Empire of Avarice (31 page)

“Maybe you should have used it anyway for them being so
impertinent!”

Lalaas looked at the princess in surprise. “I’m shocked
you would say such a thing, ma’am. They were just being themselves. If they had
tried anything, then yes, they would have died, but I saw no reason to attack
them. They have brothers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, as well as
wives – probably.”

Amne went red again. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just so
angry at their attitude!”

Lalaas nodded. “The world is full of different beliefs
and attitudes. We must all tolerate them even if they seem completely different
to what we’re used to.”

“Would you accept them if they are forced on you,
Lalaas?”

“Forced on me? No, I would resist. I don’t take kindly
to someone forcing me to do anything. I’m a hunter, an outdoor man, someone who
enjoys the freedom of being able to go where I wish. I choose what I do because
I know it’s the right thing to do. Pity there are many who don’t.”

“Don’t what? Do what they like or don’t do the right
thing?”

“Do the right thing.” Lalaas looked sadly at the water,
chuckling happily around and over the large stones in the stream bed. “Some do
the things they do out of ignorance, but more do so because they delight in
doing it, even though they know it’s wrong. They ignore their conscience and in
time they forget it and it becomes their way of life. These are the truly evil
people of the world – not the ignorant.”

Amne considered his words. “Perhaps you ought to be a
diplomat, Lalaas.”

The hunter threw back his head and laughed. “Oh ho! No
thank you, ma’am. That deceit and falsehood turns my stomach. I’d most probably
start a war with my bluntness. I leave that sort of thing to those better
versed in that art.”

“Are you saying I’m versed in lies?” Amne asked, an edge
to her voice.

“No ma’am. You’ve been put in a position against your
better judgement. You don’t want to do this but you will out of a sense of
duty. That’s different from Theros who did it because he enjoyed that sort of
thing.”

Amne pulled a thoughtful face; Lalaas’ words had
mollified her somewhat. But she was still angry at the attitude of the
Bragalese and the fact slave trafficking went on in what was still officially
imperial territory. “I want to see this slave auction in Bukrat. You say we’re
going near there on our way to Mazag?”

“Yes we are, but I would recommend we pass the town by. It’s
not that friendly a place and you would have to be disguised. You look too much
like a noblewoman to pass in a place like that.”

“Well then I shall be disguised, Lalaas. I insist.”

Lalaas sighed. When Amne was determined on something, it
appeared she usually got her way. They continued along the course of the
stream, gradually climbing as they travelled further inland. The land here was
of gently rolling hills and a few leagues further on the stream forked. Two
tributaries joined at a spot where two valleys met. Lalaas pointed to the right
hand one. “That leads due south and to the swamps. We take the left hand
valley.”

Small mammals scurried away as they walked their mounts
along the gently rising landscape. The air was fresh and a soft breeze blew up
from behind them. Lalaas stopped and examined the ground. Amne came up
alongside and looked at him. “What is it?”

“Herd animals. I think I’ll hunt one for supper.”

“We camp here?”

Lalaas looked around, and saw a few large boulders
grouped to one side, evidence of some long ago landslide. “Over there; it’ll
provide shelter from the elements.”

The rocks formed a half circle and they pitched camp on
the up valley side, away from the wind. There were a few sticks left from their
last wood collecting session and these were placed to feed the fire. Lalaas
started it again, placing a small stone circle on the ground and soon Amne
could tend the blazing fire. Lalaas pulled out a wooden object from his canvas
bag hanging from his saddle. Amne was puzzled as to what it was.

“An imperial bow, ma’am.”

“But bows don’t look like that! How are you going to use
it?”

Lalaas smiled and produced a length of string from the
same bag. “Watch.” He put a looped end of the string over a notch at one end of
the wooden bow and placed it on the ground by his feet, pulling on the string
so that it was taut. He then grabbed the free end of the bow and bent it
against itself, pulling the end away from the other, up and then over so that
it was bending back against its natural shape. Lalaas strained, his arms
shaking with effort, his teeth gritted, as the other looped end of the string
was brought inexorably to the free end and slipped over to rest on the notch.

