Ruler of Naught Read Free Page A

military
expertise was what was needed now. Anaris hadn’t been able to find out how
effective the auxiliaries were.
    The lines in Juvaszt’s scarred face deepened to a sneer. “Do
not overestimate them, either. Their losses were even worse, and it was in
trying to compensate for their tactical ineptitude that our destroyers were
lost.”
    Barrodagh smiled tightly. “Ah, yes. Tactics. I defer to you
there. But it was not Rifters, was it, that destroyed the Node while failing to
stop Krysarch Brandon’s escape from Arthelion?
    Brandon? Alive? Anger burned through Anaris, then
cooled into self-mockery. Why not look forward to hunting him down and
finishing him?
    Morrighon swiveled his compad towards Anaris with a succinct
summary.
    So that was how the haunt had been reactivated! Brandon
Arkad looted the palace, stole an important prisoner, in effect wrecked the
Node, and thumbed his ear at the Fist . And lost only one of his
force, a diseased female Rifter.
    Anaris’s self-mockery sharpened at the situation’s symmetry. My father is free, and I imprisoned, while Brandon’s father is imprisoned,
and he is free.
    Anaris glanced at Juvaszt with new respect—he must be even
better than Anaris had assumed, for his father not to have purged him instantly
after such a spectacular failure. The Avatar’s wrath must have been impressive.
    Juvaszt is on thin ice here. No
doubt Barrodagh had some more easily-managed officer in mind for command of the
flagship.
    “If you mean the Aerenarch Brandon vlith-Arkad,” the kyvernat
said to Barrodagh, emphasizing his own noble birth by stating Brandon’s correct
title and inheritance sur-prefix, “You have already read my report. The Fist
of Dol’jhar was on the other side of the planet when I was—too late—ordered
to intercept.”
    Ferrasin yanked his finger away from an in-depth exploration
of his nose and jerked upright. “It wasn’t my fault. Serach Barrodagh’s
secretary wouldn’t listen to me, and the palace computer misled me when I tried
to reach him in person to report the Arkad’s presence.”
    Barrodagh glared at the technician. Bad move, thought
Anaris. Barrodagh would resent this attack—as he would interpret it—in front of
the Avatar. Being the top computer technician in his father’s entourage could
only protect Ferrasin so far. Here lay opportunity.
    Ferrasin probably didn’t even realize what he had just
done—that type rarely understood human interactions, and he definitely did not
perceive that silence was safest around the Avatar, unless you had some news
that he wanted to hear.
    Sure enough, Barrodagh turned toward Ferrasin. “Speaking of
ineptitude, perhaps we should discuss your delay in dealing with the dog
sabotage and the...” Barrodagh hesitated, searching for a neutral word.
    “Apparition,” Morrighon whined, his countenance respectful.
At the same time he flipped the display on his compad again for Anaris to see:
FERRASIN, HEAD COMPUTER TECHNICIAN, confirming Anaris’s guess.
    Anaris remembered the Arkad dogs with loathing—it had been
difficult to finally catch Brandon without one nearby. Interesting that they
were now an agent of sabotage—but why was the computer tech tasked with finding
them? Surely that was a job for the military. There had to be a human
resistance directing the animals.
    Barrodagh glared at Ferrasin. “Well?”
    The Avatar made a slight movement. Anaris looked up and
their eyes met. Anaris recognized that unfamiliar expression as amusement, of a
sort his father had never evidenced on Dol’jhar. Eusabian’s gaze touched
Morrighon, inviting Anaris to share his amusement.
    Do you know why I chose him? Anaris permitted his
lips to relax in a hint of smile, then turned his attention back to the
computer tech, whose florid features were now shiny with sweat as his lips
struggled to form a reply.
    “The system is the m-most complex in the Thousand S-s-s—”
began Ferrasin, but Eusabian’s secretary overrode