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danger.”
    “Good.
Have you found suitable accommodations in Tern?”
    “Ah,
yes, my liege,” Risley said in a warbling voice. “Thank
you. I’m sure you’ll find everything in order.”
    “Have
you and the Lordovers Keyes before you collected taxes on behalf of
the crown?”
    “Yes,
my liege, as the law permits.”
    “If
that money was used to repair roads and bridges, to clear fallen
trees, dispose of waste, bury the dead, maintain public wells, and
care for orphans, then everything’s in order.”
    “It was, my liege. It’s
all there in the ledger.”
    “Good,”
Gavin said. He pushed the tome towards Edan, who began to flip
through the pages. “How many guards do you have in your
garrison?”
    “Twenty-two,
my liege, though my captain is aging and has plans to retire and take
up residence with his nephew’s family. His eyesight isn’t
as sharp as it used to be, nor his sword hand as steady.”
    “How
old is he?”
    Risley
stuttered. “Ah, well, he is sixty-eight, my liege. An erstwhile
man, yes, but still able to train the young ones. He’s given me
and my family fifty-two years of service. I couldn’t simply put
him out before he could make his arrangements.”
    Adro
cringed inside. A man that old would be unable to defend his lord
against a younger battler with ill intentions. There should be an age
limit on guardian positions, making room for men like Adro who were
more capable and more ambitious.
    “Give
him leave to retire and promote your strongest fighter,” Gavin
said. “Honor his loyal service with a pension o’half his
wage. I’ll cover the cost.”
    Adro’s
admiration for his friend and king soared. A pension. What a fine and
honorable thing to do.
    The
old lordover’s eyes widened, and a smile appeared in the beard.
“Thank you, my liege. He will be overjoyed. Thank you.”
    “If
you’ve no other plans,” he said, “join my wife and
me for supper tonight.”
    “Oh.
Uh, the Lordover Tern has graciously invited me to dine with his
family. I’ll cancel of course, my liege.”
    “No,
don’t cancel if you’ve other plans. Another time.”
    “Please
make yourself comfortable in His Majesty’s receiving room,”
Edan said, “and enjoy some refreshment before you go back out
into the rain.”
    Risley
bowed deeply and shuffled away.
    Edan
shot Gavin a disapproving glance. “A pension, Gavin?”
    Gavin
grinned like a boy getting away with mischief. “If I hadn’t
claimed the throne, I might’ve found myself in the old
soldier’s position one day, outliving my usefulness and begging
one o’my nephews for a pallet and piece o’bread. We got
to honor our most loyal soldiers, not kick them in the arse as we
shove them out the door.”
    Adro’s
heart swelled with pride in the king as he turned to the waiting
crowd, but Gavin called him back.
    “I
nearly forgot. Tell my wife there’s a couple orphan boys in the
dining hall waiting to talk to her.”
    Adro
nodded. “Right away.”

Chapter 9

     
 
    When
the clock in the temple tower struck twelve o’clock, the guards
ushered the remaining petitioners out of the grand hall. As usual,
many of them grumbled and complained about how long they’d been
waiting, especially those standing near the front of the line. Gavin
felt bad, but he would be back here again tomorrow. In the meantime,
he had plans to make and problems to ponder, not the least of which
was how to deal with the rain, but knowing why Crigoth Sevae had
summoned Ritol to kill King Arek was the question that kept him awake
well into the mirknight. Maybe one of the books they’d salvaged
in the wrecked palace would give him a clue.
    The
last petitioner had come to complain that the Lordover Tern’s
waste collection wagon only visited some areas every other day, and
when the wagon was fully loaded, the driver accepted no more. People
were throwing the contents of their chamber pots into the street.
Even though the rain cleaned it away, the excrement was being