Read Online 08 Blood War-Blood Destiny by Connie Suttle - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Connie Suttle
Tags: Vampiros
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both those blades."
Chapter 4
It was late spring in Farus, and the thunderstorm that came through drenched everything in addition to making the footpath between tents look like a river as night fell. I was grateful the tents had some sort of waterproofing in the cloth; otherwise, we'd have been dripped on all night. I took the small shovel that Solis handed me and dug a trench around the tent, with a channel on each corner to divert the rainwater into the pathways in front of and behind the tent.
The footpaths were the lowest ground we had around us, which meant everybody walked through water up to their ankles to get anywhere in camp. We walked in the rain to get to dinner and walked in the rain back from dinner. I helped hang up Solis' clothing after he undressed, in a useless attempt to dry it out. I think he and I would settle for extreme dampness at that moment; we were both soaked. Solis, sitting on a campstool in his underwear, wrote out two messages by candlelight as darkness fell around us. I heard plenty of cursing going on outside the tent—there wasn't any way to keep a fire going during the storm.
"Take this one to the General," Solis handed a message to me with a wax seal. "Take this one to Captain Cordus; his tent is just this side of the General's." Cordus' message didn't have a seal. "Use this bag," I was given a waterproof courier's bag. After stuffing both messages inside the bag, I nodded to Solis, walked from the tent and headed into a driving rain.
"Message, General," the General's bodyguard announced when I showed up at the green tent. I pulled out the sealed message and handed it to the General.
"You are?" he asked, examining the wax seal.
"Liss, Captain Solis' bodyguard and runner, sir," I replied. I hadn't seen anyone saluting, so I was thankful for that.
"Wait for a reply," he growled and opened the message, reading it swiftly. I stood near the tent flap while the General wrote out a reply, rolled it up and sealed it with wax from a candle. I took it, slipped it inside the waterproof bag and walked into the rain again.
Captain Cordus came next, and he didn't ask me to wait for a reply. I handed off his message and left, carrying the General's reply to Captain Solis. Solis gave me thanks in a distracted sort of way, so I left him in his half of the tent and went to dry myself off as best I could.
* * *
The General read Solis' message again before committing it to his candle flame. If something happens to your bodyguard , the note read, ask for Liss .
* * *
I'm sure the Pelipu's troops would have looked much more dashing if they hadn't been soaked to the bone when they rode up the following morning. As it was, they looked somewhat bedraggled in wet gray tunics beneath chain mail. A tabard was worn over the chain mail bearing a large, red hand across the chest. That red hand was supposed to be the hand of their god and according to them, it ran with blood when the god was angry. Well, if Red Hand was anything like Solar Red, the god's hand probably ran with blood when he was happy or even feeling so-so, too. The chain mail these troops wore had to be a bitch in a rainstorm, too. I wanted to snicker at their obvious discomfort, but held myself back as Solis and I watched the Pelipu's troops ride past. Their horses weren't happy either; their manes and tails hung in wet clumps as they clopped along, their heads down in the rain.
"What do you think, Liss?" Solis asked after the last Red Hand mercenary went past.
"You're right," I nodded. "Trouble just arrived." Solis offered a humorless chuckle.
* * *
In addition to my blades, I now had a knife clipped to the back waistband of my leather pants—Connegar had sent a note wrapped around the knife. I'd found it inside my duffle while looking for a bar of soap to clean up after dinner the night before.
" Glinda insisted that you take this—just in case ," the note read. The knife was a good one, with a black steel blade. A long,
Chapter 4
It was late spring in Farus, and the thunderstorm that came through drenched everything in addition to making the footpath between tents look like a river as night fell. I was grateful the tents had some sort of waterproofing in the cloth; otherwise, we'd have been dripped on all night. I took the small shovel that Solis handed me and dug a trench around the tent, with a channel on each corner to divert the rainwater into the pathways in front of and behind the tent.
The footpaths were the lowest ground we had around us, which meant everybody walked through water up to their ankles to get anywhere in camp. We walked in the rain to get to dinner and walked in the rain back from dinner. I helped hang up Solis' clothing after he undressed, in a useless attempt to dry it out. I think he and I would settle for extreme dampness at that moment; we were both soaked. Solis, sitting on a campstool in his underwear, wrote out two messages by candlelight as darkness fell around us. I heard plenty of cursing going on outside the tent—there wasn't any way to keep a fire going during the storm.
"Take this one to the General," Solis handed a message to me with a wax seal. "Take this one to Captain Cordus; his tent is just this side of the General's." Cordus' message didn't have a seal. "Use this bag," I was given a waterproof courier's bag. After stuffing both messages inside the bag, I nodded to Solis, walked from the tent and headed into a driving rain.
"Message, General," the General's bodyguard announced when I showed up at the green tent. I pulled out the sealed message and handed it to the General.
"You are?" he asked, examining the wax seal.
"Liss, Captain Solis' bodyguard and runner, sir," I replied. I hadn't seen anyone saluting, so I was thankful for that.
"Wait for a reply," he growled and opened the message, reading it swiftly. I stood near the tent flap while the General wrote out a reply, rolled it up and sealed it with wax from a candle. I took it, slipped it inside the waterproof bag and walked into the rain again.
Captain Cordus came next, and he didn't ask me to wait for a reply. I handed off his message and left, carrying the General's reply to Captain Solis. Solis gave me thanks in a distracted sort of way, so I left him in his half of the tent and went to dry myself off as best I could.
* * *
The General read Solis' message again before committing it to his candle flame. If something happens to your bodyguard , the note read, ask for Liss .
* * *
I'm sure the Pelipu's troops would have looked much more dashing if they hadn't been soaked to the bone when they rode up the following morning. As it was, they looked somewhat bedraggled in wet gray tunics beneath chain mail. A tabard was worn over the chain mail bearing a large, red hand across the chest. That red hand was supposed to be the hand of their god and according to them, it ran with blood when the god was angry. Well, if Red Hand was anything like Solar Red, the god's hand probably ran with blood when he was happy or even feeling so-so, too. The chain mail these troops wore had to be a bitch in a rainstorm, too. I wanted to snicker at their obvious discomfort, but held myself back as Solis and I watched the Pelipu's troops ride past. Their horses weren't happy either; their manes and tails hung in wet clumps as they clopped along, their heads down in the rain.
"What do you think, Liss?" Solis asked after the last Red Hand mercenary went past.
"You're right," I nodded. "Trouble just arrived." Solis offered a humorless chuckle.
* * *
In addition to my blades, I now had a knife clipped to the back waistband of my leather pants—Connegar had sent a note wrapped around the knife. I'd found it inside my duffle while looking for a bar of soap to clean up after dinner the night before.
" Glinda insisted that you take this—just in case ," the note read. The knife was a good one, with a black steel blade. A long,
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