Aethersmith (Book 2) (42 page)

“What about Rakashi, then? What is his story? The rest of
you, I can see how you got mixed up together, but how does a Takalish warrior
fall in with Acardian coinblades?”

“Rakashi fights for the sake of fighting. He won’t brawl
like some drunk but he’ll cross blades with anyone who’ll have at him. Tanner
used to be like that in a way, too. With Tanner, he was just an arrogant kid
who was great with a blade. I thought he had mostly grown out of it, but the
way he’s been going on about that new pistol of his, and how that’s what
warriors will be in a few years, I wonder whether that’s true anymore. For
Rakashi, the fighting is some sort of spiritual thing. He doesn’t get mad when
he fights, he just does the best he can, to test himself.”

Brannis said nothing. It confirmed something he had been
worried about since they had first introduced him to Rakashi. He had been privy
to every bit of information the Kadrin Empire had about Megrenn and their
allies. He had studied the Megrenn Rebellion and the tactics they had used.
Rakashi had to have been trained as a blade-priest.

“He doesn’t talk much about himself,” Soria continued. “He
thinks a lot. He likes to look at nature when he thinks, saying it helps him
keep his perspective about his own problems. He likes to look at the sea or the
mountains, to show himself how small he really is. I know what he’s trying to
say but I don’t quite understand it. I was raised in a Tezuan temple; they
taught us that there is more within us than outside us. You can explore the
whole of the world if you lived long enough, but if you lived a thousand years,
you could never finish exploring your own mind.”

“I should ask Illiardra about that one. She might be able to
settle it for you,” Brannis joked. “She is over ten thousand summers old.”

Soria turned over, and pushed herself up to look Brannis in
the eye. “She worries me,” Soria said. “When she sent me though Rashan’s wards
to see you, it was so easy. It was like no magic I had ever felt … I actually
didn’t feel it at all. She was reading this book, too. It was filled with
prophecies—dark, evil stuff, mostly.”

“I would like to see that book,” Brannis told her, trying
hard to keep it from sounding like he was giving her an order, though that was
just what he was doing. “But can you please stop talking about Juliana and
Kyrus as if they were us? It is confusing.”

“I remember all that happening. You remember it too. What’s
the difference?”

Brannis frowned. Soria smiled, and settled back in next to
him.

“One other thing about Rakashi …” Brannis said.

“Yes?”

“You mentioned that Tanner was a match for him. What about
you?” Brannis asked. “Have you ever dueled with him?”

“He said he wouldn’t hit a woman,” Soria answered. “I
agreed, he wouldn’t. It was one of the first times I really ever saw him laugh
but we didn’t fight. If it ever came down to it, though, he wouldn’t stand a
chance. I am a Tezuan master, in the way they never believed possible. They
talk about aether and Source in their own terms, but they don’t understand them
like we Kadrins do. I am the closest thing they’ve seen to a warlock.” Soria
chuckled, shaking her head at something she just thought of. “You know, for as
much as I loathe my oathfather, I understand what it is like having free rein
to do what you want because no one can tell you otherwise.”

“If that was true, why did you want to find Kyrus to recruit
him for your little band of coin-seekers?” Brannis wondered aloud.

“Because it was you, silly. I knew since Raynesdark that you
were out here somewhere, and the whole Kyrus thing just seemed too good a
gamble to pass up. Once I saw the wanted posters of you in Scar Harbor, I knew
for sure,” Soria claimed. “Oh, and by the by …” She whacked him, hard, right on
the stomach. Brannis winced, accompanied by a startled grunt. “You are dense as
stone at times. I had dropped hints from Kadris to Raynesdark to see if
anything would seem familiar. Half the trail songs I sang were from Tellurak.”

“I thought I might have recognized some of them, but could
never quite get past how awful your singing was,” Brannis said, then snickered.
Soria pulled one of the pillows from the bed, and hit him with it. A minor
skirmish ensued, and Brannis emerged victorious, with Soria laughing helplessly
under his onslaught of feather-filled pillows.

“Are you hungry? I just realized I am.” Brannis panted as he
caught his breath after the mock fighting, and laughing he had just done. Soria
nodded in the affirmative. They both found clothes, and went to see what the
Merciful
had lying about for a breakfast.

