15
As the new camp began to replace the enemy establishment, Tayron wondered what to tell Anni. He had heard quite a bit that she’d be interested in, but some of it was too delicate to release to the public, and with her often single-minded dedication to her work, he didn’t know if he could trust her to keep it a secret. She had arrived already, and it was almost dinnertime, but he had so far managed to avoid seeing her, requiring the time to think.
It became quickly obvious to him that not telling her about Xern’s opinion concerning the farmers would be wrong, since she was so interested in commoner welfare. Then again, Lord Jaksen hadn’t heard the mage’s comments, and the knight wondered if a reporter could be allowed information when the high councilor was in the dark. The obvious solution was to tell them both at once, but a less logical area of Tayron’s consciousness allowed only for a private meeting with Anni tonight.
As for the whole Damial’s sister thing, he was fairly certain he’d have to keep that from her and, for the most part, he wasn’t too worried about it. Even if she found out he had been holding things like that back, he was positive that she would understand. At least, he thought he was positive about it.
She found him about the same time he started wanting to be found, walking towards the mess tent to see if they had gotten the dinner ready yet. Greeting him with a hug, she said, “glad to see you’re not dead.”
He answered, “So am I,” and they left it at that, securing their meals and finding a good patch of ground to sit on before plunging into what, judging by Anni’s wink and pencil twirling, was bound to be a very long interview.
“Don’t worry, I know you’re tired, so I won’t ask you much.”
Unconvinced, Tayron said “thanks.”
She must have noticed his disbelief, because she replied, “fine, I won’t ask you anything.” Tucking the pencil back behind her ear, she added, “but I want to hear about the battle. Your choice how much you want to say, but the more you do, the happier I’ll be.”
This new angle of hers reassured him to no end. “A lot more flexible, I like it,” he said, then detailed a blow-by-blow account of the fight, from the two false armies to the double bladed attack to end Damial’s life. He tried not to sound proud about his part in Damial’s death, but with all the suffering that man had created, and the incredible relief his demise had brought, it was difficult to maintain the appropriate measure of disgust with himself.
“Is it easy?” Anni asked.
“Is what easy?”
“Killing people like that.”
A massive lump in Tayron’s throat, and the sheer shock at Anni’s unintended coarseness, did not prevent the knight from articulating himself. “It’s never easy, but it’s easier when they’re trying to kill you. It’s easiest when you know that what you’re doing will save countless other lives. I can’t imagine what type of person would be an assassin, and even they aren’t murderers.”
“So it’s a matter of degree then?”
“It’s a matter of your right to save your own life, and your duty to save others when you can. My disadvantage, and what makes it hard sometimes, is that I have to trust others to tell me what to do to save others. But, as far as getting rid of Damial goes, I had no doubt. The civil war was ended in two battles. Another battle with the mages involved would have caused thousands of more deaths, and I knew that one blow could prevent all of it.”
Seeing that she looked a bit uncomfortable, he said, “don’t worry, I understand why you asked. It’s tough for normal people to understand how a knight thinks, I know.”
“I knew. I don’t know why I asked. I . . . do you think it’s all over, really? Do you think things will calm down a bit now?”
“Are you interviewing me again? I thought we were over that phase,” Tayron snapped, making Anni blush and lightening the mood with a grin that caught the reporter off guard. “I’ll answer this one, though, ‘cause I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t think things will calm down, and it’s not all over. The problems that Jaksen and Quenari fought over in court still exist, and the problems you told me about still exist.” Taking a breath, he went into Xern’s prediction concerning the farmers. “So there’s that hanging over us.”
Anni shouted, outraged, “and you believe nonsense like that. I know these people. They’re angry, they might do a great deal of harm if pushed to it, and they are being pushed, but they’re still a long way from rebellion. They wouldn’t stand a chance against you knights, for one.”
