A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Sixteen

Castin didn't let the fact that Tannix was paying him stop him from treating me like he always had, and I was relieved. Bickering with Castin was comforting. I was curious about what he had been through, but he didn't want to talk about the march from the Tol River to East Draulin. I didn't press. And as much as he grumbled about being left behind to watch me, I had the feeling part of him found arguing with me just as comforting as I did.

He put on a good show whenever Mayah was around, standing at attention and quietly blending into the background. When we were alone, he was mostly back to himself. He would sit in chairs instead of stand, and talk to me without the polite tone he used in front of Mayah. But I knew Castin well. I could see that even when he looked at ease, he was alert. My brother hadn't been trained as a bodyguard, but he had been doing the job for most of his life. Sometimes the knights gave the same impression—like they were relaxed and unaware, while they were actually paying very close attention to what was going on around them. Castin managed that look effortlessly, because he hadn't been taught to do it. He had survived because he could do it.

When Castin and I weren't alone, holed up in Tannix's room, we were with Mayah. Spending time with her was anything but boring. Mayah was constantly busy. She liked having me around and I was happy to let her distract me.

Mayah split her time between meetings, going out into the city to check on the progress of repairs, and the training sessions with Angelys. The meetings might have been boring, except that watching Mayah speak to people easily twice her age was fascinating. Mayah commanded power in a completely different way than the men I was used to being around. Tannix, Tandrin and the other lords, although polite towards each other, always seemed like they were sizing each other up. They carried around swords or knives and made it quite clear that they were willing to use them if need be. Mayah didn't need a weapon to get respect. She was always polite and always charming, but there was a firm edge to her voice that seemed to catch older men off guard.

Oftentimes, while I watched her lead discussions, I wondered if the advisors and generals really knew who they were talking to. Mayah was a young woman, but she had been born to lead East Draulin. With her city back under her control, her authority was unmistakable. There was nothing she wouldn't do to fix and improve East Draulin. She approved repairs, offered monetary assistance to refugees willing to return to the city, and kept the army reserves that had been left to guard the city in line. Less than a week after the bulk of the army had left, people had stopped underestimating her.

When Mayah led meetings, she wore beautiful green dresses and jewellery decorated with emeralds. Nobody would know that she had a knife tucked into her sleeve, and another one strapped to her leg. I only knew because I watched her training sessions. In the private training room with Angelys, all of Mayah's grace disappeared. She wore Navirian style pants and snug tunics, and tied her curly blond hair into a knot so it wouldn't get in her way.

I watched the training sessions the way Acen had taught me to. Angelys could move incredibly quickly. Navirian fighting involved more movement than Telt fighting did. Angelys slowed down for Mayah, but taught her all the movements I had seen the women soldiers use while dueling the knights in Navire. With one of her kukris in each hand, Angelys ducked and twirled, slashed and kicked. Mayah copied the movements, and when they dueled, she did a decent job of holding her own, even if she was slow.

Some days, when Mayah needed a break, Angelys would invite Castin to fight. Watching him was just as interesting as watching Mayah. Castin's army training had focused on sword fighting, but he had grown up fighting with knives, and he wasn't opposed to dirty tricks. He never beat Angelys, but I saw him surprise her more than once. The one time Angelys called me forward, I showed her how I could throw knives. She somewhat begrudgingly left me alone after that.