“Where have you been?” His father glared at Kalder’s disheveled clothing.
Kalder tucked his tunic in and decided not to tell him he’d still been abed so late in the morning. His father detested such things and wouldn’t hesitate to backhand him even in the presence of guests.
Shrugging, he folded his arms over his chest and moved to stand off to the side while the warlord eyed him with an unnerving interest.
Ah, dear gods, don’t tell me, me father’s done bartered me like some doxy for this bastard’s favor.…
For a peace treaty, he wouldn’t put anything past his father. Especially not these days of unending war against the Roman bastards who’d been getting the best of their army for months now and decimating it.
“He’s a bit scrawny for me, is he not?”
Kalder’s eyes widened at an even worse thought.Ah, gah, Da, are you planning to feed me to the bugger?
Daven took a deep draught of his mead as he eyed Kalder, as if measuring his worth… and finding it lacking, as always. “Wiry… and ’tis necessary for what you’re asking. Trust me, Duel. There’s not a better one among my people for it. Besides, Kalderan knows his place. Holds his tongue. Forsooth, I barely know he’s about most days. He’s like a phantom shadow. Just what you requested, is it not?”
Duel snorted. “I still haven’t figured out why you’d loan me one of your sons to spy for me army, given the battle we’re facing.”
His father fell silent as a darkness descended behind his tired eyes. Kalder scowled at the expression he didn’t quite understand. “He’s not worth much. As you noted, he’s a scrawny bit of a Myrcian. And these are dark days. If we’re to remain independent and strong against our enemies, we need each other. Maybe you can find something salvageable in the little bastard and keep him alive long enough to do some good for us.”
Those words had stung Kalder a lot deeper than he’d wanted to acknowledge. He was used to insults. Used to his parents’ constant derision. Yet that had burned more than the usual digs they took.
And it’d left a bitter taste in his mouth. One that caused him to lash out in anger the moment Dón-Dueli of the Dumnonii came over to speak to him alone a few minutes later, after his father had left the room so that they could speak in private.
“Don’t need your pity!” Kalder snarled churlishly.
“Good, for I have none to offer a sullen child.”
Those words caught him off guard. But not nearly as much as the genuine kindness in Duel’s dark, deadly eyes. There was more to this unholy warlord than what Kalder had first surmised. And that cowed Kalder’s temperament more than any threat or intimidation ever could. And since kindness was the rare beast that he had no experience dealing with, it left him baffled, and ill equipped to counter. Indeed, he didn’t know what to say or how to behave before such a thing.
Dón-Dueli narrowed his gaze on him. “Take heed, good Kalder. I don’t need a petulant boy in my command. I need a soldier who can pull his weight and follow my orders. One I can rely on in war, and at peace. Give me loyalty and I will return it in full measure. Betrayme and I will gut you slowly, so that your screams will echo through the heavens as a testament to all of my displeasure. And I will use your guts to tie my boots and warm my feet. Understood?”
Eyes wide, Kalder nodded.
And gulped audibly.
Duel clapped him so hard on the back that he’d stumbled forward. “Good lad.”
As they walked off, Kalder had cleared his throat. “Me lord? Might I ask a question?”
“Sure.”
“Have you any children?”
“Why do you want to know?”
Kalder shrugged. “Curiosity, mostly.”
Duel arched a dark brow at him that was most chilling. “And again I ask why you’d like to know.”
Kalder hesitated before he explained it further. “Well, I know how me father deals with us. I was but wondering how a…” He wasn’t quite sure what to call Duel, as Kalder still hadn’t determined if he were a man or a monster. So he settled for an accurate word that wouldn’t offend the creature, or gethimgutted. “… warlord such as yourself copes with his own offspring.”
Duel snorted. “Simple. I ate mine upon their arrival from their mother’s womb, so as to spare myself any future misery they might bring me.”
Well that settled that, then, and Kalder made a note to take care and not offend him in the future. At least not too much. If Duel had no love of his own spawn, it meant he’d have far less for someone else’s.
Or at least that had been Kalder’s thought until their first battle.
Even now, he remembered well the terror he’d felt when Devyl/Duel’s army had annihilated their enemy to the south with the intel Kalder had brought to them.
