Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - Not that any of the lesser officials seemed... |
| Not that any of the lesser officials seemed inclined to linger at that particular momentWhich was as it should beHe didn't trust any of them very much
He didn't entirely trust his captains either, but he needed them, and they needed him, and he had been careful to keep them at odds and on edge with each otherIt was a workable arrangementOr it had been, until now
But now was what mattered, and Brandin had just thrown the peninsula into chaosNot that the Palm actually mattered, not in itselfIt was a gateway, a stepping-stoneHe had moved out of Barbadior as a young man, in order to rise in the world and return as a leader in his prime, and there was no point, no point at all to twenty years of exile if he could not omega speedmaster white sail home in triumph
He turned his back on the captains and went to the window, surreptitiously massaging his eyeHe waited, to see who would speak first, and what he would sayThere was a fear growing within him that he was at pains to hideNothing was falling right, none of his caution and discretion seemed to have borne the fruit it should
Karalius said, very softly from behind him, "My lord, there is opportunity hereThere is great opportunity
Which is exactly what he was afraid the man would sayAfraid, because he knew it was true and because it meant moving again, and quickly, committing himself to dangerous, decisive actionBut action here and not in the Empire, not back home, where he had been readying chanel latest handbag himself to returnWar far away in this savage, obdurate peninsula where he could lose all, a lifetime's sowing, in striving for a conquest he hardly cared about
"We had best go carefully," Grancial said quicklyMore to oppose Karalius than anything else, Alberico knew
He turned and fixed the Second Company captain with a wintry glance"I will indeed do nothing without thought," he said, placing clear emphasis on the first wordGrancial flicked his eyes awaySiferval smiled beneath his curling blond moustachesHis expression remained sober and thoughtfulHe was the best of the three, Alberico knewAlso the most dangerous, for the two things went hand in hand in such a manAlberico moved around behind his huge oak desk and sat chloe bags paddington down againHe looked up at the First Company leader and waited
Karalius said again, "There is opportunity nowThere will be turmoil in the west, disruption, Ygrathens sailing homeShall I tell you what I think?" His pale skin was flushed with a growing excitementAlberico understood that: the man saw chances of his own, land and wealth for himself
It would be a mistake to let Karalius unfold too muchHe would end up thinking the planning was hisAlberico said, "I know exactly what you think, to the very words you would speakI know everything that will be happening in the west except one thing: we don't yet know how many of the Ygrathen army will stayMy guess is that most will leave, rather than be lowered to the level of chanel backpack people they have had mastery over all these yearsThey did not come here to become inconsequential figures in the Palm
"Neither," said Siferval pointedly, "did we
Alberico suppressed his anger yet againIt seemed he had been forced to do that so much of late with these threeBut they had their own purposes, their own long drawn-out plans, and wealth and fame were at the heart of themAs they had to be for all ambitious men in the Empire: toward what else should an ambitious man aspire?
"I am aware of that," he said, as calmly as he could
"Then what do we do?" Grancial askedA real question, not a challengeGrancial was the weakest and the most loyal, because of that weakness, of the threeAt Karalius, not at fashion d |
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