A DRINK BEFORE BATTLE (MxM)

Making way for the Brinnish party to come forward and kneel to their Prince, the Valeskans followed a servant to their table. They were seated by rank, and Sevei gave Yeresym a sympathetic half-smile as he had no choice but to take the seat nearest his brother. Sitting next to him, Sevei could feel palpable tension radiating from Yeresym, and imagined a shield of invisible ethereal energy building up around him. Perhaps it wasn’t only his imagination. He felt as if getting too close could give him a shock, and not the pleasant kind he’d experienced before.

Thelan should have the next seat beside Sevei, but she waved Yanek and Meira ahead. The servant ushering them was clearly uncomfortable with this, but Gendaran had not taken his eyes off of Meira even as the Brinnish generals were introduced to him, and Thelan was obviously feeling protective of her. Looking down the table past Sevei, Yeresym gave Thelan a pointed look as she took the last seat, sheltering Meira between herself and Yanek.

Once the Brinnish contingent were led to their table, wine was poured all around and Prince Rendrick offered a toast. Yeresym hesitantly took only a small sip of the wine to be polite. Gendaran seemed amused by this, chortling as he drained his goblet, but the rest of the Valeskan company got the message. It wouldn’t do to overindulge in this uncertain environment. Sevei glanced at Yanek and found him keeping alert eyes on Gendaran. Yanek’s expression was friendly, but Sevei could see the wheels turning behind it. For all of his usual clowning, Yanek knew when things were serious. Sevei had chosen his Second well.

Some kind of very small roasted bird was placed in front of Sevei, and he sighed with pleasure as its heavenly aroma wafted into his nose. Perhaps the night wouldn’t be entirely unpleasant. He covertly watched Yeresym to see what he would do with it, but Yeresym ignored it. He only reached for his wine goblet, quickly diverting to the cup of water next to it. Sevei cleared his throat. Yeresym seemed unwilling to even look his way, but when he glanced over briefly, Sevei cocked his head and let his eyes dart toward his plate, then gave a questioning look as his hand crept slowly toward one of the many utensils on the table.

Yeresym’s eyes rolled minutely, and for the first time since they’d entered the hall that evening, Sevei saw the barest ghost of a smile flit across his lips. He picked up the bird and began to tear it apart with his fingers, raising one small leg to his lips for a bite.

Sevei smiled and followed suit. Yeresym took only that small bite, though, then rinsed his fingers in a chalice of water with flower petals floating in it, drying them on his napkin. He seemed to chew that one bite forever, with no apparent enjoyment.

Course after course of delicacies were served. While they ate, Prince Rendrick opened the business discussions. The Loranarians had invited him to meet with them. The hall erupted into arguments that lasted the next two hours. All of the Alchemists present were alarmed, and determined to convince him of what a bad idea that would be, given the Loranarians’ recent shows of dirty play. Gendaran came down in favor of the meeting, but seemed to be amusing himself going against Yeresym, leaving all the Valeskans to question his role as voice of the Valeskan Crown.

The heated back-and-forth continued until sweets were served and dinner officially concluded. After that, many of Rendrick’s guests rose from the tables and began grouping around the hall to continue discussions. In one corner, the Brinnish generals argued with their Martial Alchemists, who didn’t seem to enjoy the same standing in the Brinnish military as those from Valesk. The Brinnish Martials would then hurry over to convene with the Mayor’s Alchemists to go over the city’s defenses.

Sevei watched Prince Rendrick with interest. He moved among all of these groups with ease. His warm smile and good-natured jocularity smoothed over many tense exchanges. When that didn’t work, the man wasn’t above a stern word carrying a veiled threat, displaying the demanding nature Sevei had heard tell of.

“Perhaps I’m not the one looking to catch a prince.”

Sevei startled, surprised to find Yeresym next to him, leaning in to murmur into his ear. Aside from that one moment of levity at the start of dinner, Yeresym had been distant with him throughout the evening. Sevei smiled, hoping that Yeresym could finally relax now that the event was nearing a close.

“It’s not like that,” he laughed. “I just can’t stop thinking about what Anzen said. I mean, Rendrick is so... and Kyri is so... tell me you’re not trying to imagine it.”

“I wasn’t,” Yeresym muttered, clearing his throat as the color rose in his cheeks, “but I am now.”

Sevei choked back another laugh as several members of Gendaran’s retinue pulled them aside to discreetly voice agreement with points they had raised, although it wasn’t hard to keep out of Gendaran’s earshot. He had gotten well into a few cups and didn’t seem inclined to leave his seat.

