had known what he was really thinking.
Sardec strode into the small chamber. Colonel Xeno was there along with a number of ranking officers from the artillery and the hussars. Many of the junior officers were there too, standing at the edge of the group, hanging on to the words of their superiors. He paused for a moment to listen himself.
“I think we shall soon show the Kharadreans what’s what,” said the hussar colonel. “We damn well should have showed them it when Koth first showed his ugly red head.”
Sardec’s ears pricked up. Koth had been Orodruine’s General a century ago. His genius in the field had been instrumental in turning Kharadrea from a rebel province of the Old Empire into a full-fledged Realm.
“I believe several of us tried that, Ascogne,” said Colonel Xeno. “As I recall, it was Koth who handed them their heads.”
“By treacherous and unchivalrous conduct, my dear Xeno.”
“Do you seriously expect anything else from a human general?” That got a good natured laugh from the listeners until Xeno added, “And I notice that we have all adopted his methods now, and why not? He defeated every general both Queens sent against him.”
All eyes in the room were on the two colonels now. Other conversations had dropped to a murmur.
You are surely not a revolutionist, colonel?” That too got a laugh from the assembled party. Sardec did not laugh. He wanted to hear what Xeno had to say.
“No one could be further from it,” said Xeno. “I am merely pointing out a fact. Koth was never defeated in the field. Some say the Elder Race sued for peace because they knew he could not be.”
An angry murmur went around the room now. Xeno clearly had consumed a little too much wine. It was the only explanation for why he could suggest such a thing. Everyone knew that the humans could have been crushed by the Terrarchs if they had put forth their full strength. It was merely that casualties would have been so high it would have given the other side an advantage. Hence the peace and the use of Kharadrea as a buffer zone between the West and the Dark Empire.
“Nonsense,” said Ascogne. “We merely needed to prepare for the greater threat posed by the Dark Empire. A threat we will now crush, once and for all. The Scarlet Queen will have what is rightfully hers.”
That got rousing cheers from the officers, except Xeno and Sardec. Xeno took another sip of his wine. His eyelids drooped a little, but Sardec decided on close examination he was not drunk, perhaps he was even a little angry. He remembered something his father had told him once. Xeno had fought against Koth. His brother had died at the hands of Koth’s followers. It had not been a pleasant or heroic death either.
“I have heard the humans in Kharadrea are planning on declaring an independent republic where Man and Terrarch are equal. Like those mad lands over the Great Ocean.”
Now there was uproar. No one here believed such a thing possible. Sardec did not. It was unthinkable. The humans could no more be trusted to rule themselves than monkeys. It would be like giving a mob of gutter scum the keys to a mansion.
“We shall crush such heretical nonsense,” said Ascogne.
“Like we crushed Koth?” said Xeno.
“We were not even trying then. If our hands had not been tied we would have won.”
“Would we?”
“My dear Xeno, we have dragons. We have sorcery. We have our own well-trained humans. My boys are more than a match for any damned Kharadrean scum or Sardean slaves, I will wager. So are yours. And we have Lord Azaar leading us. He has never been defeated either.”
Sardec could almost read Xeno’s thoughts. For a moment, he seemed about to say that Azaar had never faced Koth, but he quite clearly decided it would be impolitic. His mouth snapped shut like a trap and then he said; “Obviously you are correct, my dear Ascogne. Let us have another drink and toast the health of Lord Azaar.”
“I’ll drink to that,” said Ascogne.
Sardec felt a touch on his elbow. It was Paulus.
“Time to go,” he said.
“You saw where he went?” Rik asked Leon. Around them dancers crazed on wine and locoweed revelled through the streets of the Pit. Across from them in the mouth of an alley a man had a girl pinned against a wall. Her skirt was hiked up, her legs wrapped around him. His rear end pumped. A small crowd had gathered to watch them and shout encouragement. No one paid the slightest attention to Rik or Leon.
“They went straight back to the mansion. They used the trade entrance” Rik breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had some idea of what the inside of that place was like. It would have been a lot more difficult if they had gone somewhere else.
“You sure it was them?”
“They stayed on the street and they did not change their costumes. I never lost sight of them.”
“And they never caught sight of you?”
“What do you take me for?”
“A Sorrow street urchin who somehow tricked the Queen’s Army into taking him on!”
“Not much gets past you.”
“You did well and I am grateful.” He passed Leon a gold coin as well. He held it concealed in the cup of his hand and looked at it once before it vanished into his purse. Immediately Rik cursed this urge to give the money away that had suddenly come over him.
“Is that what I think it is, Rik?” They pushed out into the crowd of revellers. Somewhere off down an alley came the bang of fireworks and then the sound of a scream. At least Rik hoped it was fireworks. He kept his hand on his pistol just in case.
“It is.”
“That’s a lot of money for a simple thing.”
“Only half of it is yours. I want you to keep the rest for me.”
“Can do. Where did you get it?”
“Ask no questions, get no lies.”
“Enough said. You planning a high wire act?”
“Could be.”
“Want any help?”
“Not this time.”
“Maybe going to pay the factor a little visit? That’s ambitious. I didn’t think you had even cased the joint.”
“I spent some time inside it the other day.”
“No inside help though? No bribed watchmen or nothing?”
“No.”
“You going mad in your old age? That’s not something you should do.” Rik wondered how much he should tell Leon and decided on as little as possible.
“He has something I want and tonight’s the only night I can get it.” That was not strictly speaking true. Rik could burgle the mansion any night, but there was never a better time for crime than Solace night. Even the watchmen would be half-drunk, just like most of the criminals. Rik had his gear on his person already. He hoped it would be enough. He told himself he had done this sort of thing a hundred times before, tonight was nothing different, but he did not quite believe it.
“I’ll walk over there with you,” said Leon. “You’ll need someone to watch your back.”
“It’s Solace night,” said Rik, stepping over the body of a drunk, masked and robed as a Dragon Priest. It might have been the real thing or it might have been a reveller, he did not know. “Surely you have better things to do.”
“There are still hill-men about,” said Leon seriously.
“Yes,” said Rik glancing around warily. “I suppose there are.”
