The Complete Conclave of Shadows Trilogy: Talon of the Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, Exile’s Return

‘More,’ said Caleb as a pretty girl entered from the kitchen and brought over a tray of food. ‘Talon, this is Ella.’

Talon glanced at the girl, who was slender as a reed, yet he instantly saw the resemblance to Angelica. She was perhaps a few years older than Talon, with blue eyes and very dark hair, made dramatic by a very pale complexion and pinkly rosy cheeks. She wore a plain dress of blue linen and a white apron, but the belt around her waist revealed a pleasing proportion and ample curves despite her being so slender.

‘Hello,’ he said.

She smiled and instantly Talon was struck by how pretty she was. She put down the tray and glanced at Caleb with an open warmth and then said, ‘I’ll be back if you need anything.’

As she hurried back to the kitchen, more workers entered the inn. When she reached the bar, one of the arriving porters called out, ‘Ella!’

She paused for a moment and her expression darkened. ‘Hello, Forney,’ she said, then without another word she walked quickly into the kitchen.

Talon studied the newcomer. He was a young man, perhaps Caleb’s age, sturdily built with a thick thatch of black hair. His clothing was rough, but relatively clean. He moved to the bar with his companions.

Jacob came into the bar from the kitchen, greeted a few of the regular patrons of the inn and came over to the table. Caleb pushed out a chair for him and the young man sat down. ‘Your horses are bedded and fed. The bay mare was favouring her left front hoof, so I had a look at it. Picked up a small stone. Could be forming an abscess.’

Talon had picked out the hooves every night and when resting at noon, so the animal must have picked up the stone along the last leg of the journey.

Jacob continued. ‘I’ll keep an eye on it.’ He leaned forward and lowered his voice. With an evil grin, he said, ‘So, has Forney seen Ella talking to you yet?’ Caleb didn’t look amused. Jacob turned to Talon. ‘My sister has set her cap at our friend here, but young Forney over there is determined to marry her.’

Talon was still vague as to the marriage customs of these people, but he was beginning to sense things were nowhere near as formal among the city people – as he thought of everyone who wasn’t Orosini – as they had been at home. Not quite knowing what to say, Talon said nothing.

Caleb glanced over at Forney then said to Jacob, ‘I’ve told your sister I like her, but you know as well as I do I’m a long way from marriage.’ He got a distant look, then added softly, ‘If I ever do wed.’ He gave them a slight smile. ‘Besides, if I read things right, Forney would have his work cut out for him even if I’d never set foot in Latagore.’

Jacob laughed. ‘He does get on Ella’s bad side more than most, for some reason. But then it’s all of a piece, isn’t it? You want what you can’t have.’

Talon looked puzzled. Jacob noticed and said, ‘Ella wants Caleb here, but can’t have him, and Forney wants Ella, and can’t have her. It’s the same, see?’

Talon didn’t, entirely, but he nodded as if he did. After a moment, he said, ‘Who is he?’

‘Forney?’ asked Jacob with a shrug. ‘He’s a good enough sort, but nothing special.’

Caleb raised an eyebrow and gave Jacob a sardonic half-smile.

‘All right, so his father is the wealthiest shipper in the region.’

Talon didn’t know much about people of wealth, save those who visited Kendrick’s, so he said, ‘He dresses much like the others.’

‘That’s his father’s doing. The old man wants the son to learn the business from the wagon-hubs up. As I said, he’s not a bad sort.’ Then he added, ‘Nothing like our mysterious travelling man, here.’ He patted Caleb on the shoulder. ‘Ella’s had her cap set at him since she was … what? Fifteen?’

‘That was four years ago, Jacob.’

Jacob nodded. ‘I keep telling her that if she got to know you, she’d change her mind, but you know how sisters are.’

‘Not really,’ said Caleb. ‘I have a brother, remember?’

