Wrath of Empire

Epilogue

Styke stood at the top of one of the remaining towers of the Starlight citadel, leaning on the stone battlements as he slowly carved a horse from a bit of pine. His left hand still had a twinge from the firing squad despite two rounds of sorcerous healing over the last few months, and the pine slipped in his hand a few times as he worked. He sucked away the blood each time, enjoying the biting feel of the tiny cuts.

“I’m getting too big for wooden horses,” Celine told him, dangling her feet off the edge of the tower.

“Who said I’m making it for you?”

“You always make them for me.”

Styke held the horse up to the light, then shaved a bit more wood off each of the back legs. “You’re an ungrateful little brat, you know that?”

Celine swung her legs around and crossed the tower to kiss him on the cheek, before returning to her spot. “You’re getting better with the knife.”

“Sorcerous healing will do that.”

“I thought you said practice makes you better?”

“I used to be quite good at carving things,” Styke answered, blowing wood shavings off the back of his hand. “I had to relearn how to do it with a crippled hand and a dull knife. Come to think of it, having something sharp on hand makes things a lot easier, too.” He took the horse and walked over to Celine, holding it in two fingers and riding it across her shoulder, then holding it in front of her eyes. “What breed is he?”

“He is a she,” Celine said pointedly. “And she’s a Gurlish draft horse.”

Styke frowned at the carving. “I was aiming for a Starlish draft, but it does look more like a Gurlish, doesn’t it?” He set the carving next to her. “How is Margo?”

“We’re getting used to each other.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“Good. I like her a lot. She still starts when she hears a gunshot.”

“She’s a good horse. We’ll train that out of her.”

Styke paused, hearing the soft sound of footsteps on the stairs behind him, and half turned to watch Lindet emerge on the parapet. She stood straight-backed and formal by the stairs, her face once again unreadably haughty. She raised her chin at Styke, then let her eyes wander to Celine. There was a question there. He ignored it.

Celine climbed down from the battlements and stared up at Lindet. “You’re the Lady Chancellor?”

“I am.”

Styke put one elbow on the parapet and tried not to look interested in where this conversation was about to go.

“You don’t look very dangerous.”

“You don’t look very interesting. Yet it seems Ben Styke has taken an interest in you.”

Celine sniffed, unimpressed. “My da died in the labor camps. Ben protects me. He said he’s made a habit of protecting little girls until they are big enough to protect themselves.”

Lindet’s eye twitched, and Styke rolled his tongue around his teeth in an effort to suppress a smile. “It seems our secret is out,” Lindet said. “It’s the talk of the entire Third Army. You know how I feel about tongues wagging.”

“You can’t control everything,” Styke said.

“I can try.”

“You can try. But you’ll fail.”

Lindet sighed, then crossed the tower to stand next to him, looking to the east, along the northern coast of the Hammer. “You’re not worried about your reputation? Mad Ben Styke, brother to the ruler of Fatrasta? You’re no longer a loose cannon, a force of nature. They’ll know that you came from someplace. That your sister is the most powerful woman on the continent. Family connections tend to … dim the perception that others have of your accomplishments.”

“I’ve never really given a shit what anyone thought about me,” Styke replied, twirling his lancers’ ring on his finger. “You’re not worried about your reputation?”

“I sent my own brother to the labor camps for a decade.” Lindet shrugged. “I think that goes rather well with my reputation.” He saw the flicker of a smile at the corner of her mouth and rolled his eyes.

“I should throw you off this tower.”

Lindet lifted her hand, placing it on Styke’s arm. “I know. Your healing, did it go well?”

“It did, thanks.” Styke instinctively rolled his shoulders, feeling the tightness from the healed cuts on his torso and the bullet wound in his shoulder. “Have you found the Dynize Army?”

“I have. They pulled back once your men threw open the doors of the citadel. It seems they didn’t want to attack a field army and a fortress at the same time, and during a storm no less.”

“Your ships?”

“I lost two to the storm. Three to the citadel guns. The fleet is in surprisingly good shape, considering the circumstances.” She paused, her eyes narrowing as if something had pained her. “I … I would have lost the war if you had not come in after me. The Third would have been crushed, my fleet scattered, and my person either captured or executed. Thank you for that.”

