The Burning White (Lightbringer #5) - Brent Weeks Page 0,300

defense of the Jaspers. As soon as he himself stepped out of the old man’s apartments with Corvan Danavis, he was met by no fewer than five messengers, not only updating him on the state of the defenses and the disposition of his forces but also asking that he request horses or oxen and wagons and various other things the Foresters needed permission for.

Kip directed those to report to the new high general, Corvan Danavis, who took it all in hand easily and promised to take care of it.

Winsen and Big Leo were there to guard Kip. Kip sent one of the messengers to find Ben-hadad—he was going to be figuring out mechanical things, so he needed the man’s engineering brilliance. Then he sent Winsen to go find Cruxer to summon him urgently.

“You tell him anything you have to to get him to come to me, you understand?” Kip said.

“Your wife said not to leave you for any reason,” Win said.

“And I’m telling you to move your ass to save Cruxer from doing something stupid. Come back with him.”

Winsen, nonplussed about being pitted against Tisis, looked over at Big Leo for help, but the big man shrugged. “As soon as you get back, there’ll be three of us with the boss.”

“You say that like Breaker’s the real boss,” Winsen said, but he left.

Corvan was scanning documents that had been brought to him by the numerous messengers that were also waiting for him—he’d learned it was faster and more accurate, he said, than listening through an entire report.

Not much seemed to surprise him about what he heard and read, though at one point, he said, “The Chromeria’s stockpiled that much black powder? The books never tell such things, but if we win, Karris will be the reason. Brilliant. Go on.”

His messengers were soon given orders in a clipped shorthand that they scribbled on parchment as he spoke. He’d checked his own outgoing messages, approved them, and sent them out before Kip was finished hearing the second of his.

They spoke together as they made their way to the lift.

“You brought how many war hounds?!” Corvan asked. “Cwn y Wawr – trained?”

“I’d more say they are the Cwn y Wawr,” Kip said, triggering the summon plate for a lift.

“Great, great, great. A hound’s speed and slipperiness will make them perfect message carriers. It’ll help with a real problem of communication. The battlefront is going to be the entire circle of the walls if we’ve got seven floating bane to deal with.”

“Uh . . . maybe you can rotate them through messenger duty?” Kip said. “They’ll serve where ordered, but you ever try to get a terrier to ignore a rat? Believe me, once you see them in their armor, you’re going to want them fighting on the front lines. Or as a reserve.”

Corvan nodded, and explained his strategies in broad strokes. He knew the Jaspers like the back of his hand, and had clearly been thinking about this for weeks, if not months. Bonus of being married to a Seer—who had also told him not to tell everyone at the Chromeria exactly what he was preparing for, for some reasons that she refused to explain—a drawback of being married to a Seer.

“I wish we had hours and hours,” Kip said as they got on the lift. He decided to take it down with Corvan, though he needed to go up to the roof.

“There are hard things we need to talk about, son,” Corvan said. “I’ve . . . got a lot of explaining to do to you. And forgiveness to ask.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Kip said. “You cared for me more than anyone. And I, the son of your enemy. The man who cost you everything.”

“That’s . . . not . . . It’s far more complicated than that. And not at all clean. I’m afraid I shall lose whatever respect you have for me.”

“Never,” Kip said. “Master Danavis . . . I mean, High General Satrap Danavis, I’ve been in impossible positions now myself. Sometimes men do things in the heat of a moment, but I judge men by what they do day after day.”

The cloud didn’t move from Corvan’s visage, though, only darkened.

“We need to talk about your daughter, too,” Kip said. “But not here. Someplace absolutely secure.”

Corvan shook his head as if it weren’t necessary. “I met with her briefly some time ago. I know what’s she’s decided. I can guess where she’ll be tomorrow.” Corvan’s jaw tightened, and his