Considering the fact only trusted officers were supposed to have maps of their regions and if they were lucky the Captain might have a basic map of Karse, the fact they were able to patch together a detailed map of their whole country spoke to soldiers' tendency to hoard good maps. When the quartermaster had put the word out that he was looking for a count of goods men would be willing to part with for the sake of bartering, should their supplies ever be delayed again, he had gotten back quite the list of maps.
Supplies had never grown so low as to require bartering away personal goods, which simply meant the unit itself had maps enough to cover the country and then some. Kir and Anur had taken shameless advantage of it during their forays into Karse for Solaris, as maps modified and kept up to date by Sunsguard who actually had been there made planning much simpler.
They were taking shameless advantage of it again, having spread the patchwork map over a mess table while Ulrich, Greich and Janner helped them sort through various tokens to mark what Sunsguard forces would be remaining. Before Solaris could get any idea of how many mercenaries she needed to dig up funds for, she needed to have an accurate report of what they truly needed – and what would simply make life easier.
"Not as bad as we feared," Ulrich finally said, looking over the maps, weighed down with assorted game pieces to represent forces remaining after culling those units Anur and Kir had deemed unsalvageable. Pebbles marked places where forces were needed and nuts represented where forces would be very nice to have, but weren't utterly necessary.
"But not as good as we hoped," Greich sighed, toying with a game piece. "Even stretching things to the maximum patrolling range – and keep in mind that only half our remaining groups are primarily cavalry – we're left with some large swaths of border territory I'm leery of leaving unprotected. Not even mentioning the bandit nests in the hill territories over by Menmellith and the pirates on Ruby and surrounding rivers.
"Not to mention," he grimaced, exchanging a look with Janner before sighing and continuing, "Father Kir, who exactly suggested the guild mercenaries plan?"
"The Firecat Hansa," Kir replied promptly, eyeing the older soldiers' grimaces warily, "Is there a problem?"
"It seems a rather solid plan, if expensive," Ulrich commented, raising an eyebrow at Janner's wince.
"More expensive than you know," the Senior Lieutenant sighed, "Understand, I was never properly stationed along the Rethwellan-Menmellith stretch, it's all hearsay, but… to put it bluntly, mercenaries were considered less than human, and foreigners were already godless heathens. It's going to be one heck of an upfront payment to lure anyone back here, and even then they're going to be keeping one hand on a blade – and I can't blame them."
"I did work that stretch of the border for a time," Greich said flatly, "Had the good fortune to avoid working with the worst of them and get north before that Menmellith bandit-trickery that was some ten years before the Prophet, but it wasn't rumors and if I were a guild merc who remembered that nastiness, I wouldn't touch a contract with us with a twenty foot spear. For anyone else, it would work just fine – for Karse? It's going to be difficult."
"Ten years before the – ah," Anur pinched the bridge of his nose, saying, "Eldan. You're talking about the campaign that got Eldan caught. That was the last major mercenary action against Karse. The Skybolts worked with Rethwellen to get the Prophet dealt with, but they were the only mercs on that job from what I've heard."
"That's accurate," Kir winced, "Not that the Prophet got as much support as she might have, she was a problem. It's why we didn't hear much about her even with active campaigning only a few years ago. She was cut off from avenues of power within Karse rather quickly."
"Even I heard rumors of that one," Ulrich snorted, "That's when you know they've been blacklisted, if Captains and chaplains start hearing about it. Right then – at least we have timing going for us. Ten years is a long time for a merc to stay active and stay bitter, most importantly. The coffers are going to take a serious hit luring them in, but it should be possible."
"Also, we're going to be asking them to supplement our own guard against border bandits and Hardorn, not actual internal policing. That will be left mostly to those Sunsguard who remain – and Hardorn has been blacklisted by the guild, Ancar chased the reps out and killed them when he could," Anur pointed out, Greich choking on his tea and Ulrich sputtering at that bit of information.
"We already knew Ancar was evil, but that's just stupid," Janner muttered, "Fantastic – an over-powered evil moron, the worst enemy imaginable."
