The Exarch & the Errand Girl Ch. 14

"Yes," said Ked, sighing. "He didn't write me a thank you, and you never forgot it."

"A portent of what was to come, I see now," said Lady Trali.

"He's done what his father has wanted him to do," said Ked. "Above all, Cail raised his sons loyal."

"Is Tau with them, do you think?" asked Trali.

"If he is, I think that would wound me more than Cadril or these ribs," said Ked. "That boy I've treated like a son. I hoped he would be my son."

"Lord Ked, I'm sorry," said Rouran. "I should—we could have prevented this if we'd looked harder. I could've seen Lord Cail's hand behind it."

"Perhaps, Rouran," said Ked. His green eyes were soft behind his beard, and he smiled, then winced. "But we will never know whether you could have, or whether nothing you would do if you could do it over again would make a difference. And I don't know that I believe there is much else you could have done. No one would...no one should have expected Lord Cail to move against the Guild. The vai Kellers have been unimpeachable vassals of the Guild since Keller the Sword was raised up. And he has, until this moment, been my friend. If you had come to me with accusations, it would have been difficult to believe them."

"You should get some rest, Rouran. There's nothing we can do until Lord Cail returns," said Lady Trali.

"You and Lord Ked should. I will stay up to wake him if something should happen," said Rouran.

"Rouran, sleep," said Ked. "I cannot sleep with this pain, and you will be no use to anyone if you fall asleep on your feet."

"Are you sure, my lord?"

"Oh, my, yes," said Ked. "Trali, you should get some sleep, too. They've done us the favor of taking us hostage in our favorite chairs at least."

"Indeed," said Trali. She glanced at Rouran. "This chair's comfortable and large enough for the two of us, my dear. Ked did not do as well outfitting the rest of this room."

Rouran looked down at the bare wooden seat she was sitting on, then at Lady Trali's high backed and well-cushioned chair, the matching footrest pulled up close so she could lift her legs without her feet hanging off. It did strike her as a luxury. And Lady Trali was a slip of a woman.

"If it would not offend."

"No," said Trali.

Rouran stood up. Cadril started off his post, his sword point lifting as he tightened his grip around the hilt, but when she settled in next to Lady Trali, he stalked back to his place by the door.

"I do not know how I will sleep," said Rouran.

"You do not have to," said Lady Trali. "But if it helps you, whether to sleep or just feel better, I could hold you, if you wish."

"I—" began Rouran, but Trali simply lifted one arm, so that Rouran could recline against her. Against Rouran's better judgement, she slipped into the crook of the other woman's body.

For a moment, she held herself very still, as though Lady Trali were some delicate egg she might crush with a hasty movement, unsure of what else to do. But then she felt Lady Trali's arm wrap around her, giving her a hug, gentle, yet reassuring in its strength.

She felt something wet at her collar, and when she twisted around she looked up into Lady Trali's face, a soft stream of tears slipping out of the well-worn corners of the noblewoman's eyes.

"My lady, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No," said Lady Trali, shaking her head. "No, I had a thought, a memory, more, of the last time Kiera and I had sat in this chair and I'd held her, and how long ago that was. And then I thought that, if I might die here tonight, that I might never hold her again. And then I thought she might already be dead, and I have held her for the last time. And then..."

"And then you cried."

"Yes."

"She is alive," said Ked. "We will see her again."

"You don't know that," said Trali.

"I do," said Ked. "I know it with every fiber of my heart. Vash would not let me die without seeing my children again."

"Because the Sky Dragon loves Ked vai Ullan so much," said Lady Trali. "But what about his wife?"

"Vash loves you, too," said Ked. "You will get to hold Kiera in your arms again, I know it. I can see it, as clear as I can see you."

Rouran shifted around in the chair, wriggling out of Lady Trali's grip.

"Lady Trali..." she said, rearranging her limbs just as Lady Trali had done for her. Lady Trali looked at her in confusion for a moment, and then it was like the strength had suddenly been ripped from her, as she collapsed into Rouran's embrace, a great heaving sob leaving her bosom.

Lord Ked tried to rise out of his chair, but Rouran saw he was unable to and shook her head, wrapping her arms tight around Lady Trali, hugging her close. She began to stroke the older woman's hair, not knowing what else to do.

***

Rouran awoke with a start. Lady Trali was sleeping in the crook of her arm, and it felt to Rouran like it was still asleep. She did not even remember dozing off, only holding the noblewoman as she cried. It was almost unnerving, to see a woman as strong as Lady Trali fall apart, and yet, it was surprisingly comforting to Rouran, too. It made her feel less alone in her fear.

She glanced over at Lord Ked. He'd found the book he'd apparently been reading when the house had been seized by the Children of Tia Vashil, and Rouran watched as he licked his thumb and turned a page absentmindedly, read for a moment, then turned the page back to the one he'd just been reading and read again. Rouran thought he was likely having a difficult time focusing, though he was doing his best to present an indifferent exterior.

Rouran looked around the room. She saw the cook and the scullions, huddled together in a corner. Harvald sat up against a bookshelf. He'd clearly tried to fight, and gotten a beating for it. A few of Ked's household guard, also heavily beaten, were nearby. Rouran wondered where the rest were, if they'd been killed.

