A Flight of Marewings

by Kristen S. Walker

  Again, a reference to Petropouli. It had to be more than coincidence. Once more, Ameyron wished that he had some way of making his communications fly faster. He needed to know if Kalysta Peren still lived, and what the mages in the Academy there could tell him.

  16

  The Council III

  Eutychon leaned across the parlor table and poured a glass of wine for Zeno, then another for himself. He nudged a dish of fritters into the middle of the table: made from nut flours, basted in rosewater and dusted with cinnamon and sugar, the little fried treats were enjoying a surge of popularity in the city. “I have not heard any new reports from your spies in the last few weeks,” he said in a casual tone.

  Zeno picked up the glass and stared down at the wine. “We, ah, have experienced some difficulties in our, ah, flow of information.”

  Eutychon already knew from his own spies that Warlord Galenos had been tracking down the spies in his organization and moving his trusted people out of the city to his own fort, but he feigned bored ignorance with the spindly councilor. “Oh? Is it a cash problem? You know that you can take freely from the city’s coffers now if you need help loosening tongues. The Council will no longer be asking you to account for every coin you spend, especially given the covert nature of your work.”

  Zeno’s eyes lit up with obvious greed, but he still swirled the wine in his glass as if he could divine the answer in its depths. “No, money is not the issue, but, ah, access. I fear that the Warlord may suspect we are onto him.”

  Eutychon took a long swallow of his own glass without pretending to savor the flavor, and nudged the neglected dish of fritters again. “I would expect the warlord to know we were out-spying him when we gave him such a shock with the city’s change of government. If he did not take counter measures, he would be the biggest fool in the city.”

  Zeno sighed with relief and picked up one of the sweet treats. “Yes, exactly. We tipped our hand then—”

  “Which means that we now have to counter his counter-measures.” Eutychon gave him a pointed stare.

  Zeno put down the glass with a fumble and nearly spilled the wine. “Oops. I mean, we are trying. But the Warlord went further than we expected. He’s moving most of his people out of the city, and my spies in his organization have been transferred to positions with less access to information or let go entirely. There is just no way in.”

  “What about your attempt to turn the younger brother?”

  Zeno’s voice turned into a petulant whine. “He left the city weeks ago. He’s at the fort.”

  Eutychon drained his glass and put it down with an audible thud. “And do you mean to tell me that we have no way of getting any information inside of that fort?”

  “No, I—my men there are also meeting with suspicion—”

  “Then get new men.” Eutychon reached across the table and snatched Zeno’s untouched glass. No sense in letting the wine go to waste.

  Zeno watched the wine disappear without making a move to stop him. “How do I get new ones in the fort? The contacts I have took years to develop—”

  “Galenos constantly accepts new recruits into his company. They cannot all be loyal to him so quickly. Turn one of them or send one of your people to join.” Eutychon poured another glass of wine for himself.

  Zeno cleared his throat, and his eyes went to the level of wine left in the bottle. “I am not sure it will be that easy.”

  “If you do not handle it, then I will, or find someone else who can.” Eutychon pointed to the door. “You are wasting my time. Come back only if you have something substantial to tell me.”

  Zeno stood up so fast that his chair squeaked across the floor, brushing cinnamon and sugar off the front of his shirt. “Yes, my lord.”

  Eutychon watched him leave and put the half-empty bottle back down with a sigh. Zeno was incompetent, but he was right. It was not easy to get information about the warlord these days, and the half-hints he got were hard to decipher. Why had Galenos ordered all of the late duke’s servants to be held under quarantine? Surely none of them could give him real information. The ones who knew anything were already dead. And why had he hired a mage to work in his office? There was a riddle to be solved here, and Eutychon was missing half of the pieces. One way or another, he was going to find out the truth.

  17

  Korinna V

  Korinna felt, after two months in the mercenary company, that she might finally be getting the hang of things. It helped that the recruits had passed their first phase of training and were given a little more freedom. Although they still had strict rules and inspections, there wasn’t a sergeant constantly breathing down the back of her neck to criticize her every move. She had an hour of free time before bed every evening, which she spent reading every book that she could borrow from the fort’s library. She was determined to make up for the lack of knowledge and experience that Warlord Galenos had challenged her with months before.

  The other recruits were starting to relax as well, and friendships emerged in the group. A half-dozen of the boys played cards together in the barracks during leisure time. The two northern girls, Yulina and Zinoviya, still kept to themselves, braiding each other’s hair and whispering in their foreign tongue. Herokha disappeared often, much to Korinna’s relief; it seemed that the girl had finally taken the hint and stopped trying to befriend her.

  At meals and other times when she didn’t have to stay in the current formation, Korinna found Mkumba and Orivan gravitated toward her. Although the three of them had very little in common in their backgrounds or personalities, they formed a bond over their mutual interest in the marewings. All three had joined the company for a chance to become a rider, and they shared that dream together.

  One afternoon, Sergeant Yoren ended an exercise drill early. “You’ve got the hang of it,” he told the group in a rare sign of approval. “Clean up and you’re free until supper. Dismissed.”

