Quest for the King (38 page)

They sat on the grass together. "What d'you think will happen when
we get to Bamah?" Mary asked.

Shiyrah looked at her and smiled. "Well, my ... er, my grandfather-he is my great-great, you know, but it is too much trouble to
say-thinks we will get into the temple by the passage Lisa knows
about There is lots of the priests' anointing oil inside, and he knows
where it is, and has already been instructing one of the sergeants to
spread it around to the greatest advantage. He feels sure the place will
go up in flames very easily. The wood is very dry, he says. But I am
so worried about him."

"You are? Why?" Lisa asked.

"I do not know how his spirit stays in his body. He is really
very, very frail. I try to take care of him, but he is determined to
see this expedition through. It is exhausting him, though he will
never give up-until he drops dead. I wish he could go on for ever, but that is just not possible."

Both girls felt uncertain of themselves, yet flattered and grateful
that the older girl was confiding her feelings to them. Lisa wondered
whether she ever had anyone to talk to, and whether there was any
relationship with the young officer she had seen her with. Mary
frowned. "I know the prophet looks flimsy, as though the wind would
blow him away, but the power that comes from him ..."

"Everyone says the same. But he is mortal. He has to die sometime.
After all, few people live to his age. I dread to face it, but I feel his
time is not very far off."

"I-I hope you're wrong," Lisa said thoughtfully. She looked at
Shiyrah admiringly. "I wish I could sing like you. It's not just your
voice, but the effect of your singing on us. It must be lovely to be able
to do that."

"Yes and no!" There was a faraway look in Shiyrah's eyes.

"I'll have to get you to sing over us all again," said Lisa. "I wish so
much didn't depend on me. Its awful. I'm scared now that I may not
be able to find the entrance to the passage. Or, that if I do find it,
it will not open if I command it to in Gaal's name."

. After a moment Mary said, "Sure you'll find it! An' of course it'll
open." But as Mary looked at Shiyrah, she saw her thoughts must still
be on the old prophet. "You're worried, aren't you?" she asked gently.

Shiyrah nodded and sighed. "I am so used to having him. What will
I do when he dies?"

Just then the same young officer whom Lisa had noticed approached the three girls and bowed to them.

Shiyrah looked up at him and smiled. "These are my friends
from other worlds, Mary and Lisa, and this young gentleman is
Kosti, who made sure I did not get into mischief during the journey
here."

The officer looked startled. "Did you say the young ladies came from
other worlds?" he asked.

"Yes. There are doors between worlds and times, you know."

"There are? I certainly did not know. But since meeting the proph et, I am learning that there are many things I do not know!"

He grinned and sat down with them. "It is an honor to meet you.
And-I hope I am not intruding?"

"Of course not!" Shiyrah was quick to say. "You have been getting
the horses ready?"

"Yes. I think there will be enough for everybody, so that we will not
have some horses carrying two men. We should be able to set out
reasonably soon. Then the long journey begins."

"How long will it take us?" Lisa asked.

"I'm not sure. But we will have to avoid settlements and travel by
night a lot. I suppose the prophet will serve as our guide. He seems
to be able to see in the dark, and to find a route through the wildest
country. What is more, we will have to go to Ashleigh, where we are
to leave King Gaal and his parents. Since the autumn rains have not
come yet, and the autumn weather seems as though it will hold for
a while, we may manage it" He grinned. "Everyone is complaining
about the weather. But I am all for it It is an ill wind-"

A series of bugle notes startled them all, pealing out across the
moors like the call of a giant rooster. "Oh, dear," the young officer
said. "That means for everyone to hurry up. I must report to the
colonel." He glanced at Lisa and Mary. There was a wonder in his
eyes. "I will have to come back to learn more about your world and
time another day. Good-bye for the present." He looked at Shiyrah
almost tenderly. "Until we meet again."

Soon after that they set out. Colonel Integredad had given the
soldiers and their officers precise instructions for their deployment
should they encounter enemy forces. But to travel, they rode as a
three-abreast column, Gaal and his parents, the queen and the prophet in the center. Over the moors they trotted, past the copses and over
the dry, wiry grass with never a pause. In much less time than the boys
and men had taken to reach the cave from the woods, they were now
approaching the forest again.

"We're here!" Kurt exulted. "We've made it!"

He spoke too soon. Suddenly a bugle sounded. From the woods where they had been hidden, nearly two hundred men on horseback
came charging out to meet them. Their movements had again been
discovered, and they were under attack-by a well-armed force twice
their own number!

In less time than it takes to blink, Colonel Integredad nodded to his
bugler, who sounded the deploy. Immediately, and from both sides
of the column, two wings formed, flanking the colonel on either side
so that he led from the center. The maneuver was expertly executed.
At the same time a dozen horsemen surrounded Gaal and his parents,
the Lady Roelane and the girls. The queen had already made it clear
that she would choose to fight, so Duke Dukraz rode on one side of
the colonel, the queen on the other. The boys found swords strapped
beside their saddles and (perhaps rather foolishly) insisted in taking
part. Yet Lord Nasa hastily exchanged swords with Wesley, giving him
the jeweled Sword of Geburah.

