwarves, half-orcs and elvish folk live.”

“Yeah,” said the girl, nodding seriously. Three or four streets, lots of houses and lanes, really tall buildings. And after that, it’s the great wall.”

“Got it,” said Alcar, tossing the coin to the first boy. “And thanks.”

“Hey – what about us?” said the girl.

Alcar paused, reaching back into his pocket. “All right, all right,” he said. “You can have one each, but only if you do something else, all right? I need you to go to that place, to the streets of all kinds, and ask around. See if anyone saw a very large, fat half-orc that was tied up, okay? Or maybe they saw a group of dwarves with someone big tied up and with a sack over his head. Think you can do that?”

The children nodded, and with a grunt, Alcar pulled out another two copper coins, and handed them over. “Easy come, easy go,” he muttered.

The children took the coins, eyes shining with excitement.

“If you’re local, you’ll know the tower of Maluhk the sorcerer, or you’ll be able to find it,” added Alcar. “Make your way there when you’ve found the information I need.” As he spoke, he realized that there was a very good chance he would never see his young informants again – and that losing his copper coins was probably well deserved under the circumstances.

Just then, the little girl pointed over to where the brawling barbarians were now being led away by the soldiers. “Look,” she said. “The palace guards took away those two Khranulians, and their dog has been left behind.”

“What?” said Alcar.

He had barely been aware of a dog, but now that he looked around, he could see that one of the soldiers had hooked a long-handled net around the head of a large bloodhound, and was forcing the beast towards the ground. The guard had a dagger in his other hand.

“Hey!” Alcar moved over towards the soldier. “You can’t do that to a dog! It’s only an innocent animal.”

The soldier looked up, and peered at Alcar, pausing what he was doing but still holding the struggling dog pinned to the ground. “Hell – what happened to you, kid?”

“Uh... an encounter with horse dung,” said Alcar.

“Well, move along, dung boy,” said the soldier with a sneer, appearing to be torn between anger and mirth. “Move along. The Duke has set targets for arrests – don’t get on the wrong side of me.”

Alcar gritted his teeth, and then nodded. “Very well, very well.” He began to step away, and then paused again. “But hey,” he said to the soldier. “What are you going to do to the dog?”

“Kill it, of course,” said the man. “After all, it’s no use to the barbarians in their prison cell.”

Alcar looked at the animal, and it looked back and whimpered, big brown eyes meeting his own.

“Wait, no – you’ve got it all wrong, soldier!” he said. “With the greatest respect to you and your fellow guards, that is my dog. It doesn’t belong to the barbs.” He began to walk forward, reaching out and speaking in a soothing voice. “Here boy. Good boy!” As the dog sniffed at Alcar’s hand, he looked up again. “See – he knows me.”

The soldier looked suspiciously at him, and then, with a grunt, released the dog; Alcar snatched at its collar before it could charge after its masters.

“Fine,” said the guard. “Less of a bloody mess for me to clear up.” With that, he turned on his heel and began to march after his comrades.

Alcar looked down at the dog, which whined again. He stroked its ears. “It’s all right, boy. “We’ll get you somewhere safe, and perhaps we can get you back to your owners.”

He looked up towards the Duke’s Palace. “If they ever get out...”