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“Certainly not,” said Benedict. “There is no telling what foul magic might befall a man who eats even a bite of Hesperine food.”
“It can’t be any fouler than what we brought here in our saddlebags. That mess is so stale, it can hardly be called food anymore.”
“It will be easier to keep our provisions from spoiling in this frozen wasteland.”
Cassia slowed her pace, making a show of studying the nearest juniper to stall her retinue’s progress.
“How can all fifty-six of us be expected to survive on such meager fare?” Lord Adrogan bemoaned.
“You would prefer the gods’ displeasure to battle rations?”
“Hedon would have begrudged no man a taste of that banquet last night! Come now, Benedict. You can trust me with a confession. We both grew up on our betters’ leftovers, you and I. I’ve had to beg for every handout from my eldest brother, while he takes what he will, as if he owns all he surveys. Aren’t you tired of taking the scraps from a free lord’s table? I know I am.”
“I don’t know when you developed such particular tastes.”
Lord Adrogan laughed. “Well, it has earned me the regard of a particular lady, I can tell you that. You cannot question my good taste when it comes to my Biata, surely, even if she is a maiden of the Hadrian faction.”
“I would never hold the loyalties of a lady’s family against her personally. See here, the stakes are different for you. Few men among us have brides awaiting our return. You have more reason than most to take no chances while you are here.”
“On the contrary, I have even more reason to be bold. Opportunity never comes without risk. And I know how to make the most of opportunities. If I play my cards right, I won’t return home to marry up—but to elevate my future wife to my level. We have the chance to be men of renown, Benedict. The men who braved Orthros. Bravery attracts followers, and followers mean power.”
Cassia’s pace, although slow, finally took her around a decorative bed of mint and into view of the men. She saw Lord Adrogan caress the gleaming tiles beneath his feet with the threadbare toe of his velvet shoe.
“Not just glory awaits,” he mused. “Perhaps profit, too.”
“Your Ladyship,” said Benedict in surprise.
The knight cleared his throat and stood at attention like a boy caught with his finger too near the pie. But next to Lord Adrogan’s fashionably short tunic, tight breeches, and wavy golden hair, Benedict looked staid and pious.
Cassia gave Benedict a smile she hoped he would find reassuring. “You are discussing Orthros’s temptations with the best possible person, Lord Adrogan. You must be aware that Benedict is a member of the Knightly Order of Andragathos, the Seventh Scion, the god of male virtue and righteous warfare.” She refrained from raising the issue of the history of conflict between Andragathos’s followers and Hesperines. Benedict was more likely to wage a campaign of personal asceticism than a holy war.
Lord Adrogan gave Benedict a slow smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, Benedict is well known for his high-and-mighty principles. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get a head start gnawing the jerky so I’ll have time to swallow it before we are expected anywhere.”
Cassia stayed her former suitor with one of the wide-eyed, fawning glances he expected from ladies. He lingered nearer. Knight’s lips pulled back a bit from his teeth, as if he were remembering when he had taken a bite out of the cloak Lord Adrogan had once given Cassia.
“It’s not just the food here that is very fine, is it, my lord? Where do you suppose the Hesperines come by all these luxuries?”
“They do not pull silk and marble out of the desolate snow, Lady Cassia. They trade. With someone.”
“But not Tenebra or Cordium,” she replied. “Whoever could be supplying them with these goods?”
“I don’t know, but whoever it is, they’re making shiploads of gold.”
“Well, our lands are wealthy in the gods’ bounty,” said Cassia staunchly. “There is no flax, wool, or metalwork like ours! I’m sure some of our noble houses could afford to bargain for silk and marble, just as well as these mystery traders, whoever they are.”
“Who brokers bargains with Hesperines?” Benedict shook his head.
“Someone brave and interested in also making shiploads of gold.” Lord Adrogan flashed a smile.
“Tenebra is wealthy in courage, too,” Cassia enthused.
Lord Adrogan went inside the common room, and she let him go, satisfied she need not grease the wheels any further. The wealth of Orthros was already working its magic on Lord Adrogan and other young profiteers like him who had joined the embassy to seek their fortunes.
Rank without swords, wealth, or land was mere bark without bite. Lesser nobles like Lord Adrogan had little to lose and much to gain by risking danger to put teeth in their titles. They were among the most likely to set aside their prejudices against the Hesperines, even if it was greed and ambition that inspired them to do so.
Benedict offered Cassia his arm. “You look very well, if I may say so, Your Ladyship. I am sorry my lord Flavian can’t see you in your present attire.”
“You can tell him all about it next time the two of you knock back a pint together.”
