Into a Dark Realm by Raymond E. Feist Page B

melt all the ice.” He smiled as he took his drink. “For which I’m thankful.” He put his cup down. “Last time I saw you, you were trying to take a dead friend home to be buried. What brings you this way this time?”
    Kaspar glossed over what had happened after the last time they had met and said, “The occupant of the coffin got to where he was intended to be, and other duties have overtaken me since then. I’m here looking for friends.”
    The General said, “Really? I thought you said when last we met you were a merchant. Now you have friends this far south?”
    Kaspar understood the suspicious mind of a general who had just lost a major battle. “They are from the north, actually. A man by the name of Bandamin was pressed into service quite far up north—I believe he was taken by slavers, actually, who were most likely illegally doing business outside of Muboya with your press gang.”
    “Wouldn’t be the first time,” said the General. “During a war, it’s harder than usual to observe the niceties.”
    “He had a wife and son, and the son got word that his father waswith your army and came south looking for him. The mother followed the boy.”
    “And you’ve followed the mother,” said Alenburga.
    “I’d like to get her and the boy back home to safety.”
    “And the husband?” asked the General.
    Kaspar said, “Him, too, if possible. Is there a buy-price?”
    The General laughed. “If we let men buy their way out of service, we’d have a very poor army, for the brightest among them would always find a means. No, his service is for five years, no matter how he was enlisted.”
    Kaspar nodded. “I’m not particularly surprised.”
    “Feel free to look for the boy and his mother. The boys in the luggage train are down the hill to the west of here, over by a stream. Most of the women, wives as well as camp followers, are nearby.”
    Kaspar drank his ale, then stood. “I’ll take no more of your time, General. You’ve been generous.”
    As he turned to leave, the General asked: “What do you think?”
    Kaspar hesitated, then turned to face the man. “The war is over. It’s time to sue for peace.”
    Alenburga sat back and ran forefinger and thumb along the side of his jaw, tugging slightly at his beard for a moment. “Why do you say that?”
    “You’ve recruited every able-bodied man for three hundred miles in any direction, General. I’ve ridden through two cities, a half-dozen towns, and a score of villages on my way here. There are only men over forty years of age and boys under fifteen left. Every potential fighting man is already in your service.
    “I can see you are digging in to the south; you expect a counterattack from there; but if Okanala has anything left to speak of, he’ll punch through on your left, roll you up, and put your back to the stream. Your best bet is to fall back to the town and dig in there.
    “General, this is your frontier for the next five years, at least, ten more likely. Time to end this war.”
    The General nodded. “But our Maharajah has a vision, and hewishes to push south until we are close enough to the City of the Serpent River that we can claim all the Eastlands are pacified.”
    “I think your ambitious young lord even imagines someday he might take the city and add it to Muboya,” Kaspar suggested.
    “Perhaps,” said Alenburga. “But you’re right on all other counts. My scouts tell me Okanala is digging in as well. We’re both played out.”
    Kaspar said, “I know nothing of the politics here, but there are times when an armistice is a face-saving gesture and times when it is a necessity, the only alternative to utter ruin. Victory has fled, and defeat awaits on every hand. Have your Maharajah marry one of his relatives off to one of the King’s and call it a day.”
    The General stood up and offered his hand. “If you find your friends and get them home, Kaspar of Olasko, you’re welcome in my tent anytime. If you come back,