Lalaas showed the now complete bow to the princess. She
was suitably impressed. “What is it made of?”

“The bow itself is of two types of wood glued together,
and the ends are animal horn. The string is feline gut.”

Amne pulled a face. Lalaas passed it to her. She found
it to be quite heavy and experimentally tugged on the string. It was taut and
difficult to pull. “How far does it shoot an arrow?”

“I’ll show you,” Lalaas took the bow back and slid an
arrow from a quiver he opened that was resting against his pack. It was late
afternoon and the sun was beginning to set up the valley, casting long shadows.
Lalaas placed the end of the arrow against the string and rested the shaft
against his hand that was gripping the centre of the bow. He stood and looked
across the valley. There was little to see except a gentle sloping of the
ground. He drew in his breath and pushed his left arm forward, taking the bow
with it. As he did so, he pulled back with his right hand, drawing the
bowstring back against his lips. Now with his left arm fully extended, Amne
could see the effort needed to hold the string back. Then he released the bow,
sending the arrow streaking away across the stream and far across the valley.

“Goodness!” Amne exclaimed. “And you hunt with that?”

“I do, ma’am. It’s fairly accurate too. I can get to a
killing distance and not worry the herd beasts. Now, if I’m to get one before
dark, I’d best get going now. Keep the fire blazing away; I’ll return hopefully
with a prize.”

He left, leaving Amne alone in the valley. She shivered,
not really through the cold, but because she felt a pang of fear. There now was
no-one to protect her should anything or anyone happen by. After placing a branch
on the fire, she looked around. Both to left and right the valley rose in
grassy waves until the snow line. Rocks stood out sharply against the white,
and it wouldn’t be long before those slopes, too, were free of snow. Up the
valley the terrain climbed gently, then turned out of sight. She supposed they
would travel there on the morrow.

The animals were grazing on the grass happily, hobbled
and tethered so they couldn’t go far. Down the valley towards the confluence of
the two tributaries there was some movement, but it was only from birds and
animals, drinking from the stream or eating from the grass. Lalaas was down
there somewhere.

She thought on her mission. Now Theros was gone, how
would she conduct herself? Would Lalaas be of any use in the negotiations? No,
she decided, he would not. There were no documents to assist her either. She
would be as lost and helpless at the negotiations as she was here in Bragal,
totally out of her depth and her normal environment. It all seemed overwhelming
and she began to shake with the thought of it all. How she longed for the
comfort of the palace, her family and the normal sounds and smells of her
bedroom. In fact, she badly wanted to go back to the days before she came to be
a princess, and longed for that much simpler life.

The sound of heavy footsteps brought her out of her
self-pity and she stood quickly, seeing the dark shape of Lalaas approaching
from downwind, carrying a small animal on his shoulders, the bow slung across
his back. “I’ve got a small springer,” he announced, pleased with himself.

Amne felt relieved that he was back, and guiltily
realised she had let the fire die down. Quickly throwing a couple of logs on
it, she encouraged it to blaze up once more. “I’ll put up the spit,” she said.

“Good idea. I’ll butcher it while you do that.” Lalaas
knew Amne was a touch squeamish about this sort of thing, so he knelt with his
back to her and began skinning the small beast, a half grown springer,
so-called because that was how it ran. There were two small horns on its head
and it had four long delicate looking legs. But these legs allowed it to run
very fast indeed and he had only one shot at it. Fortunately his aim had been
true.

Amne fussed with the two forked sticks, ramming them in
the ground and placing the spit across the forks. By the time she was finished
Lalaas had cut two joints of meat from the carcass and now hung them over the
spit. He would cook the rest slowly after they had eaten. Night was beginning
to fall and while Amne watched the meat, turning it over occasionally with her
knife, Lalaas set up a wind break and the two tents. It was cosy enough and the
stars began to twinkle in the night sky as they ate their supper.

