Jehal leaned into his walking staff. At least he could walk now, even if one of his legs was still next to useless and every step made him wince. Jeiros wanted him back in bed, numb with Dreamleaf, but Jehal had had enough of both. He hauled himself out of the Tower of Dusk and found no guards on the doors to stop him. No Adamantine Men in sight at all except for a few up on the walls. He stopped at the doors, half afraid to step out into the Gateyard. The sunlight was overwhelming. So bright.
This won't do. He forced himself out into the light. Someone finally noticed him. They ran away. Presumably off to tell someone else. Maybe I'm still a prisoner after all. Well I might as well stay here and see who comes. I'm hardly about to run off anywhere.
He wasn't disappointed. After he'd sat in the sun for ten minutes, idly watching the men on the walls, the Night Watchman himself strode into the Gateyard. He looked haggard and a lot older than a few weeks ago. He stopped in front of Jehal and bowed.
'Forgive me if I don't rise, Night Watchman.' Jehal smiled as pleasantly as he could bear. 'I seem to be inconvenienced in that respect.'
'I wish you a full and speedy recovery, Your Highness.' Vale's face was as flat and unreadable as it always was.
'I'm sure you do. You know what? I think I might get up anyway. I think I might like to take in the view from the Gatehouse.' And why did I say that? Now I have to walk across a quarter of the palace and climb more than a hundred steps, which I'm clearly not capable of doing.
Vale offered his hand. Jehal waved it away and struggled to his feet on his own. The Night Watchman's face didn't change. 'If you like, I can put one of my men at your disposal to help you.'
Bastard. 'No, thank you, Night Watchman. It is not as bad as it seems.' And now I have to get to the Gatehouse all on my own. Still, it is going to be worth it.
Vale gave a deferential shrug. 'I am inclined to applaud, Your Highness. It is wise to exercise an injury as soon as it is ready.'
'I do not require your applause, Night Watchman. If you wish to help in that regard, you can send some of your very fine whores to my bed.'
'Ah, that I could, but Speaker Zafir has commented more than once that overexertion may simply mean you take longer to heal, Your Highness. In that particular regard, I have heard rumour that Prince Tichane is looking after your interests and doing so very well. I won't pretend to understand what that is supposed to mean.'
'Really?' Vishmir's cock you don't. But you don't know that I'm watching her. You don't know about my little mechanical dragons. In fact there's rather a lot you don't know…
Vale gave a nonchalant shrug. 'Perhaps that means he will be supplying ladies to your bed when you are well enough to enjoy them.' He smiled faintly. 'Or perhaps you used to have some whore and now he's looking after her for you. Such things are hardly my concern so I give them no thought.'
Jehal fumed. 'Night Watchman, if I ordered you to be still so I could hobble over and break your nose, I suppose you'd comply without hesitation?'
'My nose is of little value to the realms and has been broken many times before. Consider it yours.'
'Then I shall treasure it like a gem.' And cut it off one day. 'If I'm a prisoner, I shall simply return to my tower. I wouldn't wish to embarrass you.' His eyes narrowed and he watched the Night Watchman carefully. Tra sure I seem harmless enough, but you never know quite what might happen if you allow one of your prisoners to roam. I might roam to your brothel and overexert myself or something equally terrible. Who knows – I might push someone off a balcony.'
The smallest flicker of a shadow crossed Vale's face. That was enough. Inside, Jehal smiled.
Vale turned away. 'The speaker has not withdrawn her order regarding your confinement, but she has since ordered Jeiros and the alchemists to care for you as best they can. We shall call this exercise a part of your rehabilitation. I shall escort you myself.'
'Very kind of you.' Jehal found he couldn't resist. 'But are you sure you can spare the time? You look like you've just got out of bed.'
'I apologise if my appearance troubles you, Your Highness.' They began to walk towards the Gatehouse. 'The tension in the realms has grown a great deal of late. I have been busy.'
