Chapter 5

A Man’s Hate or His Pity

Smoke rose from the ironworks of Rubastre.

No one throughout history could ever describe the city of Rubastre as beautiful. Even during the reign of the Sorcerer Kings this settlement’s primary purpose had been the production of iron and steel. The hills to the north of the city were dense in iron and the Fahren river was wide enough for larger vessels to make the journey all the way to the city to ferry it all away to the more important parts of the world. Soot stained the buildings and along with the constant grey sky — and not to mention the ever present snowfalls — gave the entire place a very depressing atmosphere. At least that was what Prince Daegan of Reldon thought as he stepped off his Reldoni longship, eager to finally be off the vessel for the first time in weeks, but none-too-impressed that this was his destination. He had read descriptions of the city, looked at the maps and depictions but none in his mind truly grasped the air of misery in the place. The settlement itself was organised in a circle like a giant carriage wheel left to freeze and rust in the snow. The Farhen river cut directly through the centre. The inner sections of the city housed the ironworks themselves where the powerhouse of Rubane produced most of the steel that was throughout the northern kingdoms — including Reldon. The outer rings were for the houses of all the soot-stained people that worked in the mills along with fishmongers, markets, brothels and everything else that makes a city like this limp on.

Why the Arch Duke of Rubane chose Rubastre as his capital city baffled Daegan. Surely with all the steel this place exports, he could build himself a suitable palace someplace else. Any place else. “Well, we’ve arrived,” Daegan said to his companion, another Reldoni, tall like Daegan with light tan skin and dark hair, “welcome to our new home, Captain Ferath.”

“Maybe you, my lord. I’m only here until you get settled then I’m back to Epilas,” the soldier replied, waving the escort of six more bodyguards into position around them as they made their way through the busy port.

“Nonsense,” Daegan smiled, “what’s for you in Epilas? Hours of training drills? My brother would put your talents to waste fighting Altareans or Reinish or whoever it is my father is most bothered with. You’re much better off here with me,” and with an extravagant wave of the city before them, “and this wondrous place. The jewel of Rubane they call it.”

“Do they now? I wouldn’t call it a jewel myself”

“No? Look how the fires in the ironworks light up the sky in pockets of that orangey-brown colour. You’d swear we were inside the heart of a topaz.”

“What happened to Rubastre being the ‘very pit of human civilisation at the edge of the world’ as you described it?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daegan replied as they passed a fishing vessel pouring the day’s catch right out onto the dock, “seems like a delightful place.”

Waiting for them at the base of the pier was an escort of a dozen Rubanian guards wearing the grey livery of Arch Duke Edmund. And why choose grey of all colours at your disposal, grey! As if your city wasn’t depressing enough. They had the white bear of Dal’Regan House emblazoned on their tabards. A hammer and anvil would be more suitable, considering that’s all you do up here. At their head waited a long haired man, his skin as light as his white hair.

“Honourable Prince,” the man bowed, he was armed with a longsword strapped to his back. As were the rest of his soldiers. All men, no surprises there. “I am Captain Keltin, Captain of the Dukes Guard. The Duke would have come himself but a matter with the Ironworker’s Guild has delayed him.” Yes, yes I’m sure the Arch Duke personally comes down to this disgusting dock every chance he gets.

“I hope you had a pleasant journey here, my lord” the white haired soldier continued.

“Oh yes, I do love retching up my breakfast every morning. If only I were not bound to your lovely city I would have stayed out at sea forever,” Daegan replied with a smile.

“Um, indeed, my lord,” Keltin replied. That Rubanian wit living up to its reputation, this is going to be wonderful.

Daegan declined the offer of a carriage. After six weeks at sea with only brief stops along the way, he was restless to finally be able to use his own feet. It also gave him a chance to truly absorb all of the sights and smells of his new home. His servants were still seeing to unloading his luggage from the ship and would follow after him. The Rubanian guards assured him that it would be an hour or so walk to the Arch Duke’s Palace however Daegan had come to regret that decision not long into the walk. While he wore his most waterproof boots, the slushy grey black snow seemed to quickly permeate through the velvet leaving his feet feeling numb. And his purple cloak did little to repel the cold, he picked up his pace so as to try to get warmer from the movement. Keltin and the other members of the Dukes Guard seemed perfectly at ease in the chilly morning air. Well they should be used to it, living here your whole life. He glanced over at Ferath, the man showed no indication that cold bothered him even though his red Captain’s uniform was less protective than Daegan’s own garb. But then again he probably has a topaz tucked away somewhere he can pull heat from, Daegan thought bitterly.

