Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Why don’t we go down to the docks and see what we can arrange,” Endric said.

  Novan smiled. “You really have become more than when we first met,” Novan said. “Back then, you were little hotheaded, though that seems to have changed, hasn’t it?”

  “I have begun to understand my role, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “It’s more than simply understanding your role. You have begun to see a bigger picture. It’s with everything you do. Not only is it with your friends,” he said, glancing from Pendin to Senda, “it’s the way you interact with Elizabeth and now me.”

  “If you think trying to compliment me well get you somewhere, you are mistaken.”

  “Ah, Endric, it’s not about trying to sweet talk you in any way. I’m merely making an observation. Perhaps my new apprentice isn’t prepared for such an observation.”

  Endric grunted. “I’m not sure I want to be referred to as your apprentice.”

  “Isn't that what we have decided that you are?”

  “Out of necessity,” he said.

  “Necessity, but this necessity has made for an interesting partnership.”

  Endric stared at Novan. The historian amused him, though he suspected he shouldn’t. He probably should be more annoyed than anything else, and yet he had a hard time finding it within himself to be annoyed with Novan. Something was entertaining about the way he saw the world.

  “We should be more careful with how we deal with this apprenticeship,” Endric said.

  “Have you reconsidered?”

  “I’m not sure that this is as good for me as it is for you.”

  Novan started to laugh. “And I doubt that it will be,” he said. “But what matters is that we get the information that we need. We have enough money from the sale of the horses that we should be able to secure transportation. There is a captain based out of Boastin I think we can use,” Novan said.

  Endric laughed softly. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Just because I have some experience traveling—”

  Endric shook his head. “It’s more than just that, isn’t it?”

  “Perhaps,” Novan said with a smile.

  Novan signaled for them to wait as he made his way out to the end of the docks and visited with one of the captains who was stationed within the harbor.

  “I find it interesting that Novan has these contacts,” Senda said.

  “I think Novan wants us to find it interesting,” Endric said.

  “You don’t think it odd?”

  “Oh, it’s odd, but I have long ago given up on trying to understand Novan. And him having contacts like this doesn’t surprise me at all.”

  “Why?” Senda asked.

  Endric nodded to Novan as he stood on the end of the dock. He was speaking animatedly with one of the ship captains, and every so often, he would glance over to the rest of them and wave his hands.

  “He knew where to find us,” Endric said. “Elizabeth thought she was the reason we were coming here, but it was all about Novan, and not at all about her.”

  “Why would he allow himself to get caught up like that?” Senda asked.

  “Because he knew we were coming for him.”

  “How did he know?” Senda asked.

  Endric debated how much to share with her. It was something that he questioned frequently, but Senda was working on his behalf, doing what the two of them both thought was necessary. How could he not trust her? And it wasn’t even that he didn’t trust her. More than anyone else, Endric did trust her.

  He tapped her on the arm, and they stepped off to the side, far enough away from Elizabeth to avoid her eavesdropping. “It was Tresten,” he said.

  “Mage Tresten?”

  “Tresten is… well, he’s something more than a mage,” Endric said softly.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “That’s the whole point,” Endric said. “Tresten is the reason Novan is here. Tresten wanted Novan to come, and because of Tresten, Novan was able to determine where we were, and he reached us.”

  “You lost me.”

  “Tresten is more than a mage. He’s something like one of the gods.”

  She turned to him and looked at him for a long moment. “Is he something like one of the gods, or is he one of the gods?”

  Endric glanced over at the docks. Novan continued to plead his case with the captain. Endric couldn’t tell whether he would be successful, but if anyone were, it would be Novan. “As far as I can tell, he is one of the gods.”

  Senda studied him a moment. “Endric, how is that even possible?”

  “There are many things I don’t understand how they’re possible,” Endric said. “Tresten is not the most difficult of them.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “Senda—”

  Senda shook her head. “How long have you known?”

  “Since Salvat.”

  “You’ve known about this since Salvat, and you’re only telling me now?”

  “He didn’t want me to share the truth about him.”

  “I thought the two of us had a better connection than that.”

  “We do,” he said.

  “Obviously, we don’t. If we had a better connection than that, then you would have shared with me before now. Instead, you wait until we’re in Boastin, all this way away from Vasha and the rest of the Denraen, and only now do I understand why you have such devotion to him. Do you know that I’ve wondered what it is about Tresten that has kept you so devoted to him all this time?”

  “I know, and—”

  She jabbed him in the chest. “This is something you could have told me.”

  “I don’t know that I could have,” Endric said.

  “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to have shared with me,” she said.

  Endric shook his head. “There are things I was not permitted to share,” he said. “As much as I might have wanted to share with you, Tresten and the others on the Conclave made it clear that I needed to keep what I knew to myself.”

  “Why tell me now?”

  Endric looked over at Novan again. “I’m not sure what Novan has in mind, but I have a feeling I’m going to need someone who’s able to keep an eye on me.”

