half-regretful shrug. “He knows that I am here. It might be better if you sent me away.”
“No.” Sho Tsai gave a firm shake of his head. “Having you here means I can read his intentions. Provided you’re willing to stay, of course.”
Luralyn blinked in surprise. “You would let me go?”
“It strikes me it would be best not to antagonise your Heaven-blessed friends, and I’ll need their help as much as I need yours. Better if it were given willingly.”
“They’ll give it,” she assured him. “As will I.”
His lips twitched in what might have been a smile of gratitude before he turned to Vaelin. “And you, my lord? Failure or not, your mission for the Merchant King is complete. I can issue a pass guaranteeing free passage through the Venerable Kingdom. You could be on a ship home within weeks.”
Vaelin’s surprise was the equal of Luralyn’s and he found himself replying with a rueful laugh. However, he sobered quickly as he discerned the unspoken suggestion in Sho Tsai’s steady gaze: Take Sherin and go.
“She won’t leave,” he told the general. “You know that. And neither will I. I’ve seen enough to know this man has to be defeated. If he’s not stopped here, it’s likely I’ll find myself fighting him on the walls of my own tower in the space of a few years.”
“Very well.” Sho Tsai turned to an unfurled scroll on the table. “Governor Neshim may not be the most resolute of men, but his bookkeeping skills are exemplary and he’s been sufficiently astute to have begun stockpiling supplies in our absence. By his reckoning we can subsist here for at least three months, longer once Commander Deshai returns with the supplies from Keshin-Ghol.”
“Kehlbrand will not try to starve us out,” Luralyn said. “You could have filled your storehouses ten times over and it won’t matter. My people have little patience or ability for siege-craft. When he comes it will be as a storm and it won’t stop until he has this city.”
“How many more Gifted does he have?” Vaelin asked.
“There are only three others that I found. Sehga is a border country woman who can plant lies in men’s minds, lies they believe utterly to be true. Lehkis is Tuhla and has a special way with metal. Useful for crafting but not much else. Morheld is Stahlhast, spared the priests’ attentions by pretending madness for all his life, so much so that it came to be truth. He can draw blood from any living thing, leaving only empty skin and dry bone. But there are more, those I had no hand in recruiting. Once Kehlbrand had his own gift he no longer needed me to find others with the Divine Blood. Exactly how many and what they can do, I know not.”
And he has the stone, Vaelin added inwardly. How many have touched it at the Darkblade’s command and, if it didn’t kill them, what gifts did they receive? “They’ll have to be dealt with,” he said. “And quickly if we’re to have any chance of holding this place.”
“I’ll leave the matter in your hands,” Sho Tsai told Luralyn. “Dai Lo Tsai will take over command of the Red Scouts and see to your safety, with Lord Vaelin’s assistance.”
“We’ll need more,” Vaelin said. “Kehlbrand will know the value of our Gifted as well as we know his.”
“I’ll need every trained soldier for the walls. Commander Deshai has been assiduous in recruiting and drilling the militia companies, however”—the general looked again at the governor’s scroll—“it appears there is one as yet untapped well from which we can draw. Lord Nortah had tales aplenty to share on the trail. One in particular caught my attention. I believe, my lord, you are experienced in taking scum and moulding them into soldiers.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
“Why do they always stink?” Nortah’s features bunched as the heavy doors swung open to reveal the dark vaults that served as the dungeons of Keshin-Kho. “Surely, somewhere in the world there must be a clean prison.”
“Stinks because people shit in it,” Sehmon said, apparently bemused by Nortah’s failure to perceive the obvious.
“Of course.” Nortah clapped him on the shoulder. “My lad, you’ve clearly missed your calling. Such powerful insight makes you a fine candidate for acceptance into the Third Order. I shall be sure to write a letter of recommendation the moment we return to the Realm.”
“Don’t want to join the Third Order,” the former outlaw said, his frown deepening.