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)
I had been at this for the better part of two hours. Now that we’d found the contraband iron, we had to decide what to do about it. I had a lot of things to write down.
A knock made me raise my head. Reynald stood in the doorway.
During the day, when he was doing things around the house, you forgot who he was and what he was capable of. But right now, half wrapped in the gloom, he looked frightening. His broad shoulders stretched his charcoal shirt. He seemed to have congealed from twilight, complete with an impassive expression on his face. Deadly swordsmen in my fantasy books loomed a lot, but I’d never seen anyone “loom” in real life. Reynald could give a master class in looming. If he wasn’t on our side, I’d be climbing out the window to get away.
“Come in,” I invited.
He stalked into the room and sat in the chair across the desk. The golden glow of the lanterns played over the hard jaw and the defined contours of his cheekbones. His gray-green eyes were cold and thoughtful, communicating just enough danger to catch your attention and hold it right there, on him. You could put him on a cover just like that, with a sword by his chair, and I would buy it so fast, my phone would catch fire.
I also think you’re amazing . . .
Perspective. He wasn’t trying to impress me. He was just sitting in a chair.
“What are we going to do about the iron?” he asked.
Right. Back to business.
“It’s a valuable secret. We could sell it to the Shears,” I told him. “The rebellion in the highlands is just south of Selva’s border. If it flares up, Sauven will demand that Everard put it down and then find some fault with how he does. The Sleepless Duke will lose soldiers, time, and money, and in the end, he’ll be accused of slaughtering helpless peasants or some other nonsense Sauven’s pack of counselors cooks up. Don’t get me wrong, Everard is ruthless, but he doesn’t go out of his way to be cruel unless he is trying to make a point. There is no point to be made in the hinterlands.”
“We are ornery people,” Reynald said. “If we don’t rebel every decade or so, we get bored.”
Spoken like a highland man. Long ago that area was settled by geriben, who raided Rellas in their blade boats. They were an independent and proud people, who kept the memories of their raiding glory alive, and they had no love for Rellasian bureaucracy. It didn’t take much to set them off. If they weren’t rebelling, they were communicating their intention to rebel.
“Everard needs this rebellion like a hole in his head. Since the Shears are allied with him, they’ve been turning the kingdom inside out trying to figure out the iron supplier. They will pay top rate.”
He thought about it, his fingers tapping the right armrest. “What’s binding the Shears to Everard?”
“The Shears are led by Solentine Dagarra.”
“Ah.”
Nothing more needed to be said.
This portion of the continent was split between Rellas in the West and the Crimson Empire in the East. The two countries shared a long border, interrupted by the Corios Sea. When they warred, their invasions happened either in the south, across a vast plain, or in the north, where three mountain ranges formed the Trihorn.
Solentine’s father, Margrave Izarn Demarr, held the southern edge of the Trihorn, while the Sleepless Duke shielded the northern side. The Demarrs and the Everards had to cooperate. They were both vassals of Rellas, but Izarn was much more vulnerable to Sauven’s whims and paranoia. More, he had to maintain a large standing army that was beyond his means. The Throne sent him an annual grant, and without that money the defense of the border would collapse. Izarn couldn’t afford to piss Sauven off.
To keep everyone safe, a secret agreement was reached between the Everards and the Demarrs.
“Publicly, the Demarrs are cool toward Selva and hold themselves as if the Sleepless Duke is the necessary evil they must endure to guard the border,” I said. “Privately, Solentine aids Everard in his ambitions using the Shears, at least for now. In return, if the Demarrs need help, Everard will come to their aid.”
“Good to know,” Reynald said.
While we’re on the subject . . . I handed him a small envelope.
“What is it?”
“Leverage against Solentine. If something happens to me, and you suspect the Shears are involved, you can use this to pressure him.”
Reynald studied the envelope. “Can I look at it?”
I nodded.
He opened the envelope, freed the single piece of paper inside, and read it. His eyebrows crept up.
Yeah. Solentine regretted a few things he had done in his life, but he was only ashamed of one. That one.