Chapter 374 Challenge

Arran had hoped he would get a chance to talk to Kaleesh before the banquet, but it appeared that Lady Raina had other plans.

Just moments after they'd stepped into the keep, she summoned several stewards. And barely a minute later, Arran and Kaleesh were separated, each of them sent off with a small group of attendants to prepare for the feast — or so the Lady said.

To Arrans's surprise, several of these attendants were Darians. And although they were clothed like servants, even the outsiders among them carried swords at their sides. Moreover, from the way they moved, he could tell that they were Body Refiners.

As he thought about it, he realized the same had been true for the townsfolk they'd passed earlier. There hadn't been a single one among them who wasn't armed, and that held true for Darians and outsiders both.

His musings were cut short when they reached his quarters, which proved spacious and well-furnished if perhaps not exactly luxurious. After giving the chambers a quick inspection, he turned to the handful of attendants who had accompanied him.

"This will do," he said. "You may leave now."

Yet they showed no sign of leaving. Instead, one of them — a young Darian woman who appeared to be the leader, despite only barely being past girlhood — shook her head and said, "Lady Raina wishes you to look presentable tonight. We are here to make sure that you do."

"I can bathe myself," Arran protested. "There's no need for your help."

The attendant gave him a doubtful glance, and he had to admit she had some reason to be skeptical. After months of constant travel, he resembled a vagabond more than anything. An unusually well-armed vagabond, perhaps, but a vagabond nonetheless.

Arran offered some further protests, but to little effect. Lady Raina had given orders, and it was obvious that her servants would not dare refuse their Lady's commands.

And so, over the next two hours, the attendants cleaned up his appearance as best they could, with Arran enduring their attention patiently.

After he bathed, they cut his hair and shaved his beard, even going so far as to rub lavender-scented oil across his face. But although the effort seemed excessive to Arran, he paid it little mind.

There were far more important things to worry about.

Foremost among these were Lady Raina's intentions. While he knew the invitation had not merely been a kind gesture, he still hadn't quite figured out what her goal was.

At first, he'd believed she merely wanted to relieve the mercenaries of their starmetal armor. But if that was the case, there were far easier ways to do so.

Even if she feared drawing Rannoc's ire, the Imperium was large, with many sparsely populated places. To ambush the mercenaries would be a simple matter for someone with her power, with little risk of anyone escaping to tell the tale.

Moreover, the mercenaries were traveling to the Desolation, where it was not unusual for entire groups of fighters to disappear. If they never returned, few would be surprised at such an outcome.

But after the Lady had invited them to her fortress, murdering them discreetly would no longer be as easy.

If she moved against the mercenaries now, it would be an insult to Rannoc, only barely short of an open challenge. Rather than just taking the mercenaries' treasures, she'd be making a statement to the Imperium — a statement that she did not care about Rannoc's protection.

A frown crossed Arran's face, and he turned to look at the attendants, who were busy laying out several sets of clothes for him to choose from.

"Why do you wear swords?" he asked, his expression thoughtful. "Even here, in the keep?"

The young Darian woman gave him a cold glance, a look in her eyes that suggested she thought the question a particularly stupid one.

"To defend ourselves," she said. "We aren't feeble easterners, accustomed to safety. Here, every man, woman, and child knows how to fight. And when the Blight comes, we will resist it to our dying breath."

Arran nodded thoughtfully.

It made sense that attitudes here would be different here from those in the eastern part of the Imperium. With the Desolation barely a few weeks' travel away, the Blight would be a constant worry — an enemy that even commoners expected to face eventually.

Yet near the borderlands, the Blight was only a distant threat. Only ambitious warriors would ever face it, and then only by their own choice.

That difference could be seen in the building style, as well.

Although Kadun's city had boasted tall walls and heavy gates, the efforts of two men had been enough to breach its defenses, leaving it open for Rannoc to conquer.

But Lady Raina's home was different. If the town fell to attackers, the fortress offered more formidable protection. And should the fortress fall, then the keep at its center could still hold back an army.

The difference in defenses, Arran thought, also spoke of a difference in philosophy. Which meant that his earlier assumptions about Lady Raina's intentions might be entirely wrong.

