| “ | Yes, the money was certainly useful, and there’s nothing half so amusing as humiliating one’s closest friends.1 | ” |
Playing with Knives is the fourth chapter in The Blade Itself.
Chapter Summary
Jezal dan Luthar2 is a rich, self-centred Captain in the King’s Own whose commission was bought and paid for by daddy. When we meet him, he's sitting at a pleasant garden table playing cards with four friends and fellow soldiers: Major West, and Lieutenants Jalenhorm, Kaspa, and Brint. After breaking down their personalities, Jezal remorselessly executes a coup de grâce on Brint, taking the poor man for every nickel he has. However, Jezal suddenly realizes he’s late for his fencing lesson with Lord Marshall Varuz, and runs off with Collem West following in his wake.
The Lord Marshal puts Jezal through his paces, while Major West looks on somewhat smugly. Varuz harangues Jezal for his piss poor attitude and display, lamenting that there are only four months left before The Contest, the annual fencing championship which they are preparing him for. After working on his fencing, Varuz sends Jezal on a run to the Tower of Chains.
Jezal’s run is something of a tour through Adua. Passing through the Square of Marshals, he sees the huge stone statues on the Kingsway of six hundred years of High Kings and their retainers, including the great Magus Bayaz. At the top of the Tower, Jezal is treated to a view of the city: white houses and green parks stretching all around the glittering bay; the magnificent Agriont circled by a wide moat; the Lords’ Round with its bronze dome; the tall spires of the University; and the grim immensity of the House of the Maker.
Jezal returns to Varuz and West totally exhausted. He goes through his fencing forms once again, and Varuz is quite pleased with his speed; Jezal clearly has natural talent but just doesn’t work hard enough. He chides him that his biggest rival Bremer dan Gorst can run ten miles without breaking into a sweat, and adds extra fitness sessions to Jezal’s training, and above all orders him to end his carousing.
Six hours later, the card playing quintet are drunk as hell, as usual. Staggering out of a bar, they see a massive pale figure accosting a man in an alley, which turns out to be Practical Frost arresting Sepp dan Teufel. Assuming the man is being mugged, they intervene. However, they are called off by the arrival of Inquisitor Glokta. He is recognized by Major West, and they awkwardly reminisce about the last time they met; serving together nine years before during the First Gurkish War against the Gurkish, on the ridge just before Glokta was captured. Glokta also recognizes Jezal and comments on his chances in The Contest. The two groups part ways, with the crippled torturer makes a pithy remark when West offers to fence with him again some time.
Characters
Locations and Terms
| Adua | The Union | King’s Own | The Contest | Tower of Chains |
| Kingsway | Agriont | Lords’ Round | The Gurkish Empire | House of the Maker |
| University | Square of Marshals | First Gurkish War |
References
- A quote that perfect sums up the kind of man Jezal dan Luthar is. He's a bit of a jerk.
- So we have our three main characters: a barbarian, a torturer, and a young noble. And somehow the young noble is the least sympathetic of the three.