The Prince of Exiles (The Exile Series)

by Hal Emerson

  And it turned out that it was this that made it easier for him to predict the weather. Tomaz taught him how to feel the humidity of the air, to gauge the speed and intensity of the wind, to read cloud patterns, and so forth. And when he was connected to the Raven Talisman, seeing all of the little, mindless details of the world, these tasks were almost laughably simple.

  But for Tomaz, it was all new. And what was more, the Ox Talisman just didn’t seem to work right – the big man said he felt stronger than he ever had before, but only in strange, irregular fits and spurts. At times he was able to perform incredible feats of strength, but then when they tried to repeat the process, nothing happened. They tried everything – placing him in a dangerous situation, running him almost to exhaustion, putting a weapon in his hands, but nothing seemed to work.

  “Do you think something happened to it when it got transferred to me?” Tomaz asked one night as they ate their dinner. Fresh venison, Raven’s favorite.

  “Can’t be,” Raven responded. “It’s worked before. I mean it’s an Aspect now, but that shouldn’t fundamentally change what it does. And we know it worked that one time outside Roarke, when you were running me to the others.”

  “But not since then,” Tomaz insisted.

  “It’s possible that something happened,” Raven said, reluctantly, seeing that the big man was trying to lower his expectations so as to not be disappointed. Raven was determined to help him make it work though; he owed him that much at least.

  Just before the first true snowfall of winter, they finished the cabin. It was small, just a bedroom, a sitting room with a fireplace, and a small kitchen, but it was Raven’s and they celebrated with a huge feast that night. Raven was glad to have a place of his own, and he felt proud of it, but once Tomaz had left for the night and he’d cleared away the dishes and stored the left-over food, a sense of lonely melancholy descended on him, and the lingering feeling of fear came back to him as he thought about what the other Children could be doing right now. Were they marching on Roarke at this very moment? Were they gathering an army?

  But finally he was able to put these thoughts away, and when he woke they were once again far from his mind.

  Now that the cabin was complete, Tomaz began to encourage him to go into town on errands, asking him to get this thing or that thing, helping Raven come to understand the layout of the city. Where the blacksmiths were, where the Tailor Quarter was, which areas were residences, and so on. It was helpful, and Raven’s worries about his brothers and sisters, about the Empire, faded.

  It was as if a whole new world had been opened to him. All of his life had been geared toward politics in the knowledge that eventually he would be called upon to help run the government of the Empire. Since his infancy he had been told that one day he would hold people’s lives in his hands, and their well-being would be his responsibility.

  And now … the only responsibility he had was for his own life. With the help of Tomaz he wanted for very little in terms of food, and with the completion of his cabin, he was enjoying true solitude for the first time in his life.

  And then he ran into the one person he’d been hoping to avoid.

  “Hello! Raven!”

  Raven, who had been leading Tomaz’s horse Mary through the streets back from the big man’s favorite blacksmith with an order of repaired equipment, turned to look for who had called his name.

  It was Henri Perci, moving toward him through a crowd of Kindred, his long golden hair blowing in the wind, tight black-and-green military uniform immaculately pressed. He looked the perfect image of a Prince. Raven, who was dressed in some of Tomaz’s old woodsman’s clothing that had been severely taken in, looked downright shabby by comparison. For the first time in a long time, Raven wished he were wearing his ceremonial Imperial robes. Damned uncomfortable, but they made him look like the Ruler of the World with their jewels and gold stitching.

  “Henri Perci,” he said when the man was within speaking distance of him, not knowing what else to say. The man was smiling his huge, handsome smile.

  That was strange – Perci was smiling at him?

  “Raven,” Perci said, reaching out a hand to grab his shoulder as he clapped him on the chest. “How have you been? Are you enjoying Vale?”

  “Yes … thank you for asking.”

  “My pleasure,” Perci said.

  Suddenly the man stepped up and threw an arm around Raven’s shoulder – as if they were the best of friends, and had been so since birth. Perci began to walk, leading them off to the side of the road, Mary following complacently along behind.

  Raven, not a big fan of touching to begin with, found the experience truly horrible when coupled with Henri Perci. But, he could only grimace and bear it, because he refused to give the other man the satisfaction of making a scene.

  “I think that you and I should bury the hatchet – what do you think?”

  At the moment Raven was thinking, with a certain fondness, of the time he had the power to execute people. He decided, however, not to say so.

  “You wish to become friends?”

  “Exactly!” Perci said, unlatching himself and holding Raven at arm’s length. Raven gritted his teeth and tried not to give into his desire to knife the man in the stomach. “Look, I know you don’t know many people here and you want to make a good impression. I’m well liked by the people, and they trust my word. Let’s you and I start over. If all goes well, I promise to put a good word in for you among the people, particularly with the Elders. I think we both know you didn’t exactly win anyone over by refusing the nomination for Prince of the Veil, and you need my help to get back into everyone’s good graces. So – are we agreed?

