The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch #3) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,57

back enough asha to satisfy their quota.”

“Coinciding with your arrest,” Khalad murmured under his breath. “Definitely not a coincidence.”

“We’ll make a brief stop here at the House of Lords, to await the First Minister,” Lord Besserly continued. “And then we can proceed.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Proceed to what?”

“To the nanghait, of course.”

“What?”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t seen it on the way here, milady. It’s usually on the other side of the mountains when it resurrects, but it’s somehow made its way to our side before we had our first sighting. Surprising, no? We weren’t expecting its resurrection for another four years. In our Interior Minister’s defense, he’s quite terrible at arithmetic.”

“But…why would you elect him if you knew he wasn’t good at his job?” Likh asked.

“We rolled dice for the position. Fair’s fair.”

“Fair enough,” I echoed. “I would have appreciated some forewarning about the nanghait, Lord Besserly.”

“My apologies. My assistants may have jumped the arrow when they communicated as much to your Lady Mykaela. They may not have stated our intentions clearly…or they might have been drunk when they sent the missive. Drunk, more likely.”

“So when Lady Mykaela told them we were coming,” Khalad murmured, “the Yadoshans assumed it was for hunting the nanghait.”

“Lady Mykaela gave us rather short notice this time,” Lord Besserly went on. “It’s not how she’s planned these things in the past. I haven’t gotten the chance to thank you for saving me, have I? They tell me it was you who uncovered the plot to kill me, that you extracted it from some imprisoned Faceless months ago. If you would believe it, I was having lunch with the would-be assassin as I received the warning! Bloody hard to keep a straight face after that, especially when I was complimenting him on the grapes he’d sent me as a gift. Made him eat a bunch of them, just to see if they were as poisonous as the soup he tried to murder me with.” The Yadoshan laughed; what would have been a traumatizing incident to most was his funny anecdote. “Is that particular Faceless still around, by any chance?”

“She died, milord.”

“Ah, rotten luck. Was it a clean death?”

“No, milord.” I thought about Aenah’s last moments without regret. “It was not a clean death.”

“Well and good. I wished I could have run her through a few times with a sword myself, but I suppose you must be cautious around that lot.” He sobered. “I am very sorry to hear about Lady Polaire. She was a wonderful woman. What a fantastic minister she would have made, had she been Yadoshan. Would have given Stefan a run for his money if she’d fought against him in the commons, and she could drink me under the table if she’d had a mind to. She was well respected here, admired by my men. My heartfelt condolences.”

“Thank you, milord. She is—she is greatly missed.”

It did not take long for First Minister Stefan to make his appearance. The leader of the city-states was a tall man, easily several inches over six feet, and round as an ox. He was also heavily clad in chain mail, as were the assistants who accompanied him. “First Minister,” Kalen greeted him, a little warily. “I’m not entirely sure chain mail will be necessary for this hunt.”

“It’s always best to be prepared, wouldn’t you say?” Lord Stefan rubbed his hands. “I will leave the hard work to you and your friends, Lord Kalen, but the last time your Lady Mykaela put down our local daeva, she deigned to inform us only after the fact. While our army may not be up to speed when it comes to dealing with the nanghait, at least permit us to offer some backup, to save face if nothing else.”

“Can you promise me, then, that this has nothing to do with the games regarding the nanghait?” Kalen asked.

“I am afraid,” Minister Stefan responded, his cherubic face beaming with insincerity, “that I cannot make that claim.”

“Yadoshans,” Khalad sighed. “Lord Besserly, surely you can see why the practice should be discontinued?”

“Actually, good sir”—Lord Besserly drew back his cloak, revealing that he, too, was wearing armor—“I was rather looking forward to it.”

“Games?” I asked Kalen. “What do they mean?”

He scowled. “The Yadoshans are some of the bravest people in the land—and also the most ridiculous. There is a customary practice here called chasing the nanghait.”

“You seriously can’t tell me that means what it sounds like it means.”

“The opposite holds true, actually—it’s usually the nanghait that winds up