From Darkness Won - Jill Williamson [15]
“Are you blocked from them the way you are with Vrell?” Sir Eagan’s raspy voice pulled Achan’s gaze to the man’s lazy blue eyes.
“No. I can sense her, just not push past her shields. But of Esek and his father I find no trace. As if they don’t exist.”
“Esek is dead, then,” Sir Caleb said, looking up from a scroll in his hands. “But what of Lord Nathak?”
Sir Gavin tugged the end of his braided white beard. “Lord Nathak has likely used some sort of dark magic.”
“If so, I fear he would have been teaching his son to be doing the same,” Inko said.
“The prince cut off the man’s arm, he did.” Kurtz chopped the edge of his hand against Inko’s arm. “Can’t have lived through that, eh?”
“Men have lived through worse,” Sir Gavin said.
Kurtz’s grin dimpled his cheeks under his trimmed blond beard. “Not much worse than losing a limb, eh?”
“Could we locate a personal item?” Sir Eagan asked.
Sir Gavin nodded. “Ôwr should be enough to bridge a connection. The sword belonged to Esek for years.”
“I left it in my chamber,” Achan said, drawing everyone’s gaze back to him. “And I have nothing that belongs to Lord Nathak.”
“Continue to try to access their minds, Your Majesty,” Sir Eagan said. “It is likely one of them may let down their guard at some point.”
Achan glared at the lamplight reflecting on the tabletop. “I thought the same of Sparrow, and she has not lowered her guard.”
No one answered this statement, and Achan felt foolish for mentioning Sparrow yet again.
“We received another suggestion for a general, Your Highness.” Sir Caleb passed a scroll to Sir Eagan, who passed it to Achan. “Lord Orson had requested that his son, Koyukuk Orson, lead Berland’s army.”
Achan glanced at the scroll, then around the table. “That seems like a reasonable request.”
“Sir Koyukuk is being young for a general,” Inko said.
Sir Gavin shifted, and the lamp in the center of the table blocked Achan’s view of the old knight’s face. “Aye, Inko, but he’s well-trained.”
“That gives us how many generals?” Achan racked his memory to recall all the names. “Five?”
“Six, Your Highness.” Sir Caleb shuffled through his scrolls. “Prince Oren leads Arman Duchy. Tristan Loam is in charge of Carm. Baldwin Agros, Allown. Chaz Dromos leads the Mârad rebels. Keano Pitney leads Nahar. And now Sir Koyukuk over Berland. That’s roughly… twelve thousand seven hundred men.”
Achan sought a reaction from the expressions around the table. “Is that a lot? It seems like a lot.” Many more than the three hundred or so they had freed from Ice Island not long ago.
“If we can get them all together, aye, ’tis a formidable army,” Sir Gavin said. “Though at least thirty thousand more live in Er’Rets who are capable of fighting. Why they do not join us—whether they choose not to fight or to serve one of our adversaries—I cannot say.”
“We should be finding one more general soon. Seven is a stronger number than six,” Inko said.
Achan slid the scroll back to Sir Caleb and peered past the lamp to Sir Gavin. “Did we determine the location of Esek’s army?”
“Our scouts last saw Captain Keuper in Har Sha’ar,” Sir Gavin said. “Seems to be the same group Esek was with outside of Mitspah.”
“But no sign of Esek with them?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“And the other scouts?”
“No reports as of yet. And I’ve not heard back from the man I sent to the Sideros Forest. We must be on our guard when we head that way.”
“When will that be?”
“As soon as possible.”
Achan frowned. He was just getting used to Granton Castle. “And what of this New Council?”
“Much news,” Sir Eagan said. “Duchess Amal has discovered through Lord Levy that a man called the Hadad is the new chairman of the council.”
A tremor squeezed Achan’s chest. “The man who spoke to me in that pit in Barth! He took control of the Council?”
“From what Lord Levy claimed, the Hadad has had a longstanding relationship with him and Lord Falkson.”
“So he has been plotting this overthrow with Falkson?” Inko asked.
“So it seems.” Sir Eagan ran a hand over his thin, black hair and glanced at Sir Gavin. The men exchanged