Alexis joined her as she left the room. She"d probably been lounging in her own chambers next door until Elya woke up. The Vice-Captain was responsible for lots of the day to day administrative tasks of the Order and had spent the previous evening getting the cohort settled in. As her closest friend, Alexis was well versed with her habits, even if she complained about them regularly. Still, she had managed to wake up well before her Captain and was looking impeccable, her hair glistening in a way that Elya knew meant she"d found time to bathe and she contemplated if there was time to take a quick shower before meeting the Count."No, you don"t." Alexis cut her off when she raised the prospect. "It"s almost midday and your aunt Natalia went out of her way this morning to explain to me that a bride in her new home does not behave that way."
"Then why did you let me sleep? Also, I"m not a bride yet." She grumbled and tried to settle her hair by hand, losing confidence in her appearance every time she glanced at her friend and wishing she"d used a comb.
"Because the Count was adamant. He said "If Elya wants to sleep, then let her sleep. It must have been a difficult journey."" Her impression of Nikolai twisted Elya"s lips into a huge grin. A very poor attempt at showcasing his characteristic exuberance, but Alexis portrayed his wide-eyed excitement well, physically at least. "That makes you smile, huh?"
"He"s an amusing person." When it came to first impressions Nikolai was larger than life, full of heart and pa.s.sion moving from one topic to another like a broken seesaw. "Nikolai has a strange charisma. It"s not hard to see why the Dragon Lords would bend knee to him."
"He certainly does cast an imposing figure." Alexis agreed, stopping to stare into the courtyard, watching the Knights of Chernigov forming up for training. They would join them later in the day, but first they had responsibilities to see to. "Milady I investigated as you asked, and it seems the rumours were true."
"So that was a Hand?" She remembered the way the black-cloaked figure had appeared out of thin air. The Shades gave off faint hints of presence, but that person didn"t seem to exist. When he stood before them it was like nothing was there. Even with the Suzdal"s network in the Ministry of War and Court, there had only been hints of the Emperor"s bestowal of a Hand to Nikolai. "Any other news that may be of interest?" Elya was certain there was more going on in this town than just repair and expansion. The Son of Heaven was not a fool and a valuable a.s.set like Nikolai would not sit idle for so long without a purpose. Certain strange sights had caught her eye during their walk yesterday, large public buildings, strange magical contraptions and more soldiers than should be seen in a town of this size.
Alexis nodded and motioned her closer, dropping her voice so they couldn"t be heard. To others it would just look like the Captain and her subordinate were chatting casually while gazing out at the training fields where their Knights practised.
"There are extensive infrastructure projects in the works and it seems the Count plans to expand the town to almost twice the size. Some of the squires met a group of craftsmen in town that were bragging about their work in preparing the foundation for a new wall a few miles outside the current fortifications." That was the best thing about Alexis, she would explain her source of information for corroboration making it easy to determine fact from fiction. "There have been rumours of strange sounds coming from the Count"s Mage tower, but nothing can be gleaned from it. The story repeated most often about the tower is that the Count creates a magical rune of some sort that hangs above the town for an hour or so, spinning and giving off "soft gentle waves of light that soothe the soul.""
"That"s an odd description." Elya"s brow wrinkled in thought. If magical signs like that appeared in any of the cities of the Empire it would generate ma.s.s panic, yet these people took it in their stride.
"I heard it from the old man who gave us those skewers yesterday." Alexis quickly wiped a sliver of drool that appeared on her lips.
"You went back without me?" Elya was frustrated, but remembering her breakfast she felt mollified. The food here was far too good.
Alexis blushed. "I was just curious. It turns out he tried to make it as a bard in the capital, but his son was injured in the war, so he returned to provide support while he recovered."
"That"s a lot of information you discovered." Elya was suspicious of her friend"s motives.
"He"s quite handsome and likes to talk."
"Alexis, you have to stop chasing after these older married men. Nothing will come out of it."
"I"m just enjoying his company. Nothing more." Alexis was indignant, but the quiver in her voice belied her nefarious intentions.
Elya sighed, there was nothing she could do about her inclinations. "Is there anything else?"
Alexis hesitated, gazing into the town as if she could pierce the cloud of mystery that hung over this place. "The boss of one of the local gangs was found with his throat slit near the new waterway construction."
"Criminal activity is not something we can handle. Leave it to the guards." Elya observed the flickers in Alexis expression. "Unless there"s something more to this?"
"Next to the body there were three dead men laid on their backs and each of them had a crossbow bolt pierced through an eye." Elya inhaled sharply. You"d have to be a fool to believe it was a coincidence, that this was random when they"d suffered an attack using crossbows the day before.
"A signal." Elya breathed.
"One would a.s.sume. The people who pulled the trigger and the man who gave the order are dead." Alexis frowned as she puzzled her way through the events. "I doubt any of the local gangs would have the strength to make a move against a War Mage, so it was probably a contract."
"And the only people who"d have the wealth to move a local gang to act so rashly would be some of the wealthier Houses. Was this retaliation or cutting off routes to the origin?" Elya tapped her sword, considering the list of Houses who would have the wealth and also the desire to end the threat of Nikolai Morales. The list was surprisingly long. "Still why would anyone make a move on Nikolai like this? Forget the wrath of the Mages Council, the Son of Heaven himself would be forced to move if one of his advisors was murdered on a street. No amount of wealth could make anyone commit to this unless..." She stopped suddenly, realising why Alexis was so concerned.
"Unless the Count wasn"t the target." The Vice-Captain concluded. "Milady I request that you keep an escort with you at all times and give permission for the cohort to deploy into the town." That was an astonishing request, and it was doubtful Nikolai would agree, no one wanted fully armoured Knights prowling the streets.
"Arrange the escort." While Elya would be willing to brave the dangers on her own, but this alliance was too important to the Suzdal"s to endanger because of pride. "I"ll ask Nikolai if we can deploy the cohort to a.s.sist the guards as training and a means to improve relations."
"You think he"ll agree?" Alexis was dubious, most n.o.bles disliked anyone stepping on their rights and responsibilities.
"I"ll use my feminine wiles then!" Elya tossed her hair for emphasis.
"What wiles?" She chose to ignore the Vice-Captain"s insolence.