A Plague of Giants (Seven Kennings #1) - Kevin Hearne Page 0,152

for a few beats, then: “I’m starting to think you may be an asshole.”

“This from a man who threatens people with death if they look at you.”

A snort. “Very well. You may have your petty digs against my vanity. It is the least I can do after all your wife did for me and this country. In deepest sincerity, Master Dervan, she was our finest. An excellent spy and an excellent person. I wish she were still with us. I’m very sorry about what happened.”

I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent emotions from leaking out of them and spoke through clenched teeth. “And do you know what happened, Master Wraith? Sitting here in the dark, did you ever find out who was responsible for her murder? Or who came up with a poison our hygienists couldn’t counteract?”

“No. But I haven’t given up on seeking answers. I continue to devote resources to it despite our other priorities. Because the source of that poison does need to be found, and we need to muster an appropriate response.”

“You will inform me of any developments?”

“You have my word on it.”

I took a few deep breaths, thought of the ebb and flow of tides and the smooth sand that is left behind. I would be the beach after the tide has receded. I just needed to get out of that room and let the waves wash over me.

“You have my thanks. Am I dismissed?”

“In a moment. You’ll be relieved to hear you shouldn’t have to come here again. Communications will flow through the military or the Lung’s staff. You may pass along any information you have through the mariners on your detail, who in fact work for me. That is all.”

“Right.” I pushed myself up from the chair and exited through the door, where the woman with the approval smile was waiting. She flashed it at me and led me through a bewildering maze of halls, stairways, and doors to an exit that was different from the one I had used to enter. It wasn’t even the same building; we had traveled underground and come up somewhere much closer to the docks.

“I trust you can find your way home from here,” she said.

I gave her an approval smile and walked away. Home wasn’t where I wanted to go. Butternuts in there had opened wounds that weren’t fully healed, and I wanted to fight someone. I headed for the armory because maybe Mynstad du Möcher would spar with me.

The Mynstad smiled briefly at my arrival, but then her face became wary when she saw my expression.

“Are you available to spar, Mynstad?”

“Yes, Master Dervan. Are you well?”

I clenched and unclenched my fists. “No. I need a fight. I need to have my ass kicked. It’ll make me feel better.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. But if you could do it without causing any permanent damage, I’d be grateful.”

“Maybe some meditation would be better, or a good stiff drink.”

“I’m not some Kaurian who can just sit outside and breathe peace, and it’s too early to drink. I’m a Brynt and I need to let the violence flow out of me.”

She stared at me a moment, then nodded. “Very well. It so happens I wouldn’t mind kicking some ass this morning. Kind of convenient that you came along, really. Training swords?” She reached for a rack of dull wooden blades mounted on the wall.

“No. Fists.”

There was a moment of evident surprise, but she shrugged it off. “Okay. I hope you won’t mind if I tape my knuckles.”

“By all means.” I taped mine as well, and when we were ready, we stepped out to the courtyard.

She took in my stance and sniffed. “You sure about this, Dervan? I could just buy you a beer and we could talk about whatever’s troubling you.”

“No. I need to punch something.”

“Okay, then. Go ahead. Take a swing, at least.”

I shuffled forward as if I was going to fight right-handed, but of course my right knee was too weak to allow that. As soon as I tried to dance back or to the side, I’d fall over. I switched my feet and fists at the last moment before jabbing left and following up with a right cross, planting my weight on my good knee. She took the jab but wasn’t fooled by the switch; she stepped inside the cross and blocked it with her forearm, then hammered me in the gut and smashed her forehead into my nose. I never landed another blow. The