"Oh, that's rich!" Dhirken folded into helpless laughter over the rim of her barrel. "Dharkaron drag you to the devil, prince! You'll do all you say and take to blue water, underwritten by your foe's stolen fortune!" In admiration tinged with regret, she regarded the man etched against the hold's murky darkness. "A pity for you. The time you need to complete your grand plan is one year too much to expect!"
Arithon's smile cut the gloom like edged lightning. "That's scarcely a setback, lady captain. Lysaer can muster his force at Etarra. He can outfit and march them the whole breadth of the continent at vast and ruinous expense. But to engage and wreak my ruin, he first has to find me. That will cost him a long and merry search."
