The Autumn Republic

“It didn’t actually occur to me that Tamas wouldn’t tell you that I was your uncle. Not for a while, anyway, and when it did, there wasn’t a good time to tell you. We were in the middle of a rather violent siege, after all. And I thought he probably had a reason for not telling you that the South Pike Mountainwatch drunkard was your uncle.”

Taniel couldn’t help but feel some indignation at that. “So you weren’t going to actually tell me? I’ve thought-for years-that Tamas was the only close family I had left.”

“Really?” Gavril straightened in his saddle. “You know, every time I think I’ve come to terms with the shit your father does, I find out about something like this. He didn’t even mention me?”

“I have vague memories,” Taniel said. “Of being told about my uncles. Nothing more. No names.”

Gavril grunted and tugged gently on his reins. “I’ve been a fairly reprehensible drunk since your mother died. Maybe Tamas didn’t want me to meet you. Or maybe the memories of another family were too much for him.” He snorted to show what he thought of that.

“Too much? I don’t think the man has emotions.”

“You’d be surprised. Your other uncle was Camenir, my little brother. He was just a boy, not much older than you when we went after Ipille. He’s buried in Kez.” Gavril held up his hand for a halt and pointed at the ground. “Riders. Around sixty came through here yesterday. They rested here. If memory serves, we’re getting pretty close to the Counter’s Road, the north-south highway. We’ll want to slow our pace, prepare for anything. If there’s going to be another ambush, it’ll be soon.”

Taniel stowed the questions he wanted to ask Gavril in the back of his mind and tried to ignore the surge of confused emotion caused by the sight of Vlora coming back down the road toward them. She had been on scouting duty with one of the Riflejacks. He could tell by the urgency with which she leaned forward in the saddle that she had found something.

“We’re about a half mile from the intersection,” she said as she reached them. “And the grenadiers have laid a trap.”

“How do you know?” Gavril asked the question before Taniel could.

“They’re waiting about a little under two miles to the south, flanking the road. I got just close enough to sense the powder and get a feel for their positioning and came back.”

Taniel asked, “Any Privileged?”

“None that I could see with my third eye.”

“Perfect. Their Privileged must have left them behind to deal with us. We have the advantage because we know their positioning. We can turn their trap back on them.”

“Better than that,” Vlora said. “I can just detonate all their powder. Take out the whole lot in one go. Few enough powder mages can do it at a distance.”

“Few enough? There’s just you.”

Vlora gave him a grin. “So they won’t be expecting it.”

“They might have Ka-poel.”

“Not if the Privileged aren’t there,” Gavril said. “They’ll have taken her on ahead if they know what she’s carrying.”

Of course. They would keep her close as they fled. But… but what if they didn’t? Vlora could detonate all their powder, killing her right along with the grenadiers. “I can’t risk it.”

“Can she be seen in the Else?” Vlora asked.

“She has the glow. It’s hard to tell, for most.”

“But you can tell?”

“Yes.”

“Then come with me. The two of us can get close enough, make sure she’s not there. You can put a bullet through any Privileged they may have and I’ll detonate the powder. Our Riflejacks can stay back half a mile and come in to mop everything up.”

Taniel checked his pistols to be sure they were loaded. “That’ll work.”

They continued on until they reached the T-intersection, where their highway ended in the Counter’s Road. Vlora stayed out front with the scouts, and Taniel hung back with Gavril. He wanted to ask the big Watchmaster about his mother, but his mouth didn’t seem to want to form the words. Vlora was still in love with him, his own lover was still held captive by the Kez, and they were about to ride straight into half a company of grenadiers.

“Taniel,” Gavril said, bringing him back to the present. “Bad news.”

“What is it?”

“Someone’s ridden north, here at the intersection.”

“What do you mean?”

Gavril dismounted and spent a few moments examining the ground of the intersection, mumbling quietly to himself. “Eight, maybe ten split off from the main group. They’re heading north. Everyone else went south.”

“Can you be sure?” Taniel asked, feeling a sudden fear. What if the Kez had planned a second ambush? Taniel’s company would turn south along the road and try to spring the first trap while a second group of them came down from behind. He reached out with his senses, pushing them to their limit to try to feel something else out there-Ka-poel, a Privileged, powder. There was nothing.

“Not completely, no,” Gavril said. “It could be travelers. It could be Adran patrols, unaware that the Kez are even in this part of Adro. Pit, it could be Mountainwatchers, down from the peaks to cut wood or get supplies.”