"Might be an idea to see if any mercenary aimed atrocities were documented," Greich pointed out, recovering from his surprise, "Along with a request for troops and a willingness to pay a fair bit up front Her Holiness could write out specific apologies and include what details are known – explicitly acknowledging Karse was in the wrong could go a ways to building trust or at least willingness to hear us out."
"Depending on the degree, compensation of some sort could be offered in addition to the fines the Guild undoubtedly levied; hells, even details on the fates of the ones who'd done it might be good – so long as they're dead or suffering or some such, at least," Kir mused.
"Seras would be good for that," Anur reminded him, "Might have dealt with some of those sorts himself, he didn't stop rigorously policing the priesthood until five or six years ago, well after the merc-targeted crimes would have happened."
"Phyrris and Brynhild are two I know would have been involved," Kir said, "And they're both long dead, good riddance. Good suggestions, I'll have those sent to Her Holiness. Hopefully it will catch her before she sends out a messenger."
"It would take until true spring for us to even have a chance of knowing which of the Sunsguard officers we decided weren't irredeemable are in fact salvageable, she'll at least want those numbers and what sort of coverage will be left before she writes anything up," Anur pointed out. "This work-up we've just done assumes every officer we didn't just write off can in fact adjust – if that turns out not to be the case, we'll have to redo things or at the least start promoting."
"Coronad," Ulrich said grimly, pointing at the cluster of markers that indicated the only other unit in the north. "You haven't marked him as irredeemable, and I don't think he truly is, not yet – but when the alliance with Valdemar comes out? Plan on problems. Hopefully we can chivy him into retirement. At the very least you need to arrange for him to be transferred! He's obsessed. You haven't been to many of the meetings since the Rethwellen army cut across, Father, but it's brought up frequently. He cannot bear the idea of any aid going north."
"Probably just as well I've dodged the few meetings you did attend then," Anur said thoughtfully, Kir snorting, "Wasn't an accident, Anur. I didn't want to risk it – I knew it was bad, but hadn't realized it was so severe. We'll have to keep an eye out then."
"Actually, we might need to go over to the 103rd's barracks and check in on things," Janner said slowly, looking over their maps with a furrowed brow, "There's a meeting scheduled in a couple of days and with all that has happened – going early would not be unusual."
"You think there will be a problem?" Anur asked, also examining the map and wondering what Janner was seeing.
"I'm only considering," the man said slowly, looking up at them, "what I would think, if I were convinced of Valdemar's evil, if I were convinced they were the worst of Vkandis' foes, and then heard that Vkandis himself had chosen a new Son of Sun to guide Karse back to his side."
"He wouldn't actually try to act against Valdemar though," Anur said dubiously, looking between the rest of them, "He couldn't possibly consider that a good plan – without any sort of permission?"
"I wouldn't be willing to bet on that," Kir said, Greich nodding in agreement while Kir continued, "I'd bet the other way, if anything. He was quite determined to go after the Rethwellans when they marched."
"They were marching through Karse though, it wasn't attacking a sovereign nation with no provocation – their commanders had to have known there was a risk of Karse taking offense, we wouldn't be considered the agressors in that case," Ulrich said, "Coronad wouldn't be that reckless. He's a captain."
"Either way, we'd best check," Janner said, standing with a furrowed brow, "I'll pack my kit."
"Can't hurt," Greich sighed, "I'll check the rosters."
"I'll inform Nakel we're leaving early," Ulrich said, on his way out the door.
Anur caught Kir's eye, raising an eyebrow and Kir sighed, rising to his feet, "You'd best come along."
"This is going to go so well, I can already tell," Anur muttered, following.
***===***pagebreak***===***
"Still not here then?" Anur asked five days later, dismounting after entering the 103rds barracks for the second time in the past days. They'd arrived early with the other officers and joined the patrol rosters for the 103rd and 62nds region – the soldiers of the 54th who were stationed here had been uneasy seeing them and Kir hadn't felt like dealing with it for nothing.
It had essentially led to them wandering the dead-zone on patrol and even swinging back by the 62nd for a couple days. Both of them had missed being in the north and missed being with men they could trust, so the excuse to venture back had been eagerly seized. It had also given them a chance to see how Henri was settling in – he'd gone through an entire cask of prodka but otherwise seemed to be coping fine. The men were welcoming enough, but that could very well just be due his facial expressions when he found new things to be surprised by.