He could only hope that Kaleesh had a better understanding of the situation. If not, whatever plans the captain had might well go awry.

But fretting would do little good, and so, he turned his attention to the clothes the servants had laid out for him.

There were several sets of clothes, but none of them held much appeal to Arran. They were entirely too fine, and most of them too colorful besides. It was the garb of courtiers rather than warriors.

He hesitated for a moment, then picked the simplest outfit of the bunch — a set of black trousers and an unadorned white linen shirt. Though well-made, it lacked the frills the other clothes had, appearing more practical than ornate.

The attendants looked on with interest, but they offered no comments on his choice. Yet when he belted on his Living Shadow sword, a frown appeared on the Darian girl's face.

"You're bringing a weapon to a banquet?" she asked.

"I am," Arran replied. "Will that be a problem?"

The attendant shrugged. "The choice is yours."

"Then my sword is coming with me," Arran said. There was no way that he would leave the Living Shadow weapon behind. Not even if it risked offending Lady Raina.

His other equipment, however, was a different matter. Wearing armor to a banquet would be a step too far, and the same held true for carrying his giant starmetal sword.

Not to mention that if he had to fight in the confines of the keep, the outsized weapon would be a hindrance more than anything.

Clean, clothed, and armed, he turned to the Darian girl. "So when does this banquet start?"

"About half an hour ago," she replied, some amusement in her light-brown eyes. "We should probably head there now."

When they reached the dining hall some minutes later, Arran found that the banquet was already well underway.

There were several rows of long tables, filled with all sorts of food and drink. And at the tables sat over a hundred people, the chatter of their voices filling the large hall with a constant rumble of sound.

Some of the people in the hall were soldiers, with Arran quickly spotting a dozen Rangers and two Knights he hadn't seen before. Yet there were others, as well — dignified priests, richly dressed merchants, and others whose status he could not discern.

At the far end of the hall, there was a single table, raised slightly above the others. At its center sat Lady Raina, and to her left was the gray-haired Knight he'd seen earlier — her consort, Kaleesh had said.

They were joined by a young man, who Arran recognized as one of the Rangers in her group — the one who'd been clad in starmetal armor. Her son, he now realized.

It took him a moment to find Kaleesh, but after a glance around the room, he found the captain sitting near the front of the hall, dressed in a colorful silk outfit.

He gave the captain a quick wave, then began to head over. Yet he'd taken a step when he felt the Darian girl's hand on his shoulder, and he gave her a questioning look.

"Your place is here," she said, gesturing at one of the empty seats near the entrance. "At the back."

Arran looked around again, now seeing that while the more powerful and influential people were sat near Lady Raina's table, he'd been given a place close to the back of the hall, among what looked to be local dignitaries and merchants.

Apparently, he wasn't quite as important as he'd thought.

"Very well," he said with a shrug, sitting down where the girl had told him — in between a sloppily dressed merchant and a dour-faced priest.

The slight did not bother him. He cared little about status in the first place, and at least this would give him the chance to observe the situation without distractions.

To his surprise, however, the attendant did not leave the hall. Instead, as he sat down, she walked to the front of the hall, then greeted Lady Raina with a small nod — and received a smile in return.

Then, she sat down next to the gray-haired Knight, whose cold expression broke into a fatherly smile as he gave her a warm look.

Arran could only barely keep his mouth from falling open in astonishment. The girl who'd shaved and dressed him was no servant. It was Lady Raina's daughter, doubtless sent to gather what information she could about the mercenaries.

But if that was the case, she hadn't learned much. Arran's thoughts had been occupied with their predicament, and he'd exchanged no more than a few words with her.

He'd only barely recovered from the surprise when Lady Raina stood up, the hall instantly falling silent as she looked upon her guests.

"Now that my daughter has joined us," she began, "I'd like to welcome our guest." She gestured at Kaleesh, and continued, "Master Kaleesh here is a friend of Lord Rannoc, traveling to the Desolation with his men, to do battle against the Blight."

Some subdued cheers sounded across the hall — clearly, so close to the Desolation, fighting the Blight was something that commanded approval.

