15
It happened so quickly there was no time to run. One minute, the trappers were sitting around the campfire swapping yarns with Horse and Cart. The next, soldiers converged on them from four sides. The only luck they had was that Danton happened to be off procuring another flask of whiskey when they came.
Before anyone could speak, the officer in charge, Sergeant Torgan, snapped a salute and said, “Captain Harkell. We have orders to bring you before His Royal Highness, Prince Jarand, immediately.”
Glancing neither left nor right, Harkell rose to his feet and saluted in return, Without a word, he fell in behind the sergeant, hemmed in on all sides by soldiers of the Prince, and was marched towards the royal enclosure.
Well before Harkell’s escort reached their destination, they turned
