Kara shook her head.
'It looks,' the Captain told her, 'as though you are knowingly complicit in this matter-'
'Complicit?' Kara blurted. 'How?'
'That is enough,' Roman said quietly, in a tone of voice that said that any further interrogation of Kara was forbidden.
'Others will soon be asking these same questions, Señor Castellan,' the Captain said, all professionalism gone from his voice. 'And they will ask far more personal and incriminating things.'
Roman smiled, though without humour. 'They will not. Kara's welfare is now in my hands- I will not allow her to be victimized.'
The Captain seemed about to say something but changed his mind with a shrug. 'As you wish. Your will is the law.
'Now, as to the other matter: some of my men are watching the area from the rooms at the top of the mill; the rest watch the roads and surrounding forest. Of the one-hundred men you requested, we have so far hired eighty-six, for the purpose of combing the island- even the most inaccessible areas. The port is on high alert: no water craft of any sort may enter or leave without being scrutinized from top to bottom.'
The Captain chuckled. 'Though we haven't caught the men we're looking for, so far we have caught a smuggler, three petty criminals, a fugitive living at Port Haven under an assumed name, and one pirate who has lived anonymously on his stolen boat for the past eight years.'
'What, that crazy old Swede?' Roman asked indignantly. 'The one who carves wooden sailboats for the children? Let him be! He is a harmless, frail old man whose days of piracy are long since done. That old boat he lives on is no longer seaworthy- the bottom is overgrown with a fathom or two of kelp and sea-grass, and the anchor chain is so covered with barnacles and mussels that it has no functionality but to keep that boat right where it is.'
The Captain smiled. 'I haven't so much as spoken with the old fellow regarding the matter, knowing how you'd react if I had. Well, I'd better be off. Perhaps I can locate fifteen more able bodies. In the meantime, tell your Kara not to go anywhere or do anything alone if she can help it.'
As soon as he had been seen to the door and departed, Kara said to Roman, 'Did I hear him correctly? That you're hiring one-hundred men? You haven't done that on my account, have you?'
Roman gave her a look. 'I will hire a thousand men if that is what is required to keep you safe.'