At least the prodka distilleries would be in for a business boom these coming years.
"No sign of them," Balin reported lowly, gaze very carefully not cutting to the members of the 54th that were milling nearby, "And by nervousness, the others know something, have an idea at least – but no one's talking. Don't bother unsaddling, Captain's decided to ride out to them if they're not going to come to us, Senior Lieutenant's staying behind to manage things here. Knew you were coming in today so we figured we'd wait."
"Well then, we might as well stay here," Anur said with slightly forced cheer. He had never truly met Coronad, Kir had been careful to keep him away from meetings with the man, but from what he'd heard – no, he wasn't very hopeful.
The best they could hope for at this point was him being capable of reason, of being willing to be talked down.
:If he does need to be smacked down, will your authority be enough?: Anur asked Kir while they waited for the men stationed here to saddle up and be ready to go.
:Not anymore, not after the Firestarting Order was announced to be in the wrong for so long – could you ask Kari to relay to Solaris a request for an order saying she is not looking to engage Valdemar in war at this time? Or even generally that the country is not looking to engage in war at all, not for the forseeable future.:
:But Ancar?:
:He'll be provoking us, has to be. We can't initiate war ourselves, if it's avoidable we must avoid it for as long as possible. Karse can't afford a war, both resource wise and politics. Solaris needs more time to settle her regime. We won't get enough time as it is – it is scorching or pouring in Karse, after all.:
Anur sent back wordless acknowledgement before reaching for a different corner of his mind, feeling Aelius give him a boost for range as he called, :Kari? Got a moment?:
:Of course,: the Firecat's voice echoed back at him, male and young. Aelius had always sounded older to him, a hint of hoarseness or a rough catch in the throat – none of it made sense, not physically, but that was how Anur interpreted it. Hansa was similar, his voice was clearer, strident and strong and mature. Kari sounded young – not a child, not even a teen, but Anur's own age at the most. Mental voices were such strange things to interpret.
He let those thoughts run along their tangents as he relayed the request to Kari. He didn't reach any conclusions, only more questions and musings, but that was all right. Those would keep him thinking and busy for even longer, after all.
:She has some time shortly, a statement sealed and formalized should be ready within two marks.:
:Perfect – thank you Kari, and pass on our thanks to Hansa and Solaris of course.:
:Naturally. Do call on me if for the delivery. I think drama might make this more easy to swallow – or at least easier to ram down his throat.:
:More than fair, from what I've heard of the man,: Anur laughed, relaying all of it to Kir as the whole group mounted up to ride out. Kir's agreement arrived with a wash of relief undercut with awe. Neither of them would ever get used to having Kari to call on, Anur knew, but he was more accustomed to immediate responses from the top, with Companions having a direct line to the Queen in true emergency, and Fetchers available to send urgent messages across the nation.
Kir had none of that to fall back on, so awe at the ease with which they could contact Sunhame, ask for help and receive it was mixed in with true incredulity that a Firecat, such a blatant sign of the Sunlord's favor, was available for them to call on. One day Anur knew Kir would break down and begin speaking to Kari directly without having Anur act as the intermediary, but it was a ways off. There were bigger priorities for Kir to focus on without having to deal with his difficulties with mindspeech just yet.
As it was, getting to the 54ths barracks took well over three marks so Solaris' response had plenty of time to dry and settle. It was a good thing they'd asked in advance though – managing to think of it in the middle of this mess wouldn't have been likely.
"Damn and blast," Ulrich grumbled as the gates opened. The bustle of preparing for a long march couldn't be mistaken for much else, and there was really only one goal Coronad could have had in mind when he ordered them to gather supplies. "Disregarding everything else that's wrong with this, it's the middle of winter!" the Captain snarled, dismounting with the rest of them and shoving his reins into the hands of a nervous ensign of the 54th, "Where's your captain?" he demanded, the ensign's eyes wide as he took in the party that had come with Ulrich.
"Ensign!"
"Ah – by the chapel, sir!" the young man barked, snapping a salute and Ulrich returned it before stalking off. He was the only one of them that had been to the 54th's barracks in recent years, as the layout wasn't quite identical to the 62nd's.
