“We’re… fine, swordsman! All right, I th-think.”

“Good! Everything’s taken care of! We’ll move on as soon aswe can. You and your folk just stay inside there! Nothing out here you need to worry about.” Nothing you need to see, either, hide merchant, he added tohimself. You or your lady.

Blorys dabbed at the cut on his cheek and cleared his throat ominously. Jerdren held up a hand for silence. “Later, brother,” he said. “Weneed to clear the road, and get moving.”

“Clear the-damn it all, Jers,” the younger man said flatly.“And if there’s more of ’em?”

“After what we did to the ones who showed themselves?”

Blorys sighed faintly. “It’s a point,” he conceded.

“We’ll post three men for watch,” Jerdren said mildly andglanced at the nearest of his hired men. “Pick two fellows with good eyes andmake sure no one’s sneaking up on us. Can’t leave all these dead men on the roadfor the next party to find. Rest of you, help me and Blor get ’em a ways off theroad.”

“Search them?” the armsman asked.

“Search? Look at them,” Jerdren replied sourly. “Poor raggedbrutes-well, get ’em moved and search ’em if you please. We’ll split anythingthat’s found Make a pile of their weapons, though. We’ll take what we can ofthose. Keep men can always use the metal to melt into new blades, if not the weapons themselves, and they’ll pay well for that kind of thing.” He raised hisvoice slightly as the men began to move off. “Remember, main thing here is weclear away the bodies and get moving again! I want to make the Keep well before midday!”

Men scattered. Blorys went with three of their hired men to get rid of the footmen, while three of the others dealt with the dead and dying riders, and fastened the two remaining hill ponies to the back of the last wagon. Jerdren squatted down next to the two prisoners. Behind him, mercifully, the woman’s weeping died away, and it was quiet in the carts.