Walking across the Gateyard and climbing the steps to the top of the Gatehouse ought to have taken a few minutes. By the time Jehal got there, he'd spent the hardest half-hour he could remember. He was soaked in sweat, his leg was in silent shrieking agony and he was ready to collapse. The Night Watchman didn't say a word, didn't offer to help. It was almost as though he understood the necessity of what Jehal was doing.
He smelled Shezira before he saw her. The cages where she and Valgar hung were not far from the gates, suspended from huge poles. There wasn't much left of either of them but it was a warm day and the wind wasn't in the mood to spare Jehal's nose. By the time he reached the top, he was ready to retch. He made himself stand and stare at them both anyway. Somehow he found it satisfying. In a sort of I'm-alive-and-you're-not kind of way.
There was a third cage too. The man inside was… Ancestors! He's still alive. Barely. 'I see you've strung up another one. What did this one do?'
Vale pursed his lips. 'Hasn't Jeiros told you? That's Prince Sakabian. He lost twenty-five of the speaker's dragons to the traitor queen and had the audacity to survive. Then he was witless enough to return with his tale.'
Jehal's lip curled. 'Zafir would prefer he'd died or never returned, and her twenty-five dragons had simply disappeared into the mountains without a trace, would she?' Twenty-five! What a blow! She must be desperate! He tried to hide his glee. Desperate was good. Desperate was very good. 'And Almiri did that? Good for her. If a bit stupid. Let me guess, she's demanding a trade. The dragons Zafir seized on the Night of the Knives for the ones Almiri now holds at Evenspire.'
'I wouldn't know.' Vale's brow furrowed. 'Why did you come up here, Prince Jehal?' He seemed genuinely surprised, even a little pitying. You're slipping, Vale. At least now I know how things stand.
'You think I'm going to be out there in a cage of my own soon, do you?'
'I cannot read the speaker's mind, Your Highness. I simply obey the orders I am given.' Oh but you want me out there, don't you? Just like you wanted Shezira out there. You're going to be in for such a disappointment.
'Actually, I didn't much want to come here. I wanted you to come here. I wanted to watch you here, seeing this. That's why I came up here.' Yes. Such a disappointment. And now the fun starts.
'I see this every day, Your Highness.'
'And you'll see it every day for weeks to come and I'm sure there will be more. But from tomorrow you'll see it in a different light. I know why you wanted Shezira dead. I know you let her go to Hyram to try and make some sort of peace with him when you should have confined her to her tower.'
Vale didn't flinch. 'Shezira had already gone to Speaker Hyram when my men reached her tower.'
Jehal cocked his head. 'That is a lie, Night Watchman.'
'That is the truth, Your Highness. The lie comes from whoever told you otherwise.'
'No.' Jehal laughed. 'No one told me otherwise, Night Watchmen. I saw it for myself.'
Vale's turn to laugh. 'You could not, Prince Jehal. You were far across the palace in the Tower of Air. You could not have seen what you claim from there.'
'Is that so?' Jehal's grin spread across his face. 'I'm afraid you are much mistaken, Night Watchmen. I had eyes all over the palace that night and not all were men. I came up here because I have something to show you.' Slowly, he unwrapped a strip of white silk from around his wrist. 'I know you can keep a secret, Night Watchman. This is a treasure that the Taiytakei gave to me for my wedding, and that I, in turn, gave to the speaker as a sign of my devotion and my trust.'
He held out the silk. Vale looked at it, obviously puzzled. 'Forgive me. Prince Jehal, but I don't understand. What are you showing me?'
'A piece of silk, Night Watchman. Tie it across your eyes. I would sit down first, if I were you. Disorientation is a common first experience.' He watched Vale hesitate. 'I'm hardly in a position to run away.'
The Night Watchman laughed. 'Run away? Prince Jehal, I wouldn't put it past you. I'm more concerned at receiving a knife in my ribs.'
