“Things never really go our way, do they?” Thret muttered.
“Not really.”
Silence again. While it might have been my imagination, this silence was not as heavy as before. I had the feeling that the conversation had reached a comfortable-enough conclusion, but as I rose to leave, Thret spoke once more.
“Hero, I must once again express my gratitude to you.”
I didn’t think I’d done anything worth his thanks. “For what?”
“For stopping Ricard. If I had let Ricard cut the condemned down, then like the man in that story of yours, perhaps I would have resented the only family I had left.”
Perhaps so, and that reaction would have felt unreasonable to Ricard, but the human heart was an irrational thing.
“I think you should go have a long chat with someone who knew Harlest well. Perhaps Ricard himself fits the bill. It’s the least you can do to see off the dead.”
“Yes. I’ll try.”
At last, the time had finally come to depart. I bowed to Thret, and when I returned to the corridor, Ricard bowed deeply to me. I tried returning the gesture, but his head didn’t rise, so I left him that way. Behind me, I heard the sound of a door opening, then faint voices from within the room. By the time I glanced back, the door had already closed and Ricard was gone.
I didn’t feel any inclination to return to the banquet and instead retired to the guest room provided for me. While I sat there, gazing off into space, I received a midnight visitor. I opened the door to find Ricard standing there.
“Allow me to thank you for what you did before. Meeting you has allowed my lord to process his emotions.”
This man truly was the loyal sort, to seek me out and say that. I could understand why Thret trusted him.
“I didn’t do much. It’s you who has greatly supported Thret.”
Ricard smiled at that, but I could tell he had more he wanted to say.
“Is there something else on your mind?”
“There is one thing I want to ask of you, Hero.”
“I’ll do whatever’s within my capabilities.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ricard got into it. “Truth be told, there is one person left who should have received judgment for the civil war.”
Ah, just as I’d thought; this had been bothering me as well. Thret had two younger brothers, and different factions had tried to install both of them as lords, yet so far, only the youngest had been apprehended and executed. I’d figured that the other had died on the battlefield, but perhaps not.
“Gils, the remaining brother, has evaded our pursuit and is still on the run.”
“Does he pose a threat?”
Gils had likely only been a figurehead, but based on his status, might he still be capable of reigniting the rebellion? Could the war truly be considered over, with someone like that prowling around behind the scenes?
“All his prominent backers have either died or sworn allegiance to Thret. There shouldn’t be any problems there.”
“Then what do you want me for?”
“After tracing his trail, we’ve determined there’s a strong likelihood he fled to the neighboring territory.”
“Oh?” I had a bad feeling about that.
“Yes. To Kadann Hill.”
To my territory, then.
“Do you seek my permission to search there?”
Kadann Hill was under my management, but the actual owner of the land was His Majesty the King, so I wasn’t sure if I had the authority to give such permission.
“No, not exactly. We have a pretty good idea of where he is. Gils has a relative there.”
A relative in my territory? Were they related to Thret too? I couldn’t think of who this person might be, and where they would be hiding him…until a thought occurred to me.
“Someone at the Hill Temple?”
“Indeed.” Ricard gave a solemn nod. “The head priest is Gils’s uncle on his mother’s side.”
I recalled how hard the rat-faced head priest had pushed the third son the first time we’d met, and how panicked he’d been when I’d stopped in at the temple that morning. When he’d learned I was on my way to help stabilize Kerulgarz, he must have misunderstood that I was at the Hill Temple to capture his fugitive nephew.
“I see. Upon my return journey home, I’ll negotiate with the temple to secure Gils. Should I then hand him over to Thret?”
“No, there is no need. As I’ve said, he no longer has any backing.” His answer caught me a little off guard. Ricard lowered his voice, as if some eavesdropper might be listening. “You need only pass on this message. Tell Gils he must never return to Kerulgarz.”
“I’ll do that. But does Thret know about any of this?”
“I am acting of my own discretion.”
I looked him straight in the eyes, and he didn’t look away. Good—his were not the eyes of a traitor. Presumably, he didn’t want to place any more burden on Thret than the man was already dealing with. I respected Ricard for being so protective of his lord, though it was a bit much.
“Understood. A message it is, then. To anyone else, I know nothing about Gils’s whereabouts, and I haven’t heard anything from you regarding him. Does that sound satisfactory?” Anything beyond that was his to deal with; I sure wasn’t planning on taking charge of the situation.
“It does, sir. Thank you.”
I asked Ricard for some bits of information I could use to confirm Gils’s identity. Having provided these, he gave me a knightly salute and then took his leave.
After I’d seen him off, I felt a touch of regret. Delivering the message would mean I would have to see that unpleasant rat-faced priest again. It was almost enough to make me wish I hadn’t given my word.