"We'll take the horses sir," Balin said, his brother appearing by Kir's side to take Riva's reins. Handing the reins over, Anur kept his eyes on the soldiers he didn't know while he murmured, "If this gets ugly leave. Kir and I can get the captain and sergeant out without fighting our way through and risking injuries."
"Understood sir," Balin replied lowly, "We'll stay near the gates."
:Be careful, Chosen.:
:Of course.:
Kir had finished a similar conversation with Galen Sescha and was waiting for him. At Anur's nod he turned on his heel and swept after Ulrich. He wasn't quite out of sight yet, and even if he was Kir could probably track him by his buzz or whatever it was Kir heard to use his gift. It helped, of course, that the men of the 54th fairly dove out of Kir's way, leaving a clear path for them to walk through before closing up behind them, murmurs and mutters picking up in intensity and volume.
"You don't think it's actually true –"
"Is their Order even around any – "
" – Captain's not going to like this."
No hostile tones though, nothing truly hateful lurking under the surface.
Anur kept one hand on his sword anyway. Nichter hadn't been hateful either.
***===***pagebreak***===***
Sergeant Greich knew better than to say anything to him right now and Ulrich sent a brief thanks to the Sunlord for giving him this man as his head non-commissioned officer. The man had forgotten more than Ulrich had ever learned about keeping their unit as safe and strong as possible and he startled at absolutely nothing.
Aside from finding out their chaplain was capable of reducing entire armies to ash, should he so desire, but those were extenuating circumstances in the extreme and he'd still only flinched when Father Kir had glared at him. Ulrich doubted he would have fared so well, it had taken him weeks to bring himself to actually speak to the priest outside of official concerns after that.
Not that he'd spoken with Father Kir any more frequently than necessary before, but he'd gone out of his way to avoid the man after that day on the field. He'd had too much to think about.
At least now he didn't need to worry about the Sunpriest following him, years down the line and some truly mad situations later. Captain Miles Coronad was giving him more than enough ulcers!
He kept his gaze forward, but his peripheral vision was good enough. Wagons were being loaded with supplies, men were packing for much longer than a patrol or two, extra horses were being prepared on strings and Ulrich wanted to spit. So much for a captain of the Sunsguard having any sense, any obligation to his men to not go and get them all slaughtered in some suicide mission! That was what for the old priesthood was for! It was their job, their duty, to make those madmen's dreams and fancies possible with minimal loss of life, not to come up with their own harebrained schemes!
He'd thought Miles had understood that, but he'd been wrong about people before.
"Coronad!" he shouted, shoving his way past the last few of the 54th in his way. They'd been focused on the confrontation playing out in front of them and he couldn't blame them – it wasn't every day you saw your priest and Captain arguing publically, much less with the priest being the one arguing for reason.
Arguing with a man loosing his hold on reason, Ulrich noted grimly, Coronad turning to him with a mad light in his eyes and a grin on his face, "Captain Drehr!" the man laughed, "You are here to join us then!"
The priest's expression went blank, the few soldiers standing nearest him tense, and Ulrich wanted to curse. He thought – they thought – that this was going to descend into violence. They thought Ulrich was going to side with Miles and they were going to destroy the priests that had chained them to Sunhame's commands for so long.
Tehan was no Father Kir, but he was no monster and did not deserve that. At least some of the 54th looked ready to defend him – uneasy about it, how could they not be, but willing to try. This schism might be fixable. Might at least be something they could patch together long enough to get Coronad out of the way, assigned to some less critical, less tempting, post.
"I'm here to ask what the frosted hells you think you're doing!" Ulrich growled, stopping before he was directly between Coronad and the priest but keeping most of his focus on the other captain. Greich would keep an eye on Tehan until Father Kir and Enforcer Bellamy caught up.
"Preparing to cleanse the north!" the other captain said, startled and losing some of the fanatical gleam in his eyes. There was hope then. "With the war with Ancar draining their resources and keeping them from having eyes entirely on Karse this is the perfect time for it!"
