windlass and racked their poles. Now, they were sitting, hunched against
the wall, staring vacantly, in the manner of serfs. The guardroom, its
commander noted, was properly clean. He shrugged and walked out again to
the wharf. Once more, he looked at the iron cliffs opposite him, then
glanced downriver. The merchant barge had disappeared.

* * * * *

Beyond Menstal, the cliffs closed in still farther, to become more
rugged and to form a narrow gorge. Between them, the Nalen took a
tortuous course, turbulently fighting its way over the rocks.
Eventually, it would drop into the lowlands, to become a broad, placid
river, lowing quietly under the sunshine to water the fields of Orolies.
But during its passage through the mountains, it would remain a dark,
brawling torrent.

The merchant barge swept through the rapids just beyond Menstal, her
polemen deftly preventing disaster against the rocks. At last, as the
gorge became a little wider, the steersman guided his course toward a
small beach beneath the cliffs. With his free hand, he thoughtfully
rubbed his injured cheek.

As the boat's keel grated against gravel, he shook his head and stepped
forward. For a moment, he fumbled under a thwart, then he brought out a
small case.

"Konar," he called, "fix this thing up for me, will you?" He opened the
case and laid it on the thwart.

One of the polemen laid his stick down and came aft.

"Pretty nasty clip, wasn't it, sir?"

Meinora grinned. "Guy's got a heavy hand, all right," he admitted. "Made
me dizzy for a second. Almost got mad at him."

Konar raised an eyebrow. "I felt it," he said. "Good thing Ciernar and I
backed you up a little. Wouldn't help us much to knock out the baron's
river detachment right now, would it?" He reached into the case.

"Looks as though the merchants weren't exaggerating, if you ask me," he
added. He approached Meinora, a small swab in his hand.

"Hold still, sir," he instructed. "This'll sting for a few seconds." He
dabbed at the cut cheek, then reached back into the case for an
instrument.

"Ouch!" Meinora winced. "Did you have to use that stuff full strength?
After all, I can wait a couple of hours for it to heal." He shook his
head as his companion turned back toward him, then dashed involuntary
tears from his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision.

"No," he added, "the merchants aren't exaggerating a bit on this one.
Bel Menstal's a pret