Please read In Recent Years: Introduction before reading this post.
When Lerran’s brother, Renado, does not return from his smuggling voyage to Bellasa and Kedar Port, Lerran sets sail from Sheld to find him. Lerran is the eldest son of the crime lord Gharo—as such he is near enough to a prince of Sheld. Lerran’s wife, Tassina, bids him safe travel as Lerran and his guards search for Ren. Continue reading In Recent Years: Lerran
Like most mornings, Tassina and Lerran ate breakfast in front of the windows in their quarters. The faint taste of cinnamon in his coffee lifted Lerran’s spirits, and the news a few minutes later lifted them higher. More ships had arrived a half hour ago, Captain Uthran reported. Lerran finished his coffee quickly.
“Go get it,” Tass said with a smile and Lerran leaned in for a kiss before following his Guard Captain into the hall. Continue reading Lerran 47
The hammers and saws of workmen echoed up through the hallways of the Lerran estate from the cellar. Six guards stood on duty down there, to ensure the security of his fortune and his wares from the citizens at labour. They were building, for the Prince of Sheld, a proper vault. At its completion, it would be protected by a master-crafted lock and would only open to two keys.
Lerran leaned against his desk, and groaned. The noise made his office even more irritating. As he sipped his rum from a tall mug, he drummed his fingers against the desk. After a moment of annoyance, he glanced back up at Gadra and Isar, and the three candidates that stood before him. Continue reading Lerran 46
“How many ships?”
Captain Maras stood in the office, smiling. “Four, sir. Flying the standard of House Valakono, spears, sun, moon.”
Lerran finished off his rum with a bold swig and slammed the empty mug down on his desk. “Excellent,” he whispered. He brushed around the corner of his desk and strode across the red carpet toward the door. Continue reading Lerran 45
In the wake of a morning rainfall, Lerran walked along the path behind the manor with Tass holding his arm. It was calming, though Lerran had spent most of the last few weeks feeling anxious. The meeting in Squora had been a storm, and the payday on the horizon was the inevitable sunlight after the thunder. For now, he was in a strange limbo, waiting for peace to come again—as though his life without the Lo Mallago trade had been anything peaceful. Continue reading Lerran 44
They reached the gates of Sheld in the middle of the morning. With the dawn fog came a drizzle of water, the first precipitation in months. The dirt was so dry, it refused the moisture. Puddles wider than their horses formed, even though it was hardly rain. Lerran and Ash rode into the streets of the city first. The commoners seemed relieved by the water, though their clothes hung damp and muddy as they went about their business. Continue reading Lerran 43
Tall, arid grass rose along the banks of the Sko River, brown and blurry and full of whistling insects. It hid the village of Squora from view until Lerran, Eseveer, Isar, and their guards were almost upon it. About an hour ago, faint trails of smoke had become noticeable over the brown fields in this, the most comfortable portion of the Barren Road. Continue reading Lerran 42
On Lerran’s birthday’s, everything went according to his plan. He awoke in the morning and enjoyed the usual small breakfast with Tass. After that, Eseveer and he had made their preparations for departure. If they left today, they’d reach Squora on the 20th, likely at the same time as the ambassadors from Var Nordos. Lerran had been readying himself all week for the tedious negotiations that would follow; at least the money figures would be high enough to give him a thrill. Continue reading Lerran 41
“You’re going to be thirty-three,” Tass said, lounging on the cushions with her left leg across Lerran’s right. Rays of sunlight—at last breaching those dark, barren clouds—lit up the dust that hung between their bed and the window. Lerran’s wife murmured in his ear. “The Prince of Sheld’s birthday… will there be a feast?”
Lerran let out his breath, and felt her head sink as his shoulders lowered. He shook his head. Continue reading Lerran 40
Gadra was playing her lute again, plucked strings that echoed through the halls of the Lerran Estate. Yesterday, one of the wealthy families had come to visit, interrupting Gadra’s attempts at practice. Lerran had met with the lord of that house to discuss his concerns about the water shortages. It had been close to two months since it had rained in Sheld, and many gardens were failing. Tassina had been working overtime trying to help her plants. Thankfully, the Shalan River kept running strong. Lerran agreed to give the visiting lord a larger ration from the river. It wasn’t a long term solution—the Shalan handled sewage too, though not upstream where the aqueducts began. Sheld thrived on its rain cisterns though, and they were almost dried up. The strings that Gadra played sounded as beautiful as distant raindrops, but they were not. Continue reading Lerran 39