Covenants (14 page)

Please meet me in the entry way.” "Trooper Jeffen, please escort Losan and her aides to the foyer,"

Captain Suiden said.

Losan's mouth shut with a snap and after glaring red-faced at the captain, she spun around and walked out after the Faena. Jeff herded the other two clerks behind her.

As soon as they were gone, Suiden told me to shut the courtyard doors, while Javes pushed away from the wall and shut the door to the hallway. Groskin moved the chairs so they faced away from the uncovered windows and glass doors.

"Please sit." Suiden frowned as we all did so. "I had forgotten how, ah, involved the politics were here.”

Javes gave a sharp laugh. "Involved? The ambassador of the only country to beat us bloody stupid is given a stripped bare house, is told that his money is no good and that he'd probably nick any loose change lying around, so we'll keep the household books, old fellow. By a jumped-up junior clerk."

"Eso Dru, Javes," Suiden said.

"Fine. A jumped-up noble junior clerk.”

"It concerns me, sirs, that she had no compunction in demanding that she take over the procurement of our supplies," Groskin said.

"Yes," Suiden said. "It makes one wonder.”

"It also concerns me that we haven't heard from any of the Gresh or Iversly clergy," Groskin continued.

"Nor from anyone else.”

"You're right, Lieutenant," Javes said. "Where's the receiving committee? In every damn place we've been, the officials fell over themselves to greet the ambassador. Here, they act like he's some junior clerk, come only to make sure the lawn is trimmed and the middens emptied." He turned and looked at me.

"And what about Lord Rabbit here? If my papa had a loose heir running about, he'd be all over him like wet on water."

"Uhm, sir, I'm not really the heir—”

"No, not to Flavan, Rabbit," Javes said, "but Lord Chause has only one very young son and the brother next in line is a vice admiral in the Royal Navy out quarreling with the Turalians over sea trade routes—and is not married."

"Widower, no children," Suiden said.

I blinked, not realizing how close to the succession I stood. "But my da is still alive and I have three older brothers."

"Who aren't here," Suiden replied. "You are."

"But I don't want—" The world shifted.

"Then you should have stayed in the Border," the obsidian dragon said. The gray wolf gave a sharp yip, while the black panther's ears laid back in agreement. Green eyes stared down at me through wisps of curling smoke. "Why do you think your parents went there? It's the one place where certain Houses—"

"Or other interests," the wolf growled.

"—couldn't reach them.”

"Why did you leave the Border, Rabbit?" the large cat rumbled.

"I wanted to see the world ..." My voice trailed off as three different species looked at me in disbelief.

"So you've said before, but your parents couldn't have been so naive as to not tell you what they had left behind," the dragon said.

They did tell me. But what I ran away from terrified me more than anything that might have arisen from the once upon a time of my parents' past. From the clean, bright walls shadows gathered and I was suddenly surrounded by darkness through which several pairs of transparent eyes peered. I heard the wind shaking the trees, and something stretched, men snapped with a thunderclap.

"Rabbit, are you all right?" Groskin asked, his hand on my arm.

I looked up and saw Suiden and Javes watching me with concern. The sun shone into the room, the trees outside still, the only shadows cast by window and door mullions. A shudder shook me. "I—”

The door opened and Laurel came in. "What has happened?" He shut the door behind him and hurried over to where we were, his toe claws clicking against the floor tiles. "Are you all right, Rabbit?”

Suiden rose and went to my side. "Lieutenant Rabbit was overcome by the heat for a moment.”

"I see." Laurel looked at me. "You might want to breathe.” I realized that I wasn't taking in air and began to gasp, willing my heart to slow down. A metallic taste filled my mouth, followed by bile, and I swallowed. After opening the glass doors to the courtyard, Groskin came back and tried to thrust my head between my knees. Laurel swatted his hand away and reached into his pouch, pulling out a couple of leaves. "Here, chew these.”

I swallowed again, recognizing them. "No," I said in denial.

Javes frowned. "What are they?”

"Thunder without a cloud in the sky, Rabbit," Laurel said, ignoring the captain. 'Tell me, what did you see?”

"It's not uncommon to have thunder without clouds when it's hot," Suiden said. "And you're not dosing my men without my permission.”

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't work and I fell back into my chair. Groskin clamped a hand to my shoulder to keep me seated.

