Edine entered the taproom and walked over as soon as she spotted him.
“It’s over?” she said.
He nodded. A question he reckoned he could answer honestly. “It is.”
It looked as though a weight had been lifted off her.
“I’d say ‘thank the gods,’ but I suppose it wasn’t them who did it,” Edine said. “I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am. How grateful we all are.”
Gill nodded and smiled. What was there to say?
“What next?” she said.
“Some sleep would be a good place to start. After that?” He shrugged. “The first dragon destroyed my seigneury, so there’s no reason to go back there. I’m sure I’ll come up with something.”
“There’s plenty to be done here over the next few months,” she said. “We could always use a hand, particularly since we don’t have a seigneur anymore.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Gill said, “but I’m not sure I’m ready to take on such responsibility again so soon.”
“Well, give it some thought,” she said, before leaving him.
Gill sat by the tavern’s bar the next morning, nursing a mug of poor coffee, having kept to his room for as much of the previous day as possible, anxious that at any moment he’d be discovered as a fraud. He claimed to need rest, an excuse that was readily accepted. He would have left Venne already, were it not for the fact that he had nowhere to go. His incipient career as a dragonslayer seemed to have come to an end, although he couldn’t say he was sorry about that.
He wondered what Solène was doing. He hoped things in the city were working out for her the way she wanted. He hoped Val was safely on his way to Mirabay. He thought of Beausoleil, whom he had underestimated, and Cabham, whom he had overestimated, and of Barnot and the loss of the Cup. Tracking down the killer and the thief might be a worthwhile way to spend his days, but without the threat of dragons, there didn’t seem to be any need for the Cup. For the killer, he had no idea of where to start.
Even at his lowest ebb, Villerauvais had always been in the background, like a safety net. No more. A return to his former life of soldiering didn’t appeal. He’d seen enough destruction for one life. Slaying the dragons, and preventing them from harming anyone else, was, on reflection, the only positive use he had ever put his sword to.
Finished with his coffee, Gill walked outside. The destruction the dragons had left behind was evident. The air was damp and still held the smell of smoke. The village had lost a number of inhabitants that night. It would take the survivors some time to rebuild, and without a seigneur to oversee matters, Edine would have to shoulder much of the burden of the work. He’d never been good with his hands, unless one of them had a sword in it, so he couldn’t even help rebuild.
He started to explore the village, walking the few narrow streets that led away from the square. He could make out what some of the buildings had been before the attack—a bakery, a smithy, a mill—while others were so completely destroyed, it was impossible to tell. The villagers had started clearing, but they had a long journey ahead to erase the devastation of what had been only a few moments of destruction. It would take money to rebuild, but with two dragon carcasses to plunder, Venne would have plenty of that soon enough. He wondered what had become of his own trophy, left with the taxidermist in Trelain. He didn’t feel quite so enthusiastic about it anymore.
A worry lurked within him. What else could he have done? He would have been burned to a crisp if he had tried to fight, and it hadn’t seemed that fighting was necessary. Had he made the right choice? Would the people care that it was the right one, if they found out?
CHAPTER 39
Solène and the Prince Bishop travelled out of the city in an unmarked carriage before dawn. The driver had been given clear instructions to waste no time, and as the carriage bounced about on the muddy city streets, she hoped that the whole journey was not going to be as uncomfortable as its beginning.
The Prince Bishop watched the streets nervously through a crack in the cabin’s window blind until the city walls were well behind him. Only then did he sit back and force a smile. A plain wooden box with a brass lock plate sat on his lap.
“How did you find it?” he said.
She shrugged. “I pieced information together from a number of documents.”
His face darkened. “You’re sure it will work?”
“Absolutely certain.”
“What does it do?”
“I’m not sure of everything, but it seems to protect the beneficiary from fire. It might bring some other benefits, but that’s the main one, as best I could find out.”
“I can see how that would help. Coupled with their military skill, Vachon’s people should be able to manage killing the dragon.”
“Where are we going?” Solène said.
“The Order’s expedition is waiting for us at Gardonne. We’ll administer the Cup’s … What are they called?”
She shrugged. “Its gifts.”
“That fits. We’ll administer its gifts and the Spurriers will continue their journey to the region that’s currently afflicted. I only hope they have time to deal with the matter and return to the city before the next incident occurs.”
“You think there’ll be more?” Solène said.
“We have to be prepared for the eventuality. That’s why it was so important to learn how to make more fighters like the old Chevaliers of the Silver Circle.”
“What then? Do you think that will be enough to make the people accept the Order?”
“No, but it will be a step in the right direction. This will show them that the Order will protect them. Next, we’ll show that we can also help them. Restore and maintain order. Heal. That sort of thing.”
She wondered how he intended to maintain order, and felt the sickness of worry return to her stomach.
“With Seneschal dal Drezony gone,” Solène said, “I’d like to take a more active role in the Order.”
The Prince Bishop smiled indulgently. “That’s exactly what I intended for you. As soon as we find this temple, and learn what more the Cup can do.”
“You think the Cup is capable of more?” she said.
“Of course,” Amaury said, then paused. Solène could see from his expression he thought he had said too much. “Perhaps, perhaps not, but it’s best to know one way or the other, don’t you think? It would be a great crime to have the key to unlock so much potential and not explore it fully.”
“I suppose so,” Solène said. She would have preferred that he not suspect, but he was too intelligent to not have come up with the question. “Sometimes I worry, though.”
He frowned, leaned forward, and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Really? Why?”
She shrugged. “It took the Imperial mages generations to learn how to exploit and control magic. Might we be foolhardy, rushing in and looking for shortcuts?”
“But you already have their level of power, Solène. And if you do, I’m sure others do as well. I’m seeking a way to help you. The sooner we learn to tame this great power of yours, the sooner you and others like you will be safe to explore your potential to its fullest.”
She had to admit he had great skill in identifying what someone wanted to hear and saying it in a way the person might actually believe.
He leaned back and grimaced at the uncomfortable ride. “I wish we could have taken my personal carriage,” he said. “But all things considered, I thought an unmarked one was a better choice.