* * * * * * * *

The food was better than Brannis had expected. While he was
still unused to the cuisine of Tellurak, extensive trading seemed to have led
to more diverse fare. He had eaten more than his share of preserved meats in
his day, but the pork sausage was spiced with something he could not name. They
ate out on the deck of the ship, the six of them, Brannis’s new crew in
Tellurak: himself, Soria, Wendell, Tanner, Zellisan and Rakashi. The rest of
the crew stayed well away from them as they worked.

With the noise of the sea, and the fore of the ship all to
themselves, Brannis thought it safe enough to discuss his plans, now that he
was confident that he had one. It felt odd to Brannis that everyone had
deferred to him so readily. Soria had been their leader—except for Wendell—and
since she seemed content to let Brannis choose their path, the rest had gone
along.

“All right, everyone,” Brannis said. “I have decided what
our next moves are going to be. Wendell has business in Takalia. Once we make
it to port, that will be our first priority. Since it may be a delicate endeavor,
I think it would be best to keep the numbers to a minimum. Therefore I think it
would be best if Zellisan would accompany him.” Brannis looked to the hulking
older man for confirmation. What he saw was a mixture of puzzlement and
acceptance. Zellisan had been a wanderer with none, but his companions to
answer to for a long time, but back in Veydrus, he was a soldier at heart.

“To what end?” Zellisan asked. It was not the sort of
response a marshal expected from a soldier, but without a solid command structure
to back him out on the Katamic, Brannis supposed that Zellisan had grounds
enough to question him.

“Well, Wendell has to go; it is his errand, after all. Of
the rest of us, you are the best suited to act as a bodyguard. I know you are
suited to it, and experienced as well. I have no worry at all, putting
Wendell’s safety in your hands,” Brannis told Zellisan, hoping that the vote of
confidence in him would make the sting of being shipped off with the rascally
magician a little less painful.

“Are you certain you would not rather accompany me yourself,
Sir Brannis?” Wendell asked, leaving his preference exposed for all to hear.
“With that sword and armor, none would stand against you. That is just not the
sort of magic one finds lying about in Tellurak.”

“I am flattered that you would take my protection over
Zellisan’s, Wendell. I have other business to attend to, though, which takes me
in another direction. Besides, I think that I would be hard pressed to keep it
to just the two of us,” Brannis replied, giving a grin and a meaningful glance
Soria’s way.

“Right on that count. I spent months tracking you down. I’m
not letting you out of my sight,” Soria said, not giving the slightest hint of
joking. There were a few chuckles anyway, at her manner.

“I will be heading to Kyrus’s home, Scar Harbor,” Brannis
said. “When he—I, I suppose—fled, I must have left a cataclysmic mess in my
wake. I want to go back, and tie off a few loose ropes, set a few things to
rights. There are a few things I need to look into as well, none of which I can
send another to do in my place.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be glad to help,” Tanner said, nodding,
“just as soon as you untangle that knot of a plan, and explain it again. If
that was supposed to be something to work on, I missed where you said what we
were doing.”

“Well, the ‘we’ part is a bit of a different story, but I
was purposefully vague. While Wendell is just on personal business, I have some
sensitive matters to see to, which I do not feel safe enough discussing on
Stalyart’s ship. Once we book passage out of Takalia, I will go into more
details,” Brannis hedged. In truth, it was quite the opposite. Wendell was
working some scheme he had only half-explained, but he was clearly working on
an elaborate plan to get the Staff of Gehlen. Either that, or he was using such
a plan as a ruse for some even deeper plot. Either way, Brannis wanted as
little attention drawn to it as possible, from Stalyart, as well as Rakashi.

“So we’re just gonna end up in a circle after all this?”
Tanner asked, clearly unimpressed with the plan. “We just came from there a
week or so ago. I’m gonna get dizzy. Hey, how ’bout after that, we head on over
to Marker’s Point, then maybe see if we can shave a day off our time from last
trip.”

“Well, I am glad you hate my plan,” Brannis joked, drawing
glances away from Tanner’s direction and toward himself. “Because I have a
different task for you.” Brannis gave a wide smile that did not seem to
reassure Tanner in the least.

Tanner turned his head, and looked sidelong at Brannis.
“What’s that?”

“You get to stay and keep an eye on Denrik Zayne. You are
Kadrin’s new ambassador to Megrenn.”

Tanner’s jaw dropped. He stood there gaping at Brannis as if
he had just see him sprout a second head.

