Sovereign (29 page)

Magmed's expression became sorrowful. 'What is left of them. We number under three hundred.'

'Three hundred! But you left Kendra numbering near enough a thousand!'

'Many of us were slain in the first battle against Lynan's army,' Magmed said. 'They are ferocious warriors, and they were led by Lynan himself.'

'Did you see him?' Tomar asked, trying not to sound too interested.

Magmed visibly shuddered. 'I saw him right enough. I saw him plough through my companions as if they were made of nothing but chaff. And I saw his face; he was so pale he looked as if he had come back from the dead And I saw him being struck by broadsword and lance and mace and axe and not take a single injury.'

Tomar and Barys exchanged a glance, one with the same meaning. Magmed caught it and understood what they were thinking. 'This is no fancy on my part, your Majesty!' he said urgently. 'Ask any of the others. I saw a lance enter Lynan's stomach and come out the other side. I saw him pull out the lance and use it to kill a knight. I saw a sword blade sink half a hands-breadth into his thigh, and when the blade was pulled out there was no blood. I saw him kill four knights in as many seconds using nothing but his fist. With my own eyes I saw all of this.'

King and champion looked aghast at Magmed, seeing in his expression that he told the truth.

Lynan, what has happened to you
? Tomar wondered silently.

'He was not slain, then?' Barys asked.

'Not by us.'

The room fell quiet. Tomar returned to the window and gazed out into the night, out to the west.

'Your Majesty?' Barys said.

'Hmm?'

'Magmed and his men are our guests…'

'Yes, of course. Please, make sure they are housed and fed.' He turned to face the knight. 'You must stay as long as you think necessary. Tomorrow I will send a post rider to Kendra informing Areava of your arrival. I am sure she will communicate your next orders when she can.'

Magmed bowed slightly. 'Thank you, your Majesty.'

Tomar nodded and Barys led Magmed out. Alone again, he made up his mind. He took out the first letter, carefully unfolded it, and read.

By the time Barys returned he had read it four times. It was in his pocket again when the champion knocked and entered.

'What do you think of the duke's story?' he asked.

Barys shrugged. 'Whatever we think of it,
he
believes it.'

'There is no doubt about that. Do you think this Magmed is prone to exaggeration?'

'I cannot say for sure, but from what I have seen of him he does not seem prone to excess of any kind.'

'Unusual for a member of the Twenty Houses,' Tomar said, more to himself than Barys.

'Unusual for a Kendran,' Barys said, smiling slightly.

'And no sign of Charion?'

Barys shook his head. 'I made sure Magmed or his people did not see it, but I sent scouts to locate them; they caught up with us before we reached Sparro. She is no longer in Chandra.'

Tomar sighed deeply. 'Well and good.'

'It might have been useful to have the queen of Hume in your hands.'

'Yes, but it is not a responsibility I would cherish. Areava would circumscribe any serious action on my part, anyway.'

'I hear a post rider arrived from the capital tonight. A letter from the palace in Kendra?'

Tomar nodded, pulled out the second letter. Barys noticed the broken seal. 'What does she want from us this time?'

'I don't know yet. You and Magmed interrupted me. Get some sleep. We will talk tomorrow.'

Barys pursed his lips but took the hint and left as asked.

'Now your turn, Areava,' Tomar said softly, and unfolded the letter.

Galen found a small town early in the morning; although not much larger than a village it had its own chapel to the Church of the Righteous God and its own resident priest, a large man called Father Hern. Together with the priest he returned to the woods to collect Charion and the horses. By noon the queen was safely hidden away above the chapel, freshly bandaged and wrapped in a clean blanket to keep her warm. The horses were given to a local farmer to look after and their gear stowed out of sight in the priest's wood shed. Galen himself was given a priest's frock and cloak but warned by Father Hern to stay out of sight.

'You look far too martial in your bearing to fool anyone for long,' the priest told him.

Galen grinned. 'I was taught by priests. Some of them were damn martial.'

'Ah, yes, that will be your city priest for you. Your average country priest is meek and mild and gentle as a newborn.'

