Nights of Villjamur - Mark Charan Newton [59]
“He’s got a lot of Jamúns to his name, so I’ve heard …”
“Not quite sure he’s marriage material …”
“Could you love him, though?”
“That’s not the point, is it? He doesn’t have to know what you might get up to on the side.”
“Astrid knows I’ve seen better examples of a man … Not much physically, and he’s also pretty old …”
“But still, there’s a lot to be said for his house. I know I could be very happy living there. So I think you should go for him …”
Money-grabbing sows, Randur thought.
He took a deep breath, and proceeded toward them, arming himself with a few sweet lines to deprive them of their wealth.
CHAPTER 11
THE HORSES RODE IN A RHYTHM MATCHING HIS HEARTBEAT, OR WAS IT the other way around? Brynd had done this for so many years it had become a dulled instinct, the sort of routine only noticed when he was not riding the length and breadth of the Empire. Brynd had been forcing his companions to ride until the horses were exhausted, only stopping at hamlets and villages, when the wilderness proved more violent than anticipated. Bitter winds, followed by harsh sleet. The few remaining Night Guards crested the hill that overlooked the port of Gish. It was a bleak landscape this side of the island. Low clouds skimmed the horizon, undermining massive skies.
Because of the recent deaths of his comrades, at nights when they rested he sometimes stared at his sword blade and at the white-skinned man reflected back, and tried to make more sense of himself. Perhaps he had grown used to the luxury of command, standing so far back from any direct combat. He had wanted this, an opportunity to prove himself a true man—because of his unusual skin tone as much as his sexuality. People always judged him in unspoken terms, so he had to respond with action only because that was expected of him. And look where that action had taken him—many good soldiers and friends, dead.
Maybe there was too much time to think on these journeys.
The estuary was crowded with sailing vessels of the Jamur Second Dragoons. Brynd’s own first regiment. Two dozen longships were blocking off one side of the harbor, allowing only a few fishing boats to pass out to sea. He could see the raised standards of at least two divisions—the Wolf and Eagle brigades—on the shore this side of the port town. Gish had only become a military port in recent years, following assessments of how the ice age might affect the navigational channels of the major island of Jokull.
Blink while reading the history of this region and you might miss that it had become a significant commercial center too, based upon supply and billeting of the army. It was now humming with armorers licensed directly from Villjamur, innkeepers, fishermen, wool merchants. And, below the gloss, the side of life that respectable people always looked away from: brothels, gambling dens involving big dogfights or dice, slaves beaten senseless over a chore forgotten, and brawls between soldiers over a spilt tankard.
Brynd looked back toward the ships, deciding after his recent encounters that he wanted as many vessels as possible to escort them on the return voyage. If nothing else, it would provide a positive statement: Here she comes, the new Empress, and she’s well protected.
Two hours later, they boarded the Black Frieter, the largest of the longships docked at Gish. An old boat, once thought to house souls of the damned, it had been recovered from pirates decades ago, and now took its place in the Empire’s fleet. Sea Captain Sang greeted them, if it could be called a greeting, then made sure the carriage would be well protected on the adjoining shore by several women of the Wolf Regiment. These quieter moments of travel always forced Apium to analyze the current status of the military.
Apium was always suspicious of the Dragoon Marines, despite them being a focal component of most military campaigns. They were a crucial force across the entire Archipelago, having developed effective techniques for short raids, and larger-scale invasions. A formidable reputation proceeded