disappearance.
“She’s gone?” he asked with an appalled laugh. “You’re telling me she has actually departed the High Temple?”
“I am, Governor. I had hoped that your patrols might have encountered her, or at least caught word of her. We have . . . sound information that she was travelling towards this city.”
The governor gave a baffled shrug. “None of my lads have caught the slightest whiff of her. I can assure you of that. Still, we’ve all been somewhat preoccupied of late. You may have heard.”
“The Stahlhast,” Vaelin said, drawing Hushan’s gaze. The man’s expression was very different to the suspicion or outright disdain Vaelin had thus far experienced from other Far Western nobles. It was more akin to the cool appraisal he expected from those well versed in war.
“Quite right, Honoured Sir.” He gave a small grin, eyebrows raised. “I must say it is strange to find oneself confronted by a figure I had thought merely mythical. Tales of the Barbarous East are a particular interest of mine. All those many wars, bizarre beliefs and fantastical events. Tell me, is it true your dread Fire Queen has command of an entire school of red sharks?”
“Only one, my lord. And it died.”
“Oh.” Hushan pursed his lips in disappointment. “Pity. But they do call you the Darkblade, do they not? That is how you are known to your people?” There was a decided weight to the governor’s gaze now, a gravity that went beyond mere interest in fanciful foreign myth.
“My enemies once called me by that name,” Vaelin replied. “But they are enemies no longer.”
“And yet the name lingers. A name my people have come to dread.”
“So I’ve heard. We saw many on the road. They looked hungry.”
“Hunger is the least a coward deserves.” Hushan waved a dismissive hand though Vaelin detected a defensive note to his voice. “This city has long been a haven for all in the north. The people shelter here whilst the horse-fuckers raid for a time before we drive them off. It has long been this way. If that fool Nishun had listened to me instead of marching his forty thousand southerners out onto the Steppe to get deservedly slaughtered, this current mess would probably have faded away. Fighting the Steel Horde in open country with an army that was three-fourths infantry.” The governor snorted in sombre disgust. “He may as well have walked up to the Darkblade and bared his neck for the axe. Now, thanks to Nishun’s defeat and all manner of nonsense spoken about this freshly arisen Stahlhast warlord, and his fearsome name, my people flee south in ever-increasing numbers, no doubt spreading vile calumnies against their governor with every step.”
“Then you do not consider the Stahlhast truly a threat?” Sho Tsai asked. “Everything we have seen and heard would indicate otherwise.”
“Oh, they’re a threat to be sure. But they always have been and I see little to distinguish this recent bout of raiding with others that have come before. If anything, their mischief had been tailing off until General Nishun stoked their ambition with forty thousand bundles of booty. Trust me, Captain, I’ve been fighting the savages of the Iron Steppe since I was old enough for my father to sit me in a saddle, and I’ve never lost yet. Nor will I now. Feel at liberty to inform the Merchant King of this, the messenger service is at your disposal.”
“I will.” Sho Tsai gave another shallow bow. “Your fortitude does you credit. However, you have no doubt received word that the Most Favoured has commanded the mustering of a far larger host which will shortly march north.”
The governor laughed, coming forward to clap a hand to Sho Tsai’s armoured shoulder. “And it’s my intention to ensure they’ll have nothing to do when they get here. Be sure to tell the Most Favoured that too. Of course, I’ll assist your mission in any way I can, but we’ll talk of it in the morning.” His smile broadened as his gaze swung to Vaelin. “As for tonight, I’ve a mind to greet my most interesting guests with a feast where they can entertain me with all manner of strange and delightful tales.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
“And this . . . World Father, he has no wife? There is no World Mother?” Governor Hushan spoke passable if somewhat halting Realm Tongue that still managed to convey the genuine mystification in his question.
“The Father is eternal and ultimately beyond our understanding,” Ellese replied, chewing on a