Galen looked the big man up and down. 'Gentle like a great bear, maybe.'

'How long will you stay?'

'Eager to see the back of us already?'

'You can stay as long as you wish, Galen Amptra,' Hern replied seriously. 'But I can't keep you secret from the townspeople forever.'

'You think they would betray us?'

'Most of them, no. But every community has one or two that prize coin above loyalty. More to the point, once Charion's presence is common knowledge they will all talk about it. In twenty days a nearby town holds a fair, and the talk will spread there, mark my word. In another twenty days half of Hume will know Charion is in hiding in my chapel. So I ask again, how long will you stay?'

'When Charion is on her feet we will see. I know she had plans to organise resistance to Lynan. Is there a place nearby where we may find both sanctuary and solitude?'

Hern thought about it. 'There are many woods hereabouts, of course, but they fringe the Barda, and it is a well-travelled river, or at least was before the war started.'

'It may be again if Lynan believes he holds Daavis safe. Trade has always been that city's lifeblood. Are there any outposts or forts nearby?'

Hern shook his head. 'There were some watch stations along our borders with Chandra, and I daresay once with Haxus, but the former were stripped to deal with Salokan's invasion, and the latter swept aside by the same. We have some ex-soldiers, but not enough to form a company let alone an army if that is Charion's wish.'

'She may not be thinking of an army,' Galen said, more to himself than Hern.

'There are the Marbles,' Hern said.

'The Marbles?'

'There is a wooded group of hills overlooking the Barda River not far west of here. The hills are covered by giant round boulders. Where the boulders heap on top of each other they form shallow caves. You could hide a small army there.'

'That sounds as if it might be what we need. Does anyone go there?'

'Not regularly. The boulders stop farmers from using the hills for terracing. Occasionally a stonemason will send cutters to attack one of the boulders if there's a big order on: they provide a good sandstone, yellow and clean, if they're split properly, but they're too heavy to cart any distance.'

'Well, I'll make no decision for Charion. This is her land, and you are all her people. We must wait and see what plans she has.'

'How are Magmed and his knights?' Tomar asked Barys.

'Resting, your Majesty. They have had a hard campaign. Many are wounded, in spirit as well as body.'

They were walking together from the king's private chambers to the throne room. Courtiers bowed to Tomar as they passed and he never neglected to acknowledge them.

'You should know,' the king said, 'that the letter I received last night informed me of Areava's decision to create what she calls a Great Army.'

'Grandiose.'

'But in light of what has happened over the last few months, necessary if she has any hope of defeating Lynan.'

'And what is our contribution to be?'

'She has not specified yet. However, the army will set its standard in Chandra.'

Barys stopped in his tracks. 'They are creating the army in Chandra?'

Tomar stopped, too, and nodded. 'It makes sense really. Kendra is too small for the purpose, and we are closest to the main threat.'

'How great is this Great Army?'

'She says forty thousand.'

'God! We cannot afford to maintain such a large force—'

Tomar looped a hand around Barys's arm and started walking again. 'I know, but let's not talk too loudly about it, eh?'

'You think this is Orkid's work?'

Tomar shrugged. 'Possibly. Now that Sendarus is dead, the Amanites have lost influence in court. Orkid may be trying to take up some of the slack.'

'He had great influence over Usharna. How different will it be for the daughter?'

'You overestimate Orkid, Barys, and that is almost as dangerous as underestimating him. Usharna ruled Orkid, right enough, and he served her well. However, I do not know Areava well enough to tell you whether she is her own woman or not.'

'What are you going to do about Magmed and the knights?'

'They can stay here for the moment, unless Areava orders them back to Kendra. To some extent, I suppose it depends on what Lynan does next.'

'You think he will invade Chandra?'

'No doubt about it. Without Chandra, he cannot reach Kendra. It's a matter of when he invades, not if.'

'Do you think we can stop him?'

'Not by ourselves. Look what he and his Chetts did to Salokan and Charion.' He glanced at Barys and smiled. 'But don't worry; I'd be surprised if they crossed our border before winter.' He absently patted his left pocket. 'Plenty of time,' he said more quietly.

