"As an Enlightened One?"
DeBarres smiled, still proud. "She's devout, well-read… There's a touch of Heaven in all of us, but she has more than most."
"And as a person?"
DeBarres thought for a moment. "It would be a cliche to say 'the daughter I wish I had,' but I'm damned if I can think of a better answer to your question, Rodrigo."
"Raul, what would you say if I told you she wants to hunt for Scarra and Kell."
DeBarres grinned. "I'd say she wouldn't be the Knight of the Swords I think she is if she didn't want that."
"Would you let her?"
DeBarres closed his eyes for a moment and a shadow seemed to pass across his pockmarked features. "As the Preceptor of a Knight of the Swords, yes. As a man with a near-daughter… I don't know." He chuckled. "If I said that in front of her, she wouldn't be very happy."
"At being protected?"
"Exactly." DeBarres let out a long breath. "I'd regret it — not in the sense of fearing she'd fail, but in the sense of feeling guilty at sending her into danger, but yes, I'd let her go after Scarra and Kell. It'd be a damned harder thing to stop her from going."
"Of course there will be a hunt, that's not in question. But who do you have in mind to lead such a hunt?"
"That depends on what sort of hunt it is. If it were a full scale military operation with mounted patrols, then Brother Markus would be ideal."
Kesar shook his head. "Scarra and Kell aren't stupid and they have a lead on us. This won't be a chase across fields for a fleeing man, or a sweep through a city. The search will have to be more subtle."
"A select few Knights as muster-captains, working with observers and agents?"
"Exactly."
"Then there are several options, depending on how much ground needs to be covered. This close to the Anclas… They could even have gone across to Pontaine, either together, or they could split up. Andon isn't that far for some travellers with good horses." DeBarres thought for a moment. "Tomas Marek is Archimandrite of Andon; he's a former Preceptor of the Swords. I'll send a message to him, and see if he can assign some of his Knights to keep a watch out in Andon and the nearby border.
"I will make sure every Enlightened One and Walker in the Anclas knows who they're looking for."
"I'll pay a visit to Turnitia soon. The Brotherhood may have moved most of their centres to Freiport, but Turnitia's an old home to them. It wouldn't surprise me if either of them headed there to try to catch a ship somewhere."
"They'd be mad to try, given how tightly we now control that city, but then again they were mad to attempt this assassination." Kesar shrugged. "Very well, Raul, let us see how the Lord favours us, and begin the hunt in earnest."
"Who first?" Gabriella asked. She and Erak leaned against the battlements of Castle Kalten. The snow had melted, but fog had brought a damp chill to the town. They watched the grooms brushing down the horses they would soon use. "If we're permitted to take part?"
"Karel Scarra and permission is granted." It was DeBarres, poker-faced, but with a lightness in his eyes. "Every member of the Order will have their part to play in this manhunt. The Eminences and I think teams of Knights, soldiers and agents making quick and discreet visits will be best. I've decided that you two should lead one team of hunters. I'm assigning you four Knights and their men-at-arms." He thought for a moment. "Take Tanner, Karlsen, Oaks and Komo with you."
"What about the mercenary, Hasso? If he's accompanied Scarra on his travels, he might be able to guide us."
"He might also be a liar or a distraction, for all we know. Or willing to switch sides again for a larger purse. A one-off reward for information is one thing, but I don't trust him enough to hire him."
Gabriella nodded. "I'm thinking it would be useful if Scarra was taken alive? He must know a lot of names and faces."
"That would be my suggestion," DeBarres conceded, "The same goes for Kell, if you come across him in your hunt for Scarra. But I don't want anybody risking letting either of them escape for the sake of wanting him able to talk. Alive would be a bonus, but if it comes to a choice between a dead man telling us no tales and a living man getting away and prolonging the chase, you put him down, hard." He leaned against the wall between them. "I'll be taking a trip to show some force in Turnitia, and I'll have Markus on the coast and the Anclas, just in case we can catch him making his run for home. I want you two to go into Pontaine and check through the satellite towns around Andon, to find that vineyard that Hasso has told us about."
"And the Pontaine military?" Erak asked. "They haven't been very welcoming since the war."
"Be civil, but don't hold your breath waiting for assistance. But it may be that Hasso is fooling us all, and the real fugitives are in Freiport or somewhere already and you won't see either, but good luck anyway. And good hunting."
CHAPTER 5
Spring was still some weeks off, but away from the coast and further east into the rolling lands of Pontaine, the air was warmer. The trees lining the sides of the old pre-Imperial Highway between Turnitia and Andon were still bare in spite of the milder temperatures and insects were only just beginning to buzz around. The centuries-old cobbles were worn away in most places and overgrown by scrub grass. There was some mercenary traffic along the highway, but those bands all steered clear of the column of religious warriors.
Gabriella and Erak were riding at the head of a group of four mounted Knights of the Order of the Swords of Dawn and forty five men and women on foot. Each Knight had a Squire, and ten soldiers-at-arms as support, plus a sergeant-at-arms. While the Knights rode in front, their squires followed, then most of the soldiers-at-arms.
There was a straggly line of mercenaries camped by the side of the road into the small village of Hallam's Creek. There were a few houses, a couple of taverns, a small Faith church and a smithy all nestled around a well. There were mercenaries among the regular citizens, holding the reins of half a dozen tired-looking horses They wore a mixture of different styles of armour and their tabards bore the hammer insignia of a company from north of the Drakengrat. There were no Red Daggers among them.
Gabriella recognised the insignia as that of a reputable company and one which had fought alongside the Faith several times. While the Faith retainers sought out refreshments and tended to the animals, Gabriella and the other Knights went into the small church to pay their respects. The smell of incense and old stone was welcoming and comforting. There were a couple of mercenaries, unarmed and with bowed heads, sitting in the pews. As Gabriella watched, a mercenary came out of the confession chamber and left the church. The Enlightened One, in his blue robes, emerged a moment later, yawning.
"A long day, Enlightened One?" she asked.
The man nodded. "Very busy. The visiting mercenaries have upped my workload somewhat."
Gabriella noted that a couple more mercenaries were already lining up, ready to confess. "If you need any help…"
The Enlightened One grabbed at the chance. "Could you? I feel quite dry and the chance for a jug of water would be — "
"Don't worry about it," Gabriella said. Like all the Knights, she was qualified to perform any duty an Enlightened One could, if there was no Enlightened One available.
"I won't be long," the Enlightened One promised.
As he hurried off, Gabriella slipped into his place in the confession chamber. It was a small, bare, octagonal room, with two chairs and no other furniture. When one of the mercenaries entered a few moments later, he seemed surprised to meet a person in armour.
"Well met," Gabriella said. She gestured to the other chair. "Have a seat. Has it been an easy journey from wherever you've been?"