The Doom of Kings_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [101]
Aruget was on duty outside her door when she opened it. “We’re going into Rhukaan Draal,” she told him in Goblin. “I need to deliver a letter.”
He didn’t blink or twitch his ears, but she heard the tightness in his voice. “It will be dark soon, Lady Vounn. Can I take it for you, or can you wait until the morning?”
“I need to deliver it myself,” Vounn said. “Don’t worry. We’re only going to the Orien compound. The letter needs to go now so it can leave with the dawn coach to Sterngate. We’ll be back before sunset.”
He nodded reluctantly. “Mazo, lady.”
Their departure from the fortress wasn’t as quick as she had anticipated. A group of dirty and bloodied horsemen was dismounting as she and Aruget came out into the great entrance hall of Khaar Mbar’ost. Haruuc’s party had returned from their pursuit of raiders. The warlord saw her and gestured her over as he removed his helmet. “It’s late to be going for a walk, Lady Vounn.”
“A quick errand, lhesh.” In private meetings she might call him Haruuc, but they both understood the need for formality in public. “I trust your hunting went well?”
Haruuc’s ears flicked and he tossed his helmet to Vanii—his shava was seldom far from him. “Come with me a moment, lady.”
He led her a short distance from the soldiers who had ridden with him. When they stopped, he looked her in the eye. “You went out in the city this same day last week and visited the compound of House Orien. Are you by any chance on your way there now, perhaps with a letter back to Karrlakton?”
Vounn kept her face neutral. In spite of the pressure the Gan’duur put on him, Haruuc was constantly surprising her with how much he knew of the day to day events in his court. He had probably even guessed who she was writing to. “I am.”
“Could you send a message for me as well? A number of young warriors of the Atiin Noor clan wish to enter the service of House Deneith as mercenaries. The clan chief’s sons are among them. I’d like to see that they find respectable positions, perhaps in the Lhazaar Principalities or the Eldeen Reaches.”
She’d heard of the Atiin Noor, a wealthy clan with territory south of Rhukaan Draal. If she had been back in Karrnath, where rich families commonly used their influence to find choice positions for their children, she might have thought nothing of the request. Over the short time she’d been in Darguun, though, she’d developed the distinct impression that offspring were expected to earn their positions. Nor could assignments in Lhazaar Principalities or the Eldeen Reaches be called “choice.” Both nations were very nearly as far from Darguun as it was possible to get without leaving Khorvaire entirely. Vounn raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this a matter for Viceroy Redek?” she asked.
“The warriors won’t be stopping at the Gathering Stone,” said Haruuc. “They’ll be riding directly to Matshuc Zaal. I would appreciate if they could be met at Sterngate and escorted to their assignments.” He frowned, the action emphasizing his tusks. “In fact,” he added, “I think it would be best if their assignments were with humans rather than with other Darguul mercenaries.”
“It sounds like they’re being banished,” Vounn said carefully.
Haruuc gave her a long look, then said, “The chief of Atiin Noor is an old and loyal friend. If you had a friend whose sons had made a poor decision, would you not want to spare him some grief?” He leaned a little closer. “Not all of the scarecrows in the fields of the Atiin Noor were Gan’duur.”
Admiration for the “unbroken spirit” of the Gan’duur warriors was becoming something more active. Vounn nodded. “I understand. I will