DREAMWIELDER Book 1 of The Dreamwielder Chronicles

Chapter 9: A VOICE IN THE DARK

Caile downed his third ale and called for a round of spiced grain spirits from the tavern keeper. At his side, Meinrad tried to follow suit but spilled most of the ale down his chin. Meinrad was Caile's officially appointed liaison to Col Sargoth, but Caile hadn't been fooled for a moment by the title. Meinrad was the Emperor's agent. Whenever Caile wasn't attending court sessions pertaining to Pyrthinian trade matters, it was Meinrad's task to watch over Caile; Caile literally could not go anywhere beyond his private chambers in the keep without him. More importantly to Caile's mind, Meinrad had also been Cargan's liaison and witnessed Cargan's death at a tavern several blocks east of where the two of them now sat drinking. Caile had been in Col Sargoth for nearly a week now and had learned little more than that from Meinrad. The man was taciturn and rigid, but Caile had been showering him with praise and mock adoration for days, pretending to be a spoiled prince looking for nothing more than debauchery and easy thrills. The ruse seemed to be working, and each day Meinrad let his guard down a little more. It had taken a good amount of pleading and prodding to get Meinrad to escort him out of Lightbringer's Keep and to a tavern, but Caile had won out in the end, and here they were, mingling in the noisy tavern like any other city folk. While the mood on the streets of Col Sargoth by day was somber, the people inside the dim, low-roofed tavern seemed to be having no shortage of merriment and mirth.

The tavern keeper slammed down two pewter glasses filled with pungent grain spirit onto the table in front of Caile and his liaison. Caile clinked his glass against Meinrad's and lifted it to his lips, silently thanking Don Bricio for the only useful skill the usurper ever taught him: how to hold his liquor. Bricio had migrated from the Old World and brought with him the technique for distilling fire nectar when he was given the throne in Sol Valaróz. The fire nectar was potent and lived up to its name. Learn to drink and enjoy it now when you're young and impervious to hangovers, and as you grow older your body will have learnt how to handle it, Caile remembered Bricio saying during one of the many occasions they sat drinking from crystal goblets on the royal veranda overlooking the Sol Sea. Those were the times Caile would pick up on Bricio's dirty little secrets about how the people of Valaróz were kept in line, during the hour or so when the sun set, before Bricio would stagger away to bed one of the women in his harem.

Meinrad couldn't hold his liquor nearly as well as Bricio. He was big, even for a Sargothian, and several years older than Caile, but drinking spirits clearly wasn't in his repertoire. He slammed the pewter glass back into his mouth and tilted his head back, sloshing most of the grain spirit up his nose. He sputtered and coughed, and Caile slapped him heartily on the back.

"Easy now. No need to show off by drinking it through your nose."

"I'm alright," Meinrad wheezed.

"I take it you and my big brother didn't drink much over the years?"

"He never drank. Said it rotted the mind."

Caile shrugged, projecting an air of indifference. "He always was a bit stuffy from what I remember. But he still dragged you into the city, yes? What was it for if not ale and spirits? Women?"

"I wish," Meinrad replied, slumping forward onto the bench.

Caile grinned. "A bit of a bird dog yourself, eh, Meinrad?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I wish Cargan was after women instead of... instead of..." Meinrad slurred to a stop realizing he was saying too much.

Caile leaned in closer. "You can tell me, friend. I'll not speak a word of it. I like it here in Col Sargoth. As far as I'm concerned, my brother dying was the best thing to ever happen to me."

Meinrad tried to look Caile in the eyes, but his own pupils wandered involuntarily, making it impossible for him to focus. "Let's just say—let's just say he was seeking out people who dislike the Emperor. I wasn't sure why at first... hoped it was 'cause he wanted to turn them in, but no..."