Thiasa Keep
"They say the King is planning on riding into war without a wife or heir."
"What about the Lady Blauvelt?"
"Like we need a damned Scalian here! His father broke away from that bastard king, and we don't need to get involved in that mess between the baronies. Besides, I hear she's incredibly ugly."
"Deformed?"
"No, just ugly... those Scalians. They're all inbred."
"Oh, be quiet, we're only a generation from being Scalian ourselves."
"Well, it's nearly certain. The Prince was sent off to the border. Why would he go if not to start preparing for war?"
"Maybe the King wants to get rid of him. They haven't been getting along. Did you see them at dinner the other day?"
"There are easier ways of getting rid of undesirable people... if he were so inclined he could just add a little spice to the Prince's wine..."
"Then it's war?"
"The King has been hovering very close to his General recently..."
Lawley Fiefdom
"Steward Eckhard Botolph and one of his men were found dead on the road, and one of the serfs has escaped!"
"You don't think she did it? Dirty things, serfs. Hardly proper Christians at all."
"No, she couldn't have. Eckhard's throat was slit with a real dagger. And no girl could kill two armed men. I heard them talking--it was barbarians."
"Why hasn't the damn King just taken care of them?"
"Don't speak ill of the king! I will say he's not the man his father was... and I hear he's impotent."
"Christ, that why he hasn't married yet?"
"Mind your tongue. I'm only saying what's God's own truth, or so they say at market."
The Border Garrisons
"I don't like the look of these Eastern Barbarians, I tell ya."
"The Zerui?"
"Call 'em what you like, they're all barbarians to me. Moving about all sneaky-like. I say the bastards are planning something."
"Well, double the night guard. I'll send a message to the Keep."
da'Ekain
"I don't trust these Zerui. I know we're supposed to be at peace with them, but--"
"Well, who would you rather have to fight with later--the interlopers or the Zerui?"
"If the interlopers take care of the Zerui heathens for us, we could get them afterwards."
"Oh, no. We could never win against the interlopers alone."
"But if they were weakened?"
"I will say this. One false step from those blood-worshippers and I'm done thinking of them as allies."
"The Warlord's sister has been taken by the interlopers!"
"It was that idiot... Chief Argider, who offered her up. The Warlord had his head. And he was justified. Of course his son is not pleased."
"The son's as bad as his father. I can't believe Nekane is taken. She's an important shaman, too."
"I hear the Warlord isn't pleased with his new wife."
"She is very beautiful..."
"And she knows it, the way she looks at all of the men. Good riddance if he does annul the thing."
"But what if she's already pregnant?"
"So we'll have an heir, and he can get rid of her afterwards."
"At least he has Miren."
"But she's barren."
"She's talking to a shaman, I think. They can fix it. After all, Ekain is very favored by Eguzki, even more than his father. There's no reason he should not have a son."
da'Zeru
"The Warlord doesn't know what to do for the summer sacrifice. Unless we have a suitable victim..."
"We can't take one of the Ekaini, it would mean war."
"Those spirit-worshippers! Why do we even ally with them?"
"Better spirit-worshippers than the white-face interlopers. They cut my father into two pieces and I'll never forget the sight."
"So he says we should take an interloper? But that would mean war with them."
"He might pick one they won't miss."
"But Eguzki wouldn't want just any interloper for the sacrifice..."
"I have my doubts, too. And we need Eguzki on our side right now."
"But we can't question the Warlord."
"No, we can't."
"The Warlord's second son snuck out into Ekaini lands!"
"What an idiot. They don't call him a weakling for nothing. Weak in the head, too, it seems."
"I hope his brother survives. I couldn't have him as a Warlord. The day we're the Iņakii, I swear in the name of Eguzki Himself, I will cross the border to Ekaini lands myself--and stay there."
"And he didn't even take his punishment. He ran off with that blind girl."
"At least he's picked one no one else will want. I couldn't marry a blind woman. What if our children all came out with defects?"
"Imagine a blind wife of a Warlord."
"Eguzki be praised he won't inherit."