far ahead.”
“Good.” Did he know something I did not? Probably a lot. “When and where?”
His grin became evil, revealing bad teeth. Which made me wonder if Sleepy had
found anybody to fill the dentistry vacancy left by One-Eye’s passing. The old
fool had not bothered taking on apprentices.
“When” was the crack of dawn and “where” was the unpaved street outside Doj’s
small house, which he shared with Tobo’s uncle Thai Dei and several bachelor
officers of local origin. My fellow victims were Willow Swan, the brothers
Loftus and Cletus, who remain the Company’s principal architects and engineers,
and the exiled ruling prince and princess of Taglios, the Prahbrindrah Drah and
his sister the Radisha Drah. Those are not names, they are titles. Even after
decades I do not know their personal designations. And they show no inclination
to share.
“Where’s your pal Blade?” I asked Swan. For a while Blade had been Sleepy’s
military envoy to the File of Nine, but I had heard that he had been recalled
after One-Eye’s death. I had not seen him around, though.
“Old Blade’s got too much on his plate for anything like this.”
Loftus and Cletus both grumbled under their breaths but did not clarify. I had
not seen much of them lately, either. I supposed they were working themselves to
death building a city from scratch. Suvrin, who arrived just in time to hear
what they mumbled, nodded vigorously. “She’s going to work us all till there’s
nothing but grease spots left.” I am not sure about Suvrin. I have no trouble
imagining him going around endlessly repeating the silent mantra, “Every day in
every way I am going to become a better soldier.”
“Well, old Blade never was real ambitious,” Swan replied. “Except when it came
to carving up priests.” He seemed to know what he was talking about even if it
was not obvious to me.
Clete said, “If we’re getting the straight shit from Shivetya there’ll be a
whole new crop in need of culling when we get home.”
The Prahbrindrah Drah and his sister edged closer, eager for hard news from
home. Sleepy took no trouble to keep them posted. She did not have much of a
diplomatic streak. I had best remind her that she will need their amity once we
are back across the plain.
They were not handsome, those two. And the Radisha looked more like the Prince’s
mother than his sister. But he had been under the ground with me while she rode
the Taglian tiger and tried not to lose its reins to Soulcatcher. They strove to
remain unobtrusive here, the Prince because he had been our active enemy in the
field, the Princess because she had turned on us at the very last moment of our
victory over the last Shadowmasters.
Sleepy fixed her for that.
Technically, the Radisha was our prisoner. Sleepy had abducted her. She and her
brother will become tools of the Company once Sleepy stages our return. Everyone
agrees. But I suspect that the royals have reservations.
“Rajadharma.” I said, bowing slightly. I could not resist the taunt, reminding
them both that by attempting to betray us they had ended up failing to fulfill
their duty to their subjects.
“Liberator.” The Radisha returned a tiny bow. I swear, the woman gets homelier
by the month. “You appear to be healing well.”
“I’ve got a knack for coming back. But my bounce sure ain’t as fast or as high
as it used to be. Guess it’s old age creeping up.” I lied and told her, “You’re
looking well yourself. You both are. What have you been doing? I haven’t seen
you for a while.”
The Prahbrindrah Drah said nothing. He remained inscrutable. He had been quiet
and unexpressive since our resurrection. We had gotten along well, once. But
times change. Neither of us were the men we had been during the Shadowmaster
wars.
“You’re lying like a snake’s belly,” the Radisha told me. “I’m old and I’m ugly
“Good.” Did he know something I did not? Probably a lot. “When and where?”
His grin became evil, revealing bad teeth. Which made me wonder if Sleepy had
found anybody to fill the dentistry vacancy left by One-Eye’s passing. The old
fool had not bothered taking on apprentices.
“When” was the crack of dawn and “where” was the unpaved street outside Doj’s
small house, which he shared with Tobo’s uncle Thai Dei and several bachelor
officers of local origin. My fellow victims were Willow Swan, the brothers
Loftus and Cletus, who remain the Company’s principal architects and engineers,
and the exiled ruling prince and princess of Taglios, the Prahbrindrah Drah and
his sister the Radisha Drah. Those are not names, they are titles. Even after
decades I do not know their personal designations. And they show no inclination
to share.
“Where’s your pal Blade?” I asked Swan. For a while Blade had been Sleepy’s
military envoy to the File of Nine, but I had heard that he had been recalled
after One-Eye’s death. I had not seen him around, though.
“Old Blade’s got too much on his plate for anything like this.”
Loftus and Cletus both grumbled under their breaths but did not clarify. I had
not seen much of them lately, either. I supposed they were working themselves to
death building a city from scratch. Suvrin, who arrived just in time to hear
what they mumbled, nodded vigorously. “She’s going to work us all till there’s
nothing but grease spots left.” I am not sure about Suvrin. I have no trouble
imagining him going around endlessly repeating the silent mantra, “Every day in
every way I am going to become a better soldier.”
“Well, old Blade never was real ambitious,” Swan replied. “Except when it came
to carving up priests.” He seemed to know what he was talking about even if it
was not obvious to me.
Clete said, “If we’re getting the straight shit from Shivetya there’ll be a
whole new crop in need of culling when we get home.”
The Prahbrindrah Drah and his sister edged closer, eager for hard news from
home. Sleepy took no trouble to keep them posted. She did not have much of a
diplomatic streak. I had best remind her that she will need their amity once we
are back across the plain.
They were not handsome, those two. And the Radisha looked more like the Prince’s
mother than his sister. But he had been under the ground with me while she rode
the Taglian tiger and tried not to lose its reins to Soulcatcher. They strove to
remain unobtrusive here, the Prince because he had been our active enemy in the
field, the Princess because she had turned on us at the very last moment of our
victory over the last Shadowmasters.
Sleepy fixed her for that.
Technically, the Radisha was our prisoner. Sleepy had abducted her. She and her
brother will become tools of the Company once Sleepy stages our return. Everyone
agrees. But I suspect that the royals have reservations.
“Rajadharma.” I said, bowing slightly. I could not resist the taunt, reminding
them both that by attempting to betray us they had ended up failing to fulfill
their duty to their subjects.
“Liberator.” The Radisha returned a tiny bow. I swear, the woman gets homelier
by the month. “You appear to be healing well.”
“I’ve got a knack for coming back. But my bounce sure ain’t as fast or as high
as it used to be. Guess it’s old age creeping up.” I lied and told her, “You’re
looking well yourself. You both are. What have you been doing? I haven’t seen
you for a while.”
The Prahbrindrah Drah said nothing. He remained inscrutable. He had been quiet
and unexpressive since our resurrection. We had gotten along well, once. But
times change. Neither of us were the men we had been during the Shadowmaster
wars.
“You’re lying like a snake’s belly,” the Radisha told me. “I’m old and I’m ugly
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