Midwinter

duty interferes! someone else to blame

"Things have changed," said Mauritane.

Silverdun, Raieve, and Satterly sat around a low table eating rice and fish. From the looks on their faces, they had heard nothing of recent events. The girl Elice sat sullenly in a corner, facing the wall.

"What's happening?" said Silverdun. "No one has said a word to us."

"The Unseelie have detonated something, a powerful spell weapon, on Selafae. The entire city has been destroyed. They are advancing on Sylvan as we speak."

"The Unseelie!" said Satterly. "Then the earthquake we felt…"

"An effect of the explosion. The quake has taken its toll here in Sylvan. The rebels have begun attacking the Seelie forces openly in the wake of its destruction. The city is in chaos."

"What are we going to do?" asked Raieve.

"I've decided to stay and help defend the Seelie Kingdom. Regardless of what happens here, our mission is… in grave danger of failure. You all knew what failure meant when you agreed to join me. Therefore, I release you from your service; you are all free to go and take your chances on your own."

They were stunned. "I don't know what to say," Satterly began.

"If we survive the Unseelie onslaught, I will make a plea before the Chamberlain that your lives be spared in exchange for my own. I wish I could offer you better. You deserve better."

"That's very kind of you," said Silverdun. "But… this is all too unexpected."

Raieve said, "What are the consequences of occupation by the Unseelie?"

Mauritane looked away. "We've been at war many times in the past. Whenever the Unseelie have taken Seelie lands, the people have suffered under their yoke. They are made slaves or worse."

"I will stay, then, and fight," said Raieve. "In my culture, there is no greater honor than to die in the service of one's people."

Silverdun sighed. "If the Unseelie overtake Sylvan, they will destroy this temple. My family lands are not far from here; they will go as well. What, then, would I have to escape to?"

All eyes turned to Satterly. He fidgeted in his chair. "What are you guys looking at me for?" he said, uncomfortably.

"You are under no obligation to stay," said Mauritane.

"Well, I guess I'd be asshole of the year if I left now," he muttered. "I don't know what I can do, but I'll pitch in where I can."

"Do not agree so lightly," said Mauritane to all of them. "Honor is generally only beautiful when viewed from a distance. There is a good chance that none of us will survive."

"And what chance had we before?" said Silverdun. "We all knew going into this that there was little hope for survival. I just didn't want to die in that damnable prison."

"In that case," said Mauritane, "let us be more than fellow travelers from now on. Let us call each other friend as well."

"Mauritane," said Raieve, "may I speak with you for a moment? Alone?"

Satterly and Silverdun took the cue. They stood and ambled off down the hallway, carrying the empty dinner dishes with them.

"Yes?" said Mauritane, once they were alone.

"I wanted to tell you. That morning, after we made love, I was unfair to you. I knew you were married and that you would not have been unfaithful had things been different. I was as much to blame as you. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said. "Nothing."

"Mauritane," said Raieve, taking his hand. "That's not all."

He leaned into her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "Tell me."

"I am in love with you," she said. "I started loving you the day we met. You speak of commitment, and duty, but none of those things matter to love. I cannot apologize for how I feel." She looked up, into his eyes.

Mauritane backed away from her, slowly. "I don't know what to say," he started, his frustration welling to the surface. "I wish… it seems my duty interferes with me at every turn. I can never seem to avoid it!"

"I know how you feel in your heart," said Raieve, her softness dissolving. "That you deny it is where you are always going wrong." She turned and ran down the hallway, wiping her sleeve roughly across her eyes.

* * * *

The Royal Guard forces had seized a hotel in the Mid City earlier in the day, and terrified guests were still flowing out into the chaotic night under the watchful eye of a dozen guardsmen. No efforts were being made, however, to unload the equipment and ammunition that sat in carts on the far side of the lobby. In fact, it appeared that some of the carts were actually being loaded for travel.

Kallmer had acknowledged the parlay flag, ordering his men to lower their weapons. A pair of them escorted Mauritane, Eloquet, and the abbot to the center of the wide formal dining hall. Kallmer had appropriated the room for his field office. He was seated at a long table of dark mahogany, papers spread everywhere across it.

"You realize, of course," began Kallmer, "that if you were not accompanied by the temple's abbot, I would have shot you on sight."

"That is why I have come," said the abbot.