Page 26 of The Study of Fire
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You know why. You’re just too tired to figure it out.”
True. Valek followed him from the room and stopped as the answer popped into his head. The Commander had taken over Ixia by using subterfuge, bribery, and assassination, avoiding battles to limit the casualties of his followers. And now Valek realized the Commander had been fully prepared to poison the wells that provided water to his enemies.
The Commander gave him a cold smile. “Exactly.”
* * *
A tapping sound woke Valek. He squinted in the late afternoon sunlight, getting his bearings. He’d gone to bed right after talking to the Commander.
Tap. Clack. Pause. Tap. Clack. Tap. Tap. Clack. Clack. Pause.
The almost steady noise came from his door. Rolling out of bed, Valek pulled his dagger from underneath his pillow and crept closer. He twisted the knob and jerked it open. No one stood in the hallway. The tapping continued. Valek followed it to his carving room.
He peeked inside. Brede sat on the floor surrounded by gray rocks. He picked one up and tossed it onto a pile, the next one landed on a different mound. It took a moment for Valek to realize Brede was sorting the stones by size.
“Brede,” he sighed.
The young man startled, jumping to his feet. “Buckets!” Then he recognized Valek. “You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
He waved a dust-covered hand. “Not that. When you went missing.”
Valek suppressed another sigh. “About that. I will disappear from time to time. And I’ll try to let you know when I’ll be gone, but there will be times, like last night, when I don’t have enough time to send you a message.”
“You could have left me a note on one of your desks.”
Huh. “I didn’t think of that. I’m not used to having a full time housekeeper.” Or one that particularly cared about his whereabouts. “Next time, I will leave you a note. Although, when I’m on a mission, I won’t always know how long I’ll be gone. For example, I’m going out for the next few nights. It might be two or four or seven, I’ve no idea.”
“Fair enough.”
“I also might come back here to sleep during the day or not. So, I suggest you avoid cleaning up here when I’m out, just in case.”
“Just in case?”
“I’m a light sleeper. If you come into my room unexpectedly, there’s a good chance I’ll throw my dagger first and ask questions second.”
“Oh. Okay. Good to know.” Brede swallowed a few times. “Uh, I guess, I should get back to work?”
“What were you doing?” He kept his tone neutral.
“Uh. Sorting.”
“Is that part of your job description?”
“Well…” He wiped his dusty hands on his pants, leaving behind gray smudges. “I moved your rocks to clean underneath them, and then, I forgot which pile each rock was on, so…” He gestured to the half-built mounds. “Besides, it’ll be so much easier for you to find the right sized stone!” The words gushed from his mouth. “How can that be a bad thing?”
“In this case, it’s not a bad thing.”
“When is organization ever bad? It makes life easy.”
“Exactly. It makes it easy for someone who sneaks into my office to find the information they’re seeking. That’s the reason for the disorganization.”
“Huh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
