LITMIR.BIZ

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knew what he meant. ‘If they don’t come in after us …? Maybe an hour, then we leave out the back. If they’re watching the front and waiting for us, we’ll skulk around the corner and see them before they see us.’

      ‘What if they’re watching the back?’

      Ty grinned. ‘I guess we’ll see them at the same time they see us.’

      ‘Tell me about Olasko.’ The two young men had been constant companions for nearly a month since word of the possibility of war had come, and had got to know each other well enough for Hal to count Ty a friend. Yet there was much about him that remained a mystery.

      ‘Not much to tell, really,’ said Ty. ‘The original settlers were colonists from Roldem, so the language is much the same, save for an odd word here, or a strange accent there. It’s not much of a task to learn the difference quickly. Among the Eastern Kingdoms it was very influential, as the last ruler before the present Duke Varian, a man named Kaspar, was very powerful and held sway. But that was a long time ago.’ He sighed and his face became a mask for a moment, and suddenly he looked a great deal older. Then his smile returned and he said, ‘But the mountains are magnificent and the hunting remarkable.’

      Hal said, ‘I should like to see it, and to go hunting.’

      ‘Then we shall do so, once this current madness is resolved. What of Crydee? How’s the hunting there?’

      ‘Very good. It’s mainly forested land from the foothills and up into the Grey Tower Mountains. We have boars that stand man-high at the shoulder.’

      ‘Certainly not!’

      ‘We do! The forest boars are big, fast, and mean. You need a boar spear ten feet long with a steel head and bolted cross below it or they’ll run right up the shaft and gore you while you wait for them to die! We have brown bears and lions, though they’ve almost been hunted out, and plenty of wolves and deer, stag, and elk.’ He shrugged. ‘And the occasional wyvern.’

      ‘Wyvern?’ said Ty, looking askance. ‘I bought the boar, but a wyvern? Dragon-kin?’

      ‘So they say, though that’s like saying one of those little dogs the ladies at court carry around is wolf-kin.’

      ‘You’ve seen one?’

      ‘Ha! My father has the head of one down in the basement. It used to hang in the trophy hall, but Mother made him take it down. Said it disgusted her.’ He grinned. ‘It was pretty disgusting, really. All droopy eyes and fangs, and the man who mounted the head for great-grandfather managed to make a botch of the ears, so they sort of went this way—’ he made a gesture with two fingers one pointing up and the other one pointing to the side.

      ‘Ladies?’

      It was Hal’s turn to laugh. ‘Nothing like you have here, that’s for certain.’

      ‘There’s nothing like the ladies of Roldem anywhere,’ said Ty. ‘Men who hold riches, power, and rank, it’s a lodestone for beauties of all ranks, noble and common. Now, the ladies of Crydee?’

      ‘Few,’ said Hal with a shrug, ‘if you mean ladies of noble birth.’

      ‘Girls, then,’ said Ty impatiently.

      ‘A few worth spending time with.’ His expression grew wry. ‘Remember that problem you have in Olasko?’

      ‘Mother?’

      ‘I have one too, in Crydee.’ He sighed theatrically. ‘And she knows everyone, and I do mean everyone in the town. She cares for the ill and makes sure anyone who’s fallen on hard times has food, and takes charge of all shopping for the Duke’s household …’

      ‘So, gossip?’

      ‘Yes. There was one girl, a miller’s daughter, who caught my eye and I swear my mother had me in her room, bending my ear about not using my rank to take advantage … I was thirteen! It was my first kiss!’

      Ty roared with laughter. ‘So, not a lot …?’ he shrugged.

      ‘No, not a lot. A few, mostly when mother was away or I travelled, but nothing like here. In Crydee, I’m … well, I’m the Duke’s son, the next duke, so … it’s not like here.’ He took a deep drink.

      ‘Easy,’ Ty said.

      ‘One won’t hurt.’

      ‘But it’s never just one. Now, what do you mean, it’s not like here?’

      ‘Your father, is he noble?’

      ‘In a manner of speaking. He has a patent from the Isles, a knighthood in your part of the Kingdom, from around Ylith or Hawks Hollow, or somewhere. But we’ve lived in Olasko so long that it’s home.’

      ‘Well, there you have it,’ said Hal. ‘You can’t swing a dead cat in Roldem without hitting a nobleman. So even if you’re nobility, you’re not that noble.’ Ty fixed him with a mocking gaze. ‘You know what I mean. I mean if you carouse and end up in some tavern wench’s bed or she in yours, it’s only something of the moment. If I do it, I’m the Duke’s son. In a day everyone in the town would be gossiping …’

      ‘And your mother would find out.’

      ‘Yes,’ agreed Hal.

      ‘Sympathies, my friend,’ said Ty, feigning a sip at his drink. With a quick glance he looked to see if anyone was watching, and seeing no eyes upon them, he spilled some of his drink on the straw-covered floor.

      ‘Besides, there’s Bethany.’

      ‘Who’s Bethany?’

      ‘The daughter of Lord Robert, Earl of Carse and vassal to my father. Everyone expects us to wed.’ He sighed.

      ‘Not pretty?’

      ‘On the contrary. She’s … quite beautiful. Bright, funny, and can shoot a bow better than anyone in the entire duchy, save perhaps for my brother Brendan. Not counting elves, of course.’

      ‘Of course, not counting elves.’ Ty rolled his eyes. Like most Easterners, he found tales of elves, dwarves, goblins, and trolls problematic, bordering on myth and lore.

      Hal went on, ‘She’s probably one of the more attractive girls in the duchy, it’s just …’

      ‘What? You don’t like her?’

      ‘I like her well enough, but I’m not in love with her.’

      ‘Love?’ Ty looked genuinely surprised. ‘You’re a duke’s son. You’ll marry for political reasons, Hal. Love has nothing to do with it.’

      ‘It’s different out west,’ said Hal. ‘The King hardly cares who we wed, so …’ He fell silent. Then he said, ‘Beth is like my sister. I’ve known her since she was born. She’s the same age as my brother Martin. We used to splash around in the same bath, all three of us.’

      ‘Well, I’m certain it will be fine. At least it’s not like marrying a stranger, like some of these lot do.’ His gesture indicated the royal part of the island, so Hal knew he was speaking of Roldemish nobility.

      ‘Yes,’ said Hal. ‘If I must, I must, and probably I can’t do better than Beth, and certainly I could do worse. But …’

      ‘What?’

      ‘It’s my brother Martin.’

      ‘What about him?’

      Hal smiled a rueful smile. ‘He’s in love with her.’

      ‘He’s told you?’

      ‘No, actually, I think he’s too stupid to admit it to himself, but there’s been something going on between them for the last few years.’ He shrugged. ‘Even that would be less of a problem, for Martin’s as reliable and loyal as you could want a brother to be, but …’

      ‘What?’

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