Here's the second (of three) pieces of art I've commissioned for minor characters from The Tyranny of Faith. This is Sir Gerold Bertilo, the Sheriff of Sova:
Beyond the threshold was Sir Gerold, the Sheriff of Sova, as well as a handful of men and women. Each was armed with short swords and clad in plain, dark clothing, and wore shirts of mail. They did not wear the livery of the city watch, though there were clearly a part of it.
“Sir Gerold,” Vonvalt said quietly.
“Sir Konrad,” the sheriff replied. He did not look happy. “I am here, as you asked, though I need not tell you that —”
“You are not pleased to be,” Vonvalt interrupted. “I know.”
Sir Gerold sighed. He held out a hand and one of his men placed a ledger in it. He subsequently passed it to Vonvalt. “There. It is marked on the page.”
Vonvalt moved past the sheriff to where a candle guttered on a table nearby. He opened the ledger to where the tassel had been placed, and ran a finger down the page.
“A barge, down the Kova,” he said. He looked up at the sheriff. “Docked a week ago.”
Sir Gerold nodded. “In light of your instructions, I believe that to be the vessel you are looking for.”
There was a pause, broken by Sir Radomir. “Is anybody here going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” he asked.
Vonvalt wrinkled his nose, his earlier censure of his taskmen forgotten. “As you know, the Emperor has all but forbidden me from spending city resources on the Claver matter. However, if the Claver matter is indeed linked to the abduction of Prince Kamil, then the investigations are one and the same.” No one looked particularly impressed by this contrivance. It was one thing for Vonvalt to flout the orders of the Emperor; it was entirely another for us to do so. Even the fact that we had been directed to do so by Vonvalt would not be a defence. “The man that we chased from the séance, the one who had the look of a Kòvoskan about him; I charged Sir Gerold with reviewing the docking ledgers for ships travelling from the east, flagged to any one of the nations forming the Kova Confederation.”
“And you have found one?” Sir Radomir said.
“Sir Gerold has found one,” Vonvalt said. “And now we are going to have a look on board.”
“If the ship is from the Confederation, how is it allowed to dock at all?” I asked.
“Nothing stops money-making, Miss, not even warfare,” said Sir Gerold wearily.
That's all for now - one more piece to come!
Best
Rich
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