Blade of the Avatar/Blade of Midras/Chapter 25

=Bargains=

Excerpt
Tribune Marcus Tercius leaned back into the chair with a luxuriant stretch. The canvas of the large tent that sheltered him rustled slightly in the evening breeze. Before him the Legate of the Norgard, commander of the Fifth Norgard Army, stood glaring with a mixture of shock and outrage at the large, robe-clad man who had just materialized among them.

Inwardly Marcus was delighted. He had come to the tent of the Legate Planus Argo anticipating another boring evening of the tales of his military conquests. Legate Argo was an angular man with an expansive forehead and prominent cheek bones above a grim, narrow mouth. His armor often seemed to wear him rather than the other way around, but there was no questioning his strategic savvy on the battlefield and his uncanny ability to navigate the intricacies of Norgard politics. However, his skills as a storyteller were low on his list of accomplishments. Indeed, the evening had begun with the legate precisely meeting the ambassador’s low expectations. The unexpected arrival had interrupted the legate’s droning narrative with a surge of excitement. This subsided, however, when the stranger had spread his arms wide, showed his hands to be empty even though he spoke softly of bringing a great gift to the legate and his Norgard Army.

“What is the meaning of this?” The legate demanded, his right hand fumbling to find the grip of his sword that was leaning casually against his own chair. “How did you get past my guard?”

“I am merely a humble traveler asking the hospitality of your tent,” the man answered. “And I come bearing urgent and vital information for the legate regarding the siege being conducted against the city of Opalis.”

“I already know all about the place,” said the legate as the back of his hand brushed against the sword hilt causing it to fall clattering to the ground.

“Oh, I think we should hear the man out,” said Marcus through his amused smile. “He might surprise us.”

“I doubt that,” Argo snarled…

Trivia

 * In the original, prior to the additional chapters added for The Sword of Midras, this was Chapter 21.