“Mordecai, you never did answer my question,” Rose reminded me.
I was startled from my thoughts, “About?” It took me a moment before I remembered. “Oh, the armor!” I exclaimed. “I’d rather not talk about it here. I’d like to keep the details quiet until I’m ready to announce the plans. Perhaps we can discuss it later?”
“Ooh a mystery!” Rose replied with a twinkle in her eyes.
“It isn’t anything that exciting, trust me,” Penny assured her. “Of much more interest would be the topic of your visit with Cyhan today. You still have not told me how it went.”
Apparently Penny was not alone in her curiosity, for everyone leaned closer. I took a deep breath, hoping to finish the tale in one go rather than have to repeat myself. “It went about as well as can be expected. He and I agreed to disagree.”
Rose broke in, “That sounds remarkably civilized when the disagreement was over whether you have the right to continue breathing.” The humor in her voice was gone now. Rose had been quite angry about Cyhan’s decision to end our working relationship so violently. I wasn’t quite sure if it was because he had hurt Penny in the process or the fact that he might have killed Dorian in his attempt to get to me.
Dorian laid a hand on her shoulder, as if to calm her down. The gesture made the two of them seem very familiar; although I’m sure he didn’t realize it. “Rose, he may be our enemy now but to give the man credit he was only acting according to his oath and his principles.” I couldn’t help but wonder that just an hour or two prior he had been chiding me for letting my enemy walk free yet now Dorian was defending the man.
Rose gave him a sharp glance, “Honor be damned! He turned his sword against his student and his friend,” she said, looking at Penny and me each in turn, “and against you.” She punctuated the end of her sentence by jabbing Dorian firmly in the chest. “Any oath that requires such a thing needs to be re-examined. Blind obedience is the refuge of a fool too scared to think for himself!”
Penny’s face was a study in conflicting emotions but she put her feelings away and tried to steer the conversation back to practical matters. “All those things aside, what did you do Mort?”
“I sent him back to the king with a message,” I replied simply.
“A damn foolish thing to do,” Dorian supplied.
Rose snorted, “We agree on that at least.”
“You’re probably right, but I wouldn’t have the man executed for doing his duty,” I answered.
Dorian grimaced, “His duty will see you dead and he should not be taken lightly. I can respect his decision but when you have a sworn foe in your grasp you don’t hand him a dagger and turn him loose.”
“What message did you send him with?” Rose asked quietly.
“The king has asked me to meet with him, privately. I changed the time and place and sent the information along with Cyhan,” I said.
Penny looked at me sharply, “You said you weren’t going.” She kept her voice level but there was a certain amount of worry in it.
“I changed my mind. I’m still not going to meet him at the time and place of his choosing; rather I’ll meet him on my own terms.”
“That’s wise, since it’s even odds your meeting would be an ambush. Getting rid of you would solve a lot of the King’s problems at one go. Where do you intend to meet him?” Rose asked intently.
I smiled, “In his bedroom.”
“Somehow I doubt his majesty will agree to that,” Dorian observed.
“He won’t be given the option to decline,” Penny snapped at him impatiently. The tension in her shoulders was unmistakable. “Are you sure this is wise? This isn’t what we discussed earlier.” She and I had gone over the topic the night before and now I had changed the plan.
To give her credit, my wife is no shrinking violet. I had come to respect her as a woman of courage and determination, but she was sometimes a bit timid when it came to risking my health. I suppose that made some sense, considering she was expecting our first child. I glanced down at her already swelling waist. Looking up again I met her eyes, “I’m sorry love. I know you’re worried, but I have to clear things between myself and the king or we’ll never have peace. I think this is the only chance we’ll have.”
She saw the look in my eye and knew there was little sense in arguing. “You’d best be right, or I’ll make sure you spend whatever’s left of your life regretting it.” It was no idle threat coming from her.
“Our child will have a father,” I assured her. Penny’s determination was possibly one of her most beautiful qualities.
“A surprise meeting will introduce a certain amount of tension into your discussion. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Rose asked, breaking into the conversation again.
“Absolutely,” I stated. “Edward needs to understand that I’m negotiating from a position of strength or he’ll never respect any bargain we make.”
The discussion went on for a solid hour after that, but I had already made up my mind. When all was said and done, no one liked my decision but there weren’t any better suggestions made. Only the future would tell whether it was a good idea or not.
Chapter 3
The next morning I decided to take a break from my usual routine. Rather than head to the forge and resume work on my next bit of armor crafting I went looking for my other childhood friend. Thanks to Dorian I had paid better attention at dinner the night before and managed to notice a notable absence at the table.
I wondered how many other meals Marc had missed without me bothering to ask about him. Times like this made me realize that I wasn’t exactly the best friend a fellow could have. Sure, I had plenty of excuses… a new wife, a county to run, but I still couldn’t allow myself that luxury. Excuses would always be plentiful, true friends were not.
I didn’t see Marc at breakfast so I headed for the room he had been staying in. Pausing at the door I listened for a moment. I heard nothing and my other senses told me that my friend was inside, alone but awake. I had almost hoped he would have a ‘companion’ with him… that would have done much to allay my worries. It really wasn’t natural for him to spend so much time alone; Marc had always been a highly social animal. I knocked on the door and waited.
There was no response though with my ability I could sense him pouring another drink from a bottle. I could only assume it was wine. I knocked again and spoke loudly, “Marc it’s me, open up!” He chose not to answer and instead slumped over as if he were sleeping. He knew I could sense him through the door. “That’s not going to work,” I yelled at the wooden door, “I already know you’re awake.”
“Go away!” came a muffled response from within.
I’d had enough so with a word I unlocked the door and opened it. Marc was sitting on the divan across the room, staring bleakly at me as I entered. He was holding the wine bottle in a curious fashion in one hand. “What are you planning to do with that?” I asked.
“I was giving serious consideration to the thought of tossing it at you,” he said dryly, “but then I decided it would be a waste of good wine.” He changed his grip on the bottle and turned it up, taking a long swallow directly from the bottle.
“You look like shit,” I volunteered.
“Thanks,” he replied. “That means a lot to me… coming from you.” His tone was surly and I could tell he was ready for a fight.
“If that’s your idea of witty repartee you really are drunk.”
“Not yet, I just woke up. Give me an hour,” he said.
“Why don’t you give the wine a rest today and help me with some planning?” I suggested. It was actually a half-truth. While I wouldn’t have minded having my friend’s advice on my near future plans I obviously wanted even more to snap him out of his dark mood.