The Autumn Republic

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“If Tamas is still alive… well, put in a good word for the university.”

“Of course.”

Adamat rounded the desk to put a hand on Uskan’s shoulder. “You’re right, you know. I shouldn’t have gotten involved in any of this. It’s hurt the people I love in so many ways.”

“I don’t think it’s your fault,” Uskan said.

“Thank you for that.”

SouSmith, still leaning on the door frame of the tiny office, cleared his throat.

“Yes,” Adamat said. “Well, I should get going.”

“Wait.”

Adamat stopped just outside the office and turned back to Uskan.

“You should check a private library,” Uskan said. “Someone who will have books not accessible to us or to the Public Archives.”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

“Charlemund’s manor,” Uskan said. “The Arch-Diocel had an enormous library before he was arrested. It’s meant to be split between Adopest University, the Public Archives, and Jileman University, but we haven’t had the time to work on it.”

“And it’s at his manor still?”

“Under guard, I think. But not inaccessible to someone with friends in high places.” Uskan gave him a lopsided smile.

“I’ll look into it. Thank you very much.”

Out in the hallway, SouSmith fell in beside Adamat as they headed back toward their carriage. “Anything?” he asked.

“I have two leads now,” Adamat said. “We’ll sniff it out. I know we will.”

“What was that about the vice-chancellor?”

“He fled the country, apparently.” Adamat fiddled with the head of his cane. “I’m curious what he knows that we don’t.”

CHAPTER 35

Tamas sat brooding in a cloth folding chair in front of the tent his soldiers had set up for him to take his lunch.

His last report from Olem arrived twenty-four hours ago, letting him know that they were going into Brude’s Hideaway to hunt the Gurlish magebreaker and his Kez cavalry. Tamas couldn’t help but glance to the northwest, wondering why Olem hadn’t sent his morning report. Two a day, Tamas had ordered. It was vital that he be kept abreast of the situation on the western plains if he was to proceed against the Kez armies to his south.

The messenger’s horse may have thrown a shoe, or he might have been sent off a few hours late. Tamas chewed on the inside of his cheek. Olem may have been defeated in battle, for all he knew. Whether it was a portent of ill or not, he didn’t like the lag in communication.

“Olem!” he shouted.

“Olem’s not here, sir.” Andriya, one of Tamas’s powder mages, appeared from inside his tent. He was a tall man with scraggly blond hair and a pockmarked face.

“Bloody pit.” Tamas rubbed at his temples. “How many times is that?”

“Seventeen in the last four days.”

“Sorry. Habit, I suppose. Damn bodyguard has been with me less than a year and I’m already doing that.”

Andriya picked at his teeth with one fingernail and turned to spit. “Funny, sir, but when Cenka died and you got Olem to replace him, you never confused the two.”

“Surely I must have.”

Andriya shrugged. “Maybe. That’s fine, I never liked Cenka anyway.”

“You don’t like anyone.”

“I liked Erika,” Andriya said after a moment of introspection.

“My late wife saved you from the hangman’s noose in Kez. I certainly hope you liked her.”

“It wasn’t just that,” Andriya said. “She had a certain”-he made a rolling motion with one hand-“something about her.”

“I know,” Tamas said quietly.

If Andriya noticed Tamas’s discomfort, he didn’t show it. He leaned on his rifle and began to pick at his nails again. “Messenger coming in, sir.”

Tamas stood up and stretched, trying not to look too eager. Had Olem’s man finally arrived? Tamas needed to know what was going on at his flank. He couldn’t meet the Kez infantry in battle with that Gurlish Wolf at his heels.

Tamas’s heart fell. The messenger coming in was not one of Olem’s. He was an outrider, a scout with the Second Brigade, keeping track of the Kez movements to the south. Someone was following the scout. As they drew closer, Tamas could see it was a woman in a gray woolen dress and a tan apron. Tamas knew that uniform. It was the clothing given to camp followers in the Kez army.

The scout said something to the woman and she stopped a ways off while the scout approached. He saluted. “Sir. Found this woman early this morning making her way toward our camp. She said she has news, and it’s urgent.”

“And you brought her to me?” Did chain of command mean nothing in this army anymore?

“She wouldn’t talk to anyone else. She had the right passwords.”

“Passwords?”

“I’m one of your spies, you daft man,” the woman said in Kez, her voice husky, her tone impatient.

Andriya let out a laugh. Tamas silenced him with a glance and looked at his other bodyguards. Andriya seemed to be the only one present who spoke Kez, other than Tamas himself. The rest hadn’t understood her. “Let her through.”