Fire and Sword by Simon Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

a slaver? Did Orkid tell her? He thought desperately for a moment.
    “Constable?” Areava prompted.
    All eyes turned to him. His normally red face blushed even deeper. His cheeks glowed with color.
    No, she could not know. Otherwise I’d be in a cell right now.
    “Not at all well, your Majesty. But there are maps—”
    “Unnecessary, Dejanus, though I applaud your enthusiasm,” she said, throwing a glance at the Marshal who blushed and looked away.
    “Then what does your Majesty suggest?” asked Dejanus.
    “We send those who know the Oceans of Grass and the Chetts better than any of us here. We hire a mercenary captain, one of those who fought in the last war.”
    “A slaver?” the Marshal said indignantly. “This Jes Prado, for instance? The one who is said to have brought you the news about Lynan?”
    “No longer a slaver. And yes, I am thinking of Jes Prado.”
    “What would
he
do?” Olio asked.
    “Hire a force of mercenaries to pursue Lynan.”
    “And capture him,” Olio finished for her.
    “No. Kill him.”
    Everyone in the room became still.
    “Sister, our b-b-brother is not tried yet for his alleged crimes.”
    “Was his flight not enough?” Areava demanded, her voice rising. “Is the overwhelming evidence against him not enough?”
    “B-b-but he could still b—b-be captured,” Olio insisted.
    Orkid spoke to the council for the first time. “We cannot risk it, your Highness. If he is captured and escapes, how much stronger will his position be?”
    “With whom, Chancellor? He has no supporters among us, surely, and none among the other provinces that I have heard. He is almost forgotten by the p-p-people.”
    “And if he is killed, alone and deserted on the Ocean of Grass, he will be forgotten entirely,” Areava said to Olio, and then to the council: “He is a traitor, he is an outlaw, and he has committed regicide. He deserves to die.”
    “And it will not cost the kingdom much to raise a force of mercenaries large enough to hunt him down,” Shant Tenor said.
    “Prado’s commission would be wider than that,” Areava told the council. “He has told me of a mercenary recently hired by us to help patrol the border with Haxus—a certain Rendle—who took our gold and then fled to Haxus to serve her king. I am convinced he must be found and punished as well, or all our mercenary units may come to believe they can do the same with impunity.”
    “Then why trust this Prado?” Dejanus asked. His face wore the quizzical smile he so often gave when he thought he had an advantage, as if he was puzzled by good fortune. “He is nothing but another mercenary. Your Majesty, give me leave to take a regiment of our own horse to the Oceans of Grass. Prado can be our guide, if you like, and our loyalty is unquestioned.”
    Orkid shook his head. “We cannot so easily dispatch such a regiment. Our forces are thin on the ground after so many years of peace, and although we are mobilizing against the possible threat of Haxus, if King Salokan should invade soon, we will need all the loyal units we have.”
    “And in the short term, hiring mercenaries is cheaper,” Areava added. That put a smile on some of the councilors’ faces, she noted. They liked the idea of not spending more money than necessary, a fact she was counting on.
    “But how reliable is this Prado?” the Marshal insisted.
    “He will be reliable,” Orkid said. “I will make sure of it. I give the Council my word on it.”
    There were no more disagreements, and only Orkid noticed the sour look cast him by Dejanus.

    Areava and Sendarus spent the night together for the first time in several weeks.
    “We should have done this more often,” Sendarus said to her in the morning.
    “That would have been difficult before the council gave its final approval to the marriage. It would have seemed as if we were flouting all my advisers and many of the common people, too.”
    Sendarus leaned over Areava, used his hand to trace her jaw and