(eng) Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes - Dragon Brigade 02 by Storm Riders

Author:Storm Riders [Riders, Storm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

24

I would far rather be on the field of battle than in my mother’s drawing room. On the battlefield, you know your enemy. You are surrounded by friends and comrades to whom you entrust your life. At court, the enemy is all around you, yet you have no idea who they are. You must live your life as if you were behind enemy lines, waiting to be discovered. Soldiers share a camaraderie born in conflict. Courtiers share paranoia, born in mistrust. And yet my mother seems to revel in it.

—Stephano de Guichen, in a letter to Sir Ander Martel

During the carriage ride home Rodrigo drank port and sang arias, even attempting to sing all four parts of a quartet and coming closer to succeeding than Stephano would have thought possible. He was achingly sober and spent the ride staring through the windows at the streetlamps: landbound stars that followed the streets in sparkling lines, straight or curved, crossed and crisscrossed.

He looked back at the Sunset Palace. The magical stone that had been radiant with the hues of the sunset now glimmered softly with moon glow. Here and there a light shone in one of the mullioned windows.

The ships of the royal navy floated above the palace. They were rigged with their running lights—brass lamps—shining red and green. Men would be awake on board the ships: the officer of the watch making his rounds; the lookouts keeping watch … for Freyans.

Beyond the lights of Evreux was the Breath, a ridge of solid darkness dividing the glittering darkness of the city from the glittering darkness of the starlit heavens. A few lights shone in the Breath: a merchant ship sailing into port; a patrol boat guarding the shoreline.

He looked out into the night and thought how much he loved his country, his people. His father had loved his country. Julian de Guichen had died for his country, though since he had been executed as a traitor, there were few who would ever know that or believe it. Stephano listened to Rodrigo singing and wondered how he was going to manage to persuade his friend to work in the royal armory.

Every man had his price, so they said. Stephano reflected gloomily that there was not enough velvet, satin, silk, and lace in the world to convince Rodrigo to enter a foundry.

No use talking to him tonight, he thought, listening to yet another aria. Stephano resolved to speak seriously to his friend in the morning.

They arrived home as the clocks were chiming one. The neighborhood was quiet. It was a respectable neighborhood; everyone went to bed at a decent hour. The only light was a streetlamp about half a block down. Benoit would be sitting up waiting for them, cozily tucked in his chair by the kitchen fire. Stephano opened the front door, calling for Benoit as he entered so that he didn’t alarm him.

No answer.

Stephano assumed that Benoit had fallen asleep after the rigors of the day. The trunk was empty. Benoit must have unpacked their things.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.