Read Dark Crusade for Free Online

coils of luminous black hair, the slender figure that swayed within the grey gauzy kaftan. Jarvo forgot that for a week he had begged in vain to see her.
    "Yes," Esketra drawled agreement. "Discretion. And...?"
    Jarvo stepped into the shadow of the willows. "Can we talk here?"
    "There are only my goldfish to eavesdrop here," laughed Esketra, looking across the sun-dappled garden.
    Standing beside her, Jarvo spoke in a low voice. "I've covered our little intrigue quite well, I think. It is known only that the maid had stolen the map to pass to Kane's henchman. Those two are dead, and Kane has fled no man knows where. The tunnel has been cunningly scaled over, and there's no one who can link either of our names to this bit of treachery."
    "Masterfully handled, my general," approved Esketra, intently studying the bandages that enswathed the left half of his face. She dropped her eyes. "Perhaps we should forgo such rendezvous for a time--until new scandals command the tongues of court gossips."
    "That wait will be difficult to endure," murmured Jarvo, seeking to draw her close.
    You'll endure it if you love me!" Esketra insisted, evading his embrace. "What? Would you have my name bandied about like some barracks doxy's?"
    Jarvo fumbled clumsily. "No--of course, I'll do as you say. We must be careful."
    "You'll be busy," Esketra told him. "With your new command. And Kane is still at large."
    The right half of Jarvo's face smiled grimly. "Took to his heels with those of his men who were loyal to him. Fled beyond our borders. For all I know, Kane's slunk back to whatever strange land he came from. His treason and disgrace have broken the Reds. Those who declared their sudden affection for the Blues have seen fit to make a discreet withdrawal from court. The Reds are discredited. Even should Kane dare to return, the damage to their reputation is beyond repair."
    "What a strange man he was!" Esketra shuddered. "Did anyone ever really find out anything about his past?"
    "No," said Jarvo, which was not entirely true.
    "But Kane might return," Esketra persisted. "His ambitions were obvious. A man of his intelligence and capability might..."
    Jarvo squared his shoulders and drew himself up to full height; the extra heel of his cavalry boots brought him even with Esketra's brow. "Kane is finished," he snapped. "If he's fool enough to return to Sandotneri, I'll make an end to the hulking bastard and all his cunning schemes!"
    Esketra laughed softly and held a crumb low over the pool. A golden head struggled above the surface, caught the morsel from her long fingers, fell back with a splash upon its slower fellows.
    Jarvo flushed. Within his heart he knew that Kane's precipitous flight had been an error on his rival's part, that had Kane known of Tapper's death, he might well have brazened it out. At best the uneasy stalemate would have continued; more likely there would have been open war between the two factions. Jarvo feared Kane, and so hated him. His present victory was a hollow bitterness, for it had been a windfall--Kane's blunder, not his own merit. He wondered if Esketra sensed this, saw beneath his bluster and mocked him.
    "So my general will protect me from Kane," smiled Esketra, with a bland inflection that was neither sarcastic nor adulatory. She scattered the last handful of crumbs petulantly.
    "And what of these ominous rumblings we hear from Shapeli? Is it true that some madman has raised an army from one half of the peasantry and massacred the other half?"
    "So it is rumored." Jarvo shrugged. "And the refugees who clamour at our borders swear such rumors are fact."
    His face hurt and his palms were sweaty. He rubbed hands on his trousers and edged closer to Esketra. Except for the purl of the fountain and the rustle of the willows, the garden was silent. At a distance, along the garden wall, workmen grubbed at a blighted tree. The sound of their mattocks against roots did not reach the pool.
    "You will, no doubt, be away on