Winterfinding by Daniel Casey Read Free Book Online Page B

never
seen her hair. Just her stern, pale and freckled face.
    Mikkel was perhaps the fattest man Matis had
ever know. In Ardavass, he was routinely the butt of more than a
few jokes said openly by Matis’s circle. The man had no real power
and was content to lounge on his clan’s various pleasure barges in
the Spires’s sister city of Elixem.
    Tobin, however, had been more than irksome.
He needled Matis nearly every day, reminding him of exactly the
scope of his charge from the Kyria. Though soft looking and
unassuming, Matis always got the impression that Tobin had an iron
core. The two had been at odds back at Ardavass and out here in the
field was no different. Almost certainly, Tobin was sending reports
to that duplicitous bounder Tamas.
    Every time he saw Tobin, Matis felt his
blood begin to burn as he remembered how Tamas had shamed him into
taking charge of the Silvincian army. He was made Grand General of
all Silvincian Force, but the praise of those in their assemblage
that day had flowed to Tamas.
    “ Thank you for seeing us,
Grand General.” Mikkel’s greasy lips spoke softly and ended in a
toadying smile.
    “ You know I always welcome
those our fellow Kryios decided to have my army and constantly
second-guess my decisions.” Matis gave a creepy, all tooth
smile.
    “ Today you have a reprieve
from that,” Mikkel said apologetically.
    “ If, indeed, that was ever
the case.” Tobin spoke flatly, as he came forward.
    “ Certainly feels that way.
I don’t know if any other Grand General has ever had to endure such
henpecking while in the field.” Matis adjusted his posture; he was
going to put Tobin in his place this morning.
    Tobin approached the map. His gaze never
found Matias as he scanned the map and took note of the thrown
figurines, “I would defer to our historian, Kyrio Ewan, on that but
I doubt she would care to comment on your obvious discomfort.”
    “ Be on with it, Tobin, my
seconds and I haven’t too much time to waste,” Tobin continued to
avoid looking at Matis and instead set an empty gaze on Evness and
then Vikram, “as we are mobilizing this day to begin our trek come
next morning.” With that bit of information, Tobin did finally look
Matis in the face. Matis returned a contemptuous grin, “So you will
need to be going soon to prepare yourself for travel.”
    “ I am quite certain that
we hardly have all our Novosy allies rallied.” Mikkel broke
in.
    “ It needn’t be your
concern.” Vikram dismissed.
    Tobin now refused to break his gaze from
Matis, “Indeed, it is exactly our concern because you were
instructed to collect the Novosar forces before advancing
west.”
    “ The remaining Novosars
will come after us; there aren’t enough of them to make it
worthwhile to delay here any longer. Besides, it’ll do our Bandran
friends good to get to know the Novosars. They’ll meet up and join
us soon enough.” Matis shrugged, “But why are you here today,
Tamas?”
    Tobin blinked and turned away, “We have
discovered some new information that changes the nature of our
enterprise.”
    “ Speak plainly, lordling.”
Evness growled.
    Tobin turned to look at Evness; his hand was
outstretched with his palm open. He raised his hand slowly, stuck
out his thumb, and added his index finger, his middle, and then his
ring finger, “We have discovered four very interesting
persons.”
    “ Who?” Vikram
asked.
    “ I can’t imagine it
matters to us one way or the other.” Evness scoffed.
    “ Go on, Tobin,” Matis
sighed, “Finish your little drama.”
    “ We have recovered an alm
and a paladin.”
    “ That’s just two persons.
Rather poor math there.” Matis scratched behind his ear,
unimpressed with Tobin.
    “ It turns out the alm is
the ward of Vicegerent Somerled Sinclair. Assaulted on the high
road, kidnapped, ransomed, escaped, hunted down by the same,
escaped again, and finally finding her way to us.”
    “ That’ll please The
Cathedral, may even afford us more