Mickey Reichert: Flight of the Renshai

"Overcome? In battle? Never!" It was the only response a Renshai could give, yet it demonstrated the worst vice of the tribe.

Tae knew he had to attend the meeting. Talamir might be incapable of delivering the proper message. In addition to believing whole heartedly in their own skill, Renshai had a tendency to blurt news that should be handled with subtlety and caution.

Talamir turned. "I'll see you in the Strategy Room, Sire."

Tae could not let him go, not yet. "Talamir?"

The Renshai looked back, hat still clutched in his hand. "Yes, Sire?"

"I'm sorry, Talamir. I made a huge mistake."

"Mistake, Sire?" Talamir turned around, and this time he met Tae's gaze. "Your reaction was completely understandable."

It was? Tae found himself incapable of blinking. Imorelda's purring died, and she went utterly still.

"And your strategy was brilliant. I could have saved myself a lot of pain and worry had I seen through it sooner."

Bewildered, Tae let Talamir speak.

"You had to test us. I mean, you had to make absolutely certain I loved Subikahn for himself, not for his wealth or power."

So far, Talamir spoke with eminent intelligence.

"Ye-es?" Tae encouraged.

"And you had to make sure I hadn't beguiled Subikahn, that he had entered the relationship of his own accord."

Tae saw where Talamir was going. And, though they both knew it was a game, he played along. "And that Subikahn had the fortitude to take my place someday."

"So," Talamir said, "you concocted this whole terrible scheme but made sure your father would give me the means to survive it." A slight smile played over Talamir's lips as he looked askance at Tae. *You're making this up!* Imorelda looked from man to man.*You're making this all up!*

"And," Tae added thoughtfully. "Had I directly asked you to lead my army, you would have refused, given your need to return to the Renshai. This way, I got you."

"How very clever," Talamir exclaimed a bit too eagerly. "I would have missed that part." He winked. "And when I'm finished explaining all of this to Prince Subikahn, I'm certain he will forgive you."

Tae grinned. He could think of nothing more important than reclaiming the love and respect of his son. "And after I've explained it all to Weile Kahn, I may disappear under mysterious circumstances." Despite his words, Tae reveled in the chance to actually appear as if he had conned his inhumanly clever father. He just had to be careful not to harm Weile's reputation while rescuing his relationship with his only son.

"Oh, I think you'll find he's proud of you. I suspect it's been many decades since anyone manipulated Weile Kahn. To have one's son finally surpass him, I'm told, is the secret dream of every father."

Tae looked over the Renshai in a new light and bestowed the greatest compliment he could think of at the moment. "Talamir, I never thought I'd say this to anyone, ever, given that I have no daughters. But, I'm proud to call you son-in-law."

Talamir fairly beamed. "I'll wait outside, Sire. Knock when you're ready, and we'll go to the strategy meeting together."

The clang of weaponry lasted through the night and continued in small, scattered pockets into the morning. As the fresh troops from the distant beaches faded, the soldiers who had managed to sleep through the night took over. Acrid smoke floated over Bearn, and Ra-khir could see flames blazing from the anchored ships, the water glowing red as wine. Apparently, the continental allied archers had performed the job they had failed at earlier, or scouts had braved the sharks to torch the pirates' ships directly.

Ra-khir had no trouble leaving Thialnir to handle the Renshai. The knight's job had technically ended the moment he won them legitimacy for the course of the war, and the Renshai would fight without strategy or pattern anyway. They seemed ideally suited for cleaning up the chaotic remnants of the once-mighty pirates. Ra-khir had a more pressing matter, one that he had arranged at the short officers' meeting the previous evening.

When the last of the enemies fell, Bearn had promised a massive feast: in the banquet hall for the commanders, civilian and military leaders, and royalty; outside on the beach for the regular and volunteer soldiers. Then, the Knights of Erythane would serve another purpose, maintaining suitable decorum and tradition.Tedious rituals and long-winded speeches would rule the hours before and after the food got served, interrupted at proper intervals by entertainers, animals, and bards. Though he had learned to respect the procedures, Ra-khir had never learned to love them. He did not look forward to the ceremony, other than the fact that its start would mean that he had finished the business that faced him now.

Ra-khir found Saviar crumpled in the sand beyond the dunes, where the battles had long finished, his clothing tattered and his skin striped with nicks and blood. The knight's heart rate quickened, a startled pounding in his ears. Then, he noticed Subikahn sitting calmly nearby, sword meticulously balanced across his knees. "Relax, Papa. He's only sleeping."

A cold rush of relief washed through Ra-khir, nearly as uncomfortable as the fear that had clutched him a moment earlier. "I've never seen anyone sleep like that." He gestured at Saviar.

"Apparently, you've never seen anyone fall asleep standing up."

"No," Ra-khir admitted. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure no one uses his lifeless-looking body as a battle dummy." Subikahn yawned, his own exhaustion clear and understandable. "I can't believe you're still running around."

"I slept," Ra-khir admitted. "After the officers' meeting I couldn't keep my eyes open." He thought it better not to mention that he had caught himself slipping away twice at the meeting. Only Tae Kahn's grave pronouncement regarding the future war had finally shocked him enough to finish. "Your father was there, at the meeting. Out of bed."

"I know." Subikahn yawned again. "I talked to Talamir last night."

Ra-khir laughed.

Subikahn gave him a strange look.

"Sorry. I was just thinking of how odd things got. A Knight of Erythane as general of Renshai, and a Renshai as general of the Eastlands. The best seers in the land could never have predicted that."

Now, Subikahn also laughed. "Who was it that said, 'War makes for the strangest of alliances?' "

Ra-khir knew the answer, much to his chagrin. "That would be General Santagithi. And the full text continues, '… separates the incompetent from the skilled and the petty from the truly important.' "

Subikahn widened his eyes, clearly surprised. Apparently, no one in the past had known to whom to attribute the quotation.

"My father has taken an intense interest in that ancient general, especially now that Kedrin's actually met several people from the town named for him." Ra-khir rolled his eyes. King Griff had spent most of his life there, with his Santagithian stepfather, but Kedrin had never before met actual warriors from that Western nation. The Knight-Captain's excited chattering had broken into Ra-khir's precious resting time, and he had fallen asleep to war quotations. "Apparently, Santagithi's military studies are from a book written by him, and they're actually acclaimed for their strategies."

"And how is Chymmerlee?"

"Exhausted and starving, but apparently unhurt. Matrinka said she'd never seen a woman eat that much in a sitting. She's sleeping soundly in a private room, away from the wounded soldiers." Ra-khir looked pointedly at Subikahn. "I intended to present Chymmerlee to the Council as one of the war's greatest heroes, but she made me vow not to tell anyone what she did, never to speak of her magic."