Free Blinded by the Sun (Erythleh Chronicles Book 4) by Catherine Johnson Page B

guard.
     
    "If anyone isn't nervous in the face of a foe that's four times their size, they're a fool. Don't tell me you are such a fool?"
     
    "Oh no." Kavrazel let out a dry laugh. "I am no such fool."
     
    "Good," Girogis responded. "I'd hate to think I was putting my life on the line for a simpleton."
     
    "Your endorsement is rousing." There was no small amount of sarcasm in Kavrazel's tone.
     
    "It wouldn't do for you to have a swelled head. Now, a swelled prick on the other hand..."
     
    "Please! No." Kavrazel laughed. "Leave the subject of my prick be. If I need relief, I am capable of finding it."
     
    Girogis stopped walking and made a low, full, sweeping bow. "I am your servant in all things."
     
    "In all things?" Kavrazel asked with a chuckle.
     
    "I am your sworn servant."
     
    "You would be so selfless? I am honoured." Kavrazel placed his palm over his heart with mocking sincerity.
     
    "Only for you, my liege." Girogis swept into a bow again.
     
    "Get up, you fool." Kavrazel clapped his friend on his back. "You can do the cooking tonight, and consider your duties fulfilled."
     
    "Man cannot live by stew alone."
     
    "Dear friend," Kavrazel made a small, joking bow of his own. "I would die for you, as you would for me, but Taan's fires will be snuffed out before I take you to my bed."
     
    Girogis sniffed and stuck his nose in the air, the very epitome of offended pride. "I prefer blondes anyway."
     
    "Then we should return with haste to your little morsel."
     
    "You mean to return tomorrow?"
     
    "Yes, I grow impatient to see if Illisrya has made her response."
     
    "I'll wager we'll end up wishing we could have postponed that moment."
     
    "So do I," Kavrazel agreed. "So do I."
     
    ~o0o~
     
    Kavrazel thought back to his friend's prophetic words as he stood in the state room. Consul Otal was seated to his right, and the rest of his advisors were arranged around the table. He could feel Girogis' presence at his back. Girogis was the epitome of a professional guard, but knowing his friend as well as he did, Kavrazel could guess at the man's thoughts on the occurrences of the day.
     
    There were two items laid before him on the table: a box and its former contents. Illisrya had made her response. The hawk that had carried his own missive to the giants lay in a puff of mangled feathers; its head had been crushed. Shards of bone glinted through the blood and gore, although much of the brain matter had remained in the box when its contents had been removed. The smell of drying blood added a faint tang to the air. Silently, Kavrazel railed against the wanton destruction of something so innocent, simply to make a point. A few words scrawled on some parchment would have been as effective.
     
    Kavrazel had his answer. The giants were in debt to him, they had failed to negotiate new terms, and they had refused to make payment. Now they had insulted him and had mocked the power of his country. He had been left with no choice; it was to be war between Vuthron and Morjay.
     
    The first person to break the silence was Multha, the Commander in Chief of the army. He was a master strategist, but he was known for his direct way of speaking. "The way I see it, we have two options to choose from to begin with: do we take the war to them, or wait for them to bring it to us?"
     
    There were murmurings all around the table in response. Kavrazel could discern that the general attitude seemed to be that the affront to Vuthron should be directly answered by invasion. He held up his hand for silence. Quiet fell, but not as quickly as he would have liked. He knew that feelings were rising high in the room.
     
    "We will not be provoked into foolishness. The giants wish to anger us..."
     
    "They have," Divna, the Chancellor, interrupted.
     
    Kavrazel scowled at the impertinence, but continued in an even tone. "The giants have been trying to provoke us into war for too long. I agree, the insult must be answered, a response to