  After a swift dunk in the river and a change of clothes, Korinna met her friends at the edge of the field where a herd of marewings grazed. The three hopefuls leaned against the fence and watched as the deadly monsters ate grass, appearing as calm as any cow or sheep.

  Orivan pointed out several of the marewings by name. “The chestnut with the white star is Commander Varranor’s Skyfire,” he whispered with awe. “He must be visiting from the city again. He’s been here a lot this week.”

  Mkumba shielded his eyes with his hand. “Why is it always the Commander and never the Warlord? He hasn’t been to the fort once since we’ve come here.”

  Korinna shrugged with one shoulder. “He must have a lot to do in Kyratia. He has the new Republic to deal with.”

  Mkumba snorted. “Politics. What a waste of time. The warlord should be here with his army, not bowing and scraping to please the Council.”

  Korinna wondered what kept Galenos so busy. She had no idea what his plans were, but they didn’t seem to include conquering Kyratia and taking it for himself. Everywhere she looked, the army trained, but gave no indication of going anywhere to fight. Could the city afford to pay mercenaries to stay in their fort and drill all the time? But she couldn’t let anyone know that the Warlord wanted to attack the Council. Aloud, she said, “The politicians are the ones who pay us.”

  Orivan sighed. “Pay us with the taxes they took from us in the first place. And now they want us to worship a different god.”

  “I don’t care what god they want to worship in the city.” Mkumba gestured at the marewings. “I just want to ride one of those. With a monster like that under me, I’ll be one of the greatest warriors in all of Seirenia.”

  Korinna leaned her elbows on the fence and rested her chin on her hands. “We don’t even know what we have to do become candidates, let alone how to catch one.”

  “I wonder if Herokha will be chosen,” Orivan said.

  Korinna snickered with a shake of her head. “Why would they pick her? She can barely keep up with the drills.”

&nb
sp; Orivan glanced over his shoulder and leaned closer to the other two. He whispered, “Haven’t you noticed that she’s been spending a lot of time with Commander Varranor whenever he’s here?”

  Korinna frowned at the suggestion. “What difference would that make?” In the countryside, where small communities made privacy difficult, it was considered impolite to talk about who paired off with whom as long as the children had a family to raise them.

  Mkumba growled and slapped the top of the fence. “Pretty girls have a way of earning special treatment from men—on their backs. That’s not fair.”

  She gasped. “Herokha and the commander? He would never be interested in her. Besides, he’s not the kind of person who would hand out favors for—for that.” Society had a place for extramarital lovers, like her mother. The temples had their sacred prostitutes, and certain fertility holidays were celebrated with the whole community. But a person who tried to sell their body for profit was known by a vulgar word.

  Orivan shook his head. “How would you know? I traveled a lot on ship, and I’ve seen that everywhere I’ve been. No reason to think that a mercenary company would be any different.”

  Mkumba chuckled. “Maybe you should try it. Sergeant Yoren seems to like you.”

  She glared at him and punched him in the arm so hard that it hurt her hand. “How do you know that you’re not his type? That might be the only way a big oaf like you could ever get a shot.”

  Mkumba picked up Korinna by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. She yelled and thumped on his back with both fists.

  “Quit messing around!” Orivan tugged on Mkumba’s arm. “You two are scaring the marewings!”

  They froze and turned to stare at the herd. The marewings were stamping their feet and flaring their nostrils, staring back at them.

  Mkumba put Korinna down on the ground gently. “Maybe we should go back to the fort. It’s almost time for supper.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  The three of them turned and jogged back to the fort. Korinna glanced back over her shoulder once and saw that the marewings watched them leave.

  Korinna and her friends had their questions answered when Warlord Galenos finally came to visit Fort Ropytos to observe the recruits in training. He arrived to great fanfare one morning, and the entire base scrambled to show off for his arrival. After he met with his officers and the experienced soldiers, Yoren and the other training sergeants brought all of the recruits, now up to three units, out into the field.

  This week was Herokha’s turn to act as the leader for their unit. Her voice grew shrill as she called them to attention.

  In his nervousness, Orivan snapped to attention so hard that he lost his balance. He wobbled and bumped into the person next to him—Korinna.

  The clumsy boy was so much bigger than her that she couldn’t take the shove without reacting. To keep her own balance, she took a heavy step back.

  Herokha somehow managed to miss seeing Orivan stumble, but she swooped in with an eagle’s precision when she saw Korinna out of formation. “Recruit, get back into your place!”

  Sergeant Yoren turned around at the hint of desperation in her tone. “Is there a problem controlling your unit?”

  Herokha shot one last glare at Korinna and turned back with a shake of her head. “No, sir!”

  Korinna fought the urge to stick her tongue out at the other girl and returned to her position. She wanted to show the Warlord how far she had come.

  Warlord Galenos walked down the ranks slowly, making a close inspection of his newest employees. At last he stopped and nodded at the sergeants. “Well done, officers. Your trainees will do our company proud.”

