Could that be why Pendin had suggested he challenge Dendril?
No. Pendin’s interest seemed to come more from what he’d been hearing from the soldiers.
“How often do you and my father discuss me?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“I didn’t realize he was in the habit of sharing his succession planning with anyone outside of the Denraen.”
“There are many things that you will learn when you assume command.”
“I have already assumed command of the Denraen.”
“When you assume full command. Does that distinction make you feel better?”
Endric sighed. “Try to have a better relationship with your son.”
“I have.”
Endric turned and started to leave. Elizabeth positioned herself in front of him, blocking him from departing. “Since you’re here, there is something I could use your help with.”
“And what might that be?”
“If you have decided to refrain from assuming command of the Denraen, I have something where your particular expertise might be beneficial.”
“My particular expertise?”
“I understand you don’t want to talk about what you did in Salvat. Or in Thealon. Or even in the Antrilii lands.” With each statement, she fixed him with a harder gaze. As she did, Endric had little doubt she knew more than he had realized about what he had been up to in those places. “It seems to me that someone with your experience would be useful.”
He didn’t want to work on behalf of Elizabeth, but he couldn’t deny that he had an interest in what she was saying. He had grown weary of nothing more than patrols. There was only so much excitement he could find while out on patrol. A part of him longed for the opportunity to become involved in something more intriguing, much like the events that had brought him to Salvat or to Thealon or to the Antrilii lands. He had even considered traveling back to the Antrilii lands, but if he were to have done so, he would have abandoned the Denraen again, and Endric had no intention of doing that. He had agreed to stay and serve and felt as if he needed to remain.
“What is it?” Endric asked.
“This is nothing someone with your experience wouldn’t be able to accomplish.”
“You keep referring to my experience as if you know exactly what that is.”
“I know well enough what you’ve experienced to know that you are the right person for what I need.”
“What is it?”
“There is a difficult situation that has begun to transpire on the southern continent.”
Endric raised his hand, cutting her off. “If this has to do with the Deshmahne, I am not prepared to intervene. Dendril has made it quite clear that unless they pose an active threat, we won’t begin war against them. They are viewed as priests, and he won’t violate the traditions of the Denraen to stop them.”
“It’s not the Deshmahne, but it does make me wonder what you might choose when you lead the Denraen.”
“That’s part of the reason I am not sure I’m ready to lead,” Endric said.
“You don’t trust yourself?”
“I trust myself, but I know I have a particular bias when it comes to the Deshmahne. I have no interest in making decisions based on what has happened to me personally. My decisions must be calculated.”
“Does your father know that?”
“My father knows my feelings about the Deshmahne, if that’s what you question.”
“No. Does your father know that your hesitance stems from your fear of how you might react.”
He shook his head. “It’s not something about which I’ve been all that forthright with him.”
“Why not?”
“That’s also something I don’t intend to be forthright with you about.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“Are you going to tell me what you want to ask of me, or are you going to simply stand there and block my exit?”
“I wouldn’t dare believe I could block your exit, Endric. How could someone my size manage to block someone like yourself, a man who has survived the Antrilii lands, who has faced Deshmahne, and who has traveled the desolate lands of Salvat and survived?”
“Elizabeth…”
“There is an issue with the historian guild that I need your help with.”
He froze. That surprised him. “You need my help.”
“I thought that it might require more manipulation, but seeing as how you don’t intend to assume command, I decided asking outright might be the most effective tactic.”
“What is it with the historian guild that you’re concerned about?”
Endric knew very little about the historian guild. He’d spent some time with Novan, but other than him, he hadn’t interacted with many of the historians. Novan was unique.
“The guild has grown silent.”
Endric cocked his head to the side, studying her for a moment. Finally, he laughed. “That’s it?”
“I fail to see the humor in it for you.”
“Only that silence from the historian guild is something I wouldn’t have thought you to be much concerned about.”
“There is much that the historian guild observes that provides insight to people like myself.”
“Scholars?”
She met his gaze but said nothing.
“What is it that troubles you about the silence within the historian guild?”
“Only that it is unusual. Normally, the guild has been much more forthcoming with knowledge, but over the last few months, communication from the guild has begun to falter.”
“Including Novan?”
“Novan has never been the most forthcoming of the guild,” she said.
“You sound as if that annoys you.”
“No more than anything else that has to do with Novan,” she said.
He paused, hiding his amusement. There was a part of him that loved that Novan annoyed her as he did. “Why me?”
“I need someone who can travel safely to the south, and I need someone who can escort my asset.”
Endric laughed again. “Asset?”
She nodded. “You aren’t the only one who has assets.”
“It sounds almost as if you have your own spy network.”
