“My lord, that man’s armor was undoubtedly the finest that it ever has been my privilege to handle—all Pitzburk, prince-grade and king-grade, nothing less, and decorated and inletted beyond all dreams. His sword, dirk and daggers were a matched set—splendid! But as soon as he had hung his axe from the pommel of one of the horses, both of which beasts were mine—they being the easiest for the spearmen to quickly get at—he begged me give him a leg up, citing the length of time it had been since he essayed mounting in armor.
“However, no sooner was he in the saddle than he kicked me full in the face and reined about and left the camp, headed northwest. One of my men threw a spear at him but it fell a bit short, worse luck.
Then they both thought it best to see to me, to get my face out of the mud before I smothered, swooning as I was, just then.
“When I had recovered enough of my senses to walk with assistance, I reported back to the pavilion, feeling like a fool and a failure, but Thoheeks Grahvos seemed actually pleased by Hahkmukos’ demonstrated cowardice, though he did send a squad of Horseclanners out later to track him and, hopefully, apprehend him. Magnanimously, he awarded me—in recompense, he said, for my suffering and the loss of one of my horses— Hahkmukos’ fine tent and all that the decamping mercenaries and servants had left of his camp effects.”
Sitheeros grinned and nodded. “And just how much did Grahvos’ largesse amount to, Captain?”
Bralos shrugged. “Not all that much at once, my lord. Two new, sturdy wagons; I kept the best and traded the other one for the mules to draw the one I kept. Sub-chief Captain Vawn took but one look at the flashy, overdecorated saddle and horse-gear that Hahkmukos had left behind and offered me the price of a decent horse for it, and I took him up on it. I considered selling the spare helmet and such bits and pieces of armor as were left, but I ended by adding them to my own sparse panoply; the sword I left with your bodyguards was, in fact, his everyday sword—it’s Pitzburk-made, too, but only a duke-grade.
“Although he had begun to run somewhat to fat, Hahkmukos had been about of a size with me, so I just had his chests all repacked and placed in the wagon, intending to have a tailor at the base camp do such alterations as were necessary. Then I had the tent struck and reerected in the guards camp and contributed most of the victuals and wines to the guard officers’ mess. And that was that until the army was returned to the base-camp, down below-walls, save that Thoheeks Klaios made me the offer of a vahrohnoseeahn for a most attractive price … could I but raise that much money; I rendered him the thanks I knew due him, but realized that, barring some miracle, I would never even see that much silver or gold at one time did I live a century.
“We had been back for a month or so and then, of a night when I chanced to not have duties, I opened Hahkmukos’ chests and began to sort out the clothing, linens, blankets and boots. The largest of those chests was a massive thing, more than a load for four strong men when fully packed, banded and cornered and edged and reinforced with strips and studs of iron and brass, full of inner drawers and compartments. I had already found several small purses of silver in one of the drawers and so was exploring them all in hopes of finding a bit more … and I did, my lord, I did.
“The chest was sitting on one end, gaped open, and I had gone into all save one of the drawers. That one opened a fraction of a finger-breadth on only one side, then seemed to jam solidly, and I was unable to either close it back or open it, so I searched about for a blade of a sufficient degree of thinness to get into the opening and try to pry it open. Finally locating a slender dagger, I worked its blade into the opening and began to gingerly twist it. At last, the troublesome drawer came out … empty of all save three folded scarves of silk.
“But then I noted something odd, my lord. That drawer was exactly alike to the others save in a single respect: it was only about half as long. Exploration with fingers and dagger-point revealed that the recess from which the drawer had just come was no whit different from the other recesses above it—all of them being lined with high-quality cedarwood—save only that it was not so deep as were they.
“It was then that I recalled, my lord, certain details of the flight of the wretched Hahkmukos, of how when I entered his tent to help him to arm, a drawer had stood open and empty from the outer side of one of the smaller chests and of how when once that drawer had been shut, I had never again figured out how to reopen it or even fathomed just where it was located.
“Thinking again on this arcane matter, I went around to the other side, the outer side of the chest, moving the lamp so as to give me better light. There was no visible handle or mechanism, of course, but I squatted there and began to push and pull at each and every stud and band on that lid. At great length, when I was become frustrated to the point of murder and madness, a brass stud sank in smoothly under a fingertip and I heard a faint click from someplace within the lid. Keeping that stud depressed, I pushed again at every one of its mates I could reach, and when an iron one sank inward, a drawer opened slightly out of the lid’s outer face.
“I knew from the moment that I lifted the first soft velvet purselet out of the hideaway drawer that it was far too light to hold either silver or gold. When I opened the drawstrings and shook the contents out into my palm, I thought that surely my heart would cease its beating at the beauty of the large purple amethysts that rolled out.”
Sitheeros hissed softly between his teeth. “They all were bags of amethysts, then, Captain?”
The officer shook his head. “No, my lord, there was one more of the amethysts, two of sapphires, and one each of blue-white diamonds, yellow diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topazes, aquamarines, garnets, opals, and a larger bag containing an assortment of fine pearls.”
Before the captain could say more, the servants arrived with the wine and edibles, and the gentlemen kept silent until the servers were departed.
After the wine had been savored and extensively praised, Sitheeros asked, “So, Captain, there you sat with handfuls of precious gems; so what did you do then?”
The officer smiled. “After thinking it through, I went to Sub-strahteegos Thoheeks Tomos Gonsalos—I don’t think that he ever sleeps, my lord, so late can he be found at work in his headquarters on almost any night—and spread the bags of gems before him and told him the tale, then asked what I should do.
“He heard me out, examined the contents of the bags, then told me to pour us both a stoup of Karaleenos brandy.”
“Lieutenant Bralos,” Tomos said, “in addition to being a brave man and a conscientious man, you have just proven yourself to be an exceptionally honest man. Let me tell you, not many men would’ve brought this king’s ransom in gems and asked me the honorable disposition of it, not one bit of it. But you did, miracle of miracles, you did. You are henceforth proven in my eyes, you are just the sort of officer that this army needs, hell, you’re the sort of man of which no land ever has enough.”
Gonsalos took a lens from a box on his desk and used it to peer closely at one of the blue-white diamonds. “Look at this, young man. This particular stone and not a few of the others are old, very old, old beyond reckoning, for no stonesmith has ever again learned of just how the ancients cut their stones and made so many tiny smooth places upon them.”
Seated stiffly upon the edge of a camp stool, Lieutenant Bralos said hesitantly, “My lord, I had thought … Hahkmukos was, after all, the chief quartermaster for High King Zastros in Karaleenos; perhaps these stones were looted from out that land … ?”