‘The man I admire is Orrin,’ said Bregan. ‘It must have taken great courage to come out and train with the men as he has done. Especially being as unpopular as he was. I was so pleased when he won back the Swords.’
‘Only because you won five silver pieces on him,’ Gilad pointed out.
‘That’s not fair, Gil! I backed him because he was Karnak; I backed you too.’
‘You backed me for a quarter-copper and him for a half-silver, according to Drebus who took your bet.’
Bregan tapped his nose, smiling. ‘Ah, but then you don’t pay the same price for a goat as for a horse. But the thought was there. After all, I knew you couldn’t win.’
‘I damn near had that Bar Britan. It was a judge’s decision at the last.’
‘True,’ said Bregan. ‘But you would never have beaten Pinar, or that fellow with the earring from the Legion. But what’s even more to the point, you never could have beaten Orrin. I’ve seen you both fence.’
‘Such judgement!’ said Gilad. ‘It’s small wonder to me that you didn’t enter yourself, so great is your knowledge.’
‘I don’t have to fly in order to know that the sky is blue,’ said Bregan ‘Anyway, who did you back?’
‘Gan Hogun.’
‘Who else? Drebus said you had placed two bets,’ said Bregan innocently.
‘You know very well. Drebus would have told you.’
‘I didn’t think to ask.’
‘Liar! Well, I don’t care. I backed myself to reach the last fifty.’
‘And you were so close,’ said Bregan. ‘Only one strike in it.’
‘One lucky blow and I could have won a month’s wages.’
‘Such is life,’ said Bregan. ‘Maybe next year you can come back and have another try?’
‘And maybe corn will grow on the backs of camels!’ said Gilad.
Back at the Keep, Druss was struggling to keep his temper as the City Elders argued back and forth about the Nadir offer. Word had spread to them with bewildering speed, and Druss had barely managed to eat a chunk of bread and cheese before a messenger from Orrin informed him that the Elders had called a meeting.
It was a Drenai rule, long established, that except in time of battle the Elders had a democratic right to see the city lord and debate matters of importance. Neither Orrin nor Druss could refuse. No one could argue that Ulric’s ultimatum was unimportant.
Six men constituted the City Elders, an elected body which effectively ruled all trade within the city. The Master Burgher and chief elder was Bricklyn, who had entertained Druss so royally on the night of the assassination attempt. Malphar, Backda, Shinell and Alphus were all merchants, while Beric was a nobleman, a distant cousin of Earl Delnar and highly-placed in city life. Only lack of real fortune kept him at Delnoch and away from Drenan, which he loved.
Shinell, a fat, oily silk merchant, was the main cause of Druss’s anger. ‘But surely we have a right to discuss Ulric’s terms and must be allowed a say in whether they are accepted or rejected,’ he said again. ‘It is of vital interest to the city, after all, and by right of law our vote must carry.’
‘You know full well, my dear Shinell,’ said Orrin smoothly, ‘that the City Elders have full rights to discuss all civil matters. This situation hardly falls within that category. Nevertheless, your point of view is noted,’
Malphar, a red-faced wine dealer of Lentrian stock, interrupted Shinell as he began his protest. ‘We are getting nowhere with this talk of rules and precedent. The fact remains that we are virtually at war. Is it a war we can win?’ His green eyes scanned the faces around him and Druss tapped his fingers on the table-top, the only outward sign of his tensions. ‘Is it a war we can carry long enough to force an honourable peace? I don’t think it is,’ continued Malphar. ‘It is all a nonsense. Abalayn has run the army down until it is only a tenth of the size it was a few years ago. The navy has been halved. This Dros was last under siege two centuries ago, when it almost fell. Yet our records tell us that we had forty thousand warriors in the field.’