Out of the Darkness

“No, they didn’t,” Talsu admitted unhappily. “But they had other things wrong with them-starting with thinking everybody who had yellow hair was fair game. Donalitu’s bad. They were worse.”

Neither his sister nor his father argued with him. Traku said, “They aren’t gone yet, either, the whoresons. They’re still hanging on in the western part of the kingdom. The sooner we’re rid of them forever, the better.”

“But if they leave, they know the Lagoans and Kuusamans will follow them right into Algarve,” Talsu said.

Traku grunted. “Good. I wish we’d gone deeper into Algarve, back before we got beat. Then maybe all this never would have happened to us.”

For a long time, Talsu’s father had blamed him almost personally for Jelgava’s lost war against Algarve. Traku had been too young to fight in the Six Years’ War, and didn’t know what the army-especially the Jelgavan army-was like. Talsu said, “If our officers had been any good, we would have gone deeper. But if our officers were any good, a lot of things about this kingdom would be different.” That was about as much as he cared to say about that, even in the bosom of his family.

Ausra said, “They’re putting together a new army for the kingdom, now that we have our own king back again. That was the last set of broadsheets, before this one about exchanging Mainardo’s money.”

“I saw it,” Talsu said. “It won’t be a new army-you wait and see. It’ll be the same old army, with the same old noble officers who don’t know their-” He broke off before using a phrase from that same old army in front of his sister. In spite of having to stop, he’d got out what had been wrong with the Jelgavan army in which he’d served. As in most armies, nobles held almost all officers’ slots. . and Jelgavan nobles, from King Donalitu on down, were some of the most hidebound, stubborn, backwards-looking men the world had ever seen.

Gailisa came into the flat then. Talsu was glad to break off and give her a hug and a kiss. She returned them a little absently. She hadn’t been quite the same since her father got killed when Kuusaman and Lagoan dragons dropped eggs on Skrunda about a week before the Algarvians had to clear out of the town for good. Talsu had shown Kuusaman footsoldiers and behemoths an undefended way through the redheads’ lines. He wished he’d done it sooner. Maybe the islanders’ dragons wouldn’t have flown that night.

His late father-in-law had been a grocer. Gailisa had helped him. These days, she was working for another grocer, one named Pumpru, whose shop had survived. She said, “Do you know about the new money-changing decree?”

“We were just talking about it a few minutes ago,” Talsu answered. “I saw the broadsheets on my way home from delivering a cloak.”

“It’s a cheat,” Gailisa said.

“What? Have they turned out light coins that are supposed to be worth the same as the older, heavier ones?” Talsu asked. “That’s what Mainardo did. Donalitu’s not too proud to steal tricks from an Algarvian, eh?”

“Close, but not quite,” Gailisa said. “Pumpru took some of Mainardo’s money in to be changed as soon as he saw one of the broadsheets. If King Donalitu told everybody to jump off a roof, he’d do that just as fast-he’s one of those people. But he wasn’t happy when he came back to the store. He wasn’t happy at all.”

“What’s wrong with the new money?” Traku asked.

“It is new money.” Gailisa nodded. “If they’d given old silver, weight for weight, that would have been fair. But all the coins Pumpru got are shiny new. And they’re too hard, and they don’t sound right when you ring them on a counter. You don’t have to be a jeweler to figure out there’s not as much silver in them as there’s supposed to be.”

“And Donalitu puts the difference in his pocket,” Talsu said. Gailisa nodded again. Talsu made as if to pound his head against the wall of the flat. “What a cheap trick! He didn’t waste much time reminding people what he is, did he?”

“He’s the king, that’s what he is,” Traku said. But he didn’t blindly follow King Donalitu, the way Pumpru the grocer did, for he went on, “And if you get on his wrong side, you’ll find yourself in a nice, cozy dungeon cell, too, so watch what you say.”

“I will, Father,” Talsu promised. “I’ve already spent more time in a dungeon cell than I ever want to.”

“But that was for making the Algarvians angry, not the proper king,” Ausra said.

“Same dungeon,” Talsu replied dryly. “And it wasn’t the redheads running it, either-it was Jelgavans just like you and me. They’d worked for Donalitu before Mainardo came in. One of them said he’d go back to working for Donalitu if Mainardo ever got thrown out. He meant it.”

“That’s terrible!” his sister exclaimed.

“Son of a whore ought to be dragged out of his fornicating dungeon and blazed,” his father growled.