The Complete Twilight Reign Ebook Collection (29 page)

Once they were all comfortable, he asked Carel, ‘So what news do
you have?’

Carel looked up from his food and hesitated for a moment, trying to
read the Krann’s face, but finding nothing, started, ‘Well, Valo finally
got around to marrying Faean, Jedah gave birth to a baby girl a day
shy of midwinter-‘

‘That’s not what I meant.’

‘Well then, just ask. How can I guess whether you want to hear
about Horman or not? You’ve been living with politicians for hair a
year; you’ve grown one of their blank faces.’

Isak looked startled, then his more familiar expression of slight
anxiety spread across his face.

‘So, is he glad I’m gone?’

‘What do you think?’

‘I expect he misses having someone to bully. I expect he’s got less to
complain about, so he’s drinking rather than talking.’

‘Close enough to the truth there. But of course he misses you. You’re
still family, even if you can’t stand each other. You’ve got your whole
life ahead of you, and quite a life it’ll be now. His ended when your
mother died. Whatever he thinks of you, you were the last link to her. Many’s the time I’ve got drunk with him and he’s not said a word, just
run that green ring around and around in his hand for hours.’

‘Well, don’t expect me to see him,’ Isak growled.

‘I don’t.’

Isak looked surprised at Carel’s easy acceptance. He snorted and
slapped his palm on the table. ‘You’re surprised? My boy, you’re not
the only white-eye I’ve known, and I damn well know you better than any man alive. You’re as proud as you are nasty sometimes. On top of
that Horman, my friend as he still is, has done little to deserve your
love.’

‘Little?’

Carel waved a finger at him. ‘He looked after you better than some I’ve heard of. Whatever else you say, and however begrudgingly it
was given, you never went hungry. Deny that and I’ll slap you so hard
your armour will fall off. There were some all for giving you a child’s portion at meals, instead of more than Valo could manage. Not one would have dared say that to your father.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, for a start, no one wanted to talk about you unless they had to - they were your mother’s folk, and a superstitious rabble, then and now. You look like your mother, and everyone knew what she meant to Horman; he took his loneliness and frustration out on you for that, but he’d not have seen you starve, whatever words his temper might put in his mouth.’

‘Perhaps. But I’ll be more alone than he ever was - at least he had someone once; he had a child, even if it was a white-eye.’ ‘And look what the loss did to him.’

Isak didn’t reply, but Carel could see from his clamped jaw that the boy understood more than he was going to admit. Before the
conversation could continue, Tila arrived with a second bowl of food
for Isak.

Vesna rose at Tila’s arrival, a smile on his lips, but Tila, feeling like
he was mocking her, pointedly ignored him and sat down next to
Carel, who waved a spoon in greeting. She had immediately warmed to the ageing soldier: there was a warm generosity about him, a feel
ing of dependability and reassurance, like a loving uncle, perhaps - quite unlike the handsome charms of Count Vesna, whose glittering eyes were not exactly indecent, but they were most certainly
predatory.

Tila wore a simple, warm dress, but with a glance and a smile Vesna
managed to make her feel as though she were dressed fit for a summer
ball. She had no intention of trusting a man like that. His face was
too comely, his words too welcome, his presence too magnetic.

‘My Lord, was the battle as much of a success as we have heard?’ she
asked, breaking her concentration away from Vesna.

‘Was that really all of the Ghosts returning today?’ Carel asked
before Isak could finish his mouthful and reply to Tila’s question. He
sounded concerned; Carel had been a Ghost; he knew what a full
complement looked like and was well able to guess their losses.

Vesna nodded. ‘Near enough. Some stopped at their homesteads, but with those killed in battle and winter picking off the injured,
we’re almost four hundred down. Success? My Lady, it was, but at a high price. Still, Isak led well in his first battle and that’s a good sign
for the future.’

Isak said nothing - he still felt guilty whenever the battle was mentioned - but Carel took his silence as lamenting the dead. ‘Don’t think
about the fallen, Isak,’ he said. ‘From what I hear, there would have
been even more widows without you: Lord Bahl and the dragon broke
the trolls, but they would have been too late if the Ghosts hadn’t held
- and without you, they would have been overcome before Lord Bahl
got there.’

Isak looked up and met his friend’s gaze: Carel had never been
adept at lying, nor had he ever made allowances for the feelings of an
outcast. He had guessed what happened, and understood.

A sudden draft from the tower corridor heralded the Swordmaster’s
arrival. Kerin’s grim face brightened when he breathed in the aroma
that filled the Great Hall. The Swordmaster hadn’t yet returned to his training leathers; under his coat was the dress uniform of the Ghosts,
including a heavily braided, double-breasted tunic of black linen
woven with gold thread.

He secured a bowl of the stew from the huge cauldrons nestled inside the stone hearth of the great fire and a haunch of the spitted boar, then joined Isak and his friends. He came straight to the point.
‘Lord Bahl has been filling me in. You can use magic now?’

Isak’s heart sank. From the gleam in Kerin’s eye, the Swordmaster had a whole host of new routines already devised. ‘Barely,’ he said quickly, ‘nothing with any skill, just the most basic of energies, not
real combat magic at all.’

Kerin smiled. ‘Barely will do for me.’

‘Magic?’ asked Tila sharply. ‘What do you mean by basic energies?’

‘Do you know anything about magic?’ Isak asked. He knew a little more of the subject than when he had left the palace.

‘Only that white-eyes are different to wizards.’

The others had leaned forward slightly and Isak smiled. Few people
really knew anything about magic - it was the preserve of a select few - but who could fail to be interested? ‘Well, it’s complicated, and I don’t understand most of it myself. From what I’ve read, there are
three types of magic, the basic energies - ‘

‘Like creating lightning?’ Vesna interrupted with boyish eagerness.
Any man who had seen Bahl fight knew how destructive that could be.

