“Plural?” Braylar narrowed his eyes. “Frames? You are certain?”
“Yes. Well, as certain as I can be. I would like to go through it more closely, and I would really like to find the remainder of that memoir.”
“Now that is interesting.” Braylar pulled the door open. “But we have a road to ride. Gather your satchel and case. Lock everything down tight. Syldoon will transport the chests to the wagon. Meet me in the stables. We leave.”
And with that, he was gone. I continued packing up my things, shaking my head. Such a meager collection. Even journeyman craftsmen had more to carry on their backs than I did. It seemed whenever I began thinking I was going to settle down somewhere for a prolonged length of time, it was proven illusory faster each time. The idea of settling in Sunwrack as a complete outsider was daunting, and not an especially pleasant prospect, but I assumed that was going to be my life for the foreseeable future, at least until the captain and his crew were sent on campaign somewhere. I never imagined that would happen less than a tenday after arriving, and possibly permanently.
Now… leaving without changing clothes more than a few times, we were heading into a dark and uncertain future that surely didn’t bode well.
When it came to the Syldoon, I simply needed to stop forming expectations at all. No matter what, they were destined to be thwarted.
I arrived in the extensive stables, expecting to see Braylar and his small retinue, but instead found what must have been close to one hundred Syldoon in armor with their horses saddled, grooms running everywhere, and several wagons harnessed to teams of horses. Wherever we were going, it was a lot of us.
Vendurro hunched down as he stepped out of the covered portion of a wagon, hailed me, and then sat on the bench in front.
As I walked over, I noticed there were only a few lanterns lit in the very back of the stables, and immediately thought about the eyes that might be on us right now. If we weren’t doing anything illicit, we were at least being awfully secretive. Which seemed perfectly appropriate for the Jackal Tower.
And perfectly likely to get us all killed.
I climbed up and sat down next to Vendurro. He bit a boiled egg in half, offered me one with the shell still on it. Starving, I took it and started peeling. “What is going on here? The captain wasn’t especially forthcoming.”
“No,” he replied, spewing bits of yolk. “Forthcoming ain’t really Cap’s thing.”
“He only said we were leaving, and it sounded pretty final.”
“Expect it would.” Vendurro plopped the other half in his mouth.
“So it’s true? We’re leaving Sunwrack for good?”
“It ain’t false.” He managed not to spray any more egg at me.
I took a bite. Could do with some salt. Amazing that I could think about that when Jackal Tower could be crashing down around us at any moment. “So, what is happening? You are nearly as bad as the captain.”
Vendurro laughed, dusted his hands off on his knees. “Captains convened last night. That knowing look on your face tells me you knew that already.”
It was also amazing he could joke when our lives might again be hanging in the balance. He continued, “Commander Darzaak ordered Cap and a good chunk of his men out of Sunwrack.”
I looked up and down the stables again, calculating. “How many?”
“Well, small portion, really. Couple hundred.”
“That’s small?”
“Ayyup. Cap commands a thousand in the Tower.”
I had never asked, but it made sense, given how few captains Commander Darzaak had brought with him to the Caucus yesterday.
Vendurro winked. “Don’t call the rank ‘Captain of a Thousand’ for nothing.”
“But why is he, why are we, being sent off?”
“Protect Cap, for one. Keep Cynead from digging his claws in. And get word to Thumaar, for two. Commander figures Cap can do more good out there then being husked out here by Memoridons.”
“But Emperor Cynead-”
“Will think he fled, instead of turning hisself over for experiments or whatnot. Commander’s going to disavow Cap. Brand him deserter. Send a hunting party after us. Hopes to stall for time.”
“What if Cynead blames the Commander, assumes he was complicit?”
Vendurro nodded a couple of times. “Ayyup. That’s a possibility, sure as spit. Mulldoos was there, tried to light a fire under the notion we all ought to clear out now, before Cynead turns everything he got against us, wipes the Jackals out. Some support for that, but not enough.”
That was a bold move, to be certain, maybe unheard of, but not without dangerous merit as well. “Why not?”
“Jackal Tower is eight thousand strong. Just Syldoon, not counting servants and slaves. Commander figures even if Cynead is all too sure of hisself just now, and not like to expect a whole Tower to break free, moving that many troops, supplies… Wouldn’t make it halfway to the gates before the Imperial troops and Memoridons came out in force, routed us. Best bet is to sit tight, try to find a way to unravel what Cynead done, and hope Thumaar can make a play when we do.”
I looked around at Braylar’s men as they made the last of their preparations. I was accustomed to his retinue and smallish company, so this force did seem sizable. But against the Imperial forces out there in the city somewhere, only a pittance. “How many men does Cynead have in Sunwrack?” I asked, not wanting to know the answer at all.
Vendurro stopped, just about to throw another boiled egg in his mouth. “Hmmm. Fifty, maybe sixty thousand.”
Yes, if Cynead got wind we were fleeing the city, we would be annihilated. Immediately. Utterly.
Captain Killcoin rode in front of our wagon, called out to the nearest men, “We head for the eastern gate. If we encounter any Leopards or city watch that bar our way, we ride over them. If we cannot for any reason, we break for the northern gate. One way or the other, we win free of Sunwrack today. We win free. I gave you all the option to stay or to ride with me, and yet to a man, here you are. You are all fools, to be certain, but I am honored to be in your company.” That earned some chuckles and Braylar patted the quiver alongside his saddle. “It is a good day for crossbows, Syldoon. A very good day.” Then he smiled and pulled his helmet on, spreading the mail out on his shoulders and reaching underneath to buckle the helm tight.
Vendurro turned to me. “Best get in the back of the rig, Arki. Hopefully, we won’t get into any scrapes, but if we do, safer in there. Little, anyway. Stuff to take cover behind at least.”
I pulled the flap back, saw the crossbow and quiver of bolts, leaned in and pulled them to me. Vendurro got the team moving as I spanned the crossbow, then slapped the folding devil’s claw on the stock. “I may not be a crack shot, but if we get into any scrapes, I’ll be right here, shooting in the general direction of the enemy.”
He laughed, and that made my bravado feel a little less foolish. “Suit yourself. Though next time, we might need to kit you in a gambeson or boiled leather at least. That tunic’s not like to stop any kind of anything.”
Captain Killcoin and his two lieutenants led the way and we rolled out of the stables, with four dozen horsemen in front of us, some more wagons behind, and the remainder of the company following.
Dawn was nearly upon us, the clouds above the high outer wall of Sunwrack long and thin and fissured with the first hints of peach and salmon and scarlet. The only thing that wrecked the beauty of it was the wafting manure from the stables and the fact that we could all die very soon.
Our convoy made its way down the Avenue of Towers for a few blocks, but turned down a narrow street, no doubt not trusting several of the Towers we might encounter along the way. The last time we rode out at dawn, it was to ambush Hornmen in Alespell. Now, we were hoping to move unmolested through a city three times that size and avoid ambush ourselves. It was difficult not to long for the bad but not horrific odds of hunting Hornmen, especially as we had no ripper or Memoridons now.