"It's just the heat, sir," I said. "I'm all right.”

"No, you're not all right," Laurel said. He looked at Suiden. "Do you know what's ailing him?” Shut up, I thought, and both Laurel and Suiden looked at me as if I shouted.

"All right," Javes said. "What is going on?”

Laurel held up the leaves and in the breeze from the open doors I caught the faint scent of mint.

"Mentha," he said.

Suiden stared at Laurel, then jerked his head around at me, his face filled with dawning understanding.

"So?" Javes asked as Groskin frowned down at me.

"It's given to mages," Laurel said, "when they start to come into their full power.” There was silence as Laurel's words sank in; then Groskin snatched his hand back from my shoulder as if it were hot. Javes, though, peered at me through his quiz glass. "Oh, I say," he murmured, fascinated. Then his voice changed. "You're shaking like you have the ague, Rabbit.”

I felt like it. Despite the heat, I was shivering with cold and my teeth had started to chatter. I pushed myself to my feet anyway, this time staying there. "I'll be all right, sir," I repeated, not looking at Laurel or his damned leaves. "It's the heat. A little rest and I should be fine.”

"So you're not a mage?" Javes asked, still looking at me through his quiz glass.

I shook my head and nearly fell. I steadied myself by grabbing onto the chair's back. "No, sir," I denied.

"I'm just a farm boy." And I was. It took many years for an apprentice to become a mage.

"Rabbit—" Laurel began, taking hold of my arm. I didn't have the strength to pull away.

"Let him go, Sro Cat," Suiden said, removing my arm from Laurel's grasp for me.

"Captain—" Laurel began this time, rumbling.

"We don't have time to argue," Suiden said. "There are three officious clerks of Lord Gherat's waiting to take us to the bank, so to the bank we must go. Unless you want them or, worse, Gherat to start asking questions." Moving between Laurel and me, he looked at Groskin standing several paces away. "Get someone to escort Rabbit upstairs, Lieutenant.” Groskin went to the door and shouted, and a trooper almost immediately appeared. Laurel rumbled deep, his tail lashing, but he remained quiet as the trooper and I left for my room. We did detour first by the kitchen where I drank a cup of water and downed two oranges Basel produced. But after climbing the stairs on wobbly legs, I finally made it to my bedroll.

There I collapsed, feeling as though I'd been rolled out and pounded flat. I shot upright again, though, as the smell of mint hit my nose. Reaching into my trousers pocket, I found two mentha leaves that Laurel had managed to tuck in. I stared at the leaves for a moment, then dropped them on the floor before collapsing once more. The room spun around once as I sank into oblivion.

I woke up to a sun-filled room, and I groaned. Every joint hurt and my mouth tasted like I had done a tavern crawl, licking the floors clean. I sat up, and lay back down quick to keep my head from falling off.

Then my stomach let me know it was feeling neglected and threatened to erupt. I was holding still, hoping that everything would calm down, when the door opened and Jeff walked in carrying the captain's tea service.

"How're you feeling?" Jeff asked.

I croaked.

"That good?" Setting the tray down, Jeff shoved something under my head and shoulders, raising me up.

"I brought you some tea. Hold on a moment." He left the room but returned quickly with screens of different sizes.

I croaked again.

"These? One of the lads found them in a small closet tucked away under a staircase. Must have been missed by whoever cleaned this place out." Coming back to my bedroll, Jeff lifted the teapot and poured a cup. Dropping in several lumps of sugar, he stirred it before handing me the cup. I gulped it down as Jeff took the large screens and fit them over the windows. He then took the smaller screens and placed them over the ventilation openings. "They'll keep out any garden visitors that might come calling," Jeff said as he returned. He took the cup. "More?"

"Yes, please," I whispered.

Jeff poured another cup and added sugar to it. "So, what happened? The captain just said you were taken sick." He watched me gulp down the tea again, and poured another cup.

"The heat," I whispered.

"Oh," Jeff said, his face telling me how weak he thought that was. But he decided not to hold it against me and added, "It has been pretty hot, I guess. I thought I was going to melt when I went outside yesterday." He saw my look of inquiry. "Suiden took me with them to the bank since you couldn't go."

He grinned as he dropped sugar in the cup. "Never saw so much marble.”

"Groskin didn't go?" I whispered, taking the cup. I drained it once more.