A handful of her fellow villagers that Lord Ked had taken in as refugees, though none she could call friends, sat in another corner of the study, most of them staring duly out the windows or into the fire. Rouran knew that their indifference was a child of their misfortune. They'd escaped the Dragon Clans only to find themselves right back in the middle of violence. A very young child babbled happily at illustrations in a book it had pulled off the shelf, and its mother hissed at it to be quiet.

Rouran shook her head. None of these people were important. None of these people deserved to be prisoners with her.

She looked to the door and saw that Sir Tredgar had replaced his brother. She wondered if any others had had their shift, or if Tredgar had been after Cadril, being the second youngest. She moved carefully, letting Lady Trali slip out of her hold with as much ease as she could, to not disturb the sleeping woman. Then she stood up. Lord Ked looked over in confusion at her, as she turned and took a step toward Sir Tredgar.

"Sit," Tredgar barked at her.

"I need to speak to you, Sir Tredgar" she said.

"Sit, Rouran," said Lord Ked. "Don't do anything rash."

"I'm not, my lord," she said.

"Speak, then," said Tredgar, calling across the room.

"Privately, Sir Tredgar."

"I can't leave my post, girl," he said. She frowned. He was at least a couple of years younger than her. "It can't be private."

"Then as close as you can make it without leaving the room."

"Come here," he said.

"Rouran, what are you—" Ked hissed under her breath, but she waved him silent as she walked around the table and approached the vai Keller son.

"What is it?" he asked.

"There are many hostages here that are of no value to you."

"Every one of them prevents the Guild from attacking."

"You know that's not true," said Rouran. "Do you think Chair Heldi cares a whit if you kill a scullion or a household guard? Even Harvald, Lord Ked's squire, wouldn't keep her from attacking. The only people that matter are Lord Ked and Lady Trali."

"And you," said Tredgar.

"Me?"

"Of course. The liaison. There's quite a lot of information in your pretty little head. And you've been a thorn in our side. Beyond which, our sources say the Chair holds you in high regard."

"I doubt that."

"Perhaps you are not as smart as you're said to be," said Tredgar. "Besides, my father told us to take the entire household hostage, he was very clear."

"You could intervene with him. See that there's no point to keeping those here beyond Lord Ked, Lady Trali, and...myself."

"I could, I suppose," said Tredgar. "But why should I?"

"Please, Sir Tredgar," said Rouran. "On your honor as a knight. There's nothing to be gained in keeping the others here. They're innocent servants."

"They'd die for Ked vai Ullan, if he told them to," said Tredgar. "I would give them the chance, too."

"Do you think that the Vashili will reward you for the death of the Exarch's household?" asked Rouran. "Your father seemed to think that this was the spark that would ignite a revolution. And your first act, while the whole city watches, is to get innocents killed? Would it not be better to set them free, and let your first act in your fight for freedom be mercy for the innocents? These people are just as much subjects of the Guild's oppression as any in Tia Vashil you say you're fighting for."

Tredgar hesitated, then looked at her. She could see the machinery whirring behind his ears.

"When making a deal, Widow Metil, it is customary for both parties to give up something the other wants. You're saying you want me to give up all the hostages but you, Lady Trali, and Lord Ked. What will I get in return?"

"Your revolution might become a success," said Rouran.

"No, that's my father's reward. What will I get for this?" he asked.

Rouran frowned.

"What...what do you want for it?" she asked.

"You," he said.

Before Rouran could process this, Noab opened the door and appeared at Tredgar's arm.

"It's time for me to replace you," he said.

"About time," said Tredgar.

"What do you mean, 'me?'" asked Rouran, suspicious of its portents.

"What are you talking about?" asked Noab.

"Making full use of the Exarch's personal clerk," chuckled Tredgar.

Rouran paused to glance over at Ked, to see if he'd heard, or was watching her. He was not. Mostly he was attending to the wounded and attempting to provide some measure of good counsel to the gathered household staff.

"Adrai, Cadril," hissed Noab, sticking his head out into the hall and calling down it. "Tredgar's found us some fun."

"Oh, no..." began Rouran, as first Cadril and then Adrai appeared.

Tredgar grinned as all three of his brothers gathered, Cadril and Adrai curious in their expressions as they looked her up and down.

"I was speaking to you alone, Sir Tredgar," she said.

"Now, now," said Tredgar. "Normally I would be loath to share something like you with a brute like Noab, let alone Adrai and Cadril, but I do think it would be rather diverting tonight. A bonding in the shared enterprise. Besides, think what you'll gain. Rather than just myself, you'll have all of us advocating for your cause with my father."

"What are you up to?" asked Adrai.

"Horse trading," said Tredgar. "I've found us a fine mount. What do you say, Widow Metil? You for the hostages."

"What am I promising you...four?" asked Rouran.

"Anything we want to do with you."

"Anything?" asked Rouran. "With all four of you?"

"We don't have outlandish tastes," said Cadril, catching on to Tredgar's implication of the deal, finally.

"I don't know what outlandish means in Tia Vashil. It will certainly be outlandish where I'm from."

"I expect anything other than how pigs fuck is outlandish where you come from," said Noab.

"Which is fine, because that's all Noab knows to do," said Tredgar. Adrai, who had not said anything, snorted. "Decide now, Rouran."

Rouran glanced back at the small group around Lord Ked and Lady Trali. She couldn't see the Exarch, which was all for the better, because if he had seen her now, she might've lost her nerve entirely.

"As you wish," she said. She looked down at the floor.

"Anything."