Styke remained silent. He couldn’t remember the last time Lindet had thanked him for something. Not since childhood, certainly.

Lindet continued. “I have two gifts for you. The first is command of this citadel. Your lancers have earned some rest. They can get drunk off the nearby caches and sweep the coast of any Dynize landing parties. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“You want to put me in command of a city?” Styke asked flatly.

“A city without any people in it, yes. I’ll leave a garrison large enough to man the walls, and your lancers. I think this is a good spot for you … for now. I’m going with the Third first thing in the morning, and we’re going to sweep the Dynize off the Hammer. Once we’re ready to head into the mainland, I will summon you.”

Styke couldn’t quite manage a thank-you. It was too obvious that Lindet was giving him the command so she could keep an eye on him. Not a lot of places he could go, sitting out here on the end of the Hammer. “What’s the second gift?”

“The second gift is stored in a vault about seven miles southeast of here. You probably rode past it during your recent adventures.”

Styke perked up, his heart quickening. “What is it?”

A self-satisfied smile cracked Lindet’s face. “Your armor. All of it. Three hundred sets, plus another two hundred that I’ve gathered since the war. They don’t all match, not like the originals, but I don’t think that will matter to you.”

Styke’s mouth was dry. “I knew you were lying about destroying them.”

“I knew you knew I was lying.” Lindet gave a shrug, as if it didn’t matter. “Tell me about the Riflejack cavalry among the lancers.”

It was Styke’s turn to be coy. “I picked up a few friends along the way.”

“And your goals in this part of the continent?”

Styke gave her a thin smile.

Lindet rolled her eyes. “You’re looking for them, aren’t you? The other godstones?” She waited just a moment for an answer, then made a dismissive gesture. “The one on the Hammer. I’m guessing you didn’t find it?”

“I did not.”

“Good. You should keep your distance from the stones, Benjamin. You may be mad, but you don’t want anything to do with them.”

“And you do?” Styke asked, unable to keep the petulance out of his voice.

“Hmm. Tell me, where is the bone-eye woman who killed Dvory? What was her name?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

All trace of emotion left Lindet’s face. Her jaw tensed. “I’ve had my men looking everywhere for her, yet she seems to have disappeared without a trace. Your Mad Lancers are pretending she never existed.”

“Odd, that. It’s as if she never did.”

Lindet snorted. “I’m leaving, Benjamin. You will stay here, and you will protect the coast from the Dynize. When I summon you, I expect you to have your armor and I expect you to have moved past this godstone nonsense. The stones will remain unrecovered until this war is won. Do you understand?” She turned on her heel and left the tower without waiting for an answer.

Styke leaned on the battlements, feeling tired, and watched the ships anchored out past the breakers. There were transports, ships of the line, commandeered merchantmen. It was, as he’d suspected, everything that Lindet had left in this part of the country. Now they crouched in the shadow of Starlight’s guns, knowing they were the only protection against the roving Dynize fleets.

Less than a minute had passed before he heard footsteps again. They belonged to Ibana, and she joined him at the battlements immediately and glanced out to sea before fixing him with a sidelong stare. “I passed Lindet on the way up here.”

“Yeah.”

“Sister, eh?”

“Yeah.” Styke didn’t really much feel like talking about it. The conversation was going to be a long one, and very uncomfortable.

To his surprise, all Ibana said was, “That explains a lot. So what’s our plan now?”

“Lindet has left me in charge of Starlight.”

“She wants to keep an eye on you.”

“That she does.”

“So what will you do?”

“She also told me where my armor is. There’s a vault seven miles from here. I want you and the lancers to head out immediately and fetch it.”

This got Ibana’s attention. A grin slowly spread across her face, and he could see a hungry look in her eye. “We have our armor back.”

“That we do. We’re going to wait until Lindet’s been gone for three days. Then we’re going to commandeer her fleet and invade Dynize. Sound good?”

Ibana straightened, a fierce grin on her face. “With our armor? That sounds wonderful.”