"No, no it's not! We're in the midst of a civil rift, how is attacking Valdemar – at full war standing, already stationing troops all over the south, not in a civil war – remotely a good idea?" Ulrich demanded
"The war means it will work!" Coronad countered triumphantly, "All actions can be shoved off on bandits, after all, we're stretched thin – even their demon-powers can't deny that truth! Bandits slipping through well, only to be expected, with Ancar to deal with! This is the perfect chance to bleed them!"
Ignoring the fact that Ulrich knew far more about the so-called demon powers than he would have thought possible, making his analysis somewhat biased, Coronad's logic wasn't even consistent. How could demon-powers not deny that they were stretched thin, but still fall for the bandit ruse? Especially with Herald-Captain Kerowyn and the Prince-Consort being well-familiar with that tactic!
"With the Demon-Captain and the Witch-Consort well-versed in that old strategy?" Father Kir's voice came in, his arrival heralded by a sudden rash of murmurs and pallor-stricken faces. He came up to stand beside Ulrich, the Enforcer undoubtedly behind them both and he felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease. Even if, worse come to worse, things did descend into violence, with these two around he and Greich had a fighting chance of getting all four of them out of here.
"No, Captain. Attacking Valdemar is not in Her Eminence's, nor Karse's, best interests. Certainly not now, with near constant reformations going on."
"And you would know of those, Firestarter," the other captain snarled, eyes darkening and hand fluttering towards his sword, "What right do you have to say anything of the reforms, child-burner!"
The sharp inhale indicated a blow well-struck and Ulrich's rage burned to ice. His temper had always been that way, quick to ignite and if he burnt it off, if he let it go, quick to fade. But if it was provoked continuously, never let to finish – it turned cold.
"Coronad," he said, voice echoing strangely in his own ears as he stepped between his priest, his units' (his own) icon and this man who'd dared hurt him, "You are beyond reasoning, and you will hold your tongue."
By Coronad's expression, his shock at Ulrich coming to Father Kir's defense, his sense of betrayal, that Ulrich would defend a priest and not a fellow soldier – things were going to get uglier, fast, and he had no idea how to prevent it from happening. All he knew was that letting the man think that attacking a priest was acceptable – with words, with knives, with whatever weapon he chose – could only end in disaster.
A curl of fire near his ankles and he didn't bother looking down. He didn't need to, the Cat was big enough his peripheral vision let him know just what sort of miracle was sitting at his feet, blue eyes glowing.
:It seems you were right, Brother. A direct declaration was necessary,: the Cat's voice echoed in all their minds and by the wild-eyed looks coming over the soldiers of the 54th it was a wide broadcast.
"I was hopeful that it wouldn't be, but yes," Father Kir said aloud, tone grim and composure undoubtedly entirely recovered from Coronad's verbal blade. He wouldn't let that hurt show until there were no witnesses but the Enforcer, Ulrich was sure.
Stepping aside so Father Kir could speak to Coronad directly, he let his eyes scan the crowd surrounding them – over half the men were on their knees, Tehan among them and those standing looked uncomfortable doing it. They were following their captain, but were feeling uneasy about it. Getting him transferred along with some of the officers that followed him closely should be enough to fix this then. Good, he wasn't looking forward to reading some new captain in to the mess of the 54th and 62nds relations as it was. A full culling and replacement would be a nightmare.
Bellamy was watching Coronad with narrowed eyes and a blandly terrifying expression. He had come to know the man relatively well in the past years and found him a valuable resource and a good ally, if not a friend, but he also knew very well just how far the man was willing to go in defense of his brother. The other captain had no idea how lucky he was that there were witnesses surrounding them and a Firecat talking him down, because he didn't doubt the man would be dead or suffering otherwise.
He had seen soldiers like these two before, and men who'd felt alone, felt shunned, all their lives would defend chosen brothers with a viciousness he could hardly understand. The Herald would be all the worse for it because he hadn't resigned himself to it like Father Kir had, hadn't expected that sort of isolation in his homeland, where Heralds were beloved, were considered a true brotherhood without all the infighting and backstabbing of the brotherhood of Vkandis.
Whatever it was that had driven the man to latch onto Father Kir like air for a drowning man, he didn't have much sympathy for those responsible. When Father Kir found out who it was they were going to be in for a hell of a time, and Ulrich wouldn't mind standing in line to help.
