Page 81 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

His journey had been long, taking several hours of off-road driving instead of the forty-five minutes it would have taken if the tunnel connecting the two sides of the island could still be traversed.

The knock at the door came precisely at eight o'clock, and as Rami ushered Bertram in, Losham noted that the general looked pleased rather than inconvenienced or worried, which was good. Evidently he regarded the summons as the rare treat it was, especially for a soldier who wasn't one of Navuh's sons.

"General." Losham rose and clasped Bertram's forearm. "You made it here in good time."

"The coast road is holding up better than the interior." Bertram returned the grip. "In a way, the enemy collapsing the tunnel did us a favor. They exposed a weakness in our defense strategy. We should invest in proper alternative roads rather than rely solely on the tunnel."

Losham grinned. "I knew you were the right choice for the job, Bertram." He gestured to the chair at his right. "Under your leadership, there will be no more such oversights."

The general inclined his head. "Thank you, my lord, for your faith in me and for giving me this opportunity to prove myself."

The general didn't know that Losham's faith in him was the only reason he was being spared, but he would know soon enough.

Rami poured the wine and set the glasses in front of Losham and Bertram, then sat on Losham's left.

"To the Brotherhood," Losham said, lifting his glass. "And Lord Navuh's vision for its future."

He wondered whether he could stop speaking in his father's name once the last competitor was eliminated. The Brotherhood no longer belonged to Navuh. It now belonged to Losham, and he could lead it wherever he wished, but there was no reason to abandon his father's grand vision of world domination.

Well, there was one reason. The clan's hold on him.

He had to find a way to cut their leash, but not yet. He might still need them to solidify his leadership.

"To the Brotherhood." Bertram drank.

Losham passed the first course with easy talk about the secondary power generators, morale in the barracks now that climate control had been restored, and the troops' restlessness with no major war to fight. Taking over drug cartels around the world was keeping a portion of the Brotherhood occupied and refilling its coffers, but an army needed a real war from time to time, and there hadn't been one in a long while.

"I'll be honest with you, my lord," Bertram said when the meal was done and the second bottle was open. "I was surprised by the invitation, especially the directive to arrive alone. Was there a reason for that?"

Losham leaned back in his chair, taking his wine glass with him. "Was driving the jeep yourself such a big effort?"

"No, not at all. It's just that a general doesn't usually drive himself."

That was true, and Losham hadn't considered how it would look when he'd issued the command.

"Humility and modesty are values I intend to promote from now on, which was one of the reasons I chose you to head the army. I don't have patience with big egos."

Both were true, and Bertram would soon learn what happened to those whose egos grated on Losham's nerves.

The general inclined his head. "Thank you, my lord."

"Blood has ruled the Brotherhood since its inception five thousand years ago," Losham continued. "Three of my brothers died believing their blood put them above the lord's law." He met Bertram's gaze. "I'm done with that. I want the best male in the position, and that is you. You were the one who kept things running while Kolhood took all the credit."

"I won't disappoint the lord," Bertram said.

"I know you won't." Losham signaled Rami to refill the wine.

"What else is going on that I should be aware of, Bertram? And please, don't hesitate to speak freely about my brothers. They might be my blood, but they are not my friends, if you know what I mean."

Losham was sailing dangerously close to the wind. It would have been more prudent to wait until after tomorrow's elimination to ask questions that might hint at what was about to happen, but he was impatient and had a feeling Bertram was holding something back. Probably more than one thing.

"Well?" he prompted. "Nothing you tell me will point back to you. You have my word."

"It's Lord Shavek and what he's allowing in the breeders' enclosure," Bertram said. "I don't know how much of what comes out of that place reaches you, but I don't like what's reaching me."

Losham kept his face impassive. "I get less than I should. So, what is he allowing?"

"Some of the women have organized into a cult they call the Sacred Mothers. It started small and seemed harmless at first. The women celebrated their fertility and devotion to the god Mortdh, which kept them from turning bitter and resentful. They were happy to be summoned to the breeding building, even happier when they got pregnant, and they saw it as their sacred duty to give their sons to the Brotherhood and their daughters to the breeding program. The cult served our needs. The problem is that they are now recruiting aggressively, and currently about a third of the breeders are members."