CHAPTER 18

Lynan woke, wide-eyed, his mouth open in a silent scream, his muscles rigid with fear. For a moment he did not know where he was, and then he heard the even and gentle breathing of Korigan, asleep by his side.

Daavis. Night. Autumn.

Safe.

His muscles unlocked and he slumped back into the mattress. He closed his eyes in the vain hope he might find some more sleep, but after a few minutes knew it was useless and got out of bed. He dressed quickly and quietly, making sure not to disturb Korigan, and left the bedchamber. Two Red Hands saluted as he walked out and another two fell in behind him. He was not sure where he was going, but he felt the need to do something physically hard, something that would tire him out enough so that when he fell asleep there would be no nightmare to greet him.

He stopped in the courtyard. In the dim light of an early morning under a grey sky, the palace—the whole city—seemed suffocatingly close. He headed for the stables, chose a mare and saddled it. His escorting Red Hands did likewise. When all three were done they rode out of the palace then out of the city, heading north at a until Lynan felt the horse struggling underneath him. He slowed to a walk and then dismounted.Leading their horses, Lynan and his bodyguard made their way back to Daavis. In the city people were on their way to work. Stalls were opening, carts carrying fresh produce from farms were rattling their way to markets, agile children carrying wooden platters laden with breads and cakes from bakeries weaved their way through the streets to shops and homes. The night cart was finishing its last run and leaving the city, making everyone who passed it wince with the smell. Cleaners were doing their morning course, picking up dead rodents and birds and any other animal that had died during the night and ended up on the street or in the gutters.

For the most part, the streets were so busy at this hour that no one had any time to pay attention to the short youth leading his horse towards the palace. His two companions elicited the occasional remark. Once or twice a passer-by saw Lynan's face and gasped in sudden realisation of who he was, then paled in sudden fear, but before they could do anything he was past them and lost in the crowd, leaving them to sigh in relief he had not noticed them.

When they reached the palace a Chett rushed forward to take his horse, but he waved her away and returned to the stables himself and, despite the protestations of the local hand, insisted on brushing down and feeding his own mare. When he was done he felt hot and sweaty and relaxed. On the way back to his chambers he saw Farben in the courtyard, busily and bossily giving instructions to several workers and at the same time directing clerks and secretaries. Farben stopped when he saw Lynan watching and approached him.

'Prince Lynan, was there something you wished to see me about?'

One of Farben's secretaries, a young, red-headed man, seemed surprised his master would presume to talk to Lynan at all.

'No. I am glad to see you about your duties.'

'As we discussed, I must keep the city in order for the return of its rightful ruler.' He said this without any hint of sarcasm.

Lynan smiled thinly, understanding Farben's need to remind everyone publicly and at every opportunity why he was working as administrator of an enemy-occupied city.

Korigan was awake and eating breakfast by the time Lynan arrived. She was still in bed with a big bowl of fruit nestled in her lap.

'Where did you go?'

'For a ride,' he said, sitting down next to her and picking up a piece of fruit.

'You should have taken me with you.'

'You were asleep. City life is softening you.'

Korigan snorted in disgust. 'We Chetts don't spurn luxury. Out on the Oceans of Grass we have no choice about when we sleep and what we sleep on. But when we have a chance to enjoy a soft bed and late mornings we indulge ourselves.'

'So you don't miss the plains?'

Korigan looked serious. 'Of course I do,' she said, her voice distant, as if she was suddenly standing on the Oceans of Grass. 'How much longer do we stay in Daavis?'

'Until reinforcements arrive from Haxus. We need to garrison this city, then stock supplies for our campaign into Chandra. Daavis will be our base until we capture Sparro.'

'Reinforcements may not arrive until late autumn. Haxus is recovering from a defeat, remember. That means no campaign until next spring, and by then Areava will have organised a new army.'

'Who says we have to wait for spring?'

'Will you fight in winter?'

'Winter in the east can be hard, but it is nothing compared to what the Chetts endure at the High Sooq. We can start our attack on Chandra when we're ready, even if it is in the middle of winter. Our Chetts will be fully rested by then.'