‘They’re probably still afraid the Okun will come back and want to defend themselves,’ Mikill said. ‘It’s quite natural.’
Brynd wasn’t so sure. He couldn’t ever hope to know all of what was going on in Villiren, but this didn’t feel right for some reason. ‘Wait here,’ he called to the others.
He pulled his horse to a slower pace, and nudged her nearer to the patrols. Tugging his woollen cloak around his uniform, he concealed anything that might suggest he was a military man. He even pulled up his hood to put his pale face into shadow.
One of the men looked up at him, a bearded fellow with a scarred face, dressed in little more than a bundle of rags. In his right hand he gripped a blade.
‘What’s all this?’ Brynd gestured to the unit of six other people. ‘Some kind of citizen militia?’
‘Sommat like that, yeah,’ the man muttered. ‘What’s it to you anyway?’
‘I wondered about joining up, that’s all.’
‘We ain’t no military and we don’t trust outsiders. Military don’t care about the likes of us. They make things worse.’
‘Really?’ Brynd said. ‘How so?’
‘Monsters,’ the man muttered. ‘They’re too busy inviting monsters into the city. It’s why we’re here.’
‘Ah, I see,’ Brynd said. ‘You mean the camp to the south.’
‘Aye, that’s right. You seen anything strange, traveller?’
‘Nothing at all out of the ordinary,’ Brynd replied. ‘There’s no reason to be afraid. But I thought they were our allies?’
‘That’s what the military wants you to think, get it? Don’t believe a word of what they’re saying.’
‘Why would the military lie?’ Brynd asked.
‘You ask too many questions. .’ the man replied.
‘Well, I’m not from around here.’
‘The military wants us to believe anything so that we’ll be forced to live with freaks. Make us live in fear so we think it is the best choice. We don’t wanna be sharing our city with the likes of them, is all.’
‘But you’re not actually sharing anything yet,’ Brynd pointed out. ‘Nothing at all has come around here.’
‘You know an awful lot for a traveller,’ the man replied, eyeing Brynd with suspicion. ‘Nothing’s come in yet because there are people like us to stop them coming in.’
‘I’m sure the city’s grateful for your. . protection,’ Brynd replied. ‘How many monsters have you stopped so far?’
The man didn’t seem to like that question, judging by his sour expression. ‘Ain’t the point — it’s about having a presence, like. Having men on the street so things can know not to enter these parts. Makes some of the families feel safer, too.’
Brynd nodded and decided not to press the issue any further. The man had decided to believe there was a threat and act in this way; nothing Brynd could say would change matters. ‘Good luck, then,’ he replied, and turned his horse back.
On getting back to the Night Guard, Brug asked him: ‘Anything the matter?’
‘Yes,’ Brynd replied, ‘we need better propaganda. They’re convinced monsters are going to come into the city and take what’s theirs. It bothers me.’
‘We know better than to believe nonsense like that, though,’ Mikill replied.
‘Sure,’ Brynd replied, ‘but they do believe, and what concerns me is why they believe these things so
They headed into the Citadel where Brynd immediately called a meeting, in private, with Jamur Eir. He could put it off no longer.
Within half an hour she was sitting next to him in the obsidian room. She had just returned from the hospital, and there were still a few bloodstains on her clothing.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but I didn’t have time to change.’
Brynd waved her apology away. ‘Quite all right. I’ve seen more than enough blood on uniforms in my time. At least yours is present for a more constructive reason.’
‘Have you seen my sister at all?’ she asked. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time working, but I’ve not noticed her around the Citadel. And when I do ask someone, they put me off with one of your instructed answers.’
Brynd smiled awkwardly before explaining, with as much sympathy as he could manage, what had happened to her sister, the events outside the Citadel, and her new-found cannibalistic nature. He even explained the context that Artemisia had given him, of some failed union of their minds. She listened silently, though showed little in the way of shock.
‘So,’ Eir said calmly, ‘there is no way we can get her back to her previous state?’
‘It doesn’t seem so, I’m afraid. She is what she is now. Pardon my saying, but you don’t seem overly. . concerned, Eir.’
She gave a huge sigh before standing up and moving to the window. It was night, so she couldn’t see much outside. ‘I’ve seen plenty of horrific things in the last few weeks, so perhaps I am numbed by such experiences. Although she’s not dead, it seems like I lost my sister long ago. What do you suggest we do about her situation?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Brynd replied. ‘One idea I had was to allow cultists to take a look at her. But one thing is obvious: she can no longer be head of the new empire.’
Eir looked at Brynd, as if she knew what he was about to ask her.
‘Which means we’d need someone else of the Jamur lineage. .’
‘Must it be someone from my family?’ she asked.
‘It would be easier to have a figurehead.’ Brynd stepped over to her side and followed her gaze outside. ‘It could even be symbolic if you like.’
‘I’m not a ruler, Brynd,’ Eir whispered. ‘It isn’t a matter of helping people. I do that at the hospital — that’s helping. Being Stewardess, even for that short while in Villjamur, all I really ended up doing was administering the affairs of the well-off. I’m not interested in doing that again.’
‘I understand that,’ Brynd replied.
‘Besides,’ Eir continued, ‘you’ve done a good enough job running things as they are. Why don’t you become overall ruler?’
Brynd gave a hollow laugh. ‘Me? I’m. . no. We’ll need a Jamur leader to unite the people and, I suspect, for stability.’
‘You don’t need anyone but yourself and your army. The people love to see strong leaders, and you’re rather well thought of since the defence of Villiren.’
It was true and Brynd knew it. The temptation was great. He was well aware that he could run this operation on his own, and he was even starting to become attached to the idea of leadership. ‘What if I get killed on the next mission? How can I make such promises when I’m about to drop into the dark heart of our enemy? What good would I be as a leader, then, if I’ve been sliced into a thousand pieces-’
‘Don’t talk like that,’ Eir cut in.
‘It could happen. I have to plan for every eventuality. Anyway, I know that people don’t fully respect me because of what I am.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘My skin, Eir. I’ve seen the way people give me a mistrustful gaze across the bargaining table. They wouldn’t stand for someone so unnatural being their leader. They only do as I say because I’ve got some of the best warriors that have ever walked the land by my side. No, these people — bankers and landowners — they respect and trust only good blood. With Jamur blood at the helm, it means the status quo can continue. It means they can relax. You never knew the lengths your father went to protecting their wealth, did you? You never saw the way he’d manipulate things to keep people in their place, to keep them happy — making sure their money went to Villjamur. These people own all the resources you can imagine, and with me — a military man — in charge, they’d panic, and assume it was a dictatorship. They’d keep things away from me, scared I’d send in my soldiers and take it all away.’
‘And would you take it all?’
