Master of Hawks (14 page)

"He's still in a coma," answered S'Stratford. "It's as if after his duel with Derek S'Mayler his body went into shock. The lack of proper food and rest evidently worsened his condition.

"But I can see that you are looking much better now," he continued as he studied Jaxton. "You realize that with your cousin Geoff S'Akron's death, you have become the Regent S'Akron until Geoff's boy becomes old enough to rule?"

Jaxton nodded somberly, but inwardly he felt a surge of elation. Geoff's son Michael was only nine, so he could rule for many years before he would even have to worry about taking care of the child. Meanwhile, he could control the Pendant of Thantos, and with it the kingdom of Akron, as he pleased.

S'Stratford continued without pausing long enough for Jaxton to reply. "I can't say I'm sorry to hear that Geoff is dead. Even though you haven't had much training in sorcery, I'm sure you can do more with the Thantos stone than he ever could. We can teach you quite a bit in the next few weeks, and Jessica S'Logan is here too. She'll be very happy to give you all sorts of training, you know?"

Jaxton smiled at the double meaning in S'Stratford's words. The Red Witch was as fond of men as of wearing the red clothes that had given her that nickname.

"I'll look forward to that," he said as the longwinded S'Stratford paused to pour himself a glass of fine York wine.

Then S'Stratford said, "You may have had some bad luck at Threeforks, but we had a pretty easy time of taking over this town. There was some minor resistance, of course, but the only real problem was in getting here in the first place. I think we originally underestimated Lord S'Mayler. He was really rather clever. He had Suzanne S'Elgyn and Lord S'Decatur stationed at Hayden Island, right in the middle of the Inland Sea. They sent hurricanes at our ships so that we couldn't get through the Hayden Straits. At
first we thought they were natural; it was the right time of the year, you know? So after we docked back at Stratford Bay the second time, we decided to use sorcery to remove the storm."

He paced the room as he talked, reminding Jaxton of a bantam cock. S'Stratford's dark hair was thinning and beginning to gray, but his small, wiry body seemed that of a boy.

"That's when we realized the storm's true nature. Jessica and I and the other sorcerers with us had to join together to block the spell, that's how strong it was. We killed S'Decatur and captured that old witch S'Elgyn. They really had us fooled, because S'Decatur used his power to amplify S'Elgyn's ability to control the weather. After we broke through the storm, we sailed right into Swego without any more trouble." S'Stratford sighed and then frowned. "Of course, we didn't know about Derek S'Mayler's fake messenger or ambush, you know?"

Jaxton knew. When he had sorted through everything that had happened, he had realized that Ramsey must have received fake dispatches saying S'Stratford had landed when his ships actually remained at sea. S'Stratford had confirmed this.

Jaxton asked, "Well, what do we do now? Ramsey's troops were virtually wiped out, and I doubt that S'Mayler had very many losses."

"Relax. We've got ten times as many men as you had. Yours was just the advance party. We'll continue on to Castle York as we planned, with one minor change. We'll travel by way of the Keller Road to avoid Threeforks. It is a longer route, but we'll be in less danger of attack. Derek S'Mayler will undoubtedly expect us to travel by the Tompkins Road."

"Are you sure that's wise?" interrupted Jaxton. "That will delay us even more. I'm sure S'Mayler doesn't have the time to set up any sort of ambush again, and we'd be able to go around Threeforks if necessary."

"It probably doesn't matter much," Douglas S'Stratford replied. "S'Mayler is likely to try to cover both
roads, and that means his troops will be divided and less effective. From what you've told me about the ambush, it sounds as if S'Mayler can't have more than a couple of hundred men. We know that all of York's regular army is tied up in the south against our main force." He stopped pacing long enough to sip his wine. "I really don't think S'Mayler will be much of a hindrance, but this time we'll be watching for trouble, and we won't let it surprise us."

Jaxton nodded resignedly, tired of trying to squeeze his comments into S'Stratford's monologue.

