agree to see you. That bastard Estiane agreed on my behalf without consulting me on the matter.'
'And yet here we are face-to-face, are we not?'
'There's a fire in here.' Silverdun sighed. He found the repartee tiring.
Everess looked little different from the last time that Silverdun had seen him, which had been in the House of Lords some five years earlier. Still stout and red-faced, with the same bristling brown whiskers spotted with gray. His eyes were narrow and partially hidden beneath bushy eyebrows, giving him a permanent squint. He sucked on his pipe, and a small tendril of smoke emerged from it. Silverdun waved a finger at the smoke, and it formed itself into interlocking rings, twisting and spinning up toward the ceiling.
'Oh, do stop fooling around, Silverdun,' said Everess. 'There's much to discuss, and I'd like to get back to the city before the road out there washes out entirely.'
'You have my complete attention,' said Silverdun.
'It's time for you to come out of hiding,' said Everess. 'I understand your need to get away from things for a time, but you're needed elsewhere.'
'Quite the contrary. I'm happy here.'
'Oh, don't be stupid, Silverdun. You've had your fun playing monk, but that time is over and you and I both know it. You don't belong here. You never have and you never will. You're not meant to be confined like this.'
'I was confined for quite a long time at the prison of Crere Sulace. And you never once came to visit me.'
'Yes, and when Mauritane offered you a way out, you took it, even though by all accounts you were riding off to your own death.'
'Mauritane told me he'd kill me himself if I didn't go.'
'Stop acting like an idiot!' said Everess, suddenly angry. 'The point is that you did go. You left Crete Sulace a criminal, and you emerged from the Battle of Sylvan a hero. You've proved that you have the ability to do what must be done for the good of the kingdom, and that's what I need from you now.'
'I disagree. I'm quite content where I am.'
'Really?' said Everess. 'Look around you, man. From where I'm standing, all you've done is trade one cell for another.'
No witty response from Silverdun's typically bottomless well of them was forthcoming, so he simply stood and began to turn away.
'Come into the city, Silverdun,' Everess called after him. 'Hear what I have to say. And then if you don't like it, you can come back here and keep rotting for all I care.'
That stung.
A messenger on a sturdy mare watched Lord Everess's carriage vanish into the rain from the hilltop overlooking the temple. Once he was certain that Everess's departure was assured, he gingerly walked the horse down the grassy slope to the temple's stable.
He handed the reins to a passing monk, assuring the man that he'd be back momentarily. Good to his word, a few minutes later, he returned from the monastery, mounted, and rode off without another word.
Silverdun left the calefactory feeling warm, but also a bit dizzy. He and Everess had never been friends-they'd known each other in passing in the halls of Corpus, and Silverdun's second cousin had married a nephew of Everess's, but Silverdun hadn't even attended the wedding. So why was Everess coming for him now?
Silverdun sneaked carefully through the refectory and back into the dotter. All of the monks' rooms were empty now-rest period was over, and afternoon prayers had already begun. Silverdun couldn't have cared less. He sunk onto his cot and leaned against the wall, letting the cool stones calm him.
On a shelf above the bed was a duffel bag that contained the day suit he'd worn when he'd entered the place ten months earlier. It had been washed and pressed. His boots, polished and supple, were lined carefully next to the bag, and beneath them both was the sword that Mauritane had presented him at the celebration following the Battle of Sylvan. Engraved in the blade was the Silverdun crest surrounded by five stars: one for each of his companions on the journey that had led him out from exile at Crete Sulace and back into life.
Of those five, two were dead: Honeywell had given up his own life to save them at the beginning of their journey. Gray Mave had betrayed them, and died for his sins. Brian Satterly was off somewhere rescuing human babies from Changeling traders, and good riddance. Raieve, now Mauritane's wife, had returned to Avalon to help win the peace there. Mauritane was on leave from his post as captain of the Royal Guard, no doubt fighting alongside her.
Or so he believed. He hadn't seen anyone from his former life in months. He missed them. He even missed the foolish human Satterly. That was depressing.