  Raven thought, with annoyance, of the constant nagging from Tomaz to make friends among the Kindred.

  “We should bury the hatchet,” Henri Perci repeated, smiling widely. “We’re both on the same side now; there must be some common ground we can reach. That is, if you’re willing to make the effort.”

  Raven could visibly see the strain in Henri Perci’s face as he said these words, and realized someone else must be putting him up to this. Maybe even one of the Elders or a general. He was, after all, one of the military, and still had to take orders from someone. That, and the fact this simple exploratory sentence into the realm of possible friendship didn’t change the way Perci was looking at Raven – it was the look of a man gazing on the result of a particularly unpleasant bowel movement.

  “I’m willing,” said Raven slowly, watching the other man with no small amount of suspicion, sure his own face must look much the same.

  “Excellent!” He said, his smile too wide, obviously forced. “Where should we go?”

  Raven just shrugged and cleared his throat.

  “Do you need some water?” Perci asked. Without waiting for a response, he untied a small waterskin from his belt and held it out.

  Raven wasn’t really thirsty, but he knew this was likely the only olive branch he’d ever be extended and didn’t not want to antagonize the man. So he accepted with a grimace he hoped passed for a smile, and took a swig of the water.

  It was the most wonderful tasting thing that had ever touched his tongue. He lowered the skin from his lips and stared at it in awe. He swallowed, and felt chills go through him, followed by a flash of heat that made him shiver violently. And then he’d raised the skin back to his mouth, greedily gulping down the rest of the water, feeling it race through his body, every drop sending wonderful sensations through his tongue, his lips, his teeth.

  It was gone. He’d drunk every last drop. He let out a sound of grief, an animal moan of disappointment.

  And then he looked up and realized, with growing embarrassment, what he had just done. He must look a fool right now. What could have possibly gotten into him? He shook his head and handed the empty skin back to Perci, his cheeks burning. There was a small fluttering in the pit of his stomach, and his thoughts were a little shifty. He shook his head again and focuse
d on Perci.

  “Where is it you wanted to go?”

  Henri Perci smiled.

  Chapter Ten: Lapse In Judgment

  “How about we go to the Lazy Duck?” Asked Perci, steering them toward what, if Raven had understood Tomaz correctly, was one of the only two drinking houses in the city. His thoughts were oddly scattered, and the main sensation he felt was a strange thirst, deep and consuming. Maybe he could get some water at the place they were going.

  “That sounds fine to me,” Raven said diplomatically, pulling himself together. In truth, he didn’t know what else he could say – the man was offering him a truce, and Tomaz would have his head if he didn’t take him up on it.

  “Great! It’s this way.”

  Perci turned and motioned down a side street, and Raven followed him, still leading Mary with the pack of tools strapped to her back.

  Wait … shouldn’t I be taking the tools back to Tomaz? He was waiting for them … wasn’t he?

  Thinking was hard, like trying to see through a deep fog. It must be the thirst – dehydration could do strange things to a person. It was also cold, maybe that was factoring into things. It had rained the day before, but this morning the clouds had rolled away to show the sky. One of the clouds had looked like…

  What was he supposed to be worried about again?

  “Leah!” Cried Henri Perci.

  Raven looked up. He hadn’t seen her since they’d gone to Iliad – this meeting was going to be awkward. He braced himself, readying for the confrontation sure to come. He was calm. Perfectly calm. Really really calm. So calm.

  “Hi,” Leah said shortly, responding to Perci, but not acknowledging Raven.

  “Hi!” Raven said anyway, smiling huge.

  She looked at him then. Her eyes were big and green – really green. Had he ever taken the time to truly appreciate them? No. No he hadn’t. Shame on him.

  “Hello,” she said, looking at him funny. A part of him felt like he should know what that funny expression meant, but the bigger part of him didn’t really care, it was too busy trying to decide how calm he currently was.

  “What are the two of you doing together?” She asked, sounding suddenly suspicious.

  “We’ve decided it’s time to bury the hatchet,” Perci said, clapping Raven once more on the back, hard enough that it hurt. The man’s fingers dug into the skin of his shoulder, and he felt distantly that this should be painful, but couldn’t really wrap his mind around it.

  “You keep saying that,” Raven said, looking up at Perci and smiling, feeling really great about their new camaraderie. Perci was a very handsome man. Would it be rude to tell him that? He felt that if people thought he were handsome he’d like them to tell him. Maybe he should say something.

