Chapter 17: ACT I, SCENE 8

ACT I, SCENE 8Day 29 Hours 5 Minutes Since the Ash FellCathedral — Command PostThump, Thump, Thump.Vespar’s chest pounds. There is still so much pressing in on him. But there is something to do now.Thump, Thump, Thump.Lady Cassandra doesn’t notice the sound as she clings to Vespar’s armour, dragging her weight across his torso.She stumbles against Vespar. “He can find him... Varis, he can find him!” Her voice shrieks into Vespar’s ear. Vespar has to twist around the person pounding at the pillar.Vespar forces himself upright again when they step onto the altar dais, which Captain Varis has turned into a command post around the campaign map. He watches Captain Varis become obscured behind his armoured watchmen yet still tower above them, his arms remaining crossed.Captain Varis keeps his eyes on Vespar throughout the entire address, his pale, exhausted face remaining entirely unmoved. Vespar’s words fail to find any purchase against his hardened military authority.“Sheathe your steel, boy,” Captain Lang says, his voice a flat, freezing rasp that cuts clean through the surrounding chatter. “I don’t care if you are the Huntsman’s ghost. You do not shout orders at my altar, and you do not command the Watch.”Vespar watches Captain Varis clear his watchmen and reach the edge of the stone railing in what appears to be a single step. The blue firelight from the Gloom-Oak brazier casts long, skeletal shadows across his face. Vespar catches his gaze flick toward Kendra, standing silent behind him. The Captain’s eyes narrow before he stares Vespar down.“If your tracking eyes are as sharp as your mouth... then you are wasting your breath. The scouting towers are sealed. Every window has been boarded shut. The main oak doors are barred from the inside by my direct command.”The Captain leans slightly over the stone barrier, his voice dropping lower.“You want to look through the courtyard walls, son of Harold? You want the black blizzard to tear the skin from your face? You want to make good on that promise to Lady Vance? Then you are going to earn it. My outer perimeter squads are missing in the freezing dark, and they have the keys to the city’s gates. Put that blade away, step into my command post, and tell me exactly what you saw out there.”Behind Vespar, Kendra’s hand slowly falls away from his.She doesn’t stop him.She doesn’t look at him.Her bloodshot eyes remain fixed on Captain Lang.