“I would gladly give it if I had one to give. I truly do not have a family name. If my parents had one, I would not know since I never met them,” Rezkin explained, a bit of his frustration breaking through.

“Fine, then where are you from? Give me the name of this fort in which you were raised,” Marcum ordered.

Rezkin rubbed at his jaw in an uncharacteristic outward expression of discomfort. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. “I am afraid it also does not have a name, or if it does, I do not know it.”

Frisha gasped. “Rezkin! Just tell him!”

Rezkin looked at her apologetically.

“A fort with no name,” the general stated flatly. He looked over at Frisha in exasperation, “You see? A man with no name from a place with no name.”

“I have a given name. It is Rezkin,” the young man replied.

The general scowled, “That is not a name! It is a character—a joke!”

Rezkin frowned. “A character?”

“I tell you this!” the general continued. “None of my forts are without a name and neither do they take to raising and training orphans!”

The light tapping at the door sounded like thunder in the booming silence that followed the general’s shout.

“Enter!” he barked.

Steward Narus entered the room and announced, “General Marcum, there is a Lieutenant Jimson here to see you.”

The general paused. He glanced at Rezkin and then Tam and Frisha. “He said he wishes to see me?”

“Yes, My Lord, shall I show him in?” Narus asked, his tone filled with boredom.

“Yes, Narus, bring him here. Perhaps he can help to straighten out some of this mess,” the general muttered.

A few moments later, Lieutenant Jimson entered the study, surprised to see such a gathering. Maintaining his attention on the general, a man he never thought to meet in person, he saluted smartly and said, “General Marcum, I am Lieutenant Jimson. I have a letter for you from Colonel Simmons of Fort Maneske.”

The general narrowed his eyes and said, “You carried this message yourself?”

“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant replied.

“You arrived in Kaibain more than two days ago in the company of my niece, her escort, and this … rogue.” He motioned toward Rezkin with irritation, and Jimson’s eyes briefly met those of the man in question with surprise and confusion. The general continued, “And you are just now delivering the message?”

“Yes, sir,” Jimson replied anxiously but without a hint of apology.

The general huffed. “Just give it to me,” he barked. The general had been in a foul mood to begin with, and this was not making it any better.

Lieutenant Jimson confidently strode forward, handed the sealed letter to the general, and then backed up a few paces to resume his stance at attention.