"Yeah, he went," Jeff said. He gave a faint frown. "Thought he'd come back up here to check on you, but I saw him taking off with Slevoic." Jeff shrugged, dismissing the doings of lieutenants, and grinned again.

"You should've been there, Rabbit. The banker was full of how he couldn't accept Border coin and how he couldn't give the ambassador credit. Something about reciprocal—” "Reciprocal agreements. The Border and Iversterre have no banking treaties with each other," I said, my voice stronger.

"Yeah." Jeff took my cup and filled it the fourth time. "The ambassador let him talk until he ran out of words, then he pulled out a sack from his carry pouch and dumped jewels in front of the banker." He handed me the cup. "Captain Suiden said later that they were all of the first water, whatever that means.”

"Top-notch," I said, my voice almost normal. I emptied the cup again.

"Well, with all the pretties glittering on his desk, old windy-bags sure changed his tune fast." Jeff poured again.

"Probably from Dragoness Moraina's hoard," I said, speculating.

Jeff's eyes widened. "A dragon's jewels?”

"Probably," I said again. "They're the only ones with enough gemstones that they can give out sacks and not miss any." I held out my cup. "So, the banker was dazzled?”

Jeff emptied the pot into it. "He almost had palpitations. He did have palpitations, though, when the ambassador pulled out a letter of credit." Jeff watched me drink the last of the how very strong tea. "It was from the Qarant.”

I nodded and managed to lean over to set my cup down on the tray. "Trading partners."

"Come again?”

"My ma's weaving would make a grown man weep, especially if he had to wear it. But my sisters, Harmony, Sage, and River Rain—"

"Sheesh, Rabbit," Jeff said.

"—sell their work to trade factors who then either resell it in the cities or to the Qarant."

"Cities," Jeff said. "Here?”

"No. Border cities—the elfin ones, mainly." I saw Jeff's face. "We're not all in the woods. The elves build incredible cities." Including, according to them, Iversly.

The tea had eased the ache in my head and settled my stomach, and I sat up. "So we're using the Royal Bankers?”

"Oh, yeah," Jeff said. "Windy-bags did a song and dance about how he'd been misled and that everything seemed proper and that he could handle all our needs. Especially when Suiden presented his letter of credit from the Lord Commander."

"Misled," I said.

"Yeah, the captains caught that too. Javes said something about Lord Gherat trying to put a spoke through the ambassador's wheels—and ours. That the Treasurer does not like the Lord Commander, especially because the army doesn't have to account to him for its funds." Jeff started to tidy the tray.

"We spent the rest of the day getting supplies and victuals. Basel must've hit five different markets, and took notes about others. Captain Javes is going shopping for furnishings today." He gave a sneer. "I mean, old fellow, who better, what?”

"Careful, Jeff," I said vaguely. "Javes is not the ass he seems to be.” Jeff shrugged, also dismissing captains who acted like twits.

"You know, maybe I should go with Javes," I said, calculating my purse's contents against next quarter day. "He probably could do with some help.” Jeff smirked as he stood and picked up the tray. "Captain Suiden said you'd try to go the moment you heard there was going to be shopping." Jeff didn't wait for my response. "Well, the captain did say that if you could get downstairs and eat breakfast and keep it down, that maybe you can go with Javes.”

By holding onto the banister, I managed to get downstairs without falling. Jeff waited while I ate breakfast; then, after a meal of dry toast and coddled eggs, he freed me from Basel (who tried to spoon-feed me) and took me to the same room I fled from yesterday. I hesitated at the door, peering at Captains Suiden and Javes, who were seated at the same table. My desire to get out of the house was stronger than any reluctance to enter, though, so I crossed the threshold, relaxing when nothing happened.

"Before he got out of bed, sirs," Jeff said, entering behind me.

A faint smile passed over Javes' face.

"How are you, Lieutenant?" Suiden asked.

"I'm fine, sir.”

"Good." Suiden stood up. "Thank you, trooper." He waited until Jeff left the room, shutting the door behind him. "Actually, you look like hell, Lieutenant."

"Sir, I'm sure I'm up for a small trip—”

Captain Javes picked up something from the table and handed it to Suiden, who held it up—the mentha leaves I had dropped on my bedroom floor yesterday. I stopped in midsentence, my gaze traveling between the two captains.