Book 2 - An Ill Fate Marshalling by Glen Cook Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Glen Cook
somebody else for you. Damn! I lost something. I'm not even making sense to me. What am I trying to say here?"
„I think I understand. And maybe you're right. I get too involved in the game side, and underinvolved with the people. It's true. Just because I enlist them doesn't mean they're going to be my faithful eyes and ears. I can think of three or four who probably don't know whose side they're on themselves."
„What about the rest of the world?"
„Aral could tell you more than me. I use his trader friends in the west. I get the feeling he edits everything before it gets to me."
Ragnarson stared at the moldy forest floor. That had been, at best, an evasion. It might be an outright lie. Michael had scores of foreign contacts. His family's busi ness acquaintances. Old school friends. People met during the war. All glad to keep an eye on this or that for him. Some of the things he had deigned to pass on could have come from no other source.
Bragi let it slide. „How about here in Ravelin?"
„Your enemies are keeping their heads down. They'll keep on that way as long as Varthlokkur and the Unborn wander through once in a while. They figure the only thing to do is wait for you to die."
„Nobody planning to hasten my appointment with the Dark Lady?"
„Not that I've heard of. It's a waste of time watching anymore."
Ragnarson rose. He said, „There's a couple Panthers trying to sneak past us in that gully down there. They've got one of our balls. Act casual."
Trebilcock glanced once. He saw nothing. He had heard nothing. He believed his eyes and ears were better than the King's. „Are you sure? How could you know?"
„When you've been playing these games as long as I have, Michael, you smell the tricks before they happen. If you get to be my age, you sit on a rock somewhere with somebody your age and think about that."
Trebilcock gave him a funny look. Ragnarson knew he was wondering exactly what had just been said. „Maybe you made the right bet after all. The one this morning. Experi ence counts for as much as energy and enthusiasm. You've got the energy here, so you slide down behind them and run them to me. I'll bushwhack them."
Michael nodded and faded into the woods. His face was paler than usual.
Bragi watched him go. Had he made his point? Friend Michael was walking a tightrope. It could end up knotted around his neck.
Michael did not look lucky enough to pull off a big one. He looked like a man with the seal of doom stamped on his forehead.
Ragnarson didn't want anything to happen to Michael. He was fond of the man.
„Damn you, Kavelin," he murmured as he slipped into his ambuscade. And, „Michael, for gods' sakes get the message. It's almost too late."
He crouched and remembered Sir Andybur Kimberlin of Karadja, a young knight he had known during Kavelin's civil war. Another man he had liked. Sir Andybur would have become one of Kavelin's great men had he not been too idealistic and impatient. Instead of lying on goosedown, he lay in his grave, his neck broken by a rope.
„Just don't start thinking you've got the only answer, Michael. You're all right as long as we can talk."
A twig cracked a few feet away. He gathered himself for his charge.
4
Year 1016 AFE; Family Life
It was a
weird sunset. There were pastel greens in the clouds scattering the western horizon. Green was rare. Ragnarson wondered why.
The old man had to shout twice to get his attention. „I'm sorry. What did you say?"
„Was you out to Captures today?"
Ragnarson laughed. „Was I? Was I ever." Every muscle in his body ached. They would need a hoist to get him off his horse.
„What was the score? Fellow told me the Guards won. Why would a guy lie that way? I want to know on account of maybe I beat the spread."
„Who'd you bet?"
„Panthers by three. That was the best I could get."
„Hope you didn't bet the daughter's dowry, Pops. You're hurting."
Dismay—yea, even despair—blackened the old man's
„I think I understand. And maybe you're right. I get too involved in the game side, and underinvolved with the people. It's true. Just because I enlist them doesn't mean they're going to be my faithful eyes and ears. I can think of three or four who probably don't know whose side they're on themselves."
„What about the rest of the world?"
„Aral could tell you more than me. I use his trader friends in the west. I get the feeling he edits everything before it gets to me."
Ragnarson stared at the moldy forest floor. That had been, at best, an evasion. It might be an outright lie. Michael had scores of foreign contacts. His family's busi ness acquaintances. Old school friends. People met during the war. All glad to keep an eye on this or that for him. Some of the things he had deigned to pass on could have come from no other source.
Bragi let it slide. „How about here in Ravelin?"
„Your enemies are keeping their heads down. They'll keep on that way as long as Varthlokkur and the Unborn wander through once in a while. They figure the only thing to do is wait for you to die."
„Nobody planning to hasten my appointment with the Dark Lady?"
„Not that I've heard of. It's a waste of time watching anymore."
Ragnarson rose. He said, „There's a couple Panthers trying to sneak past us in that gully down there. They've got one of our balls. Act casual."
Trebilcock glanced once. He saw nothing. He had heard nothing. He believed his eyes and ears were better than the King's. „Are you sure? How could you know?"
„When you've been playing these games as long as I have, Michael, you smell the tricks before they happen. If you get to be my age, you sit on a rock somewhere with somebody your age and think about that."
Trebilcock gave him a funny look. Ragnarson knew he was wondering exactly what had just been said. „Maybe you made the right bet after all. The one this morning. Experi ence counts for as much as energy and enthusiasm. You've got the energy here, so you slide down behind them and run them to me. I'll bushwhack them."
Michael nodded and faded into the woods. His face was paler than usual.
Bragi watched him go. Had he made his point? Friend Michael was walking a tightrope. It could end up knotted around his neck.
Michael did not look lucky enough to pull off a big one. He looked like a man with the seal of doom stamped on his forehead.
Ragnarson didn't want anything to happen to Michael. He was fond of the man.
„Damn you, Kavelin," he murmured as he slipped into his ambuscade. And, „Michael, for gods' sakes get the message. It's almost too late."
He crouched and remembered Sir Andybur Kimberlin of Karadja, a young knight he had known during Kavelin's civil war. Another man he had liked. Sir Andybur would have become one of Kavelin's great men had he not been too idealistic and impatient. Instead of lying on goosedown, he lay in his grave, his neck broken by a rope.
„Just don't start thinking you've got the only answer, Michael. You're all right as long as we can talk."
A twig cracked a few feet away. He gathered himself for his charge.
4
Year 1016 AFE; Family Life
It was a
weird sunset. There were pastel greens in the clouds scattering the western horizon. Green was rare. Ragnarson wondered why.
The old man had to shout twice to get his attention. „I'm sorry. What did you say?"
„Was you out to Captures today?"
Ragnarson laughed. „Was I? Was I ever." Every muscle in his body ached. They would need a hoist to get him off his horse.
„What was the score? Fellow told me the Guards won. Why would a guy lie that way? I want to know on account of maybe I beat the spread."
„Who'd you bet?"
„Panthers by three. That was the best I could get."
„Hope you didn't bet the daughter's dowry, Pops. You're hurting."
Dismay—yea, even despair—blackened the old man's
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