Blood Paladin

CHAPTER ONE

THE CAPTAINS

Isranon stared as the Rowdies came over the rise into the wide river valley and saw fabled Ocealay, the City of the Five Captains, before them. It lay on a strip of land made defensible by the islanding effect of two rivers converging and then pouring into the sea, forming a broad, steadily deepening delta to the west side; and a bottle neck where the captains had dug away the isthmus to the landside, and sealed off their mon-made island with a sophisticated canal and bridge works. Walls and towers enclosed the entire island. He could not imagine how anyone would go about attacking it — or getting off if the Ocealayens wished to hold them.

The bridge over the canal was down, allowing people to cross into the city through the high outer walls. Various companies of freerangers, mercenaries, adventurers, and others came through all the time, picking up supplies, looking for hire and other business. There were a large number of open grounds set aside beyond the walls for the purpose of their throwing up a camp as well as caravansaries. The campgrounds would have an agent of the city posted to collect fees.

Nans Gryphonheart led the Rowdies onto the bridge, their horses dropping to a walk on the steel-studded wooden surface. A merchant's wagons, drawn by teams of horses, creaked along with its iron-rimmed wheels making grinding noises against the sturdy wood beneath them. Myn rode past the Rowdies in small clumps. Some raced along, eager to hit the town and find a room for the night, then off for fun at the taverns, brothels, and gambling houses. Another company, mounted and without wagons, rode past them. Nans gave them a quick look, guessing by their red badges that they were more mercenaries. She could already hear the hawkers on the outer green as they crossed to the far side. The smells of the city drifted through, smoke from hearths and the forges of the smiths, salt from the sea that met the fresh water of the river.

Their wagons rolled more easily on the flagstones of the street beyond the bridge. The portcullis was up and the gates open. They rode into the greensward beyond the inner walls and found most of it empty. Nans wondered at that. Summer was a busy time of year. It should have been filled with tents and wagons.

A man with a red cap sat beneath an awning stretched over an open-sided wood booth.

"You see him?" Nans pointed. "That's the fee agent. Don't get on the bad side of him, whatever else you do. They could ban us from the city." She said that mostly for the benefit of Isranon and his companions, since her original Rowdies had been here many times over the past few years.

The street grew crowded, slowing their access to the city proper. A large complement of troops pushed through the crowd to block their entry. The city guard officer at their head, an officious looking mon with a bristling black beard, gestured at Nans' banner.

"The Rowdies? I hear you have a mage of suspicious origins. The captains would like to speak with you."

Nans regarded him coolly, her sapphire eyes darkening. "Perhaps we should just ride out."

"We would rather you did not," the officer said. "High Captain Tamric is most insistent. He wishes to speak with Lord Dawnreturning."

"Nans!" Haig shouted from the rear and Nans glanced to see that more guards had appeared to encircle them, including archers with their bows already strung and four ranks of halberdiers. They had been neatly enfiladed.

The officer in front of Nans smiled smugly. "Please, consider this an invitation, my Lady. You and your company will be allowed to depart once Lord Tamric has had time to consult with your mage."

Anksha hissed as she and Isranon nudged their horses closer to Nans.

"What is going on?" Isranon asked, his dark eyes troubled. The breeze flicked a long curl of ebony hair across his face, tickling his nose and he put the strand behind his ear. No matter how tightly he tied his hair back, the stubborn ringlets freed themselves of the leather thong that attempted to imprison them. "Do they know what I am?"

"I don't know, but they are making us an offer we can't refuse," Nans told him, and turned back to the officer. "Lead on."

The guardsmyn took them to a mansion on the west side. Its tall towers overlooked the ocean. As they rode into the courtyard, Nans frowned. The place was situated in such a way that to escape they would have to fight their way through the entire city with nothing but the clothes on their backs — and that only by gaining the outer wall and jumping into the ocean to the west or the rivers on the other sides. Tamric would likely bring up archers if they tried that. Furthermore, Haig's nibari had children. The children would never survive a jump into the waters and would have to be left behind. So that was not an option. Nans had to deal with Tamric in some fashion, since she had no intention of leaving anyone behind.

The officer gave her a curt bow and led his myn away, leaving them there. Nans signaled for the dismount and swung out of her saddle as the hostlers and stablemyn began appearing to take their horses. She scanned the manicured lawn before her with its carefully manicured low hedge and sculptured bushes separating it from the cobble stoned approach to the stables at her left hand. The bright sun glinting on her cinnamon hair brought out the coppery highlights in her long heavy braid.

She pulled off her riding gloves and stood a moment, slapping her thigh with them. Then she walked into the mansion. Matters at Minnoras, when the city fell, had forced her to reveal herself to a few people as yuwenghau; however, circumstances had prevented it from turning into a rumor that could be connected to her and spreading from there. Nans doubted Tamric knew that he had just come up on the wrong side of a demi-god, a yuwenghau; for Nans was the bastard daughter of Willodarus, God of the Woodlands and Wild Creatures. If Tamric knew, he might have thought twice before detaining her and her company. Still, it would be better not to reveal herself unless forced to. Once a yuwenghau became known, the dark ones started stalking them.

The entrance opened directly into the great hall, which was large with a vaulted ceiling. Delicate frescoes of ships, whales, dolphins and merfolk of various types graced the ceiling and walls. Skylights let the sun in. Nans ran her gaze over the splendid outer hall with its brocade couches and wide stairways. A pair of hallways opened to either side of both the downstairs and the upstairs. Nans dropped her eyes briefly and swept them across the blue tiled mosaic on the floor. This was doubtless intended for rich guests who came to hire companies to fight in various petty wars. All those wars were going to seem incredibly insignificant soon, if they did not already. Nans wondered how much of that she should shove in Tamric's face.

The steward, who oversaw the household staff, came down the left one of the dual S-shaped stairways that swept upward to the next story and greeted them quickly. "I know you had not planned on this, my Lady," he said. "But be welcome here. Normally we only have invited guests."

Nans gave him a wry look. "We were invited, just not the way we would have wanted."

The steward nodded and heaved a sigh. "I have been informed of it. Your people are not allowed to leave the grounds without express orders from the captains, I apologize for this."

"It's not your fault…" Nans wondered what she could do here and just what Tamric had up his sleeve. She definitely intended to rip the sleeves off him if necessary to see what was under them.

The butler looked astonished to see the women with babes in arms enter. "You have your families with you?"

Nans glanced and realized that he meant Haig's nibari. It would not do for him to know the truth of it — that part of her company included vampires, lycans, and a sa'necari. "Yes. That's Haig's harem."

"Oh." The butler nodded, sounding a bit flustered. "I will put them on the north wing."

"You'll put us all on the same wing unless there is not enough space."

"But surely Lord Dawnreturning…"

"The same wing," Nans growled. "Or we pitch our tents on the lawns. We may be reluctant guests, but last time I heard, we were still guests."

"So be it."

GODWAR CENTRAL

Blood Paladin

CHAPTER ONE

THE CAPTAINS