Page 74 of The Moon Blessed King
‘I am Nightcat,’ it replies. ‘I will watch, and I will learn all there is to know. For that is me. That is what I will do. Now, and for ever.’
–Myths, Legends and Realities, Anonymous
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Elician
The army moves surprisingly swiftly when it needs to. Leferge leaves some men behind to tend to Endura’s dead now that fear of contagion has passed; then she arranges for both the army and the Blue Guard to head west towards Alerae. Elician finds his attention split at all times, watching and listening to everything that passes around him. Leferge and Partho speak with Cat each day. Their conversation began stilted, but as time passes a quick familiarity spawns between them. Even the other soldiers or Guard members nearby are occasionally drawn into conversation, and it is the most verbose Cat has ever been.
His husband asks questions about his people, about the land. He asks for opinions and perspectives on any number of topics, from agriculture to architecture to the composition of the army. Leferge does not always participate, though she can be enticed from time to time. She even dares to initiate once, when she asks Cat if he has been taught initiation duelling etiquette.
‘I don’t know what that is,’ he replies awkwardly. She frowns at the response and seems more than a little disinclined to explain further.
‘It’s a tradition,’ Partho intercedes, ‘when any new recruit joins the army. There is often a difference in class and experience, after all.
Wealthy or noble families can afford private tutors for their children, where lower-income families struggle to make up that difference. When students join the training school, then, they are all given an option. If they think they can defeat the most well-trained member of the army, they will be excused from further training lessons, be promoted as an officer and join the elites in their drills instead. If theyfail, however, they will remain in the training corps and are denied further advancement and promotion until theycanmanage such a feat.’
The gambit is in the details, Elician realizes. Partho continues explaining.
‘If someone is foolish enough to overestimate themselves, they receive a sharp lesson in humility that will last their entire career. If they trulyarethat talented, well – they deserve to be in those more challenging courses. But if they accept that they are no better than any of their comrades, then the unit as a whole is improved. Your father and I were often responsible for answering those challenges back when we were in service.’ He says the last part with no small measure of pride, winking at Cat with a great toothy grin.
‘Did anyone ever beat you?’ Cat asks.
‘Of course not. We were the best. And I would never have been given command of the Blue Guard if I were anything less than that.’
Leferge rolls her eyes at his smug comment. ‘And you never taught your so-called protégé about the rule?’
‘Why would I?’ Partho asks. ‘He was not even ten when…’ He trails off.
‘When I died,’ Cat fills in, unbothered.
‘When do your initiates usually join?’ Elician asks. ‘It is sixteen in Soleb.’
‘Fourteen is standard,’ Partho replies, ‘though you would not expect a fourteen-year-old recruit to go to war. They train for at least three years before they are accepted at the front.’
‘How did Gillage react to the challenge, then? He would have been old enough to take it, no?’
‘Yes,’ Leferge says shortly. ‘He has neither issued nor forgone a challenge, because he has not joined the training corps.’
Elician cannot manage the energy to be surprised. ‘Despite mandatory conscription?’
She does not reply.
‘Nured taught him privately as far as I know,’ Cat says. The name of Gillage’s most violent toady sets Elician’s teeth on edge. This is the man who was sent to capture Elician and Lio in the first place, the brute who oversaw their transportation, their torture. They only fought each other properly once, but Elician cannot remember anything special about Nured’s ability. He could plan an ambush and abuse those under his power and control, but he never seemed like a technical genius. Perhaps he had some unique skillset, though, to have been put in such a position of power and control near the young prince.
‘Was he any good?’ Elician asks, morbid curiosity driving him forward.
One of Cat’s hands twitches towards his chest, as if reaching for a wound that no longer exists. ‘He could get his point across,’ Cat replies vaguely. Partho is watching them, Leferge too, though she does a better job at hiding it. Elician swallows back his frustration. Now is not the time to address it. But one day, he looks forward to seeing Nured pay for all he has done to them.
Their procession crosses the halfway point between Endura and the next major settlement in stony silence, but soon enough they find another area with room for them to set up camp. Leferge sends scouts ahead to see what the situation will be like, and the group assesses the army’s supplies as they wait. If they need to purchase more, she wants to know how much more and when.
Cat climbs down from his horse and Elician does the same. Partho calls for their Guard to come and help them set up for theevening when Leferge catches Elician by the arm. ‘A word,Your Majesty.’
He hesitates, eyes slipping towards Cat just long enough to offer him a smile. ‘I’ll be right there,’ he swears. Cat glances between them, uncertain and displeased, but he nods. He bites his lip and lets Leferge lead him into the tree line with a few members of the Guard.
Leferge does not release Elician’s arm. Her grip stays tight and firm, almost bruising in her insistence. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘We’ve told you—’
