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tolerance.
    When
Klye left to go to his own bed, which he decided should be within earshot of
Plake Nelway, Ragellan continued to ponder the self-appointed Renegade Leader.
Clearly, Horcalus did not trust him, but that was understandable and perhaps
forgivable.
    Ragellan
knew things about Klye that Horcalus did not. The Renegade Leader had opened up
to him at various points along the trip from Superius to Capricon. From these
private conversations, Ragellan had learned about Klye’s early days as a
pickpocket and, later, a burglar. He hadn’t talked much about his days as a
thief and had been elusive about many things in the beginning. Recently,
though, Klye had told him about waking up from what must have been a coma,
though Klye couldn’t remember what had caused it.
    “Maybe
you were struck from behind during one of your robberies,” Ragellan had
suggested.
    “Maybe,”
Klye allowed, “but the dream I had seemed so real. I never dream, but this one
was so vivid, so long …”
    “Well,
you were in a coma. You were probably overdue for a good dream.”
    And
it had been a good, if bizarre, dream, according to Klye, though he wouldn’t go
into much detail, and Ragellan hadn’t pressed him.
    But
the first thing Klye had told Ragellan about himself was how he had ended up at
the Citadel Dungeon to begin with. Klye had been hired by Superian Renegades to
free one of their leaders from the prison. It was in their company that he had
learned of Ragellan and Horcalus’s imminent execution—which those Renegades
hadn’t understood any better than Ragellan himself, for they knew the
imprisoned Knights had not given money to their cause.
    Once
Klye had used his talents to break into the prison, he left the rebels and
found his way to where Ragellan and Horcalus were being held. Freeing the two
knights was a truly unselfish act—maybe Klye’s first. Ragellan eventually told
Klye about the letter he had received from King Edward and how he thought it to
be linked to the erroneous charges.
    Oddly,
it was this information that convinced Klye to join the Renegade cause in
earnest.
    A
month or so later, in Port Alexis, Klye learned of the Knights plan to reoccupy
Fort Faith. The Renegade Leaders of Continae had enough problems of their own
without worrying about the island province, and so Klye volunteered to venture
across the Strait of Liliae and personally prevent the Knights from
strengthening their hold on Capricon.
    Ragellan
had to admit that Klye was doing an admirable job at playing the role of
leader. He knew when to ask for advice or help, and the new Renegade Leader’s
determination was infectious. Had things worked out differently, Ragellan
imagined that Klye might have made an excellent Knight, but Ragellan could
hardly blame him for choosing the Renegades as his vehicle to self-improvement.
    And
that, perhaps, was Ragellan’s own problem. He could not blame the Renegades for
being suspicious of the Superian monarchy and the Alliance of Nations, which
King Edward Borrom was instrumental in creating.
    Ragellan,
rogue Knight of Superius, was himself suspicious.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Passage VI

 
 
    Klye
left Oars and Omens a full hour before noon, though he knew it wouldn’t take
that long to get back to the Cathedral. Arriving early would give him an
advantage, especially if Leslie was setting a trap for him.
    He
didn’t think that was likely, but one never knew. He no longer wore the monk
disguise, deciding their close call with the Captain DeGrange the night before
had been a little too close.
    He
lingered a while in the marketplace again, eavesdropping. To better blend in
with the crowd, he decided to buy something and stopped at a jeweler’s cart.
What he really wanted was a sword, but Othello would take care of that when he
used the rest of their funds to buy supplies for the journey.
    As
he pretended to examine a copper bangle, he listened. No one was gossiping
about the Renegades today,