:Valdemar is not to be targeted. War is not to be declared and missions against those surrounding us will never be authorized unprovoked. Do not mistake us, Captain. There is still evil in this world to burn – but ancient prejudice, old corruption and apathy let those targets warp. And should you forget - :
A crimson and orange paw thudded against the dirt, another curl of flame leaving a seal-bedecked scroll in its wake, :There. An official declaration from Her Eminence Solaris, outlining much the same. Make sure you read it – and make sure you follow it.:
"If you have any questions later," Bellamy said, voice icy enough to burn in itself, "His Holiness also speaks with Solaris' Voice, should you require clarification."
"We're done here," Ulrich said flatly, looking to the Senior Leiutenant that was second in command of the unit, the man one of the first to hit his knees when the Firecat had arrived and slightly more trustworthy for it. "Get the men resettled and send the usual replacement cycle to the 103rd within the day."
"Understood," the man said, pre-empting Coronad and just as well, the man didn't look like he was capable of speech just yet. The officer slowly rose to his feet and focused on Kir, offering a slight bow and saying, "Thank you for preventing our acting against the Sunlord's Will."
Father Kir inclined his head and said simply, "Go with Vkandis then."
The Senior Lieutenant offered a full bow at that point, the other officers nearby jumping slightly and doing the same before the man took charge and started barking orders to get the 54th resettled and the supplies stored away again for proper use, rather than some absurd march. The seal-bedecked scroll was scooped up by another man and shoved into the captain's hands before he was ushered away, clearly still in shock.
"Thank Vkandis that worked," Ulrich muttered, looking at this Firecat properly and raising an eyebrow at the different coloring, "You are not Hansa."
Father Kir coughed, saying ruefully, "No, Hansa is with Solaris on a permanent basis now. This is Kari."
"Then you have my thanks, Honored Kari," Ulrich said, offering the Cat a bow, "I did not know how we were going to talk the man down from that one."
"We weren't," Bellamy said, sounding almost disappointed and while Ulrich couldn't quite blame him, understood where he was coming from, he still offered a thankful prayer that he'd never found himself on the other side of this lethally protective pair.
"Let's get out of here, sirs," Greich muttered, eyes darting around the 54th warily, "No need to overstay our welcome."
"Father Tehan, if you could join us for a moment," Father Kir said, the other priest rising to his feet and nodding wearily, "Yes, Brother, there is much to be discussed."
He would leave those matters to Father Kir, and quite happily. Dealing with Sunsguard drama was enough, trying to manage the reform of an entire ruling class along with holy doctrine was very much not his problem and thank the Sunlord for that. Had he been in Father Kir's shoes, he'd already be making tracks for Valdemar. Captain Naomi had offered him an escape route, should he ever want it, and his Valdemaran was passable by now.
***===***pagebreak***===***
Tehan was clearly exhausted, on edge, and utterly relieved that his own position had been supported so very blatantly. Infighting between the Sunsguard and the priests stationed with them was usually much more subtle – for it to become so public, had he lost the argument any and all respect the men had held for him would have been lost and, in the old ways at least, he could have expected a knife in the back any moment.
Judging by the way there were a few soldiers hovering nearby at all times, Kir doubted it would have come to that for this priest, but it still would have been exhausting and terrifying.
"How long has this been going on?"
"The obsession with Valdemar? As long as I've known the man, he was apparently stationed with Brynhild during the bandit-raids on Menmellith and was part of the escort that captured a Demonrider. When they escaped and Brynhild died he lost quite a bit of status and nursed a grudge ever since," Tehan answered, keeping pace with Kir but darting his eyes to gaze at Kari every so often. Kir couldn't blame him, he still found himself watching Kari with a bemused sense of wonder and doubted it would ever leave.
He hoped it would never leave
"This preparation – some of it came when we heard of your unit's supply difficulties, he wanted to stockpile some in the event we hit the same. Never happened, but it was a solid justification. After the Rethwellen army mess he was more vocally in favor of acting against Valdemar, but a week ago was the first I heard anything of him actually planning to do something about it. I've spent the days since trying to talk him down, today was just the latest and to be honest, last-ditch attempt."