“And would that surprise you? The various universities do have some connectivity. We share knowledge, much more so than most know. Through that sharing of knowledge, we are able to continue to expand on the understanding of the world around us.”
“You don’t need me. You need to hire soldiers.”
“I need to hire someone who can navigate through the dangers that could be found in the south.”
“Such as the Deshmahne.”
She nodded.
“Who is the asset?”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Me.”
“You will risk yourself?”
“Sometimes risking yourself is the only way. It’s something I believe you know a great deal about.”
Endric sighed. “I’m not sure that my father will agree.”
“He will if you ask it.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll find another way. Either way, this is something I have needed to do for some time. I had thought that it wouldn’t be necessary, that events would change and would allow me to make a different decision, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.” She studied him, giving him the feeling that she was weighing and measuring him. “Please, Endric. You know I don’t ask for much. When you came to me on behalf of Pendin—”
Endric laughed again. “He’s your son.”
“And he was your charge. You brought one of the Denraen to me for help. And I did help, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was your responsibility at the time.”
She had manipulated him into this, and he had to marvel at the fact that she was so capable of doing so. It really shouldn’t surprise him. He knew she was incredibly skilled but didn’t expect that she would have manipulated him quite so w
ell—or easily.
“How long have you known that I was returning?”
“What?”
“How long have you known that we were on our way back to Vasha?”
“I fail to see why that matters.”
“Because I suspect you have been planning this for some time.”
“Agree to do this, and I will be more forthright with you during the journey.”
“I can’t commit to anything without speaking to my father.”
“You can, but you choose not to.”
“I think that I have done enough that endangers the Denraen over the years refrain from making a decision like this unilaterally.”
“Only because you choose not to lead.”
Endric pushed past her and stepped out into the other room. He was surprised that Pendin waited, standing by the door. It made him wonder again whether or not Pendin had been asked to draw him here, but Endric didn’t think so. If that were the case, Pendin would have shared something with him. He wouldn’t have been willing—or able—to keep secrets from Endric. Pendin didn’t have that in him.
“I’ll send word either way,” Endric said.
“You need to make a decision quickly,” she said.
“Or else what?”
“Or else I will be forced to find another way.”
“Feel free. It seems to me that you believe that you need me.”
“It’s possible that you need me just as much.”
Endric grunted and then shook his head. “I will send word.”
4
The sound of wood against wood rang out in the barracks yard, and Endric made his way through it, pausing every so often to speak to some of the trainers before continuing. Since his return only two days ago, he had fallen back into patterns that he had acquired over the last five years. He spent a considerable part of his days working with soldiers, wanting to ensure that their skills improved. The Denraen would suffer if the men didn’t continue to improve. It was a responsibility he had taken for himself.
Since meeting with Elizabeth, Endric hadn’t had a chance to talk with his father. He wanted Senda to return, if only to ask for her advice. She likely knew something about what Elizabeth was getting on about, but even if she did, would she share? She was the Keeper of Secrets, but that didn’t mean she shared those secrets with him. Most of those were meant for his father, though given Endric’s rank, more and more often he was allowed to be a part of them.
For his part, Pendin had been quiet since meeting with his mother. It was almost as if having that brief visit had left him troubled. Endric had shared what she requested of him, and Pendin had been almost annoyed at the request, seemingly distraught over the fact that she wanted Endric’s help. Was that because Pendin assumed Endric would ask him to go along? It would mean that Pendin would have to spend time with his mother, something Endric suspected Pendin had no interest in doing.
“Have you been avoiding me?”
Endric turned and nodded to his father. “Avoiding? I thought I would continue my role as Raen.”
“If that were the case, you would have taken on a much different role. When Listain was my Raen, he never spent much time training.”
“Did Senda?”
“She had a role similar to Listain. Neither of them was the type to be too hands-on with training.”
“It seems that’s where we’re different,” Endric said.
“Neither of them felt the need to take patrols out from the city, either.”
“You understand why I do it, Father.”
“I’m not disagreeing with the fact of you’re going. I’m just commenting that your style is different than theirs. In much the same way, when you assume command of the Denraen, your style here will be different.”
Endric cast his gaze over the collected Denraen working throughout the barracks. In some sections of the yard, patrols were practicing formations, while in others, there were skill sessions such as sparring or working with the staff. Everyone around him was working, moving. There was a rhythmic nature to it, an energy he appreciated. All of it was meant to prepare the Denraen for what they might experience outside the city.
“Do you think pushing me will make me more inclined?”
“How much longer before you realize that it’s time?” Dendril asked.
“What if it’s not time for me?”
