Nights of Villjamur - Mark Charan Newton [62]
“Honestly?” Brynd said.
“Yes.”
“Very little.” He sighed. “You have a duty.”
“I also have a life here, commander.”
“Yes, that’s not gone unnoticed,” Brynd said, with a step toward her. He followed her gaze to a wild cat out on the grass below. It was ripping into a gull, blood covering the victim’s white wings that were half-extended, broken. “Strong cats you have here, for it to bring down a gull.”
“Indeed,” she said. “Everything here is that little bit more … wild.”
“Nature’s creatures learn to cope in any conditions presented to them.”
“It depends, of course, on what exactly those conditions are,” Rika said.
Silence followed yet again, while Brynd stood next to her, hoping that this proximity might symbolize to her that he was at her side in more than just the physical sense. He watched the skies begin to bleed snow. Winds blew in stronger, the wall hangings rattled.
“I’ll come with you,” she sighed. “Just give me a moment to get ready.”
Apium hurled a pebble into the sea some distance away from the Black Frieter. It vanished from sight long before it pierced the water, lost in the eruptions caused by surf beating granite.
“Well, at least she’s coming willingly,” Nelum said, trying to light his pipe against the strong wind. He was failing miserably. “And, when she eventually strolls down here, we can embark and get her back home. And then we can put our feet up for a while.”
Brynd glanced over at Apium.
“We can put our feet up for a bit, can’t we?” Nelum said, examining their glances worriedly. He placed the unlit pipe back in his pocket.
“Not exactly, no,” Brynd confessed. “Chancellor Urtica has informed me of some strange occurrences further north, and we’ve to protect the Empire by investigating. It’s serious, according to eyewitness accounts. There have been reports of serious killings, and it’s up to us to establish order, and to give the local populace reassurance.”
“So why not send the Dragoons to investigate?” Lupus asked. “Why send the elite soldiers?”
“Lad’s got a point there, Brynd,” Apium said.
“Elite soldiers are required, and we’ve skills and training superior to the ordinary standards of the army. We in the Night Guard have access to some cultist-enhanced weaponry. After all, we’re cultist-enhanced ourselves, let’s not forget. And we possess better swords, bows that fire more accurately. And, anyway, I doubt that the sight of a massive army traipsing across the tundra would inspire any confidence that all is calm. It’s easier to move in small groups, so I want one or two units with us, a couple of hundred soldiers at most.”
“Maybe the armies are needed elsewhere,” Nelum stated, his mind working ahead, processing all the possibilities.
“Not without my knowing,” Brynd said. “You forget I’ve command of all the Empire’s armies.”
“So now we’re to be galloping around after three-cocked unicorns,” Apium grumbled.
“We don’t know what these creatures are yet,” Brynd said. “Unicorns or not, we shall go and investigate.”
“Aye, maybe you’re right.” Apium chuckled. “Look, here’s our Lady Rika.”
CHAPTER 12
AS THE SUN ROSE LAZILY OVER VILLJAMUR, INVESTIGATOR RUMEX JERYD left his house in the Kaiho district. He walked past Gulya Gata, down alongside the irens near Gata du Quercus, Hotel Villjamur, and the inn called the Dryad’s Saddle. There were a few eccentric shops down this way, high-end purveyors of drugs and erotica, where you could apparently find “love potions” conducive to controlled rape. Nothing like as described in romantic songs, and why the potions were allowed, he had no idea. That was Villjamur for you—as long as you had enough money you could get whatever you wanted, and to hell with ethics. You could wander these streets and become defined by your fetishes.
In the shadows of high walls, where the road curved down to the right, the kids of Gamall Gata were already waiting for him. From the top of the street you could