Empires Collide: Book II in the World of Arras Novels by McGrew Chandler

Author:McGrew, Chandler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Old men grieve for those they have lost. Young men grieve for those they have loved.

---------the Prophet, Chapter 17, v. 3

Trastan was drunk again. Where he had gotten the liquor Nordlink had no idea, but Trastan was nothing if not enterprising. Since leaving the Kadan he had managed to rummage through Nordlink’s bag to find a pain medication with which he had very nearly killed himself, and then Nordlink had had to bribe the officers on board not to supply Trastan with anything to drink other than water and karsch, with only limited success. Apparently, once again, he had found a drinking buddy or at least someone susceptible to his wiles. He was lying in a pool of his own vomit on the floor of the cabin they shared.

The boat was already docking in Vandiun, and it would not do for anyone to see the son of Menzies Mage and the hero of al Garis stumbling blindly down the gangway or carried on a stretcher while he puked. Since the vessel was scheduled to stop only long enough to pick up and debark passengers and luggage before sailing on up the coast there was only one thing to be done.

In his bag Nordlink found a vial of ugly green syrup. Rolling Trastan over onto his back–holding his own nose against the stench–he forced Trastan’s lips apart and poured in the liquid, massaging Trastan’s throat to make him swallow. Then Nordlink tossed the vial aside and hurried to the other end of the cabin to wait. It didn’t take long for the elixir to take effect. In a moment Trastan began retching again, but of course there was nothing left in his stomach, and he simply lay on his side on the floor, grasping his middle and gagging. When that ceased he opened two bleary eyes, and when they fell on Nordlink he glared.

“What did you do to me?” he gasped.

“Brought you around, I hope,” said Nordlink, shrugging.

“I feel like warmed over death,” said Trastan. “I need a drink.”

“If you touch anything stronger than water for the next few hours you will regret it. The elixir I gave you reacts quite harshly with alcohol. If it were not so powerful as to be dangerous I would have been feeding it to you for the entire journey.”

“You bastard. Why are you doing this to me?”

Nordlink sighed, reaching down to help Trastan to his feet. Trastan swooned but then caught himself on the mage’s shoulders.

“Out of memories of our past, I suppose,” said Nordlink, wiping Trastan’s face with a cloth and straightening his tunic. “But you are stretching my goodwill to the limit.”

“You owe me nothing. If anything I am the one in your debt. Your devices helped defend al Garis against overwhelming odds.”

“Not well enough.”

“Don’t fault yourself for that. No magic on earth could have stopped the Madi’s hordes from overrunning us, but hundreds if not thousands of our enemies sleep in the sands thanks to you.”

Nordlink frowned. “I’m not sure I take that as praise, although I knew what I was doing when I did it.

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