“Which is why I have chosen not to push. You have become a skilled soldier, and you have gained the trust and affection of the men. Your willingness to go with them on missions has endeared you to them. I don’t know if that was something intentional or whether that was by chance, but you are beloved in a way that I don’t know your brother was.”
“Andril was beloved by the men.”
“He was firm, and he was incredibly skilled, and they loved him for that, but he didn’t spend the time working with soldiers day to day. He didn’t spend the time putting himself on the line.”
“Andril died serving the Denraen.”
“You know I will never forget that, just as you know that’s not what I meant.”
Endric cursed to himself. “I know that you wouldn’t. It’s just—”
“Can you simply take a compliment?”
“Not easily,” he said.
“I can see that.” Dendril surveyed the practice yard, and his gaze seemed to take everything in just as quickly as Endric had. He still had his mind, regardless of the rumors that apparently had started sprouting throughout the Denraen. “I understand that you needed to speak with me.”
“Elizabeth has asked that I escort her south to investigate a silence with the historian guild.”
“What sort of silence?”
“She didn’t really elaborate on it. She said the guild has been unusually silent to her, and that troubled her.”
“That should trouble you, too.”
“Why?”
“The historian guild is given access to a great number of things. They are allowed to observe kings and rulers, places the Denraen often can’t go. If the guild has gone silent, it means that something might be changing.” He turned and looked at Endric. “Or it could mean nothing. The guild can be fickle. They don’t allow their archives to be shared easily, especially those with their own notes. All that we have are replicas, copies, and those are missing the interpretation of the historian who made the observation.”
“Such as Novan.”
“Novan would be different, and as often as I have seen him documenting, I’m not sure that any of his records have been passed back to the guild.”
“Do they go to the Conclave?”
“As far as I know, they do.”
“What do you think? Should I escort Elizabeth?”
“That will have to be up to you.”
“I don’t want to make a decision that might weaken the Denraen,” Endric said.
“And why would that weaken the Denraen?”
“Because it would require a sizable commitment. If the difficulty is where she says, it requires that we travel south, and—”
“And you worry about the Deshmahne.”
“I’m always worried about the Deshmahne.” For many reasons, and most of them ones that he didn’t share with his father.
“They have been quiet.”
“And quiet worries me. Quiet is how they can build power. Remaining quiet means that we don’t focus on them.”
“Do you think I have stopped worrying about the threat of the Deshmahne? You think I don’t continue to have my Keeper of Secrets listening for word out of the Deshmahne?”
Since he had begun serving as Raen, Endric was much more tied into the ruling of the Denraen, and he had a much better understanding of everything, but learning any information about the Deshmahne was still difficult. Senda knew his interest in them, and if she had heard anything, he had to think she’d share it. That she didn’t…
“The guild is how you learn about the Deshmahne, isn’t it?”
Dendril nodded
carefully. “The guild has provided much useful information about the Deshmahne over the years. If that information has changed, then it’s entirely possible it’s tied to the Deshmahne.”
“Which would mean you don’t want me to go.”
In the past, Dendril had wanted to keep Endric away from the Deshmahne, knowing that he was too emotional when it came to them. Endric couldn’t even deny that he was. Perhaps still, after all this time, he would be more biased than needed when dealing with them.
“On the contrary, if this has to do with the Deshmahne, you might be the best equipped to go. I think you should consider making the journey. I won’t require it of you, and if you decide to remain here, or continue your patrol throughout the north, then I won’t be disappointed, but Elizabeth is right. We do need to worry about the silence from the guild.”
“She would have me escort her.”
“She would go herself?”
“From the sounds of it, yes.”
Dendril pinched his chin in thought. “What is she getting at?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe you might know something.”
“When it comes to her, it can be difficult to know what she plans. With Elizabeth, anything could be a plan. She can be devious.”
“I think the same could be said about you.”
“Not quite like her. I haven’t been able to get anywhere near her level of skill.”
Endric chuckled. “You think I should do this?”
“If she’s willing to go with you—”
“No. It’s not that she’s willing to go with me. I think she’s demanding that she be the one to go along. I don’t know that she would be willing to help otherwise.”
“Fine. If she’s willing to be the one to guide you, there is quite a bit that can be learned from the guild. I can send word to Novan.”
“From the way she makes it sound, Novan isn’t necessarily viewed all that favorably by the rest of the guild.”
“He’s not, but Novan is our connection to the guild.”
“By our, I presume you mean the Conclave?”
“I mean the Denraen.” Dendril started toward the end of the yard, making his way back toward the officers’ quarters. Endric hurried along to keep up with him. “Novan has always aligned himself with the needs of the Denraen.”
Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6) Page 5