Lady Raina sat down again, then went on in a more casual voice, "Master Kaleesh, rumors abound of Rannoc's conflict with Kadun, with many claiming that Kadun has been slain. Tell us what you know of this."

"Lady Raina," Kaleesh replied. "I thank you for your gracious welcome. As for the rumors you've heard — they are true. Lord Rannoc has slain Lord Kadun. I witnessed the battle myself, as did my second-in-command."

A murmur went through the hall, with several small gasps sounding as the guests finally heard the rumors of the past months confirmed.

Lady Raina, however, showed no sign of surprise — no doubt she'd already known the rumors were true. Instead, she gave a curious frown.

"You say you witnessed the battle?" she asked. "Then please, recount for us what happened — in detail, if you will. Lords doing battle is a rare thing, and I would be grateful to receive a first-hand account."

"Of course, Lady Raina," Kaleesh replied.

He spent the next quarter-hour retelling the battle between Rannoc and Kadun, describing even its smallest details. And although he made some exaggerations, Arran could tell that he was careful to stay close enough to the truth that the Lady would not doubt his words.

Kaleesh was a talented storyteller, and narrating the Lords' battle, he soon had the assembled guests enraptured by his words, excitement in their eyes as they envisioned the two Lords facing each other.

When he finished telling the story, silence lingered in the hall for several moments before Lady Raina finally spoke again.

"A rousing tale, and well-told," she said. "But I cannot help but wonder…" She gave the captain an appraising look. "You say you and your second-in-command were the only ones to witness the battle. How did the two of you — outsiders both — manage to be granted such an honor?"

"We played some small part in Rannoc's conquest," Kaleesh replied. "You see…"

Once more he began to speak, this time narrating the events leading up to the Lords' battle. There were more than a few lies and omissions — most of them playing up the captain's relationship with Rannoc — but overall, he stayed close to the truth.

Yet when the story reached the battle at the gate, Arran saw some incredulous looks among the people in the hall, with the Lady's son in particular looking skeptical of the tale.

The young man's suspicious look only grew stronger when Kaleesh narrated their battle against Kadun's forces, and his distrust turned to anger when Kaleesh recounted how they had defeated the Knight.

Finally, as the captain finished the story, he stood up, his handsome face red with anger.

"Ridiculous!" he exclaimed. "You want us to believe that you defeated a Knight? Two outsiders, neither of you even Rangers?"

Some murmurs of approval sounded among the guests — clearly, Kaleesh's tale had stretched the limits of what they were willing to believe, as well.

Lady Raina, however, merely looked at the captain with interested eyes, curious at how he would respond to the accusation.

"Young master," Kaleesh said in a respectful tone, "I can assure you that every word I told you tonight was true. We faced Kadun's forces, and were well-rewarded for our efforts."

Though he spoke in a soothing voice, his expression was uneasy. Had anyone else accused him of lying, he likely would have challenged the other party to a duel. But here, in the Lady's home, he was uncertain of how to respond to the Ranger's charges.

His words did little to appease the young Ranger. Rather than being swayed by the captain's appeal, a cold anger could be seen in his eyes.

"You come here as a guest, and you dare tell such disgraceful lies?" he asked, making no effort to veil the threat in his voice. "And you expect to go unpunished for these ridiculous boasts?"

There was a hint of restrained anger in Kaleesh's face, yet he appeared to be at a loss for words. While he obviously wanted to respond to the Ranger's accusations in kind, it was equally clear that he feared antagonizing the Lady.

Arran, however, frowned in thought. While he understood the captain's reluctance to show his anger, he could not help but think it was a mistake — and one that could cost them dearly.

He sighed deeply, wondering whether he was about to make the biggest blunder of his life. But then, he stood up.

"You call us liars, you little shit?" he roared, purposely playing up his anger. "Would you like to see for yourself just how strong I am?"

There was a stunned silence in the hall, and he saw the captain stare at him in horror. The young Ranger, too, appeared dumbstruck. Clearly, this wasn't the reaction he'd expected.

Lady Raina, however, laughed in amusement. "An excellent idea," she said. "A small sparring match between my son and yourself would do much to ease our doubts."

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