Tom Lloyd - The ragged man

'Explain quickly,' Certinse said, hearing boots on the stair.

'He arrived with one of the Jesters! The soldiers don't know what to do; he's a Demi-God, after all.'

Certinse managed a smile at last. 'That'll confuse the bastards sure enough. Is the visitor Luerce?'

'Nope,' said a deep voice from the corridor, 'no one so special.' A tall man entered. A white patchwork cloak didn't do much to disguise his powerful frame. He wore a sword at his hip and held a dagger in his left hand. Certinse blinked a moment before recognising the man, Duchess Escral's bodyguard, Kayel.

'A little late for a social call, isn't it, Sergeant Kayel?'

Kayel raised his right hand, in which was a glass bottle of brandy. 'Never too late for a drink between friends.'

Certinse regarded him for a moment, his face blank, before gesturing for Perforren to leave. 'Your young prince is still looking to be friends then?'

Kayel watched Perforren shut the door behind himself before heading for the glasses on a side-table. He poured a large measure of brandy into each wide-bottomed glass and handed one to the Knight-Cardinal.

He raised his glass in a toast. 'Ruhen stands for peace in this Land,' Kayel said gravely. 'Friends is all he's looking for.'

'Tell that to the priests plaguing me,' Certinse muttered, showing the sergeant to one of the chairs at the far side of the room, set on either side of the empty fireplace. 'I'm amazed some of those fools preaching in Akell got out again without being lynched. Ruhen may have his admirers here, but they're keeping their heads down.'

'Who can blame 'em? It's better than getting 'em chopped off.' Ilumene took a big gulp of brandy. 'Speakin' of your priests, I thought I'd come see how that situation was workin' out.'

Certinse gave him a sour look. 'Is that supposed to be funny?'

'You see me laughin'? It's my concern when Ruhen's Children ain't allowed to spread their beliefs, when they get strung up for the heresy of criticisin' priests. An' I b'lieve it's your concern that you, as Knight-Cardinal, ain't in command of your own Order – that you got to answer to a crowd o' fanatics who've forced their way into power.'

'I'm not sure what you're saying here,' Certinse said cautiously. 'Are you asking whether I'm plotting against fellow members of the Knights of the Temples?'

Kayel laughed. 'No! I'm sayin' in your place, I'd likely gettin' ready to murder the whole damn lot of 'em! And, I'm askin' why you ain't done so already – they've robbed you o' your Order, and if you don't take it back soon, it's gone for good.'

The sergeant knocked back the last of his brandy and rose to fetch the bottle. As he turned his back, Certinse inspected the man. His high boots looked scuffed and dirty, dull black rather than polished to a shine, but they looked well-cared-for; Kayel was a man used to walking, he surmised; he obviously knew the value of good boots. He didn't recognise the style of the lines of black stitching, but he did recognise the concealed pommel of a dagger when he saw it.

'The Menin Army's been gone a while now,' Kayel said as he offered Certinse more, 'long enough that the war's likely to be done soon. Whichever way it goes, the Land's goin' to be a different place after.'

'Undeniably,' Certinse agreed, 'but I can't be sure there will be an Order of the Knights of the Temples left to see this new Land.'

'So why ain't you moved? You've hardly made much effort to help out Ruhen's Children, and you know we're happy for you to exploit us that way – don't hurt our cause a shred.'

'Unfortunately the matter is not so simple,' Certinse said. 'My Order is by definition composed of the pious. Our rank and file are all volunteers, and most joined for higher reasons than the stipend.'

'So they'll take their whippings like dogs?' Kayel asked, momentarily surprised, 'they'll cower and whine, all the while shrinking from a raised hand? And never once thinking to bite back?'

'The analogy is accurate,' Certinse agreed. 'They're an army, and properly trained. I have been paying careful attention, as you might imagine, but there are simply not enough men willing to consider insurrection against a body of priests.'

'But no one's likely to complain if it's done for them?'

The Knight-Cardinal smiled. Interesting, he thought suddenly, the man's accent has softened now we're at the meat of the conversation. He's not playing the big simple soldier any more.

There was something more, something else at the back of his mind trying to grab his attention. Ah yes, he speaks Farlan well, very well. That's not the casual familiarity of a mercenary. Certinse had spent more years than he cared to remember in exile, living under King Emin's rule after Lord Bahl's ban on the Knights of the Temples. Over that time he'd noticed a number of common errors in the way people there spoke the Farlan dialect; some were glaring, some subtle enough for most native speakers to not pick up on immediately. Sergeant Kayel had made none of those mistakes, none at all.

'Obviously I couldn't condone any such actions,' he said carefully, mindful of being lured into speaking too openly, 'and on a purely logistical note I would point out that only the Menin have the capability to do such a thing. A covert mission of the scale required would be near-impossible.'

Kayel didn't blink. 'It so happens,' he said cagily, 'that there might be some new arrivals in the Circle City very soon. The call of Ruhen's message has reached further than many might believe, and a few remarkable followers have been attracted to him.'

'Such as the Jesters?'

Kayel shook his head. 'Their losses were considerable in the battle against the Farlan; only half a dozen acolytes remain.'

'I'm intrigued,' Certinse said, guessing he was going to be told no more. 'If they are so remarkable it's a shame I remain under house arrest, unable to receive visitors without the escort of Demi-Gods. '

'A shame indeed. If anything were to happen, however, you would have to step in quickly – no sense giving the opportunists a chance, is there? A symbolic figure would be useful in that instance, I think you'll find; remind the Order of its founding principles.' Kayel gave him a sly look and set aside his glass. As he was making ready to leave he added, 'My view is it'd be sensible to prepare against all eventualities. Either King Emin wins this war and the Circle City's in need of a leader again, or Lord Styrax wins, and he'll be looking for a permanent ruler for each region of his empire. If that happens, I'm sure he'd be glad of strong allies before he heads towards Tirah – especially if one has connections in those parts already.'

Certinse smiled. 'My first obligation must certainly be the stability of the Order, yes – my scholarship has perhaps been neglected in recent years, but it's never too late to refresh one's memory of the Order's founding principles. This current fervour could be far better employed in the pursuit of the Order's greater purpose, I suspect – and never let it be said I am closed to new ideas. Your little prince's message, for example; even an old soldier such as I could be swayed. The Land will soon be tired of war – if it could be ended swiftly the Gods themselves would surely thank us.'

For a moment Doranei forgot himself and stopped, staring in wonder: far away over the moor a flock of birds were diving and wheeling in a great cloud against the sky, while closer at hand, swifts darted and swooped, feasting on the insects stirred up by the activity on the moor. He could hear the beating of thousands of wings in unison.

'Not a sight you ever get bored of, eh?' Veil commented from his right.

Doranei nodded dumbly as the flocks swept over a slight rise on the moor and flattened into a swirling cable of birds that arched up into the sky. Further east, orange-edge striations of cloud lay above the horizon and he felt a slight shadow fall over them as the flock veered past.