'I'm not really a knife person, Night Watchman. When I have an enemy to deal with, I prefer to watch them build their own pyre and then linger powerless on top of it for a while while I play carelessly with matches beneath.' He gave Vale a toothy smile. 'Put it on. You'll see through the eyes of… of something else. I will not tell you what.'
Slowly, the Night Watchman put the silk to his eyes, although he held it with his hands and didn't tie it. He didn't wobble or stagger either. Impressed? I suppose I have to be.
'What do you see?'
'An eyrie.' Vale took the cloth away from his eyes. 'Drotan's Top. From the top of Hyram's Tor.'
'Yes, you did. And on the Night of the Knives when I put that silk to my eyes, do you know what I saw? I saw you, Night Watchman. I saw you let Shezira go when you should have seized her.'
Vale paled. A crac\ in your armour at last.
'Yes, Night Watchman, I really did see it all. You let Shezira go.'
'It was for the good of the realms.' His voice had gone husky.
'Didn't really work out that way, did it? Do you want to know something else? It might make you feel a bit better. After all, this is Zafir's toy not mine. I'm imagining she saw everything too.'
'She never said…'
'She never said anything about you disobeying her direct order? It did all turn out rather nicely in her favour.' Jehal shrugged. 'Mind you, letting Shezira go was clear disobedience and I think we both know that our speaker doesn't take too well to being disobeyed. Maybe she wasn't watching after all. I'll ask her, if you like.' He cocked his head in mock surprise. 'How interesting that might be. Tell me, Night Watchman: did every single witness among your men die that night?'
'No, Prince Jehal, they did not. I do not waste my own men. They are posted where they will do no harm.' Vale sounded like he was chewing on gravel.
'Good for you.' Jehal smiled. 'Now shall I tell you something else?' He nodded over the wall towards the cages. 'I saw Hyram go over the balcony with the same eyes that saw you betray your speaker. Shezira never touched him. You beheaded an innocent queen.'
'I followed the speaker's orders.'
'You should really make up your mind, Night Watchman. Are you a guardian of the realms with a sacred duty to preserve our peace and our way of life? Or are you a man who does as he's told, no matter what fool gives him his orders?'Jehal snorted. 'But no, we both know you can't even do that right, can you?'
Vale's face didn't change. 'Should I tell Master Jeiros about the blood-mage who comes to see you, Your Highness? It would probably be wise to consider his advice.'
Jehal shrugged. 'Why not tell the speaker as well?'
'I imagine she already knows.' He shrugged. 'We are the Adamantine Men, Your Highness. We trace our traditions to the earliest days of the Embers. We were the first to rise up against the blood-mages because we had nothing to lose. We were their fodder, their unwilling sacrifices to the dragons. The Embers of today may choose their way, but the first Adamantine Men did not. The alchemists guard the realms against the dragons now. The dragon-kings guard against the alchemists, the speaker guards against the dragon-kings and we guard against them all. We are the last resort, Your Highness. We guard against tyranny. It is a precarious balance at best. People like you are anathema to me. Tell the speaker whatever you wish.'
Jehal stared at Vale as he finished. 'You actually believe that, don't you?' He hauled himself painfully to his feet. The Tower of Dusk felt a very long way away, but at least the stairs from the gatehouse would be easier going down. 'I think I would like to go back to my prison now. You can go first. Make sure you're ready to catch me. I wouldn't want to accidentally slip and break my neck. Oh, and I think, on reflection, I shall go elsewhere for my whores. No offence, Night Watchman, but I would prefer to be a little more certain of their qualities.'
Vale went wordlessly down. Jehal sat on the top step and slid down from one to the next. Which hurt and made him look like an idiot, but he simply didn't have the strength to do anything else. At the bottom the Night Watchman walked away and Jehal watched him go.
First blood was to you, Vale Tassan. But now you see what is coming and I promise all the other victories will be mine. Every single petty little one of them, until tormenting you is simply a bore.
First things first, though. He would see if this blood-mage could deliver on his promises. And after that there was the little matter of heirs and whether he could still father them. Or at least enjoy trying.