"Here! Use it!" he cried, thrusting the sword into his hand and
snatching Wesley's own sword before he could draw it. "And tell that
idiot Kurt to get back with the women!"

Unfortunately, "that idiot" was already galloping furiously after the colonel's advancing troops. The gap between the two groups of men
was lessening. The queen's forces were heavily outnumbered, yet they
had certain advantages. They were the better and more experienced
fighters, with superior leadership. And the ground favored them, for
they rode downhill to meet the foe.

As the two small armies met, the clash could be heard a mile
away. It was a sound of swords against shields, of rearing and whinnying horses, and of yelling men. Poor Kurt was unhorsed as soon
as he got into the fray. He lay winded on the ground, seeing flailing
and tramping hooves, none of which (by some miracle) trampled him.
His ankle caught in the stirrup, and his horse accidentally saved him
by dragging him clear of the fray, battering and bruising him in the
process.

After being driven back initially, the superior numbers of their
enemies pushed the queen's forces back uphill, as though their greater mass was what mattered. Then for a long time, it seemed that
anybody might gain the upper hand. In the end, superior skill, superior experience and strength won out. The warrior queen and the
duke dispatched men one after another to oblivion, spreading fear
with their successes.

Colonel Integredad himself was attacked by the captain of the opposing force-a Playsion officer specially trained in priestcraft and
witchcraft who had placed a curse on the colonel's right arm. However, he had failed to take into account that the colonel was lefthanded. Even so the colonel's shield arm hung helpless at his side,
so that he had to use his sword arm to protect as well as attack. The
enemy officer was badly shaken by his mistake, but what dismayed
him more was the flashing sword that seemed to weave its own magical spells from the colonel's left arm.

A moment later the colonel's sword plunged into his heart. As the
colonel withdrew his sword, his opponent's body slumped forward in
death-and in death the shallow spell was broken. The colonel raised
his shield arm triumphantly and turned to put it to use once again.

What had seemed like an easy victory for the rebels had become a rout for the company. Their little army was exhausted. They had
slain two hundred and sixty horsemen, yet had lost fewer than thirty,
with others bearing minor injuries. Gaal's family and the women of
the company were safe. Belak had been put in charge of the men
surrounding them and had assumed command with unexpected
aplomb, impressing even the horsemen warriors.

Wearily, Colonel Sir Verdadera Integredad saw to it that the
wounded were cared for and ordered the burial of the very many dead
in a mass grave. Yearnings to the Emperor were offered. Then they
made their way into a nearby glade where, sheltered by the forest, the
prophet provided them the Emperor's table.

As with great weariness they tried to eat, Shiyrah sang to them. So
absorbed were they with the music that they ate and drank with no
thought for what they were doing, caught up as they were in the
Emperor's great love for them. She sang on, and one by one as they
were satisfied, they rested their heads on the table as though they
were drunk, as in one sense they were. She sang away the damage to
Kurt's ankle. They all woke a little stiff, but greatly renewed, once
night had fallen. The moon greeted them, and after that they traveled
by her light.

The journey to Bamah took extra time because of the little king, yet
all of them knew the king was worth everything.

Shiyrah rode next to the prophet with her lieutenant friend, though
at times they were forced to ride single file. Lord Nasa had found
himself riding behind them and beside the queen. "Your majesty, I
gather we travel under a cloak of secrecy at the moment."

The queen smiled and nodded. "Yes. But secrecy from the spirits
of the shadows, not from human beings. I am sorry we cannot have
it both ways." She shrugged her shoulders. "But if I am to choose, I
would prefer the shadow spirits to be blinded, for their blindness
affects the priests."

"Hm! Well, yes, I suppose so. I understand the reason, yet it is a
topsy-turvy way of planning war strategy-that is, if we go by the way war is usually conducted. In war you think of swords, not spirits. Yet
somehow I trust the prophet."

They rode in silence for a while before the queen spoke again. "We
grow used to thinking of human enemies as the ones that matter most.
Spears, shields, arrows and swords could rapidly end the life of the
little one we are charged with conducting safely. Yet I notice that the
more primitive my subjects are, the more conscious they seem to be
about the existence of spiritual beings, good or bad. Sometimes I think
the least-educated know more about things that matter most, more
than those of us who think ourselves well-taught. I am therefore grateful for this `cloak of secrecy' you refer to."

"This-to me-topsy-turvy idea takes a bit of getting used to. I doubt
I ever will," Lord Nasa replied.

"Quite so. Of course, what we call the cloak of secrecy will not last
forever. The Emperor sometimes allows the enemy to know these
things, just to let us-and them-see that he still reigns."

Lord Nasa grinned and raised one eyebrow. "And in the meantime
we will have to watch out for the king's forces. That, I suppose, is why
we travel by night."

"Exactly. But even at night we must be alert. We must assume every
person throughout the realm to be a potential traitor," the queen
added grimly. "We will pay dearly for any carelessness. But at least we
can worry less about the priests for the time being, for the dark spirits
will not be giving them much information."

They continued for a little while in silence. Suddenly the queen
drew rein. "Listen! Can you hear anything?" she asked.

Lord Nasa listened. "I am not sure, your majesty. What am I listening for?"

"It is very faint-a sort of high-pitched shrieking."