Warena bent to retrieve a small sheet of parchment with Rymark’s signature at the bottom. Her close-cropped gray hair hardly shifted with the effort. “This came three days ago.” She licked her lips. “I don’t usually question orders, Toria Deel, but this one came with less explanation than most.”
“‘Hold your position at all costs until you receive orders to withdraw,’” Toria read out loud. “‘Keep the enemy within the cordon and await orders.’” She turned the parchment over, but there was nothing written on the other side.
“There’s no explanation for the change,” Warena said. “Without the inner cordon, we can do little more than defend against attacks.”
Toria kept her expression neutral, unwilling to divulge Rymark’s purpose. Instead, she turned her attention to her purpose. “Lieutenant, we’ll require horses and a cart.”
Warena signaled her consent. “You’ll have them.”
“One thing more,” Toria added. “How many men can you spare?”
The lieutenant lifted her hands. “That’s impossible to know, Lady Deel. I have a hundred under arms here, but only half are veterans. We’ve seen little fighting to this point, but King Rymark’s orders are worrisome.”
“They’re necessary,” Toria said.
“If we extend the time on patrol, I can spare ten percent of our force without compromising the king’s orders,” Warena said. “But if it comes to fighting, I’m going to need every veteran with even the slightest physical gift.”
“Then we won’t take any veterans.”
“Begging your pardon, Lady Deel, but I don’t see how you can get much use out of conscripts who haven’t been tested yet.”
“I appreciate your concern, Lieutenant, but our requirements are different. How well do you know your soldiers?” Toria asked.
“Any commander spends as much time learning about their men as we can. Our lives depend on each other.”
“Set aside your veterans,” Toria said. “Of those remaining, I want those most comfortable in the darkness and who have a talent for space and temperaments for observation or impulse—preferably both.”
Chapter 58
The fact that Erendella contrived to have me ride next to her without Bolt or Gael nearby wasn’t lost on me. Even Mirren had been systematically shunted outside the ring of guards that enclosed us. Only Herregina rode in our company, a circumstance that I attributed to her royalty. Despite Erendella’s earlier admonition, we rode in silence, and I locked whatever questions I had behind my teeth. I had no desire to give the queen further cause to despise me.
An hour later she spoke without turning her head, her voice directed between the twin peaks of her horse’s ears. “You might wonder at my affection for my father,” she said. “His nobles noticed his weakness. Many regarded him with disdain.”
I caught the carefully worded indignation that included me and chose my words as carefully as I could. “Your father did something no one has ever been able to do, Your Majesty.”
In silence, I waited, hoping that Erendella’s curiosity would compel her to ask the obvious question. I had learned over time that the etiquette of inquiry often served as a balm to the emotional wounds people carried. If Erendella trusted me enough to ask me a question, she might forgive me for failing to save her father.
“What?” she asked finally, but without breaking away from the contemplation of the landscape before us.
“He found a way to keep the evil of the Darkwater at bay for weeks on end,” I said. “No one’s done that before.”
She shook her head. “If the tales are true, Lord Dura, you’ve done it.”
“No, Your Majesty,” I said. “My survival has nothing to do with me. I owe my life to chance or providence or both.”
Now she looked at me, her gaze searching me for motives. “Your manner is strange. Given an opportunity to claim some skill or favor and elevate yourself in the eyes of one of the seven monarchs of the north, you opt instead for humility.”
“It’s safer,” I said. “If I pretended to some virtue I didn’t have, it wouldn’t take long for you to find me out.”
“There it is again,” she said. “You hold the most powerful gift in the world, and yet you continually offer me deference.”
I took a moment to gaze at the ring of guards that rode around me. “I have reason.”
She might have laughed or sighed or sobbed. It was difficult to match her expression to the sound she made. “Lord Dura, my father threatened you because he had nothing to lose. I do.” Her expression turned curious. “Are you that ignorant of the authority the Vigil holds?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “If I harmed you, the church and the rest of the Vigil would break my mind like a twig and my rule would pass to another.”
“They might thank you,” I said. “My guard tells me with every other breath that I’m a nuisance.”
“A nuisance who saved my life,” Herregina said.
I’d forgotten that the young queen-apparent rode with us. She’d adopted a similar posture of speaking over the head of her horse. Perhaps the affectation came with the gift of kings. Regardless, the comment carried an edge to it, like a dagger still in its sheath, but present, and Erendella took note. I wondered what conversations I might have missed.
“To be fair, Your Majesties, I’m leading you both into danger,” I said. “Whatever gratitude or regard you feel you owe me should wait until you’re safe in your palaces again.”
Erendella shook her head at me. “You’re either the worst negotiator I’ve ever met or the most skilled.”
“Perhaps I’m just honest,” I said.
“Regardless, Lord Dura, you’re in no danger from me.”
Herregina added a nod that might have been due to nothing more than the gait of her horse. A bit of Erendella’s reserve slipped, and instead of a middle-aged queen I saw a girl who missed her father.
“I would have saved him if I could have, Your Majesty.”
She blinked several times, quickly, and returned her attention to the road ahead. “Thank you, Lord Dura. I believe you.”
We rode until an hour before sunset, stopping at
