Page 321 of Of Empires and Dust

“Ah, yes.” Loren gestured to somebody Dayne couldn’t see. A door creaked open, then clicked shut. “Your brother did well to track him down. I have to say, I was quite impressed. When the babe was taken from your sister, I pulled a few strings, greased a few palms. I had him switched with another. A young orphan of House Koruk. The Lorians never look too deeply. As long as they get their pound of flesh, they don’t really care which animal it’s carved from. And something gave me the feeling this particularyoung babe would be of much use one day. And look, I was right.”

The door creaked open again and footsteps sounded. Dayne twisted his neck, trying to see. After a moment, a tall, broad man in the pale blue of House Koraklon walked into view holding the hand of a small child with a shock of dark brown hair.

“Come here, Arkin. Take my hand.” Loren reached out and took the young child’s hand in his.

“Arkin…” Dayne whispered his father’s name as he studied the boy’s face and eyes, hoping to find something that would show him this boy truly was Alina’s son. But for the life of him, he had no idea.

“Ah, yes. Did you know she named him after your father? Fitting, I think.” Loren knelt beside the boy. “Did you eat all your supper?”

Arkin nodded wordlessly, glancing up at Dayne.

“Good boy. You need your food so you can grow big and strong.” Loren gripped the boy’s bicep and squeezed. “Gods, maybe we should stop feeding you, or you’ll grow big as a giant.”

“No,” the boy said, laughing and pulling his arm away. Dayne’s heart melted a little as Arkin laughed.

“Run along now. I just wanted to check on you before you sleep. Your mother is waiting. And I have a bad man to deal with.” Loren looked up at Dayne, who could only stare back in disbelief. “He’s killed a lot of men. As many as there are stars in the sky. And that’s a lot, isn’t it?”

The boy nodded hesitantly, eyeing Dayne as though his life were now at risk. The fear in the young child’s eyes cut deep into Dayne’s heart.

As they started to leave, the Koraklon guard turned around. “Father, can…”

The man cut his sentence short at a glare from Loren, then escorted the young boy from the chamber. Loren stood back to his full height, letting out a sigh.

“Father?” Dayne asked, ignoring the pain as he pulled his lips into a smile. “What’s his name? That’s two sons of yours I’ve seen now. You touch a hair on that child’s head and I will bleed your family’s name from this world. The last face any Koraklon will see will be mine.”

Loren’s fist crunched into Dayne’s face, blood coating Dayne’s tongue as his teeth carved a gash into the inside of his cheek. “Speak of my sons again. I dare you.”

“Olim and…” Dayne pondered a moment. “I’m guessing that was Gaimal? Your eldest?”

Loren punched Dayne again. More blood, more sounds of crunching bone.

Dayne laughed and spit his blood onto the floor. “I will mount their heads on spikes and set them atop the walls of this keep.”

Loren punched him again, but Dayne just kept laughing.

“Little Arkin,” Loren said, wrapping his fingers around Dayne’s throat. “Speak of my sons again, and I will cut off his hands. Alina will still want him without hands, won’t she? They’re so pure at that age, so uncorrupted by those around them.”

“You’re a fucking monster.”

“For ensuring a growing young boy eats enough before bed? Surely even you can see how that one is a little farfetched.” Loren shook his head, then grabbed the bottle of wine and his cup. “I’ll have someone come and clean you up and stitch the wounds closed.” He leaned down and narrowed his eyes at Dayne’s wounds. He gave an impressed downturn of his bottom lip. “You’re a difficult man to kill, Dayne Ateres. It looks like the dirt has crusted around your wounds. Perfect for stopping thebleeding, but not ideal for infection. I hope you like the smell of brimlock sap. You’re no use to me dead or festering.”

As Loren made to leave, he turned back to Dayne one last time. “You know, Dayne. There is a piece of advice my father once passed on to me that I think would have benefitted you. When lords and kings and queens go to war, it is the common people who pay in blood. A king loses his temper, and thousands die in a field two hundred miles away. A queen makes a poor decision, and hundreds starve. When you think of what you’ve lost, I implore you to think on what you’ve taken from others. How many children have you left orphaned, waiting for a mother and a father who lie cold in the dirt? How many families have you broken? Ponder that while you dream of ways to kill me. And while you do, I’ll dream of ways to stop the Lorian dragons from burning our home to the ground.”

Chapter 76

The Blood of the Mountain

22ndDay of the Blood Moon

Dwarven outpost, Lodhar Mountains – Winter, Year 3081 After Doom

Kira grippedthe haft of the axe, allowing her fingers to savour the familiar touch of the leather and the cold embrace of the steel. She was still less than half herself, but Hafaesir would grant her the strength to fight, as he always had.

She stood in the main chamber of the outpost headquarters. The silence was such that she would have almost thought she was alone were it not for the ten Queensguard standing about the room, the five stationed at the door, and the other ten at the headquarters’ entrance. Vikmar, the new High Commander of her guard, was a statue by the main window, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes watching everything that moved outside.

Footfalls sounded, boots slapping stone, and the door creaked open.

“Good,” Erani said, her voice bouncing off the stone. “You’re going to need that axe.” Kira turned to see her sister setting a dwarf down in the chair on the opposite side of the central table, a thick black sack over his head and his hands bound. “Rikber Lars, scholar of Hafaesir.”

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