After they had finished Lalaas cut the rest of the
carcass and hung the edible parts from the spit and threw the remains far from
the camp for the wild animals to take. They sat in companionable silence for a
while, watching the fire and the stars, and occasionally checking the meat,
before Amne spoke. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t who I was,” she said. “It’s a
terrible responsibility and I have to do things I’d rather not.”

“That’s true for all of us, ma’am,” Lalaas replied. “It’s
just that for you what you do affects more people.”

“You can be yourself, Lalaas,” Amne said with some
force, “but I always have to be a princess, whatever that’s supposed to be,”
she added bitterly.

“There are benefits to being royalty, ma’am.”

Amne laughed. “I don’t see any, Lalaas. Ever since I’ve
been made one I’ve had to do this and do that and go places I’d rather not
think about!”

Lalaas pulled a rueful face. He didn’t really know what
to say. He was sympathetic, up to a point. Royalty had privileges and riches
beyond his wildest dreams. He was luckier than many people of his social
standing, but that was because he had grabbed his own destiny and got up and done
something about it. Many others wallowed in self-imposed misery but apart from
moaning did nothing to alleviate it; others again had no chance of changing
their life but oddly these were ones who mainly said nothing about it.

Amne pulled her knees up to her chin. “You think I’m
spoilt?”

Lalaas smiled and kept quiet.

“Oh! I know what you’re thinking,” Amne said forcefully.
“Go on, say it! Forget I’m a princess.”

“Forget you’re a princess?” Lalaas asked in surprise. “No,
that’s not possible, ma’am.”

“Stop being scared to say anything; go on, I won’t hold
it against you. I’m curious what you really think of me.”

“Scared?” Lalaas said slowly. “Yes, I’m scared. Anyone
would be. It would take just one word from you and I could be arrested and
executed. You say you wouldn’t hold it against me, but what if one day you got
angry with me for some reason, and said something without thinking. I could be
thrown into jail before I knew what was going on. This is our world, princess. You
are royalty, whether you like it or not, and whether I like it or not. You have
a responsibility, like all your family, to lead the empire and all who live in
it. We want to live a happy, peaceful life, and look up to people like you and
your father to provide that for us. You have to look after us, and in many ways
you’re like our parents. And like all families, we have squabbles and fallings
out, but you have the power to punish us. Sometimes, just sometimes, we have enough
anger to change our parents, but only if we have been mistreated too much. But
because of that you and I are different. I may be looking after you for now,
but ultimately you will be the one to look after my life.”

Amne looked at her companion with sadness. “Lalaas, you
think I would be spiteful to you? You must think little of me if you do.”

The hunter sighed and lifted up one slab of cooked meat
and placed it on a metal dish. “Your father instructed me to make sure nothing
happened to you – on pain of death. You understand that?”

Amne was shocked. “He threatened you?”

“Why not?” Lalaas asked, tired. “He has the power. I
must obey.”

“Do-do you hate me, Lalaas?”

“Oh goodness, no, princess! I’d’ve accepted this task
whether your father threatened me or not. He just added that warning because
he’s a concerned father, and wanted to impress upon me the absolute seriousness
of my task of protecting you.”

“I had no idea – I’m so sorry! I’ll speak to my father
when I see him!”

Lalaas chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry. He’ll probably
reward me with something when I present you to him. It’s all part of working
for the emperor. Big rewards, big risks. My choice. I could have left his
employment and gone elsewhere long ago, but I believe in him, I believe he can
bring stability and security to us all, in time. We need an end to this greedy
stupidity of the other nobles.”

Amne hugged her knees and rocked back and forth for a
moment. “So you would have taken the job no matter what?” she smiled.

Lalaas looked at her briefly, then nodded.