The King's Blood

about it. Now the relief that killing King Lechan hadn’t provided flowed into him. Odd how the important things in life could be the smallest ones. He considered whether to clear his schedule, take all the audiences slated for the day, and set them to the winds. He could take his books to a comfortable place and have food and drink brought to him. Now that he’d done some— one—small thing genuinely for himself, anything seemed possible.
    But no. Not yet. All of that could come on another day.
    The banker looked perfectly at home in the grandeur of the meeting chamber. Canl Daskellin sat at his side, the pair of them smiling and joking as if they hadn’t seen the king of Asterilhold die that morning. Paerin Clark wore modest clothes of simple cut that looked understated rather than plain. Basrahip sat at the foot of the table, his genial smile the same as ever. Geder looked for Cithrin, but she wasn’t there. He tried to keep the disappointment from showing.
    “My Lord Regent,” Daskellin said as all but Basrahip rose. “Thank you for making time.”
    “Pleased to do it,” Geder said. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Cithrin speaks highly of you, even behind your back.”
    “I’m gratified to hear it,” Paerin Clark said. “She sends her regrets, my lord. We suffered certain losses in the trouble, and Magistra Cithrin’s particular attention was needed to address some of them. I’m sure she would have come if circumstances had been different.”
    Geder glanced at Basrahip, who nodded. A twist of anxiety Geder hadn’t known he was carrying relaxed. He was glad she wasn’t avoiding him. And he hadn’t made an effort to seek her out, as full as everything had been on his arrival. There would be time. The thought of seeing her again left him feeling a little breathless.
    “Tell her I’m sorry she wasn’t here,” Geder said, smiling. “And I’m very sorry that all of this happened when you were in Camnipol. Really, armed insurrection isn’t as common as it’s seemed these last couple of years.”
    Paerin Clark laughed, and Daskellin followed along.
    “That does bring me to the reason we came in the first place,” the banker said. “Antea is in a difficult transition. The passing of King Simeon followed by the war, and now all of this. Any one of these could shake a kingdom. All three coming as they have are certain to.”
    “Yes, I’m told that the harvest’s going to be a bit thin this year,” Geder said. “But it won’t be a problem.”
    “You sound very confident. That’s good. Antea will want a steady hand. In that regard, I’m here in part to—”
    “Oh stop it,” Daskellin said, with a chuckle. “Clark’s here to say that his bank would want to put their toes in Camnipol. They don’t lend to the nobility. It’s policy, and likely a wise one. But they can bring in gold to lend to artisans and merchants. When I went to Northcoast, I thought we’d still be fighting a war when I got back.”
    “Banks are at their best when there isn’t war,” Paerin Clark said. “Trade in peacetime is always more reliable and regular. And stabilizing.”
    “Have you thought about opening a branch here?” Geder asked.
    For the first time, Paerin Clark seemed at a loss.
    “Yes, actually,” he said. “But the climate of court didn’t seem open to the idea.”
    “I think you should,” Geder said. “Camnipol’s the center of the world. Antea’s the greatest empire there is. Seems silly that you shouldn’t be here. More trade, right?”
    “You heard the part about not lending to nobles?” Daskellin said, and Geder waved the comment away.
    “Lend to other people,” he said. “Then they’ll have enough money on hand that we can tax them.”
    “Well, if that’s something we should consider,” the banker said, “perhaps we can talk about the challenges facing Antea in the coming years, and how we might be able to help.”
    The meeting went longer than Geder had intended, the conversation ranging from the division of Asterilhold into new baronies and holdings under the control of Antean noble houses to the possibility of buying up grain supplies from Sarakal to ease the coming harvest to the new Antean border with Northcoast and the changing diplomatic position with King Tracian. In truth, Geder didn’t care deeply about any of it, but Paerin Clark knew Cithrin, and so Geder wanted the man to think well of him.
    When at last the meeting ended, Geder made his