Talon of the Silver Hawk

‘Something about hunting dogs.’ He paused, then added, ‘I still do not speak the Roldemish tongue well, Robert.’

De Lyis was motionless for a few seconds, then nodded. ‘Fair enough.’ Next, he launched into a series of questions, ranging from who ate what, what was discussed at various times, what manner of clothing and accessories the ladies wore, and how many drinks each man consumed, until it seemed to Talon he would be there all night.

Suddenly, Robert said, ‘That’s all. Return to the barn and sleep there until you are called. Then you will be moving into the servants’ quarters here; you will share a room with Gibbs and Lars.’

‘Am I then to be a servant in Kendrick’s household?’

Robert smiled slightly. ‘For a time, young Talon. For a time.’

Talon rose and made his way through the kitchen, where loaves were rising before the hearth, waiting to be baked first thing in the morning. Realizing he had not eaten for hours, Talon paused to snatch an apple from a large bowl and bit into it. He thought they were to be used for pies, but was content that the loss of one would be no great hardship to Leo.

Making his way outside, he saw that the eastern sky was lightening. Soon it would be the time before dawn his people knew as the Wolf’s Tail, that grey-upon-grey time in which a man can steal an early march upon the hunt or a long journey, before the dawn breaks.

Entering the barn and seeking out his pallet, Talon threw himself down, fatigue overwhelming him. The half-eaten apple fell from his hand. As he wondered what fate had in store for him and the reason behind Robert’s many and seemingly pointless questions, Talon fell quickly into an exhausted sleep.

• CHAPTER FOUR • (#ulink_7a059013-9710-55ea-b983-9fa8e72eee27)

Games (#ulink_7a059013-9710-55ea-b983-9fa8e72eee27)

TALON FROWNED.

He looked at the cards laid out upon the table and attempted to discern any choice that might create a solution. After examining the four cards he had just turned over, he realized there was no possible way he could continue the game.

Sighing, half in frustration, half out of boredom, he swept up the cards and began reshuffling them. He resisted the temptation to turn and see if the two men watching him were showing any reaction.

The white-haired man he had thought of as ‘Snowcap’, but who was actually named Magnus, stood beside Robert, who was sitting on a stool, brought into the dining room from the common room. Robert had introduced the concept of cards to Talon a week earlier.

The deck consisted of fifty-two cards, in four suits: cups, wands, swords and diamonds, each a different colour, the cups being blue, wands green, swords black, and diamonds yellow. They were used primarily for games likel-in-land, pashawa, and poker, or po-kir as it was called in Kesh. Robert had demonstrated several games and had Talon play a few hands of each to get familiar with the ordering of the suits, from the card known as the ‘ace’, which Robert explained came from a Bas-Tyran word for ‘unit’, to the lord. The lower cards were numbered from two to ten, but Talon saw no logic as to why the unit, or the one as he thought of it, was the most valuable card, more so than the lord, lady, or captain.

Talon smiled slightly to himself. He didn’t know why that little fact, that the lowest number, the single unit, was the most valuable card, irritated him. Still, he did well enough with the games Robert had taught him. Then Robert had introduced him to the concept of solitary play, using the deck for idle amusement when lacking opposing players. The games were roughly a variation on a theme, different ‘layouts’, as Robert called them, with different ways in which to draw cards from the deck. Some games required the player to build cards in rows based on rank, in alternating colours of light and dark, or in order of number, or a combination.

Earlier in the previous day Robert had taken Talon from the kitchen – there were no guests so duty was light – and had brought him into the dining hall. There he had introduced the game of ‘four lord’s.

It was a perplexing game. Four lords were laid out from right to left, and four cards were dealt face up. The object of the game was to place the cards by suit next to the lords, the only prohibition being that cards must be placed next to cards of the same number or suit. The next goal was to create ‘packs’ of four identical number cards, in a square. This continued until all four aces were together, at which point they were retired from the game. Then the twos, and so fourth until only the lords remained.

Talon had discovered early on that it was a very difficult game to win, relying far too much on the random luck of cards coming out in a certain order, rather than skill. But some skill was required in anticipating situations in which cards would be isolated from others of like value.

For half a day Talon had eagerly played the game, determined to become a master at it. Then he realized just how much random luck was involved and became disenchanted with it. Yet Robert still insisted that he play, and sat behind silently to observe.

As Talon laid out the next game, he wondered not for the first time exactly why Robert was doing this.

