A Plague of Giants (Seven Kennings #1) - Kevin Hearne Page 0,110

beneath my boot. Halsten and Lanner killed the others with axe and fist except for one we let burn and scream until he dropped.

La Mastik cleared her throat as their fluids watered the earth. “Hearthfire, please help me understand why you just did that.”

“Certainly. We are still not ready for an assault. Nor are we in a position to negotiate from strength. Until we are, we have to prevent the Nentians from learning our numbers and defenses.”

“So it’s true. You’re not merely staying the season but claiming this land as your own.”

“I am.”

“And all your talk of living in peace with the Nentians was a slick of sand badger shit. The other nations won’t allow it to stand.”

“They won’t be able to put together a force strong enough to defeat us now. The Kaurians and the Brynts are too far away to care, and we can handle the Fornish and Nentians and, yes, even the Raelechs.”

“Perhaps. This method, though, is distasteful. It’s murder.”

“All great cities are born in fire and blood,” I said, quoting the words of Thurik to her. “What did you think it was going to look like?”

“You are adept at quoting Thurik for someone who doesn’t tend his flame.”

“My father taught me that words shape people as the hammer shapes iron. Leaders bend religions to their purposes, and religions in turn bend the people who believe in them. I’m sure you already knew that last part, but if you were unaware of the former point, then you haven’t examined your histories.”

“Do you even believe in Thurik, Hearthfire? Tell me true.”

Stepping close to her and keeping my voice low so that only she could hear, I said, “I believe in fire and in the craft of my mind and in the strength of my people. I’m told that Thurik believes the same. And in case you were unaware, I sent all six of my children to the boil at Olenik and your patroness is marrying the only one who survived. Remember that before you question my beliefs.”

She pursed her thin lips, disliking my answer, but broke eye contact and passed a hand over her skull, snuffing out the flames, before excusing herself. She would move against me soon if she hadn’t begun to do so already in secret. I would have to consult Sefir on the matter and prepare countermeasures.

Halsten said, “Lots of fresh meat on the ground. May I feed it to the hounds, Hearthfire?”

“Absolutely, Houndmaster. I was just going to suggest it. And Lanner, please let the Hearth know it’s time to scuttle that ship. This Nentian delegation was tragically lost at sea, and we never saw them, understood?”

“Understood, Hearthfire,” he said, grim satisfaction evident on his face.

“Before you go, Lanner—any chance of getting Korda out of Hashan Khek?”

He shook his head. “They have him in the viceroy’s compound surrounded by a whole lot of crossbowmen.”

“We’d pay a steep toll in lives, then, to save his life. We can’t afford it.”

“He’s at peace with it, Hearthfire. He’s bought us time, and he knows it. He may yet escape on his own. And if not, then we have already avenged him here tonight. My only hope is that we’ll get a chance at the viceroy sometime. I’d enjoy killing him more than most.”

“We will get to him eventually,” I assured him. “He’ll send more like this first. When they realize that pretty words on paper mean nothing, we will laugh in their faces, too. We will burn and grind them all until they agree—or the survivors agree—that Baghra Khek is our city and this is Hathrim land.”

—

Once Fintan had dismissed the form of Gorin Mogen he chuckled as he imprinted his next stone. “The viceroy, as you may well imagine, was not ready to agree.” He threw down the sphere and took on the scowling visage of Melishev Lohmet.

Chumat and Dhingra are long overdue, and I know they’re not coming back because Gorin Mogen has made them vanish. The Fornish ambassador reports that there are closer to ten thousand Hathrim by the Godsteeth than one thousand, and that was excuse enough to float my brain in alcohol last night and enjoy the company of a professional sexitrist. After taking the most painful morning piss I can remember and staggering around my chambers with a thunderous headache, I’m ready to kill some people. Since doing so will hasten the day I can get out of Hashan Khek and see a Brynt hygienist, I take to the task with