The Argument of Empires by Jacob T. Helvey

Author:Jacob T. Helvey [Helvey, Jacob T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jacob T Helvey
Published: 2018-07-15T22:00:00+00:00

Eighteen:

Kareen

“Are you mute?” Kareen asked the man. It was her third hour following him, and he still hadn’t spoken a word in reply. “Are you even alive?”

He remained silent, as he had a dozen times, and kept up his steady pace. She had followed him for no other reason than he was there and he was human. More human than the Cutarans, at least. He was also heading in the right direction, north and slightly west, presumably towards the Front.

She glanced around, trying for the hundredth time to find any sign of habitation on the plains. Nothing. No columns of smoke in the distance, no remains of a camp. Not even horse patrols. And strangest of all, no animals. Only this man, and the questions that surrounded him like the clouds of flies that were a common annoyance on the plains.

She knew he was a Delver. That much was obvious by what he had done to the lion. Delvers were a secretive lot. Her father had never been rich or powerful enough to hire one of the magic users, so she had never had much exposure to their strange abilities, but still, she knew enough.

The glowing sword, the way he had thrown the weapon—this man was an Ignean, and an exceptionally powerful one at that. The Emperor had more than a hundred Delvers at his command, and many of the most powerful High Lords might have a dozen. But there were rumors of a secret cabal within the Emperor’s inner circle, Delvers so powerful that no one could challenge them. Delvers whose very presence helped hold the Corrossan Empire together. She had always found the idea a fanciful one, the kind of thing noblemen’s sons discussed when they were particularly deep into their cups.

But maybe she had been wrong. It was said that the men and women of this order covered their faces when in public. She had always assumed that meant a mask or even a large hood, but could the stories be referring to the cover this man wore over his head?

It made as much sense as anything on this Tirrak forsaken continent. Not for the first time, she cursed the Emperor for coming here. But even still, it was only be the Emperor’s will it seemed, that she was alive. Another reason to thank the man, another reason to bow at his feet.

Kareen decided on a question then. “Do you work for Emperor Hadan?” she asked, more because she wanted to something to say than any desire for a real answer.

The Delver turned his head slightly, but remained silent. She couldn’t be sure, but he seemed to quicken his pace. A touchy subject? she wondered as she struggled to match his speed.

* * *

A day passed in silence, the Delver keeping a steady pace through the brush and the forests and the streams, never relenting. Kareen struggled to match his long-legged gait. Every time she had to stop to relieve herself or get a drink of water, she would have to run to catch up.

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