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)
Reynald slid the paper back into the envelope.
“Solentine is very dangerous,” I said. “You’re the superior swordsman, but he has magic, and he won’t meet you head-on. He’s more likely to shoot you in the back and call it a day.”
“He wouldn’t be the first to try.” Reynald shrugged, then frowned. “You said Solentine supports Everard for now. Does he switch his allegiance?”
“Yes.”
“To Hreban?”
“No. Not at all. The Demarrs go at it alone.” And it would become their undoing.
“What causes the rift?”
Now that I’d met Solentine, I could picture it in my head, him standing in the middle of a terrible battle, splattered with blood and screaming. It would be a wordless, horrible howl, the sound of grief and rage so awful that it had to be vented or it would’ve torn him apart.
“Solentine is loyal to his family, while Everard is loyal only to Selva. The Sleepless Duke makes a choice that Solentine can’t live with.”
Reynald nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Makes sense. Only a fool expects loyalty from a man who salts fields and burns villages to the ground.”
Loyalty among the Great Families was a touchy subject. Some, like Bors, inspired it. Others, like Hreban, ruled through intimidation and money.
“There is also this.” I passed another folded piece of paper to him.
Reynald looked at it. “What language is this?”
“It’s the Shears’ cypher.”
“What does it say?”
“‘Don’t get into the carriage. Krasta has magic, and he’s fast with a knife.’”
“Is that a warning for Solentine?”
I nodded. “He’s getting desperate to find the source of iron. He took a shortcut and crossed a kir from the of Tangle.”
Kir meant a gang boss, and as criminals went, Krasta was one of the more vicious. Curiously, kir also meant “sergeant” and there was probably some deep meaning in that.
“What happens if he gets into the carriage?”
“He’ll win, but it will cost him the use of his left arm for about a month.”
“Everything I’ve heard about the Bastard of Dagarra says he can take care of himself,” Reynald said.
“Yes, but I don’t want to take a chance on Solentine being stabbed in the throat instead of his shoulder. I was thinking of asking Will to sneak the message into the Three Moons.”
“You feel something for Solentine,” he said.
“I know what drives him. He is a horrible bastard, but if you earn his loyalty, he will fight for you till his dying breath. I don’t want that breath to happen any time soon. He is useful.”
And that sounded a lot better than I spent too much time watching him struggle and now I’m emotionally invested despite my common sense.
“I’ll take care of it,” Reynald offered.
“Thank you. As you can see, Solentine is at his wits’ end. We can sell the secret of iron to the Shears. It would earn us some coin and let us keep the element of surprise. Hreban would continue his present course for a while, unaware that he was being targeted.”
“I sense a but coming.”
“We could also leak the existence of the iron to the Throne. We would lose the surprise, but we’d rattle Hreban’s cage. He’s been too comfortable for too long. Planning to kidnap Galiene’s daughter, killing a man and paying the city guards to watch the body . . . He thinks he is untouchable.”
It rankled me.
“I think I know why that is,” Reynald said. “Silveren.”
“You think Hreban and the Redeemers are already allied?”
He nodded.
“Why? When Hreban approaches Silveren after coming to power, Silveren seems to be conflicted about it. He hesitates.”
“Because Hreban is not a strategist, but Silveren is. I fought with Silveren once, years ago. The man is sly, subtle, and guarded. He doesn’t seek personal recognition, he avoids it. I watched him formulate the plan of assault and then nudge the commanders in the room toward it until they saw it, and when they claimed it, he congratulated them on their superb strategy. He observes, he waits, and he strikes only when he is sure. I doubt he’s changed in the last few years. I cannot see him throwing his lot in with Hreban on a whim.”
In the books, after Hreban claimed his top-dog spot, he made a grand show of traveling to the Redeemer Tower and asking Silveren in front of the entire order to be his sword for justice and protection of the kingdom. But that could’ve been staged. In fact, it probably was. Hreban wouldn’t have risked public humiliation of being turned down. He had to know in advance that Silveren would agree to aid him.
An existing alliance with Silveren would explain why Hreban was feeling bold. He had an entire knight order at his disposal. If things went badly, Silveren’s people had many ways of solving inconvenient problems.
Reynald leaned back, his expression thoughtful. “I understand Hreban. Gaining the support of a knight order would go a long way to helping him climb up. The Defenders and the Conquerors each have a Great Family behind them. Allying with them is more complicated, while the Redeemers have no backing. I know what he gets out of it. But what’s in it for Silveren?”