‘Have I done something to offend you, Bane?’
‘Not at all.’ He felt awkward standing there.
‘Are you still planning to fight tomorrow?’ she asked him.
‘Yes.’
‘I met him, you know. Voltan. I met him in the marketplace. I liked him. Oh, I know people say he is evil, but I saw him at one of our meetings. The Veiled Lady touched his head and blessed him. So he can’t be all bad.’
Bane sighed. ‘I do not know if he is all bad. He killed someone I loved. He will die for that, not for some . . . political intrigue.’
‘He will die anyway, Bane. We all do. It is a shame that you cannot forgive him.’
‘Some things cannot be forgiven.’
‘I do not believe that.’
‘That is because you have never suffered,’ he said, a note of anger in his voice. ‘It is so easy for people like you, living in luxury, servants attending your every need. What is there to forgive? A cook makes your porridge too thin? Oh, I forgive you. But the women of the Gath who saw their babes plucked from their arms by Stone soldiers, their little heads smashed against the walls of the houses, they know what suffering is. Do they forgive? I saw Voltan plunge his sword into the heart of the woman I loved. He laughed as he did it. And you ask me to forgive? Look around you! Everything you have here – everything in this city – is built on the blood of slaughtered people. Maybe one day they will forgive you. But I doubt it.’ Furious now, he strode away from her.
As he reached the front of the house he saw two men walking along the gravel path. ‘Persis!’ he shouted, and went to meet them. Both were dressed in filthy clothes, which stank horribly.
‘It is good to see you, my boy,’ said Persis wearily. ‘Is there somewhere we can cleanse ourselves of this dungeon aroma?’
‘Of course. Follow me.’
Persis was too large and Norwin too small for any of the clothes in the house to fit them, so while they were bathing Bane sent a servant to the market to purchase fresh garments. Cara and Maro, who had seen the men arrive, came to Bane as he waited in the east-facing main living room. ‘Was that Persis?’ she asked.
‘Yes. They were freed yesterday, but with no money and no friends here they sought us out.’
‘I am glad that they did. I shall get the cook to prepare them some food.’ She moved away and Maro remained. Bane gestured him to a chair.
‘I know a friend of yours,’ said Maro. ‘Banouin.’
‘He is not a friend. He is someone I once knew.’
‘Oh. I did not realize. He speaks of you fondly.’
‘I have always preferred fond deeds to fond words,’ said Bane. ‘How is he?’
‘He left the city this morning. He is going home. I shall miss him.’
Bane had no interest in talking of his former friend, and changed the subject. ‘How did you and Cara meet?’
Maro smiled. ‘I suppose it is safe to say it now, but I saw her at one of the Veiled Lady’s gatherings. Afterwards we talked and . . .’ He spread his hands. ‘I grew to love her. I shall be nineteen in three weeks. We plan to wed then.’
‘She is a fine girl.’
‘I know that.’
‘What are your plans?’
‘I shall become a soldier, like my father.’
‘A soldier?’ queried Bane. ‘I thought you Cultists did not believe in war.’
‘I am not a Cultist. I have attended their meetings, and there is much about their philosophy that I admire. But this is not a perfect world, and there are many dangers in it. I am perfectly willing to offer love and generosity of spirit to all I meet, but there will be a sword at my side in case that generosity and love are not reciprocated.’
Bane nodded agreement. ‘How does Cara feel about this?’ ‘How do you think?’ responded Maro, with a grin.
Chapter Ten
‘Can I count on your support?’ Jasaray asked Bendegit Bran, as the two met for the last time, on the steps of the Imperial Palace. Fiallach was waiting with the horses and the ten-man Honour Guard that was to accompany them to the city gates.