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."Not personally, that is,"he said, his voice softening, "but it's a matter of the Order and itsprerogatives.I am a sworn Knight of the Order of Crown, Shield, and Dragon,and I'm subject to His Majesty, and under the orders of theAbbot General and the Council I'm not subject to any local authorities.I'msure that GovernorHalloran wouldn't disagree, and I wouldn't want you to think otherwise.""No, no, of course not."He gave a smile that Niko thought was entirely calculated."I'll see thegovernor, but as you've just seen the matter of this particular sword is muchmore pressing, and Sir Niko and I had better attend to it directly.""As you wish, of course, Excellency." Samir nodded."My grandsons await you atthe landing;they'll guide you over to Defkonos, and return here to await your signal, ifthat's acceptable.And then, perhaps, we can discuss what your needs are?"And, of course, discuss what Cully would pay for them.Samir had recoveredquickly from Cully's reproach, despite how much it seemed to have scared him."Of course.Let us be on our way, Sir Niko."Getting to his feet was only a little more difficult than hauling a fullyladen skiff ashore would have been, and for a moment Niko thought that histrembling knees would betray him, but they didn't, not quite.Gripping the scabbard until his knuckles were white, Niko stuck the swordthrough his belt and preceded the old knight out into the harsh sunshine.* * *The Governor and his party met them on the steep trail that twisted up fromPage 101 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe cluster of houses below toward where Samir Abdullah's modest home stoodalone on the highest point of the island.Cully cursed, but he kept his cursing to himself, and directed it at himselfmore than Halloran.He probably should have simply sailed on past the islands when he had seen thesails and the pennants, but he had decided probably foolishly that the worstthing he could do would be seen to be running too soon, particularly since hedidn't know where he ought to be running to.The boy was a decent hand with sails and rigging better than Cully,certainly but their chance of escaping a crack Navy crew was nil.A Navycutter could fly more than enough sail to capsize it in any kind of wind atall cutters were built for speed, and with speed there were risks and settingand adjusting the sails for maximum speed under constantly changing winds andsea was something for the constant attention of expert sailing hands, not afisherboy and a shepherd, or even a couple of knights, real or faux.An OrderKnight's training made him a master of a few crafts and a journeyman atothers;novices were pressed into service on training voyages more to keep them busyand broaden their education than with any expectation that it would turn theminto even ordinary seamen.Cully's plan, such as it was, did call for the authorities to be alerted andset on his trail but byGray, and Gray would choose his words carefully, once the initial anger hadfaded, or probably before.Gray would be furious, of course, but he would see the danger, if not thesolution, in much the same way that Cully had, and he would go along withCully's solution when presented with no other choice, andBear and the Nameless would act as a moderating influence on Gray's hottemper, and that of the Khan.There was time to calm down.Gray would have sailed for Malta first, beforechasing after Cully, and that added at least another few days in which towork.The important thing, Cully had decided, at least in the short run, was to findout what the sword knew.If it knew anything.He hoped it did.Jenn could have guided Cully to thevillage where she had died; Bear and the Nameless would have had no trouble infinding the spot where the Nameless's bo tree had stood; Cully had been in thevery square where Emil Sandoval had been hanged.But theGoatboy didn't have the slightest idea where he had died of the black fever,and it was hardly the only live sword that couldn't remember.Maybe this one could.If, the word of the Wise to the contrary, it wouldn't simply burn the boy'ssoul the moment he took it in hand.The only time to trust the Wise was whenyou had no choice, and ifIf, if, if you could put a thousand ifs in one hand, and a piece of reality inthe other, and the ifs would always weigh less.He had given serious thought to trying to find some unoccupied island betweenPallenteria and the coast, but he didn't know those waters he cursed himselffor having enjoyed the hermitlike nature of tending his flock up in the hills,often spending weeks on end without hearing the grating sound of a humanvoice and he hadn't thought it wise to spend the few hours that he could counton Bear andGray remaining unconscious pouring over theWellesley's captain's charts and references.It would havebeen just as bad to put in somewhere unknown to Niko or to him, somewhere thatmight well have a suspicious local factor in residence.It was best to make a virtue of necessity once more, as it so often was: hePage 102 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlquickened his step, putting his hand behind his back for a moment to make apatting motion to Niko to slow down."Governor!" He forced a smile not too much of one and broke into an easy lopeand ran down the path to meet them
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