“What is it?” Jala asked. From his expression she couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad.
He looked up and smiled widely at her. “High Lord Arovan has just granted me command of my former Cavalry regiment. I now command a thousand lancers to be used as I see fit. They will remain on call in Arovan, awaiting my summons,” he explained, his voice holding a strong note of disbelief.
“He is parting with troops now?” Sebastian asked, his expression incredulous.
“My father has a substantial Cavalry and armed knights aren’t doing much good against the foes we currently face. If he believes they will benefit Valor more he is most likely right,” Micah said and bowed his head to Valor. “Congratulations, Valor, now you can put to work everything you have learned from your father and from all of those military strategy courses you take at the Academy.”
“Thank you Micah, and thank your father for me. I’m shocked. This was the last thing I expected,” Valor said, his voice still faint.
“If we want to finish everything we had planned to do today we had better go, Val,” Finn said gently, drawing the Knight’s attention back from the document.
“Yes, of course,” Valor replied distractedly and carefully handed Devony back down to her father. He fished in his pocket for a moment and pulled a folded paper out. “This is the list of things I will be needing, Honor. I’d appreciate it if you would let me know when it makes it to the warehouses.” He handed the paper to his brother and carefully tucked the letter from Lord Arovan into his coat.
“It was nice to have met all of you,” Jala said with a smile and turned her horse to follow Finn who was already departing slowly.
Valor lingered to share a few words with his siblings but followed soon after. “To Merro’s district then?” he asked as he caught up.
“For a few hours and then to the gambling houses,” Finn said with a nod.
“I have training with Neph tonight so I suppose I’ll part ways with you two after we are done in my district,” Jala said with a sigh.
“You will need a drink after you see the district. Skip a night’s practice with Neph and join us,” Finn said giving her a sympathetic look.
“It can’t be that bad,” she objected. Both Valor and Finn looked at her for a long minute but remained silent as they rode, apparently deciding it would be better to let her see for herself.
*
She wasn’t sure exactly what she had been expecting from the Merro quarter but it wasn’t this. Everywhere she looked was ruin and decay. Garbage filled the alleys and the buildings looked on the verge of falling down. Even the roads were barely serviceable. Sullen faces stared out of doorways, watching them as they passed. She wished they had thought to change to plainer clothes. Valor was drawing the most attention and she half expected him to be mugged by the time they left the district.
“I’ve got a lovely time for ya pretty,” a hoarse woman’s voice called down to them from a balcony. She wore a ragged dress that had faded to a dull grey and her hair was tangled about her shoulders. Her smile drew the skin on her gaunt face tight giving her a cadaverous look.
“Well, you have a plentitude of very frightening whore houses. Not really sure what those sores are around her mouth and that particular part of the anatomy definitely isn’t supposed to be that color. Damn,” Finn observed, looking up at the woman with a sickly expression. “Healers. You need healers desperately.” He shuddered slightly and turned his attention back to the street ahead.
“I may turn celibate after witnessing that,” Valor murmured, swallowing heavily.
“You shouldn’t have looked,” Jala said mildly and carefully kept her gaze from going back to the whore above.
They had planned simply to ride through the district and decide what to fix first, but seeing all this and doing nothing was gnawing at Jala. She wanted to change it now. She hated the thought of leaving these people in this condition any longer than she had too. “Why did Merro’s fall hit them so hard? Couldn’t they have found a way to live without Merro?” she asked quietly, not understanding at all what had happened here.
“Most of them depended on Merro for supplies and imports. A few craftsmen were able to continue but they moved to better parts of the city. What you are looking at are the dregs, the lower class that had nothing else beyond the simple labor their home country provided,” Valor explained.
“Dock workers, warehouse men, and the whores that served their like. Each district has a surplus of that sort and most of these didn’t have the money to move. Some of them turned to thieving for the Nightblades. A lot just do what they can simply to survive,” Finn said carefully steering his horse around a large pile of garbage blocking part of the street. Angry squeaks arose from the pile as his horse’s hoof dislodged a board.
While I’m not opposed to hunting, even I won’t eat a rat I find here. I’m afraid of what they have been eating, Marrow told her as he skirted wide around the refuse, eyeing the rats with suspicion.
“I don’t blame you,” she said, feeling a bit sick. She could see an arm protruding from the bottom of the pile and from the size of it the owner hadn’t been very old. “There are bodies in the streets,” she said quietly, looking to Finn.
“It only gets worse the farther in we go, Jala. We can turn back now and come back when we are prepared to fix things,” He offered.
“No, I want to see it,” she said, hardening her resolve.
“Where exactly is Sovann planning to relocate himself here. I hope it’s near the entry gate or he will likely be dead in a week,” Valor said quietly.
“He says he found a good place on Breaker Street near the old market. He has already moved into it from what I understand,” Finn said, keeping his voice low as well.