The other woman stepped closer. “Oh, Soff, always so critical. Would you rather he looked like a swineherd? He is a Syldoon captain, after all. I know they discourage us from fraternizing with you boys, but I must say, all the steel and scars are quite fetching. Exciting, really.” When she smiled, it was clear her mockery was good-natured. “Hewspear, Mulldoos, Vendurro, so good to see you all again.” She stopped when she saw me at the back of the room and waved. “And you, too, stranger with the crossbow. Though I do hope you lower it a bit. We are all friends here. Or at least not open enemies. Well, unless I’m getting that wrong. I do do that on occasion. And it seems we received our mandate so long ago, I hardly remember why we rode all this way.”
I lowered the crossbow, embarrassed I hadn’t already. Then Braylar looked at his sister and said, slippery with sarcasm, “While I am clearly overjoyed to see you again, I am anxious to be enlightened. Why did the two of you make such a trek? Surely it must be taxing already. I would have prepared a more suitable celebration of your arrival had our Tower Commander sent notice.” He made no effort to disguise the bite in the last line. It was difficult to tell whether the arrival of Memoridons, the fact that his sister was one of them, or the surprising nature of the visit irked him more. It very well might have been a tie.
She smiled, thin and tight. “Very well. Cutting right through the pleasantries. My arrival is notice, of a sort. It seems you and your retinue have caused all the mayhem you’re going to in the region. You have been recalled.”
Braylar raised one eyebrow. “Truly? That does strike me as… odd. We are here by command of the Tower Commander himself. You do realize we have spent years in this region, orchestrating and preparing, and finally putting things in motion. Our orders were clear. Are clear.”
She matched him eyebrow for eyebrow. “Mayhaps you should have followed them more quickly then.”
“If Commander Darzaak has cause to be concerned or displeased, I assume we would have heard of it already. From him. Directly.”
“Had the recall come by way of Commander Darzaak, I assume you would be right. But this recall comes from Emperor Cynead himself.”
“Directly,” the shorter woman added. When the siblings both glared at her, she said, “Well, just aiming for clarity. These kinds of messages often get muddied carried from place to place. Details get left out, conflated, what have you. Just want to be sure no one is confused about any of the particulars. I’m often confused. It’s an unpleasant way to go through life.”
“Shut it, Skeelana,” Soffjian ordered. Again, sounding eerily similar to her kin in the room.
Braylar looked at Soffjian. “And the good Emperor is aware that these plans are part of a greater Imperial mandate, and endorsed by his administration? Surely these facts have not slipped his mind, even as pressed as he is by mundane Imperial matters? Details get lost in the capital from time to time as well.”
Skeelana nodded. “Excellent point.”
Soffjian tapped the butt spike of her ranseur on the floorboards. “Not his mandate, brother. The predecessor he ousted. And while he did nothing to stop them, I would hardly call that a ringing endorsement. But in any event, he is recalling your company, as well as most others in Anjuria, if rumors are to be believed. But I don’t trade in rumors. Only in fact, cold and cruel and often transcribed for posterity. Even Memoridons don’t always trust in memory.” She retrieved a scroll from her belt pouch and handed it to Braylar.
Braylar did not examine the seal for authenticity, but broke it quickly, bits of blood-colored wax falling onto the floor. Mulldoos and Hewspear exchanged a look as Braylar read the contents, eyes darting quickly across the lines. I wondered if it was coded or written simply in Syldoonian.
Vendurro asked, “They really pulling out the other companies here? A lot of Syldoon in the region.”
Soffjian replied, “Rumor, Sergeant. Rumor’s the slut you bend over a chair and never see again. Truth’s the lady you wed.”
Mulldoos slid the falchion back in his scabbard. “Truth usually turns out to be a bitch. And twice the trouble. Give me a bed full of rumors any day.”
Skeelana laughed. Soffjian did not. She said, “Ahh, yes. Your lot does have a penchant for whores and barmaids.”
Mulldoos burped, loud and long, as if he’d been saving it for rebuttal. Or the preamble, anyway. “Better company than most. Only consort with ladies and other powerful bitches when we got little enough choice.”
Soffjian didn’t take her eyes off Mulldoos that I noticed, and there was heat behind them. But she kept her voice level, so much so that it was difficult to tell that the jovial tone was counterfeit. “Bitches, witches, so difficult to tell if one is truly more flattering than the other. But ‘powerful,’ Mulldoos? You are far too kind.”
Before their exchange had an opportunity to escalate, Braylar rolled the scroll back up and said, “Well, Mulldoos, you and anyone else in the company tired of Anjurian politics can breathe easy. It seems there is no wiggle room to speak of here. We will be returning to Sunwrack. Anon, as it happens.” His tone ran at cross purposes to his words-he didn’t seem particularly pleased or at ease.
Soffjian slowly spun her ranseur in circles, watching the tassels flutter above her hand. “I am hurt, brother, that my word alone wouldn’t persuade you on this point, but hardly stunned. Which is why I was relieved to have the documentation. You have been abroad for so many years, I expect that this must come as a welcome surprise.”
Twin scars at the corner of Braylar’s lips twitched. “It is indeed surprising. But no less so than the fact that an esteemed Memoridon should be sent to deliver the news. Were my Jackal brothers so very occupied that none could be tasked with serving as courier? Certainly you haven’t misbehaved and earned Commander’s Darzaak’s displeasure. Again.”
The ranseur stopped spinning and now it was Soffjian’s turn to force a hastily counterfeited smile. “Oh, no. I volunteered. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to reconnect after so many years, Bray.”
There were undercurrents I didn’t understand in the exchange but didn’t have a chance to parse them out when Braylar gave a feral grin. “Much longer, and you might not have been able to track us at all.”
Soffjian’s eyes flashed with something closer to hate than love, but her false smile didn’t waiver. “Oh, dear brother, I will always be able to track you. Always.”
“A keen comfort. Truly.”
Skeelana added, “Between the two of us, I’m sure we could find your company just about anywhere.” She said this casually, impishly, but there was something else veiled there as well. A warning?
Braylar sat down in his chair. “Well, with this unexpected turn of events, we have plans and preparations to make. We cannot simply pull out of the region without undoing so much of the good work we’ve done here.”
Soffjian lifted the ranseur, briefly inspecting the divot in the floorboards the butt spike made. “I have not read your orders, of course, so can’t speak to the specifics, but I was under the impression that Commander Darzaak was himself following imperial directive when he issued them. So I imagine there will be some urgency in obeying.”
Braylar’s smile seemed a touch more genuine now, though no more pleasant. “Ahh, yes. I imagine you need to return to Sunwrack very soon. So far afield, sister. It must be quite… uncomfortable for you. Don’t feel the need to wait on our account. If you must go, by all means, go with speed. We won’t be far behind.”
Skeelana answered before Soffjian could. “Oh, I just don’t think we could do that. No, no. You see, we have orders to accompany you every step of the way. Commander Darzaak was most insistent on that point. So there will be quite a bit of time for the two of you to catch up. Which is wonderful, if you ask me. Just wonderful.”