Gendaran’s drunken gaze fixed on Meira, causing those few of his own people to scurry away from their group. He suddenly lurched out of his chair and almost tripped over his ankle-length tunic as he approached. Just before he reached them, Prince Rendrick intercepted, throwing an arm around Gendaran’s shoulders.

“Gendaran,” he said jovially, white teeth visible in his broad smile, “how many times have you and I met over the years?” He gave the bristling Yeresym an appraising look up and down. “Why have you never told me that Urskatha had such an impressive son as this one?”

“What’s impressive?” Gendaran sneered. “He almost died on his last post. No idea why they’d make him a General after that embarrassment, especially when he should be home serving his family...”

Rendrick’s eyes momentarily flashed with irritation, but he turned to Yeresym with a smile. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “will you become the Urskatha family Alchemist, General?”

“I won’t,” Yeresym answered frostily. “We have a younger sister who will take that role, when our Aunt retires.”

“And she’s just as stuck up as this one,” Gendaran added, “but at least she doesn’t abscond with family property. Which I will be taking back with me tonight. Say your goodbyes, Meira. If you have anything back at that little campground, Yeresym can send it on.”

Everyone froze.

Rendrick removed his arm from Gendaran’s shoulders.

“That...” Yeresym ground out between clenched jaws, “won’t be possible.”

“Don’t tell me what’s possible!” Gendaran retorted. “She’s a contracted servant of Urskatha.”

“Sergeant Kahan is now a legal member of His Majesty’s Army,” Yeresym seethed, his voice low and dangerous. He glanced at Meira, standing behind the others, and gave her an apologetic look before continuing. “And her contract is part of Urskatha’s contribution to the war effort. Are we rescinding our duty?”

“What war effort?” Gendaran countered. “She’s not a soldier.”

“The Sergeant provides valuable services...”

“Yes, I can see that she does...” Gendaran smirked, looking pointedly at the charm on Yeresym’s belt. “She can perform those services at home.”

Yeresym’s hand balled into a fist. As his arm wound back, Sevei hurried to catch his elbow. Yeresym whirled around, turning on Sevei instead.

“Get off!” he shouted.

“You can’t hit him,” Sevei murmured.

“Gentlemen... please...” Rendrick said placatingly.

“Lord Urskatha, may I see the edict?”

All eyes turned to Thelan, standing at the back with Meira. Her usually sleepy face had sharpened to keen alertness, eyes red and brimming with anger.

Gendaran peered derisively at Thelan. “What edict?”

“The one from my uncle,” Thelan replied, “releasing Sergeant Kahan from the army? Members of the military can’t just come and go as they please.”

“Who are you?” Gendaran asked. “What’s some uncle got to do with it?”

“Well, he’s the King of Valesk,” Thelan informed him. “If you haven’t procured an edict, I’d be happy to pay him a visit. I’m sure he’d be happy to see me. He’s quite fond of me, as my mother is his favorite little sister.” Thelan’s voice chilled further. “And I am quite fond of Sergeant Kahan, who is, by the way, a very valuable member of our unit.”

Gendaran squinted, his head craning for a better look. “Ah. Lord Thelan Yldratha, isn’t it?”

“Lieutenant Thelan will do,” she said shortly.

Gendaran scoffed. “One can hardly flaunt one’s family connections while denying their name.”

“You’ll find that one can do a lot of things when one is a favored relative of the King.”

“I’ve met your father,” Gendaran goaded Thelan. “It’s hard to believe something like you came out of him.”

Thelan smiled coldly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Sevei had to fight the urge to laugh out loud at the look on Gendaran’s face.

The same seemed true of Prince Rendrick, whose eyes gleamed with mirth as he took an interested appraisal of Thelan. He leaned toward Gendaran and said, “Lord Urskatha, this doesn’t seem to be going as well as you’d hoped. Perhaps we should table this discussion for a better day.”

Gendaran’s beady eyes bored into Yeresym. “I’ll be sure to inform Mother and Father of your intransigence. You know how they feel about children who don’t mind their place.” He gave a final scoff as he turned back to his seat, where at a signal from Rendrick, a servant stood ready to refill his cup.

Rendrick turned back and gave Thelan a smile that could only be described as coy. “Well done, Lieutenant,” he said. “By the way, I’ve also met your father. Awful man if you don’t mind me saying. I think I must agree with Lord Urskatha’s statement.”

With a final brilliant smile, he returned to the table after Gendaran.

Sevei leaned toward Yeresym and gave him a light nudge. “Perhaps we’re both out of the running...” he whispered.

Yeresym glared at him, but then looked away and exhaled slowly, visibly relaxing.

“Thanks,” he said. “For stopping me before.”

“Yeah...” Sevei answered. “I might not do that next time.”