Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 729
this: 'The army is yours.'"
They gaped at him.
The bast stepped forward. "What is it you are doing?" it
demanded. "Cease this. We command your army."
Lavin bowed to it. "And you still do," he said smoothly.
"You may relay your orders to my commanding officer from
now on. She is below, on the mountain top."
The bast twitched its tail suspiciously. "Send a message
to this commander with your flag thing," it hissed. "Tell it to
deliver up the abomination to us now!"
The semaphore operator looked at Lavin, who nodded.
He stepped back, carefully loosening his sword in its scabbard.
Galas stood on a level spot halfway between the
monastery and the peak of the mountain. She had ordered the
semaphore be set up here, where she could survey all the
action. When the question about the Nag’s Head had come
down, she nearly cried from the memories it evoked. There
could be no stronger evidence that Lavin still lived, and that he
still honored what had once been between them.
Arrayed around her were Lavin’s men. They were
plainly stunned with the turn of events, but remained silent.
They would do whatever she asked, she knew. Lavin had
commanded it; and they had no other lifeline.
The semaphore operator read out the Winds’ demand that
Armiger be given up. Galas sighed, and glanced down the
mountainside. She had been expecting this, of course. It was
inevitable, now that Armiger had clearly failed to do whatever
it was that he had intended.
She could see him down there, a small figure standing
still by the parapet overlooking the valley. There was no one
near him; the monks were afraid of him, and rightly so. He