A Shore Too Far - By Kevin Manus-Pennings Page 0,27

unclasped them. “I knew about the Kullobrini. About the people, anyway, a year ago.”

“Gwey…” I stood now.

Outside, some soldiers laughed raucously.

“I was in Mun Dovar,” he said helplessly. “I was talking to the loom halls in Gullion, near the palace.”

“Gwey…,” I said again, my head reeling.

“It was nothing, Kara. One of these Kullobrini came from the palace, passed me in the street. His appearance, the black skin, is so remarkable, there was no question I stumbled upon a new people. I followed him to his ship.” He motioned out to the bay. “One of those golden beasts. We talked, had some wine. He told me about his land, his people.” He rose and reached out to me. “I haggled with him for a day trying to buy his ship and four more just like it.”

I glared at him, speechless.

“I didn’t know they were coming here. I—I didn’t know about—about any of this,” he said, motioning wildly. “It was business, Kara. That’s all.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me? To tell Eric?” I spat.

“How was I to know that they were going to land troops here? Families? Horses? I couldn’t know!” His face, usually broad and welcoming, was red with outrage.

“No, Gwey, your competition couldn’t know and so you kept it to yourself,” I snapped.

“Yes, that’s right! Not my competition and therefore not you!” he replied. “I’m a businessman and this was business. Not military, just money.”

“We could be under attack, Gwey. There could be another fleet out there now, waiting to choose another accidental landing. How will your business be then, Gwey, with Abringol in flames?”

“And what would you have done, Kara? Tripled the fleet?” he asked, raising his arms in exasperation. “He was a businessman, Kara, like me. Not a soldier, not royalty.”

“No, I imagine not,” I said. “If you were a soldier, you would report information valuable to Avandi’s survival.”

“No,” he said, his voice rising, “if I were a soldier I would perceive all the world as a threat and never leave the kingdom except to punish the enemies of my father.”

“You know nothing,” I charged. “This was your duty.”

“No, it’s your duty,” he said. “My duty is to earn money and not assume that everyone I meet is a potential enemy. How far would my business go if I were to confront each new person with suspicion? I can’t go into a business relationship believing that here’s another foe of the kingdom I need to report to the High General.”

“And yet we now have foreign troops on our soil,” I countered. “You didn’t want to see this new people as a threat because it put your profits at risk.”

“He was a merchant!” Gwey cried. “He was buying fabric! Not bows, not Sea Fire, not swords.”

“His nation could still be dangerous to Avandi, Gwey. If not the man, then what he represents, a new nation with its own motives and agenda,” I said.

“What other threats are out there, Kara? How many other peoples? How many other armies? I understand you have a duty to protect the kingdom. I understand that it’s your duty, but assuming the worst about the world, dividing it up into friends and foes, just forces you into judging other peoples before you really know them.”

“This isn’t a game, Gwey. There are real enemies and real allies,” I shouted. “My duty is—”

“Yes! Duty, duty, duty,” Gwey sang out, mocking me. “It’s your duty, and the fact that it consumes you doesn’t mean that it must consume everyone around you.”

It was his turn to glare. He threw his glass to the floor and charged past me and out into the rain. I followed. Despite the storm above us, the day was strangely bright.

“Even you still have a duty—,” I began.

“No,” he said, water streaming down his face. “I’ve done my duty, perhaps too late, perhaps for the wrong reasons, but I’ve done it.”

Gwey grabbed the reins of his horse and pulled the animal’s head close. Water pooled at his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry a thousand times over, but you and I see the world very differently.” He began to lead his horse away. “Very differently.”

Against a brightly lit sky, dark clouds showered the world with rain and a rainbow began forming over the sea.

***** ***** *****

Just before sunset, the princes Ujor returned from Abringol. The rain still fell and the rainbow over the sea had grown so vivid, so large, that soldiers on both sides stood together and gawked and pointed.

Most