The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Forty Four

Chapter Forty Four

Hergun handed the hastily scrawled letter to Finred without a word. The prince, absorbed in a summary of discussions with the kingdom of Pallia, was barely going to glance at it until he read Safita’s name at the bottom. “What is this?”

“Important,” Favia answered. “I think. It’s about someone called Ultuc.” Finred, his interest piqued, began to read it quickly as Favia asked Hergun about Ultuc in a hurried whisper.

“He’s a bounty hunter,” he explained. “Safita… met him travelling; she knows him and dislikes him. He’s ruthless and shouldn’t be here.”

“I know what she used to be,” Favia murmured.

“Ah. Well he was her rival,” Hergun continued, “they… disliked each other intensely.”

“Why should we care about his whereabouts?” Finred asked as he finished reading. “I’m prepared to uphold the law and have him executed when he’s on Palace ground but he won’t be for much longer. I’m not… particularly fond of him but I don’t see why his leaving is so important. Why should we pay money and send a light message to Sewich just to have him brought back here? We have more important things to worry about at the moment.”

“That’s true,” Hergun admitted, “but I trust Safita’s judgement. If she thinks there’s something wrong, it’s likely that there is…”

“I know,” Finred said darkly.

“Look Safita doesn’t know about Varenna,” Favia said, “but it does seem a little suspect, surely? A few days afterwards a known bounty hunter purchases passage to Sewich, threatening the captain when he asks if he’s on the run…”

“That’s not normal behaviour, even for bounty hunters,” Hergun interrupted. “Even if he has no part in this… well he has broken the law.”

Finred eyed Hergun warily and frowned. “It’s an ancient law Hergun… I’m beginning to think that we ought to re-examine our stance on it.” He scanned the letter again, chewing his lip as he thought. “Fine,” he eventually said, “have someone send a message to Sewich. The lights will take a good few hours to pass the message on once they know what to say. The ship must have left long ago by now. I suppose we will have to decide what to do afterwards… provided this works.”

“Of course my lord,” Hergun said before hurrying out of the room. Behind him Finred rested his head in his hands and groaned. “I can’t manage this Favia. Our relationship with Pallia is too precarious… I’m terrified about what will happen. Varenna’s parents and their retinue are growing uneasy; they all saw what happened but some of them have started questioning whether it was all an act.”

“They think one of us poisoned her?” He nodded. “Where were her parents that day?” she asked. “I don’t remember seeing them. Surely if your daughter was poisoned in front of your eyes… Wouldn’t they at least have run forward?”

“Her mother claims she has been plagued by shaking fits since she fell off her horse when Varenna was very young and that her mind has many inherent weaknesses. At first they thought it was nothing - just like we did - but when we realised it was serious she collapsed. Varenna’s father was torn between helping his wife and his daughter but the enormous number of guards they insisted on having around them kept them hemmed in. It would have been too difficult for him to push past them, trapped as he was between the seats, and when he did struggle past - or so he assures me - someone dragged him backwards.”

“Why?” She grabbed a chair and swung it round to face him, resting her chin on her arms as she questioned him.

“Apparently they believed it might be bait; that we were using Varenna to bring him out into the open and attack him instead.” Finred shook his head as he said this and his brow furrowed. “As if we’d want that,” he spat, his voice filled with disgust.