‘Yes,’ Isak said, ‘although I don’t think it’s exactly the same as real lightning, but we’re the Chosen of Nartis so that’s how this works. Creating fire is possible but takes more energy - Lord Chalat or his
Krann would be able to do it more easily because of their patron.’

It’s all the same energy, but different people turn it into different
things, lightning, fire or whatever,’ said Kerin, who had far more experience of his Lord’s skills.

That’s how it ends up,’ Isak agreed. ‘You’d have to ask a wizard from the College why. I don’t understand most of what they say, but apparently I don’t need to. Anyway, the three types are called energies, enchantments and spells. Enchantments are very simple spells, so simple that even white-eyes can do them. It’s just using the energies more carefully, shaping them to a purpose and binding them to stay
rather than releasing them in a single burst.’

Isak could see from his audience that his lecture was beginning to lose them. He tried an example. ‘Do you remember the story of the
jeweler and the rope-snake?’

‘The children’s story?’ replied Tila, starting to understand. ‘So the rope was enchanted?’ Seeing blank expressions on the faces of the
three men she smiled and began to explain. ‘A jeweller asks a wizard
to protect him from thieves - I forget what happened, but the wizard
gave him a piece of rope to leave in his shop at night. It would wander the rooms and if anyone else apart from the jeweller came in, it would
tie them up.’

‘Exactly,’ said Isak. There’s more to it than just that, of course, but
that’s as far as I’ve got. As for spells, apparently they aren’t something most white-eyes can do. There’s something called “covenant theory”,
but I didn’t really understand that.’

As they all opened their mouths to speak at once, Isak’s name
was called out from the door. They turned to see the Chief Steward,
flanked by his clerks.

Lesarl lowered his voice now he had their attention. ‘Lord Isak, the master wishes to see you now, alone. Kerin, there’s work to do.’ He didn’t wait for a response. He was fully up to date now with the
events of the last few weeks and there was a mountain of work to do.
Quite apart from his normal duties of effectively running Bahl’s lands,
he was in charge of securing and paying for everything Bahl felt the
army would need. The lack of horses was his problem to resolve; his
spy networks needed briefing; and now he had to look at securing the
loyalty of the Farlan nobility from an economic perspective. He had
a big staff, but keeping control of so many threads was a task more
demanding than most men could manage.

‘That there is,’ said Kerin to the general company as he rose from
his seat. ‘With your leave, my Lord.’

Isak waved in assent as the grey-haired man lifted his legs over the bench and went back to work. Isak finished his last mouthful of bread and stood to leave. ‘Vesna, I doubt this will take long. Round
up some men, recruits, whoever, with practice weapons and armour.
Kerin will have to be there for single combat practice, but I’m desperate to stretch my limbs. I’ll meet you by the training posts - Tila, can
you show him around?’ He smiled at her.

Tila didn’t look overly pleased at his request, but she and the count were going to have to get on, no matter what she thought of him. Isak suddenly realised then that whatever feelings he had held for Tila had
changed. There was still a close affection, and appreciation, for she was beautiful, but now she was a friend, no more. Whether she felt the same remained to be seen, but to Isak, his maid had become the
sister he’d never had.

The realisation had been sparked by his lack of jealousy at Vesna’s interest
in Tila, despite her obvious scorn for the famous -
infamous
count. Things had changed since the battle, and now he just wanted to
see Tila happy. There could be no match with him, but Vesna, on
the other hand…

Carel watched the Krann go to the door with a smile on his face.
He wondered whether Isak had noticed that he walked with one finger
resting on Eolis always. He hoped the youth would take that armour
off soon; he didn’t seem quite human with it on. Still, if he was going
to do weapons training he’d have to - Kerin had taken great delight
in showing off the suit of armour he’d had specially made for Isak.

The Swordmaster had described it as the opposite of Siulents, a
thick steel frame with each piece coated in lead to add to the already
significant weight. The Krann’s practice blade was to be a steel tube
filled with lead. The idea was that the weight would slow the boy
down so he would have to pay more attention to his technique. Kerin
was still unimpressed at being bested on Isak’s first day; he was looking
forward to a little friendly revenge.

As Carel chuckled to himself at the image of Isak in a lead suit, Tila
broke her silence. ‘Count Vesna, how is it that you call your master
Isak, and yet he still uses your surname?’

Vesna dropped his gaze in embarrassment, his veneer of charm suddenly stripped away. ‘I, ah
…
well, to be honest, Lord Isak has yet
to think of it. He has only one name, and it is good enough for him,
so he thinks it is good enough for everyone.’

‘But you do have a name?’ A nasty grin crept over Tila’s normally
gentle features; she was sensing a weakness in the famous Count Vesna’s glamour.

‘I do, but I do not use it-‘

‘You will
tell me,’ Tila insisted to the squirming warrior.

‘I…’

‘
Otherwise I shall feel honour-bound to put the idea in Isak’s head, perhaps during the banquet tonight-‘

‘No! No need for that, Lady Tila. I will be glad to tell you.’ He paused and took a deep breath. ‘My name is Evanelial, Evanelial
Vesna.’ He watched Tila glumly as she burst into sudden laughter.

‘You mean as in the story?’ Tila began to laugh again, her usual
calm deserting her as she tried to smother her giggles in her voluminous sleeve.

‘The very same. The story was written for my grandmother, but according to my parents, it used to be a man’s name.’

‘Oh yes, very masculine - oh dear, look at me,’ exclaimed Tila, suddenly aware that the eyes of the entire room were on her. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but with your reputation? Every boy in the tribe wants to grow up to be you, to be the consummate brave knight, the
dashing rogue
…”