  She laughed bitterly. “After deciding not to share anything, now you want me to help look after you?”

  “I thought you would understand.”

  “I do understand, Endric. It’s just that you know me better than that. You know I don’t handle secrets kept from me.”

  “No. You prefer to be the one keeping the secrets.”

  “I can’t help it that my role with the Denraen requires that I keep certain things.”

  “And I can’t help that my role with the Conclave requires that I keep certain things.”

  She glared at him for a moment. “Sometimes you drive me crazy.”

  “Because I make sense?”

  “You aren’t supposed to use logic against me.”

  “You use logic against me all the time.”

  “Because I have logic.” She smiled at him. “I get the sense this entire trip bothers you.”

  “It didn’t at first, but the more that we’ve been traveling with Novan, the more I worry what he has planned.”

  “Why do you think he has anything planned?”

  “Because he’s Novan. As much as he likes to play the role of mysterious historian, he involves himself more often than not, and with his involvement, I know he’s planned something. I don’t quite know what it is—not yet—but I’m determined to figure it out.”

  “And if you can’t?”

  He shook his head. “If I can’t, then I have to go along with what he’s planning.” He was willing to do so, but the farther they went, the more he began to wonder if perhaps Novan was keeping some other aspect of that secret. It wouldn’t surprise him.

  Novan made his way off the ship and back toward them. When he joined them, he looked at Endric for a lon
g moment, frowning. He tapped his staff on the ground, and the teralin in it flashed briefly. This time, Endric wasn’t certain he didn’t imagine it, but why should Novan have such a connection to teralin?

  “We have managed to acquire transportation.”

  “At what cost?” Endric asked.

  “At a cost that is not prohibitive for our plans,” Novan said, smiling slightly. “If you need to know the full details of what I negotiated…”

  “Some of us were a little attached to our horse,” Endric said.

  “Such attachment is unnecessary,” Novan said. “It would be better for you to recognize that it’s necessary to move on from such attachments, and that there are times when attachments only get in the way.”

  “I’m not sure that you giving advice is the best thing,” Elizabeth said, glaring at Novan.

  “And why is that?”

  Elizabeth laughed for a long moment. “You have to ask why? Novan, you slip in here, suddenly appearing, and decide to override my planning, and you question why you’re the right person to be giving advice?”

  “My appearance makes little difference about the type of advice I might give. I have seen much, and with my experience, I have a unique perspective to offer.”

  “Of that, I have little doubt,” Elizabeth said, laughing again.

  Endric glanced from Elizabeth to Novan before shaking his head. “Enough. It’s time for us to go, at least if you have made all the arrangements necessary?”

  Novan tipped his head in a slight nod. “I have made all the arrangements necessary for the first step in this journey.”

  “Good,” Endric said. He looked over at the other Denraen and motioned for them to climb aboard the ship.

  As he started forward, Pendin grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “I hate to say this, but I think that my mother’s right.”

  “About what?”

  “About all of this. I know you trust the historian, but there’s something he’s not sharing with us. I don’t know what it is, but I’m… I’m uncomfortable.”

  Endric patted Pendin on the arm. “I appreciate your honesty. I’m not going to let Novan do anything that harms our people.”

  “I’m less concerned about him harming our people. I’m more concerned about him harming you.”

  Endric smiled at Pendin. “I don’t think he’ll do anything to harm me, either.”

  “I know he’s helped us in the past and that’s the reason you trust him, but what if we can’t? What if he’s guiding us somewhere dangerous?”

  “I have little doubt that he is,” Endric said.

  Pendin arched a brow. “Then why are you allowing him to do so?”

  “I have a feeling that regardless of any danger or not, wherever he’s taking us is necessary.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t know. I just suspect that whatever he intends to do, whatever he’s after by guiding us out here, we need to go along with it.”

  “And if he intends to use you in a way that puts you in danger?”

  “That’s why I have you and Senda with me.”

  “With an attitude like that, maybe we won’t be willing to help,” he said.

  Endric clasped Pendin on the back. “We will get through this. We will figure it out, and from there we will learn why the guild has gone silent for the Denraen.”

  “And what if there is no good reason why?”

  “Then we return to Vasha.”

  “What about you? What then?”

  Endric breathed out. What would it mean for him? Returning to Vasha meant he would have to be committed to the next step in his leadership. He could see the question in Pendin’s eyes and didn’t need his friend to speak it to know exactly what it was he wanted Endric to say. It was the same thing Senda wanted from him, and the same thing his father wanted.

  It seemed as if everybody wanted him to acknowledge the need for leadership. “When I return, I will do what’s necessary.”

  “And what is that?” Pendin asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m ready to answer that yet.”

  “And when will you be ready?”

  Endric shook his head. “I don’t know that, either.”

  Pendin grunted. “It seems to me that you had better come up with the answer pretty soon.”

