Reaching the table, she met Captain Serap’s eyes, seeing in them a cold, glittering regard. Sharenas sat opposite, her back to the room. ‘Captain. I am sorry for your losses.’

‘We were all there,’ Serap said. ‘Do you remember? Riding out to meet Calat Hustain. You chose Kagamandra’s side for most of that journey, as I recall. Happy enough to flirt with a promised man.’

Sharenas nodded. ‘Whilst you and your sisters giggled and whispered, so pleased with your new ranks. Lieutenants, back then, as I recall. Unblooded officers, crowded under Hunn Raal’s soggy wing.’

Serap studied her with a tilted head, and then smiled wistfully. ‘We were young then. The world seemed fresh. Alive with possibilities.’

‘Oh, he was happy enough to lead us, wasn’t he?’ Sharenas started as someone stepped close – a boy, likely the barkeep’s son, setting down a tankard before her. The youth quickly retreated. ‘Do you still look upon him with admiration, Serap? Cousin Hunn Raal. Murderer, poisoner. He’s gathered every betrayal imaginable into a single knot, hasn’t he?’

Serap shook her head, and then shrugged. ‘It may seem to be clumsy on his part, Sharenas. But it isn’t. Every crime he commits ensures that Urusander remains unstained. My cousin doesn’t hide, does he? He chooses to wear his culpability, and knows that he can bear its terrible weight. It is, in fact, a family trait.’

‘Hmm. I’d wondered about that. The seeming clumsiness, that is. It would be easy to assume the drunkard’s natural carelessness, the sloppiness that comes with dissolution. Even so, Serap – the slaughter of a wedding party?’

Serap waved a hand, and then frowned. ‘Not the Hust? You surprise me. Or perhaps not, as the noble blood in you must howl loudest when the lives of kin are sacrificed. Mundane soldiers, even ones bearing demon-haunted weapons, are beneath notice – well, maybe a mutter or two, if only at the crassness of the deed.’

Sharenas allowed herself a slow smile. ‘I always judged you the sharpest. So, is this how it is, then? You stand with Hunn Raal.’

‘Blood of kin, Sharenas. But you should understand this. In so many ways I still have the eyes of the innocent. I will care for my soldiers. I will, if necessary, give my life for theirs.’

‘Bold words,’ Sharenas replied, nodding. ‘I’m curious. Do you believe Hunn Raal would do the same?’

Something fluttered in Serap’s eyes, and the woman glanced away. ‘Have you reported to the commander?’

‘I have spoken to Urusander, yes.’

‘Does he remain… disinterested?’

A curious question. Sharenas collected up her tankard, drank down a mouthful of the weak ale, and grimaced. ‘You do not come here for this, do you?’

‘Supplies are low. Everyone has to make do.’

‘How would you react, I wonder, if I now told you that Vatha Urusander intends to arrest Hunn Raal, and a good many other captains of the Legion? And that I bear with me the evidence of their many crimes – crimes that can only be answered by the gallows.’