Gavin opened the door to his suite and pushed it wide. He did not see Kiri in the common room and entered the collection of rooms that had become his home, closing the door behind him. The door closed a bit heavy, and Gavin heard footfalls approaching from the room he shared with Kiri.
“Is there any word…Gavin!”
Gavin had just a few moments to look at Kiri as she barreled across the room. He wasn’t sure, but Kiri just might have reached a full sprint before she skidded to slow herself and threw her arms around Gavin.
“I feared you were dead,” Kiri said, her voice a whisper.
Gavin felt tears on his chest as he wrapped his arms around Kiri. He held her in silence for several moments before he said, “I almost was, Kiri, but Ovir pulled me back.”
“What happened? No one would tell me anything.”
“Iosen Sivas apparently took exception to his son losing the duel,” Gavin said. “He had me taken off the streets and was torturing me to death.”
Kiri tightened her arms around Gavin as she said, “I was so afraid you were dead; I’m so glad Ovir was there.”
“I wish I could say I was afraid I was dead, too,” Gavin said, “but the last few days are a bit of a haze. I’m not sure I felt much of anything.”
Silence reigned for several moments.
“Please tell me that Declan killed that man,” Kiri said.
“He did not. I killed him.”
Kiri loosened her arms just enough to look up to Gavin’s eyes.
“How? Are you okay?”
Gavin nodded and pulled Kiri across the room. He sat in his favorite armchair and pushed Kiri into the chair Marcus always used.
“I was going to have him executed on his knees. Iosen demanded a duel, and I killed him with the same Word I used on the slavers when we first met.”
“And you’re okay?” Kiri said. “When you won the duel, it bothered you for days, weeks even.”
After a few moments, Gavin said, “I should probably be more bothered by his death than I am, but I can’t bring myself to be. I don’t think I’m going to start killing people every other day, but the end of House Sivas does not weigh on my conscience. I suppose that makes me a bad person.”
“I’m sure there are some people who would say so, but I am not one of them.”
Neither spoke for a few moments. After several moments, Kiri broke the silence.
“Gavin, there’s something we need to discuss.”
“That sounds almost ominous.” A slight smile curled one side of Gavin’s mouth.
“Is there going to be a battle with the traitors and their mercenaries?”
Gavin sighed. “It’s looking that way. I personally want to keep the fight as far away from as many innocent people as possible. I’m not sure we have the numbers to do that, though. We may be forced into a defensive engagement, with us holding the city and the mercenaries besieging us.”
“When you go-whether you end up manning the walls or leading the assault on the mercenary camp-I’m going with you. Declan has already provided me with armor and equipment, and he says my skills are such he’d trust his back to me in a fight.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not going to be left here like some milkmaid to wring my hands and obsess over what may be happening to you, Gavin. I am going with you. Understand and accept that right now. Who knows…I could very well save your life if I’m there.”
“Kiri, you have no business-” Gavin stopped as he considered what he was about to say as well as the conflicting emotions behind it. He didn’t want Kiri anywhere near the fight, and if he were completely honest with himself, his motives had little to do with the King’s prohibitions about slaves carrying blades. He wanted Kiri to be safe. He wanted her protected.
Kiri faced him in silence. Gavin took in her calm, resolute expression, and he knew she had considered all the implications of going with him. She wasn’t the type to make rash judgements, and he had the suspicion she’d be at his side regardless of his response right now.
“Okay,” Gavin said. “You can go.”
To her credit, Kiri didn’t even gloat.
The next morning found the Conclave gathered at the Mivar Estate once more, though with additional attendees. A large map of northern Mivar Province covered the table along with stacks of paper bearing notes and sketches. Torval Mivar, Lyssa Cothos, Carth Roshan, and Sypara Wygoth stood near their customary places with Ovir, Garris Roshan, and Declan interspersed between them. Gavin sat in the chair set aside for Kirloth, and his apprentices-the heirs to the Great Houses-stood near their own seats.
Gavin stared at the map of the mercenary compound, not giving the conversation around him his full attention. He was missing something, and what was worse, he knew he was missing something. Whatever that something was, though, he couldn’t say; it was being very elusive, refusing to reveal itself to the forefront of his mind.
“How many warpriests do you have, Ovir?” Garris said.
“There are a little over one thousand warpriests. It’s a bit of a fluid number, because the order claims members-like myself-who are not listed on the active roster or regularly participate in training.”
Garris sighed, saying, “We have to face facts, people. Between the Battle-mages and the Warpriests, we might-might-have sufficient numbers to hold the city’s walls with the town guard to help us. Declan, what are the latest reports on the mercenaries’ numbers?”
“The most recent numbers I have put the mercenary army at just over five thousand, and I doubt the army will grow to more than six thousand. They’ve been sitting out there in the hinterlands for so long some of their people have wandered off, so the roster has been a bit fluid. With the loss of the Sivas fortune, they’d better move soon, or they’ll run out of money.”
Carth Roshan scanned the faces around the table. “Can’t we just wait them out then? I mean, mercenaries fight for pay. When the pay chest dries up, that army will dissolve.”
“Think it through, Carth,” Gavin said, speaking for the first time since the Conclave began. “We don’t know what the conspirators have promised those mercenaries. Do you really want six thousand-or even just five thousand-experienced fighters wandering the countryside, angry that they didn’t get to loot the College or whatever? Sounds like a perfect storm for severe banditry across the Kingdom to me. No…we have to crush this army, convince them they never should’ve answered Sivas’s call.”
“And how do we do that, Gavin?” Lyssa said. “Adding the Battle-mages and Warpriests together, we only have a little over two thousand troops. Military doctrine says you should outnumber your opponent by half, or the outcome of the battle is in doubt.”
“There is a way we could outnumber them,” Declan said. Everyone turned to look at him. “I am aware of several units of the Army of Tel who are loyal to the Constitution and would stand with us if we only asked. If Kirloth were to issue a call to arms, I am confident we could field an army easily twice the mercenaries’ number.”
“I don’t like that, Declan,” Gavin said. “The Army of Tel answers to the King. I do not want any of those people punished for doing the right thing.”
“The worst part of all this is having to split our forces between Tel Mivar and the group going out to confront the mercenaries,” Sypara said. “We can’t leave Tel Mivar undefended, but as it is, we barely have enough people to man the wall in a siege. The Outskirts would be lost.”