As they passed the main thoroughfare of the city leading up to the Arch Duke’s palace, Daegan asked, “where might a man find the best wine in the city?”

“Grapes don’t really grow this far north, m’lord,” Keltin replied, “You’ll find plenty of reputable whitewhiskey houses this close to the Palace. This part of the city is heavily patrolled, you won’t get any of the roughs, the labourers or ironworkers around here. Mostly all highborn around these parts, some of the more wealthy merchants and engineers. Some of them import fancy Reinish wines and the like so you might find a bottle or two in some of these places.” The buildings certainly were less soot stained along the large street, large buildings of wood and steel, and now that Daegan noticed there were workmen cleaning away the grey slush from the streets and alleyways here, gaslamps lit even though it was late morning.

“And if you were looking for something a little less reputable.”

“Um,” Keltin seemed uncomfortable, “there are some taverns at the lower end of the street, poker games and the like.”

“I don’t suppose there are any vicedens?” Daegan asked bluntly.

“Er — Again you will find reputable establishments closer to the palace. But the bordellos would be closer to the lower end, the women in those places though, m’lord. Well, it’s not the place for a gentleman such as yourself” These Rubanians really are frigid aren’t they. Even the idea of only women in a viceden seemed strange to Daegan. This is Rubane after all, he reminded himself.

They passed through a large set of steel palisade gates into Palace grounds. The Arch Duke had made a good attempt at replicating the grandeur of the Palaces further south, a large open courtyard and an impressive central building with sheltered bridges connecting to the outer buildings and towers. The spired towers and tiled roofs were tall reaching points, likely so that the snow would slide off more easily. At the centre of the courtyard was a large bronze statue depicting a man wielding a giant hammer. Felt a wash of warmth as they finally entered the main building of the palace, already envisaging a hot bath to soothe warmth back into his toes. Inside the palace, to Daegan’s surprise, he spotted no open braziers but somehow the large courtroom was warm. The palace wasn’t as opulent as King’s Palace in Reldon or even the mansions of the other Reldoni highborn but there was subtle beauty to the place. A gaudy network of brass pipes fed along the walls with brightly shining topazes inlaid into the pipes. The topazes themselves gave out light amber light, but not nearly enough to fully illuminate the hallways alone. A strange decoration.

To his disappointment, Daegan was brought directly to the Arch Duke’s offices rather than to his new apartments in the palace.

“Prince Daegan,” the Arch Duke said as he entered the large office, “my apologies I could not greet you at the dock. My, you’ve grown so much since my last visit to Reldon.” You didn’t see me when you visited. As Daegan recalled, his father had him hidden away from the foreign dignitaries.

“Arch Duke Edmund, I’m honoured to be placed here,” Daegan said, inclining his head, “my predecessor had nothing but the highest of praise for your city.” If you consider ‘a cold frozen hell’ — as Ormand described it — to be a compliment.

“Ambassador Ormand was much loved here,” the Arch Duke said, “he had an unfathomable way with both the ironworker’s guild and the merchants.” Bribes had been Ormand’s only seed of advice to Daegan. Bribes and a fur lined cloak.

“I assure you,” Edmund continued, “the honour is entirely ours, a Prince of Reldon will always be welcome in my halls although I see you have learned the first lesson of the north,” he indicated Daegan’s sodden boots, “the cold gets inside you quickly up here.”

“My steward will escort you to your new apartments, you will find all the luxuries you would expect, I’m sure.”

“You are too kind, Arch Duke,” Daegan replied, eager at the prospect of having dry warm feet again.

“There is a feast planned for this evening, a welcome for our new Reldoni Ambassador. We will do great work together, Prince Daegan, I look forward to it.” The Arch Duke smiled and was already on his way out of the office to his next appointment before Daegan could say anything more.

***

“These will do,” Daegan said as inspected his new quarters. He did have to admit, they were rather nice rooms. More than what he had expected. A large foreroom with space for both dining and lounging, a set of bedchambers and side rooms for his senior servants and guards, and even a balcony in case he wanted to step outside for a taste of the cold biting air. It was more than what befit just an Ambassador and Daegan didn’t doubt it was his title as Prince that had warranted the extra considerations. The master bedchamber also had a brass tub for bathing in. He fervently unlaced his boots and discarded them, the last of the Rubanian servants unpacking his things. His own manservant, Thalan, was elsewhere being introduced to the other important Palace attendants. The aging man had been even more put out moving to a new palace than Daegan had been.

