“Slow down Condlin. Slow down.” Hyden rose to his feet quickly. “What do you mean Gerard’s gone? How do you know?”
“My father, sent me to fetch you,” the boy said, without looking away from Talon. “Gerard left a note last night saying that he was leaving. I didn’t know he could write.”
“Here,” Hyden fumbled a silver coin out of his belt pouch, and tossed it to his cousin. “Go across the Way to the vendor and buy some raw meat. I’m not sure if the hawkling is a he or a she yet, but its name is Talon.”
Hyden ruffled the boy’s hair. “Cut the meat into little strips and feed the bird. When I’m finished speaking to our fathers, we will discuss the possibility of you accompanying me to the tournament.”
The boy was off before Hyden had even finished speaking. Hyden lingered with Talon, like a protective parent, until he saw Little Condlin returning with the bird’s food.
Harrap wasn’t the angry, cursing man he had been the day before. Today, he was quiet and reserved, with eyes full of what might have been regret, and more than a little sadness.
“Why wouldn’t he have claimed his winnings if he knew he was leaving?” he asked his oldest son.
Hyden didn’t have a definite answer. It was a curious thing that Gerard had put all his winning blue tickets in with the note he had left their father, but Hyden didn’t see it as a cause for alarm.
“Maybe he cashed a few of them in. Just what he thought he might need,” he suggested, even though it didn’t seem like something that Gerard would do. Gerard’s nature would’ve been to collect all of his gold and leave just a little bit behind, not the other way around.
“He told me he was going to leave, but I didn’t think he would go so soon.”
Hyden didn’t say that he had known of his brother’s plans since early yesterday evening, just after they left the fortune-teller’s tent. He kept what he told his father about Gerard’s destination, and traveling companions, as vague as he possibly could. He didn’t want to fill the Elder’s head full of unwarranted concern. With the ring at Gerard’s disposal, Hyden was sure that his brother could take care of himself, but he found it frustrating that he couldn’t share that bit of knowledge with his father without betraying Gerard’s confidence.
After a long silence, Harrap sighed and then nodded, as if he was accepting some part of a reality that he had no control over. The subject of his concern changed then.
“Are you ready for today son?” he asked with a forced smile.
“The elf is terribly good, father,” Hyden said matter-of-factly. He made sure that it didn’t sound like he was making an excuse. “I will do the best that I can.”
“Aye,” Harrap’s smile became genuine, and held a great deal of pride in its curve. “If you do your best and lose, there’s no shame in it. As men, we sometimes put too much value on trivial things. I wish… I wish that we, as a clan, hadn’t put so much pressure on you. It’s not fair. You cannot win back the losses of the past. All you can hope to do is compete with pride, honor, and dignity. If you manage to do that, then you’ve already won.”
Harrap put his arm around his oldest son, and squeezed him lovingly.
“Honor among men, it seems, has grown scarce these days,” he mumbled, to no one in particular.
“Thank you father,” Hyden said.
The weight of the load he’d been carrying on his shoulders seemed to have lightened a little bit, but not so much that he felt he could relax. The rest of the Elders, including his grandfather, still expected him to win. He didn’t want to think about the competition at all yet. It was still a few hours away and he had other things on his mind.
“What were you and those men arguing about this morning?” he asked, trying to tactfully change the subject.
“One of the men that fought in the Brawl last night, died. Now, some of the Dakaneese wager men are trying to dispute the Seaward Monster’s victory.”
Hyden wasn’t surprised.
“Lord Gregory looked to be dead when he fell.” Hyden didn’t say anything about the witch and the poison dart. “The Monster won, despite the Lion Lord’s final blow. What is there to dispute?”
Harrap was shaking his head.