  He returned to the front of the company. His towering physique made it easy for everyone to see him, even from the back, because only a few like Mkumba even approached his height. “Recruits!” His voice projected across the field. “You are the future of the Storm Petrels. I see that you are working hard to follow your sergeants’ orders and to learn much-needed skills. I thank you for your dedication.”

  Galenos paused to look over the ranks again, and Korinna thought that his eyes sought hers. She held her breath and looked straight ahead as if she didn’t see him. She couldn’t see a change of expression in his face, no glimpse of what he might think of her now.

  He tilted his head up to resume his speech. “There are more challenges ahead, and tests that you must pass before you complete your training. But if you continue to work hard, you will succeed and be eligible to become a full member of this company.” His lips parted in a faint smile. “And then you will be required to swear an oath of loyalty to me and to the other officers, that you will obey and serve under our command.”

  Korinna blinked rapidly in surprise. She knew that loyalty to the Warlord was a requirement. But to the other officers as well? The proud Warlord would share his company with those under his command? And he wasn’t just talking about his brother.

  When the recruits were dismissed, Yoren signaled for Korinna to approach the Warlord.

  She approached him warily, feeling the stares of over a hundred recruits at her back.

  Galenos waved the other officers away and turned to her with a stiff smile. He bent his head to speak with her alone. “I know that I haven’t come to see you as much as I’d hoped. Would you like to speak with me for a time, to hear how things are progressing in the capital?”

  Korinna stiffened, thinking of how people judged Herokha for spending time alone with Varranor. She didn’t want to lose the trust of her friends. “No, thank you, sir. I don’t want any special treatment.”

  His smile disappeared. “I’m not offering you special treatment, just information that you wanted. But have it your way.” He straightened and turned away.

  She hurried back to catch up with her unit.

  Orivan shot her a quizzical look when she fell into step beside him. “What was that all about?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.” She scrambled to think of an explanation. “He—he just wanted to know why I hadn’t cut my hair.”

  Mkumba frowned. “Odd. I think you would look strange with short hair.” He glanced around at some of the other female recruits who had cut their hair with the men. “Women with short hair look too much like men—or a boy, in your case. You’re too short to be a man.”

  Korinna rolled her eyes. “My short legs can still beat you back to the mess hall!” Before he could respond, she took off running.

  Although Korinna avoided talking to the Warlord for the rest of his visit, a few days later, she suddenly found the other recruits giving her sidelong glances in the mess hall at breakfast. When she approached one empty seat with her tray, the people at the table stopped talking and looked away—but one woman scooted over to fill the gap.

  Korinna frowned and walked to the next table. Once again, she heard the conversation end when she got closer. Most of them avoided her gaze, but Mkumba stared at her with narrowed eyes.

  Orivan cleared his throat and nudged the man next to him until he moved over. He looked up at her with a sympathetic smile and nodded at the space.

  With a sigh of relief, Korinna sat down. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” His smile was a little too cheerful.

  Korinna ate her meal in uncomfortable silence. At least the food was good. The early season plums were quite tart, but they helped to balance the richness of the lamb sausage and tea-stained eggs. She wolfed it all down and got up to leave quickly.

  Orivan joined her and stuck to her side on the way out. She felt eyes on her back as she walked past the tables, but when she glanced over her shoulder, she couldn’t see who was staring at her.

  When they were alone outside, Korinna turned to face her friend. “Do you know why everyone is acting so weird?”

  Now it was Orivan’s turn to avoid her gaze. “Oh, uh, just try to ignore it. It’s just a stupid rumor.”

  She looked back at the door. So people had been talking about her
behind her back. “What’s the rumor?” she demanded.

  The clumsy man shuffled his over-large feet. “Nothing. I’m sure it will blow over in a day or two.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Tell me what people are saying. I have a right to know.”

  Orivan sighed. “Something about you and the Warlord,” he said vaguely, holding up his hands to protect himself. “I know it’s a lie. You wouldn’t even talk to him when he was here.”

  “Is this like the rumor about Herokha and Commander Varranor?” she said between clenched teeth.

  His eyes widened, and though he shook his head, that confirmed her worst fears. “But not exactly like that!” he protested. “Someone said that you were going to marry the Warlord so he could be the duke, before the Council changed Kyratia to a Republic. And since you couldn’t get married, you joined the mercenary company so you could stay close to him and seduce him into making you one of his best officers or something.”

  Korinna let go of him and turned away to hide her face. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. No one should know about her potential marriage to Galenos—it hadn’t been public knowledge. And why would that make people think she was trying to seduce him? She had tried so hard to fit into her unit and make friends.

  “Who said it?” she said to the ground.

  “I don’t know.” But the tone in his voice was unconvincing.

  She thought through the list of other recruits in their unit, and suddenly she realized who it had to be. She looked back at him. “Herokha.”

  He winced and nodded.

  She clenched her hands into fists. “What does she have against me? I’m not the one who went telling tales about her.”