where the baron’s main holdings are, well away from his wife. Just a townhouse to deal with, but district watchmen not far off.’
‘Diversion, then?’ Lynx asked. ‘Small team goes in and grabs the girl, rest of the company covers the escape?’
‘Close enough. A commando could be useful.’
‘You’re leading the team, not Payl?’
‘She’ll be giving the orders,’ Teshen said with a shrug. ‘Those’ll be to do whatever the fuck I say.’
Not your first covert mission then, not by a long shot. Sounds like yours is a more interesting tale than most, maybe even the sort that’s dangerous to be told.
Lynx couldn’t help but glance down, just a sideways look at Teshen’s hands, but the man wore no rings of any sort, let alone the three diamonds of the Vagrim.
‘Price of my card, is it?’
‘Man with a noble card on his jacket gets paid better,’ Teshen said in a non-committal tone. ‘Even if he hasn’t actually been given the badge yet. You’re expected to be worth it. But getting Anatin value for money ain’t my concern when I take a team in somewhere.’
‘Fair enough.’ Lynx nodded. ‘Guess I’m in if you want me.’
‘I know.’
Lynx shot him a look at that, but could make out nothing on Teshen’s face and had no intention of pressing the matter. Instead he let his mind drift as the miles crawled by and the drizzle waxed and waned – never turning into a downpour but never letting up either. With his hat tilted forward and his jacket fastened tight, Lynx did his best to ignore it all, letting the world wash over him. The tang of mud and tramp of boots were easy to dismiss after years of wandering and soon it all faded from his awareness.
In his mind he explored places he had only read about in the one luxury he permitted himself, the books he would save and scrimp for – the books he would mourn for weeks when finally he sold his current one to make way for another. The roads he walked varied little and the principalities, city-states, republics and fiefdoms that dotted the continent rarely possessed a veneer of the unique. Money ruled and strength led. There was no justice outside the states and precious little within them, save for those who decided what justice was.
But in his mind he could walk the deserts of the east, where high stone formations preserved tiny wildernesses from the rest of the world below. On roads such as this one or chalky, overgrown tracks barely big enough for carts to use, he had stalked the souks of the mage islands and raced with the dusk hunts through their maze-like streets. With the rain falling all about him and his cheeks damp, Lynx conjured the legendary Jewelled Falls and felt his breath catch at the sight. There it was said the River Araiv emerged from a great forest to cascade down a hundred waterfalls and cast a hundred rainbows before it wound its way to the waters of Lake Witchfire to the north.
When the shout from up ahead came, he missed the words spoken and on instinct was reaching for his gun before Teshen caught his arm.
‘Peace, Stranger,’ Teshen said as Lynx flinched under his touch. ‘Just knights on the road.’
Lynx shook himself awake. ‘There a problem?’
‘Nah – we just make it a habit to call out when we see any. They don’t like mercenaries much, which is funny when they get paid to fight the same as us often enough.’
He heard it properly now as the call was passed back by those in the middle, unnecessary perhaps but anything to break up the day, and many Militant Orders were unpredictable at best.
‘Charnelers!’ came the muted voices down the line, one woman’s voice raised above the rest; whoever that was, they were marching safe in the anonymous heart of the company.
The nickname was down to their avowed holy missions, that just so happened to be the basis for their power and wealth. For millennia they had gathered and stored the fragments of the five shattered gods which had been scattered across the
‘Diversion, then?’ Lynx asked. ‘Small team goes in and grabs the girl, rest of the company covers the escape?’
‘Close enough. A commando could be useful.’
‘You’re leading the team, not Payl?’
‘She’ll be giving the orders,’ Teshen said with a shrug. ‘Those’ll be to do whatever the fuck I say.’
Not your first covert mission then, not by a long shot. Sounds like yours is a more interesting tale than most, maybe even the sort that’s dangerous to be told.
Lynx couldn’t help but glance down, just a sideways look at Teshen’s hands, but the man wore no rings of any sort, let alone the three diamonds of the Vagrim.
‘Price of my card, is it?’
‘Man with a noble card on his jacket gets paid better,’ Teshen said in a non-committal tone. ‘Even if he hasn’t actually been given the badge yet. You’re expected to be worth it. But getting Anatin value for money ain’t my concern when I take a team in somewhere.’
‘Fair enough.’ Lynx nodded. ‘Guess I’m in if you want me.’
‘I know.’
Lynx shot him a look at that, but could make out nothing on Teshen’s face and had no intention of pressing the matter. Instead he let his mind drift as the miles crawled by and the drizzle waxed and waned – never turning into a downpour but never letting up either. With his hat tilted forward and his jacket fastened tight, Lynx did his best to ignore it all, letting the world wash over him. The tang of mud and tramp of boots were easy to dismiss after years of wandering and soon it all faded from his awareness.
In his mind he explored places he had only read about in the one luxury he permitted himself, the books he would save and scrimp for – the books he would mourn for weeks when finally he sold his current one to make way for another. The roads he walked varied little and the principalities, city-states, republics and fiefdoms that dotted the continent rarely possessed a veneer of the unique. Money ruled and strength led. There was no justice outside the states and precious little within them, save for those who decided what justice was.
But in his mind he could walk the deserts of the east, where high stone formations preserved tiny wildernesses from the rest of the world below. On roads such as this one or chalky, overgrown tracks barely big enough for carts to use, he had stalked the souks of the mage islands and raced with the dusk hunts through their maze-like streets. With the rain falling all about him and his cheeks damp, Lynx conjured the legendary Jewelled Falls and felt his breath catch at the sight. There it was said the River Araiv emerged from a great forest to cascade down a hundred waterfalls and cast a hundred rainbows before it wound its way to the waters of Lake Witchfire to the north.
When the shout from up ahead came, he missed the words spoken and on instinct was reaching for his gun before Teshen caught his arm.
‘Peace, Stranger,’ Teshen said as Lynx flinched under his touch. ‘Just knights on the road.’
Lynx shook himself awake. ‘There a problem?’
‘Nah – we just make it a habit to call out when we see any. They don’t like mercenaries much, which is funny when they get paid to fight the same as us often enough.’
He heard it properly now as the call was passed back by those in the middle, unnecessary perhaps but anything to break up the day, and many Militant Orders were unpredictable at best.
‘Charnelers!’ came the muted voices down the line, one woman’s voice raised above the rest; whoever that was, they were marching safe in the anonymous heart of the company.
The nickname was down to their avowed holy missions, that just so happened to be the basis for their power and wealth. For millennia they had gathered and stored the fragments of the five shattered gods which had been scattered across the
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