"Well, we will be cleaning up in the town today, sending out our advance scouts and so on, then we'll move out the main forces at dawn. I've arranged a little present for you in your room, now that you're feeling better." S'Stratford smirked like a child who'd stolen a piece of candy. "It should be there by now. You can rest awhile and then meet with Jessica and me at dinner."

Although Jaxton had no idea what S'Stratford had planned for him, as he rose and made his way back to his room, he wondered if Ramsey could have recovered and if he would find the sorcerer waiting. However, his room was unoccupied, without any sign of a disturbance or a surprise.

He wandered over to the window. It had a very good view of the town. From its vantage point several
stories above the street, he could see S'Stratford's men systematically looting the buildings, piling various goods into carts for ultimate transportation back to Stratford by ship or southward, as supplies for their army.

The bodies of the Swego townspeople who'd defended the port had been removed from the square below. However, hangmen's ropes strung from the huge oak in the center of town displayed the forms of some of S'Stratford's later victims. Jaxton's excellent view enabled him to see that most of the men and women had been whipped or tortured before being hung. Even as he watched, another unfortunate woman was carried into the square and tied to the base of one of the greening copper statues of horsemen standing at the corners of the square. One of the soldiers in the group began to whip the girl.

Before he could witness the end to the grisly drama, someone knocked at Jaxton's door.

"Come in," he called.

Two soldiers entered, half-dragging a pretty young girl in a torn dress.

"Lord S'Stratford sends his compliments," said one of the men.

Jaxton laughed deeply, caught hold of one of the girl's hands, and pulled her to him. "Please thank him for his hospitality."

Slamming the door after the men, Jaxton drew the trembling girl toward his bed. She hardly fought as he kissed her tear-strea
ked face and removed her dress.

10

The duet of mating thrushes brushed through the forest, painting a delicate song. The twin voices complemented and contrasted in sweet harmony, while Hawk listened raptly to the melodic, piccolo-like notes. The forest seemed especially full of birds, all singing ancient tunes of courtship prompted by seasonal rhythms.

The sharp edge of the birds' excitement blended with Hawk's eagerness to reach the skytree forest of
Alycia, but his buoyant exhilaration masked a knot of anxiety. Since they
had already passed several sky
trees, he knew that they would soon enter the Sylvan territory.

After a brief stop at Castle York, Hawk, Coleman, and Ro had ridden south. Skirting the area around the Twin Lakes, they journeyed toward the badlands bordering southern York and western Cascar. Alycia, the largest Sylvan forest, lay just on the other side of the York border.

They traveled disguised as N'Omb pilgrims, ostensibly heading to the shrine at Elmera, about fifteen
miles northwest of Alycia. Wearing simple gray garb,
with their weapons and personal possessions concealed inside offering bags, they had avoided arousing the suspicion of Empire troops patrolling the CascarYork border near the holy place. They counted on the fact that so far Taral had not broken the sanctity and neutrality of N'Omb.

Hawk had found himself enjoying Coleman's and Ro's companionship far more than he expected. Instead of feeling nervous and shy, he actually relished their company. He wasn't looking forward to returning to his lonely job as a scout after this mission.

He remembered the first night they camped out together. As they unsaddled and groomed their horses, Coleman S'Wessex revealed the source of his wide knowledge of the forest people and their customs.

"When I told you I have friends among the Sylvan, Hawk, I wasn't being entirely accurate," Coleman said. "Actually, I have a Sylvan half-brother. His name is Elihen; he's a rather prominent member of the Arthuria forest tribe in northern Wessex."

Hawk was astounded. "I didn't think the royal families married anyone outside the nobility, let alone Sylvan," he said.

Coleman nodded and continued to curry his horse. "That's generally true. Of course, the great families tend to intermarry, mostly for political reasons, to strengthen treaties and bonds between neighboring kingdoms and city-states. But although some people have frowned on them, there have been marriages to commoners as well.

