balconies. He knew exactly where he'd start too. He bit his tongue.
Jehal's smile was bland and false. 'He was a good speaker, I think, until the end. He wanted too much to live, perhaps? Is that how Speaker Zafir turned him? Was she just too pretty to refuse, do you think?'
'You might be a better judge of that than I, Your Highness.' Inside, Vale winced at his own words. Silence! Remember, silence is your defence.
Jehal's eyes glittered. 'Really?'
'Love of women and a long life are two things that we of the Guard have long forsaken.'
Jehal laughed. 'Oh, then I could never be an Adamantine Man. Although you do confuse me. There are whorehouses around your barracks, and I can tell you from exhaustive personal endeavour that some of them are really quite good.'
'Love of women, Prince Jehal. We have forsaken love, not lust. We are swords. We sate ourselves in flesh as the need comes upon us and then we move on.'
'Cold words, Night Watchman!'
'Forgive me, Your Highness.' Vale bowed. 'They are not my words, nor those of any Guardsman before me. That is how Prince Lai described us.'
'In Principles} I don't think so. I would have remembered that.'
'Prince Lai wrote other works, less well read or well received, Your Highness. I have a small library of my own.' There, now why did you say that, Vale? That sounded like a boast, and Adamantine Men have no need to boast.
Jehal cocked his head. 'You are a fascinating fellow. Especially for someone who has no opinions of his own. I've always admired Principles. We used to have all his other works in our own library and then we had a fire. I didn't know any copies had survived.'
'The monastery in Sand has the most complete collection, Your Highness. I have but a few, but I would be honoured to offer them to you.' There. Is that enough? Will you go away and leave me alone now?
'I will take you up on that, Night Watchman, but not as a gift. I couldn't take such treasures from anyone, least of all a man who has forsaken love. War is all you have left.'
Jehal turned away but Vale didn't allow himself to relax. Hyram called him Viper because poison came out of his mouth, but there's some scorpion sting in him as well, I think.
Sure enough, Jehal took one step and then stopped. 'Night Watchman, may I ask you a question on which your opinion is most certainly relevant. How many dragons do you think your scorpions and your legions can stop? More than three, I hope.'
I will not rise to that. 'I cannot stop the dragons. Your Highness. Only their riders.'
'Then how many riders, Night Watchman?'
'The answer to that is in Principles, Your Highness, as I'm sure you know. A legion may face ten mounted dragons at best before it breaks. I have twenty legions. In the field, therefore, two hundred riders at best. Here, behind these walls and towers, maybe twice that number.'
'Are you sure?'
'No one can be sure of such a thing, Your Highness. No one has ever tried.'
'It would be a slaughter.'
'The palace and the city would burn and most of us would die. Perhaps all. But that's what we are for.'
Jehal laughed, although he didn't seem to find anything funny. 'Then get yourself ready, Night Watchman, for when Zafir puts Shezira to the sword, the north will come to war with you. The flower of their manhood will be pierced by your bolts, while these walls and towers are smashed and burned and your legions with them. There will be nothing left of any of you. Everything Hyram preserved will go up in flames. If the realms survive at all, he will be remembered as the Great Fool.'
Vale bowed his head. 'If the speaker commands us to fall on our spears, that is what we will do.' One might ask where you will be, Prince, when this war comes. Here with us, defending the heart that holds the nine realms together? Or will you watch from a distance and pick off the survivors? Shall we see if I can guess?
'You do that, Night Watchman. You do that.' Jehal still had a smirk on his face as he turned away again. Vale kept very still, holding back the urge to wipe the smirk away with his fist. At least Jehal didn't turn back a second time.
He put the Viper out of his mind and immersed himself in inspecting the defences. His soldiers had placed over three hundred scorpions on the walls in less than three days and all of them needed to be perfect – he would accept nothing less. He watched as horsemen raced around the palace flying target kites from their saddles. By the end of the day, every scorpion had been fired. Each and every one of them worked. He knew which crews had hit their target with the first shot, which ones had hit it with their second, and which ones had failed and would have to be replaced. They would practise every day now until the council of kings and queens was done and the lords of the realms had dispersed back to their own lands. Long after dark he sat awake in his little room, burning lanterns, poring over rotas and lists, staring at his maps, shuffling crews around, placing his best at the points of the palace most likely to be attacked. Being certain that he was ready.
He was about to admit defeat and accept that some decisions would have to wait until after he'd had some sleep when his door slowly swung open. He glanced up, half expecting to see Jeiros come for another try at changing his mind, but no. The Viper again. Instantly, Vale was on guard.
'I saw the light under your door, so I knew you were still awake.' Jehal pushed past Vale and sat himself down. With casual rudeness he looked at the maps and starting picking through them. 'Trying to decide where and when Jaslyn and Almiri will strike?'
Vale clenched his toes. Why are you here and what will it take to make you go away? 'I am more concerned, Your Highness, that the Red Riders will try to disrupt the council.'
'And condemn their queen to an even more certain death? Why would they do that?'
'They have struck at us once, Your Highness.' The books. That's what he's here for. Prince Lai's books. A shame to let them go, but needs must as the devil drives. He started to look among his shelves.
'Yes, they have, haven't they? Last I heard, Rider Hyrkallan was leading them. I wonder what madness possessed him to burn the palace. He always struck me as a very sensible sort of fellow. Pity about his sense of humour. I wonder sometimes if they do something to their children in the north. Do they cut out some part to make them like that? Queen Shezira was as bad and as for her daughters…' He smiled and shook his head. 'Don't get me started on her daughters.'
Vale pulled three old books down.'I hear rumour that Hyrkallan abandoned the Red Riders some weeks ago and that he has been seen in the north. I am inclined to believe this is true. Their actions made sense to me when Hyrkallan led them. Now I don't understand them at all. They are destroying themselves. They will not last long.'
'An enemy is at his most dangerous when you don't understand his reasons.' Jehal smiled. 'Principles, Night Watchman. Perhaps it is a trick.'
Vale shrugged. 'Here, Your Highness.' He put the three books on the table. 'I will wager you these that when the Red Riders fall you will not find Rider Hyrkallan among them. These are what you came for, are they not?'
Jehal gave him a lazy look. 'No, Night Watchman, no they are not.'
They stared at each other. Vale said nothing. Silence, remember.
For a long time they both watched each other in silence. Finally Jehal spoke: 'Do I have to spell it out for you in simple words?'
'Forgive me, Your Highness, but I am a soldier. We are men of direct action, not guile. We do not deal well with innuendo and insinuation. If not the books, I have no idea what you want from me, Your Highness. Yes, simple words would be best.'
Jehal frowned as if confused. 'Hyram hated me and I had no love for him. I wonder why it should trouble me to see everything fall to ruin.' He sighed and shook his head. 'Are you really so stupid, Night Watchman? No, I don't think you are.'
Vale stood very still. He didn't speak, only waited. The Viper would either go away now or he'd say what he wanted. Then he would go away.
Jehal clucked his tongue. 'In fact, I'd say you are one of the more astute minds on the Speaker's Council, Night Watchman, although I will accept that is somewhat of a barbed compliment. Very well.' He frowned again. 'I am here to ask you for your help.'