Magnus whispered, ‘Robert, why are you doing this?’

Robert whispered, ‘The boy’s people have little abstract logic in their daily lives. They were hunters, farmers, poets and warriors, but their mathematics were basic and all the disciplines based upon advanced logic were lacking to them. They had builders, yes, but no engineers and far fewer magic-users than any other people I’m aware of, perhaps one or two throughout the entire land of the Orosini.’

They spoke in the King’s Tongue, the language of the Kingdom of the Isles, to prevent Talon from understanding them – and Robert judged his hearing very sharp.

‘So the games are to teach him logic?’

Robert nodded. ‘They are a start. This is very basic problem-solving.’

Magnus’s pale blue eyes were fixed upon the cards on the table. ‘I’ve played four lords, Robert. You taught it to me, remember? It is a difficult game. He won’t win many.’

Robert smiled. ‘It’s not about winning. It’s about recognizing a no-win situation. See, he’s recognized that those four cards ensure that he can’t win.’ They watched as Talon gathered up the cards, leaving the lords in place, and started a new game. ‘At first, he went through the entire deck to reach the point of realizing he had no chance of winning. Now, less than two days later he’s recognizing the more subtle combinations that show he can’t win.’

‘Very well. So he’s got potential, talent even. That doesn’t address the question of what it is you plan to do with the boy.’

‘Patience, my impetuous friend.’ He glanced at Magnus, who watched Talon with a fixed gaze. ‘It would have been better had you more of your father’s temperament than your mother’s temper.’

The white-haired man didn’t shift his gaze, but he did smile. ‘I’ve heard that from you more than once, old friend.’ He then looked at Robert. ‘I’m getting better at reining in my temper, you know.’

‘Haven’t destroyed a city in the last few weeks, have you?’

Magnus grinned. ‘Not that I noticed.’ Then the stern expression returned. ‘I chafe at these games within games.’

‘Ah,’ said Robert. ‘Again your mother’s son. Your father has taught me over my entire adult lifetime that we can only deal with our enemies when they present themselves. Over the last thirty years we’ve seen so many different assaults upon the tranquillity of our lives that it defies imagining. And there’s only been one constant.’

‘Which is?’ Magnus turned his attention again to Talon’s game.

‘That no two ploys of the enemy have been alike. The servants of the Nameless One are cunning and they learn from their mistakes. Raw power failed, so now they achieve their goals through stealth. We must respond in kind.’

‘But this boy …?’

‘Fate spared him for a reason, I believe,’ said Robert. ‘Or at least, I’m trying to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. He’s got … something. I think had this tragedy not befallen his people, he would have grown up to be simply another young Orosini man, a husband and father, warrior when the need arose, farmer, hunter and fisherman. He would have taught his sons the ways of his ancestors and died in old age satisfied at his lot.

‘But take that same lad and forge him in the crucible of misfortune and heartbreak, and who knows what will occur? Like fired iron, will he become brittle and easily broken, or can he be turned to steel?’

Magnus remained silent as Talon began another game. ‘A dagger, no matter how well forged, has two edges, Robert. It can cut both ways.’

‘Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs, Magnus.’

Magnus grinned. ‘My father never knew his mother, so the only grandmother I’m aware of did a fair job of conquering half the world; I wouldn’t have dreamed of teaching her anything.’

‘And you have your mother’s nasty sense of humour, too.’ He turned from the King’s Tongue to Roldemish to say, ‘Talon, that’s enough. It’s time for you to return to the kitchen. Leo will tell you what needs to be done.’

Talon put the cards away in a small box and handed the box to Robert, then hurried to the kitchen.

Magnus said, ‘I’m still uncertain what you think this boy will contribute to our cause.’

Robert shrugged. ‘Your father showed me many things when I was young, but the most important lesson of all was simply the very nature of your home. Your island provided refuge and school to all manner of beings I couldn’t have imagined in my most youthful dreams.’ He pointed towards the kitchen. ‘That boy may prove to be nothing more than a valuable servant, or perhaps a well-crafted tool.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘But he also could be something far more important, an independent mind loyal to our cause.’

Magnus was silent for a long moment. Then he said, ‘I doubt it.’

Robert smiled warmly. ‘We had doubts about you when you were younger. I remember a certain incident when you had to be confined to your room for … what was it? A week?’

Magnus returned a faint smile. ‘It wasn’t my fault, remember?’

Robert nodded indulgently. ‘It never was.’