Echoes of War by John Paquin

Author:John Paquin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Noctua Publishing
Published: 2022-09-08T13:20:40+00:00

Kandalanu felt his face tighten into a grin. “You know, Nabo, there’s something uniquely satisfying about walking through the grass in bare feet. I know, without a doubt, that if I were sitting at my throne and someone rubbed my feet with pads of grass, I would hate it, and yet I find this uniquely comforting.”

“That is quite the mystery, my lord. Although I would caution you against demonstrating too much mystery in front of the nobles when our allies are so few,” Nabo said.

“Nonsense, this is my garden,” Kandalanu said, waving him off. “Besides, there is no one here that has met me for the first time. The king made it very well known he chose his jester to be the king of Babylon after his brother’s betrayal. I’m sure that even outside of the empire, very few have not heard of the jester king. No, their reactions are measured. They’re reacting in a way that they believe is appropriate to their station, but make no mistake, when you peel away all that pretense, they know what to expect of me and me of them.”

“Yes, sire.”

“I’m an old man, Nabo, and I’ve spent almost a quarter of my life quietly improving the lives of the people he sent me here to shame. If I want to walk around barefoot in my garden, I’m going to.”

“I agree, sire.”

Kandalanu surveyed the garden thoughtfully for a moment. “Nabo, we’ve known each other for a long time.”

“Yes, sire.”

“And yet you still doubt me.”

“Is it not my job to be critical and advise you accordingly?”

“It is, but it’s interesting which times you feel compelled to speak up and when you choose to stay silent.”

“Understood.”

Kandalanu turned and placed his arm on Nabo’s shoulder. “My friend, I don’t think you do. I’m not asking you to give me less advice. I’m asking you why you would put so much effort into advising my choice of footwear and none into my decisions regarding recently dethroned monarchs requesting asylum.”

“Truthfully,” Nabo sighed, “I don’t know what you should do with Sin, or even if you made the right decision. In moments like these, I’ve always found its best to say less, and trust your judgment to carry us through.”

“I appreciate that. I guess we’ll have to see if I made the right choice.”

A brief silence passed between them until Nabo spoke again. “I’m sorry that Ariel didn’t make it out of Nineveh.”

Kandalanu nodded and cleared his throat. “Me too. I said she would get herself killed doing the right thing. I just never expected how accurate that would be.” Kandalanu shook his head, putting his sandals back on.

“Sire, that road won’t bring you peace.”

“No, you’re right. You’re right,” he said, pretending to appreciate the interwoven vines and lattice above. “I agree with what you were saying earlier about taking advantage of the current instability and carving out new alliances from the slighted and the vengeful.”

“Assuming we can also convince them to ally with each other.”

“I am a firm believer that there is no grudge a political marriage can’t solve—at least temporarily.

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