City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [53]
“Teral is expecting you,” he said.
Cloth walls divided the interior into rooms. The entry chamber seemed to double as a dining hall and servants’ quarters, and tattered bedrolls were stacked against the walls. A low, round table dominated the center of the room, and six people were already seated on the floor around it—Teral, an old half-elven woman with a child, two young men who appeared to be identical twins, and a woman in her thirties who wore a patch over one eye.
Councilor Teral rose to his feet and slowly made his way around the table, leaning on a gnarled cane.
“Ah, Captain Daine! You are welcome in my house.”
Age and injury had both taken their toll on the former councilor. He favored his right foot, and the tip of a large, puckered scar could be seen at the left side of his throat. Despite these infirmities, he moved with calm confidence, and his voice was warm and soothing.
Jode stepped forward and bowed. “Truly, the honor is ours.” He smiled as he rose. “But I have to ask. Should you really call it a house? ‘Home’ is certainly a broad term. I’ve seen homes that really were just holes in a wall, but somehow I’ve always thought that it wasn’t a house if you could cut through the walls.”
Daine reached down and grabbed Jode’s collar, yanking him back. “I trust you remember Jode, my healer. As he said, it is we who are honored by the invitation, Lord ir’Soras.”
“Please, Daine. Just Teral. I have no estates any more, and we are all equals in this community.”
“Except your servants?” Jode said, as a young woman emerged from one of the flaps with bread for the table.
Daine gave him a rap on the head. “My apologies.”
“No, it’s a simple misunderstanding. There are no servants here. I am an old man, but there are those who respect what I have done for Cyre in the past and my attempts to unify the survivors today. I don’t know what I would do without Olalia, Karris, and the others.” He smiled at the young woman, who inclined her head and disappeared into the back of the tent. Despite Teral’s reassurances, she did not speak, and she avoided eye contact with the visitors.
Teral shuffled back to the table and sat down. “Now please, join us and introduce yourselves. I try to dine with different people each night. Our people are all that remains of our proud nation, and we must come together if we are going to survive.”
Daine sat next to Teral, and the other soldiers spread around the table. Pierce stood behind Daine. “I have no need of sustenance,” he said. “I prefer to stand.”
The other guests glanced at one another. “That’s fine,” Daine said. Bowing his head slightly, he continued, “This is my comrade Pierce, who served our nation as a scout and skirmisher. I am Daine, and until the tragedy I held the rank of captain in the southern command.”
The one-eyed woman sitting to Teral’s left smiled at that. She appeared to be slightly older than Daine. Her golden brown hair was tied back in a long ponytail that fell down to her hips. A maze of fine scars ran back to her torn right ear. She was dressed in a brown blouse and breeches, patched with green cloth. “And do you have a family name, Captain Daine?”
“I prefer Daine.”
“Who wouldn’t?”
Teral nodded toward the woman. “Greykell was also an officer of the southern command. Perhaps you know one another?”
Daine studied the woman. She grinned, and then it came to him. “The laughing wolf?”
“I prefer Greykell,” she said, her smile widening. Born to one of the lesser noble families of Cyre, she was one of the few female captains in the southern command and was known for her brilliantly unorthodox strategies, dogged tenacity, and ability to inspire her troops. Some said she showed too much mercy to the enemy, but mercy had always been a Cyran virtue, and the Queen had praised her behavior. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, studying Daine in turn. “Let’s see. Daine. You fought on the Valenar front, didn’t you? And what was it I’d heard? Before you joined the guard, you