Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
“You’re a very good sailor,” I told him.
He smiled. “Thank you.”
It felt like we had stopped moving completely. We just hung there, between the ocean and the sky, watching the trails of three moons shine on the water.
“What are we waiting for?”
“The wind,” Reynald said. “We’ll need it to pick up before we start.”
I didn’t mind if the wind didn’t pick up for a while. It was so beautiful here, almost romantic. Floating on a starry night across a magical ocean, just me and Reynald . . . And eleven corpses we needed to dispose of. So Kair Toren.
Reynald stirred. “About Hreban . . .”
“Yes?”
“I know a bit about him. He was born rich, like his father, and his grandfather. Generations of wealth.”
“The gift of Mirror Heart is wrapped in gold,” I murmured. It was a line in the first book.
“And misery.”
True.
Each of the Eight Families had their own special brand of magic. The Everards had the Fatefire, the Arvels had the Enduring Flame, and the Hrebans had the power of Mirror Heart, meaning they knew exactly what someone was feeling. They could tell when people lied. They knew when their opponent was unsure, desperate, or terrified. It made them excellent judges of character and brought them unimaginable wealth.
From a very young age, Ulmar sensed people’s hidden motives. They approached him and his family with smiles on their faces, pretending to be solicitous and loyal, while he soaked in their greed, jealousy, hatred, and derision. It convinced him that he was inherently superior, and that people were fundamentally selfish and needed discipline and punishment to be useful.
“Ulmar is a reflection of what he feels,” I said. “He sees people as sheep, a stupid, panicky commodity to be bought and sold. He isn’t the sheep dog that protects the flock. He is the shepherd with a big heavy stick.”
Taking a tour through Hreban’s head killed your will to live. He had forever ruined empath and telepath characters for me.
“The other seven Great Families hold him in contempt,” Reynald said.
I had caught some of that in the books, but it was nice to get a first-person account. “Why?”
“Rellas is a kingdom of knights and merchants. There is a reason why knights are listed first. We are surrounded by enemies on all sides. Without the protection of the knights, the merchants would not exist.”
“But the Hrebans are not the only non-martial Great Family.”
Reynald nodded. “True. However, the other three contribute in their own way. The Yolentas provide steel for weapons, the Jals produce grain for provisions, and the Graives build roads and castles. The Hrebans buy and sell a great many things but produce little. They made their money trading in luxuries and precious metals, and they are proud of it, which is why their crest is awash in gold. Gold is soft and heavy, Maggie. You cannot make a sword out of it.”
Also, true. Not that Ulmar hadn’t tried. Once he’d decided that he wanted power, Hreban realized that he needed martial achievements. Ten years ago, he got his chance. An impregnable castle had rebelled, and Sauven needed someone to go and sit on it until the rebels saw the error of their ways.
The campaign promised to be long and boring, with minimal casualties and few opportunities to show off, and nobody except Hreban wanted to deal with it. For some bizarre reason, Sauven decided to let him.
Hreban was given two battalions of the King’s Army, all seasoned troops to compensate for his inexperience. He marched them to Lerem Castle, and then he hurled them against the walls again and again, in defiance of every military strategy and against the advice of his knights, until the defenders literally ran out of soldiers and arrows. He took the castle in a month, but he lost more than sixty-five percent of his army.
After, when Sauven screamed and threw things at him, Hreban countered that he had saved the kingdom money because none of those casualties would need to be paid and new soldiers could be recruited for less. To Hreban, the loss of experienced, battle-seasoned veterans meant nothing, because in his view, people were expendable and infinitely replaceable. There were always more of them. He would’ve made an excellent modern CEO.
That campaign made Hreban into a laughingstock among the knighthood. He had never gotten over it.
“If what you told me is true, then the Fool of Lerem Siege suddenly became a master strategist,” Reynald said.
“As I said, it’s likely he has allies. Someone with a greater vision who is behind him steering his boat.”
“Do you know who that is?”
“No.” I knew who it wasn’t, but that still left plenty of suspects.
He gave me a long, probing look. “There is something you’re not telling me.”
There was a whole lot I wasn’t telling him. “Yes.”
“You mentioned there would be three murders. The second is Kiel, the crown prince. Who are the others?”