Shurq Elalle shrugged. ‘I had an uncle who chose to leave Letheras and live with the Meckros. He wasn’t much for listening to advice either. So off he went, and then, not so long ago, there was a ship, a Meckros ship from one of their floating cities south of Pilott-and they told tales of a sister city being destroyed by ice, then vanishing-almost no wreckage left behind at all-and no survivors. Probably straight down to the deep. That hapless city was the one my uncle lived on.’
‘Then you should have learned a most wise lesson,’ Lostara Yil said in a rather dry tone that hinted of self-mockery.
‘CM*
‘Yes. People who make up their minds about something never listen to advice-especially when it’s to the contrary.’
‘Well said.’ Shurq Elalle smiled at the tattooed woman. ‘Frustrating, isn’t it?’
‘If you two are done with your not very subtle complaints,’ the Adjunct said, ‘I wish to ask the captain here about the Letherii secret police, the Patriotists.’
‘Ah well,’ Shurq Elalle said, ‘that is not a fun subject. Not fun at all.’
‘I am not interested in fun,’ Tavore said.
And one look at her, Shurq Elalle reflected, was proof enough of that.
With twelve of his most loyal guards from the Eternal Domicile, Sirryn marched up Kravos Hill, the west wall of Letheras two thousand paces behind him. The tents of the
¦
Imperial Brigade dominated in the midst of ancillary companies and lesser brigades, although the Tiste Edur encampment, situated slightly apart from the rest, to the north, looked substantial-at least two or three thousand of the damned savages, Sirryn judged.
Atop Kravos Hill stood half a dozen Letherii officers and a contingent of Tiste Edur, among them Hanradi Khalag. Sirryn withdrew a scroll and said to the once-king, ‘I am here to deliver the Chancellor’s orders.’
Expressionless, Hanradi reached out for the scroll, then passed it on to one of his aides without looking at it.
Sirryn scowled. ‘Such orders-’
‘I do not read Letherii,’ Hanradi said.
‘If you’d like, I can translate-’
‘I have my own people for that, Finadd.’ Hanradi Khalag looked across at the officers of the Imperial Brigade. ‘In the future,’ he said, ‘we Edur will patrol the boundaries of our own camp. The parade of Letherii whores is now at an end, so your pimp soldiers will have to make their extra coin elsewhere.’
The Edur commander led his troop away, down off the summit of the hill. Sirryn stared after them for a moment, until he was certain they would not return. He then withdrew a second scroll and approached the Preda of the Imperial Brigade. ‘These, too,’ he said, ‘are the Chancellor’s orders.’
The Preda was a veteran, not just of battle, but of the ways of the palace. He simply nodded as he accepted the scroll. ‘Finadd,’ he asked, ‘will the Chancellor be commanding us in person when the time comes?’
‘I imagine not, sir.’
That could make things awkward.’
‘In some matters, I will speak for him, sir. As for the rest, you will find, once you have examined that scroll, that you are given considerable freedom for the battle itself.’
And if I find myself at odds with Hanradi?’
‘I doubt that will be a problem,’ Sirryn said.
He watched the Preda mull that over, and thought he saw a slight widening of the man’s eyes.
‘Finadd,’ the Preda said.
‘Sir?’
‘How fares the Chancellor, at the moment?’
‘Well indeed, sir.’
‘And… in the future?’
‘He is most optimistic, sir.’
‘Very good. Thank you, Finadd.’
Sirryn saluted. ‘Begging your leave, sir, I wish to oversee the establishment of my camp.’
‘Make it close to this hill, Finadd-this is where we will command the battle-and I will want you close.’
‘Sir, there is scant room left-’
‘You have my leave to move people out at your discretion, Finadd.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
Oh, he would enjoy that. Grubby soldiers with dust on their boots-they always imagined themselves superior to their counterparts in the palace. Well, a few cracked skulls would change that quick enough. By leave of their very own Preda. He saluted again and led his troops back down the hill.
The man looked familiar. Had he been a student of hers? Son of a neighbour, son of another scholar? These were the questions in Janath’s mind as the troop dragged them from Tehol’s home. Of the journey to the compound of the Patriotists, she now recalled very little. But that man, with the familiar face-a face that stirred oddly intimate feelings within her-would not leave her.
