in his fingers and said, “Our actions follow the visions of the Imperial Soothsayers.”
“No shit. We’re ass-deep in enemy territory with ancient weapons, capturing mages,” Reiter continued as Geurin’s eyes narrowed. “Soothsayers are a given. Now, tell me something I don’t know.”
“There’s a prophecy about the fall of the empire.”
That was something he didn’t know. “Concerning these women?”
Geurin straightened and stood as though he were reciting. “When wild and mage together come, one in six or six in one. Empires rise or empires fall, the unborn child begins it all.”
“Seriously?” Reiter let his musket hang off the strap, lifted his bicorn, and ran his free hand back through his hair, the front sticky with blood. “That’s the reason we’re here? My eight-year-old niece writes better verse.”
“Is your eight-year-old niece an Imperial Soothsayer?” Geurin’s lip curled. His tone remained respectful enough that Reiter ignored his expression. “Or the Soothsayer’s Voice? Or a Court Analyst? OrHis Imperial Majesty Emperor Leopald himself who gave the order to release the tangles from the vaults? One of these six women…”
“Five.” Reiter pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and smeared the blood around a bit. He’d need water to get it off.
Geurin’s nostrils flared dramatically. “One of the
six
women we have been ordered to capture is pregnant with the child who could bring down the empire!”
Could. Prophecy hinged just a little too much on
could
in Reiter’s opinion. However, as the lieutenant had pointed out, he wasn’t a Soothsayer, or a Voice, or a Court Analyst; he was just a soldier, and he had a soldier’s response. He wasn’t proud of it, but he owned it. “If they haven’t had the child yet, why not kill them here? Why drag them back to the capital?”
“Empires rise or empires fall,” the lieutenant repeated. “If His Imperial Majesty controls the child, he determines what the child sets in motion.”
That sounded reasonable, as far as anything connected with Soothsayers could be called reasonable. Soothsayers were a remnant of the old ways, still around for the advantage they could give. Where
could
was, once again, the operative word, referring to men and women who were undeniably crazy, their words translated by political expediency. Still, he had his orders and now they even made a certain amount of sense. Controlling the beastmen through their women implied the Imperial army would fail to take Aydori by more direct means, and the Imperial army had not yet met a defense that could stand against them.
“You and Sergeant Black escort the women back to the army with squads one to five. I’ll take squad six and find our missing mage.” Reiter held out his hand for the unused tangle. “This is my command. That makes it my responsibility she’s found.”
And I don’t trust you to find your ass with both hands and a map,
he added silently as Geurin hesitated, no doubt weighing the cost of showing up a mage short against the benefit of being the first to report.
I definitely don’t trust you to find your way back to the border on your own.
“Sergeant Black…”
“Will go with you.” Thus ensuring they’d actually make it out of Aydori.
Geurin nodded, although at what, precisely, Reiter wasn’t sure. “We were sent to this place on the road because all six mages were Seen here. She can’t be far.”
The tangles were surprisingly heavy given how little substance they had, and the last tangle seemed to weigh as much as all six had combined. As Reiter slid it into his pocket, he wondered if that was because it carried the weight of the Soothsayers’ prophecy or the weight that would come down on his ass if he returned without the sixth mage.
The pain had faded, no longer knives driven in through her temples but a dull, unpleasant, albeit bearable, throbbing. Fresh knives stabbed in if she attempted to use her power. A lesser
“No shit. We’re ass-deep in enemy territory with ancient weapons, capturing mages,” Reiter continued as Geurin’s eyes narrowed. “Soothsayers are a given. Now, tell me something I don’t know.”
“There’s a prophecy about the fall of the empire.”
That was something he didn’t know. “Concerning these women?”
Geurin straightened and stood as though he were reciting. “When wild and mage together come, one in six or six in one. Empires rise or empires fall, the unborn child begins it all.”
“Seriously?” Reiter let his musket hang off the strap, lifted his bicorn, and ran his free hand back through his hair, the front sticky with blood. “That’s the reason we’re here? My eight-year-old niece writes better verse.”
“Is your eight-year-old niece an Imperial Soothsayer?” Geurin’s lip curled. His tone remained respectful enough that Reiter ignored his expression. “Or the Soothsayer’s Voice? Or a Court Analyst? OrHis Imperial Majesty Emperor Leopald himself who gave the order to release the tangles from the vaults? One of these six women…”
“Five.” Reiter pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and smeared the blood around a bit. He’d need water to get it off.
Geurin’s nostrils flared dramatically. “One of the
six
women we have been ordered to capture is pregnant with the child who could bring down the empire!”
Could. Prophecy hinged just a little too much on
could
in Reiter’s opinion. However, as the lieutenant had pointed out, he wasn’t a Soothsayer, or a Voice, or a Court Analyst; he was just a soldier, and he had a soldier’s response. He wasn’t proud of it, but he owned it. “If they haven’t had the child yet, why not kill them here? Why drag them back to the capital?”
“Empires rise or empires fall,” the lieutenant repeated. “If His Imperial Majesty controls the child, he determines what the child sets in motion.”
That sounded reasonable, as far as anything connected with Soothsayers could be called reasonable. Soothsayers were a remnant of the old ways, still around for the advantage they could give. Where
could
was, once again, the operative word, referring to men and women who were undeniably crazy, their words translated by political expediency. Still, he had his orders and now they even made a certain amount of sense. Controlling the beastmen through their women implied the Imperial army would fail to take Aydori by more direct means, and the Imperial army had not yet met a defense that could stand against them.
“You and Sergeant Black escort the women back to the army with squads one to five. I’ll take squad six and find our missing mage.” Reiter held out his hand for the unused tangle. “This is my command. That makes it my responsibility she’s found.”
And I don’t trust you to find your ass with both hands and a map,
he added silently as Geurin hesitated, no doubt weighing the cost of showing up a mage short against the benefit of being the first to report.
I definitely don’t trust you to find your way back to the border on your own.
“Sergeant Black…”
“Will go with you.” Thus ensuring they’d actually make it out of Aydori.
Geurin nodded, although at what, precisely, Reiter wasn’t sure. “We were sent to this place on the road because all six mages were Seen here. She can’t be far.”
The tangles were surprisingly heavy given how little substance they had, and the last tangle seemed to weigh as much as all six had combined. As Reiter slid it into his pocket, he wondered if that was because it carried the weight of the Soothsayers’ prophecy or the weight that would come down on his ass if he returned without the sixth mage.
The pain had faded, no longer knives driven in through her temples but a dull, unpleasant, albeit bearable, throbbing. Fresh knives stabbed in if she attempted to use her power. A lesser
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