to leap clear of his sneering face.
Caine’s eyes wandered to the baroness while reaching for more bread. To his surprise, he found she was already looking at him with eyes of liquid green. After the moment had lingered a second too long, both of them looked back at their food awkwardly.
The Baron studied his plate as though it had offered a portent of some kind. Chewing thoughtfully, he looked up at Caine, and swallowed.
“I’m curious for an explanation of just what you’re doing here, Captain. Your arrival does not come without some inconvenience to us.”
Caine sipped his wine. “I find that odd, Baron. Was it not you who demanded the king take action? Has he not met your demands?”
The Baron scoffed. “To ask for the safety of your borders and lands is one thing. To have an army descend upon one’s household is another thing entirely.”
“Please, Ivor. You will offend our guest,” the baroness interjected.
“Still your tongue and let the men talk!” the Baron hissed. The baroness looked down at her plate and made no reply.
“Rest assured, Baron. King Leto takes your security as priority. This far to the border, Northguard is more than a day’s ride. We’re better to position here, if we’re to find these marauders you make claims of.”
“Do you suggest my claims are false?”
Caine blinked. “I said no such thing. Why would you ask it?”
The baron frowned. With gathered composure, he cleared his throat. “We, of course, will welcome you until your work is finished. However, I am rather inclined to see it done with expedience. The appearances of a nobleman under occupation are … most unseemly. I would not expect a commoner such as you to understand.”
The baroness blanched, but held her tongue.
“Baron, as tempting as that may sound to both of us, I won’t be going anywhere until the job is done.”
Over the next day, Caine’s detachment was put to work. The trenchers dug and fortified a perimeter around the estate, then ran observation points out along the north and south of the Serinye trail. The rangers led long-range reconnaissance sweeps from the Orgoth marsh down to Cear Brynn, and nearly back to Perry’s Landing.
Caine made a point of having the Baron escorted in his comings and goings. On two separate excursions, the baron made pointless visits to Perry’s Landing. His business quickly concluded both times, Gerdie relayed to Caine that the nobleman had appeared ready to flee the escort. While on the estate, the Baron kept to himself, avoiding Caine and his men whenever possible.
Caine met with Reevan after the first night, and confirmed the border crossing north was well patrolled, but the veteran ranger recommended a few points through which one could slip. On a few occasions, Caine and the baroness crossed paths as she spent time touring the estate grounds upon her horse.
For all the activity within the estate, there had been no sign of mercenaries outside. Gerdie’s suspicions were gaining support.
On the second night, Caine readied a horse to scout the way to Merywyn for himself. At twilight, he followed the Turpin highway north for a league. As he came within sight of the border, he broke from the trail just as Reevan had advised. He found the sergeants advice well timed. Pausing in the shade of thick brush, he saw a contingent of Llaelese soldiers thunder past, and more ahead on the trail. Seeing such resistance, he decided his horse was best left behind, and tied her in a secluded clearing. He crosscut the woods for a half-hour before rejoining the highway. By his count, he had come a league into Llael. On approach to her capital, he twice found himself diverted back into the brush, as more soldiers tramped along the highway. Caine couldn’t shake the feeling that Llael was preparing for something big, and seemed scared, just as Rebald had said. At last within spyglass range of the capital, he stopped to observe.
Merywyn cast colorful lights into the night sky, and its great walls stood proudly over a periphery of old forest. Behind the safety of these high walls, he could see dozens of tall spires stretching into the night sky. The spires were iconic to the city, and impressive in their craftsmanship.
Despite the beauty, the more of it he saw, the more he frowned. The city was inaccessible from the east, bordered by the Black River, and the west side did not look much better. The landside of the city was encircled by a stretch of