and sending Inardle a cold look. “Who knows where their true loyalties lie? We cannot trust her,
Axis.”
“Trust is both earned and learned,” Axis said. He was aware that no one knew much
about the Lealfast, but trust had to start somewhere, and Inardle had endured enough over the
past weeks for him to take that step. He was not overly surprised at the strength of BroadWing”s
reaction, but hoped Inardle”s strengths would gain BroadWing”s acceptance over time.
“I am not asking you to hand over your soul this very night, BroadWing,” Axis
continued, “but I do expect you, and Ezekiel, and Egalion, and even StarDrifter when it comes to
military decisions, to respect what Inardle says as if I had said or ordered it. She will be my
voice. Have I made myself clear?”
“StarMan,” StarDrifter said, “you owe Inardle nothing, you were not responsible for what
happened to her in Armat”s camp, and you don”t need to make recompense to her now. Not in
this manner.”
“Inardle,” Axis said.
She was sitting in her chair, very still, very watchful, and Axis thought he could see both
apprehension and excitement in her face.
There was no triumph there, and for that he was very grateful.
“Yes, StarMan?” she said.
“When BroadWing led the Strike Force in our rescue, he used a stratagem known as the
spiral attack formation to rout the Isembaardians who pursued us. BroadWing, could you
describe to Inardle how that works?”
BroadWing sent Axis a black look, but he complied, explaining to those at the table how
the Strike Force used four waves of bowmen and women to attack the horsemen, spiraling
silently down from the moonless sky.
“It was a flawless attack,” Axis said. “Inardle, under what circumstances would you not
use the spiral stratagem?”
Almost as one, all eyes swiveled back to Inardle.
“Not ever on the same men you had used it on before,” she said.
“Why not?” said BroadWing.
“Because having suffered under it once,” Inardle said, “they”d be expecting it again. And
while the spiral formation is patently very effective when used with the advantage of surprise,
given any other circumstances it might prove deadly to the Strike Force.”
“How so?” said Axis.
“All the Icarii are packed relatively closely together. They”d be extremely vulnerable to
attack from archers on the ground.”
“As happened with the Lealfast in Armat”s gully attack,” BroadWing said.
“Yes,” Inardle replied softly, holding BroadWing”s gaze.
“She”s got a good head on her shoulders, BroadWing,” Axis said. “As do, I suspect, most
of the Lealfast. She”ll do.”
BroadWing gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, but he dropped his eyes, and Axis knew
that was as much of an agreement as he was likely to get from the man tonight.
But it was enough.
“Are you certain you want this?” Maximilian asked, very quietly.
“I am certain,” Axis said, and Maximilian nodded.
“As you wish, then,” he said, rising from the table. “And if you will all excuse me…”
Axis asked Inardle to wait for him in his tent, then sought out his father as he left
Maximilian”s tent.
“What are you doing with that woman, Axis?” StarDrifter said.
“I—”
“Have you no thought for Azhure? No sense of loyalty or love for her?”
Axis thought that was a bit much coming from a man who had spent his life cheating on
Axis” own mother.
“She fascinates me,” Axis said, “and she has great potential.”
StarDrifter sneered.
“Stars, StarDrifter, what do you have against her?”
“She is Skraeling! ”
“No, she”s not,” Axis snapped, “and she”s not Icarii, either. You can”t try to bring her
under your control. You are not her Talon, as you are not the Lealfast”s. Yes, the Lealfast are shitty warriors, but so also was the Strike Force when first I took command of it. Of all the sins
of which the Lealfast might be accused, this must be one of the most easily amended. Get used to
her, StarDrifter. Both she and her people will be around a little longer.”
“And Azhure?” StarDrifter said, bringing the conversation back to the battlefield he
wanted. “How will she feel, knowing you betray her with a Skraeling?”
