to talk to Gavriel. I’ve got a decade’s worth of catching up to do with him.’
‘Don’t let Loethar corner you into doing anything hot-headed,’ Jewd warned. ‘You are a king. Don’t forget that. It’s your calm and your inability to be taunted that will most frustrate him.’
‘You made a fool of him once,’ Kilt agreed, ‘hiding under his nose and then escaping so audaciously. Continue to make a fool of him by not falling prey to his baiting. That’s how you’ll keep the upper hand.’
Leo grinned. ‘Thanks.’
After he’d left, the two men remained quiet for a while. Finally Jewd sighed. ‘Were you planning to tell me or were you just going to give me the slip?’
Kilt looked up at his friend. ‘Why do you think I’d leave?’ he asked, dismayed.
Jewd shook his head, gave a brief rueful smile. ‘I’ve told you before, I’m big, not stupid. Did you think I couldn’t work it out for myself?’
Kilt looked down again. ‘Jewd, I don’t know what to think but I know this: you are the best friend a man could have.’
‘I’m glad you realise that.’
‘I would have discussed it with you.’
‘Look at me when you say that. I have to know I can trust you, Kilt, or as I’ve told you previously, it might be easier to leave you to it.’
‘That’s not what I want.’
‘Then I demand your honesty.’
Kilt stood up, feeling stronger again despite his aching muscles. He sighed. ‘I guess I don’t even need to ask if you’ve noticed anything about Leo.’
‘I’ve noticed. Leo is pushing for independence. He won’t live for very much longer under your thumb.’
Kilt nodded. ‘That’s as it should be. He’s been groomed to rule since he was on his mother’s teat.’
‘He’s still capable of poor decisions.’
‘Aren’t we all?’
Jewd fixed Kilt with a firm stare, before he spoke very quietly. ‘But I suspect his next will be his least wise.’
Kilt swallowed. ‘You’re thinking what I’m thinking. Then I’ve got to go, get as far away from the Valisars as possible.’
‘Then we go together.’
‘Jewd —’
‘We go together, Kilt. Look at the state of you. If Leo comes after you — and he will, we both agree on that — who is going to protect you?’
‘Maybe it’s best if I just submit and —’
Jewd had grabbed Kilt by his shirtfront before Kilt could even finish the thought. ‘No one is eating you, is that clear? No one is going to have you under his control! Leo has de Vis back. De Vis has always seen Leo as king and treated him as such.We can leave the two of them together and go north into Barronel via the mountains. We’ll cross into Cremond perhaps; no one’s going to be looking for you there. Leo will assume you’ll head south in search of Lily. And we’ll get to her, Kilt, but we have to ensure they lose your scent first and you have to heal too. For now we both agree Lily is safe. For now we both agree your safety is paramount.’
Kilt nodded. ‘Take the money we’ve hidden and give it to the men. Tell them they should scatter. And grab the medicine. We need little else.’
The man struggled but, fuelled by anger, got his words out. ‘I’m going to kill you for this, de Vis.’
‘Yes, well, I’ll look forward to your trying. Gives me the perfect excuse of self-defence to finish you off once and for all,’ Gavriel replied disdainfully.
‘Be quiet, Loethar!’ Elka ordered. ‘Conserve your strength.’
‘Sage advice. I’ll need it to kill your lover and his friend.’
‘He’s not my lover and I suspect his friend is no friend of mine after I got in his way,’ she said, hefting him into a better position on her back.
‘Let me down, for Gar’s sake!’ Loethar complained. ‘I’m not an invalid, simply injured.’
‘Do it, Elka,’ Gavriel said.
Elka had just about had it with both of them. She lowered Loethar, who held his groans but grimaced in pain.
‘Ribs are the worst, aren’t they?’ he said, almost amused.
‘How’s your neck?’ Elka asked.
‘I’ll survive. And the burn will be a timely reminder for when I slit my half-brother’s throat.’
‘If I give you the chance,’ Gavriel said.
Loethar laughed. ‘Where is your great king, de Vis? Is he too frightened to face me?’
‘As a matter of fact you’ll likely see him sooner than youthink. Elka, can I leave you with him? I have to meet with Leo.’ At her nod he disappeared into the woods without so much as a backward glance.
Elka turned to regard Loethar. ‘He’s perfectly capable of killing you, you know. I would counsel you to stop the taunting.’
‘And spoil my sport?’
‘Well, you’ve been warned.’ He gave her look like a child, mischief in his eyes, and she couldn’t help asking, ‘You’re really Valisar?’
He nodded. ‘Though what good it does me I don’t know.’
‘That sounds like regret,’ she commented, settling nearby.
‘In a way,’ he admitted. ‘But I don’t really know in what respect. I don’t regret the empire. I think unifying the realms has been positive for all in the Set; I think the mix of cultures, though difficult at first, has resulted in prosperity. In the wider population people seem relatively content. So I suppose it boils down to personal regret.’
‘All the death perhaps?’
‘Probably. Many died who didn’t have to.’
‘None of them Valisar, of course.’
‘Other than the queen. I would have preferred that she had lived. I would have given her a good life wherever she chose to live out her days. But the heirs had to die. I failed there,’ he admitted with a humourless grin. ‘Leo has been the most slippery of enemies.’
‘He’s had a lot of support from the right people, it appears.’
Loethar nodded. ‘How true. The would-be-king in exile is surrounded by loyalty, while I, as ruler, am surrounded by treachery. Freath, my close aide, someone I considered a friend even though he was my servant, betrayed me all along.’ He gave a low, savage laugh. ‘His loyalties were always with the Valisars. I admire his extraordinary courage to live in the lion’s den on their behalf. Leonel is fortunate.’
‘I doubt he sees it that way. His family is dead, his friends are missing, his throne has been usurped.’
‘You should have let him kill me.’
‘I believe in justice, not revenge.’
‘Then you are in the minority, Elka, though I respect that more than you can imagine.’
‘Fairness and justice are what make a people into a society. They’re the cornerstone of a strong civilisation.’
‘Indeed. But fairness and justice rarely go hand in hand. For instance, Leo feels it is fair that he should be king and yet it is not just, for I am the true heir.