“Do you want to take the other guestroom, Captain Ferath?”

“You honor me, my lord, but I think one of the side rooms would suit my station better.”

“Nonsense, you’re captain of my guard. It would do for you to be close.”

“You’re just trying to convince me to stay.”

“Well of course that’s what I’m doing. If you go, who will I beat at kalah?”

“Two weeks, my lord. That’s all I’m here for then I’m headed back.”

“How about I play you?” Daegan asked, gesturing to the kalah board on a table in the lounge, “If I win, you stay. If you win I’ll give you Thalan. That’s a good deal, wouldn’t you say Kerala?” he added, looking to the other soldier standing guard at the door. She wore a red uniform — like Feraths — with the Tredain House insignia, a design that looked like two curved Reldoni crossblades with a shining stone above them.

“I wouldn’t really want Thalan following me around, my lord. But I suppose,” she had a light voice, one that conflicted with her tall height and hard face.

“You see?” Daegan said, “even Kerala agrees”

“It would be easier to keep the prince out of trouble if you stayed, sir” Kerala offered to Ferath.

“You see, Ferath! You have to stay, It’s for my own safety.” It was well within Daegan’s power to simply command Ferath to stay. Ferath was a captain in the Reldoni army, but he was reasonably certain that Landryn wouldn’t have been concerned with Daegan poaching away one of his lower ranked officers. The almighty Lord-Commander Landryn has far more important things to worry about than his troublesome little brother.

“I’ll consider it,” Ferath eventually conceded, “but there’s no point playing you. We both know you’ll win.”

“Excellent — you’ll love it here, I promise you. Well with that all decided, think I’ll have that bath, try to get some of this damn cold out of my bones.” He dismissed Ferath and Kerala — the latter of who staunchly remained at her post by the apartment door — and made his way into the main bedchamber.

“You there,” Daegan called to a servant — who had been unpacking one of Daegan’s trunks — a young blond man in the Arch Duke’s grey white livery, “fetch me some hot water for a bath.” He said as took off his coat.

“Oh,” the boy said as if shocked that Daegan would address him directly, “m’lord, it’s already, uhm, ready, sir” he said waving a hand at the empty tub.

“I’m not sure how you Rubanians typically bath, but in the south we tend to use water”

“Apologies, m’lord,” he replied, moving over to the tube and waving a hand at a small shelf at the side, presenting two gemstones glowing with a faint light; one aquamarine, the other a topaz.

“The water cools so quickly we leave it stored,” the servant said. Of course they would, Daegan thought darkly. Unconsciously he felt a pressure against his throat as the boy looked at him expectantly.

“Well then,” Daegan said, “fill it up.”

The servant looked confused, even a little put out at being asked. He hesitated a moment before asking “um, right now, m’lord? It cools quite quickly.”

“Yes, now,” Daegan said sharply, “I’m intending to take it right now” taking off his tunic to demonstrate the fact. Thalan, of course, would never question the command nor would any servant in the Reldoni palace, but the Rubanians wouldn’t know that about Daegan. Not yet. And he wasn’t in any rush for that.

The boy jumped at Daegan’s harsh tone and promptly took the aquamarine stone in his hand, “apologies, sir. I don’t use waterstone much so this might just take me some time.” his face scrunched up in a frown as held his other hand over the tub. A slow unsteady stream of water materialised, guided by his hand, feeding into the tub. As the boy had mentioned, it took him some time, the stream fluttering occasionally, stopping and starting again. Like pissing while someone’s watching. Once the tub was filled, the boy picked up the topaz and had been about to proffer it to Daegan but wisely thought better of it and again held his hand over the now filled tub. After a few moments, light steam began to rise from the water and the glow of the topaz diminished. The boy looked awkward as if Daegan had asked him to do something very improper. It’s just bathwater, get over it.

“Off you go,” Daegan said as he unbuckled his belt. The tightness in his throat had not dissipated even after the servant left and he closed the door. He undressed fully and slipped into the hot water. The sharp change in temperature burned at his feet and legs as he stepped in and lowered himself. He was too tall to fully extend his legs so his knees poked up out of the water. Finally warm again, he let out a sigh of bliss, almost fully relaxed if not for the knot in his throat. Idiot boy, it’s a simple task, what is wrong with you. He felt tears welling up, so he dipped his head under, letting the distraction of the hot water sting at his face.