"Not entirely without reason then," Kir murmured, continuing lowly enough that the nearer soldiers of the 54th wouldn't hear, "Should he… lose reason again, do you have contacts in Sunhame?"
"Few," the other priest replied, keeping his own voice equally quiet, "But reachable."
"Ask them to relay a message to Jaina, First Order Firestarter, or Seras, Second Order. Either of them can get word to me immediately and if I'm not with the 62nd, to Solaris. We cannot afford military action at this time and it is not in Her Emminence's plans to engage without provocation."
"You keep using that disclaimer – Hardorn? I relayed the concerns on blood magic but heard nothing back," Tehan asked, not as careful to keep his voice down but by the grateful look in his eyes, more than happy to have names he could reach out to should Coronad forget what he'd heard today.
"Not surprising," Kir said, voice sour as he thought of the previous regime's endless dodging, "And yes. He's only grown hungrier for land and victories, and the Valdemarans aren't obliging him. He'll turn his eyes towards us soon enough."
"Wonderful," Tehan sighed, stopping alongside Kir and they exchanged blessing gestures, "I thank you for the warning – and the advice."
"Vkandis bless and guide, brother," Kir murmured, taking Riva's reins from Galen with a nod of thanks and mounting up, Kari leaping up to sit behind him, a lump of warmth against his back. Matters here had been resolved at least, and no blood had been shed.
Thank the One God, no blood had been shed.
"Thank Vkandis that worked," Ulrich echoed his sentiments as they rode out, gates shutting behind their group.
:Indeed,: Kari chuckled, and by the twitches he was still broadcasting.:That should stick long enough for his reassignment orders to make it.:
"If not I might vote for an accident," Greich said sourly, not bothering overmuch with keeping his voice down. There were no men on the walls of the 54th, they had other matters they were dealing with. "The man is next to impossible to reason with nowadays and if he's anywhere near the north when Valdemar gets declared an ally he'll go on a one-man crusade of his own."
"Pay up that counts!" Galen's hiss to his brother carried considerably further than he'd planned, judging by the scout's cornered expression when they turned to him.
"Ah… we had a bet about whether or not Father Kir had a Firecat?" he offered hesitantly, the other twin adding, "Seven moons ago with the implication being at that time, does not count!"
"Doesn't count either way," Kir said, amused that they'd taken to betting on something like this, especially as these two had been there for the Cat of Fire incident and knew that then, at least, Kir had never had a Firecat call on him. "Kari is for the entire Firestarting Order, not me."
:Kir, if he were here just for you, you'd have hit the door running and wouldn't have stopped,: Anur said dryly. His dismissal of that detail seemed rather universal judging by the amused glances exchanged between the soldiers and Kir wanted to shake them. Anur being right was immaterial, the other Firestarters deserved Kari, needed him, his reassurance, in a way he simply didn't.
"And I'm sure they need his guidance and earned Vkandis' favor," Ulrich said peaceably, Kir's immediate gratitude for him understanding rather undercut by his continuation, "Though I doubt they would have fared so well had you not been part of their Order."
"Head of the Order, now," Anur chuckled, "Which comes with some hilarious titles, I have to say."
"Like what?" Balin asked slyly, Kir saying, "Anur don't you da- !"
"Illuminatorius!" Anur crowed, dodging his fireball with a cackle, Aelius spinning on his heel to dodge another half-hearted strike, "Luminary! Incandescence!"
"BELLAMY!"
"Ah! Not the hair!"
A/N: So I was rereading By the Sword, and let me say, from that reading it's a freaking miracle the Guild EVER considered taking a contract with Karse again, no matter WHAT sort of up front fee was paid because holy shit. I… need to work on that plot point, because Lackey? No one sane, no one logical would EVER agree to the contract. Ever. The only way it would be remotely possible is the fact that there have been 10 or so years since a major campaign between Karse and mercenary troops (when Kero met Eldan). The Skybolts fought the Prophet the year they came to Valdemar, but they were the only mercenaries involved so…
Just – anyway, that reread was awesome, but really complicated my future arcs (in a totally good way, I hope).
