“I have it. But we’d better not read it here,” she said. She waved at the birds around them. “Too many witnesses,” she said with a smile.
She led him up to the topmost floor of the tower. The square, open battlements were deserted.
“We’ve got some time. The guard only comes up here three times a day. There’s nobody posted here all the time, now the war’s over.”
“I’m sure that more than one of them’ll be grateful not to have to come up here. These battlements are pretty high up.”
“Yeah, but look at the views. They’re wonderful.”
From the height of the tower, the whole city was visible at Lasgol’s feet, and he was surprised by how much detail he could see of the different buildings and neighborhoods. Beyond the walls of the city, he could make out forests, fields and paths, in every direction. The Zangrian army would have been visible approaching from several leagues away. The views left him breathless.
“It’s really something,” he commented.
“Isn’t it just? I love to come up here, even if I have to climb all those stairs.”
“Who’s the message from?”
“It’s from Egil. Let me read it to you.” She made sure that nobody was coming up before she read the message to Lasgol in a whisper:
“Dear friends and comrades, dear Snow Panthers, I hope this letter finds you all healthy and free from danger. Before explaining the reason for these lines, I am writing, I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your unconditional friendship and the total support you have given me: particularly in a complex situation when the risk was so high for all of us. For this, and before I say anything else, you have my most sincere gratitude. It represents a great honor for me and makes me proud to count you among my loyal friends.”
Lasgol nodded. “There’s no doubt that it’s from Egil.” He had recognized his friend’s way of expressing himself, and a smile appeared on his face.
“He certainly is a bit affected,” Nilsa commented, and went on reading: “I have news which I think is significant, and you all need to know this since it affects us, even though I am not yet able to assess the extent or the gravity of the situation. The first piece of news I want to pass on to you is that Dolbarar is still very ill. The strange illness which is afflicting him, and which has had the Healer Edwina and the Master Ranger Eyra fighting for his life for months, has not eased. Far from that, it is extending through the whole of the Camp leader’s body, and the prognosis is beginning to be desperate. It is now common knowledge that he is seriously ill, and Edwina and Eyra are no longer hiding the fact. This, I’m afraid, is a sign of something very bad, not to say fatal.”
“Oh no!” Lasgol cried. “I was hoping he’d be better by now, that they’d have found a way of treating the illness.”
Nilsa nodded. Her expression was grave. “It seems they can’t heal him, Gondabar’s very worried about him. He’s sending messages to the Camp all the time to ask about his health.”
“That’s very bad news.” Lasgol was shaking his head and looking at the ground, deeply worried. He had been sure that Edwina and Eyra would find some way to heal Dolbarar. This was alarming. He wanted to help, but had no idea how to do so.
Nilsa went on reading: “There’s no need for me to tell you that I’ll do everything in my power to save Dolbarar’s life. I owe him my own, and I’ll never forget that. It’s a debt of honor which I must repay. I won’t stop trying to help him get his health back. You have my word on that. Because of his illness, Dolbarar is no longer acting as Leader of the Camp. He can’t leave his bed and is getting weaker and weaker, with his state of health so delicate that he requires constant attention. Edwina and Eyra spend more time in the House of Command than they do in their own. For the moment they’re keeping him alive, but every day that goes by he seems frailer to me. Soon he won’t even be able to tell me which things I need to take care of. Gondabar, seeing that he’s not going to be able to count on Dolbarar to lead the Camp, has appointed a new interim leader until he recovers.”
Lasgol was looking at Nilsa with narrowed eyes. “Not Haakon, I hope,” he interrupted her.
Nilsa shook her head. “Gondabar’s sent Veenerten.”
“Who?” Lasgol had never heard the name.
“Angus Veenerten,” Nilsa repeated. “He’s a Master Ranger who’s been here at the capital helping Gondabar. From what I hear, King Thoran likes him.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good recommendation.”
Nilsa giggled. “That’s what I thought too. But if both Gondabar and Thoran think he’s competent, then he must be.” She shrugged.
“I have no doubt he’ll be competent, and smart too. What worries me is that the King likes him. That means that he might not be a very good person.”
“We don’t know that. He might get along with the King because he’s smart and knows how to deal with short-tempered monarchs.” Nilsa laughed at her own joke and glanced at the door to make sure nobody had heard her. It was not good political strategy to laugh at the current monarch.
“Let’s hope it’s that, but I think it’s more likely that he simply has a character like Thoran’s, and they get along well because of it.”
“Let’s see what Egil says about him,” Lasgol said.
Nilsa nodded and went on reading: “Angus Veenerten has already taken up the post. He’s kept me in my old duties,
