The Dark Road: A Jonmarc Vahanian Collection: VOL II by Gail Z. Martin

Author:Gail Z. Martin [Martin, Gail Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Published: 2018-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

5

Death Match

Changes

Six months passed filled with fights and pain, blood and the unspoken comfort of warmth in the dark. Jonmarc and Thaine found a rhythm that suited them, and if it wasn’t love, it exceeded camaraderie and was far better than isolation.

“The camp is tense.” Thaine spent her time observing the parade ground and what could be seen of the stockade from the windows of their quarters while Jonmarc trained in the salle. Reporting what she saw gave them something to talk about. “Do you know what’s going on?”

Jonmarc shrugged. Even with his struggling grasp of the language, he picked up bits of conversations and hints of rumors. Few of the soldiers suspected that their outlander champion had a fair ability to understand the guttural, complex tongue even if his talent for speaking Nargi still fell far short of native. That meant the soldiers were willing to talk in front of him, say things they wouldn’t otherwise. He’d learned a lot about the odds for upcoming fights that way, valuable information that helped him turn luck his way. But he found little to like in what he’d heard recently.

“Not really. Only what I can put together. There’s tension between the General and Dorran. It’s getting worse. Don’t know why.”

Thaine nodded. She said little about her past, but she spoke the language fluently, so Jonmarc did not doubt she made more of the conversations than he could.

“Your fame has spread far and wide,” she replied in the same whisper, unwilling to have the guards overhear. “There’s talk that one of the vampire lords came to bet on you.”

Jonmarc looked up, remembering the red-robed vayash moru mage who had set him on the path to ruin. “Didn’t think their kind was welcome in Nargi.”

“With enough money to spend, you’re welcome anywhere, or so I hear.” Thaine did not try to hide the bitterness in her voice.

“So Dorran’s jealous? Isn’t he getting a big enough cut of the profits? Or is he still betting against me?”

“I think it’s more than that,” Thaine replied quietly, casting a quick glance toward the door to assure that the guards were not nearby. Jonmarc didn’t think Nose would go out of his way to cause them trouble, a decent sort for a prison guard, but he knew better than to make the man choose between his prisoner and his own self-interest.

“Something about Dorran coming here in the first place. No one seems to know, but there are a lot of theories. That they knew each other before and had a falling out. That the General got a promotion or assignment Dorran wanted—”

“Dorran’s younger by a decade,” Jonmarc countered. “I doubt they were competing for the same promotions.”

She shrugged. “It could happen. A slow-and-steady career soldier versus a young man with lots of promise.”

“Maybe. But it doesn’t feel right,” Jonmarc said. Between his time as a merc and what he had seen of the Eastmark army, he knew the military was home to as many petty rivalries as civilian life.

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