“Brannis, you can’t just abandon him with these pirates!”
Zellisan objected.

“He’s right, Brannis, that’s not fair at all,” Soria said,
sounding concerned about the prospects Tanner had of surviving on his own among
the pirates. “He doesn’t deserve that.”

“Deserve? We are a few days yet from Takalia, so you have
time to think it over,” Brannis told Tanner. “But I think once you do that, you
are going to find yourself enjoying the prospect. Denrik Zayne made me an offer
of an ambassadorship, but he could not trust Kyrus’s magic. Tanner will fill
that vacant role, and there will be no threat of him burning down the ship.
Admittedly, with Kyrus, there was always that concern.”

“So you’re sayin’ I get to play at pirate, with the official
status of ambassador to protect me?” Tanner asked, seeming to warm slightly to
the idea.

“They make good coin, stock better ale than most taverns,
and you would likely be spared any of the real work of running the ship. As for
‘official,’ well, I do not know how official we can possibly make it, but you
will be protected by mutual interest in keeping open a line of communication.
Sorry to say but you are not valuable enough to make a hostage of, nor
dangerous enough for him to fear. You get to fall in between, under the
category of ‘too useful to kill,’ which is a good place to be,” Brannis said.
He felt like he was tipping Tanner over the edge, past his objections.

“I’ll think about it. Might not be the trick coin it sounded
like when you first mentioned it,” Tanner conceded.

Brannis knew at that point that he had won; Tanner was just
saving face by not admitting he was swayed so quickly. He would let the
question linger a bit before making his decision known. Brannis had been
picking up on the way Rashan maneuvered people, and had seen the warlock elicit
the same reaction from a number of nobles and Inner Circle members. People more
or less all functioned the same, and anyone with pride and at least a nominal
ability to refuse would prefer to make it seem like they had come to the
decision on their own. Either way, it served Brannis well enough.

“Since I will be heading to Scar Harbor, and I assume by her
earlier comment that Soria will be coming as well, that just leaves you,
Rakashi,” Brannis said, continuing his allotments of personnel with the one he
was least sure of. “You can choose whether you come with me and Soria, or stay
with Tanner and head over to Denrik Zayne’s ship when I convince Stalyart to
deliver him. Of course, you could also choose your own path. I have no
authority in Kadrin that I could hold over you, so you are free to do what you
like.”

“Takalia is my homeland. Perhaps it would be best if I were
to escort Wendell and Zellisan,” Rakashi offered placidly. His manner gave no
indication of duplicity, but Brannis had seen far better than him at
subterfuge. He would choose to distrust Rakashi’s motives until he had taken
his own stock of the man. Soria’s trust carried some weight, but that was
loyalty to her, not any general regard for Kadrins.

“No. Wendell is taking Zellisan with him and no one else. If
you wish to return home, I will not stop you, of course, but Wendell’s family
business is his own to keep to himself or not, as he chooses. One bodyguard is
enough,” Brannis informed Rakashi.

“Yes,” Wendell said, “if I were as adept here as I am back
in Kadrin, I might do well on my own, or even if I were a younger man. However,
if I must accede to the effects of age, I would prefer involving as few
outsiders as possible in my family’s affairs,” Wendell contended, thankfully
picking up on Brannis’s wish for Rakashi to stay away from whatever plan he was
working on between Takalia and Zorren.

The Takalish warrior brushed aside the rejection as if it
were of no concern. “Very well then. I will accompany you and Soria.”

“That settles it, then.” Brannis clapped his hands once,
signaling the finality of the assignments. “We have until we get to Takalia to
work out any further details. Now I just have to go have a conversation about
Tanner.”

* * * * * * * *

“Ahh, Kyrus, you wonderful madman!” Captain Stalyart laughed
uproariously when he heard Brannis’s plan. “I think I just might start
believing those tales I keep overhearing that you are actually Brannis Solaran.
First you cheat Denrik Zayne, then threaten him, and when he shows you mercy by
leaving you in paradise, you have your friends in Kadrin arrange your rescue.”
Stalyart paused a moment, realizing that it sounded very much like the plan he
had followed to free Denrik from Rellis Island. Shaking this off as a
coincidence, he continued. “Now you are free, and the first thing you do is to
try to get one of your assassins near to Captain Zayne.”