Holding his hand out to placate her, he explained, “even the mage said not to hold him to it. The point is, Lord Jaksen doesn’t know about this prediction yet. If we bring it up to him, you can use it to talk to him about the issue, to tell him your ideas, to do something to prevent disaster, like you said you wanted to do.”
“But if we tell the nobility that the commoners are on the brink of rebellion, how do you think they’ll react? They’ll act on fear, and clamp down instead of making the right moves.”
“If we tell Jaksen, he could take a more level-headed approach, and you’d be in a position to make sure of that. You yourself said that you thought he’d listen, and that even the anti-nobility types thought of him as fair.”
Eyes widening, as if seeing the possibilities in front of her, she said, “you’re right. Let’s go!” Standing, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up, too.
“Hey! Hold on!”
“Oops, you’re right,” she planted a heavy kiss on him, activating her tongue this time. Disengaging, she said, “ready?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, capitulating reluctantly. “Just don’t make a habit of kissing me only when you get your way.”
Throwing her head back in laughter, she managed to say, “you’ve got a lot to learn about relationships.”
Lord Jaksen was in his tent wrapping up paperwork at his table when they walked in. Seeing that the councilor was welcome to any diversion from the tedious work of confirming dispatches, Anni and Tayron went right into the matter at hand, starting with Tayron’s recounting of Xern’s words. Anni then proceeded in an impassioned account of her family’s beliefs, and the ideas of even more extreme elements in her community. She pleaded for sympathy and for outreach. Her explanation showed that she had given much thought to what she would say in just such a situation. Throughout it all, Jaksen listened politely, nodding his understanding occasionally to prevent them from speaking too long on a subject and boring him.
When they finally came to a halt, he said, “very good, but nothing I didn’t know already.”
“You knew about Xern’s prediction?” Tayron asked.
“No, but then it wasn’t really a prediction, was it? You told me he refused to see, and Havelin only convinced him to give his opinion.”
Tayron had so far avoided mentioning the other two things Xern mentioned, but decided there was no helping it here if he was going to convince Jaksen. “There was more to it, but it has something to do with what we found out from Lord Praeger, so I don’t know if I should . . .”
“Go on. Anni, you will have to promise not to repeat anything you hear.”
She nodded. Tayron gave her an apologetic look before he went on, and she nodded to him as well to show she didn’t hold a grudge. Relieved, he continued. “The second thing Xern had said was that Damial’s death would not be the end of it, and that Quenari would have another chance to put someone on the throne. Then we found out about Damial’s sister. That makes me believe that it was more than just an opinion.”
“Yes, perhaps an educated guess.” Jaksen seemed unwilling to move on the information, frustrating both Anni and Tayron.
“Lord Jaksen . . .”
“Look,” the councilor said, finding the distraction more irritating than the work itself, “I am aware of the trouble, and have been aware for some time. The court is not often amenable to catering to the masses, and I have yet to find a good time to broach the subject. If what you say is true, I may have to press the issue before the best time, but you have to understand that right after such a stunning success, the nobility needs to heal its wounds. It will not want to hear that there is more to be done, especially if it isn’t a clear and present danger. I will also speak to this Xern. He might have refused Havelin, but he won’t refuse me. Mages often keep secret which of them is adept at seeing the future, to prevent unwelcome requests. Havelin may have actually wanted you to tell me, to communicate something to both me and Feradac through Xern. I can’t imagine that he would have revealed a man he trusts to read the future otherwise – he’s not the type to make a mistake like that. Now go, I have work to do.”
They obeyed, lacking any other recourse. In the cold night air, Tayron apologized to Anni for what he felt had been a tragic miscalculation on his part.
“No, no. I didn’t expect anything better on the first try,” she said cheerfully. “You military types always think changes will be made immediately. We reporters know about the years politicians take to make a decision, especially at the palace. This was a good start compared to how the average petition goes, trust me.”
“So . . .”
She gave him a quick kiss and said “see you tomorrow. Just don’t make it a habit of waiting for me to kiss you.”
“R . . .right.”