The Crown of blood

VI

Six days after Anglhan had arrived, Thedraan was startled by the arrival of another group of travellers, this time arriving from coldwards. This small party consisted of a young man of obviously noble bearing and wealth, accompanied by a handful of servants. Before he encountered this stranger, Anglhan spent a little while around the town listening to the stories being told. Nobody knew the noble's name, but he had come here previously, for a few days at a time for the past two seasons. Many suspected he was thinking of buying the town for himself. Anglhan was pleased to find out that the man had taken over one of the winter-empty shops on the main square. At least he would know where to find this enigmatic sponsor.

Despite his arguments to the contrary, Anglhan was not invited to join Aroisius when he met his "ally". Annoyed by this snub, Anglhan did his best to talk to the noble's attendants, but was disappointed to find the only ones he could meet were both tongueless Maasrites. Cursing the spirits for abandoning him at this important moment, he returned to the house and brooded into the night.

Sleepless with irritation, Anglhan finally abandoned any hope of rest. He threw on his clothes and sneaked out of the house, determined to meet this stranger. Nothing stirred as he hurried along the muddy street, lit only by the occasional glow through the slats of shuttered windows. It began to rain again as he splashed across the square towards the nobleman's lair.

Lamps burned through the shop windows and Anglhan saw a pacing figure on the upper storey, though whether it was the man himself or one of his servants keeping watch he could not tell. He stopped just outside the rear door of the shop and asked himself what he was hoping to achieve. Unfortunately, Anglhan did not have any answers to that question, but was simply filled with the burning desire to meet with this mysterious foreigner.

He realised subterfuge could only get him so far, so he softly knocked on the door. It was opened almost immediately by a bleary-eyed, bald Maasrite. The servant frowned, made a shooing gesture, and tried to close the door. He was prevented from doing so by Anglhan's foot wedged next to the frame. Anglhan pushed the door firmly open and spoke in an urgent whisper.

"I have to speak with your master, immediately! I have news for him. He cannot trust the man he was seeing today!"

The Maasrite looked at Anglhan dubiously but nodded and waved him inside. Despite Anglhan's efforts at stealth, two more servants came into the back hall and regarded him with suspicion. Anglhan studied them in return, and noted the way they held themselves straight, the hard look in their eyes. They were obviously bodyguards, but lacked the casual thuggishness Anglhan had seen in other such men. He was convinced they were soldiers more than servants, though neither man looked old enough to be a retired legionnaire.

The Maasrite reappeared and beckoned to Anglhan to follow. The servant led him up a short flight of steps and motioned for him to climb up a ladder to the second storey. Pulling himself up to the floor above, Anglhan found himself in a bedchamber that filled the whole of the upper floor. Seated on a stool next to the narrow bed was the Askhan noble, arms and legs crossed, his expression one of marked displeasure.

"Greetings, Lord," Anglhan said with a bow. "My name is Anglhan Periusis, an associate of Aroisius."

The noble's expression did not change; his dark eyes bored into Anglhan. The landship captain took a deep breath, ideas whirling through his head, and plunged on.

"I have come to warn you, Lord. Aroisius is going to betray you!"