The Conqueror Read Online Free Page B

least that’s what he told himself.
    It was best not to get one’s hopes up.
The auctioneer held up a wooden hammer and the spectators lining
the ring fell silent.
    “ Lot number seventeen.
Lowren. He is a barbarian prince, age about thirty. Weight, well
over two hundred, height, six-foot and a half, ah, more or less.
Experience leading men in battle and governing a small, proud and
nomadic people…pure in spirit and simple of mind…”
    Hoots and catcalls, ribald laughter
echoed round the chamber as Lowren was led out.
    They had a couple of much bigger men on
him this time, saw Nyron. While the prince or king of the Lemni was
hardly placid and could probably fling them around like dogs, he
was in control of himself and still maintaining his dignity. His
jaws were tightly clenched and muscles bulged at the corners.
Something dangerous glinted from his eyes.
    “ So what do you think?”
Nyron had to get to his duties, and he was a few minutes late
already.
    “ Magnificent!” Taez closed
his mouth firmly.
    He gave Nyron a look.
    “ All right, then. I must be
off! Once more unto the breach, dear friends—although I seem to be
more book-keeper than soldier these days.”
    “ Ten gold
pieces.”
    Taez’s mouth opened and he leaned
forward, trying to locate the bidder. Wordlessly, Nyron turned and
made his way through the crowd, all mouths open and all eyes on the
spectacle before them.
    More laughs went through the hall as
the auctioneer flushed.
    “ Reserve bid is set at one
hundred gold pieces.”
    They should know that already, gossip
being what it was. The troopers had been around to half the taverns
in town last night, and there was only so much to talk about. Even
so, a long groan went through the assembly. Unless the reserve bid
was pulled, there weren’t that many folks around there who stood
even the slightest chance of getting Lowren. As to how desirable a
prize he was, that would soon be revealed.
    The auctioneer raised his
hammer.
    “ Bidding begins at one
hundred—”
    “ Done!”
    Without bothering to look, Taez raised
his own paddle, stained purple and gold to represent the Crown in
all of its glory.
    There was a big
numeral, ‘one,’ painted on it in white. Registered bidders received a numbered
paddle, on a first-come-first-serve basis. In heated sales
contests, all the rules and all the protocols went out the window,
fairly quickly at times. The Queen’s numbered paddle was always
reserved for her or her representative, a tradition going back as
far as anyone could remember.
    “ One-ten.” The buzz of talk
in the building went on unabated and the buyers had to shout loudly
and clearly.
    A murmur of interest went through the
mob. The noise swelled as the press of humanity recalled the rumors
and the reputation of their Queen. The Queen’s Chamberlain was a
familiar figure.
    Anybody that didn’t know him or hadn’t
seen him on his official business about the town and surrounding
countryside would quickly have any blanks in their knowledge filled
in by their neighbors.
    Every eye in the house was upon Taez,
but this was no time to think about that. Surely this one deserved
a better fate than walking around in endless circles, turning a
water-screw or whatever a more regular fate held in store. As to
whether or how he might be controlled in his new duties, that
wasn’t his department. He was sure it could be done of
course.
    Taez heard a call, one he didn’t quite
catch, but the roar that accompanied it told him all he needed to
know.
    “ One-thirty.” He sounded
cool, confident, and very determined.
    “ One-forty.”
    This time he heard it properly. Knowing
better even as he did it, he leaned forward, looking to his left,
and tried to locate the gentleman. It was hard enough in this
crowd. All eyes were on someone over there somewhere. He caught a
glimpse of the tip of a paddle.
    A non-descript individual leaned out,
met his eye, politely tugged on the brim of his low cap and then
turned