first place.
Ringil shrugged. Then maybe the rules have changed for Manathan, too.
Archeth brooded on that for a while.
I ll talk to Angfal, she decided finally.
I don t believe there s some evil conspiracy of Helmsmen all of a sudden. If something is going on, Angfal will have something to say on the subject.
Yeah, something cryptic and snide. Ringil yawned into his fist. He d been up all night arguing with Shendanak and Tand about escort logistics. Any news on Eg?
She shook her head. Gone like smoke. The Guard Provost is making a big thing about turning the city upside down, but so far it s all noise.
What I thought. They don t have the
A diffident knock. The door eased open and Kefanin poked his head through the gap.
My lord Ringil?
Yeah? If Shendanak was back with more fucking names of cousins you could trust with your life, seriously, he was going to
Captain Rakan of the Throne Eternal to see you, my lord.
Oh. He looked at Archeth, who just shrugged.
All right, then. Show him in.
He said he would wait for you in the courtyard.
The courtyard?
Not that it was an unpleasant venue. Archeth s house was built, like most of the properties on this side of the boulevard, in traditional Yhelteth corral fortress fashion. High walls and two-story construction around a broad open airspace that in antiquity would have served to shelter livestock from rustlers and wolves alike. In its urban incarnation, the space was cobbled and studded with a trio of ornamental fountains. On the stables side, in faint echo of tradition, there were hitching rails and a drinking trough, but elsewhere the inward-facing walls of the courtyard boasted stone benches set under awnings and trellis ceilings tricked out with crimson-flowering creeper.
Beneath one of which latter he found Noyal Rakan, waiting. The young captain was resplendent in full Throne Eternal dress uniform, rigged with a sword that owed more to soldiering than display, and cutting, truth be told, a rather fetching figure all around. But, Gil noticed as he and Kefanin approached, the young man s demeanor was no match for his imperial finery. Instead, Rakan stood irresolute and staring at the sun-dappled ground, as if hemmed in by the beams of light that spilled through the foliage overhead. He turned awkwardly at the sound of their footfalls on the cobbles, and he stuck out his hand with a heartiness that Gil made for counterfeit.
Captain Rakan. Ringil made the clasp, and tried to read the younger man s sun-striped face for clues. To what do I owe this honor?
The honor is mine. Rakan produced a smile that had most of the characteristics of a wince. To serve under such a commander is
The words trailed off.
Difficult? Ringil hazarded. Irritating? Don t worry about it. Been upstaged the same way myself a couple of times, and once by a real king-sized asshole. Stings a bit at first, but after a while you ll see I m doing you a favor.
The Throne Eternal s eyes widened. No, my lord, I have only respect for your record and reputation.
The words lay drying in the sunlit air. Ringil blinked. Groped for his composure.
Well, that suggests, Captain he licked the lips of a smile he found he d suddenly grown that you ve heard very little about me.
I ll bring lemonade, said Kefanin hastily, and left.
I have heard of Gallows Gap, said Rakan with an odd, quiet fervor. And I have heard of Beksanara, too. I know and have spoken with men who were in my brother s command, who saw what you did there.
Gallows Gap. Beksanara. The siege of Trelayne. You gather the names like dirt under your fingernails, no way to scrub it out.
And all the young men line up, to admire the fucking manicure.
Ringil mastered his smile. He cleared his throat, gestured at the nearest bench. Shall we, uh, sit down?
Yes. Gladly.
They took station at opposite ends of the bench. Rakan stretched out long, slim legs in cavalry boots and leaned back. Gil felt a suddenly risen pulse tripping in his throat. He d missed the cues before, registered them, if at all, for that mannered laxness that the Yhelteth upper class were wont to deploy as proof of their better-than- peasant standing. But now, belatedly, it was dawning on him that Throne Eternal captain Noyal Rakan was, in at least one fashion, very different from his elder sibling.
I m very sorry about your brother, he said awkwardly. He was a fine soldier.
And you led him to a the younger Rakan swallowed. A fine and honorable death. Defending the Empire against a great evil. He would not have had it any other way.
Actually, I more or less embarrassed him into it, Ringil recalled silently. I dared him to stand and die at Beksanara, and he did it because there was no way he could let a degenerate northerner make him look bad in front of his men.
So, he said, for something to say. They have given you his command.
Rakan shook his head quickly. His rank only. Throne Eternal service is in our family, we have provided the Khimrans with three generations of bodyguards and retainers. On my father s death, Faileh rose to the post. Now I A brief, fluttered gesture. Well, it is traditional.
Tradition, eh. How s that working out for you?
The young captain met his eyes for a moment, then looked away.
I, well it s difficult. You are measured against the other man, always.
Yeah, that can be tough.
I wanted, Rakan blurted, to thank you. For your intervention the other day. I am accustomed to dealing with soldiers. I have little experience of this kind of thing merchants and entrepreneurs, men with power and wealth but no ethic of service to either Holy Revelation or Empire. It is not That is, I would not have believed it could be so
My pleasure. Ringil lifted a languid, dismissive arm. We re a whole city of merchants up in Trelayne, even those who work hard at pretending otherwise. The League is built on trade these days, not conquest. I m used to it.
The Throne Eternal captain blushed. I did not mean to
Insult me? Gil grinned. Didn t you hear the Lady kir-Archeth at dinner the other night? I m of noble imperial stock on my mother s side. Besides. He slouched a little, dropped that languid hand to his thigh and left it there. I don t exactly fit in, back in Trelayne. I am not what you d call a pillar of mainstream society there. If you catch my meaning.
I yes. Hurriedly: My lord Ringil, I have been considering some of the logistical issues for the coming expedition. Now, with plague and slave rebellion rumored around Hinerion, we will most likely need to avoid the northern march coast. Which means, of course, a lengthier initial voyage, and landfall in Gergis may be much farther west.
Yes, quite. He fought for a detached curiosity of tone. Slave rebellion, you say?
So it appears. Reports from the Tlanmar garrison are garbled, but the garrison commander seems certain that at least one slave caravan has risen up against its chains and slaughtered its masters. There may be others. And with the plague rampant, the Tlanmar commander is not prepared to risk sending a force into Hinerion, so we really have very little idea what s happening. Of course, we have until next spring, but everything seems to indicate we should bypass Hinerion if we can.
Ringil put together a fresh smile. Well, it s not much of a town, Hinerion. No loss there.
Uh, yes. I ve heard that.
Though, of course, every town has its less conventional side. Every city is possessed of streets that its more mannered citizens might not like to talk about. Even Yhelteth, unless it s much changed since my last visit.
Rakan held his eye this time.