A strange expression passed over Jacob’s face. It was only for a bare instant, but Talon noticed it. Then, forcing lightness into his voice, Jacob said, ‘Magnus is hard to forget.’ He pushed his chair back noisily and stood up. ‘Well, I have other duties to attend to. If you need anything, just ask.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ said Caleb.

Talon waited for a moment for Jacob to leave, then said to Caleb, ‘There are so many things I don’t understand about you people.’

‘You people?’ repeated Caleb.

‘You and Jacob, and those back at Kendrick’s.’ He struggled with the concept. ‘People who are not Orosini.’

Caleb glanced around the room. ‘It’s better that you forget you’re Orosini, at least when you’re within hearing range of strangers.’

‘Why?’

‘Someone went to a lot of trouble to see the Orosini dead, Talon. While you, alone, pose no threat to those people, the fact that you witnessed the calculated genocide of an entire nation makes you a potential … embarrassment.’ He raised his voice. ‘Now, back to what you said; you don’t understand what?’

Talon looked away as if unwilling to meet Caleb’s gaze. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and flat. ‘The … banter, I think is the word. The … joking, but not joking speech.’

‘The teasing.’

‘Yes, that’s the word. Lela does it with me sometimes, and there are moments when I don’t know if she’s serious about what she’s saying or not.’

Caleb shrugged. ‘That hardly makes you unique among young men, Talon.’

‘Perhaps, but you’re older than I am and I thought—’

Caleb cut him off with a rare laugh. ‘I can be of no help to you, my young friend.’ He leaned forward and looked into his mug of ale. ‘Some day, perhaps, you’ll meet the rest of my family and see where I was raised. But even if you never do, you should know that my upbringing was anything but ordinary.’ He glanced up and smiled. ‘I grew up as a blind man would among the sighted.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘One day I’ll explain that, but suffice it to say I was not a happy child. My parents are exceptional people, talented beyond imagining, but they had no means to heal what I saw as a flaw in my nature.’

Talon sat back, his expression one of open astonishment. ‘I perceive no flaw in you, Caleb. I judge you to be the best hunter I have known, and my people are renowned for hunting. I have studied enough with Kendrick with the sword to see you’re as gifted with the blade as with the bow. You’re plain speaking, yet thoughtful. You have patience and look deeply into things. What is lacking?’

Caleb smiled and sat back. ‘Becoming a student of human nature, aren’t you? Robert will do that to a man, given enough time. It’s one of his gifts. What is lacking,’ he said softly, ‘is magic. My brother is not the only practitioner of magic in my family; rather I am the only one who does not have the gift. I grew up on an island where I was virtually alone in this.’

Talon said, ‘So Robert and your brother are both magicians?’ He kept his voice low.

‘You didn’t know?’

‘I never saw either of them practice, although …’ He paused. ‘The lessons your brother teaches are all about using the mind, more …’ He groped for a concept. ‘Stranger than the lessons in logic which Robert gives me. Magnus shows me how to do things –’ he tapped his head, ‘– in here, that I didn’t imagine were possible. Yet I have no talent for magic.’

‘You know this for certain?’ asked Caleb, as if making light of the subject.

‘Among my people we have very few who are called to be … shaman, a magic priest. Each baby is tested, and those who have the talent leave their villages as children to study with the shamans. Among my people, there are a handful, and they …’ Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Talon said, ‘It doesn’t matter. They are all dead.’ He felt moisture gathering in his eyes and blinked. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt that.’

Caleb nodded. ‘It never goes away, completely. But you’ll discover other things in life.’ His manner brightened. ‘My point was that while I’ve long since recovered from the imagined slights of my birth and upbringing, one thing I was never good at was understanding women. And like you, I was an “outsider” when I first came to this part of the world, with no bearings to go on.’ He took a drink of ale then said, ‘On the other hand, learning can be very pleasant at times.’

Talon grinned. ‘It can be. Lela is …’

Caleb finished for him. ‘Lela. She’s a lively lass, I’ll grant you that.’

‘How do I …’