"However, my half-brother arrived through a more usual liaison, one not sanctified by any marriage vow. My father was quite a lady's man in his day, as your friend S'Mayler is now, but he was not a sorcerer able to prevent conception. So I have two illegitimate half brothers that I know about, and probably other unknown siblings as well.

"Elihen's mother was the daughter of the chief of the Arthuria tribe. I don't know whether my father began the affair out of love or expediency, but it did cement relationships between the Arthuria tribe and the humans in the rest of Wessex. There have been quite a few such liaisons between the Sylvan and the royal houses for just such reasons, although few produce any offspring. Ro has some Sylvan blood, for example."

"My great-grandmother," Ro added.

"I still don't understand how this could happen," said Hawk. "Aren't the Sylvan alien? It's like trying to cross a dog with a cat, if you'll pardon my analogy."

"You're using the wrong analogy," Coleman explained. "It's more like crossing a horse with a donkey, which does produce an offspring, the mule. Actually, matings between Sylvan and humans rarely produce children. When they do, most are sterile males, which the Sylvan call
shiffmen.
Elihen is such. Occasionally, though, a female child or
shiffem
is produced, and she is not sterile. The male children are kept by the Sylvan, but the females are cast out—given to their human parent, if possible, or abandoned at the gates of the nearest castle.

"Ro's grandmother was a
shiffem.
She was taken in by her father, Lord S'Carlton, and raised with his legitimate children, though she was called a Carlton rather than a S'Carlton.

"The mixture of talents from S'Cascars, Rowens, S'Carltons, and the Sylvan may have helped cause Ro's wide-band telepathic ability. To my knowledge, it's unique. That's one reason I brought you along, Ro. Your heritage and abilities should impress the Sylvan."

"Will your half-brother be able to help us?" asked Hawk.

"According to Brian S'York, Elihen helped arrange this meeting for us in Alycia. He'll be there and do what he can.

"Elihen and I haven't been as close as most brothers or even most half-brothers. Considering the circumstances, that's not surprising. We don't even see each other more than every few months.

"But ever since the Empire's invasion we've been working together to form a human-Sylvan alliance. He's as convinced of its necessity as I am. He believes the Empire will attack the Sylvan when they finish with us. Being part human and part Sylvan, he's in a unique position to bring the two groups together. Although the Sylvan usually look down on
shiffmen,
Elihen's talents have made him well respected. He's a member of the tribal council in Arthuria, and he's a prominent shaper."

"Shaper?"

"All the Sylvan possess some paranormal powers, but some are more skillful and powerful than others. Those individuals who are most adept at shaping living skytrees are trained from early childhood. The shapers can increase or decrease tree growth, hollow out trunks, shape chambers and rooms within the trunk or branches, even create furniture in the living wood," Coleman explained.

"The Sylvan have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the skytrees," he continued, "though some say the relationship is more of a parasitic one, since the Sylvan seem to derive more good from the skytrees than vice versa. They can shape the trees to their needs and draw strength from them. Also, the skytrees provide almost all the nourishment for the Sylvan. Their dependence on the
delaap
nuts and
tomaad
sap is so great that the Sylvan die without them, though the legends say that this was not always the case. That's why few Sylvan leave their forests, even to visit other forests. If they do, they have to carry their own supplies, and the perishable nuts don't last very long.

"In return for this, the Sylvan direct the skytree roots toward water and minerals, keep the trees free of disease, prune, and generally protect the trees from harm.

"The old stories say that the Sylvan were once human, that N'Omb punished a group of men who were more interested in growing their crops than in worshiping N'Omb by banishing them to the skytrees, to care for and be dependent on the trees forever. Of course, the Sylvan legends have a different slant. They say that the Sylvan were blessed by their god and lifted above men to live among his mightiest creations, the skytrees. They don't worship N'Omb as we do, preferring to believe in an earth god they call
Shuull.
They believe the skytrees are divine conduits to the god who dwells in the earth. When they drain energy from the trees, they believe they are receiving power from
Shuull.