  “We have an entire journey ahead of us. We have to cross the sea and reach Coamdon, and even once we do that, we still have to reach the guild and convince them I’m Novan’s apprentice. From there—”

  Pendin raised a hand, cutting Endric off. “You’ve made your point. There is far too much left for us to do before you have to make a decision. I just want you to be ready when the time comes to make a decision so that you don’t return to Vasha completely unprepared.”

  “I’m never completely unprepared,” Endric said.

  Pendin chuckled. “You know, there was a time when I wouldn’t have believed that, but considering all the time you spent with Urik, I think he did help you prepare for things in a way others didn’t. Ever since you found me on Salvat, you’ve been a much better planner than you ever had been before.”

  Endric nodded. “My time with Urik did help me. I don’t know if that was the intention.”

  Pendin arched a brow. “The intention?”

  “My father. Tresten. Even Novan,” Endric said, nodding to the historian as he climbed aboard the ship.

  The rest of the Denraen, including Senda, were already aboard. She glanced out, looking out at Pendin and Endric, studying them. He waved, and she nodded before turning away and disappearing into the ship. The last time they had been on board a ship together, she’d been sick for most of the journey. Would the same thing happen this time?

  “All of them seemed as if they were trying to guide me towards something. I suspected then—and I still do—they wanted me to gain something from Urik. For a while, I thought maybe they wanted me to forgive Urik, but knowing now what I do, and the way Tresten had known what Urik was up to, I’m not sure that was entirely it.”

  “You think they wanted you to be able to plot the same way as Urik?”

  “I think that’s part of it. My father has always been incredibly well prepared, and he has tried to guide me in the same way, but some lessons are hard to take from those closest to you. I think they used Urik to teach me.”

  “Why would your father use Urik? After everything he did, why would Dendril want the person who had betrayed the Denraen to instruct his son?”

  “Because he had been completely betrayed by Urik. My father hadn’t seen him coming, and if my father wasn’t aware of Urik and his plans, then it meant that Urik was even more clever than my father.”

  “And despite all this preparation, despite everything you learned from Urik, you still aren’t ready for what you must do next.” Pendin motioned to the people waiting on the ship. “Everyone else can see it but you, Endric. Everyone else knows you’re ready to lead the Denraen, and it seems you’re the only one who refuses to acknowledge that.”

  “It’s more than acknowledging what I need to do,” Endric said.

  “What else is there?”

  “What happens to my father?”

  Pendin frowned. “The previous general retires. That is, if he survives.”

  “I have no intention of killing my father, which means that he retires. And then what?”

  “I guess I hadn’t given it much thought.”

  “You might not have, but I have. The moment I challenge him, the moment I pit myself against my father—”

  “Again.”

  Endric nodded. “Again. That moment is the moment I take away his purpose.”

  “Is that really your responsibility, to decide his purpose?”

  “If I’m to be the leader of the Denraen, shouldn’t I be concerned about my men? All of my men? That includes those who I’ve replaced.”

  Pendin laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “And here I have thought you were si
mply afraid.”

  Endric met his friend’s gaze for a long moment. There was a part of him that was afraid, though it wasn’t something he wanted to speak about. His fear came from not knowing what would be next.

  “I can see that you still aren’t certain,” Pendin said.

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever be certain,” Endric said.

  “When you are, just do what must be done. Worry about the greater good within the Denraen, not just your father.”

  “That is what I’m worried about.”

  “What is it? The greater good or your father?”

  “Yes,” Endric said.

  Pendin smiled at him and nodded before heading toward the ship. Endric trailed after, climbing aboard and trying to put his thoughts out of his head.

  10

  It was late on the third day after leaving Boastin when another ship came into view. They had been sailing steadily, the captain making good time, the winds favorable and the seas relatively calm. So far, no one had gotten terribly sick, and Endric was thankful for that. Senda had remained below deck, not wanting to show any weakness, though every so often, Endric could hear her retching within the bunk she’d claimed. He left her alone, not wanting to embarrass her, though there was no embarrassment with seasickness.

  “Who are they?” Endric asked the captain as they sailed.

  He was a solid man who wore a plain brown shirt unbuttoned to his navel and breeches that ended right below his knees. He swayed with the rolling of the ship, completely unfazed by the occasional wave slapping against them. The captain kept his spyglass up to his eye, looking back toward the oncoming ship. Every so often, he would adjust the wheel, guiding them in a different way, and the other sailors would change the sails, allowing them more speed.

  “Pirates, most likely,” the captain said.

  “You have a problem with pirates?”

  “Not often, but there have been more troubles of late.”

  “Why of late?”

  “If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t struggle with them. We are swift enough that there shouldn’t be any way for them to catch us,” he said.

  Endric reached for the spyglass, and the captain handed it over. The other ship loomed large, almost close enough that Endric could make out the sailors on the deck of the ship. He counted six, each of them armed with swords, but two others seemed unarmed. One of them carried a staff, reminding Endric of Novan. None of them seemed to struggle with the waves.