“Azhure is dead,” Axis said. “Dead, StarDrifter! I”ve had to come to terms with that, and
so also must you. Yes, I want Inardle. I”ve watched you with Salome, and I yearn for the warmth
and comfort of a woman by my side again. Inardle intrigues me as no other woman has since I
came back from death. I”m not going to waste what there is of this life wallowing in guilt merely
because I want a little of what once I had with Azhure.”
“Then, by the stars, I hope you are not betraying every single one of us because you lust
for that creature.”
“I know what I am doing,” Axis snarled, then strode off.
Axis paused for a few minutes before he reached his tent. He was still angry and
emotional after the scene with his father, and didn”t want to walk into the tent so wrought up that
he ruined any chance he might have at broaching the distance between Inardle and himself.
He knew he should not have been surprised at StarDrifter”s—or anyone else”s—reaction.
StarDrifter had been emotionally involved with Azhure himself, was very loyal to her, and was
never going to react well to Axis becoming involved with someone else.
Especially not a someone as controversial as Inardle.
Half Skraeling, distant, unknowable, and already part of a military debacle, she was,
indeed, a contentious choice for Axis” second-in-command.
He grinned to himself, calming down. Inardle was certainly much lovelier than his former
second-in-command, and best friend, Belial. Belial had been so… un controversial. Everyone had
liked him, and had gotten on well with him.
Inardle…
“Well,” Axis murmured to himself, finally walking toward the tent, “it will be interesting,
indeed.”
Inardle was sitting on a stool by the brazier when Axis entered. She stood up, looking
wary.
“Do you want the job?” Axis said. “Do you want some responsibility?”
“What makes you think I could do this? I can”t—”
“Don”t ever let me hear you say „can”t” again. You can—you just need training and
experience.”
“But why me? For the stars” sakes, Axis, Georgdi would be better, even Zeboath!”
Axis laughed. He gestured to Inardle to sit down again, and pulled up his own chair by
the brazier. “Zeboath is a fine man, and everyone likes him. He would make a lousy
second-in-command to me.”
“And yet I would? How?”
“Because you have a much harder edge to you. People may not like you so much, but
they will learn to respect you. I think also you can make decisions under pressure, and I need
that.”
Inardle stared at Axis. “How do you know you can trust me?”
“I will take the risk, Inardle. Can I trust you?”
“Of course.” Inardle held his eyes with that, but it took all her willpower to do it. Could
he trust her? No. No. Never.
“You will do well enough,” he said. “It will be a duty you will ease into. I think you will
enjoy it, and be challenged by it. I would never have offered it to you otherwise.”
“You didn”t offer it to me. You simply told everyone.”
“True enough. Inardle, there”s another reason I want you to take on this duty for me. It
isn”t the main reason, but it is significant. You”re my bridge to the Lealfast, my bridge to
understanding them, and them me, and each of us learning to trust each other. Somehow,
whether they like it or not, the Lealfast are going to have to work with me, and with the Icarii,
and with the Isembaardians and whatever forces Georgdi can summon. You and I are going to
have to make that happen, Inardle.”
Inardle needed more than anything to turn this conversation away from the subject of
trust. “Axis, why didn”t you say good-bye to me at the camp?”
He gave a short, uncomfortable laugh. “I wish you wouldn”t keep asking me that
question.”
He took a deep breath, then looked her straight in the eye. “I am sure that Yysell has
arranged something for you, but to be utterly frank I don”t want you sleeping anywhere else
other than in this tent. Will you stay with me, Inardle?”
“Is this why you want me to be your second-in—”
“No, damn it. But it is why I didn”t say good-bye to you at the camp. I hadn”t expected to
want you this badly, Inardle. I hadn”t expected to want you at all.”
“You”re not what I expected. I”ve said that to you.”
Axis waited, his heart thudding uncomfortably, certain she would say no. She was so
direct sometimes, and at other times so very reticent.
Inardle lifted her eyes and looked at him directly. “Am I a novelty, Axis? Is that why you
want me to stay?”