"Pigeon, of course I need youYou are my youth, my... "Pigeon, of course I need youYou are my youth, my memory of what I wasAnd my talisman of fortune in battle
"No more battles though," said Alessan quietly"Will you allow me to offer my humblest congratulations?"
"No!" the other growled"No, I will not allow youNo such mewling courtly claptrap from youWhat I want is for you to come here and hug me and stop this imbecilic maundering! Who are we to be cluttering like this? The two of us!"
And with the last words he propelled himself upright with a ferocious push of his two muscled armsThe huge oak chair rocked backwardsThree of the liveried guards sprang to balance it
The big man took two awkward, crippled, hopping steps forward as Alessan strode to meet himAnd in that moment Devin abruptly realized, a bucket of ice down the length of his spine, who
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"Bear!" said Alessan, laughter catching in his throatHe threw his arms fiercely about the other man"Oh, Marius, I truly didn't know if you would come
Stupefied by more than altitude and a sleepless night, Devin saw the self-crowned King of Quileia, the crippled man who'd killed seven armed challengers bare-handed hi the sacred grove, lift the Prince of Tigana clean off his feet and kiss him loudly on both cheeksHe lowered a red-faced Alessan to the path and held him at arms' length for a close scrutiny
"It is true," he said at length as Alessan's grin fadedYou really did doubt meI should be outraged, PigeonI should be wounded and hurtWhat did Pigeon Two say?"
"Baerd was sure you would be here," Alessan admitted ruefully"I'm afraid I owe him money
"At least one of
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Marius growledThen something seemed to register with him"What? You two young scamps were wagering on me? How dare you!" He was laughing, but the blow he suddenly clapped on Alessan's shoulder made the other man stagger
Marius hobbled back to his chair and sat downAgain Devin was struck by the all-embracing nature of the glance he turned on themOnly for an instant did it flit over Devin himself, but he had the uncanny sense that Marius had, in that one second, sized him up quite comprehensively, that he would be recognized and remembered should they meet by chance even a decade hence
He experienced a weird, fleeting moment of pity for the seven warriors who had had to battle this man, bringing merely swords or spears, and armor and two good legs to meet him
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Those arms like tree-trunks and the message in those eyes told Devin all he needed to know about which way the balance would have tilted in those battles despite the ritual maiming, the severed ankle tendons, of the consort who was supposed to die in the grove, to the greater glory of the Mother Goddess and her High PriestessFor anyone's greater glorySeven times he had not diedAnd now, since that seventh time, there was a true King in Quileia again and the last High Priestess was deadIt had been Rovigo, Devin remembered suddenly, who had first given him that newsIn a rancid tavern called The Bird, either half a year or half a lifetime ago
"You must have been slipping or lazy or already fat last summer in the Grove," Alessan was sayingHe gestured toward the scar on Marius's
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The smile on the face of the King of Quileia was not, in truth, a pleasant thing to see"He didn't," Marius said grimly"I used our kick-drop from the twenty-seven tree and he was dead before we both hit the groundThe scar is a farewell token from my late wife in our last encounterMay the sacred Mother of us all guard her ever-blessed spiritWill you take wine and a midday meal?"
Alessan's grey eyes blinked"We would be pleased to," he saidHe gestured to his guards"In that case, while my men attend to laying things out for us you can tell me, Pigeon, and I hope you will tell me, why you hesitated just now before accepting that invitation
It was Devin's turn to blink; he hadn't even registered the pause
Alessan was smiling
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