Book 1 - Sweet Silver Blues Read Free Page B

ignored it. “I’m going
with you, you know.”
    “With me? Where?”
    “To the Cantard.”
    “I’ve got a flash for you, lady. I’m not doing
any dirty work for you, and you aren’t crossing the street
with me. I do thank you for bringing breakfast. I need it, and
appreciate it. Now go away and let me see if there’s any
reason I should be fool enough to get into this at all.”
    “I’m a stubborn woman, Garrett. I usually get what I
want. If you won’t help me, you’d better walk away from
the whole thing. People who get in my way get hurt.”
    “Unless you’re out of here by the time I finish this
cup of tea you’re going over my knee and getting what your
old man should have given you while you were still young enough to
have some sense pounded into you.”
    She retreated to the stairway. “I’ll claim you raped
me.”
    I grinned. Last refuge of the female scoundrel. “I’m
not rich like you, but I can afford a truthsayer. Go ahead.
Let’s see how your dad takes losing two kids in one
week.”
    She started upstairs. End of that game.
    I went back and dug the dark package from the shadow between two
floor joists anchored on the outside foundation. It was not hidden.
Every space along that wall was stuffed. But the wrapping of this
bundle was a cavalry saddle blanket. Denny’s service meant a
lot to him. He kept every memento. What he would wrap in his saddle
blanket would be important too.
    I dropped my seabag into the harbor as I strutted down the
gangway the day I mustered out. Tells you how thrilled I was with
the life of a Royal Marine.
    The bundle contained a stack of military maps of the Cantard,
most ours, a few Venageti. Both kinds are dangerous to have. You
could get arrested for spying. The people who ask questions for the
court don’t stop till you confess.
    With the maps were overlays of skin scraped transparently thin
and several slim, expensive, bound journals.
    I took the lot to Denny’s desk.
    Each of the overlays examined a critical battle of the past six
years. The names of captains, commanders, and outfits were noted.
One journal examined each battle commander by commander and unit by
unit.
    What the hell? Denny wasn’t any war buff.
    Reading gave me a glimmer, though. For instance, the table of
royal officers:
     
    1: Count Agar: Impulsive. Overly aggressive. Prone to act on
inadequate intelligence.
    9: Margrave Leon: Timid. Wants sure thing before offering
battle. Easily rattled during engagement.
    14: Viscount Noah: Vacillator. Excessively ferocious when
engaged. A spendthrift of men and material.
    22: Glory Mooncalled: Best all-around commander under
Karentine colors. Excellent tactician. Able to train slowest and
most uninspired men. Handicapped by low birth, mercenary status,
and role in Seigod Mutiny while serving Venageti side. Weakness is
a consuming hatred of Venageti warlords.
     
    There was a Venageti list, too, and an analysis of potential
matches and mismatches. If you were in the business of shuffling
gold and silver, it would be handy to know who would control the
silver mines a few months down the road. Denny had been serious
about trying to outguess fortune.
    I smelted an old dead carp, though. Denny drew forty-eight marks
prize money and mustering-out pay. You don’t turn forty-eight
marks into a hundred thousand without cutting corners.
    Denny’s business log contained some hints.
    Note from V: An agent of Stormlord Atto inquired the cost of
50 pd silver. First tremor of preparation for new
offensive?
    Z reported verbally:
Harrow
made port with 200 pd silver in
ballast. Must sell before Mooncalled takes Freemantle.
    Harrow
southbound with 1000 pd granulated inside hollowed
ballast billets. Biggest deal yet. Pray for fair weather.
    Letter from K. Warlord Ironlock, 20,000 men, 3 firelords of
the Eastern Circle, Third Rite, ordered to Lare. Attack through the
Bled? Viscount Blush defending. Buy coined silver.
     
    V, Z, and several others could be the cavalry