  “Right,” Leah said, looking at the two of them with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to the Dazy Luck,” said Raven.

  “The Lazy Duck?” She corrected.

  “The Fazy Cluck,” he confirmed with a nod.

  “Our friend here seems to have … started before we got there,” Perci said, looking significantly at her. “Seems he’s made a habit of it from what I’ve heard – but still, I figured I’d take the advice of a beautiful young woman I know,” he stopped here and smiled handsomely at her, “and make amends. I know he means well and it’s time we made a truce.

  “Truce!” Raven said, nodding vigorously. “Yes, truces are good. One should keep one’s friends close and one’s enemies closer.”

  He paused here, and then realized he might have been ambiguous with his meaning.

  “I meant that you are my enemy,” he said, turning to Perci and speaking with him as if they were old and dear friends, “and as such, I feel this meeting will serve to make it easier to loathe each other, mostly because we will have been seen to be sociable, thus putting a good public face on a bad private grudge. It’s the civilized thing to do. Oh, and also, you’re a handsome man. Very handsome. Really really handsome, and I mean that, even though I wish your face would form into one giant boil and pop all over the side of a building. Oh, and you’re tall too. Though, you’re actually a little taller than I think you should be – ”

  “Right,” Perci said. His mouth looked funny – like his muscles were clenched together trying to suppress something. Strange. “How about we get over there –”

  “Wait, but Leah!” Raven said, turning to her. “I apologize for the way I left things between us. I may believe still that most Kindred would rather lie and cheat than lend a helping hand, but I do not count you among that number.”

  Henri Perci had a look on his face that implied his nameday celebration had come early. When was his nameday? Raven didn’t know. He should find out. Bake him a cake. Possibly laced with arsenic. Or strawberries.

  Leah’s face, on the other hand, had darkened, and when he stopped talking he realized she thought he was making fun of her. She turned to leave, and he immediately stepped forward and held out a hand to stop her.

  “Leah – I’m sorry. What I meant to say is that what Elder Iliad told us really shook me, and in fact scared me, and I was worried you would see me scared and stop liking me. Which would be a thing that is not good. A not good thing. A bad thing. I would rather you like me, and I’ve been told by all my brothers that women dislike seeing a man who feels fear – I was taught instead to bottle my feelings and turn them inward, much as Henri Perci does, which I believe is what usually produces the strange look on his face that combines the desire to pass gas with the urge to chew something sticky.”

  The sweet expression on Perci’s face curdled.

  “So I’m sorry if I have offended you,” he concluded, still watching her, “and I would like you to be my friend again and come see what I built in the woods with Tomaz, it’s great, though small, and has enough space in it, though it’s a lot smaller than the rooms I had as a Prince, but I think I’m coming to a place where I’m okay with that, and in fact will enjoy it.”

  He stopped, and realized his train of thought had just ended. So, he smiled and nodded, and grabbed her shoulder to give it a little squeeze of affection the way Tomaz would do sometimes. She had strong shoulders.

  It was a mark of how stunned she was that she didn’t even try to stop him. Instead, she just stared at him, eyes wide and completely thrown off guard.

  “Right,” she said slowly. “I accept your apology. I’m going to go now.”

  “Okay!” Raven said enthusiastically, and then hugged her, wrapping her tight, before letting her go so he could return to Perci. He threw his arm around the taller man’s shoulders – quite the feat since he had a good half a foot on Raven – and pulled him along the broad avenue past Leah.

  From that moment to the moment he and Perci walked into the Lazy Duck, there was nothing but blank space. He had no idea what happened – first they were walking down the street, and then they were walking through large wooden doors.

  He pulled up short and looked around. The Lazy Duck was a large establishment – it looked like it was also an inn of some kind – and they were on the ground floor. There was a bar to the left, a staircase straight ahead, and a number of Kindred patrons seated at round tables throughout.

  A loud roar came out of the corner, where a man had just thrown something at a circular board painted with a target, and Raven looked at it, slack-jawed, not able to comprehend the shapes and people.

  “Did I win something?”

  “Raven,” Henri Perci called, “I’m over here – come have that drink with me!”

  He complied without question, crossing the room in a flash of forgotten memory to sit with the man at the wide wooden bar. Perci began to talk to him, but he couldn’t understand the words – his memories were starting to slip away faster, and he couldn’t place what was happening. A pretty woman came up and asked them what they wanted, Henri said something, and then they had glasses in their hands, and Perci was drinking and … and throw
ing Raven’s drinks out, behind the bar, lining up empty cups and tankards on the bar where everyone could see.

  And then Henri Perci pulled a second small waterskin from his waist, and poured it into one of the empty cups. His eyes were intense as he watched the liquid flow, careful not to spill a drop of it.