rank and the fact that you had been cheated. Did you mean that? Or are you just another parlor windbag? Think well before you answer—you may be committing yourself. There may be other people who feel as you do, that there is change in the wind.”
Impulsive, enthusiastic, that was me. Loyal friend and deadly enemy and just solid guts when it came to a fight. Jumping forward I grabbed his hand and pumped it.
“If you are telling me the truth, then you have a man at your side who will go the whole course. If you are lying to me and this is some trick of the King’s—well then, Count, be ready to fight!”
“No need to fight,” he said, extracting his hand with some difficulty from my clutch. “Not between us at least. We have a difficult course ahead of us, and we must learn to rely upon each other.” He cracked his knuckles and looked glumly out the window. “I sincerely hope that I will be able to rely on you. Freibur is a far different world from the one our ancestors ruled. The League has sapped the fight from our people. There are none I can really rely on.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the bunch who took me out of my cell. They seemed to do the job well enough.”
“Muscle!” he spat, and pressed a button on the arm of his chair. “Thugs with heads of solid stone. I can hire all of those I need. What I need are men who can lead—help me to lead Freibur into its rightful future.”
I didn’t mention the man who led the muscle the previous night, the one who had stayed in the corridor. If Rdenrundt wasn’t going to talk about Angelina I certainly couldn’t bring up the topic. Since he wanted brain not brawn, I decided to give him a little.
“Did you dream up the torn piece of uniform left in the guard’s hand in the prison? That was a good touch.”