Chapter 328 Imperial Politics (1/2)
As Arran and the other ation, he saw that a group of several dozen soldiers had broken off from Lord Rannoc's newly arrived forces And now, those soldiers were approaching thelanced at the approaching soldiers, a frown on his face ”Keep going,” he said after a moment ”And whatever happens, re but cal onward at a steady pace Whatever was about to happen, rashness could only roup of soldiers came closer, he realized they hadn't been the only ones who noticed as happening A group of soldiers had broken off fro over, too
Yet Lord Rannoc's forces were the first to arrive, and at their head was a tall wo a starmetal sword
”Halt!” she com of this? Where are you taking these men?”
”We accepted a contract with Lord Kadun,” the captain replied He spoke in a calh he made no attempt to further provoke the woman, there was no fear to be seen in his eyes
The woman looked at him with a mixture of fury and astonishave the nized them as Body Refiners And equally obvious was that thehundreds of Body Refiners to Lord Kadun nearly drove her e
”Is that a problem?” Captain Kaleesh asked He spoke in a friendly tone as he faced the woer
It was the wrong question In an instant, the wo into the captain's storound, her hand shot to the starmetal sword at her side
Yet before she could draw the weapon, an outraged voice sounded
”Jala! What do you think you're doing!?”
Lord Kadun's steward had arrived just in time, with nearly fifty soldiers behind him And from the look in their eyes, all of them were ready for battle
The wo from her face in an instant ”Payaht you could steal these ht from under my nose?”
The steward faced her with a determined expression that nevertheless held a hint of worry ”Where they go is no business of yours,” he said ”They accepted ht”
”And you think I would just let that happen?”
Though the woman spoke in an icy voice, Arran did not fail to notice that her hand was still on the hilt of her sword And behind her, her soldiers seemed ready for battle as well, with er for it
For several roups faced each other silently, with the tension in the air around theht a battle could erupt at any roup arrived — a hundred cauardswoman who'd welcomed Arran to the cauardswoh there was more than a trace of worry in her voice As she approached, she shot an exasperated look at Captain Kaleesh, as only just getting back to his feet
Arran knew the captain had allowed himself to be knocked down, however When they sparred, he had attacked the man far more forcefully, and with far less to show for it But it seeth, at least for the ti
Lord Rannoc's steward — if that hat she was — gave the guardswoman a scornful look ”Kadun's lackey claimed all these Body Refiners for hiuardswo, reluctance clear in her eyes ”It's not my decision to make,” she said ”I cannot control the outsiders' choices”
”Nonsense!” the hard-faced wo a rift in the Iuardsworoups arrived, their curiosity drawn by the open confrontation There were three separate groups frouilds, and another froh they kept a distance of several dozen paces, they looked on with great interest
Lord Rannoc's delegate looked at the newly arrived groups, and as she did, a small smile formed on her face
”Everyone!” she called out ”Kadun's servant has tried to swindle us all, clai the Body Refiners for himself before any of us had a chance to even look at them I propose a couardswo the peace?”
Relief flashed across the guardswoman's face ”Such a compromise seems fair,” she said ”Especially if it prevents needless conflict”
As Arran looked at the groups of newcoreed in their eyes Clearly, they welco a few dozen Body Refiners as well
But at that roup of priests that was standing a few dozen paces away, he called out, ”Most revered teachers, may I call upon you for your wisdoh the crowd around him Yet after a moment, one of the priests stepped forward — a heavy-set man in immaculate white robes, with a face that showed just a trace of satisfaction for being called upon